Project: Social Media and Social Justice

Protesters assemble outside the Minneapolis Convention Center, June 30, 2018.

I have a new curricular project underway: I’m crowdsourcing some readings for high school students to learn more about the roles of social media in social justice efforts and activism. I’m looking for short pieces of writing (as short as 200 words, up to 1200) hopefully to be submitted by leaders in various organizations and campaigns, activists, writers, policy leaders, educators, and others who might have insights to offer. After seeing how the readings play out in my classroom of high school seniors, I intend to make the work available broadly as well. 

I am looking for both positive and negative views of social media. My students are part of a generation that grew up with Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and more, and I think they already understand the basic advantages and disadvantages of these tools and platforms. Where we can help them out is in telling stories of specific successes and failures that might be instructive. Hopefully they’ll graduate from high school with clearer ideas about digital citizenship and effective, ethical use of social media for social justice. And given the downsides and risks, they also need to make informed decisions about any participation at all, what to share, when, and how much.

If reading this post leads you to have some interest in learning more about the project, or contributing to it, you have a couple of options. You could leave a comment on this post (which will require, but not display, your email address), and then I’ll get in touch with you. If you and I are already connected on social media or otherwise, feel free to reach out in whatever way is easiest for you. 

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