Overview

To date we have concerned ourselves almost entirely with examining how US-based media work and the audiences for those media. In this assignment, we extend our critical faculties outward and begin to explore global media. We begin by exploring how groups that may seem very dissimilar to ourselves use social media to communicate globally. The focus here should be on observing similarities and differences in these groups and our own communication methods.

Action Items

1. Visit the social media sites of some newly formed political groups. These can be revolutionaries in Syria, media sites for ISIS or Russian nationalists, protestors like those in Germany or Hong Kong, or groups like the Pirate Party or Anonymous. How are they different than the traditional Democrats and Republicans in the U.S.? How are their communications similar? Is there any era in U.S. history in which these kinds of groups might appear?
2. Your analysis shall include the following information and shall be at least 300 words in length.

• How are these groups different than the traditional Democrats and Republicans in the U.S.?
• What do their sites look like?
• Who are these sites designed to appeal to?
• How are their communications similar?
• Is there any era in U.S. history in which these kinds of groups might appear?