by Nikita Vivekanandan, for the Fall 2020 Symposium on Community Engaged Scholarship.
As the Vice President of Communication for the GW Capital Peers, I designed social media posts that shared health information. As we continue to rely on social media for many of our organizations particularly during the pandemic, it is essential to create inclusive digital spaces to best reach our communities. Symposium theme: Challenging assumptions and unconscious biases.
This project was part of Abbie Weiner’s course, COMM 1041: Interpersonal Communication. Students in this course learn the theories and principles of interpersonal communication while engaging in service-learning with local after-school programs, job training programs, and other service organizations.
Please be sure to cast your vote for the Symposium for Community Engaged Scholarship Audience Choice Award. You are welcome to post comments and questions below.
As a Freshman this year, my only experience of GW has been this sort of digital space you described in your presentation, and I fully appreciate all the consideration you put into making that space inclusive and diverse. Judging our own implicit biases is one of the most important things we can do as we work to make more inviting spaces for all people, and the real life application of this via social media is a great one. I know I was definitely personally impacted by the GW social media presence this semester, to feel connected and get information. This was a really wonderful presentation!
Hello,
It's so interesting to hear your perspective as a freshman! I certainly think that GW is an inclusive campus, and we all need to take an extra step to transfer that inclusiveness into the virtual world. Thank you for taking the time to view my presentation!
Hey Nikki,
I really enjoyed your presentation. This work is especially important now considering the huge migration to the virtual world. While there have been many challenges associated with virtual programming and social media, there have been just as many opportunities to innovate. Social media has the potential to reach such a wider audience than in-person events / advertising. That's why understanding our own implicit biases is essential to creating inclusive virtual environments. Thank you for sharing, and for challenging us to reflect on our own implicit biases!
Hi Caleb,
You make a great point that social media can reach wider audiences - and with great power comes great responsibility! Thank you for viewing my presentation!