A good way to respond to a query from a student about activism?
Dear AOIRers, I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great. Here is her message: As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system. *... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!* Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics *Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today. *
Dear Sarah, air-l subscribers: When I saw this message I first felt for the student and appreciated her query. I wondered this, too: What can I do? I didn’t want to dive in with any suggestions because to be honest I have no more beyond expressing support, donating, joining local protests and adding my voice to those calling on elected officials to tell them they should know they will be held accountable. And as an old, white, cis male there are a whole heck of a lot more voices that need to be heard than mine, ones with far better ideas about what to do and how to support black people and everyone else who is not like me. I want to hear them; I want them to be heard. It’s been longer than 24 hours since this posting and there’s been nothing, no replies. Nor has there been anything from AoIR’s executive committee. Maybe people are struggling in ways I can’t even imagine and a reply is beyond their ability right now. Fair enough. And there are other places where conversations are ongoing. air-l has over the years become more an announcement list and less a discussion list. So it goes. But there are a lot of us on this list and that there has not been a single response to Sarah’s message is troubling to me. Now, it’s fair to ask whether this is something air-l should be engaged in discussing, and whether it is something AoIR needs to address. Yes, and yes. The struggle taking place in the U.S. is not confined to the U.S. Among the many things Stuart Hall taught me, opened my eyes to, is that the black experience is not a U.S. experience only. He also pointed out that all injustice is to be spoken out against. Now is the time to recommit to racial justice. I have heard some people criticize statements from various individuals and institutions as too little, too late, or opportunistic, or as face-saving. Maybe, but I won’t judge: I want to hear the voices, plain and simple: Black Lives Matter. We have studied race online, protest movements online, you might even say we’ve studied the shit out of #Ferguson, Arab Spring, and many other expressions of oppression and responses to it. But what are we _doing_ about any of it? Sarah’s student’s question is what I feel we need to discuss. Is there "the potential to leverage social media for positive social change?” Yes or no? If yes, how? If no, let’s find and discuss some other things we can do. AoIR has from the start been the most welcoming and engaging scholarly community I’ve had the honor to be part of; let’s show who we are and what we can do. Peace and good health to all, Steve
On Jun 4, 2020, at 5:04 PM, Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today. * _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Steve Thankyou. Sarah - I’ll connect with you off list . I’m not opposed to a discussion on list but just don’t want to be one of the usual suspects to express my thoughts on this issue here (I’ve already shared too much on social media and feel I am not the person to take up space there - as I have my own visible and invisible layers of privilege in this situation). BUT I’d like to reinforce my thanks to Steve for asking about what this list does. It was important for him as founder of AOIR to do so at this point. R On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 10:18 AM Jones, Steve <sjones@uic.edu> wrote:
Dear Sarah, air-l subscribers:
When I saw this message I first felt for the student and appreciated her query. I wondered this, too: What can I do? I didn’t want to dive in with any suggestions because to be honest I have no more beyond expressing support, donating, joining local protests and adding my voice to those calling on elected officials to tell them they should know they will be held accountable. And as an old, white, cis male there are a whole heck of a lot more voices that need to be heard than mine, ones with far better ideas about what to do and how to support black people and everyone else who is not like me. I want to hear them; I want them to be heard.
It’s been longer than 24 hours since this posting and there’s been nothing, no replies. Nor has there been anything from AoIR’s executive committee. Maybe people are struggling in ways I can’t even imagine and a reply is beyond their ability right now. Fair enough. And there are other places where conversations are ongoing. air-l has over the years become more an announcement list and less a discussion list. So it goes. But there are a lot of us on this list and that there has not been a single response to Sarah’s message is troubling to me.
Now, it’s fair to ask whether this is something air-l should be engaged in discussing, and whether it is something AoIR needs to address. Yes, and yes. The struggle taking place in the U.S. is not confined to the U.S. Among the many things Stuart Hall taught me, opened my eyes to, is that the black experience is not a U.S. experience only. He also pointed out that all injustice is to be spoken out against. Now is the time to recommit to racial justice. I have heard some people criticize statements from various individuals and institutions as too little, too late, or opportunistic, or as face-saving. Maybe, but I won’t judge: I want to hear the voices, plain and simple: Black Lives Matter.
We have studied race online, protest movements online, you might even say we’ve studied the shit out of #Ferguson, Arab Spring, and many other expressions of oppression and responses to it. But what are we _doing_ about any of it? Sarah’s student’s question is what I feel we need to discuss. Is there "the potential to leverage social media for positive social change?” Yes or no? If yes, how? If no, let’s find and discuss some other things we can do. AoIR has from the start been the most welcoming and engaging scholarly community I’ve had the honor to be part of; let’s show who we are and what we can do.
Peace and good health to all,
Steve
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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On Jun 4, 2020, at 5:04 PM, Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today.
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- ___ Radhika Gajjala Managing Editor: Fembot Collective Co-editor of Ada: Journal of Gender and New Media (adanewmedia.org) Professor, School of Media and Communication and American Culture Studies Program Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green Ohio http://www.radhikagajjala.org
Adding on - I am also interested to discuss how we are working with pre university young people within our orbit - whether children grandchildren nephews nieces and others in our social sphere. Getting our activism creds by posting and retweeting alone (I mean those who are not directly part of the African American community) is probably not sufficient. So yes I fully appreciate Sarah’s question. Because the images serving desensitize while reinforcing stereotypes is an issue beyond the African American community. And await further discussion On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 10:32 AM Radhika G <gradhika2012@gmail.com> wrote:
Steve
Thankyou.
Sarah - I’ll connect with you off list . I’m not opposed to a discussion on list but just don’t want to be one of the usual suspects to express my thoughts on this issue here (I’ve already shared too much on social media and feel I am not the person to take up space there - as I have my own visible and invisible layers of privilege in this situation).
BUT I’d like to reinforce my thanks to Steve for asking about what this list does. It was important for him as founder of AOIR to do so at this point.
R
On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 10:18 AM Jones, Steve <sjones@uic.edu> wrote:
Dear Sarah, air-l subscribers:
When I saw this message I first felt for the student and appreciated her query. I wondered this, too: What can I do? I didn’t want to dive in with any suggestions because to be honest I have no more beyond expressing support, donating, joining local protests and adding my voice to those calling on elected officials to tell them they should know they will be held accountable. And as an old, white, cis male there are a whole heck of a lot more voices that need to be heard than mine, ones with far better ideas about what to do and how to support black people and everyone else who is not like me. I want to hear them; I want them to be heard.
It’s been longer than 24 hours since this posting and there’s been nothing, no replies. Nor has there been anything from AoIR’s executive committee. Maybe people are struggling in ways I can’t even imagine and a reply is beyond their ability right now. Fair enough. And there are other places where conversations are ongoing. air-l has over the years become more an announcement list and less a discussion list. So it goes. But there are a lot of us on this list and that there has not been a single response to Sarah’s message is troubling to me.
