Our own Nasreen Rajani was interviewed in the Carleton’s independent weekly, the Charlatan, about social media and rape culture.
Rajani, who is currently researching digital media and online feminist activism, commented:
“Social media has the potential to build awareness around rape culture and to build connections between others but it’s not inherently effective as a debate platform… many just want to voice their opinions and not listen to others.”
According to Rajani, there is no easy answer on the effectiveness of online debate. While social media has great power to reach people, she said it is not the place for a serious conversation.
“We also may be more likely to follow those opinions that align with our own,” Rajani said. “It’s important to remember that instances of gender-based violence have, unfortunately, been thriving on social media… and this works to police people’s voices [and] tweets or pushes them offline completely.”
http://charlatan.ca/2016/09/op-ed-spurs-online-debate-on-carleton-and-rape-culture/