6. Formative Assessment - Chosen Project Idea

The main inspiration for this idea was this article by NPR about how a man created an app that chose random public Facebook events for him to attend. 

Social media bubbles are a real issue - Facebook and other sites feeds constantly show people content which reaffirm their own beliefs. Very rarely are people exposed to ideas that thy disagree with - unless it's the subject of a viral video which shows the other as foolish or dumb. 

I want to create the proposal for a social media platform that allows and actively encourages people to engage with people who are different from them. This kind of discourse might not be the most comfortable, but it can eventually lead the way towards better understanding. 

A very real example of how reaching out could change lives is the story of Daryl Davis, a black man, who spent three decades of his life seeking out members of the white supremacist hate group Ku Klux Klan. Armed with a lot of bravery, and the question "How can you hate me when you don’t even know me", Daryl managed to convince around 200 white racists to abandon the Klan. 

One dilemma in designing this platform that I'm considering is the extent to which censorship will be implemented. I want to humanise people from different backgrounds, but also not make it a free-for-all trash-fest where people end up just arguing 99% of the time or even swatting someone. Safety is a key concern - will the users of this site end up getting harassed by the people they disagree with in real life? There's a lot to further research and think about, but for now this is the idea I'm going with for the formative assessment. 

References

Fausset, R. (2017). A Voice of Hate in America’s Heartland. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/us/ohio-hovater-white-nationalist.html [Accessed 12 Oct. 2018].

Hern, A. (2017). How social media filter bubbles and algorithms influence the election. [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/22/social-media-election-facebook-filter-bubbles [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Marsh, S. (2018). The black detective who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan. [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/22/the-black-man-in-the-ku-klux-klan [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Spiegel, A. (2017). Eager To Burst His Own Bubble, A Techie Made Apps To Randomize His Life. NPR Choice page. [online] Npr.org. Available at: https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2017/06/08/531796329/eager-to-burst-his-own-bubble-a-techie-made-apps-to-randomize-his-life?t=1539526393646 [Accessed 12 Oct. 2018].

Vice (2017). Dinner with a White Nationalist. [video] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/VICE/videos/dinner-with-a-white-nationalist/483132912051965/ [Accessed 11 Oct. 2018].

Walker, P. (2016). Black man convinces 200 people to the leave KKK by befriending them. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/kkk-klu-klux-klan-members-leave-black-man-racism-friends-convince-persuade-chicago-daryl-davis-a7489596.html [Accessed 12 Oct. 2018].

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