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Monday, October 1, 2018
Introduction by Rory Clark The social media boom that began in 2007 is perhaps now coming to an end, with Facebook numbers now dropping for millennials and post-millennials in Canada, not to mention the many post US election social media ‘scandals’ (I’ll just let you Google that one yourself and take your pick), as... More
by Leiqin Shen Since their mass adoption by the public, digital media and the Web 2.0 have been essential tools for activists, protests and uprisings. More and more people every day are joining discussions facilitated by social media concerning social issues and social movements. Supporting this notion are the events surrounding rapid... More
by Eldora Aoun I know what you’re thinking when you read the title of this article. You’re thinking, “online activism is slacktivism at its finest . . . People participate online just to pat themselves on the back and feel good about doing their part for humanity . . . However, at the end... More
Although “speculative fiction” is sometimes used as a catch-all term that includes fantasy, science fiction, horror, and superhero literature, Margaret Atwood identifies speculative and science fiction as different genres. While science fiction, according to Atwood, “has monsters and spaceships”, speculative fiction is about things... More
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Introduction by Rory Clark Social media, the major social networks and platforms as we know them today, were originally conceived with much more humble and basic functionality in mind. The word “social”, in social media, originally referred to socialization, not society. Originally, they were simply intended to digitize connection,... More
by Freyja Wilson Advancements in technology have led to remarkable innovations in the ways we interact with information, commerce, and the people around us and around the world. However, a significant problem is that the online interactions we have concerning activism are often insincere and self-serving. Clicktivism/slacktivism and social... More
by Megan Harvey You’ve just made a Facebook account and are trying to add your friends. Except you can’t find one friend’s account when you search her name. The next day she tells you that she has a fake name on Facebook so that when she posts something online it isn’t connected back to... More
©Marvel Studios 2018 Crowds of eager faces gather outside the movie theatre impatiently. Everywhere you can see dashikis -brightly coloured shirts and tunics –and braids and sheer giddiness in the expressions of those waiting. After nearly a year of anticipation, it is finally here. “I have never been in a theatre with so many... More
by Anna Hum Obviously, something must have gone wrong to cause an entire generation to become as lazy and unmotivated, but oh so entitled, as we are. Perhaps it was the amount of participation trophies we received when we were growing up, or maybe the root of all our waywardness is caused by our... More
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Saturday, May 19, 2018
I’m part of a generation that has done much of our growing up with and in media. Living in media in this context means that our lives are heavily mediated by new media; we can make most of our appointments online, order groceries at the touch of the button that will be delivered... More
(A Fowl Language Comic by Brian Gordon) Did you know green tea can cure cancer? Scientists have found evidence that chimps believe in god! A group of teenagers have invented a condom that changes colour when it detects STDs! These three statements have something in common: they’re all a load of... More
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