How brands and social media platforms benefit from activism and trauma
Viral violent videos have become tools for change, but the footage can also affect our mental health
By Radheyan Simonpillai
May 20, 2021
Trigger warning: Tuesday, May 25 is the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, which was recorded by then 17-year-old Darnella Frazier on her cellphone. That devastating 10-minute video would circulate online and instigate a global movement.
“We would not have seen the extent of support for #BlackLivesMatter had that video not been taken and had that form of witnessing not been possible,” says University of Toronto’s Megan Boler. She is professor in the Social Justice Education department and co-editor of the book, Affective Politics Of Digital Media: Propaganda By Other Means. She connects the response to the video of George Floyd’s murder to the 1991 video of Los Angeles police attacking Rodney King. “There’s a long history of this kind of witnessing being necessary for social movements, for social change.”