Now, it’s fair to ask whether this is something air-l should be engaged in discussing, and whether it is something AoIR needs to address. Yes, and yes. The struggle taking place in the U.S. is not confined to the U.S. Among the many things Stuart Hall taught me, opened my eyes to, is that the black experience is not a U.S. experience only. He also pointed out that all injustice is to be spoken out against. Now is the time to recommit to racial justice. I have heard some people criticize statements from various individuals and institutions as too little, too late, or opportunistic, or as face-saving. Maybe, but I won’t judge: I want to hear the voices, plain and simple: Black Lives Matter.
We have studied race online, protest movements online, you might even say we’ve studied the shit out of #Ferguson, Arab Spring, and many other expressions of oppression and responses to it. But what are we _doing_ about any of it? Sarah’s student’s question is what I feel we need to discuss. Is there "the potential to leverage social media for positive social change?” Yes or no? If yes, how? If no, let’s find and discuss some other things we can do. AoIR has from the start been the most welcoming and engaging scholarly community I’ve had the honor to be part of; let’s show who we are and what we can do.
Peace and good health to all,
Steve
On Jun 4, 2020, at 5:04 PM, Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today. * _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- ___ Radhika Gajjala Managing Editor: Fembot Collective Co-editor of Ada: Journal of Gender and New Media (adanewmedia.org)
Professor, School of Media and Communication and American Culture Studies Program
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green Ohio http://www.radhikagajjala.org
-- ___ Radhika Gajjala Managing Editor: Fembot Collective Co-editor of Ada: Journal of Gender and New Media (adanewmedia.org) Professor, School of Media and Communication and American Culture Studies Program Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green Ohio http://www.radhikagajjala.org
I’ve been waiting to see the discussion to Sarah’s question, because frankly, I want to know what we can do too. I appreciate all the responses so far and would like to implore everyone to please keep this discussion on the list so we can all benefit from the replies. If it were my student, I would hope that I would do what Sarah describes, and like Sarah, I’d like to know how we can all do more. J
On Jun 6, 2020, at 7:41 AM, Radhika G <gradhika2012@gmail.com> wrote:
Adding on - I am also interested to discuss how we are working with pre university young people within our orbit - whether children grandchildren nephews nieces and others in our social sphere. Getting our activism creds by posting and retweeting alone (I mean those who are not directly part of the African American community) is probably not sufficient.
So yes I fully appreciate Sarah’s question. Because the images serving desensitize while reinforcing stereotypes is an issue beyond the African American community.
And await further discussion
On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 10:32 AM Radhika G <gradhika2012@gmail.com> wrote:
Steve
Thankyou.
Sarah - I’ll connect with you off list . I’m not opposed to a discussion on list but just don’t want to be one of the usual suspects to express my thoughts on this issue here (I’ve already shared too much on social media and feel I am not the person to take up space there - as I have my own visible and invisible layers of privilege in this situation).
BUT I’d like to reinforce my thanks to Steve for asking about what this list does. It was important for him as founder of AOIR to do so at this point.
R
On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 10:18 AM Jones, Steve <sjones@uic.edu> wrote:
Dear Sarah, air-l subscribers:
When I saw this message I first felt for the student and appreciated her query. I wondered this, too: What can I do? I didn’t want to dive in with any suggestions because to be honest I have no more beyond expressing support, donating, joining local protests and adding my voice to those calling on elected officials to tell them they should know they will be held accountable. And as an old, white, cis male there are a whole heck of a lot more voices that need to be heard than mine, ones with far better ideas about what to do and how to support black people and everyone else who is not like me. I want to hear them; I want them to be heard.
It’s been longer than 24 hours since this posting and there’s been nothing, no replies. Nor has there been anything from AoIR’s executive committee. Maybe people are struggling in ways I can’t even imagine and a reply is beyond their ability right now. Fair enough. And there are other places where conversations are ongoing. air-l has over the years become more an announcement list and less a discussion list. So it goes. But there are a lot of us on this list and that there has not been a single response to Sarah’s message is troubling to me.
Now, it’s fair to ask whether this is something air-l should be engaged in discussing, and whether it is something AoIR needs to address. Yes, and yes. The struggle taking place in the U.S. is not confined to the U.S. Among the many things Stuart Hall taught me, opened my eyes to, is that the black experience is not a U.S. experience only. He also pointed out that all injustice is to be spoken out against. Now is the time to recommit to racial justice. I have heard some people criticize statements from various individuals and institutions as too little, too late, or opportunistic, or as face-saving. Maybe, but I won’t judge: I want to hear the voices, plain and simple: Black Lives Matter.
We have studied race online, protest movements online, you might even say we’ve studied the shit out of #Ferguson, Arab Spring, and many other expressions of oppression and responses to it. But what are we _doing_ about any of it? Sarah’s student’s question is what I feel we need to discuss. Is there "the potential to leverage social media for positive social change?” Yes or no? If yes, how? If no, let’s find and discuss some other things we can do. AoIR has from the start been the most welcoming and engaging scholarly community I’ve had the honor to be part of; let’s show who we are and what we can do.
Peace and good health to all,
Steve
On Jun 4, 2020, at 5:04 PM, Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today. * _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- ___ Radhika Gajjala Managing Editor: Fembot Collective Co-editor of Ada: Journal of Gender and New Media (adanewmedia.org)
Professor, School of Media and Communication and American Culture Studies Program
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green Ohio http://www.radhikagajjala.org
-- ___ Radhika Gajjala Managing Editor: Fembot Collective Co-editor of Ada: Journal of Gender and New Media (adanewmedia.org)
Professor, School of Media and Communication and American Culture Studies Program
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green Ohio http://www.radhikagajjala.org _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Dear all, FWIW, I've been struggling with how to respond - not solely to this query on AoIR, but across a number of fronts, starting with friends and family in Minneapolis and so on. I've not responded to Sarah's query because, if I've learned anything from and since the 1960s, it's that response and action are frequently most effective when focused strongly on the local level. Lots of reasons for this, including the importance of being able to sustain a focus over time, despite the welter of competing, equally compelling causes, needs, etc. - and, on a good day (year, decade ...), you can see some modicum of results from your (shared) engagement. So: not knowing the local scene, I didn't have anything concrete to suggest. There's lots to say about what AoIR might do as a collective, and I hope there will be good ways to further that conversation. In keeping with the above, however, let me offer a fairly simple observation - one that I'm sure most of us know, but perhaps it helps to have it articulated (again). (I say this partly as a 60s' kid, whose coming to political (not to mention ethical) consciousness was catalyzed and fostered by not only the Civil Rights movement, but also related struggles - as well as from the standpoint of having taught and worked with young people for some time now.) I think that for many of us, especially when we are young, one of the key obstacles and difficulties is a sense of paralysis that can come as we recognize the scope of the problems - not "just" systemic racism worldwide: if we are to confront that evil, we will also need / feel compelled to confront its multiple cousins and expressions, ranging from the oppression and exploitation of women to staggering poverty and hunger in so many parts of the world to the organized assault on the planetary ecosystem, and any number of catastrophes in between. We - whoever "we" may be - can't fight them all, and we will certainly not win them all. Why try? For me, a compelling lesson was catalyzed by the anthropologist Loren Eiseley, who wrote of his own crises in an essay titled "The Starthrower." The central figure is a man he encountered who was inspecting the mass of creatures thrown onto the beach by storm waves. When he found a starfish still alive, he would fling it back into the ocean, and then keep looking for the next. There is an absurdity in this: no single person can save them all. No, but you can help a few - and for those few, whatever else may come of your work and help, your work and help can make all the difference. Sarah & Co: I don't know if this will be helpful in your response to your student. But perhaps this might be useful to keep in mind as these struggles continue. All very best, - charles On 06/06/2020 16:32, Radhika G wrote:
Steve
Thankyou.
