Social Media is not all Silly Pictures and Great Vacation Spots

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I have had my share of beautiful beach photos and my kids doing crazy things on social media, but the article Information Sharing on Social Media Sites (Osatuyi, 2013) took me back woke me up a little.  
Last summer while in Chicago at the American Library Association Annual Conference, I attended a session
related to #BlackLivesMatter.  In this session a group of librarians and friends, described how they attempted
to document the #BlackLivesMatter moment. I say moment because that is what it started as… a moment.

  Osatuyi describes a primary source as information that is original in its format and #BlackLivesMatter started
as a hashtag. It became so much bigger than its humble beginnings. What started as a Facebook post to
bring people together became a social movement.  This group of librarians began researching the use of the
hashtag, the times and places it was used, as well as,other hashtags that accompanied it. A social movement
was being born and it started with a hashtag that would go through many iterations before going back to its
original meaning.  People were not ready for the impact that a hashtag along with three words would create
and they were not prepared at the time to fully embrace and defend it.

  I had a professor that gave her students an assignment a year later, defining #BlackLivesMatter.  I found
that they had no idea how to take this hashtag and define it properly so I used some secondary and tertiary
resources to help them understand the impact of social injustice.  It was astounding to me that it was hard
for them to relate parts of the past to the present. They wanted so much to focus on Trayvon Martin, Michael
Brown and Eric Garner, partially because these were the current events of their lives, but also because they
really didn’t have a sense of history.  So, in my next session we had them think of hashtags for historical
events and we introduced them to some documents on Emmett Till. She later asked if #BlackLivesMatter
applied to this situation. Of course….silence (and a few tears). This lesson was a great way to allow students
to see the power of a hashtag.  They saw not only that it could start a movement, but it could also bring to
light history.
On a lighter note,this article also reminded me of “Ye’ Great Storm of 2016”. If you have ever lived in Tallahassee,
you know that when it rains our oak trees decide to leave the ground.  Also, the power goes out, transformers
all over the city make a “booming” noise and we are without power. Social media played a great role in making
sure that we were aware of emergency situations, power issues and road and school closures.  
I recall a student telling me last week that she gets most of her news from social media.   I started to question
her motives, but thought to myself, there was a time when I was socially active and did the same.  Breaking
news was often quicker to put out on Facebook or Twitter and it would reach almost anyone instantly. I often
search for the credibility of the information which is not what all networkers do.  This is a large problem
and we address it in the sessions that I teach. With so many people having access to information creation,
all of it cannot be checked fast enough, but we want people to be better consumers of their information
so that when they “share” it is correct. Check out this Website Research Libguide to give you a few pointers.
We use social networking for so many things not just to stay connected to our friends and family.  Realtime
news, emergency updates and assistance for those in need allow us to become a part of social society.  
Guynn, J. (2015, March 04). Meet the woman who coined #BlackLivesMatter. Retrieved July 17, 2018, from
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/03/04/alicia-garza-black-lives-matter/24341593/

Osatuyi, B. (2013). Information sharing on social media sites. Computers in Human Behavior,29, 2622-2631.
Retrieved July 09, 2018.

Comments

  1. VanessaJuly 12, 2018 at 5:55 PM

    Wow. What a powerful and challenging assignment for those students -- especially for those who are not socially active or aware.

    I assume by Ye Great Storm you mean Hermine? I was Twitter famous in that storm! And social media was so helpful for sorting out what was going on and connecting with others. I'll have to write a post about that experience.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pamela Monroe July 14, 2018 at 8:54 PM

      It really helped me navigate things for my parents as well. I was able to give them updates about road closures and power outages.

      Delete

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