Post-colonialism - bonus reading and tasks

MM58: Social Media and Black Identity

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 plays a negative role in the construction of black identities. She argues that the rise of social media has created a culture where in black people are often subject to a process of ‘memeification’, where their likeness becomes a decontextualised internet ‘meme’. An infamous example of this process was of ‘Sweet Brown’, an African American woman, whose closing line in an interview ‘Ain’t nobody got time for that’ went viral on social media, becoming a catchphrase in the public consciousness, triggering a stream of user-generated content such as parodies and remixes that appropriated Brown’s likeness and her words, for the sake of ‘humour’. Harris believes that this process is an unconscious reflection of a deep-rooted desire to see black people perform and entertain, creating an environment where black identities are fixed, and dominant attitudes towards blackness are reinforced. 

In 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’, a campaign that originated on the social network ‘Tumblr’, and involved a systematic ‘re-imagining’ and celebration of blackness. It involved black people posting pictures of themselves and sharing pictures of others, commenting and attaching positive hashtags, such as ‘#Goddess’, ‘#Queen’, ‘#Melanin’ and ‘#BlackExcellence’. This, seems to suggest that black people have used social media as a tool to inspire, and to construct an image of black identity that is often misrepresented (if represented at all) by the mass media.

Henry Jenkins would argue that social 

media is an arena where in ‘participatory cultures’ can 

be established: online, interest-driven networks that 

allow members to creatively channel the skills they 

gain online into political activism and the voicing of 

marginalised viewpoints. An example of this is ‘Black 

Twitter’ (#BlackTwitter), a socially-constructed community 

that actively challenges negative representations of 

black identity in the mass media and wider society, 

social media is arguably the most significant recent 

development in the world of constructing identities.

Marxist theorist Christian Fuchs has accused 

Jenkins of divorcing the idea of ‘participation’ from the 

concept of participatory democracy. Fuchs argues that 

in order to have a true ‘participatory culture’, there needs 

to be equality of ownership; 

and as social media (and the 

internet as a whole) are largely 

directed, owned and influenced 

by large corporations with 

vested, ideological interests, 

it can not, therefore, be claimed that they facilitate the 

creation of ‘true’ participatory cultures. This is because, 

as institutions, social media websites choose who can 

participate, how they participate, and the extent to which 

their participation is seen. This is particularly significant 

in that marginal groups frequently do not have the same 

access to social media resources as other, more dominant 

groups. For example, although Black Twitter has a large 

‘population’, it is still a largely ‘underground’ subculture, 

possibly because it actively challenges dominant ideas, and, 

therefore, jeopardises Twitter’s access to power and profit.

2) In your opinion, is social media a positive or negative force when it comes to issues of black identity? 

In my opinion social media is a positive force as it helps create awareness of issues such as police brutality towards black people in America. If individuals didn't record evidence of this and upload it on social media, many people would be unaware of the issue therefore social media has allowed people to acknowledge it as well as challenge it by creating campaigns such as 'Black Lives Matter'.

3) How could you apply the post-colonial theories we have learned in class to the issue of social media and black identity?

Alvarado 

 'Dangerous' is reinforced through the representation of the black community. For example, when we hear of a crime that has been committed in a predominantly black area, we assume that all black people are 'dangerous' and he reason behind crime, However, we fail to recognise the whole story. 

Fanon

 'Decivilize' and 'Essentialize' are reinforced when it comes to society and black identity. The black community are not shown the same respect as the average white male. This can be supported by a quote in a Guardian article: "Black people are often turned away from jobs because we are not the 'right fit'. While on the streets, we are regularly treated by police as dangerous suspects."

Said 

The issues of social media and the black community can be linked to Said's theory due to the fact that Western culture consists of black people, they are still 5 scales further down then the rest of the Western community when represented on social media and in the mass media.

A Hustle for Life: Refugees in the Media

1) What examples of different representations of refugees in the media are offered in the article?

• Refugees labelled as migrants to create the impression that they are travelling by choice rather than to flee genuine disaster.
• Represented as a swarm,horde or tide marauding and invading their way across the world.
• Such representations of refugees create an image in reader's minds that refugees are a dangerous and threatening mass. 

2) In your opinion, is the documentary genre more or less biased than the news media? What examples can you provide from the article to support your view?

I believe that the documentary genre is less biased than news media because it can 'correct overwhelmingly negative representations elsewhere in the media'. An example from the article is the BBC documentary 'The Refugee Camp: Our desert home' which displays the crisis from both viewpoints: One viewpoint is from the viewpoint of the presenter and her crew and the second viewpoint is from the perspective of the people that reside in the camp in Zaatari that has slowly grown into a city. 

3) How could you apply the post-colonial theories we have learned in class to the representation of refugees in the media?

Alvarado 

'Pitied' is reinforced due to the fact that the Eastern culture and society are looking for help from the west therefore they are reliant on other countries to take them in as they escape from war.

Fanon

'Essentialize' is challenged due to the fact that people from the East are not all the same; while some have chosen to include themselves in the war other innocent people are escaping the war. 

Said 

This theory is reinforced due to the fact that the East is represented in the Western mass media as showing a clear division between the West and the East. The media reports the East as dangerous, different and uncivilised people.