Last night I was numb. This morning I am angry, sad, and scared. I feel a little bit helpless and hopeless. However, I have to say that being on Facebook for the past 12 hours has been an immense help. Facebook truly feels like a support system right now. People are posting statuses about their pain and frustration, as well as links to articles explaining what we can do from here. Some people are suggesting programs that we can donate to. Others are creating and sharing events for marches and protests.
All of this hasn’t made me feel any better about the outcome of this election, but it has made me feel less alone. Social media is a powerful tool and I’m grateful to it right now.
For those who might be interested, here is a link to a Facebook event about a march in LA:
Medialectic 
Social media so often gets abused, and used for the wrong reasons, but in this case, I definitely agree that it has been a powerful tool. It has been an outlet for people to express themselves, and comfort others who are in pain. I know at Pitzer, so many emails have been sent out letting students know of safe spaces and people to talk to if need be. I’m glad that although the outcome of this election is really disgusting and hard to accept, we as a community are able to come together and support each other through this hard time.
I completely agree. All we can do right now is come together, and I think social media is helping that. I also admire that a lot of people are posting statues with messages of hope. Seeing those have been really helpful while simply trying to make it through this morning. Our anger is justified, but our positivity is vital right now.
I agree completely that social media is a powerful tool for everyone to come together at a time like this. However, at times I feel overwhelmed and bombarded by the things I see on my newsfeed. While it makes me feel less alone in my frustrations, I see so many negative comments popping up on the posts I read that I feel like I need to find a balance on Facebook.
Totally agree with you. There is nothing people can do about the result of the election, but people can always get together and keep fighting, although it might require a lot of efforts and sacrifices. Reading people’s opinion being posted on Facebook and through emails, I really feel a sense of strong support from our community.
I 100% agree with you. Facebook nowadays is used as a platform in order to create a space for mass individuals to create and share ideas on how to cope with difficult situations, sometimes as simple as changing your profile picture temporarily to the France flag for the bombings in Paris, or like you said sharing links for dealing with the result of the election.
I agree to an extent. fb has been a great processing tool, a community, as you said it. but still i have been scared that my engagement with it makes me disengage from action. Also, I have been trying to find the balance between feeling connected with the people around me, and consuming for hours on end, articles on top of articles on top of statuses on top of videos on top of hashtags and it has felt so consuming and draining. I have felt hyper connected but at the same time so detached. I don’t know. fb has helped a lot but when I find relief in it it makes me fear that it will sooth my need to act. When I become over saturated I fear that it will make me stagnant – make me unable to act. I have been trying to find a healthy balance, one that is good for me but also pushes me to not remain complacent but also gives times to process and understand but also does not overwhelm me with information so much so that i am unable to do anything – I don’t think I’m there yet, to be honest.
This isn’t to de-validate what fb has been for y’all – just my own process with it. Trying to figure it out and see what I need right now but also what is needed of me.
I agree, Facebook did feel like a support system this week. Normally I equate politically charged posts on Facebook a method of slacktivism. But this past week the links posted, statuses written, and events shared sparked a lot action, in my opinion. Facebook is why I knew about what protests to attend and what petitions to sign. It’s nice to see Facebook as a potential platform for truly being active amidst this political turmoil, I hope this is a continued trend.