“Using Participatory Media and Public Voice to Encourage Civic Engagement” was a really great article that highlighted some important new ways that youth can and are becoming active in civic engagement. As someone who is 20 years old with a lot of exposure to other youth and various technologies, I can personally attest to the fact that participatory media including blogs, wikis or social networking sites like Facebook are really awesome ways to engage incredibly technology savvy youth and encourage them to become involved with social justice issues.
The idea that participatory media can encourage civic engagement became really apparent to me especially with the 2008 Election for the U.S. President. I remember how many of my friends either “donated” their statuses to raise awareness about Barack Obama and to encourage their friends to get out and vote. The picture below is an example of a status that was donated to Barack Obama.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/triciawang/3045293448/
The video below explains the importance of social media in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election.
Beyond encouraging political participation, I also agree with the article that participatory media can also be very effective in drawing attention to issues of social justice. Blogs such as www.feministing.com not only have posts about feminist issues that are relevant today such as the state of Arizona passing abortion restrictions but they also usually link to a website which can help you get involved with this issue. Additionally, Feministing has a community blog section so not only can readers comment on the blogs but also contribute to the Feministing community and raise awareness about issues that are important to them. Within the Feministing community, many readers such as this one, are in university or younger which indicates how many young people are getting involved with these issues of social justice.
Furthermore, Facebook is another site that has really been used by young people to raise awareness about social issues. With the events feature on Facebook, you can post an event and invite many of your friends to it. Examples of events that I’ve been invited to in recent months include a protest against the genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka and a protest for the passing of Proposition Eight.These events really show how youth are starting to engage with these forms participatory media and beginning to fight for certain issues of social justice. Other friends changed their profile pictures to reflect the social justice cause they were promoting. Below is an example of one of the images many of my friends changed their profile picture to in order to protest the genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka.
http://racismandnationalconsciousnessnews.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/tag_logo_final.jpg
I also loved how the article provided various strategies for teachers to encourage students to learn how to exercise a public voice through blogging and through wikis. Many of the examples I have given above of people who have been exercising civic engagement through participatory media have been older teenagers or young adults who may already been encouraged to develop a public voice or civic engagement. However, I think it’s incredibly important to try to foster an interest in social justice issues and civic participation and engagement as young as possible which is why their tips seemed very helpful for educators to use. As a socially conscious young adult as well as a future educator, I was so happy to read an article that recognized the youth that are already exercising their civic engagement and getting involved with issues of social justice as well as learn about these really great tips for encouraging youth to pursue these issues and exercise their public voice.
Tags: Media, Obama, Social Justice, technology, voting, youth
