Reading the three articles on social media open my eyes to something I have always known, but never quite realized the extent of influence it held: Social media contains the power to do many things we would not have the power to do without it.
As Joseph Harris wrote in The Idea of Community in the Study of Writing, "... Rather than viewing the intentions of a writer as private and ineffable, wholly individual, they have helped us to see that it is only through being part of some ongoing discourse that we can, as individual writers, have things like points to make and purposes to achieve."
In the twenty-first century, writing is no longer kept private like it was before. There are published books and magazines and even social media to spread the writers' thoughts and feelings. The most current way to share ideas is through social media, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Blogger. If individuals have something to say and want heard, he or she can do it instantly, and that one person's ideas can spread like wildfire.
In the NPR article Hashtag Activism in 2014: Tweeting 'Why I Stayed', Audie Cornish interviewed Bev Gooden, the creator of the "Why I Stayed" hashtag. After hearing about the Ray Rice domestic abuse scandal, Gooden decided to make a point that domestic abuse is a severe problem, which is generally not taken as seriously as it should. She was once in an abusive relationship, causing this case to hit a nerve when the media judged Rice's victim, his then fiance Janay Palmer, saying things like "why does she stay with him" and "how did she let that happen." Gooden brought to light what it is like to be in the victim's shoes in an abusive relationship. The hashtag caught wind and soon was all over Twitter.
Gooden isn't the only individual to use social media to spread her thoughts. Kima Jones uses Twitter publish her poems. Jones said this is a way for her poems to be read by an audience that may not read literary works.
Harris said that community" used to give a sense of shared purpose and effort to our dealings with the various discourses that make up the university." I believe it still does. Twitter is a type of community where individuals share their opinions and thoughts, whether it be in a good way or bad way.
I'm apart of many online communities, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Discourses shape these communities and bring people closer than they already were on the social media sites.
Your post makes me think of a couple of things. Firstly, your point about social media just being the newest way to share ideas makes me wonder if there's a difference in the way discourse functions between social media and other internet sites. So, is there a difference in discourses or communities between say a facebook post about a current event and a CNN.com post about it? Is there a shared cultural discourse for making "news-like" posts on social media?
ReplyDeleteSecondly, your point about community still being about shared purposes and efforts, is interesting. Are all communities made such by the fact that they share a purpose? What's the difference between a shared purpose and agreement? I'm thinking about the WhyIStayed hashtag and how those tweeters didn't necessarily share a purpose or agree--some wanted to increase awareness about domestic violence to encourage people to get out, some wanted to tell their stories, and some wanted to raise awareness about why a woman might stay. While these are all definitely connected purposes, they're not exactly the same. In this case, it seems like the existence of the discourse--the hashtag--is what brought the community into being.