Sarah - I’ll connect with you off list . I’m not opposed to a discussion on list but just don’t want to be one of the usual suspects to express my thoughts on this issue here (I’ve already shared too much on social media and feel I am not the person to take up space there - as I have my own visible and invisible layers of privilege in this situation).
BUT I’d like to reinforce my thanks to Steve for asking about what this list does. It was important for him as founder of AOIR to do so at this point.
R
On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 10:18 AM Jones, Steve <sjones@uic.edu> wrote:
Dear Sarah, air-l subscribers:
When I saw this message I first felt for the student and appreciated her query. I wondered this, too: What can I do? I didn’t want to dive in with any suggestions because to be honest I have no more beyond expressing support, donating, joining local protests and adding my voice to those calling on elected officials to tell them they should know they will be held accountable. And as an old, white, cis male there are a whole heck of a lot more voices that need to be heard than mine, ones with far better ideas about what to do and how to support black people and everyone else who is not like me. I want to hear them; I want them to be heard.
It’s been longer than 24 hours since this posting and there’s been nothing, no replies. Nor has there been anything from AoIR’s executive committee. Maybe people are struggling in ways I can’t even imagine and a reply is beyond their ability right now. Fair enough. And there are other places where conversations are ongoing. air-l has over the years become more an announcement list and less a discussion list. So it goes. But there are a lot of us on this list and that there has not been a single response to Sarah’s message is troubling to me.
Now, it’s fair to ask whether this is something air-l should be engaged in discussing, and whether it is something AoIR needs to address. Yes, and yes. The struggle taking place in the U.S. is not confined to the U.S. Among the many things Stuart Hall taught me, opened my eyes to, is that the black experience is not a U.S. experience only. He also pointed out that all injustice is to be spoken out against. Now is the time to recommit to racial justice. I have heard some people criticize statements from various individuals and institutions as too little, too late, or opportunistic, or as face-saving. Maybe, but I won’t judge: I want to hear the voices, plain and simple: Black Lives Matter.
We have studied race online, protest movements online, you might even say we’ve studied the shit out of #Ferguson, Arab Spring, and many other expressions of oppression and responses to it. But what are we _doing_ about any of it? Sarah’s student’s question is what I feel we need to discuss. Is there "the potential to leverage social media for positive social change?” Yes or no? If yes, how? If no, let’s find and discuss some other things we can do. AoIR has from the start been the most welcoming and engaging scholarly community I’ve had the honor to be part of; let’s show who we are and what we can do.
Peace and good health to all,
Steve
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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On Jun 4, 2020, at 5:04 PM, Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today.
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html> Fellow, Siebold-Collegiums Institute for Advanced Studies, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany Co-chair & Editor, Internet Research Ethics 3.0 <https://aoir.org/reports/ethics3.pdf> 3rd edition of Digital Media Ethics now out! <http://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509533428> Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no
Thank you Steve Jones: you said it perfectly. Thank you, Radhika. You are present both on the forum and off. That’s what this list has consistently done and the generosity of bibliographies must not be an end in itself. There might be active discussions that are central to the list: the data of black lives and black deaths in the US, black/POC risks and differentials among US populations right now, US centralism and different methods of charting and responding to Covid-19, pandemic spread and data at local, national, global level and their differences and the social effects of these differences, lack of accurate testing, no real collection of data. . .all of these topics are keywords of AoIR. I am struggling with being at daily protests and keeping my daughters healthy. So I’m not feeling particularly data-keen or savvy at the moment. But in my corner of the world, the teens are asking the same questions. What is the role of media? Social media? I did not catch this thread until now, but am so grateful for this long sustaining listserv and that AoIR has Steve and Radhika keeping all difficult questions on the table. Jillana Enteen jillana@jillana.net
On Jun 6, 2020, at 9:32 AM, Radhika G <gradhika2012@gmail.com> wrote:
Steve
Thankyou.
Sarah - I’ll connect with you off list . I’m not opposed to a discussion on list but just don’t want to be one of the usual suspects to express my thoughts on this issue here (I’ve already shared too much on social media and feel I am not the person to take up space there - as I have my own visible and invisible layers of privilege in this situation).
BUT I’d like to reinforce my thanks to Steve for asking about what this list does. It was important for him as founder of AOIR to do so at this point.
R
On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 10:18 AM Jones, Steve <sjones@uic.edu> wrote:
Dear Sarah, air-l subscribers:
When I saw this message I first felt for the student and appreciated her query. I wondered this, too: What can I do? I didn’t want to dive in with any suggestions because to be honest I have no more beyond expressing support, donating, joining local protests and adding my voice to those calling on elected officials to tell them they should know they will be held accountable. And as an old, white, cis male there are a whole heck of a lot more voices that need to be heard than mine, ones with far better ideas about what to do and how to support black people and everyone else who is not like me. I want to hear them; I want them to be heard.
It’s been longer than 24 hours since this posting and there’s been nothing, no replies. Nor has there been anything from AoIR’s executive committee. Maybe people are struggling in ways I can’t even imagine and a reply is beyond their ability right now. Fair enough. And there are other places where conversations are ongoing. air-l has over the years become more an announcement list and less a discussion list. So it goes. But there are a lot of us on this list and that there has not been a single response to Sarah’s message is troubling to me.
Now, it’s fair to ask whether this is something air-l should be engaged in discussing, and whether it is something AoIR needs to address. Yes, and yes. The struggle taking place in the U.S. is not confined to the U.S. Among the many things Stuart Hall taught me, opened my eyes to, is that the black experience is not a U.S. experience only. He also pointed out that all injustice is to be spoken out against. Now is the time to recommit to racial justice. I have heard some people criticize statements from various individuals and institutions as too little, too late, or opportunistic, or as face-saving. Maybe, but I won’t judge: I want to hear the voices, plain and simple: Black Lives Matter.
