5 Books About How Social Media Shapes Our Culture & World

5 Books About How Social Media Shapes Our Culture & World

This fall, I’m teaching a college-level social media course at Nazareth University. The students and I are both learning lots, and it’s been a great experience so far! The midterm project I assigned was pretty unconventional for a social media class: the students had to read a book about social media from a list of five suggested titles and then review it in a traditional paper and an Instagram post or TikTok. My goal was to encourage them to think critically about the platforms we use every day in our professional and personal lives. It was fascinating to read my students’ observations, discuss the books as a class, and see the intersections between them! Today on the blog, I’m sharing a little about each book and what it tells us about the myriad ways that social media shapes our culture and our world. 

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Performative Honesty on Social Media

Performative Honesty on Social Media

There’s a trend I’ve been noticing on social media for awhile now. I call it: performative honesty

You may have seen it too. An influencer, a blogger, or even a friend of yours shares something thoughtful, vulnerable, and reflective… paired with an ultra-curated photo of their perfect life. Something doesn’t quite match up. They’re sharing about their anxiety and pairing it with a professionally taken photo, makeup done, hair looking fly, cute outfit. They’re projecting perfection, and writing a caption that says “no no, I’m not perfect, I’m just like you.” It often leaves you questioning if the content in the caption is real, or fake like the photo.

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