Social Media Freaks: Digital Identity in the Network Society

"Social media has been transforming American and global cultural life for over a decade. It has flattened the divide between producer and audience found in other forms of culture while also enriching some massive corporations. At the core of Social MediaFreaks is the question: Does social media reproduce inequalities or is it a tool for subverting them? Social Media Freaks presents a virtual ethnography of social media, focusing on issues of identity and inequality along five dimensions--race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability. It presents original and secondary findings, while also utilizing social theory to explain the dynamics of social media. It teaches readers how to engage social media as a tool for social activism while also examining thelimits of social media's value in the quest for social change"--
This book explores the relationship between social media and social inequality in terms of people who are marginalized by existing social inequalities due to race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability. It details theoretical tools for understanding this relationship, drawing on concepts from classical sociology, cultural sociology, the sociology of identities, and media studies; the history and structure of the social media industry; case studies and controversies related to how different social activists and social movements have used social media, focusing on Chris Crocker, George Takei, GamerGate, Occupy Wall Street, and Black Lives Matter; best practices for sharing content on social media for social change and engaging different audiences; and whether social media can be revolutionary. Annotation ©2017 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
Dustin Kidd presents a cultural study of social media, focusing on issues of identity and inequality.
Social media has been transforming American and global cultural life for over a decade. It has flattened the divide between producer and audience found in other forms of culture while also enriching some massive corporations. At the core of Social Media Freaks is the question: Does social media reproduce inequalities or is it a tool for subverting them?Social Media Freaks presents a cultural study of social media, focusing on issues of identity and inequality along six dimensions?race, class, gender, sexuality, transgender identity, and disability status. It presents original and secondary findings, while also utilizing social theory to explain the dynamics of social media. It also teaches readers how to engage social media as a tool for social activism and change.