Social Media: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Catalog description

Examines the beneficial, harmful, and always complicated implications of social media use across micro- and macro- levels of analyses. We focus on how these systems enhance and impede individual and socio-political self-expression, especially for those from marginalized populations (e.g racial/ethnic/religious minorities, immigrants, women, LGBTQ individuals, people with disabilities, etc.). The class focuses on three primary topics: new media and social movements; new media and health; and new media and identity. Students gain both a theoretical and an applied understanding of how social media shape life in the 21st century.