PARTICIPATE IN A CAUSE YOU CARE ABOUT
Reminder: These assignments should reflect only your own opinions and findings. We run all Friday projects through the TurnItIn plagiarism-checking system. The system tracks the similarity of your answer to other sources and to other students’ answers. To avoid any conflict, make sure to complete projects on your own.
Learning Goals: The goals of this assignment are (1) to think about the role of online technologies in civic action, (2) to identify civic action in your own world, (3) to think about the communication strategies of a given civic organization, and (4) to help raise awareness of the issue you picked to analyze.
Observe: Pick a cause that interests you, and an organization that aims to mobilize those who are involved in this cause. Every cause has a group—for example, if you are interested in the environment, you might choose the Greenpeace organization or the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). You can pick any organization that engages in civic outreach related to your chosen cause. List the cause and organization you picked below.
Cause:
Organization:
Next, using online tools (e.g., the organization’s website, or its Facebook page), engage with this organization for one week and reflect on the nature of online civic engagement. For example, you might comment on posts on the organization’s Facebook page, or retweet one of the organization’s Twitter posts, or join the organization’s email list. Most civic organizations offer many ways in which you can engage with them online!
Below, provide two or three screen shots of the online participation in which you engaged.
Analyze: Thinking about your online engagement with this organization, answer the following questions below.
Apply: What does Lance Bennett mean by the term “connective action” (see your reading)? What are some examples of such action that he uses in his discussion? How does your experience compare/contrast to the discussion of the forms of digital participation and civic engagement discussed by Lance Bennett? (Answer these questions below using at least two paragraphs, with complete sentences.)
Create: Create a sharable visual product that would raise awareness for this cause. Examples were shown in class. After you create this visual product, please share it with your chosen organization (for example, via Twitter or Facebook). Paste the visual product below.