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Tweeting #RIPTroyDavis Doesn’t Make You an Activist Just a Follower

Posted by NWSO • September 23, 2011 • Printer-friendly

As most of you know by now, death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis was executed late Wednesday night after a final stay of execution was denied in his last hours. I came home to the news late last night as I saw various #RIPTroyDavis posts on Twitter and Facebook. I’ll admit that while I’d heard the name I hadn’t been following the Davis case much, so I didn’t know the specifics of his case and why folks were up in arms to have his life spared—or at the very least get a retrial.

Twenty years ago Davis was convicted of the 1989 murder of Georgia police officer Mark MacPhail and sentenced to death. His family and various supporters have spent the past two decades trying to get him of. That fight for freedom escalated as seven of the nine original witnesses recanted their statements over the years. All of this led to the proverbial “reasonable doubt” in the court of public opinion, however, the actual court system operates quite differently.

I won’t get in to the whole system-is-set-up-to-keep-the-Black-man-down argument because it’s a moot point, but my co-worker Alfred Edmond Jr. introduced a very thought-provoking perspective on the case in a blog post titled: “Why Twitter Couldn’t Save Troy Davis.”

It’s a great read and I suggest you take the time out to click the link above and check it out, but for those that want the abridged version here goes. In a nutshell, Alfred raised the point that many people today feel as if Twitter is enough, that simply RT a hashtag or posting your outrage in 140 characters or less means something.

For example:

Millions of Twitter users, including many of my followers, honestly believed that if they just tweeted about Troy Davis enough, and could get their followers, and their followers followers, to do so as well, they could get him a new trial at least, and maybe even prevent his execution altogether. Many are heart-broken, disillusioned and genuinely shocked that this turned out not to be the case.

I cared about Troy Davis—not just him, but the millions of others like him behind bars, including the more than 3,000 on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. I didn't want Davis executed. In fact, I am unconditionally against the death penalty in general, regardless of guilt or innocence (in Davis' case, I'm not convinced either way), because there is no way to eliminate the flaws in our justice system that inevitably lead to wrongful executions. But I never believed that tweeting about Troy Davis would save his life. Moreover, had his life been spared, it would have had far more to do with the respected and influential people and organizations who have advocated on his behalf over the past two decades of his legal battle than with how many tweets were retweeted over the past couple of months.

Later, Alfred raised the point of the issues with social media activism, which is the act of pseudo-activism online. You know, folks that tweet the tweet, but don’t really walk the walk. A lot of people believe that just because they put out the right statements (in 140 characters or less) that they’ve made a difference and “fighting the system” like generations past.

I heard a lot of people on Twitter who believed their tweeting about the Davis case constituted activism on the level of the actions, risks and sacrifices (including their lives) made by young Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. A few people actually compared their persistent and passionate tweeting about Troy Davis to lunch counter sit-ins by students in Greensboro, North Carolina and other parts of the South in the 1960s. My response to that line of thinking: don't be ridiculous. Unless riot cops were waiting outside to bust your head wide open to stop your Troy Davis tweets, just stop it.

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Tagged as: activism, Anthony Davis, Face Book, social media, Troy Anthony Davis, twitter

http://twitter.com/hobdragon Greg Dragon

The worst was the Facebook postings of Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit and accusatory tweets that if you weren't on the Troy train you weren't black. Tribalism is tribalism, regardless of what people convince themselves that they believe. I felt very sorry for this man and his family but as the article states I like many have not done anything to help combat wrongful arrests, life/death sentences and the like - so joining the Twitter bandwagon was not on my to-do list. I really wish people would do better. Like the Casey Anthony outrage by black people, this will be all a distant memory come Monday...
http://ladyngo.blogspot.com Lady Ngo

My biggest personal beef is not even with the "twitter activism" (though i wholly understand the point being made against it) but with the fact that so many people are running off at the mouth and don't even know what the issues are.

None of know whether or not the man was guilty or innocent. That is but the tip of the iceberg in the issue. What is really the issue is that even in the face of all of this new evidence (recanting of the majority of the testimonies, allegations of witness coercion, drunken confession from a perfectly viable suspect, etc) that the State and Supreme Court saw fit to ignore it all and kill the man anyway without even bothering to investigate it.And from what i've read, added insult to injury by leaving him strapped to the gurney for the entire 4 hour "delay".

