Research
Big Three, Artifacts, Literature Review
Research Topic: Social Trends Through The Lens Of Social Media
Question: How has social media spurred on popular trends in the 21st century, and have they been able to improve the lives of everyday people?
Hypothesis: Social media has caused social trends and wellness to reach a broader range of people, and has made living a better lifestyle more attainable for the average person.
Annotated Bibliography
The 100 podcast
This is a podcast about The 100, a cw show, which is recorded in the Boston area. You need to be interested in the tv show they talk about in order to actually listen to the podcast, unlike something like NPR where you just turn on your radio and you can figure out what's going on. Similar to my own podcast- will be a small number of listeners all interested in a particular topic.
Modern lifestyle trend. Comes from the Danish concept of hygge, or “coziness”. Sitting by a fireplace, drinking hot tea, hiking, bikes on colored walls. Are Danish people really that happy? Often reported as the happiest country on earth, also has the highest use of antidepressants in the world. Can they achieve this level of happiness and leisure due to their strong welfare state?
Four types of social movements. alternative, redemptive, reformative, and revolutionary. This information will be helpful in categorizing the subjects on which I write for my research paper.
How do teenagers express themselves through social media? Is social media helping or hurting? Teenagers now seek validation from social media, which broadcasts your life beyond what it would have been like 10 or 20 years ago. This has also caused our mistakes to be magnified and prolonged much longer than before. Do these negative consequences outweigh the benefits of using social media for positive change?
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/12/health/social-media-brain/
Social media also changes your brain chemistry. When you receive a lot of likes, your reward pathway is activated. This makes social media literally addictive. This could be a reason why so many people are attached to their phones and instagram/facebook/whatever during social situations where it isn’t appropriate to be glued to your cell phone.
Simple.Sustainability
My friends Anna and Isabel's Instagram account for their yearlong Biology project, about spreading awareness of sustainable practices through social media.
Little Book of Hygge
The book that "started it all", brought hygge (and mys) to the rest of Europe and America.
The Minimalists Podcast
One of the most popular minimalist podcasts. They made a popular netflix documentary in 2016.
Jenny Mustard-Minimalism/Hygge
A Youtuber who makes videos about living a minimalist and mys lifestyle.
popular blog about hygge lifestyle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fyvAgifOXM&t=253s
Why everyone needs hygge- from a scandi youtuber.
http://www.yogabasics.com/learn/history-of-yoga/
History of Yoga- where it came from, and how it spread to the West.
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-15546/is-social-media-killing-yoga.html
What is the effect of social media on Yoga? Social media is making #yoga look flawless and only for small-bodied people. In reality, Yoga does not discriminate and anyone can practice regardless of body type, class, or ability. Yoga isn't about wearing the newest Lulu leggings or posting your poses online.
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-26621/how-social-media-is-really-affecting-your-yoga-practice.html
How social media may be harming yoga, putting the focus only on the physical poses/looking good, which is the antithesis of what yoga really is.
http://spirapoweryoga.com/social-media-images-and-yoga-is-it-a-tool-or-is-it-harmful
There are 8 "limbs" of yoga (Asana, poses, is just one limb). Is seeing only poses of yoga reducing yoga to something it isn't? This constant bombardment of images is also giving us a narrow minded view of what the human body should look like, especially for women.
http://www.yogiapproved.com/yoga/how-the-media-is-changing-yoga/
The media focuses only on the physical benefits of yoga, not the mental, emotional, or spiritual benefits that everyone can get through yoga.
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-27900/11-wellness-trends-to-watch-in-2017.html
Article at the end of 2016 about wellness trends predicted to trend online and in real life.
https://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/academics/communications/research/vol7no1/04_Skyler_Cowans.pdf
Academic paper about the use of yoga online and the influence of social media on the practice.
* Recommended to me by my advisor.
Literature Review
Janey Bombara
CAPS English
16 March 2017
Literature Review
Any effective social justice movement or lifestyle trend needs a method to spread. Whether by word of mouth, flyers, or social media, all trends and movements need a vehicle. In the last ten years, social media has been used increasingly to spur on important social justice movements like Black Lives Matter as well as lifestyle trends like minimalism. How has social media done this? Has any significant change aside from awareness been caused by these movements?
My research began with the four different types of social movements. There are alternative, redemptive, reformative, and revolutionary social movements that range from the individual to the societal level, and from minor to major changes. According to the paper, anything ranging from Alcoholics Anonymous to a Communist Revolution is considered a social movement, as it attempts to create change in some number of people. I will be classifying all the movements I chronicle in my paper by this standard.
