Tuesday 15 October 2013

ISSUE 8-Dialogue develops community

Can social media build a community?


Many of you think so. And the scholars agree. Media expert Henry Jenkins has observed that  'New forms of community are emerging, defined through voluntary, temporary and tactical affiliations, and reaffirmed through common intellectual enterprises and emotional investments'.

What hold these communities  together? Jenkins believes it's the  'mutual production and reciprocal exchange of knowledge'  enabled by social media. 

Productive exchanges have happened on this blog. Dialogue, poetic conversations, and an exchange of personal views.  

In this post, we look a bit further. Social media has a democratic availability to anyone who wants to participate in an activist community, one that will right some wrong in the world. Do we make use of this? My blog visitors certainly do. 

Here are the results of the poll I ran recently among colleagues, fellow students and friends. The 40 respondents, aged  21+, showed a high level of engagement with media, particularly in terms of sharing with friends any issues of injustice they encountered.


 I presented three scenarios:

SCENARIO 1  - what you’ve already done.

If a friend of yours posted an article on their Facebook timeline about an issue that really grabbed you—e.g. child abuse, animal cruelty, injustice, disease, drug abuse, poverty—have you 

1 shared it on your own timeline? 2 researched the issue?

3 talked to your friends about it? 4 signed a petition? 5 made a donation? 

6 joined an online group? 7 written a letter to the press or a politician? 8 attended an event? 9 joined a real organisation to help this cause?

SCENARIO 2 - what you might do in the future

If a friend of yours posted an article about an issue that really grabbed you—e.g. child abuse, animal cruelty, injustice, disease, drug abuse, poverty—have you 

1 shared it on your own timeline? 2 researched the issue?

3 talked to your friends about it? 4 signed a petition? 5 made a donation? 

6 joined an online group? 7 written a letter to the press or a politician? 8 attended an event? 9 joined a real organisation to help this cause?

SCENARIO 3 - Other media If you heard about the same kind of issue on TV, on the radio or in a newspaper, would you be likely to-  1 research it?  2 talk to friends about it? 3 sign a petition?  4 make a donation? 5 write a letter to press or politicians? 6 attend an event? 7 join an organisation to help? 

Here are the results. Though the sample is very small, the results are consistent. Most respondents have shared links to issues, researched them, and discussed them with friends. Around 25% have joined organisations to help address the issues. 



  






Launching dialogue See this site, in the footsteps of An Inconvenient Truth, for tips on how to create or strengthen an activist community

We just need to take the first step, and connect online. That way we can enjoy ‘sense of connection that listening participants can feel in online spaces’ say Kate Crawford, of the University of Sydney.  


What’s your view? Can social media create community, do some community building, or even just plant the first seeds of interest about communal issues?