Unit 3 - Discussion 1 Stylin’, Profilin’ (How We Socialize & Express Ourselves Online)

Discussion Overview

This discussion allows students to critically reflect on their social media behaviors and how they have been shaped by and affected their culture and social experiences.

Driving Questions:

Do you feel that your life has been improved or harmed by social media? In what ways?

Do you think your social media profile(s) accurately represent who you are? Why or why not?

How has social media (or tech/the internet in general) helped your relationships with friends and family?

Have you ever used social media to make or share art, stories, poetry or other creative work?

Discussion Instructions

1. Either assign students homework to read the following articles prior to the workshop, or designate time prior to the discussions to collectively read them together:
• The Flight from Conversation" by Sherry Turkle
• "Internet Connections" in Rookie Mag
• Please note that these are just example media and any related articles/videos may be identified to spark similar discussions on place of the above links.
2. Use the driving questions to guide and focus the discussions, either as a large group or in facilitated smaller groups with a large-group recap.