Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

When dealing with social media platforms as spaces of activism these sites can be innovative, powerful, and fast-moving at best, and at its worst chaotic and unfocused. The line between these two distinctions is actually slighter than one might realize. This understanding of cyber activism became clearer when faced with the question “What is contemporary ‘blacktivism’ according to Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr/Instagram?”

Being a avid user of the popular blogging platform, Tumblr, and as such well-versed in the language and etiquette of the site, I sought my answer through my dashboard. Tumblr is composed of a endless scroll, comparable to Facebook’s newsfeed, that displays every user you ‘follow”s posts that can consist of either a link, photo, video, mp3, or text file that can be organized by ‘tags’. Like Twitter, there is a give and take between control: you cannot control what users post, but you can control who you follow. You ultimately build up the queue of information displayed on your dashboard.

This rule of thumb on Tumblr already an issue in itself, as it’s not only necessary to have an account to view such information, but it also requires stock knowledge of which users promote social activism the most. Already in this way, Tumblr blacktivism is exclusive in the broader sense of the term.  However because I am an established user of 5 years, this constraint only appeared in my thoughts after my study.

Taking into account the formatting and style of the website (and the advantage of 5 years of knowledge), I began my study of 30 minutes scrolling down my dashboard sure that out of my selected 500 some users one would surely post something under the activism tree. After about a minute of scrolling I saw a linked post that described the new case of Ebola in Liberia as an STD. The random post was one centered on awareness, not truly giving a solution to a possible rebirth of the Ebola crisis. And for a while this was the only post I saw. Because Tumblr is composed as a live feed, the minutes I scrolled down the dashboard before I encountered another post for social justice felt like eons.

It wasn’t until I encountered a post by a rather prominent Tumblr user in both the black and activist circles that my research progressed. This individual posted a series of inforgraphics that described the various levels of Israeli settlement on Palestinian territory, the fraught Palestinian citizenship across Israel and Palestine, and general problematic restriction of Palestinian people. The post was significantly informative as most portrayals of Palestine capitalize on the destruction of the Gaza Strip rather than the conditions that provide for this kind of environment, and the surrounding oppressions widespread through out the country. I then opened up another tab in my web browser to later peruse the user’s account, sure of the rich content in store, simultaneously still looking for another possible user to study. Right underneath their post Micdotcom, an active news source, posted GIFs of Porsha Olayiwola’s  poem that criticizes the misogynoir latent in police brutality discourse and the general dismissal of the pain black women face at the hands of black men.

Having at least two users under my belt and just ten minutes left of study, I decided to quickly delve deeper into each site. The first user’s activism centered mostly on the personal: crowdfunding for a poor black transwoman, a black family nearing homelessness, and written text posts that criticize various tangents of their multiple jeopardies as a queer transman of color. The text posts all had a least a thousand ‘notes’, which consisted of either likes or ‘reblogs’ (when users repost the content to their blogs). Furthermore you could see a constant rapport developing on these text posts that pursued discourse or fermented friendships. On this given users page the queer community of color was strong and accounted for. Switching tabs to Micdotcom, the website served as a curated collection of black internet activism across platforms. Screenshots of tweets raising awareness against recent police brutalities (#JusticeforJason, #SayHerName to name a couple), gifs of award shows and videos, news clips, and original Tumblr user posts decorated the page. Micdotcom served as a hub of generalized activism rather than specific black communal activist space.

It is in this way that Tumblr both triumphs and fails as a platform for social change. On one hand the site is a space for endless possibilities that allow for news sources and user-created online ‘zines to provide a constant stream of information crucial for social justice. These carefully curated hubs of information are a great start for both users and visitors of Tumblr. One does not need membership to view or message the copious amount of blogs present on the site. However their existence does not necessitate the existence of black community on Tumblr, individual users do. One would need to follow both prominent and random bloggers in the black community on Tumblr. These bloggers, your chosen informants, brothers, and sisters dictate your involvement with blacktivism. They raise causes for “Black Tumblr” to rally against, to raise money for, or even formally petition against on “Change.org”. These bloggers can help you through your journey of understanding matrices of oppression in your daily life, as well as navigate questions of gender/sexual/racial identity through direct messages, text posts, photos and videos open for commentary…..provided that you follow them. In addition to this slight oversight black users cannot be streamlined in the fighting of antiblackness. Some users are a part of “Queer Tumblr” or “Transgender Tumblr”or the dreaded “Barbershop Tumblr” (a part of Tumblr which is characterized by pro-black homophobic misogynoiristic users). Various pockets of Tumblr wholesale ignore some oppressions, such as colorism, to maintain their privilege and membership to the black community simultaneously. Tumblr can be a place rife with the schisms that plague physical activist spaces.

