Domestic Violence and Social Media

Recently social media exploded with a debate of trying to figure out if a dress what black and blue or white and gold. Many people chimed in giving their opinion giving this debate the name #thedress. After the debate had pretty much finished The Salvation Army released a new anti-domestic abuse campaign that paralleled to the recent social media debate. The two advertisements The Salvation Army released release are called "Why is it so hard to see black and blue?" and "Because they cover it with white and gold." These simple but powerful advertisements cause the attention of many people and spread through all types of social media ( Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram) like wild fire.

 

               The simplicity of both of the advertisements gives the viewer a visual of what domestic abuse looks like. In the first advertisement there is a light shining on a young woman lying down and wearing a yellow and gold dress (similar to the one in the #thedress debate). At first you do not notice the bruises on her but upon further examination of the advertisement you see that the woman's body is covered in bruises. The message of this advertisement is simple posing the question "why is it so hard to see black and blue?" (The Salvation Army). The second advertisement that The Salvation Army published answers the question that was posed in the first advertisement. This advertisement like the first one is simple depicting a young woman, except in this advertisement it is a close up on the woman's dace and she is applying makeup. Answering the first advertisement this one reads "because they cover it with white and gold" (The Salvation Army). By paralleling to a recent social media trend The Salvation Army created a larger discussion on the topic of domestic abuse.

 

               The #thedress discussion lasted for weeks on all social media platforms and angered many people. Many friendship were tested when one friend could only see black and blue and the other only white and gold. My best friend saw black and blue and I saw white and gold but we did not get angry with each other. Later the picture was debunked and the reason behind why some people saw black and blue and others saw white and gold. The reason for the color split was the lighting of the picture, in a certain lighting black and blue can be seen as white and gold.

               By paralleling their anti domestic abuse campaign to a recent social media trend, and releasing the advertisement on social media (it was originally published via Twitter) it allowed their message to spread far and wide. That is exactly what the advertisements did getting numerous retweets, shares on Facebook, and reblogs on Tumblr. That is the power of social media, breaking news, startling stories and viral pictures and videos spread like wild fire reaching far and wild  across the world. Even though the reach of social media can sometimes be a bad thing (everything that you have ever said on social media remains there even if you delete it) but in this case the reach of social media was used for the greater good. Reaching the far corners of the globe and hopefully sparking a larger conversation about domestic abuse.

               In conclusion, because of its simplicity and way of publishing The Salvation Army 's campaign against domestic abuse trended over all forms of social media. This allowed the simple but effective message to be talked about by many people. The advertisement also made people ask themselves "why is it so hard to see black and blue?"