Would this post exist without social media?
Its safe to say that social media has completely shaped our generation. I recently went on the trending section on Twitter and found one of the most trending hashtags, which was #IfCellphonesDisappeared.
If indeed we didn’t have cell phones, this class most probably wouldn’t exist. The rise of social media and trending subjects have radically changed our established order.
Universities are gradually offering unorthodox classes that are inspired by social media trends and pop culture icons such as the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus. Business Insider has come out with an article on 8 college classes that probably never would have been offered a decade ago. Some of these range from “Jay-Z and Kanye West” at the University of Missouri, “The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class Gender, and Media” at Skidmore University to “The World of ‘Downton Abbey:’ Revolution, Rebellion and Re-Creation” at Oakland University.
The one that perhaps stood out the most to us was the “#SelfieClass” at the University of Southern California, which looks at gender, sexuality, and race as portrayed in social media. Previously called “Writing 150: Writing and Critical Reasoning: Identity and Diversity”, the name of the course definitely took a turn. Students in this course study the influence of society on self-identity and how selfies reflect and affect the global culture we live in. At first glance, this course might seem insignificant to some. However, as we have seen in Son Vivienne’s reading for this class, selfies can have different meaning for trans or gender-fluid people in comparison to cisgender people. In that sense, there can be a lot of history behind a simple selfie that can be worth analysing.
Works Cited:
Vivienne, S. (2017). “I will not hate myself because you cannot accept me”: Problematizing empowerment and gender-diverse selfies. Popular Communication, 15(2), 126-140.
The fact that cellphones have come to define a generation and class discourse as you state, goes to show the influence that anything can have on a society as a whole. If you look at simple things from our past such as watching television, paying bills, communicating with family/friends from around the world, these have all evolved in their platform of use. Simply put they all can be done from our phones. Technology is advancing at such an alarming rate, the question remains now, what else is left that we haven't been able to do on our phones yet? Is there anything?
RépondreSupprimerWe think this is a very interesting topic! Not only is it interesting that some universities are offering more contemporary topics, but it is interesting to think about "which" universities are offering these classes. Often, it seems as if it is the less "prestigious" universities which offer a very robust media and communications program. I find this strange considering how relevant and popular these topics are. Advanced calculus is interesting for sure, but selfies are taken by millions of people around the world! Learning more about them can be mobilized for activism and business purposes. -Kayla +Devan
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