The #MeToo Movement Ideologies and its Global, Diverse and Big Audience

#MeToo Movement
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Introduction
The #MeToo movement has caught headlines in several countries where women who have been sexually assaulted have taken to the media to air their experiences and vent their frustrations in a bid to create awareness on sexual harassment, especially in the workplace. The goal of the movement according to Milano 2017 as cited in (Schimdt, 2017) was to ‘give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.’ the movement has led to a conviction, trial, and investigations into several high-profile individuals, especially in politics and entertainment. One of the most prominent cases was leveled against Bill Cosby, who had been an iconic actor for several decades and in the wake of #MeToo movement, several women surfaced. Cosby was tried and found guilty, and he is now serving his time in prison for sexually harassing women during his prime acting career years. The movement has continually caught traction and has been snowballing in to other countries where more women have continued to voice their issues. Though the envisioned results of the movement are far from being attained, the movement has been successful as it has led to justice for some victims.
Online tools
Social media
The movement was born in the social media platforms. The movement was born on social media, and it gained traction to become a global phenomenon. The convenience offered by social media in spreading the information has prompted law enforcement officers and other victims to take action. The movement, born out of a social media hashtag, has continually been shared on social media in many countries globally.
Source: (Burke, 2018)
It has also been accompanied by other hashtags with a global circulation that are focused on tearing down the patriarchal structures in the society and foster a more equitable society. The primary way in which social media is meant to influence the public is to encourage victims to share their stories and vent their frustrations for what happened to them or loved ones. Secondly, it is meant to encourage more people to come forward and speak against sexual harassment. The celebrities who have come forward have sought to encourage victims to share their stories and hopefully seek justice. Speaking against sexual harassment stops the sexual predators from continuing to sexually assault other people. In the wake of the allegations, many people have been fired, sued, resigned, settled disputes arbitrarily among other ‘acts of justice.’
The main reason what makes social media a very effective approach to propagate the #MeToo movement ideologies is its global, diverse and big audience. #MeToo movement is found in almost all communities in the world. The first few hours of the conception of the social media hashtag #MeToo, it was retweeted all over the world. By November 9th, 2017, (Fox, 2017)notes that there was ‘more than 2.3 million ##MeToo tweets from 85 countries; on Facebook, more than 24 million people participated in the conversation by posting, reacting, and commenting over 77 million times since October 15.’ the spread of the message on the social media was very fast, and it led to a bill tabled in t...