Social Media Camp 2017

Social media has been an effective tool for people who want to call attention to social issues in their communities. In fact, many groups have leveraged the power of social to attract the attention of traditional or mainstream media sources and thus create a groundswell of momentum for their cause (examples include #IdleNoMore, #ArabSpring and the Occupy movement, among others).

However, as social media matures, and more people attempt to use platforms to reach their audience, we are seeing changes in the way communities engage on social. This presentation will look at some of these changes. Using #ClimateChange as a case study of an important social issue, we will look at networked communities on Instagram to see the ways people use hashtags to create communities of shared interest. We will see how these hashtags inadvertently end up dividing communities that should be working together for a common goal, and we will discuss strategies for bridging the divide between communities that are speaking the same language but still remain worlds apart.