For some teens who use social media, TikTok and Twitter are about more than just selfies and the latest trend in online “challenges.” Some teens are using social media to advocate for social justice.
When it comes to social media use among young people, parents often focus on the potential harms of social media rather than the active use of social media by young people in general and young people of color in particular.
In my doctoral thesis, #OnlineLiteraciesMatter, I found that some young people are using social media to develop an activist identity and call for a more just society. That is, they are using social media platforms to engage in what I call “digital activism” to address issues such as systemic racism and pursue racial justice. is.
My research has found that when young people of color learn to use digital tools to explore social issues and use those tools to defend their beliefs, they can make a difference. This is an addition to the series of studies.
For my research, I followed six young activists between the ages of 14 and 18 across the United States who were selected through an online recruitment process. I found them by searching various hashtags and engaged with them online by sending them direct messages and leaving comments on their posts.
Four of the teens were identified as black and two as Latino. I observed their activity on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. All of the young activists had been using at least one of these social media platforms for varying periods of time, ranging from 1 to 6 years.
Each young person presented a case study. I interviewed each person and studied their social media posts over a three-month period.
Reflection of personal values
They often responded to what was happening during my 2021 research, posting about social justice, civil unrest, police brutality, and the global pandemic. They were also concerned about the increasing hardship experienced by communities that are often disproportionately affected by these issues.
They tackle a variety of themes, some of which can be seen through the hashtags they use, such as #systemicracism, #climatejustice, and #mentalhealth.
They also used social media to educate others through self-expression and challenge society’s negative perceptions of young people. They used hashtags like #blackstoriesmatter, #teenwriter, and #blackwriter to highlight storytelling, and hashtags like #blackyouthvisionaries and #changemakers to drive change. They revealed that they view social media as a means to express their values.
“Everything I do online is a reflection of who I am, and I always want that image to be true to who I am,” said Laura, 18. Pseudonyms were used for all young people). “I always need to provide a perspective that I think is important to discussions about social justice, and I do the same online. Everything I post is indicative of my values.”
Higher education regularly appeared in the self-expression and activities of young people.
For example, 14-year-old Samira He told me how he felt. ”
Laura, 18, tweeted that her post about her university course was “so insightful and challenges my classmates to challenge their current thinking, and I’m really proud of it.”
As young people of color, they emphasized the need to channel their concerns into a broader cause.
“The climate justice movement is more than just advocating for the preservation of parks and the protection of endangered species. It must be intersectional,” Laura wrote in an Instagram post. “We must recognize that black and brown communities around the world are disproportionately disadvantaged due to air pollution, water pollution, food insecurity, and more.”
Sometimes they used simple statements to call attention to the issues they thought were most concerning.
One of the teens in my study simply wrote:
my mental health is important
my representation is important
my music is important
my joy is important
my art is important
My future is important.
The teens have made it clear that they believe there is an urgent need to take action now.
“In this generation, we’re not going to wait, we’re going to work for it even when we’re tired, and if we want something to happen, we’re going to go for it,” Dakari, 16, said in a YouTube post. . And Instagram. “Stubborn people, we don’t want to wait until we’re adults to do something.”
dominique skye mcdaniel He is an assistant professor of English education in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Kennesaw State University.
this article Originally published on theconversation.com
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