14.2: Digital Activism - Classroom Activity

Digital Activism | Classroom Activity | 'Social Media Warriors - Practicing Digital Activism’

How To Use This Material [Instructor Note]

• The following is a small-group activity designed to strengthen student understanding of the power, promise, and difficulties of social media activism.
• They’ll begin by researching a (preassigned) ‘case study’ in small groups to get a better handle on how digital activist campaigns work, what such campaigns have accomplished, and what challenges they’ve faced; then, they will step into the content creator chair themselves, designing a mock social media campaigns in their groups for a cause of their choosing.
• The activity ends with an optional TED Talk from Zeynep Tufekci, who fruitfully compares social media campaigns to more traditional, grassroots efforts to reveal what online movements are (and aren’t!) good at.
• This activity was designed to follow a reading of Kimberly McNair’s “Beyond Hashtags: Black Twitter and Building Solidarity across Borders,” but can be done without it
• At least one member per group will need internet access/device
• You are welcome to make a copy of this material to edit and remix as you wish; please be sure to give credit and follow the CC license mandates when doing so

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Social Media Warriors - Practicing Digital Activism

Today’s activity has us strengthening our understanding of the power, promise, and difficulties of social media activism. We’ll begin by researching a ‘case study’ in small groups to get a better handle on how digital activist campaigns work, what they’ve accomplished, and what challenges they’ve faced; then, we’ll step into the content creator chair ourselves, designing a mock social media campaign with our group members for a cause of our choosing.

Step One: Case Study (15-20 min)

• Each group has been assigned to research a particularly notable, successful, and groundbreaking digital activist movement, listed below
  • Group 1: #BlackLivesMatter
  • Group 2: #MeToo
  • Group 3: #ASLIceBucketChallenge
  • Group 4: #ArabSpring
  • Group 5: #OccupyWallStreet
• As you research, you’re focus should be three-fold:
  • First, you want to look into the movement’s origins and growth, asking questions like: where did the social movement get its start? How long did it take to become viral? How big did the movement become?
  • Second, you want to look into the impact: what did the movement result in? Did the online activism lead to real-world meet-ups? Did the movement accomplish real, meaningful change?
  • Lastly, you want to look into the challenges: where, if anywhere, did the movement run into trouble? How did the movement respond to these challenges? What is the lasting impact and impression of the movement?
• In addition to conducting your own research, you may find a few of the resources below helpful:
  • Berkman Klein Center (Harvard University)
  • Global Voices

Step Two: Mock Digital Activism Campaign (15-20 min)

• Once you have a solid handle on the successes, innovations, and challenges of your assigned social media movement, it’s time to create your own!
• Your task is to create a mock digital campaign for an issue of your choice. The issue can be whatever you’d like, be it something pressing and serious (climate change, educational access, healthcare, trans rights) or a bit more light-hearted and whimsical (free cookies at all public establishments, abolish lawnmowers and replace them with goats, make Beyoncé the National Poet Laureate)
• Your campaign must include…
  • A hashtag
    • Something buzzy, eye-catching, and engaging—think about what made the hashtag of your case study effective
  • A mission statement
    • A clear, concise articulation off what you believe in and what you hope to achieve
  • A mock social media post
    • Canva has a wide variety of free, customizable social media templates, but you’re welcome to create your own with other tools (or draw something up with your own two hands!)
  • An engagement plan
    • How are you going to grow your followers and increase awareness of your cause? What tactics from your case study might you employ? What other novel ideas for virality might you pursue?

Step Three: Share & Reflect (15-20 min)

• Each group will have 3-5 minutes to share their social media campaign with the class, making sure to mention all four components of the activity listed above
• We’ll then have a bit of time to debrief as a whole class, sharing our thoughts and perspectives on both the activity and the group presentations
  • What similarities and differences do you notice between the campaigns of your peers? What larger ‘truths’ do these similarities/differences suggest about trends, approaches, and results of social media activism?

Step Four: Broadening Our Lens (16 min)

• Time permitting, we’ll leave the last word to Zeynep Tufekci, who provides an exceptional view on some of the challenges of digital activism, particularly when examined against tactics and strategies of older, more traditional political movements.
  • How might we better account for some of the difficulties inherent to successful online activism she outlines?
    • In what ways did our assigned case studies support or refute Tufekci’s conclusions?

 

© J. F. Lindsay, CC BY-NC-SA