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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: InsaneBaron on October 17, 2014, 06:14:59 pm

Title: Nigerian girls might finally be released!
Post by: InsaneBaron on October 17, 2014, 06:14:59 pm
The Nigerian Government has stated that they've reached an agreement with Boko Haram to free the 200 girls the terrorists kidnapped. I'm praying it all works...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29665165

Title: Re: Nigerian girls might finally be released!
Post by: Blue Lion on October 18, 2014, 02:49:32 pm
Once again, Twitter hashtags have saved us all.
Title: Re: Nigerian girls might finally be released!
Post by: An4ximandros on October 18, 2014, 03:12:37 pm
Praise the Up-votes.
Title: Re: Nigerian girls might finally be released!
Post by: SypheDMar on October 19, 2014, 03:28:33 pm
I'm starting to be a believer in hashtag activism as a source for change. Remember when Nigeria for a while claimed that no such thing happened?
Title: Re: Nigerian girls might finally be released!
Post by: zookeeper on October 20, 2014, 04:02:48 am
What the heck do hashtags have to do with this? The article didn't say anything about anything like that.
Title: Re: Nigerian girls might finally be released!
Post by: Luis Dias on October 20, 2014, 09:32:51 am
BUT DAH HASHTAAAAG
Title: Re: Nigerian girls might finally be released!
Post by: Blue Lion on October 20, 2014, 10:34:32 pm
Quote from: zookeeper on October 20, 2014, 04:02:48 am
What the heck do hashtags have to do with this? The article didn't say anything about anything like that.

There was a twitter campaign some months back "#bringbackourgirls"

It was derided as what they call internet slacktivism along the same lines as kony and such. You can find several articles discussing it.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/20/world/irpt-missing-chibok-schoolgirls/
Title: Re: Nigerian girls might finally be released!
Post by: SypheDMar on October 21, 2014, 03:36:07 pm
Quote from: zookeeper on October 20, 2014, 04:02:48 am
What the heck do hashtags have to do with this? The article didn't say anything about anything like that.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/05/nigeria-first-lady-orders-arrest-of-protest-leaders_n_5265872.html

There's more that caused all of this behind-the-scenes than what is stated in the article. Besides Blue Lion's link, read the article above. Or better yet, here's a few quotes

Quote
An organizer of a demonstration said Monday that Jonathan's wife, Patience, ordered the arrests of two protest leaders, accused them of belonging to Boko Haram and expressed doubts there was any kidnapping.

Quote
Ndirpaya said Patience Jonathan accused them of fabricating the abductions. "She told so many lies, that we just wanted the government of Nigeria to have a bad name, that we did not want to support her husband's rule," she said in a telephone interview with the AP.

Without hashtag activism/slacktivism/whatever-you-want-to-call-it, that would have been the end of it. Nigeria wouldn't have cared. The West wouldn't have cared. But you know what happened? Westerners got loud on Twitter, America got involved, and Nigeria decided to acknowledge it.

So yeah, the article doesn't mention hashtags, but it played a real part in all of this, and the world apparently knows.