Youth Day in South Africa - A Picture Can Say it All

The rally was secretly planned and took the police by surprise. However, the rally took a turn for the worse when police eventually fired random shots at innocent students. This event turned out to be the beginning of politically mobilizing an entire generation. By the end of the year, more than 700 people had died in civil turmoil. The impact of that day was far beyond what the students could have imagined.   The day is remembered annually in South Africa with a public holiday on the 16th June aptly called Youth Day. Of all of the public holidays South Africa celebrates, Youth Day is one of the more respected days. Since it carries a highly regarded reputation, I decided to track conversation on the 16th June to see how the day is perceived.

 

The most prominent theme was that of Hector Pieterson. Hector Pieterson became an iconic image for the apartheid struggle with a picture that depicts him being carried by a fellow student after being shot by the police.  

 

What I learnt from the Soweto uprising was that if you want people to become impassioned, you have to give them a memorable moment that resonates with their emotions. Facts and statistics are good but not as sticky as a message that speaks instantly to one’s emotions.

 

Information has become easily accessible which has resulted in people being bombarded by brands jostling to be top of mind. To stand out from the crowd, one has to capture the emotions of users as quickly as possible as users form perceptions immediately. 

 

This was proved true again when a parody of the Hector Pieterson photo did the rounds on social networks in South Africa on Youth Day this year. It managed to cause a major stir in the online community with many people considering it disrespectful. Some went as far as saying that the youth of today have succumbed to hedonism, leading to ignorance of apartheid instead of remembrance.  Whatever the intentions were behind the parody, the photo has shown how social networks have become battlegrounds to challenge a brand’s strength in maintaining a consistent brand image over a long time period.

 

Due to the power of visualisation, Hector Pieterson and Youth Day continue to be regarded as a highly respected public holiday in South Africa. Lastly, the clichéd saying ‘the youth are the future’ can’t be more apt than the youth taking a stance and challenging the South African regime in 1976, and still challenging the system today - only now it’s done more peaceful via social networks.