In the NMICT course, I wanted to address an important and much-discussed topic in communication for development, representations of development, but instead of analyzing its role within the field of development, to broaden my perspective on representations of development in society at large. This perspective allowed me to tie my …
This week, Elli addressed the topic of cancel culture on social media as a way to counter behavior contributing to inequalities and Richaela brought up a recent ICT failure as Uganda imposed a compulsory license for online publishing in addition to the existing tax for social media use. Cancel Culture …
In the previous articles, we have explored three different perspectives on the role of social media in (mis)representations of development: the risks of celebrity philanthropy, the white savior complex on Tinder, and sometimes problematic marketing of social enterprises. These new forms of manifestation of deeply rooted perceptions of development on social media are also being countered in a variety of ways. One concept that has risen in recent years but gained especially popularity in 2020 is “cancel culture”.
This week Elli delved into the issues faced by social enterprises in social media marketing, Richaela presented an African feminist perspective on online gender-based violence, and Anna discussed the role of Facebook in pro-democracy protests in Thailand. In Social enterprises – Balancing between target audiences and stakeholders, Elli considered …
Despite its roots already in the 1970s, social entrepreneurship has become increasingly popular in the last thirty years, to the point of becoming a real buzzword today. Rather than a type of organization, social entrepreneurship refers to “the pursuit of an opportunity to create pattern-breaking social change regardless of the resources you currently control.”
Once aimlessly scrolling through Instagram I stumbled on an account called Humanitarians of Tinder. The beautiful but simple logo of the page could point towards anything between a high-end fashion brand and a newspaper, a creative trick to attract curious Instagrammers such as myself on the page. Once I clicked on the profile, the content unveiled instead a quite unaesthetic collection of screenshots of Tinder profiles.
Celebrities’ work in charities is not new, but their involvement in charities has become more and more popular in the global north starting from the 1990s. So-called “celebrity philanthropy”, already strongly present in the traditional media, has been transposed it the 21st century to social media.
