Jumping on the Social Bandwagon

At some point, I think most people can say that they have jumped on a social bandwagon. Over the past couple of weeks, two major social causes have been in the forefront of the national media - Kony 2012 and the Trayvon Martin case. 

I'm not going to voice my opinion on the specifics of either, but I ask a simple question - why must people feel the need to discredit the level of support and attention garnered by these causes that have reached millions of people with their message?  Someone somewhere cared enough to start a grass roots movement regarding an issue that was important to them. That movement could have started with a phone call, a post on a Facebook page, a tweet, a YouTube video, or any number of ways in our social media connected world.  We all have the ability to do the same regarding an issue that we hold near and dear.

I don't think people realize that by – posting negative comments about the causes, trying to redirect people’s attention to another cause, locally or nationally – are on the very bandwagon that they seem to be opposing. 

Silence is golden, as is our collective voices in support of a cause. So instead of posting a dissertation on your Facebook page about how and why someone else's cause is garnering so much attention, use your voice to start your own cause and be the driver of your own bandwagon.