Herbert Ruffin, a Syracuse University historian, noted that Black Lives Matter approached mobilizing the masses differently from other activist groups. Black Lives Matter was the first group to emphasize social media as a force driving change.
While other groups focused on organizing "courthouse demonstrations" and "Change.org petitions," Black Lives Matter took it one step further and created communities on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, according to Ruffin.
Furthermore, social media allowed the group to organize better. The movement in the 60s needed "institutional structure to make things work ... because of the limitations of tech at the time," according to Wired's Bijan Stephen.
When Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, there was no institutional structure that brought thousands of protesters to its streets.
According to Ruffin, there were Black Lives Matter protesters from at least 18 cities in Ferguson. And the organization was barely a year old at the time, speaking to its rapid growth and effective use of social media.
Protests in Ferguson marked Black Lives Matter's first in-person demonstration.