We have studied race online, protest movements online, you might even say we’ve studied the shit out of #Ferguson, Arab Spring, and many other expressions of oppression and responses to it. But what are we _doing_ about any of it? Sarah’s student’s question is what I feel we need to discuss. Is there "the potential to leverage social media for positive social change?” Yes or no? If yes, how? If no, let’s find and discuss some other things we can do. AoIR has from the start been the most welcoming and engaging scholarly community I’ve had the honor to be part of; let’s show who we are and what we can do.
Peace and good health to all,
Steve
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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On Jun 4, 2020, at 5:04 PM, Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today.
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- ___ Radhika Gajjala Managing Editor: Fembot Collective Co-editor of Ada: Journal of Gender and New Media (adanewmedia.org)
Professor, School of Media and Communication and American Culture Studies Program
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green Ohio http://www.radhikagajjala.org _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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Dear Sarah, Thank you for sharing this note with us. It was powerful and led to introspective silence for me. I was deeply in awe of the kind of pedagogy that inspires your students to reach out to you asking for more, and also in respect for students who see their roles as change actors and are creating these structures of intervention. I was a little hesitant in stepping into the conversation because I do not have immediate solutions or the correct answers; also my own context with one foot in India and one in the Netherlands, is very different from the one you occupy. I starred the conversation hoping there will be more people sharing their wisdom and experience, and I would learn from it. Steven's mail reminded me that even though this isn't so much a 'community', it is still a 'safe space' enough for me to share some of what I have been doing through my work in community organisation and civil society action, working with young people, sometimes, also with my students. Though, like Radhika, I would have preferred, perhaps, to have this conversation in a less public forum, because, while I appreciate this mailing list and the conferences, and the different opportunities it consolidates, very frankly, it has never felt like a receptive space for voices that do not fit into the US-American education systems and registers. Past experiences have made me in a lurker, where I have instead connected with people off-the-list, and found it more productive. However, in these uncertain times, as things are shifting, I am happy to 'un-lurk' and engage with this question, partly through speculation, partly through practice, and partly through my own organisation. In the last couple of years, because I also had an administrative position within the university, the number of students (and often faculty) who reached out asking for operational advice and discussions has also increased, and I have learned a few things, three of which might help you in responding to the student as well. 1. I have learned that when students and colleagues reach out, asking for what more can we do together, what more can they do together, they are not merely coming to seek information. They often have creative and tentative plans that they are not sure would be feasible. It helps me a lot to make them the owners of the question (not the answer) and see what they think could be the avenues of intervention. Often, I find my role as an facilitator and a sound-board helping to sometimes crystalise and sometimes materialise the actions they have already imagined or are thinking through. 2. One thing that my communities have appreciated is that I also immediately step in to make sure that the person asking the question is being cared for, and has the resources to cope with what they are experiencing. Often, with students, they have not thought of the material, emotional, and intellectual resources which would keep them safe as they take up the risks of activism and intervention. I do have communities and resources within which they could find some of this material, and I also help them to find the resources within the university, to make sure that their work is sustainable and supported. 3. In this particular instance, because the spectrum of the current world-on-fire politics is so large, it might be helpful to offer to have a chat with the student and see what they see their role as. From my own experience in online organising, I would also guide them to the larger groups, collectives, and communities that are already in action and urge them to pool resources rather than trying to start something on their own. It would also be useful to help 'localize' their 'social media' actions and see if they can situate themselves in the immediate physical environments and identify where the blind spots or missing gaps are. One of their expertise is critical cultural and digital analysis and they might be able to review and analyse the ongoing campaigns and see where they might be able to step in. And at the back of my head, in all these conversations, I have the voice of a young activist who doesn't like being named and tagged on social media, so I will respect their privacy, but something they had told me a long time ago was powerful: Before you set out to save the world, make sure the world needs saving and it needs you to do the saving. I hope that this might be fruitful in thinking through how to respond to the query in particular, but also perhaps expand the question of 'social media for positive change' to 'social media actors and their actions' for meaningful transformation. Warm regards, Nishant On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 4:18 PM Jones, Steve <sjones@uic.edu> wrote:
Dear Sarah, air-l subscribers:
When I saw this message I first felt for the student and appreciated her query. I wondered this, too: What can I do? I didn’t want to dive in with any suggestions because to be honest I have no more beyond expressing support, donating, joining local protests and adding my voice to those calling on elected officials to tell them they should know they will be held accountable. And as an old, white, cis male there are a whole heck of a lot more voices that need to be heard than mine, ones with far better ideas about what to do and how to support black people and everyone else who is not like me. I want to hear them; I want them to be heard.
It’s been longer than 24 hours since this posting and there’s been nothing, no replies. Nor has there been anything from AoIR’s executive committee. Maybe people are struggling in ways I can’t even imagine and a reply is beyond their ability right now. Fair enough. And there are other places where conversations are ongoing. air-l has over the years become more an announcement list and less a discussion list. So it goes. But there are a lot of us on this list and that there has not been a single response to Sarah’s message is troubling to me.
Now, it’s fair to ask whether this is something air-l should be engaged in discussing, and whether it is something AoIR needs to address. Yes, and yes. The struggle taking place in the U.S. is not confined to the U.S. Among the many things Stuart Hall taught me, opened my eyes to, is that the black experience is not a U.S. experience only. He also pointed out that all injustice is to be spoken out against. Now is the time to recommit to racial justice. I have heard some people criticize statements from various individuals and institutions as too little, too late, or opportunistic, or as face-saving. Maybe, but I won’t judge: I want to hear the voices, plain and simple: Black Lives Matter.
We have studied race online, protest movements online, you might even say we’ve studied the shit out of #Ferguson, Arab Spring, and many other expressions of oppression and responses to it. But what are we _doing_ about any of it? Sarah’s student’s question is what I feel we need to discuss. Is there "the potential to leverage social media for positive social change?” Yes or no? If yes, how? If no, let’s find and discuss some other things we can do. AoIR has from the start been the most welcoming and engaging scholarly community I’ve had the honor to be part of; let’s show who we are and what we can do.
Peace and good health to all,
Steve
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
On Jun 4, 2020, at 5:04 PM, Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today.
