Post-colonialism - bonus reading and tasks
Social Media and Black Identity
Open up MM58 from our Media Magazine archive. Go to page 66 and read Social Media and Black Identity then complete the following tasks:
1) List three theorists discussed in the article and what they believe regarding black identity.
"Some theorists, such as Aisha Harris, have argued that social media play a negative role in the construction of black identities." it is evident that audience are easily manipulated now than ever through Social media overall identities. She argues that the rise of social media has created a culture wherein black people are often subject to a process of ‘memeification’.
On the other hand we can also see that the black community can be closely linked to ‘humour’. Harris believes that this process is an unconscious reflection of a deep-rooted desire to see black people perform and entertain, this theorist argues that Black identity's and dominant attitudes towards blackness are reinforced.
Finally, contrast, some theorists, such as Giddens, would argue that social media can be an arena for the construction of positive black identities. An example of this would be ‘The Blackout’, which shows that regardless of the negativity and subverting stereotypes their is a section that reinforces the idea of being apart of a positive black society the use off black out It involves black people posting pictures of themselves and sharing pictures of others, commenting and attaching positive hashtags, such as ‘#Goddess’, ‘#Queen’, ‘#Melanin’ and
‘#BlackExcellence’.
2) In your opinion, is social media a positive or negative force when it comes to issues of black identity? overall in my opinion I think that their is a fine line between both negative and positive factors of black identity one main factor that needs to be considered about negative side of this on social media is the fact that it's highly saturated which means that consumers who use it are going to see a wide range of comments both positive and negative which can then have an effect on the personal image of the individual. This was then further seen within black out as anonymous users began to then in that (mostly anonymous)
non-black commenter responses to ‘The Blackout’ are often racist, and reinforce dominant
ideas in society.
Open up MM58 from our Media Magazine archive. Go to page 66 and read Social Media and Black Identity then complete the following tasks:
1) List three theorists discussed in the article and what they believe regarding black identity.
"Some theorists, such as Aisha Harris, have argued that social media play a negative role in the construction of black identities." it is evident that audience are easily manipulated now than ever through Social media overall identities. She argues that the rise of social media has created a culture wherein black people are often subject to a process of ‘memeification’.
On the other hand we can also see that the black community can be closely linked to ‘humour’. Harris believes that this process is an unconscious reflection of a deep-rooted desire to see black people perform and entertain, this theorist argues that Black identity's and dominant attitudes towards blackness are reinforced.
Finally, contrast, some theorists, such as Giddens, would argue that social media can be an arena for the construction of positive black identities. An example of this would be ‘The Blackout’, which shows that regardless of the negativity and subverting stereotypes their is a section that reinforces the idea of being apart of a positive black society the use off black out It involves black people posting pictures of themselves and sharing pictures of others, commenting and attaching positive hashtags, such as ‘#Goddess’, ‘#Queen’, ‘#Melanin’ and
‘#BlackExcellence’.
2) In your opinion, is social media a positive or negative force when it comes to issues of black identity? overall in my opinion I think that their is a fine line between both negative and positive factors of black identity one main factor that needs to be considered about negative side of this on social media is the fact that it's highly saturated which means that consumers who use it are going to see a wide range of comments both positive and negative which can then have an effect on the personal image of the individual. This was then further seen within black out as anonymous users began to then in that (mostly anonymous)
non-black commenter responses to ‘The Blackout’ are often racist, and reinforce dominant
ideas in society.
3) How could you apply the post-colonial theories we have learned in class to the issue of social media and black identity? Finally within this you can apply Alvarado theory of representation as we see black identity being used for numerous acts which are seen throughout; you can see this when watching TV and also in the movies such as Ride Along which stars Kevin Heart; he's ruthlessly known for his humour which therefore refers back to the representation interpreted by Alvarado.
Comments
Post a Comment