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12.2: Reading Social Media - Classroom Activity

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    Reading Social Media | Classroom Activity | 'The Reel You'

    How To Use This Material [Instructor Note]

    • The following is a group-based activity wherein students are encouraged to think critically about the ways in which algorithmically-modified media streams serve to influence the ideological commitments to which they ascribe
    • This activity is meant to follow an engagement with the preceding article in this chapter, Aparajita Bhandari and Sara Bimo’s “Why’s Everyone on TikTok Now? The Algorithmized Self and the Future of Self-Making on Social Media,” but could be implemented without it
      • A brief review of the article opens this activity, should you like to incorporate it
    • To set up the activity, you will need each student group to have access to at least one internet-capable device (laptop, tablet, etc.), as well as a large sheet of construction paper for members to jot down their thoughts
    • The opening material can be reviewed together as a class, outlining Bhandari and Bimo’s conceptualization of ‘self-making’ before introducing the group work activity
    • I typically bring the class back together for mini-presentations/discussions the last 15 or so minutes of class
    • You are welcome to make a copy of this material to edit and remix as you wish; please be sure to follow the CC license mandates when doing so.

    "Why’s Everyone on TikTok Now? The Algorithmized Self and the Future of Self-Making on Social Media" | Aparajita Bhandari & Sara Bimo

    • Bhandari and Bimo’s article is centered around media studies concepts of ‘self-representation’ and ‘self-making,’ or the ways in which we come to know ourselves through not just internal dialogue and social engagements and the like, but also with/through the engagement of “media objects that stand in for, transform, and recreate a person or object” (2).
      • A helpful way to think about this concept is to think about the ‘-core’ and ‘aesthetic’ language on social media: “e-boy,” “vanilla girl,” “tradwife,” “waterTok”
    • Self-making on social media is nothing new, but there is a key difference found in TikTok’s use of algorithmic models for content curation:
      • While, “at first glance, the particular services offered by TikTok seem to be similar to previously established social media platforms” (1), Bhandari and Bimo argue “there is one key new element that sets TikTok apart from other outwardly similar social media platforms: the prevalence of “the algorithm… on TikTok, unlike on other platforms, the user experience is obviously, unambiguously, and explicitly driven by what is commonly called the “For You” algorithm (2)
        • “This design decenters the traditionally ‘social’ activity on the platform: for example, users need not be following or otherwise engaging with other creators to see their videos” (5)
    • This leads the authors to the central question: “how do algorithms influence the process of “self-making” on social media? How do everyday users make sense of their experiences on algorithmic social media streams?”

    Introducing the Activity

    • As Trevor Boffone argues in his introduction to TikTok Cultures in the United States, the app “teaches us how to act, what to listen to, what to buy, how to speak, how to interact with one another, and more. We learn how to be ourselves on TikTok… as TikTokers mimic, reenact, and reimagine the platform’s trends and its influencers’ activity, TikTok becomes embedded into our personalities, muddying where our online activity ends and where our offline lives begin” (5)
    • Today’s activity looks to have us better understand the ways in which social media application’s provide a platform for self-making, with a particular look at the algorithmic influence Bhandari and Bimo identify
    • While we will be using Youtube (no account required), you are welcome to modify the activity to engage with TikTok directly

    Activity Instructions

    • Once you’ve settled into your groups, select one member to be the ‘tech person,’ whose laptop/tablet will be shared amongst group members
    • Open a window with your browser of choice and navigate over to youtube.com
    • Be sure to select the ‘private’ browsing option (incognito mode, etcetera)—this is to ensure you’re starting with a ‘blank slate,’ without influence from your past searches
    • Click on the ‘shorts’ tab on the left-hand side, and watch at least 3-5 minutes worth of content with your group
    • As you’re watching, take notes on what kinds of ‘ideological coordinates’ are being offered by the Shorts content:
      • What identities, positions, world-views, and perspectives are being upheld? Are there certain ideologies that receive more frequent and/or favorable treatment than others? What do you think might be some social, political, and/or cultural ‘results’ from the content you’ve engaged with?
    • After discussing your findings, start searching for particular content (shorts or full-length videos both fine). The goal is here is not necessarily to ‘watch’ this content, but to start to observe the ways in which your searches begin modify other content being shown to you. Spend at least 3 minutes building up a search history, then turn to the following questions:
      • What do you notice about the content being recommended to you? Are these recommendations serving to reinforce particular ideologies, or challenge them? Is the suggested content offering new perspectives, pathways, and approaches, or doubling-down on those you’ve already indicated interest in? What do you think the result of these algorithmic recommendations might be on users?

    Works Cited

    Bhandari, Aparajita, and Sara Bimo. “Why’s Everyone on TikTok Now? The Algorithmized Self and the Future of Self-Making on Social Media.” Social Media + Society, 2022, pp. 1-11.

    Boffone, Trevor. TikTok Cultures in the United States. Routledge, 2022.

     

    © J. F. Lindsay, CC BY-NC-SA

    This page titled 12.2: Reading Social Media - Classroom Activity is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Erica McCormack and Jack Lindsay.