The Globe’s Point – Women march because…

Written By Globe Editorial Staff

The various platforms of social media, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, allow us to instantly connect with friends and family, gather news and entertain at the push of a button.

One platform in particular, becames a useful tool in times of newsworthy happenings. This platform became a powerhouse of raw information, anecdotes and news outlets that string everything together into a coherent story. We’re talking about Twitter.

Last weekend, women took to the streets of Washington D.C. for annual Women’s March. As the streets of the capital flooded, the #WomensWave marched on in other cities across the United States. Naturally, our Twitter timelines exploded with photographs, videos and news stories from every local and national outlet. One post in particular caught our attention.

The tweet comes from the account of Calli Norton, a seemingly average woman, tweeted, “My Uber driver is from Iran and he just asked me, ‘What are the women marching for? They have the right to vote, right to work, right to live so freely. My family would envy their freedom. They don’t know how good they have it here. I don’t understand this protest.’ Amazing.”

Of The Globe’s 24 staff members this semester, 18 are women. It’s the first time in decades we’ve had two consecutive female Editor-in-Chiefs.   We march for those in our organization who are receiving an education and gaining real world experience before ever stepping foot into our first job interview. We march for those in our field as it is an essential part of democracy.

We march for families like this Uber driver’s. Although one woman may live a seemingly good life, she marches for the family who can’t live as free as her in hopes of the day they will.

We march for social media. We don’t march for the likes or followers, we march for the conversation that begins on social media. The immediacy and freedom to post allows users of all platforms from across the globe to join the conversation.

We march for change. Women took to the streets for the first time in 2017. Progress has been achieved, but improvement lies ahead.