DISCUSSION FORUM INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDELINES:
Discussion Forum Guidelines: In addition to your own perspectives and analysis, please quote/paraphrase from the readings to ground your responses on the assigned readings of the week. This lets me know that you have done the readings!
350-word responses for each set of questions.
Deadline: The Discussion Questions are always due on Sunday after the end of the week. So Discussion Questions for this week are due to me on the 12th of Sept 2021, at 6 p.m. in the Week 2 Discussion Folder!
Discussion Forum Questions: Week 2
The first question is about Lomborg’s, A state of flux: Histories of social media research:
1. Lomborg writes, “Researchers of social media seem to accept change, rather than continuity, as a condition for the study of social media. This is evident in our choice of research topics and data sources, but also in our discourses on social media. By examining the sense of flux of social media research in a historical perspective, this article aims to provide useful directions for future media and communication research on social media. Specifically, it suggests ways to stabilise social media as an object of study and to install a greater historical awareness in social media research.”
Based on your reading of the article, what does Lomborg mean when he says that social media is always seen, studied, analyzed, researched from the perspective of “change” rather than from the perspective of “continuity”? What are some examples from popular media/culture that you can connect to this phenomenon of researching and perceiving social media? What is your perspective on this?
2. The second question is about McFadden’s, A Chronological History of Social Media:
History is biased. Your historical narrative of an event/experience/phenomenon will never be identical to mine, because of our different subjectivities, experiences, identities and perspectives. Often times, only one version of history is recorded. Based on your reading of McFadden’s article, what are your thoughts/perspectives about the history of social media? You have to sleuth around a little bit for this next part: find out a slice of history of social media that he may have missed from around the world that may contribute to a revised version of this social media evolution chronology that he has created. In other words, using your favorite online search engine, find any interesting bit of information that personalizes the historical timeline of social media, so that I can see different histories of social media emerging.
Reading 1: See attachment.
Reading 2:
https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media
Reading 3:
https://msmagazine.com/2020/08/13/20-year-old-blm-activist-faces-five-felonies-for-organizing-protest/