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Dr. Nishant Shah (Ph.D.) Professor, Aesthetics & Cultures of Technology, Director Research ArtEZ University of the Arts, The Netherlands. Knowledge Partner, Digital Earth Project, Hivos Mentor, Feminist Internet Research Network, APC https://nishantshah.online
I also don’t have the answers but wanted to share a free webinar link for academics who are struggling with these questions too. I pray you are well in these difficult times. Communities across the United States are in deep pain. Collectively as well as individually, we are grappling with the deleterious impact of racism and how we can move forward together as contributors to a better and more inclusive world. Many of you have reached out for support as you manage the impact of two different, but interconnected, public health crises: the COVID-19 pandemic and the pain of systemic racism brought to a head by the recent death of George Floyd. In response to the pandemic, we’ve hosted seven different online learning events since March 2020 and released the free COVID-19 DEI Crisis Action Strategy Guide and other related tools. Now we bring you a new, no-cost webinar about campus policing and activism: Race Relations, Student Activism, and Community Policing on College & University Campuses July 9, 4-6 pm EST Join us for a national dialogue on community policing, race, campus climate, and student activism in the academy. The webinar will feature a panel of committed scholars and leaders that bring a depth of knowledge on systemic racism, policing, and are all deeply committed to achieving inclusive excellence in the academy. Register Here Damon A. Williams, Ph.D. Chief Catalyst Center for Strategic Diversity Leadership and Social Innovation Former Senior Vice President for Program, Training & Youth Development Services, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, National Headquarters Former Associate Vice Chancellor, Vice Provost & CDO, University of Wisconsin-Madison Author of Strategic Diversity Leadership: Activating Change and Transformation In Higher Education and coauthor of The Chief Diversity Officer Strategy, Structure, and Change Management Sue Riseling Founder The Riseling Group Former Executive Director, International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators First Woman & University Police Chief President of the Wisconsin Chiefs Police Association Former Campus Police Chief, University of Wisconsin-Madison Karol Mason, J.D. President John Jay College of Criminal Justice Former US Assistant Attorney General Head of the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs during the Obama Administration Frank H. Wu, J.D. President-designee Queens College City University of New York First Asian American to serve as dean of Wayne State University Law School William L. Prosser Distinguished Professor at UC Hastings; previously Chancellor & Dean Former Law Professor, Howard University Author of Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White; coauthor of Race, Rights & Reparation: Law and the Japanese American Internment To offer these urgently needed programs, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the third cohort of our annual five-week online National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy (NIXLA) summer program. Instead, the NIXLA Accelerator Series will provide practical guidance, evidence-based strategies and tips to support your DEI strategies and fall planning efforts. The NIXLA Accelerator Series launches in July with this free webinar and will feature other timely educational talks from nationally respected keynote speakers and scholars. You can participate in the series as either an individual learner or with an institutional team. Be on the look out for more emails about the NIXLA Accelerator Series topics (such as our deep dive into allyship) in the next few days. We look forward to your participating in this important national conversation on July 9, and we hope you consider joining our growing community of NIXLA Fellows as we all work together to build equitable, inclusive communities in this new normal. In Service— Damon A. Williams, Ph.D. Chief Catalyst, National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy (NIXLA) Download the Free COVID-19 DEI Crisis Action Strategy Guide Center for Strategic Diversity Leadership & Social Innovation 4780 Ashford Dunwoody Rd Suite A540 #130 Atlanta, GA 30338 Unsubscribe drnataliesappleton@gmail.com Update Profile | About Constant Contact Sent by strategicdiversityleadership@gmail.com in collaboration with Try email marketing for free today! Sent from my iPhone
On 6 Jun 2020, at 09:14, Nishant Shah <itsnishant@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Sarah, Thank you for sharing this note with us. It was powerful and led to introspective silence for me. I was deeply in awe of the kind of pedagogy that inspires your students to reach out to you asking for more, and also in respect for students who see their roles as change actors and are creating these structures of intervention. I was a little hesitant in stepping into the conversation because I do not have immediate solutions or the correct answers; also my own context with one foot in India and one in the Netherlands, is very different from the one you occupy. I starred the conversation hoping there will be more people sharing their wisdom and experience, and I would learn from it. Steven's mail reminded me that even though this isn't so much a 'community', it is still a 'safe space' enough for me to share some of what I have been doing through my work in community organisation and civil society action, working with young people, sometimes, also with my students. Though, like Radhika, I would have preferred, perhaps, to have this conversation in a less public forum, because, while I appreciate this mailing list and the conferences, and the different opportunities it consolidates, very frankly, it has never felt like a receptive space for voices that do not fit into the US-American education systems and registers. Past experiences have made me in a lurker, where I have instead connected with people off-the-list, and found it more productive.
However, in these uncertain times, as things are shifting, I am happy to 'un-lurk' and engage with this question, partly through speculation, partly through practice, and partly through my own organisation.
In the last couple of years, because I also had an administrative position within the university, the number of students (and often faculty) who reached out asking for operational advice and discussions has also increased, and I have learned a few things, three of which might help you in responding to the student as well.
1. I have learned that when students and colleagues reach out, asking for what more can we do together, what more can they do together, they are not merely coming to seek information. They often have creative and tentative plans that they are not sure would be feasible. It helps me a lot to make them the owners of the question (not the answer) and see what they think could be the avenues of intervention. Often, I find my role as an facilitator and a sound-board helping to sometimes crystalise and sometimes materialise the actions they have already imagined or are thinking through.
2. One thing that my communities have appreciated is that I also immediately step in to make sure that the person asking the question is being cared for, and has the resources to cope with what they are experiencing. Often, with students, they have not thought of the material, emotional, and intellectual resources which would keep them safe as they take up the risks of activism and intervention. I do have communities and resources within which they could find some of this material, and I also help them to find the resources within the university, to make sure that their work is sustainable and supported.
3. In this particular instance, because the spectrum of the current world-on-fire politics is so large, it might be helpful to offer to have a chat with the student and see what they see their role as. From my own experience in online organising, I would also guide them to the larger groups, collectives, and communities that are already in action and urge them to pool resources rather than trying to start something on their own. It would also be useful to help 'localize' their 'social media' actions and see if they can situate themselves in the immediate physical environments and identify where the blind spots or missing gaps are. One of their expertise is critical cultural and digital analysis and they might be able to review and analyse the ongoing campaigns and see where they might be able to step in.
And at the back of my head, in all these conversations, I have the voice of a young activist who doesn't like being named and tagged on social media, so I will respect their privacy, but something they had told me a long time ago was powerful: Before you set out to save the world, make sure the world needs saving and it needs you to do the saving.
I hope that this might be fruitful in thinking through how to respond to the query in particular, but also perhaps expand the question of 'social media for positive change' to 'social media actors and their actions' for meaningful transformation.
Warm regards, Nishant
On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 4:18 PM Jones, Steve <sjones@uic.edu> wrote:
Dear Sarah, air-l subscribers:
When I saw this message I first felt for the student and appreciated her query. I wondered this, too: What can I do? I didn’t want to dive in with any suggestions because to be honest I have no more beyond expressing support, donating, joining local protests and adding my voice to those calling on elected officials to tell them they should know they will be held accountable. And as an old, white, cis male there are a whole heck of a lot more voices that need to be heard than mine, ones with far better ideas about what to do and how to support black people and everyone else who is not like me. I want to hear them; I want them to be heard.
