Analyze A Social Or Racial Justice Movement ✓ Solved

Analyze A Social Or Racial Justice Movement Across At Leasttwo Dif

Analyze a social or racial justice movement across at least two different social media platforms. Based on your observation and research, you will create your own version of Red Feed, Blue Feed and present it as an image created in Canva, PiktoChart, GIMP, or Adobe Photoshop/InDesign. In addition to the image, you will also write a 300+ words reflection essay where you will explain your image in relation to the discussions and materials covered in this unit. For OPTION B, you will begin your project by observing a social or racial justice movement in at least two different social media platforms of your choice.

Try to explore how the affordances of two different social media influence the way a social or racial justice movement is represented, as you browse those platforms and read and see the posts, memes, hashtags, news, etc. that people are sharing. What did you notice in relation to two social media platforms? Where do you see the users are upholding the movement? Where do you see the users moving away from or undermining the movement?

For both OPTION A & B - While exploring, closely observe:

  1. The context of use, user demographic (ethnicity, age group, or any other information about the user), associated content (status, video, etc.), timeline etc.
  2. Common trends you notice in relation to social justice movement in social media
  3. Consider the questions of power and social and racial biases – What connections do you notice between the things you have read in this unit and what you observe in social media?
  4. Take notes of the things that you see represent different perspectives.
  5. Take screenshots of the photos, posts, check-ins, shares, hashtags, etc. Once you have your working data (screenshots and notes), organize them based on various perspectives that they represent. Select at least two sets of screenshots that represent two different perspectives/opposing perspectives on a social or racial justice movement.

You will put them together to create your visualization. In your reflection essay, you will discuss:

  1. Your choice of the platform/s
  2. Explain your visual and the process of creating it
  3. Explain what you have learnt from this research about social or racial justice movement in social media. Refer to at least three texts that we have reading so far. Two of these three texts have to be from Social Media Unit.

Sample Paper For Above instruction

Analyzing the Representation of the Black Lives Matter Movement on Twitter and Instagram

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has gained significant traction across various social media platforms, especially Twitter and Instagram. This analysis explores how these platforms’ affordances shape the representation of the movement, highlighting similarities and differences in tone, engagement, and perspective. By examining screenshots and posts from both platforms, the analysis uncovers how users uphold, challenge, or undermine the movement’s goals.

Twitter's real-time, text-based nature allows for rapid sharing of news, hashtags, and brief memes. Its structure encourages active participation through retweets, quote tweets, and hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter, creating a dynamic, evolving conversation. Users from diverse demographics—primarily younger audiences—use Twitter to advocate, share personal stories, or critique the movement. Analyzing two opposing perspectives, one set of screenshots shows supporters endorsing peaceful protests, emphasizing systemic change. Conversely, skeptical voices question the movement’s efficacy or promote counter-narratives, often utilizing sarcasm or misinformation.

Instagram’s visual-centric platform influences how the movement is perceived. Posts include powerful imagery, infographics, and stories that evoke emotional responses. The platform’s affordance of curated visual content and its algorithm, which privileges engaging photos, shape the portrayal of BLM as a human rights struggle. Here, both support and protest are visually represented—supportive posts often feature portraits of victims, protest imagery, and hashtags like #SayHerName, fostering empathetic engagement. Contrastingly, some users post conspiracy theories or diminish the movement's significance, reflecting societal biases and the digital divide in information access.

Both platforms serve to reinforce or challenge the movement’s narratives, influenced by their technological features and user demographics. Twitter’s immediacy favors activism and live commentary, while Instagram’s visual appeal creates lasting impressions that can galvanize broader emotional support. This examination underscores the importance of platform affordances in shaping social justice discourse online, revealing how power dynamics and biases are embedded within digital spaces.

References

  • Dean, J. (2010). Blog Theory: Feedback and Capture in the Circuits of Drive. Polity Press.
  • Gillespie, T. (2018). Platforms are not immune from bias. In P. Nagy, T. Gillespie, & M. Ziewitz (Eds.), Reimagining platform governance (pp. 131-149). Oxford University Press.
  • Meraz, S. (2019). Social media and activism: Influencing social movements and social change. Routledge.
  • Tufekci, Z. (2017). Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest. Yale University Press.
  • boyd, d. (2014). It's complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press.

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