Critical Social Media, Critical Social Me

http://instagram.com/naughtyinasense

    For the social media portion of this project, I chose to use Instagram as my platform. Via my personal page, I posted photos labelled with captions and hashtags to generate awareness and spark conversation on the topic of “Racial Uplift”. I opted to use my personal page instead of creating one just for this project, as I have already built an ample following and thought that it would be easier to get feedback. The inventory of users (followers), include friends, family as well as strangers. The use of #hashtags on photos also allowed non-followers to search, view, like and comment the photos.

    I believe that I was able to reach my intended audience, as most of my posts received “Likes” and some comments. Majority (if not all) of my followers are of the African diaspora, which was in fact my target audience. The initial mission of the topic was to promote the advancement of the African American race (racial uplift) while exposing systems of oppressions, structural violence, mis-education and exploitation of and against this group. I would conclude that the mission was fulfilled in that each photo illustrated an issue(s) pertaining to a form(s) of oppression of African Americans and demonstrated awareness of the issue(s). Also, the number of “Likes” that each photo received could serve as consensus of opinion, that the depicted problem does exist and ought to be rectified. Comments also suggested the same.

    For the working group selection of this project, I visited Gian Paul’s Instagram page. I chose his work because I thought that he did a great job in structuring his information. What I found most intriguing about Gian Paul’s project was his selection of images, both historical and contemporary, and how collectively, the photos capture racism over time. I also liked the connection to text that he referenced in his work. Overall, I thought Gian Paul’s social media source was well structured and well conveyed.

    I would highly recommend Gian Paul’s social media source to anyone willing to learn about the topic. His presentation was clear and thorough. He displayed an informative visual account of racism through his selection of images and captions. One would be well informed on the subject after viewing this social media source.