thoughtful ideas and responses in discussion

thoughtful ideas and responses in discussion

Remember the ALS #icebucketchallenge? Or maybe the #BringBackOurGirls movement? For this discussion, I want you to think of a time when you either a) engaged in or b) felt bombarded by a civic engagement campaign on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc). Identify the campaign and share your thoughts on it. Did it inspire you? Did you take action as a result of it? Do you still follow the organization long after the social media buzz has died down? Did you question other’s authenticity as they engaged with the movement?

I know this is a time when opinions and emotions are running high in our country, but I want you to thoughtfully explore your own relationship with social media engagement and how it does and does not play out in offline forms of civic action.

Bounce off of each other’s ideas, but be respectful of the fact that we all are brought to action through different means and we all have differing point of views. This is meant to help you begin to think about topics for the final research essay you will be writing.

Solution Preview

Bring back our girls is a social media movement that was made to raise awareness about the 276 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram. This campaign attracted global attention of humanitarian organizations as well as international organizations and states (Chiluwa and Ifukor, 2015). I was involved in this campaign by posting the messages of hope to the families of the 276 school girls. These messages inspired the families that there was always a hope of the girls being rescued or released from hands of Boko Haram. Hence, I still followed and kept on posting inspirational messages to the social media after the issue had almost been forgotten.

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