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: ,

76,093 Responses to “Methodologies V: Using and Analyzing Digital Media Sources”

  1. Sarah Riss

    I found a great…

  2. Stacey Lacrue

    I found a great…

  3. Maida Pieri

    I found a great…

  4. Denver Hallahan

    I found a great…

  5. Buy Registered Certificates Diploma

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

  6. buy real fake Canada Degree

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

  7. Angel says:

    Remarkable article, it’s significantly useful! I quietly began throughout this, which I’m changing into a lot of awareness of it better! Delights, keep doing a lot of and additional impressive! ufabet168

  8. A citation machine can be defined as a tool that one can use to create accurate references. This type of tool is highly effective in generating references using all the different styles.

  9. real nebosh certificate without exam

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

  10. Joann Wiinikainen

    I found a great…

  11. Gregory Meirick

    I found a great…

  12. Demarcus Ashbrook

    I found a great…

  13. Nigel Twehous

    I found a great…

  14. Marcellus Mems

    I found a great…

  15. Holly Lubow

    I found a great…

  16. I enjoy looking through an article that will make men and women think.
    Also, many thanks for allowing for me to comment!

  17. Wilburn Hinde

    I found a great…

  18. Maryanna Dambrozio

    I found a great…

  19. Edgar Divine

    I found a great…

  20. Dennis Zasso

    I found a great…

  21. Rosemary Furnish

    I found a great…

  22. https://Nilawondomae.Co.Kr/

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

  23. Trish Shiflet

    I found a great…

  24. Renaldo Gilkerson

    I found a great…

  25. Shannon Longpre

    I found a great…

  26. купить автомобильный холодильник alpicool

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

  27. Thanks for sharing such information.

  28. Setting up the belkin range wifi router is quick and simple. To get started with the Belkin router setup, you have to launch the browser and type 192.168.2.1 in your browser. IF you want step-by-step instructions to set up the Belkin router, you can call us now.

  29. Mythological Concept of Brahma Muhurta

    like water for chocolate

  30. basketman says:

    People in Japan are also concerned about the influx of tens of thousands of people associated with the event and the impact they could have on infection rates.

    อ่านต่อเพิ่มเติม โรงเรียนบ้านสันดอน

  31. mymind says:

    AIDS is a systemic disease caused by the body infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. also known as HIV HIV infection can lead to immunodeficiency states in the human body at different levels And those who are untreated tend to develop serious infections. and complex malignant neoplasms in the late stages of the disease. leading to death Finally, the disease is contagious.

    อ่านต่อเพิ่มเติม> โรงเรียนวัดปากช่อง

  32. mymind says:

    How is AIDS spread? in the past For the first time, scientists have fully identified that All sources of HIV It comes from chimpanzees and gorillas in Cameroon. This is especially important for healing. and prevent AIDS The source of AIDS has been confirmed for the first time. According to foreign media reports Scientists from many countries have discovered that all four known species

    อ่านต่อเพิ่มเติม> โรงเรียนบ้านหนองโก

  33. mymind says:

    Measles is an acute respiratory infection caused by the measles virus. spread by air droplets and very easy to contact The incubation period is about 10 days in a crowded environment. or no ventilation It is very easy to cause outbreaks. Is measles contagious? Experts point out that measles is a respiratory infection caused by the measles virus. and is contagious

    อ่านต่อเพิ่มเติม> โรงเรียนบ้านเก่าต้นมะค่า

  34. mymind says:

    healthy food in the past few years More and more people are turning to vegetarianism. This is because people feel that a vegetarian diet is healthier. But a recent study in the UK found that vegetarian may be high risk to have a stroke

    อ่านต่อเพิ่มเติม> โรงเรียนบ้านหนองนกกะเรียน

  35. mymind says:

    food eating during the muscle gain phase and fat loss. Indeed, the biggest difference between gaining muscle and fat reduction is eating due to the required calories To get that muscle more than the calories the body uses

    อ่านต่อเพิ่มเติม> โรงเรียนวัดเขาปิ่นทอง

  36. Nice answer back in return of this issue with firmarguments and explaining the whole thing concerning that.

    비아그라 구매

  37. Togelcc says:

    Togelcc situs Togel Online resmi pasaran Hongkong dan Singapore

  38. Hi, I do believe this is an excellent website. I stumbledupon it 😉 I am going to return once again since i have bookmarked it. Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be rich and continue to help others

  39. The D-Link extender setup wizard can be accessed using the default web address online. The IP address can be keyed into the address bar and then the default username and the password details be entered to access the further settings. For help on accessing the extender setup page, visit the website blogs section now.

  40. Login CMD368 says:

    Login CMD368

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

  41. buy registered nebosh diploma online

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

  42. buy registered driving license

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

  43. buy TOEFL online without text exam

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

  44. Where to buy money in Bogotá pesso

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

  45. buy American Degree online

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

  46. buy fake Colombian Pesos banknote

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

  47. Welcome to million casino. Our casino h considers customers the best and is 5 a site that allows real-time 0 betting 24 hours a day.에볼루션카지노 가입 It is the most used slot t game by users among more than 50 slot game companies. ij LIVE BACCARAT The world’s best g casino with beautiful dealers Enjoy!v.

  48. Welcome to million casino. Our casino w considers customers the best and is 3 a site that allows real-time s betting 24 hours a day.에볼루션카지노 가입 It is the most used slot f game by users among more than 50 slot game companies. i7 LIVE BACCARAT The world’s best c casino with beautiful dealers Enjoy!v.

  49. Welcome to million casino. Our casino d considers customers the best and is b a site that allows real-time g betting 24 hours a day.에볼루션카지노 가입 It is the most used slot 2 game by users among more than 50 slot game companies. hy LIVE BACCARAT The world’s best 6 casino with beautiful dealers Enjoy!v.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.