It’s been longer than 24 hours since this posting and there’s been nothing, no replies. Nor has there been anything from AoIR’s executive committee. Maybe people are struggling in ways I can’t even imagine and a reply is beyond their ability right now. Fair enough. And there are other places where conversations are ongoing. air-l has over the years become more an announcement list and less a discussion list. So it goes. But there are a lot of us on this list and that there has not been a single response to Sarah’s message is troubling to me.
Now, it’s fair to ask whether this is something air-l should be engaged in discussing, and whether it is something AoIR needs to address. Yes, and yes. The struggle taking place in the U.S. is not confined to the U.S. Among the many things Stuart Hall taught me, opened my eyes to, is that the black experience is not a U.S. experience only. He also pointed out that all injustice is to be spoken out against. Now is the time to recommit to racial justice. I have heard some people criticize statements from various individuals and institutions as too little, too late, or opportunistic, or as face-saving. Maybe, but I won’t judge: I want to hear the voices, plain and simple: Black Lives Matter.
We have studied race online, protest movements online, you might even say we’ve studied the shit out of #Ferguson, Arab Spring, and many other expressions of oppression and responses to it. But what are we _doing_ about any of it? Sarah’s student’s question is what I feel we need to discuss. Is there "the potential to leverage social media for positive social change?” Yes or no? If yes, how? If no, let’s find and discuss some other things we can do. AoIR has from the start been the most welcoming and engaging scholarly community I’ve had the honor to be part of; let’s show who we are and what we can do.
Peace and good health to all,
Steve
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
On Jun 4, 2020, at 5:04 PM, Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today.
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Dr. Nishant Shah (Ph.D.) Professor, Aesthetics & Cultures of Technology, Director Research ArtEZ University of the Arts, The Netherlands. Knowledge Partner, Digital Earth Project, Hivos Mentor, Feminist Internet Research Network, APC https://nishantshah.online _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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Dear Sarah and friends, Just to add my 2 cents, questions of what there is to do or left to do in online spaces is danting. I've also spent a lot of time in contemplation on how to even begin to respond. I've also, frankly, been in mourning. I think one of the things we're forced to do, unfortunately, is to depend on the marginalized to figure out what to do and tell us. Clearly that's an impossible task, but if we've learned anything from say-- South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation project is the power of narratives to frame experiences. So, maybe, one thing we can do is share stories-- both as PoC and as white folks-- of all the ways in which we've failed and succeeded. Maybe that's one way in which social media can be useful. Second, if we believe anything we've been taught or researched, then we believe that there is power in circulating discourses. It's not merely convincing racists to give up their ways-- but changing the environment. In fact, isn't that what Trump did? He normalized racism. Just maybe there's a way to normalize compassion. Sam ------ Sam Srauy, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Digital Media and Production Coordinator Department of Communication, Journalism, and Public Relations Oakland University 248.370.4352 On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 1:04 PM Natalie Rock <drnatalierock@gmail.com> wrote:
I also don’t have the answers but wanted to share a free webinar link for academics who are struggling with these questions too.
I pray you are well in these difficult times.
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On 6 Jun 2020, at 09:14, Nishant Shah <itsnishant@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Sarah, Thank you for sharing this note with us. It was powerful and led to introspective silence for me. I was deeply in awe of the kind of pedagogy that inspires your students to reach out to you asking for more, and also in respect for students who see their roles as change actors and are creating these structures of intervention. I was a little hesitant in stepping into the conversation because I do not have immediate solutions or the correct answers; also my own context with one foot in India and one in the Netherlands, is very different from the one you occupy. I starred the conversation hoping there will be more people sharing their wisdom and experience, and I would learn from it. Steven's mail reminded me that even though this isn't so much a 'community', it is still a 'safe space' enough for me to share some of what I have been doing through my work in community organisation and civil society action, working with young people, sometimes, also with my students. Though, like Radhika, I would have preferred, perhaps, to have this conversation in a less public forum, because, while I appreciate this mailing list and the conferences, and the different opportunities it consolidates, very frankly, it has never felt like a receptive space for voices that do not fit into the US-American education systems and registers. Past experiences have made me in a lurker, where I have instead connected with people off-the-list, and found it more productive.
However, in these uncertain times, as things are shifting, I am happy to 'un-lurk' and engage with this question, partly through speculation, partly through practice, and partly through my own organisation.
In the last couple of years, because I also had an administrative position within the university, the number of students (and often faculty) who reached out asking for operational advice and discussions has also increased, and I have learned a few things, three of which might help you in responding to the student as well.
1. I have learned that when students and colleagues reach out, asking for what more can we do together, what more can they do together, they are not merely coming to seek information. They often have creative and tentative plans that they are not sure would be feasible. It helps me a lot to make them the owners of the question (not the answer) and see what they think could be the avenues of intervention. Often, I find my role as an facilitator and a sound-board helping to sometimes crystalise and sometimes materialise the actions they have already imagined or are thinking through.
2. One thing that my communities have appreciated is that I also immediately step in to make sure that the person asking the question is being cared for, and has the resources to cope with what they are experiencing. Often, with students, they have not thought of the material, emotional, and intellectual resources which would keep them safe as they take up the risks of activism and intervention. I do have communities and resources within which they could find some of this material, and I also help them to find the resources within the university, to make sure that their work is sustainable and supported.
3. In this particular instance, because the spectrum of the current world-on-fire politics is so large, it might be helpful to offer to have a chat with the student and see what they see their role as. From my own experience in online organising, I would also guide them to the larger groups, collectives, and communities that are already in action and urge them to pool resources rather than trying to start something on their own. It would also be useful to help 'localize' their 'social media' actions and see if they can situate themselves in the immediate physical environments and identify where the blind spots or missing gaps are. One of their expertise is critical cultural and digital analysis and they might be able to review and analyse the ongoing campaigns and see where they might be able to step in.
And at the back of my head, in all these conversations, I have the voice of a young activist who doesn't like being named and tagged on social media, so I will respect their privacy, but something they had told me a long time ago was powerful: Before you set out to save the world, make sure the world needs saving and it needs you to do the saving.
I hope that this might be fruitful in thinking through how to respond to the query in particular, but also perhaps expand the question of 'social media for positive change' to 'social media actors and their actions' for meaningful transformation.
Warm regards, Nishant
On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 4:18 PM Jones, Steve <sjones@uic.edu> wrote:
Dear Sarah, air-l subscribers:
When I saw this message I first felt for the student and appreciated her query. I wondered this, too: What can I do? I didn’t want to dive in with any suggestions because to be honest I have no more beyond expressing support, donating, joining local protests and adding my voice to those calling on elected officials to tell them they should know they will be held accountable. And as an old, white, cis male there are a whole heck of a lot more voices that need to be heard than mine, ones with far better ideas about what to do and how to support black people and everyone else who is not like me. I want to hear them; I want them to be heard.
