Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls?

otisptoadwater wrote: Honestly, what does posting a hashtag do aside from giving the poster a feel good moment?

It brings awareness of the problem to those who would otherwise not be aware of the issue.
Honestly, I am surprised you needed to ask that question.

If I even had a twitter account, it might be interesting to know how many times the First Lady's post was re-tweated.
:Patriot:

otisptoadwater wrote: We should all post a hashtag and then get on with our lives, feeling better about ourselves for the couple minutes worth of effort it took. That's what Michell did:

http://media.washtimes.com/media/image/2014/05/08/flotus_mugshot_four_by_three_s640x480.jpg?b98e9b9b0f373319d257b8531b01413649704d51

Honestly, what does posting a hashtag do aside from giving the poster a feel good moment?

??? hashtag this.

"Rejecting appeals for clemency by Western human rights activists, a judge in Sudan sentenced a 27-year old pregnant Christian mother to death “for apostasy.”
The woman, Mariam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, brought her punishment of death upon herself, said Judge Abbas Mohammed Al-Khalifa: "We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam."

"I sentence you to be hanged to death." For good measure, Judge Khalifa ordered the woman to be beaten with 100 lashes of the whip before being hung for "adultery.""

google it.

Photo-fish wrote: It brings awareness of the problem to those who would otherwise not be aware of the issue.
Honestly, I am surprised you needed to ask that question.

If I even had a twitter account, it might be interesting to know how many times the First Lady's post was re-tweated.
:Patriot:

Ok, so now more people know about the situation. What precisely does that do to help the victims of the crime? Not much IMHO. To me the whole hash tagging thing is just an opportunity for celebs and politicians to draw attention to themselves at the expense of the victims. "Hey, look at me! I care about this issue (re-elect me and/or promote my image to the public because that's a lot more important than some event that I have attached myself to in a very minor way)."

That's all well and good, how about doing something to resolve the issue instead?

Personally I think the hashtag campaign has done good. Even Al Quiada has denounced the kidnappings.

If you give worldwide attention to this tactic of stealing schoolgirls, I believe the girls will first receive better treatment by their captors and may make Boko Harum reconsider doing this ever again.

otisptoadwater wrote: Ok, so now more people know about the situation. What precisely does that do to help the victims of the crime? Not much IMHO. To me the whole hash tagging thing is just an opportunity for celebs and politicians to draw attention to themselves at the expense of the victims. "Hey, look at me! I care about this issue (re-elect me and/or promote my image to the public because that's a lot more important than some event that I have attached myself to in a very minor way)."

That's all well and good, how about doing something to resolve the issue instead?

A hashtag campaign is more or less a cyber-petition. It's a way for individuals, famous or anonymous, to make their views known and, by weight of number, influence authorities who, in democratic societies, might respond to such expressions of popular sentiment.
The hashtag campaign for the Nigerian girls — originated in Nigeria by Nigerians — was meant to do exactly that: pressure the Nigerian government to more seriously respond to the kidnapping. It has already had this effect. And attention from abroad has helped magnify the pressure.

It seems some conservatives are getting bent out of shape only because Michelle Obama was shown re-tweeting it. Prior to her tweet and response from the media, I am sure most Americans thought Boko Haram was responsible for the song "A Whiter Shade of Pale".