Reflection Paper for LIS 490 SMG – Social Media and Global Change (Spring, 2013)
In Spring, 2013, the Global Informatics Initiative sponsored a pilot course “involving the Illinois Informatics Institute (I3), the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) and five federally funded Title VI National Resource Centers: the Russian, East European & Eurasian Center (REEEC), Center for East Asia and Pacific Studies (CEAPS), the European Union Center (EUC), Center for Global Studies (CGS), and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS). It is aimed at bringing together Illinois’ strength in informatics and computer science with its rich area studies resources.”
The course’s website is publicly available, with selected final projects and reflection papers made available to demonstrate the success of the pilot course. This reflection paper was chosen for inclusion.
Social Media in a Peaceful Transition
Introduction:
Sometimes it’s not the phenomena that lead to conflict that are interesting, but the phenomena that don’t cause much conflict. This can even be true in a class on the relationship between social media and global change. Despite a common assumption that when it comes to political change social media is most relevant to addressing the rise and fall of conflicts, I decided to take this opportunity to look at how an essentially peaceful and controversy-free transition of power could play out and be covered and promoted in this era of constant professional and social media.
Paige Cunningham 