Social Media & Participatory Culture
Social media has allowed the access of communicating with large and wide types of audiences. A type of digital tool that has also allowed the opportunity for expressing different types of perspectives in a participatory manner. Participatory culture is a culture or community that is open and supporting others expressing their ideas, opinions, and creations. Henry Jenkin’s TED Talk was one of the pieces of content that stood out to me during this week’s class. He discusses how young people become active social agents that have contributed to shape participatory culture and that their online contributions have a personal and social responsibility.
I have found that my participation on social media has evolved in the last five years. Being on platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, I was obsessed with follows and likes at the beginning. Everyone was on it, it was a way to stay connected and not be left out. But after a few years, it started to become tiring trying to keep with everything. I was sick of keeping up with streaks on Snapchat, I was done with posting any pictures or videos on instagram. That was when I had started to shift and lay low on social media and find out what I actually am like.
It was not until college where I was more active in different communities on social platforms. I was participating in discussions and following up on groups, perspectives, and issues that I was interested in. I also feel like I was more confident within myself to share my opinions about certain things. Most recent I’ve participated in was last summer’s riots. The Black Lives Matter Movement has been a group that I have always supported and been a part of, and for it to have a bigger impact through the help of the participatory culture of social media was amazing. For me, the motivation of being present online comes from wanting there to be representation. I come from multiple marginalized groups and I know that the value of social media is powerful when you want to be heard. Especially during last summer where the issue of systemic racism was at the front center of everything in the country.
I definitely believe that the COVID-19 pandemic had influenced and helped that in some way. It has allowed me and the rest of the world’s participation and activity online to increase. The main reason being a way to stay connected and informed. But it also gave a reason to be more connected on different issues as well. Being more engaged and active with the BLM movement had created other issues that needed to be addressed and brought to light. I would say that after the event of George Floyd, there was a pause and a shift. Everyone couldn’t hide away from this issue and it was faced on. There is still fight and hope, but there was also a step in the right direction. An article written by Shira Ovide titled, ‘How Social Media Has Changed Civil Rights Protests’ discusses the power of social media and how visible injustices now can lead to positive and meaningful change.
