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Lesson 3

We will explore online communities and how their creation, signification of membership, rules, and methods of engagement compare to those of more traditional, in-person communities.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I express an accurate understanding of the central ideas of texts?

  • Can I recognize and interpret important relationships among key details and ideas within texts?

  • Can I use connections among details, elements, and effects to make logical deductions about an author’s perspective, purpose, and meaning in texts?

  • Can I recognize points of connection among texts, textual elements, and perspectives to make logical, objective comparisons?

Texts

Core

  • Digital Access
    • “The Reason #BlackTwitter Exists (And Is Totally Awesome),” Say It Loud, PBS, YouTube, May 30, 2019

Materials

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Write – Discuss

We will begin our exploration of online communities by discussing their creation, form and function.

Online communities are increasingly popular and are growing in both size, number, and popularity. While they did not always exist, their norms and function largely mirror those of more traditional communities.

Choose one online community you belong to and respond to the following questions in your Learning Log:

  1. How does one become a member of the online community you chose?

  2. What are the "rules of engagement" in that community? What are they and how were they decided?

  3. How are members expected to behave and participate? What happens when someone breaks the rules of the community?

  4. What are some of the challenges and benefits of belonging to this community?

Discuss your responses with the whole class.

Activity 2: View – Write – Discuss

We will watch the video “The Reason #Blacktwitter Exists (And Is Totally Awesome)” and will make note of essential information.

View the video "The Reasons #BlackTwitter Exists (And Is Totally Awesome)." While viewing, respond to the following questions:

  1. The video opens with a spoof of typical reactions to newsworthy events that trend on social media. Among the critiques, several "jobs" are determined. Is this unique to Twitter or is it common across social media in general? How does an online format facilitate this trend?

  2. When discussing what #BlackTwitter is, it is said "if you know, you know." How does this statement create a sense of community in an online space?

  3. S. Craig Watkins, Ph.D., differentiates between "power users" and "powerful users." What is the difference between those terms, and how do you see that at play both on Twitter and potentially in other online spaces?"

  4. "Powerful" users of #BlackTwitter are said to "connect, build, communicate, and organize." Could these be considered "rules" of usage? Or guidelines? How would you characterize these behaviors and their necessity?

  5. How would you define #BlackTwitter? How is it defined in the video? Specifically, what three modes of conversation are identified? Are those unique to this online community or do you see that in existence in other spaces?

  6. The term "signifyin" is explained as "a practice in African American culture that exploits the gap between the denotative and figurative meanings of words. It is understood and accessible only to those who share the cultural values of a given community." What are some examples of this term in action? Does this exist only on #BlackTwitter or does this occur in other spaces, online or otherwise?

  7. How does one gain membership to the #BlackTwitter community? How is that membership tested or rejected?

  8. What is the relationship between "cultural capital" and #BlackTwitter? How does this create a feeling of larger communal relationships and an ongoing cultural "inside joke?"

Share your responses and any additional insights or reactions to the video not previously addressed in a whole-class discussion.

Activity 3: Write

We will return to the list of online communities we created and compare those descriptions to the #blacktwitter video.

Looking at the online communities you identified previously, respond to the following questions with the class:

  1. How do both the names and rules of membership compare to what you learned from the #BlackTwitter video?

  2. What similarities and differences are present?

  3. Why is this the case?

Revise your responses as necessary.