Cynthia’s Thoughts: Young People, Activism and Social Networking

It’s amazing how interest groups can organize within minutes these days.  With just a click of a mouse, a group can be started on social networking sites, and potentially thousands of people can be invited to join.  This was definitely the case during the US election and more recently, the reaction to the proposal by the Ontario government to tighten up youth driving laws.

Since 1994, the Ontario government has had graduated licensing, which means it takes one year for a driver to be able to drive alone and two years for a full licence.  Other restrictions include a curfew between midnight and 5 am for those under 19 as well as a limit on the number of passengers during that time.  The proposed rules will not only increase the age to 21, but the passenger limit will apply 24/7.  Young people, including those who are not even affected, were understandably upset.  They expresses their unhappiness through a means that they are most comfortable with. They took it to Facebook.

This is the beauty of social networking sites.  Within a few hours, Facebook groups condemning the Ontario government’s proposed rules had thousands of members (as of Friday, November 28, one group has over 100,000 members), and these kids weren’t silent either.  They were writing notes on the “wall” and message boards discussing the issue.  Many feel that the proposed rules will actually increase teen drinking, isn’t suburban/rural-friendly and definitely not green.  These groups are so active that it has even caught the eye of the Ontario government who is now possibly looking into amending the proposal. Whoever said that young people aren’t engaging in politics is very wrong.

Many people, including those who aren’t so old (yes, older twenty-somethings), aren’t fans of social networking sites.  They believe that their privacy may be invaded and are worried that embarrassing information about them could be found by the wrong people.  These people do have a right to worry, but there are many ways of combating these issues, including privacy settings.  In addition, social networking is an excellent tool to communicate to more people than ever.  Without social networking sites, these young activists and their causes would remain unheard.