Four social movements I have decided to research are Minimalism, Hygge, Environmentalism, and Black Lives Matter. Minimalism began as an art form which emphasised clean lines and little clutter. It was also a music form, a stark contrast from the “busy” music of the early 20th century. “Terry Riley’s 1964 composition In C is often cited as the first minimalist work in music...In C was a marked rejoinder to the academic complexities of Schoenberg and serialism, a sequence of simple music patterns offset in time to create a kind of undulating ambient sound.” (Brief History Of Minimalism). However, the minimalism I am concerned with is the design and lifestyle concept, which emphasizes owning only what you need and “what adds value to your life” (The Minimalists Podcast). This could mean getting rid of unnecessary clothing, books, papers, and junk, or could also be eliminating your debt, or finding better friends. Minimalism has become incredibly popular in the last five years through Pinterest, youtube, and podcasts like The Minimalists. It is especially interesting that it was through free mediums, which don’t require purchasing anything aside from books or tour experiences, that minimalism really took off.
Hygge is, according to hyggehouse.com, “a Danish word used when acknowledging a feeling or moment, whether alone or with friends, at home or out, ordinary or extraordinary as cosy, charming or special”. Think cozy socks, a mug of tea, and chatting with friends in front of a fireplace while a storm rages outside. Winter is ideal hygge weather, but summer hygge could be a long hike and a swim a freshwater pond, then picking wildflowers with your friends. Hygge became wildly popular in 2015 especially after the publication of “The Little Book of Hygge”, a guide to living “danish-ly”. Something posited in the New Yorker article “The Year of Hygge” is that during especially difficult political times, we yearn for something to make us feel happy and safe. The Danes seem to have a stable government, strong social welfare and a good economy, so they have more leisure time than the average American. Through the spread of picture perfect evenings and happy Danish people, we are given a polished and slightly fake view of the way people actually live their lives.
My first social justice movement will be Environmentalism. Youtube and social media have been ways science and climate change information has been spread to many audiences. Shows like SciShow and “It’s Okay To Be Smart” have informative videos that could be used in a classroom or just to educate yourself more. Without youtube and the internet, I probably never would have learned the facts about the climate. We don’t learn about environmentalism in school-it takes personal interest. I am particularly interested in organizations that mobilize teens towards environmentalism. My friends Anna and Isabel have started an Instagram dedicated to teaching people sustainability practices, and we are planning an interview for my research paper as well as my podcast. I also read up on organizations that promote bike usage, especially in urban areas, or who lobby for better bike safety laws and bike lanes. The NY Bike Coalition has a blog and facebook page, and use social media to get the message out about using bikes for urban transport.
My other social justice movement is Black Lives Matter. I read up on the beginning of the movement in the "Growth of a New Social Justice Movement" article. The black lives matter organization first took root and was created first as a hashtag by three female community organizers. This began summer of 2013, was inspired by the Million Hoodies Movement. BLM, however, was a hashtag that could be used on social media easily and became a rallying cry across protests. This movement was easily shareable and contained a simple message. It could be added to a picture, written about at length, and used as a protest chant. While previous protest chants were mostly limited to the protest and rally circuit, BLM could be shared anywhere and outside of its normal listeners.
In terms of my own research, I am preparing to interview sources for my podcast as well as my research paper. I want to interview The 100 Podcast, which is a local podcast about the CW TV show The 100, so they will be a good resource for recording my podcast. I also want to interview someone from the Philadelphia Bike Coalition, which my advisor put me in touch with because they do outreach on bike safety and environmentalism. Finally, I want to interview the host of Living On Earth, who produces a podcast on environmentalism and things to do with sustainability.
Bibliography
Aberle, David F. "Types of Social Movements - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless. Boundless, 20 Sept. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Altman, Anna. "The Year of Hygge, the Danish Obsession with Getting Cozy." The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 19 Dec. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Anderson, Melinda D. "The Other Student Activists." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 23 Nov. 2015. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Bosco, Anna, and Isabel Joyce. Simple Sustainability. Instagram, 10 Mar. 2017. Web.
Curwood, Steve. "Living On Earth." Audio blog post. Living On Earth. NPR, n.d. Web. <loe.org>.
Daniel, and Olga. "Re: The 100 Podcast." Audio blog comment. The 100 Podcast. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
East, Susie. "How Does Social Media Affect Your Brain." CNN. Cable News Network, 1 Aug. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Fact. "A Brief History of Minimalism." FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music. FACT Magazine, 09 Mar. 2010. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
"Freakonomics." Audio blog post. Freakonomics. Ed. Eliza Lambert. Freakonomics LLC, n.d. Web.
Glass, Ira. "Podcast." This American Life. Chicago Public Media, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Johnson, Chandra. "Growing up Digital: How the Internet Affects Teen Identity." DeseretNews.com. Deseret News, 28 May 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Rohlinger, Deana. "How Social Movements Are Using the Internet to Change Politics." How Social Movements Are Using the Internet to Change Politics | Scholars Strategy Network. Scholars Strategy Network, 01 Mar. 2017. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Ruffin, Herbert. "Black Lives Matter: The Growth of a New Social Justice Movement | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed." Black Lives Matter: The Growth of a New Social Justice Movement | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. Syracuse University, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Vedantam, Shankar. "Hidden Brain." The Hidden Brain. NPR. N.d. NPR. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Your Voice for a More Bicycle-friendly New York State since 1990. "NYBC." NYBC. NY Bike Coalition, n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2017. <http://www.nybc.net/>.
"Youth. Food. Community." The Food Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.