It’s been longer than 24 hours since this posting and there’s been nothing, no replies. Nor has there been anything from AoIR’s executive committee. Maybe people are struggling in ways I can’t even imagine and a reply is beyond their ability right now. Fair enough. And there are other places where conversations are ongoing. air-l has over the years become more an announcement list and less a discussion list. So it goes. But there are a lot of us on this list and that there has not been a single response to Sarah’s message is troubling to me.
Now, it’s fair to ask whether this is something air-l should be engaged in discussing, and whether it is something AoIR needs to address. Yes, and yes. The struggle taking place in the U.S. is not confined to the U.S. Among the many things Stuart Hall taught me, opened my eyes to, is that the black experience is not a U.S. experience only. He also pointed out that all injustice is to be spoken out against. Now is the time to recommit to racial justice. I have heard some people criticize statements from various individuals and institutions as too little, too late, or opportunistic, or as face-saving. Maybe, but I won’t judge: I want to hear the voices, plain and simple: Black Lives Matter.
We have studied race online, protest movements online, you might even say we’ve studied the shit out of #Ferguson, Arab Spring, and many other expressions of oppression and responses to it. But what are we _doing_ about any of it? Sarah’s student’s question is what I feel we need to discuss. Is there "the potential to leverage social media for positive social change?” Yes or no? If yes, how? If no, let’s find and discuss some other things we can do. AoIR has from the start been the most welcoming and engaging scholarly community I’ve had the honor to be part of; let’s show who we are and what we can do.
Peace and good health to all,
Steve
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On Jun 4, 2020, at 5:04 PM, Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today.
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Dr. Nishant Shah (Ph.D.) Professor, Aesthetics & Cultures of Technology, Director Research ArtEZ University of the Arts, The Netherlands. Knowledge Partner, Digital Earth Project, Hivos Mentor, Feminist Internet Research Network, APC https://nishantshah.online _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Now we bring you a new, no-cost webinar about campus policing and activism: Race Relations, Student Activism, and Community Policing on College & University Campuses July 9, 4-6 pm EST Join us for a national dialogue on community policing, race, campus climate, and student activism in the academy. The webinar will feature a panel of committed scholars and leaders that bring a depth of knowledge on systemic racism, policing, and are all deeply committed to achieving inclusive excellence in the academy. Register Here
1) Possibly EDT not EST 2) link? -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +2185659365 -------------------------------------- -
Dear Prof. Sarah Oates and others This may not be one of the deeper contributions, but since your student was asking for resources on "the potential to leverage social media for positive social change beyond likes and retweets", maybe some of the various discord servers dedicated to Black Lives Matter could be relevant? I have the impression that these platforms are increasingly being used for mobilizing, organizing, and coordinating activism and other direct action often kept off public platforms like Twitter. I haven't personally explored the ecosystem of activist discords, but here is an overview over servers tagged with #blacklivesmatter, maybe some of them could be relevant for your student? (NB. A few of the servers seem to be using the tag in bad faith, but it's fairly obvious which ones are not.) https://disboard.org/servers/tag/blacklivesmatter https://disboard.org/servers/tag/black-lives-matter Hope this is useful! Best regards, Marianne Gunderson -- Ph.D candidate in Digital Culture with The Machine Vision Project <https://www.uib.no/en/machinevision> University of Bergen, Norway UiB homepage <https://www.uib.no/en/persons/Marianne.Gunderson> / Academia.edu <https://uib.academia.edu/MarianneGunderson> / Twitter <https://twitter.com/mareinna> On Fri, 5 Jun 2020 at 00:05, Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today. * _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Hi all Not to suddenly clutter up the space again but sharing an Instagram post to “southasiansagainstblacklives” - and yes I understand Sarah’s student is a black woman - but we all need to understand the issue at hand clearly before we make it about ourselves on social media which I’m afraid wasn’t created as a space for activism but rather as a space for marketing and self- branding (as Crystal Abidin among others so clearly writes about in her research). Activists leverage these tools like any other - results in revenue for the social media platforms even though they are often structurally complicit in the Oppression- But none of the tools were made for freedom and activism. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CBHjD29ga1s/?igshid=3o05ba94de8f On Sun, Jun 7, 2020 at 4:42 AM Marianne Gunderson <marianne.gunderson@uib.no> wrote:
Dear Prof. Sarah Oates and others
This may not be one of the deeper contributions, but since your student was asking for resources on "the potential to leverage social media for positive social change beyond likes and retweets", maybe some of the various discord servers dedicated to Black Lives Matter could be relevant? I have the impression that these platforms are increasingly being used for mobilizing, organizing, and coordinating activism and other direct action often kept off public platforms like Twitter. I haven't personally explored the ecosystem of activist discords, but here is an overview over servers tagged with #blacklivesmatter, maybe some of them could be relevant for your student?
(NB. A few of the servers seem to be using the tag in bad faith, but it's fairly obvious which ones are not.)
https://disboard.org/servers/tag/blacklivesmatter https://disboard.org/servers/tag/black-lives-matter
Hope this is useful!
Best regards, Marianne Gunderson -- Ph.D candidate in Digital Culture with The Machine Vision Project <https://www.uib.no/en/machinevision> University of Bergen, Norway UiB homepage <https://www.uib.no/en/persons/Marianne.Gunderson> / Academia.edu <https://uib.academia.edu/MarianneGunderson> / Twitter <https://twitter.com/mareinna>
On Fri, 5 Jun 2020 at 00:05, Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today.
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- ___ Radhika Gajjala Managing Editor: Fembot Collective Co-editor of Ada: Journal of Gender and New Media (adanewmedia.org) Professor, School of Media and Communication and American Culture Studies Program Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green Ohio http://www.radhikagajjala.org
Oops “southasians4blacklives ” sorry for that slip ... Over and out - will try and stay quiet again. R On Sun, Jun 7, 2020 at 7:45 AM Radhika G <gradhika2012@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi all
Not to suddenly clutter up the space again but sharing an Instagram post to “southasiansagainstblacklives” - and yes I understand Sarah’s student is a black woman - but we all need to understand the issue at hand clearly before we make it about ourselves on social media which I’m afraid wasn’t created as a space for activism but rather as a space for marketing and self- branding (as Crystal Abidin among others so clearly writes about in her research).
Activists leverage these tools like any other - results in revenue for the social media platforms even though they are often structurally complicit in the Oppression- But none of the tools were made for freedom and activism.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CBHjD29ga1s/?igshid=3o05ba94de8f
On Sun, Jun 7, 2020 at 4:42 AM Marianne Gunderson < marianne.gunderson@uib.no> wrote:
Dear Prof. Sarah Oates and others
This may not be one of the deeper contributions, but since your student was asking for resources on "the potential to leverage social media for positive social change beyond likes and retweets", maybe some of the various discord servers dedicated to Black Lives Matter could be relevant? I have the impression that these platforms are increasingly being used for mobilizing, organizing, and coordinating activism and other direct action often kept off public platforms like Twitter. I haven't personally explored the ecosystem of activist discords, but here is an overview over servers tagged with #blacklivesmatter, maybe some of them could be relevant for your student?
