Religious Social Media Activism: A Qualitative Review of Pro-Islam Hashtags

Abstract

There have been so many acts of terrorism connected to radical Muslims that it's not surprising Islam has a public relations problem. Pollsters, historians and other experts say that the West's collective instincts toward Islam have been shaped over decades by a patchwork of factors. These include demographic trends, psychology, terrorism events, foreign policy, domestic politics, media coverage and the Internet. Therefore, it is not surprising that Muslims are the most negatively viewed faith community in some countries as the United States. The objective of the current research is to review qualitatively the social media platforms of the hashtag #Notinmyname, initiated by renowned Muslim British Community namely Active Change Foundation as a successful model of social media activism combatting the worsening image of Islam. The major conclusion of this study is that hashtags launched by Muslim activists derive from the social media platforms exacerbating and unprecedented power to stir political and social movements especially, regarding controversial and stagnant matters. Posts, comments and shares on different social media platforms go viral, stir discussions and trigger public opinion. These #hashtags were not a launching base for a pro-Islam campaign only, as much as being an outlet breather for all pro and anti-opinions regarding Islam. Social media are now the pathway to mobilize the crowd online to take an action in the real world.