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Parkland shooting survivor has more Twitter followers than NRA

Emma González, one of the outspoken students who survived a Florida high school shooting, is using Twitter to find an audience.

Marguerite Reardon Former senior reporter
Marguerite Reardon started as a CNET News reporter in 2004, covering cellphone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate and the consolidation of the phone companies.
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Marguerite Reardon
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Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma González gives a speech at a gun control rally at the Broward County Federal Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Feb. 17. A former student, Nikolas Cruz, opened fire at the high school, leaving 17 people dead and 15 injured on Feb. 14. 

 Rhona Wise / AFP/Getty Images

Twitter is a powerful tool for activists. Just ask 18-year-old Emma González, who has become an outspoken gun control advocate after 17 people were killed in a mass shooting at her high school in Parkland, Florida.

In less than two weeks, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas student has racked up more Twitter followers than the politically powerful National Rifle Association.

As of Monday afternoon, González's Twitter account, which was set up earlier this month, had a reported 992,000 followers. The NRA's Twitter account has 587,000 followers, while NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch has 783,000 Twitter followers.

Twitter has been at the center of activism in the US with campaigns ranging from the Women's March, which organized in response to the election of Donald Trump, to the #MeToo movement, which encourages women to speak up about sexual assault using the social network. It's also the preferred platform for Trump and a facilitator of the nation's divisive chatter.

González, who rose to prominence after she gave an impassioned 11-minute speech calling out lawmakers and the NRA for not doing enough to stop school shootings, is leveraging the platform to push for more gun control laws.

Specifically, González has called on people to vote out politicians who block gun control legislation or who accept money from the NRA. And she's been helping organize the March For Our Lives, which will take place in Washington, DC, on March 24. 

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