Social Media
Internet News
Debatable Inquiry Question: Are news blog sites the future of journalism? Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Upworthy, Mashable Where do you get your news?
What is the difference between a news site and a blog site? Activity 1: Log into your FB account and scroll through your newsfeed. Tally how many blog sites have been shared by your or your friends in the last 24-48 hours.
Activity 2: Deconstruct a news blog site Conceptual Inquiry Question: How do news blog sites use language and image to inform, persuade, and entertain?
Click HERE to read a site called Downworthy.
Discussion: Identify the satire. How and why is this website a satire? Satire: The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, often with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations or society into improvement. |
Conceptual Inquiry Question:
- How is social media changing the way we think about the news?
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A picture on FB can lead to an international news story
BBC News Why did this simple photo on Facebook attract international attention?
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Discussion:
- Why might journalists use Facebook and other social media outlets for their news stories?
- Should items on FB be allowed to be used as stimulus for journalists?
Discussion:
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We Are Reporters
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Activity: Explore one of the following sites and answer the following questions on the blog.
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Distrust in the News
Conceptual Inquiry Question:
Conceptual Inquiry Question:
- How can we be a discerning citizen?
- How is social media changing the way we think about the news?
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Nokia Advertisement with Bruce Lee (2008)
Advertising:
Snopes.com - A priceless clip of Bruce Lee |
Activity:
Fact Checking Websites:
Snopes
The Smoking Gun
- Google the title.
- What was the controversy? Describe the story before it was revealed to be false.
- How was the controversy perpetuated by social media?
- What happened as a result of the lack of "fact checking"? Check Snopes and The Smoking Gun
- If you had seen this story, would you have believed it? Why or why not?
Fact Checking Websites:
Snopes
The Smoking Gun
Kim Jong-Un Named The Onion's Sexiest Man Alive For 2012
Satire: The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, often with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations or society into improvement. |
So, how can we be a discerning netizen?
Slacktivism and Clicktivism
Debatable Inquiry Question: Is slacktivism enough to cause social change?
Debatable Inquiry Question: Is slacktivism enough to cause social change?
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Slacktivism is a term used to explain online actions such as ‘retweeting’ or ‘liking‘ content to support a particular issue or social cause without any further commitment.
The so-called slacker activism theorizes that people on social media platforms only participate in feel-good clicking (they may like something, but have little care for it later), which doesn't cause real change and action in the world. Source |
Kony 2012 - Click HERE for an infographic on slacktivism and Kony 2012. Use it to answer the following questions:
- Is clicking on an icon doing enough to address a social issue?
- When is slacktivism wrong?
- What can we learn from the KONI issue?
Change.org Click for a Guardian article: Why Rainbows are Taking Over Twitter |
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Is liking or retweeting enough to cause social change?