As for the twitter/fb activism, im glad that it was able to bring so much attention to the cause, but attention and action are two different things. Now that whats done is done, people need to remember, people need to be proactive, they need to go out and vote, they need to verse themselves in these issues so that we can at least try to keep stuff like this from happening again. Awareness is only the starting point of change!

http://spinsterstravels.wordpress.com Spinster

"My biggest personal beef is not even with the "twitter activism" (though
i wholly understand the point being made against it) but with the fact
that so many people are running off at the mouth and don't even know
what the issues are."

Pretty much (although the pseudo-twitter/facebook-activism makes my head hurt too).

CaliDreaming86

I see this behavior a lot with Black people. Passively fighting for something they learned about a few minutes ago.
Anonymous

I won't be so quick to judge. People post almost every thought that comes to them via social media - so why would it be a problem for someone to post their thoughts on Troy Davis; also not all of these people are claiming to be activists.
Although I will say that there is power in this whole social media thing, just look at the Egyptian revolution.

Anonymous

But that's not what I (or Alfred) is talking about. Sharing your thoughts is fine, it's the mindless follower mentality and group think way that folks just jump on a bandwagon without even knowing what's going on. Everyone else is tweeting save so-and-so so I guess I should too even though I have no clue who he is, what he did or why I should care. Not saying everyone thinks like that but there are a bunch of fly by night activists and philosophers that pop up online because it's the cool thing to do/say

Anonymous

I get what you are trying to say - people do jump on bandwagons all the time. I guess I'm just saying I won't assume anyone's thought process. As someone who has been in and out of activists communities over several years, I've been trying to process this. I've asked myself why folks are choosing or refusing to post about Troy on social media and wondering if the emotional weight of activist work, in general, is paralyzing people to inaction or limited action (i.e. just posting thoughts on social networks).

I've known about the Troy Davis case for a while and I know every time that I would see folks collecting signatures or recruiting people for the anti-death penalty movement, I would avoid them because I didn't want to be emotionally attached to Troy or the movement. Over the past few days I did sign some petitions and contact Chatham county DA and share (via fb) how others could do the same. To me, my actions were limited and I could easily be viewed as a bandwagoner. Either way, I have much respect for the folks who been doing this work for years but I won't be hard on those who jump on bandwagons b/c activism aint easy and sometimes folks really just don't know where or how to start - which individuals or organizations to reach out to and who among those can be trusted?

I do appreciate your post as well as the comments because I really have been thinking about this more deeply over the past few days.

Deka

That's the power of social networks. Being able to get the message out. I was affected by the Troy Davis trending etc and realized more people of color need to do Jury duty. I have refused to do it because I don't believe in the system and saw first hand how police will do whatever they have to do to find a body to put in a cell to solve a case. Troy Davis band wagon sounds way better than the rest of the crap out there. And who's to judge about who is real or not when it comes to this issue. No one gave a crap about police brutality until the King video became a viral image.
http://redboneafropuff.com Mariam

I think "twitter activism" is an
oxymoron, but as a communications professional, I must say social media is
useful for building awareness because it is inherently viral. As you said, our
attention spans are short, so most people move on to the next fad rather
quickly. But because social media is inherently viral, you never know
when someone who sees an interesting hashtag is going to do what you did: seek
out more information. Then they may take the next step and decide to take
action in the ways you and Alfred have suggested. Engagement doesn't
happen often, but brands and marketers throw stuff at us via social media all
the time because when engagement does happen, they reap good profits. The
NAACP, Democracy Now, Alternet, Credo, R2C2H2, conservative publications/bloggers,
and activists who we've never heard of and who represent every issue imaginable
all tweet for that reason (among others).

Did I believe online petitions would
save Troy Davis? No. (And I think the better question is whether Ben Jealous
believed that.) However, as someone who's not an attorney, who was not
going to drop her life to go to Georgia
to protest, who has other causes she is devoted to but who cared about this
case, I signed them. I felt the futility of it every time, but I guess I
felt like hope was better than nothing.

Other important questions: Have Twitter
and Facebook changed activisms’ weapons of war or means of change. What exactly does activism look like in the
21st Century?
jaclynsd

Q. Do you believe that simply tweeting outrage is a form of activism?
A. No, like the man said “that’s ridiculous”

Q. Has social media made people less or more aware of world issues?
A. I think more aware because of the speed on technology today but that doesn’t equal to being socially conscience or any type of passionate awareness on the subject…people are just informed and on to the next topic.

