"Conversation" by raiznext is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Keren Goor was a 2021-22 Hackworth Fellow with the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Views are her own.
College is a time when young adults shape their ideologies and opinions that might stick with them throughout their lifetime. As an Israeli student at Santa Clara University, I was troubled by the conversations occurring online during the most recent major escalation between Israelis and Palestinians, Operation Protective Edge, in May 2021. For my Hackworth Fellowship project, I decided to speak to an Israeli student, a Palestinian student, a social media influencer, and a professor who teaches politics in the Middle East, since people in their positions are viewed by college students as the four most credible sources of information and knowledge about the conflict. I asked them all, do Israeli and Palestinian students have a duty to post and share information on social media? And, what (if anything) should non-Israeli or non-Palestinian students do in order to be involved in a constructive way? Below are four podcasts with selections from our conversations. In the final two podcasts I explore the common points that were brought up, and ultimately ask, how can we as social media users, use and have conversations on social media platforms in times of conflict in a way that is useful, productive, safe, and ethical?
Relevant Readings
- Activism or ‘Slacktivism’: Can social media really make a difference? Sharon Chau
- Celebrities and Influencers are Posting about Israeli-Palestinian Violence Amid Shifting Expectations and Pressure from Followers, Palmer Haasch
- Do we really need influencers’ Israel-Palestine hot takes? Rebecca Jennings
- Entertainment Leaders Call on Celebrities and Influencers to Stop Spreading Misinformation about Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Cision PR newswire
- Facebook’s language gaps weaken screening of hate, terrorism, Isabel Debre & Fares Akram
- How social justice slideshows took over Instagram, Terry Nguyen
- How Social Media Was Used and Abused, Rayhan Uddin
- Infographics are all over Instagram, but can we believe what we see? Kristina Murkett
- Infographics promote misinformation and ‘slacktivism’, Sara Kahn
- Influence Inflation, Daniel Silver
- Instagram making changes to its algorithm after it was accused of censoring pro-Palestinian content, Kim Lyons
- The Israeli Algorithm Criminalizing Palestinians for Online Dissent, Nadim Nashif & Marwa Fatafta
- The Subtle Way that ‘Clicktivism’ Shapes the World, Richard Fisher
- Israeli minister to Facebook and TikTok executives: You must take action, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
- Millions of Leftists Are Reposting Kremlin Misinformation by Mistake, David Gilbert
- On Twitter, Briefly, L.M. Sacasas
- Palestinians criticise social media censorship over Sheikh Jarrah, Linah Alsaafin
- Posting on Social Media is not Activism (Sorry, Fellow White People), Casey Bond
- Prime Minister's Office Recruiting Students to Wage Online Hasbara Battles, Barak Ravid
- Slacktivism is Having a Powerful Real-World Impact, New Research Shows, Kate Groetzinger
- So, You Want to Post About Israel & Palestine on Instagram, Emily Burack
- Social Media Is the Mass Protest’: Solidarity With Palestinians Grows Online, Vivian Yee and Mona El-Naggar
- Social media platforms are complicit in censoring Palestinian voices, Andy Rain
- ‘Soul-destroying’: Jewish Instagrammers Deal with Gaza Conflict, Antisemitism, Philissa Cramer
- The Clubhouse Room Where Israelis and Palestinians Are Actually Talking, Dahlia Lithwick
- Undergraduates have embraced social media as a platform to comment on Israel and Palestine. Should we? Sarah Kirby
- What is an Influencer? – Social Media Influencers Defined, Werner Geyser
- Why ‘slacktivism’ is unlikely to change the world, Asma I. Abdulmalik
- Your Social Media Posts Are Helping Palestine, So Please Don’t Stop Sharing, Anila Ghufran