Ethical issues aside, in this sort of research Tumblr even fails in organization. Like Twitter it employs the hashtag system to organize posts, in order to make searches easier for users and non-users, however unlike Twitter, these tags are hardly agreed upon and are used liberally. Users sometimes use the tag system to input their commentary to protect the aesthetic integrity of a post. This so-called ‘talking in the tags’ makes for a chaotic black hole of information that can only be retrieved if you search that particular blogger’s archive. Tumblr has the potential to be a mess of epic proportion.

Ultimately Tumblr as a space for cyber black activism continuously toes the line of innovation and chaos. The ample opportunity for commentary and grassroot movement give Tumblr the chance to make virtual spaces of social justice bleed into the real world. However this is constantly mired by the disorganization, petty squabbles between users, and randomization of posts that is present on the site.

Word Count: 1138

 

Tags: ,

76,762 Responses to “Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources”

  1. Smithjosephh says:

    Netgear Extender is a booster of your network connection that eradicates all the dead zones and fastens the connectivity. This is generally helpful in the large places where the network connection is a big problem. To start using the device for getting the network connectivity all your place, you must set it up using MywifiExt portal. 
    For more information visit now: https://mywifiextenders.net/

  2. best new pop songs

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  3. สล็อต xo เครดิตฟรี

    blog topic

  4. slot says:

    slot

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  5. Today Live Cricket Score

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  6. 대구 출장 홈타이

    blog topic

  7. precision nutrition lean eating coaching program review

    like water for chocolate » Assignments

  8. Online surgical tech courses

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  9. Surgical technician certification online

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  10. check this site

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  11. king855 says:

    king855

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  12. My kindle fire frozen not something hard to fix as by following a few troubleshooting techniques anyone can remove such errors. With the assistance of the correct steps, you will get to know about the topmost strategies which will assist you to remove errors like kindle frozen issues.

  13. PG Game says:

    The question we should be asking is, by banning online gambling are we going to make things better or worse?

  14. joker88s says:

    So if you want to keep a child from gambling online then all the online casinos should be regulated and monitored, not banned.

  15. 356bet says:

    If you want to keep a child from seeing an R rated movie you do not ban the movie from the theaters do you? No that would be silly you just make sure that people are doing there best to check and verify t

  16. joker gaming says:

    The answer to that question is simple, banning legalized and regulated online gambling in any form, just makes another way for organized crime to get a hold of peoples money, and then no one but the criminals wins.

  17. Brother Printer Drivers are a dedicated piece of software programs that are vital for proper functioning of your avant-garde Printers. This software application equips your Computer with the capacity to command the Printer. 
    For more infromation visit now: https://brotherprinterdrivers.live/

  18. 먹튀검증 says:

    Undeniably believe that which you said. Your favorite reason seemed to be on the net the easiest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people think about worries that they just do not know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side-effects , people can take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks

  19. concentrates says:

    concentrates
    Very interesting information you’ve shared. I truly appreciate this post.

  20. drain jetting west midlands

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  21. indica strains
    Lots of useful data, thanks for providing these information. Great job!

  22. Quality Plays

    I found a great…

  23. Buy Cheap Subscribers

    I found a great…

  24. Cheap Social Media Followers

    I found a great…

  25. promo code disney plus

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  26. 라임안마 says:

    라임안마

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  27. thc pen says:

    I believer you are a great a content writer, I really love your creativity.
    thc pen

  28. nông nghiệp vàng

    blog topic

  29. accelerated surgical tech program

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  30. Property for sale in Nigeria

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  31. Музыка для йоги вконтакте

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  32. Buy Cheap Instagram Video Likes

    I found a great…

  33. Best Instagram Services

    I found a great…

  34. خرید باتری

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  35. چت روم says:

    چت روم

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  36. modular fence sydney

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  37. Cheap Followers

    I found a great…

  38. marketing agency

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  39. city face products

    like water for chocolate » Assignments

  40. Reelgame says:

    Jesus replied, “O unbelieving and rebellious generation, how long I am with you, how long will I be patient with you, and bring him here.”
    Then Jesus rebuked, and the demon went out, and the child was healed from then on.

  41. very good game slot online

  42. Printer Jam says:

    If you have any issue while setting up your printer or suffering from printer jam issue, then contact us.

  43. Well done. I i never thought I would personally accept as true with this opinion, but I???m commencing to view things at a different view. I must research more about this simply because it seems fascinating. Another thing I don???t understand though is the way things are all related together.

  44. index says:

    index

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  45. pg slot says:

    pg slot

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  46. sexy บาคาร่า

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  47. דירה למכירה

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

  48. swarovskicrystaljewelry.me.uk

    like water for chocolate » Blog Archive » Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources

Leave a Reply to PG Game Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.