Q. Were you surprised by Troy Davis’ execution actually going through?
A. Yes I was I really surprised. I thought that with all the evidence and all the attention the outcome would be different.

Q. Were you under the impression that the online petitions would have spared his life?
A. No, of course not. But I did think that all the hard work from the family, activist, attorneys, and the attention from the media would have collectively helped him.

Q. Do you even care either way if he was executed or not?
A. Of course I do. Although I think I care more for the family and all the people who were directly connected to him in some way. I work in the legal field and when you put your heart and soul in to cases like this and then you lose there’s a great sense of pain and failure you feel…not just for yourself but for the loved ones as well.

Q. Do you advocate capital punishment?
A. Funny you ask that because my daughter (13) and I had this discussion before. I believe in it because if someone did murder my daughter I’d want them put to death but her belief is that because the systems has flaws such as the Troy Davis case that she would not want her killer put to death even if he was guilty. Her words “mom even if the person did kill me there is nothing you can do to bring me back, so I would want you to be ok with my killer dying” SO I guess after hearing that I really need to rethink my stand on capital punishment no?

Q. Do you think there would have been a different outcome if people actually marched instead of tweeted?
A. I think so if you look at our history its made a big difference. When you actually see the people I think that makes more of an impact, rather than types on a key board. *rolling eyes*

Q. Or do you just think that the American justice system is flawed and there’s nothing we can do about it?
A. It’s flawed in a lot of ways. I mean look at the Casey Anthony case I really believe the woman got away with murder but even if you don’t believe that at the very least she got away with child endangerment. Anyway the biggest problem today is not the system but the people outside the system. People like us who I feel could do more and should do more when things like this (Troy Davis case) happen.
Shayla

I personally didn't know much about this case until this week and didn't partake in any twitter talk regarding it but I will say that it is unfair to basically say that jumping on the bandwagon was wrong. Who's to say that the people who were hopping on the bandwagon were not taking the first step toward being community activists? Why is it that whenever black people choose to speak out about something, although in some cases we should fall back and really evaluate what we are speaking out so passionately about, we have to be jumping on a bandwagon. So damn what? This isn't a first. I'm allowed to assume that those individuals who fought so passionately for civil rights, and other causes where they risked their lives were also jumping on the bandwagon but at some point realized how important the cause was and truly dedicated themselves to it. We're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't. If we sit aside and do nothing we're acting like typical you know whats. If we join a cause that's already in action albeit through social media or "real life", we're acting like typical you know whats. Like what is the problem. Like I said, I wasn't on twitter rt things or hashtagging it up regarding this case, but I'm not going to turn my nose up at those who did. Whether they were jumping on the bandwagon or not, I'm happy that there were some that I believe were taking the first step toward taking activism off of the computer and out in reality. I can only hope and there is nothing wrong with that.
http://twitter.com/DarlingNiq Nicole M. Peters

My Bishop always says "Find the true enemy"..I don't think Twitter and facebook is to blame but the ignorance of masses. When I worked for a criminal defense attorney, I learned of a non-profit organization based out of New Jersey that, on their own dime, research the pleas of some several thousand inmates that feel they were wrongfully imprisoned. Of that number, most of their inventory is that of people on death row. My attorney was actually working one case where three men were cohersed into a confession of the rape and murder of a sixteen year old girl back in 1982. Since then, the organization researched and had the DNA retested. Not only did none of their DNA markers match the crime scene, but they didn't even know the girl they are convicted of killing!! They, at the time, were serious drug heads so they were convinced by the police that they did it!!

I believe Facebook and Twitter can change the world! Look at how Mark Zuckerberg made international news with just changing the format!! A man became President off of texts and facebook while another elected official step sown from his seat due to the negative press of his Twitter account. Yes!! It is completely ignorant to post such ridiculous parallels as twitter with sit-ins, but that's something that, I think is missing from these social networks. Once upon a time there were educated COLLEGE students on Facebook, now that its open to every Tom, Dick and Harry...have NYTimes status updates...that are forced!! just as how you can't open Aol.com or Yahoo.com without some newsreals, make that hold true for Twitter!!

Just as we are here talking about the psuedo activism in trending topics, they do make a difference!! Now lets put some bit behind them!! Lets have the masses educated to start turning on their congressmen or state representative. I bet you dollars to donuts if everyone new the parole boards' names, and they tweeted their dislike and disrespect of human life, it might have been a different ball game! Or if people tweeted they dislike for the Governor of Georgia, who just pardoned a white CONVICTED KILLER W/NO REASONABLE DOUBT, he might think differently about how Troy Davis's case went down.

