The Podcast I created centred around the question What potentialities and risks does social media offer activists attempting to drive social media change? or as I put it in the title Are you a slack activist? 

Intrigued by the notion of activism and social media I wanted to understand this better, and is Slacktivism is really as bad as it sounds. The example that I used to frame my argument was the Me Too Movement and how this movement went worldwide in 2017, garnering global attention and action.

As my reading and research continued, it helped me form the argument that while self-gratifying slacktivists exist within the world of online activism, they do not necessarily derail an otherwise significant movement; and in their own way of liking something may actually assist in moving it forward. There were a number of authors that made similar key points that supported this argument. I selected key quotes to read as direct commentary, ensuring to credit each author accordingly.

When recording the Podcast I relied solely on my own voice, this did limit the variation of sound. It also made me wonder if the quotes were then lost in my own sentiments, and while referenced this still made me uncomfortable. In the end I had to accept that unless I was to have other people read the quotes, it would have to stay as is. In the future I may play with this more, however it does also play into shady smoke and mirrors as it is still not the author saying the words. Something to think about and play with for future projects.

Music was used to provide an ambient background, and also to increase the engagement that I felt was missing using only my own voice. Searching for free music under a creative commons licence for the uninitiated is a slow process, and with so many free options can be hard to make a final decision. I finally settled on an ambient piece that had a fairly modulated tone. To ensure that it did not impact the dialogue, I dropped the sound to be playing softly in the background.

Editing the sound file was a similar process to editing a video, however not having a visual que I did find it harder. Additional care had to be taken when slicing and removing snippets and the CTRL+Z option was used on numerous occasions. As with any editing though I have found the more you keep persevering it starts to come together. Albeit with perhaps a few swear words also muttered.

Overall putting the Podcast together was a rewarding experience for a first timer in this space. It allowed me to engage with a medium that I had not otherwise interacted with as well as affording the opportunity to dig into a subject that I found interesting. I like to think that the Podcast came together in a cohesive and realised way, is there room for improvement, of course, however there is always room for improvement and that in itself brings the joy of learning.

References 

Bahr, L 2017, Harvey Weinstein to take leave of absence after bombshell New York Times sex harassment report, Chicago Tribune,  https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-me-too-timeline-20171208-htmlstory.html 

Cabrera, N 2017, ‘Activism or Slacktivism? The Potential and Pitfalls of Social Media’, Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 400-15. 

Gerbaudo, P 2014, Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism, Pluto, New York. 

Suciu, P 2019, Is Posting On Social Media A Valid Form Of Activisim?, Forbes,   https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2019/11/01/is-posting-on-social-media-a-valid-form-of-activisim/#5cff762b21cc 

Music Reference 

Corporate Ambient – AShamaluevMusic (https://soundcloud.com/ashamaluevmusic/corporate-ambient) 

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