Cooper, Jorryn, and Nathan Davis. “An Interview with College Democrats VP.” 4 July 2018.
In the interview, we discussed the basics of what the College Democrats do, their goals, how they carry these goals out, how they get involved with the community, and how they organize themselves. This source relates to my research topic because of course, I need to have an understanding of what the College Democrats are and how they function in order to discuss them. In some ways, it does not relate to my research topic because we didn’t go to in depth about how texts function within the College Democrats in our interview. I had a strong source because I was able to interview the Vice President, someone who has a really good understanding of the organization and has been involved for a while. Ii got more information about the voter registration booths that the College Dems often hold, and more information about the ways they are trying to get more involved in the overall Tallahassee community.
“FSU College Democrats Condemn Trump's Family Separation Policy.” FSU College Democrats, 30 June 2018, www.facebook.com/FSUDems/photos/pb.138574719515661.-2207520000.1531720166./1908661852506930/?type=3&theater.
In this texts, the College Democrats give a brief overview of President Trump’s separation policy, their reaction, and a way people can speak up against it. I chose this particular text because it’s a good example of the way texts function within the Democrats, and the way they use them to help enact change. However, it doesn’t give the entire scope of what the Dems use their social media for. This definitely relates to my first source, because it’s a real life example of how social media is used as a tool to discuss and organize. This source comes directly from the FSU Dems themselves. One potential problem that could arise from this source is that of course it’s a little biased, but that’s a given due to it being from a group organized around being Democrats.
Fullam, Jordan. "Becoming a Youth Activist in the Internet Age: A Case Study on Social Media Activism and Identity Development." International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE) 30.4 (2017): 406-22. Web.
In this article, Fullam explains how social media can aid in mobilizing forces of change. It looks at the case of a student, Justin Rodriguez, and discusses how he used social media to organize a walkout to protest educational budget cuts. The source discusses and argues against the idea that social media is merely a catalyst for social change. They instead argue that it is a tool that allows people to spread their ideas and messages. They also discuss the development of identity around social media activism. This source relates to my research topic because it discusses how social media is used as a tool to mediate and aid in political advocacy and activism, which is often how the College Democrats use their social media pages. Some points of the article do not necessarily fit in with my research however. For one, the student Fullam discusses in the article is a high school student. Also, Fullam discusses how Rodriguez’s identity was shaped before the protest which caused him to be interested in doing it, and how it was shaped while organizing the protest by social media, peers, and adult mentors. One thing I found interesting about this text was the discussion of how social media can shape identity. Another interesting thing was the article’s discussion of how despite social media being a great tool for spreading information and change, it is still very important to have face-to-face bonds with mentors in order to create more “high-risk” activism as opposed to “low risk.”
Gismondi, Adam, and Laura Osteen. "Student Activism in the Technology Age." New Directions For Student Leadership 2017.153 (2017): 63-74. Web.
In this article, Gismondi and Osteen discuss how student activism is on the rise and is closely linked to the accessibility of social media. This helps me further my understanding of social media and activism because this article looks at different case studies and discusses how the two are correlated. It is similar to my other sources, because it looks at specific circumstances and discusses each of those. However, this isn’t exactly related to my paper because I’m taking a bit of a more broad approach. An interesting bit at the end of the article gives the reader a method of understanding and accepting the workings of social media activism.
Nolan L., Cabrera, Matias Cheryl E., and Montoya Roberto. "Activism Or Slacktivism? the Potential and Pitfalls of Social Media in Contemporary Student Activism." Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.4 (2017): 400. Web.
This article discusses the potential pitfalls of using social media for political messages rather than them being face to face, slacktivism being “political ineffectiveness.” This article is different than my other ones, and a good resource for my paper because it examines the other side of the argument. It’s not all for social media activism and also is not completely quantitative. The source makes sure to address both sides, which I believe is a strength. Looking at the argument from a different side made me examine things closer.
Velasquez, Alcides, and Robert LaRose. "Social Media for Social Change: Social Media Political Efficacy and Activism in Student Activist Groups." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 59.3 (2015): 456-74. Web.
In this article, Velasquez and LaRose discuss how social media may be shifting the way political actions are organized. They conduct studies, locating where people were in the country for the protest, and examined the difference between social media, positive experiences, and political efficacy. This source examines the positive relationship between social media and activism, finding that there was a positive relationship between social media use and political efficacy. This source is a little different from my other sources because it is much less personal and more data based, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I thought the discussion of how motivations can have an effect on positive/negative experience was interesting.
Yan, Grace, Ann Pegoraro, and Nicholas M. Watanabe. "Student-Athletes' Organization of Activism at the University of Missouri: Resource Mobilization on Twitter." Journal of Sport Management 32.1 (2018): 24-37. Web.
In this article, Yan, Pegoraro, and Watanabe discuss an protest called “ConcernedStudent1950” among student athletes which gained some ground even outside of their state. They discuss how social media gives an extremely accessible and open communication platform, allowing for the fast exchange of ideas. Again, this source isn’t exactly related to my paper because it looks at a very specific circumstance, but that also allows me to have a greater understanding of how social media is used. It is like my other source in that it has a lot of quantitative data. A really interesting part of this article were how they gave a visual representation of where different students were located.