(NB. A few of the servers seem to be using the tag in bad faith, but it's fairly obvious which ones are not.)
https://disboard.org/servers/tag/blacklivesmatter https://disboard.org/servers/tag/black-lives-matter
Hope this is useful!
Best regards, Marianne Gunderson -- Ph.D candidate in Digital Culture with The Machine Vision Project <https://www.uib.no/en/machinevision> University of Bergen, Norway UiB homepage <https://www.uib.no/en/persons/Marianne.Gunderson> / Academia.edu <https://uib.academia.edu/MarianneGunderson> / Twitter <https://twitter.com/mareinna>
On Fri, 5 Jun 2020 at 00:05, Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today. * _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- ___ Radhika Gajjala Managing Editor: Fembot Collective Co-editor of Ada: Journal of Gender and New Media (adanewmedia.org)
Professor, School of Media and Communication and American Culture Studies Program
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green Ohio http://www.radhikagajjala.org
-- ___ Radhika Gajjala Managing Editor: Fembot Collective Co-editor of Ada: Journal of Gender and New Media (adanewmedia.org) Professor, School of Media and Communication and American Culture Studies Program Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green Ohio http://www.radhikagajjala.org
Hi, all, *Thank you, Sarah, for sharing your question with the listserv. Apologies in advance if this email violates any of the listserv’s rules. Feel free to ping me if it does. As a Ph.D. candidate, I come to the table with more questions than answers but did want to weigh in with a few orgs and initiatives that come to mind: * As a student myself, I am reluctant to prescribe approaches or suggest answers in this space to a question that is so daunting and big in scope. That said, a few years ago, there was a conference called the National Forum on Ethics and Archiving the Web <https://eaw.rhizome.org/>, which brought together activists, librarians, journalists, archivists, scholars, developers, and designers to talk about how to create richer, non-oppressive web archives. A lot of the presenters there were working on initiatives that grew out of conflict and crisis and that engaged with Internet studies; some of them might interest your student. In my opinion, one of the pressing issues right now is that as students/researchers collect social media content about protests for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, they may wish to consider how their work *could* protect protestors from further surveillance or put protestors at risk. One org that is reflecting on the power of archives is Documenting the Now <https://mellon.org/shared-experiences-blog/capturing-history-280-characters-time/?ref=twitter032619b>, and I should stress I am no way formally affiliated with them. Full disclosure: In my own research, I examine digital traces of military policy; as an undergrad, years ago, I really didn’t know much about how to incorporate an ethic of care into my own archival work, and now, as a Ph.D. candidate, I am still learning. I’m remiss to suggest reading in this time, but in 2018, Bergis Jules, Ed Summers, Dr. Vernon Mitchell, Jr. put out a white paper <https://www.docnow.io/docs/docnow-whitepaper-2018.pdf> that might be of interest to your student called “Ethical Considerations for Archiving Social Media Content Generated by Contemporary Social Movements: Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations.” The impetus for the white paper was an effort to collect social media content related to the aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown on August 9th, 2014 by Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson. I am deeply inspired by the work that they are doing (as well as the work other Internet historians on this listserv). As an aside, Documenting the Now is currently looking <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5EDqQg45NB2ZrUk42_GOghUPhcyqMJor8BSXj-p1Q4FK7ng/viewform> for archivists and other memory workers, who are willing to share their time, resources, and expertise to help activists document police violence. Though your student may not have the energy or interest in archiving social media, she might be interested in knowing that there are folks out there, who are committed to advocating for the documentation of contemporary social movements, including social media. As a fellow student, I’d be happy to chat with your student over Skype or her preferred medium about certain archiving tools (i.e. Webrecorder) that I’ve used over the years, if she’s interested in exploring some of the ethical considerations that go into social media archiving. Other organizations like Witness come to mind; they have a page of resources <https://www.witness.org/resources/> here that I also turn to frequently and am especially inspired by now. Some other folks on the listserv may also have more insights on archives and activism and what initiatives are growing out of this moment. Sarah, as I draft this email, I am also aware that your student said, “Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see.” So, I recognize that my advice to check out Documenting the Now may not be ideal, because much of the organization is concerned with archiving social media. I do not seek to further her pain or sadness; archival activism is but one path. It is not the only answer. I’ll add that the Internet Freedom Festival runs a very active listserv (sorry, I don’t mean to turn people away from this one); a recent email I received from them included a link to a Github manual that Lebanese activists had made for protestors around the world, who are supporting Black Lives Matters. The guide <https://github.com/frombeirutwithlove/ProtestTips> included specific digital tips for activists. I am not sure if that is the type of material she is seeking, but I call attention to the listserv and org as examples of ongoing efforts in the digital rights sphere that might interest her and provide an outlet, if not a community, that is not linked to Twitter or Facebook per se. Sorry for contributing to everyone’s Sunday email spam. Happy to connect off list with anyone here, and I’m also painfully aware that not knowing your student personally, it’s possible that these initiatives might only add to her tire and/or trauma, so I speak only in regards to my own experiences and outlook. Muira *** *Muira McCammon* *Ph.D. candidate, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania * *M.L., University of Pennsylvania Law School (2020)* *M.A. in Translation Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2016)* *A bit about my teaching philosophy here <https://www.asc.upenn.edu/news-events/news/mccammon-receives-penn-teaching-prize> * *A bit about my research here <https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/Penn-grad-student-studies-information-flow-Guantanamo-Bay-Gitmo-detention-center>* *Twitter: @muira_mccammon* On Thu, Jun 4, 2020 at 6:04 PM Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today. * _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- *Muira McCammon* *@muira_mccammon <https://twitter.com/muira_mccammon>* Recently out: "Persisting in Dark Times: Lessons from a War Crimes Researcher <http://howwegettonext.com/persisting-in-dark-times-lessons-from-a-war-crimes-researcher-8b3504f4b169>" in *How We Get to Next *
I want to say thank you for so many thoughtful comments. As is often true when you pose a question (in class, etc.), you are awed by the depth and insight in the answers. I also now realize that it was more than a student query; it was really my own changing thoughts about my role as an educator. It was great to see the in-depth message from AoIR President Lynn Schofield Clark about elevating critical race and internet studies. Sarah Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics *Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today. * On Thu, Jun 4, 2020 at 6:04 PM Sarah Ann Oates <soates@umd.edu> wrote:
Dear AOIRers,
I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great.
Here is her message:
As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system.
*... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!*
Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates@umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 www.media-politics.com Twitter: @media_politics
*Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today. *
participants (12)
-
Charles M. Ess -
Jaigris Hodson -
Jillana Enteen -
Joly MacFie -
Jones, Steve -
Marianne Gunderson -
Muira McCammon -
Natalie Rock -
Nishant Shah -
Radhika G -
Sam Srauy -
Sarah Ann Oates