“Typing Back”: Social Media as Space For Critical Discourse

Abstract

Social media applications such as Facebook and Twitter have become integrated into sociocultural practices for millions of people around the world, and are having an enduring impact on the field of adult education. As essentially free, virtually non‐hierarchical tools that facilitate user‐generated knowledge, these online spaces may be powerful applications for a talking – or “typing” – back to dominant ideology, and giving voice to counter discourses. These tools require careful consideration around issues such as technological know‐how, access, and consumerism which is inherent in these applications. This paper discusses social media as Web 2.0 tools, their connection to critical discourse and adult education, and the considerations of using these tools in an educational context.

“If your institution refuses to provide what you need, create it yourself”: Feminist praxis on #AcademicTwitter

“…This included the "feminist function" of Academic Twitter, as per the academic literature. For example, we discussed the capacity for Twitter to destabilise and challenge power, to validate experiences, and to collectivise and unionise people towards a common goal (e.g., Careless, 2015;Locke et al, 2018). We also discussed how Twitter has the capacity for people to be trolled online, given how social media are often spaces of misogyny, online abuse, and harassment (e.g., Campbell, 2017).…”

Expanding the boundaries of museum studies: Popular education through engagement with hidden histories of organising and activism

“…Anyone with internet access possesses the ability to start or contribute to a conversation, moving the storytelling essential to museums and popular education to a digital platform. As an educational tool, there is an increasing number of studies on the effectiveness of social media in adult education that agree social media has rapidly become a dominant mode for informal learning largely due to the fact that is it is a free, non-hierarchical device with the potential for critical discourse to take place virtually (Careless, 2015;Hague & Logan, 2009;Klomsri, Greba¨ck, & Tedre 2013;Lee & Ang, 2013;Moran, Seaman, & Tinti-Kane, 2011). A nationwide survey by Futurelabs reported British adults spent an average of eight and a half hours a week informally learning through technology in their leisure time (Hague & Logan, 2009).…”