Delivery Outline: Davis, Social Media, Social Identity, and Social Causes

Anna Davis, Social Media, Social Identity, and Social Causes

1. How I learned about my roommate via Facebook/Twitter. (Deep breath, smile, and establish eye contact) (Slide 1: Social Media & Me)
2. School sponsored online forums helped me connect with like-minded others.
3. These online connections and groups helped my college friendships develop quickly and meaningfully, and gave me a sense of belonging. (Pause briefly)
4. Speech Thesis: Today I’d like to share with you how social media is being used, not only to help students connect but also as a powerful tool to advance social causes and motivate us to act on their behalf.
5. Preview main points: (look around room)
   1. social identity theory
   2. popularity of social media
   3. how activists harness social media

1. Social identity theory drives us to connect with others. (Slide 2: Social identity theory)
   1. Definition: Social identity refers to how you understand yourself in relation to your group memberships.
      1. Michael Hogg (Professor- Claremont University) Group affiliations provide us with an important source of identity.
      2. Affiliation means joining and linking
   2. Social psychologist Henry Tajfel. Group affiliations help answer the question, Who am I?
      1. Tajfel’s (1979) The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. We associate with certain groups to help resolve the anxiety brought about by the question of identity.
      2. By choosing groups--define self and develop sense of belonging.
   3. Social media provide a platform social identity formation (Slide 3: Facebook and Identity)
      1. “Friending”
      2. “Liking”
      3. It’s not official until it’s “Facebook official.” (animate voice and smile)
      (Transition: As you can see social identity theory gives insight to popularity of social media sites.)
2. Growth rate of social media sites is astronomical.
   1. Marcia Clemmit (2010 CQ Researcher) Facebook had over one million members in 2005—just one year after its launch. (Slide 4: Facebook Users)
   2. Associated Press (May 2013) active Facebook users at over 1.16 billion members. (Slide 5: Four x US population graphic) (pause)
   3. Twitter. Shea Bennett( editor Mediabistro blog AllTwitter, October 2013) listed Twitter at 218 million active users in June 2013.(Transition: People around the world define themselves socially and answer the question, “Who am I?” on social media sites. This caught the attention of social movement organizations.)
3. Organizations of all kinds use social media to get their messages across to global consumers and spur their members into action.
4. Princeton.edu defines social movements as “a group of people with a common (Slide 6: Social movements definition) ideology who try together to achieve certain general goals.”
5. Consider Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party.
   1. Communicate messages and build support through social media sites, i.e. petitions.
   2. Nonprofit organization Social Movement Technologies helps individual social movement organizations.
6. Activists use social media to motivate like-minded people.
7. Austin Lee, seventeen-year-old skateboarder from St. Cloud, Minnesota wanted a skate park. (Slide 7: Austin Lee)
8. Facebook posting gathered 1085 members
9. David Unze (2010 USA Today) reported Lee won the approval—and $500,000—for his skate park.
10. Using social media helps us accomplish goals.

1. Positive sense of social identity through group affiliation drives popularity of social media sites (upbeat energy, maintain eye contact)
2. Social media sites allow us to communicate, express, and identify with one another in ways that encourage affiliation as well as action.
3. Remember the impact of group affiliations when you post online. (smile)