Social in Social Media

Some of the main takeaways from the second unit are about social media, ways in which it keeps up connected, ways in which activist groups utilize it, and the overall effects of social media. In Danah Boyd's article she talks about the different elements of social media and how networked publics and invisible audiences play a role in how we share content on these social media platforms. Four of the structural affordances of networked publics she focuses on are, persistence, replicability, scalability, searchability. In class we were divided into groups and picked a social media site and explored the affordances that Pinterest uses. We discovered that one of the main premises of the network is to foster relationships among its users and creates away for a participant to reach an 'intended audience' by way of 'unintended audience.' The way social media sites are set up to create, share, duplicate, store and emphasize content to the masses is a way for individuals to express and connect on the internet in ways that was never possible before.

PETA and animals versus the world

The organization that my group and I are researching is PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). PETA uses a variety of different social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest and more. The way in which PETA uses social media is by updating their followers and supporters about the latest information about animal cruelty instances, adoptions, rescues and more. In addition to these updates, PETA uses memes and other graphic pictures and videos to try and persuade their audience to join their movement to protect and help animals. Many of PETA's networks allow for their supporters and followers to report to the organization with protests, opinions, outreach, vegan recipes and other information that is worthy to PETA's cause.

After exploring PETA's use of social media and the articles written by Gladwell and Mirani, I would have to agree with Gladwell that, "the revolution may well be tweeted." In many instances on Twitter and Facebook, many of PETA's followers and supporters tend to respond to the post/tweets that PETA publishes and the content is primarily about the real world activism these individuals are doing and is  being shared through social media. One of the many responses to a post by PETA was as such: "I have stopped eating PORK AND BEEF for almost a year..... and limit my intake of chicken.... GOAL - to be eating a plant based diet.... I do not want to be part of this misery, I want to be part of the SOLUTION!!!" This is just one of the many examples of post that a follower of PETA's has posted to the organization.

Online Activism is essential as it is a way for individuals to know about an issue that they wouldn't normally have a way to know about. Although the act of 'liking' or 'retweeting' doesn't necessarily help the cause itself, being able to spread the information increases the possibility that the information will be spread to someone that could indeed do something to help the cause if they deem it worthy enough to assist.