In recent years, we have seen various social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter being used to raise awareness about various political protests and movements.
We saw Twitter play a huge part in Iran’s Green movement and Facebook play a even bigger role in Egypt’s uprising. Popular blogging site Tumblr is now being used to draw attention to the Occupy Wall Street protests taking place across the country.
Occupy Wall Street protests began in September with a group of protesters in downtown Manhattan.
The protestors began calling themselves the “99 percent,” meaning they are not the 1 percent of the country with wealth and power.
“We are the 99 percent“ is a Tumblr blog that allows people to tell their stories and talk about their personal struggles through deeply personal and powerful photo essay’s.
The site, which launched on Aug. 23, features hundreds of personal stories from Americans affected by the great recession.
Among the hundreds of people featured on the website, there are a recent college graduate who is buried under student loans and no means to pay them off, a 13-year-old girl who worries about her future and whether college is even a option anymore and a single father of two who struggles to keep a roof over his families head.
Social media is becoming a driving force in the Occupy Wall Street protests.
While Tumblr isn’t as well known as Facebook and Twitter, it’s still a quiet and extremely powerful way to get a message across. Tumblr allows it’s users to post lengthy, in-depth posts, while Twitter limits you to 140 characters.
“I was really excited to come across the page because I can relate with those people,” said 23-year-old business major Heather Rousen. “I am going through exactly what they’re going through.”
Cosumnes River College student Sarah Kailer, a 22-year-old communications major, has contributed to the blog and posted a few pictures herself.
“A friend of mine told me about the page and I wanted to check it out because I have been following the protests on the news.” Kailer said. When I looked at the page I was blown away by what I saw. The posts are really moving and I felt inspired to post a picture on there about my struggles.”
Tumblr allows people to get involved with the protests without physically going out and protesting.
“When I first heard about the protests I was really intrigued and excited but I simply don’t have the time to go out and get involved so when I found out about this site I was all over it,” said 20-year-old math major Brian Garcia.
According to CNN, the Tumblr blog is part of a increasingly popular medium called the “collaborative confessional”.
The site allows people from across the country to share their stories and connect with others on a level that other sites don’t necessarily allow you to do.