Open up MM58 from our Media Magazine archive. Go to page 66 and read Social Media and Black Identity then complete the following tasks:
1) List three theorists discussed in the article and what they believe regarding black identity.
- Aisha Harris: This theorist argued that social media plays a negative role in the construction of black identities. She has said that the rise of social media has created a culture where in black people are often subject to process of a "memeification,' where their likeness becomes a decontextualised internet meme. One of the examples were of a African-American women, closing a line in at a interview; "Ain't nobody got time for that" this went viral on social media and it quickly became a catchphrase in the public. Harris believes that this process is an unconscious reflection of a deep-rooted desire to see black people perform and entertain, creating an environment where black identities are fixed, and dominant attitudes towards blackness are reinforced.
- Giddens: This theorist argues that social media can be an arena for the construction of positive black identities. "The Blackout" campaign was one of the examples a campaign that originated on the social network ‘Tumblr’, and involved a systematic ‘re-imagining’ and celebration of blackness. It involved black people posting pictures of themselves and sharing pictures of others, commenting and attaching positive hashtags, such as ‘#Goddess’, ‘#Queen’, ‘#Melanin’ and ‘#BlackExcellence’. This, seems to suggest that black people have used social media as a tool to inspire, and to construct an image of black identity that is often misrepresented (if represented at all) by the mass media.
- Henry Jenkins: would argue that social media is an arena wherein ‘participatory cultures’ can be established: online, interest-driven networks that allow members to creatively channel the skills they gain online into political activism and the voicing of
marginalised viewpoints. An example of this is ‘BlackTwitter’ (#BlackTwitter), a socially-constructed community that actively challenges negative representations of black identity in the mass media and wider society,and reaffirms positive views of black identity through humour, art, activism, and education. Jenkins argues that participatory cultures have the power to influence politics and to positively shape the world around them. An example of this is ‘#BlackLivesMatter’, a campaign spearheaded by Black Twitter, established as a means of calling out police brutality, institutionalised racism, and racist prejudice in wider society.
2) In your opinion, is social media a positive or negative force when it comes to issues of black identity?
In my opinion, i wouldn't say its either when it comes to issues of black identity. The reason for this is because social media is so powerful but also it doesn't really reinforce to the black community because within social media, all communities find it a way to make it their identity too, this is mainly by "memes" or just general posts.
3) How could you apply the post-colonial theories we have learned in class to the issue of social media and black identity?
Alvarado: Alavardo's theory of 'dangerous' reinforces the representation of black identity/their community through the internet. Whenever we hear things in news or the newspapers about the crimes black people have commented, we as the audience automatically think of them as danger, this builds negative representations of them even though it doesn't represent all of their people.
Fanon: The points of 'Decivilize' and 'Essentialize' are reinforced when it comes to the problem of social media and black identity because the black community are often pushed aside and not taken seriously ever - famous or not.
Said: I think that Said's theory doesn't go along with social media and the black community because the black community are very involved within social media mostly for good things associated with them; they would be posts of them that people would repost and find funny but not in a malicious or mean way.
A Hustle for Life: Refugees in the Media
Now turn to page 6 and read A Hustle for Life: Refugees in the Media. When you have read the article, complete the following tasks:
1) What examples of different representations of refugees in the media are offered in the article?
- Refugees are often labelled as migrants, to create the impression that they are travelling by choice, rather than fleeing a genuine disaster.
- refugees are a dangerous and threatening mass, parasitically living off the settled countries of the West.
- which refugees are described as a swarm, horde or tide, marauding and invading their way across the world.
2) In your opinion, is the documentary genre more or less biased than the news media? What examples can you provide from the article to support your view?
I think that that documentary genre is less biased than news media because it doesn't need to represent their channels values/ideologies but they try to undercover "the truth" for the people - "knowledge" is reinforced through the documentaries. As for news, they are based as Alain de Botton would argue, they don't not represent the truth or provide their own opinions - they are just feeding the audience with information.
3) How could you apply the post-colonial theories we have learned in class to the representation of refugees in the media?
Alvarado: Pitied is reirnforced as Eastern culutre is shown as they are looking for help from the West, as they are desperate to be away from war and be in peace.
· Fanon: The point of 'Essentialize' is challenged since those from the East are not all the same; as some of them have decided to join in the war whilst the innotences and helpless people are wanting to escape the vicious environment they are put in.
Said: His theory is reinforced because the East and the West are shown completely different, the culture and the community of the two are reinforced differently. As the East is represented as "different and uncivilised from the west rather than focusing on the innocent people who really need help and trying to escape the environment that they didn't chose.
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