#ToTheGirls: One of the Most Important Feminist Hashtags of 2015

I chose to read Courtney Summers' novel All the Rage for this blog project. I did a little research before choosing my book, and one of the deciding factors was that the author is very adept at using social media and technology herself to publicize her novels. I instantly connected with her on
twitter--she responded to a few of my #alltherage tweets--and the novel sounded interesting.

Photo Courtesy of the author's website.

Summers used social media as a publicity tool, and to raise awareness of the way girls are treated in our society, by coining the hash tag #ToTheGirls encouraging a big warm hug on April 14 to every girl using social media. Here's the information from the author's blog, courtneysummers.ca:

#TOTHEGIRLS"On April 14th, 2015, for the release of All the Rage, Courtney launched the hashtag campaign #ToTheGirls, asking people to send a personal message of support, encouragement and positivity to girls across their social media accounts. #ToTheGirls was a resounding success; it went viral, trending worldwide on Twitter. Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda discussed it on The Today Show and it was featured on Annenberg TV News. It was written about at MTV, Mic News (where it was also named one of the most Important Feminist Hashtags of 2015), The New York Times / Women in the World, Sofia Vergara’s official site, The Huffington Post, Hello Giggles, Quill & Quire, The Debrief, and received a Twitter shout-out from USA Today and a shout-out in The Atlantic. You can explore the hashtag on Twitter,Tumblr and Instagram."

I searched the #ToTheGirls hash tag on twitter and found many responses and posts; it must have been a successful campaign. As mentioned in the blurb, #ToTheGirls was named one of the top feminist hash tags (so far) in 2015 by Identities.Mic. The article is a fascinating look at social media and feminism; I hadn't heard of many of the sites/causes.

As mentioned earlier in this post, I tweeted to Courtney right away, and she responded warmly. I asked her a few questions and she answered with humor and intelligence. So, this interaction set up my foundation for reading All the Rage. A social media savvy author and a well-written teen drama; what more could I ask for in a literature review assignment?