Lurking Deeper (Challenge 4.2)
This week, we continued to lurk on social websites for our social issues. I continued my lurking in the “#lgbt representation” tags of Tumblr and Twitter this week, and found pretty much the same results as my last week’s lurking. Because I was finding similar things this week, my lurking time per day went down to 5 minutes. However, I did notice that both websites had gone into more detail for either their satirical views of LGBT representation or the information they find about new representation.
Here are two screenshots from the Tumblr tag on the issueof LGBT representation. You can see in the first image the way that the humorous attitude works around still addressing the problem. The poster will talk with high amounts of sarcasm while still eloquently talking about their opinion on the subject.
On the other side of some of the Tumblr posts, users will post about how more people should watch a certain movie or TV shows because they have more representation that one would originally think. The users of Tumblr know that if a show has high ratings and is watched by many people (and it must be watched when it airs, not streamed online), then there is a higher chance that the show will be renewed after its season ends. The more season a quality show receives, the greater possibility the show has to spread positive representation.
Some of the other users will continue to share links of well-known celebrities that positively represent the LGBT community. These users understand the importance of “big names” in media and their opinion on the subject. A user on Tumblr shared this article about Ellen Page speaking about LGBT roles being called “brave” when they are cast: http://worldofwonder.net/ellen-page-stop-calling-straight-actors-playing-lgbt-characters-brave-its-borderline-offensive/ . When LGBT roles are labeled as “brave” for actors to be in, it puts these roles into a sort of light that can be intimidating and only for courageous actors. But in reality, TV should really normalize LGBT roles and not call them “brave” so that they can be more accessible to actors of all expertise.
Twitter had another example of the satirical attitude about LGBT representation. Users of both social medias are tired of TV shows not properly representing the sexual orientations, but at the same time, this has gone on for so long that people are used to this mistreatment. This Twitter user clearly shares that he has had enough of the lack of representation in TV.
Twitter users also share links because of the character limits: videos sometimes can encompass what a user wishes to say but doesn’t have the word count to do so. This Twitter user shared this panel interview from NYCC that showed actors talking about the LGBT community and the need for representation. (Here is a link to that video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3L7VhC78hY&feature=youtu.be ).
My lurking this week showed many more results for up and coming TV shows. I believe that because it is the fall season, more shows are airing their new seasons and some shows are even premiering. As new TV shows air and as more episodes of a show air, everyone becomes a critic. The shows are then eyed by the eyes of many and gauged on the effectiveness of their representation.
The demographic for Tumblr and Twitter users is mainly teenagers and young adults, and this new generation seems to all be comprised of people who are all for LGBT rights (myself included). But I feel that this creates a biased view inside social media. So I turned to Facebook for a day.
Facebook is a site that is used by people of all ages (my grandparents even have an account), and I figured that this would give more diversity. I was glad to see that even Facebook had its fair share of LGBT representation talk within the search. For example, a page on Facebook provided a link to an article that talks about the best networks to watch for representation. (Here is that link: http://www.out.com/entertainment/2015/9/03/which-network-best-lgbt-representation-and-visibility ). Facebook allows for fanpages on any and every subject — including LGBT representation. This feature is not available on Tumblr or Twitter. Facebook has many LGBT representation and community pages that users can connect on.
These three sites that I lurked on seemed to have different varieties of content on the social issue I am researching, and it is refreshing to see that this issue is still a hot topic. When topics are still keenly monitored and talked about, it allows for opportunities for changes to be made. When topics simmer down, there is a chance for the subject to become just a part of life. If we want change to truly happen, we must not let this topic die down in its importance.
