How We're Using It, How It's Influencing Us, Internet Etiquette (or Lessons Learned the Hard Way) and What We Believe the Internet Can Do for Feminism
Blogs:
- Great space for reactions to news.
- Lots of potential to inform, persuade, and incite.
- Comment sections can be incredible!
- Downside: It can be hard to draw readers to your blog.
Facebook:
- Lots of untapped potential.
- Making connections, publicizing events, sharing articles, videos, petitions through the newsfeed which is largely unfiltered.
Twitter:
- Like facebook, you can share things instantly.
- Lots of potential for activism: you can get the attention of hundreds in hours.
- Also a way to potentially promote blogs/share interesting or important blog posts.
Tumblr:
- Comparable to Twitter and to Facebook.
- Can share quotes from articles, which link back to the original article.
- Great for roping people into articles they might otherwise pass up.
- Potential to be the favorite option of young feminists.
- Also a way to get people back to your blog.
Why the Internet is Great for Feminism:
- Consciousness-raising is taking place online.
- Alienated girls can become connected.
- The option to pick and choose our media diet.
http://heyfatchick.tumblr.com/
Why it Sometimes Sucks:
- Comment-sections can also be brutal.
- Older feminists are not always welcoming.
- Sometimes, we really do make asses of ourselves (opportunity for a learning experience!!)
http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/
Other Concerns:
- Does being able to hash things out online lead to complacence? A lack of real-life activism?
- Can creating your own universe of feminist-friendly media make you lose track of the way things REALLY ARE and what needs to change??
Cool Links:
