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ABSTRACT
As they say in social media, feminism is ‘trending’; feminist conversations, grassroots movements, and activism mark a fourth wave of feminist practice and theory defined by digital spaces. This article considers the effectiveness of using social media as both a course assignment and as a conduit for civic engagement. I analyse survey results of college students who used the blogging platform Tumblr in their Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies courses. Data collected from the participant sample indicate that Tumblr users are connected to viewpoints different from their own and are instilled with a sense of activism they wish to incorporate in their offline lives. In conclusion, social media is a promising tool for social justice, feminist, and/or leadership-focused praxis.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. Good, Sandell, and Vega (Citation2014).
2. Pachal (Citation2014).
3. ‘About Tumblr’, Tumblr, 2014, https://www.tumblr.com/about
4. Duggan and Brenner (Citation2013).
5. Duggan and Brenner (Citation2013).
6. Gross (Citation2012).
7. In the aftermath of the death of Michael Brown, a young Black American man, who was killed by a White police officer, scholars, teachers, and journalists used this hashtag to open dialogues and receive pedagogical advice to bring into their classrooms.
8. Listed in order of frequency in participants’ blogs.
9. Trans*, rather than the prefix trans (no asterisk), encapsulates a wider, more inclusive spectrum of genders, including, but not limited to transgender and transsexual. Jones, Addie. ‘Bridging The Gap – Trans*: What Does the Asterisk Mean and Why Is It Used?', 8 August 2013. http://www.pdxqcenter.org/bridging-the-gap-trans-what-does-the-asterisk-mean-and-why-is-it-used/
10. Recent online petitions, photo campaigns on Instagram, and hashtags on Twitter caused major corporations and/or governments to meet the demands of activists: Moms Demand Action supporters caused Starbucks and Target to ban the open possession of guns in their stores; the Twitter account @TahrirBodyguard coordinates citizens to mobilize against sexual violence in Egypt's Tahrir Square.
