Antisocial media

Last Monday, as most students prepared for the upcoming break, a student-led group marched from West Campus to East Campus to raise awareness and protest the decision of a Missouri grand jury not to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed unarmed teen, Michael Brown. Following the grand jury’s decision and the student-led march, members of the Duke community expressed both their support of protesters and criticisms of the protests via Facebook, Twitter and anonymously through Yik Yak and Chronicle comments. Today we reflect on the role of social media in protest movements.

Social media outlets have become a crucial part of knowledge production and communication. From interviews and articles to trial transcripts and testimonies, many of the ideas that have been shared to help understand what is happening in Ferguson have circulated via social media. However, despite these positive outcomes, screens cannot and should not replace in-person engagement.

The decision of students to lead a very public march with faces unhidden shows a commitment to movements that they may also support on online platforms. Often people that participate in what has been dubbed #hashtag activism feel a sense of accomplishment without actually involving themselves in deeper thought or action. Liking or sharing a post and then moving to the next Buzzfeed article does not make an activist. Instead, hashtags should be viewed as a starting point for expanded discussion, not the definitive account of the ideas therein. In discussing the events in Ferguson we must also go beyond criticizing the protests. There can be no intellectual growth or social understanding if we stay on the surface.

As a Duke community, we should seek to engage in the issues rather than simply criticize the method of protest. We should engage in questions like: who polices the police? Is the United States post-racial? What roles do sex and gender play in police-civilian interactions? Which events become a matter of international importance, which do not and why? For this to occur, members of our community should engage with each other and use Yik Yak and other anonymous forums conscientiously—to employ them for an effective exchange of ideas rather than polarizing diatribe.

Regardless of the medium, when discussions are relegated to antagonistic jabs and defensive rebuttals, the only result may be a hollow “win.” We must come together as a community with the intent to understand one another’s opinion and to share our own in a discussion that does not dissolve into an aimless argument. These discussions ideally would focus on the complexity of events in Ferguson and other places, not on a superficial critique of the current protests. Whether these discussions occur in person or on a social media setting, let us not forget to respect. The vitriol from our community members on Yik Yak, Chronicle comments and other anonymous settings is not present in real life and is unsettling. Social media is an extension or reflection of who we are in the non-digital world. Who are you?