#friendsorfoes

Platforms & Protests: Friends or Foes?

Mar 11, 2022

11:30am – 12:30pm CT

A 2020 article from Current Opinion in Psychology found that social media’s ability to document individual experience, build community and develop “shared social realities” are the most prominent ways it facilitates online activism. Online platforms like social media and video conferencing software have made engaging with activism more accessible for those who can’t attend physical events or access educational resources. For activists who often don’t have access to traditional platforms like mainstream media or academia, social media has given them the power to reach wider audiences. But at the same time, social media is the worst propeller of hate speech, fake news and disinformation about marginalized communities. Could they be a social justice advocate's best friend and worst nightmare?

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.

photo of Brent Messenger
photo of Daud Mumin
Daud Mumin

March For Our Lives

photo of Kat Stafford
Kat Stafford

Associated Press

photo of Tee Wilson
Tee Wilson

Gideon's Army - Grassroots Army for Children

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