I thought that this week’s readings really highlighted the benefits and drawbacks of amplification. The collective stories were a positive example of amplification throughout the world because they emphasized that social media can be used to unite people, even just for fun causes. However, the Zhang article showed how social media amplification can hurt causes, even unintentionally. Something interesting that the Zhang article emphasized is the idea that all press is good press. In the context of Donald Trump’s twitter, even though some liberals were retweeting him to offer their own critical commentary on the tweet, they still contributed to the tweet’s amplification. Although they were not talking favorably about Donald Trump, the twitter algorithm still categorized those retweets as interest and in turn promoted them to even more people. This week’s readings really made clear that amplification can be a double edged sword and that one must think about how their posts on social media might be contributing to a certain cause.
One Reply to “Blog Post 11/16/2020”
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I agree that amplification is a double-edged sword. I think leveraging amplification could help social justice movements achieve more people and earn space within traditional media and elite circles (per the example of BLM given by Zhang) — amplification can be a powerful tool for campaigns, no matter where they lie on the political spectrum. Minoritized communities like #BlackInTheIvory also leverage amplification to increase the attention of their majority peers. What are some other features of social media that could be used for the advancement of social justice?