Cliff Lampe: Using Social Media to Foster Extremism

The Three Characteristics

Professor Cliff Lampe discusses the three characteristics of social media: content is user generated, user interact directly with other users, and social media is a bundle of services. Lampe dives into the affordances of social media which include how anyone can broadcast messages to large groups, users can craft their identities and hide who they really are, and the ability to post multiple forms of media. The tools are useful for forming groups but do not discern whether that group is a group of new parents or a white supremacy militia group.

How does understanding the affordances of social media that help foster extremism cause you to reflect on your own social media presence?