We need more education!! Across the board...
da ThRONe

I always say we are taught to be mindless idiots. It's funny information becomes easier and easier and it seems like the average person research less and less.
Anonymous

Honestly, I knew nothing of Troy Davis or his case prior to the day before his execution. But after reading into it, became aggravated at the persecution of yet another black man, innocent or #toomuchdoubt, of a crime he didn’t comment. But didn’t go on a tweeting rampage because of it. I saw the tweets about the online petition, and actually thought to myself, “Are they serious? Do they really think this is going to work? And isn’t this supposed to take place tomorrow? This is America, Black president or not, THIS can not be stopped by an online petition?”

Q. Do you believe that simply tweeting outrage is a form of activism? Not at all.
Q. Has social media made people less or more aware of world issues? Obviously, more aware. As I stated above, knew not who Troy Davis was. Where many might not often pick up a newspaper to read or watch the news, they get their information from social media. What they do with the information is soley at their descretion.

Q. Were you surprised by Troy Davis’ execution actually going through? Do you even care either way if he was executed or not? Q. Do you advocate capital punishment?
I’m not surprised, and yes I care, to the extent, it would seem from the evidence presented as stated, there was too much doubt. Another senseless murder of another black man just continues to echo history. It’s just a sad state of America. I don’t believe in capital punishment. I believe in God. God have mercy on their souls. #RIP Troy Davis.
Rastaman

I have always adhered to the old credo that "the masses are asses", not because I am some great intellect but because I understand that most people don't take that much time to think about issues that do not directly affect them. Even when it does directly affect them they will generally do not invest the time to think too deeply about it. The majority of us have gut reactions which are displayed everyday on this blog and throughout the media. Most gut reactions are wrong because they are emotionally based and never reason based. So while I disagreed with the outcome of the Troy Davis case, I was very often offended with references that claimed he was innocent, I would have been satisfied with him getting a new trial based on the recants and any new evidence but I saw no evidence of his innocence per se.

I have always had a hard time following the crowd, got in a fight my first week of kindergarten because of that fact and I have never felt the need to change that trend. History illustrates that the common man can be swayed to believe idea and promote any ideals if one gets enough of them behind it. the difficulty has always been how to get people to support movements that are in their best interest in mass without becoming a mindless mob. I am no fan of disciple of twitter, facebook or all those other social networks but I cannot blame the technology for making us into mindless followers. That condition was in existence long before tweeting, it has just made it more instantaneous.
da ThRONe

And let me state this. All these religious people who say something about following trends or the masses are no better than the damn fools on twitter tweeting about subjects they know little to nothing about. I'm not saying but I'm saying.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Abena-J-Asanti/38423808 Abena J. Asanti

I wonder why more wasn't said before his death... I remember in the days before Troy's murder I was hoping NWSO and other bloggers would have said something. Chastising people for the way they handled the tragedy after the events took place seems to be more of the same also. It's almost as if NWSO and others were following the lead of the main stream by remaining silent in the days weeks and months leading up to the murder. Funny how followers were the first to chime in to call others followers... which is probably one of the reasons the current regime can snatch black men out of their homes randomly and slaughter them at will.

Anonymous

Interesting.

Honestly, I've been so caught up in my own world with work, life and wedding plans that I wasn't even up on who or what Troy Davis was until the very end. Sure I had seen hashtags but social media can be so much noise at times that it all gets cancelled out. It wasn't until it came up in a meeting at work and when I came in that night from a afterwork meeting (around 11pm) that there was so much Troy davis "noise" on my screen that i was like who the hell is this guy and what's going on?

So in one hand it was because of social media that I finally did know who Troy was but unfortunately it was way after the fact.

Maybe if I had seen some stuff on Troy on the local news I would have investigated sooner but who knows.
http://twitter.com/hobdragon Greg Dragon

Given the context of this article and the author's admission that he didn't follow this case I find it odd that you are calling him out for not doing what he pretty much is stating that he's against. Not to speak for him but I imagine that no post was made because he didn't know enough to write one about it... that's the point of this very article. Retweet or Repost, it's all the same.

Every other black blog jumped on this SEO spike attempt and I'm sure it made a mark but I don't think that this site adding to it would have made much of a difference. But I'm no idiot and I'm sure you asked the question more as a veiled passive aggressive attack than a real concern.