Week 14 Reflection!

Lindsay Harris

COMM 3824-01

4/17/19

Comm 3824 Reflection 12

            This week’s readings were more article based than journal based. I really appreciated that this week, because as a Communications major I believe it is hard to talk about media through data and science based concepts. In Tsukayama’s article she recounts how Twitter (a website dominated by a younger demographic) saw more activity about Trump’s travel ban than his actual inauguration. Furthermore, someone in the article claimed that social media is a tactic, and tactics void of strategy don’t get social movements very far. On the other hand, Shirky’s article chronicled the first time that social media had helped force out a national leader in 2001 with the President of the Philippines. All of the articles for Thursday’s class were centered around youth-led movements and involvement. Yoon-Hendricks wrote about the young individuals behind the ZeroHour movement, who all play different roles all equally fueled by the same passion: trying to end climate change. On a more positive note, Becktold wrote about various reasons people of today should be optimistic about the efforts in terms of environmental justice.

            This week’s readings were some of my favorite that we have done all semester. Not only is social media incredibly relevant to college students, but reading about youth activism is highly relevant as well. As a young person, I often feel powerless or like there is no point in posting about social movements or participating in demonstrations. I know they send a broader message, however most times it feels as if no tangible results occur afterwards. Reading about these kids who are my age or even younger gives me hope. Additionally, Tuesday’s guest speaker was my favorite of the entire semester. The efforts of Red Cypress seem to be making real change and the strategizing behind organizing movements was not only interesting to learn about, but something I could understand and relate to. I feel like being younger and somewhat addicted to social media can be advantageous when it comes to strategizing like this because it makes me view things as a game.

1) Techno-Optimism: Approaches that emphasize the potential of social media tech to solve social problems.

2) Techno-Ambivalence: Characterized by the willingness to make claims of newness but to position such claims within a serious assessment of the limitations, sometimes deemed quite critical, of such technology.

3) Techno-Pessimism:The belief that promises of social media are hyperbolic and superficial.