Facebook. Facebook has redefined how people interact socially, what we consider normal behaviour and created a whole culture which the majority of my generation is a part of. Many of the people I know turn to Facebook to see what people are saying and for any updates during large social movements or moments of crisis. Recently I was given the assignment to log my Facebook usage for the duration of a week. The week I chose to do this log happened to be one of my most active weeks on Facebook to date. I happened to be writing my journal during the week of the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015. Following the attacks Facebook exploded with posts expressing sympathy, people sharing news stories to update on the unfolding events, while others chose to voice there opinion on political policy. A lot of the people adding to the conversation also happened to change their Facebook profile pictures to have the French flag overlay it, an option that Facebook offered to every user. Facebook also offered a “check in” feature to people in France, to let their friends on Facebook know that they were safe and sound.

These features created a lot of controversy within Facebook itself. Many of my friends voiced outrage over the fact that Facebook only chose to have this level of response when a western, white city was attacked. The controversy over selective attention to certain crises connects back to a subject we have been discussing in my english class- who’s life narratives get to be heard and who’s don’t. In this situation, however,  it is who’s life narratives are important enough to share and morn vs. those that are not. Major news outlets took notice of the publics dialogue and began to publish opinion pieces on it. One great thing this controversy has done is opened up a dialogue about western media not covering the tragedies that happen all over the world, but rather choosing only to focus on western cities. Consequently, I have noticed much more people sharing stories and making an effort to focus on a broader range of news articles, from all over the world not just western cities. In addition to the conversation about which stories get news coverage, there has been a significant increase in stories that focus on the immense amount of Islamaphobia that western societies exhibit. In a way, two very important issues that society needs to reflect on have been brought to the forefront of peoples minds.

In my opinion, I thought that some of the postings on Facebook edged close to being rude and insensitive to the situation. It felt as though they were trying to make it a competition between which tragedy got the most attention. The first article linked in this blog touches on grief becoming a performance within this phenomena, which was definitely a sentiment I felt as I scrolled through my newsfeed in the days following the attack. I thought that the outpouring of love on Facebook following the event was beautiful and therapeutic for a lot of people. That being said, I can see how this dialogue, whether it was phrased in a way I thought was respectful or not, has opened up new topics of conversation that can help us move towards a more inclusive society and a media industry that covers events around the world, and about all societies. The more broad the media coverage, the more accepting people will be. I believe that the dialogue happening on Facebook right now is helping to take steps towards making all societies narratives important, not just the ones that the major news outlets choose to cover.

DISCLAIMER:  If you watch the videos I have linked in this post, there is explicit language in them.

“Hit like a man!” Georgia Me dares her invisible perpetrator as she delivers a moving spoken word poem to a spell bound audience on Def Poetry Jam. Def Poetry Jam, which is the brain child of Russell Simons, provides a platform for artist to share their own personal stories through the medium of spoken word poetry (a form of poetry that is preformed to an audience). My research into spoken word poetry as a life narrative has brought me to the conclusion that it is a powerful medium through which spoken word poetry can travel. The genre has the ability to invoke a very important aspect of audience participation called  “empathetic identification”- a concept that the scholars Schaffer and Smith speak about in their article: “Conjunctions: Life Narratives in the Field of Human Rights.” Empathetic identification is when the audience becomes personally invested in a life narrative,sharing the experience with the person telling their story as if it is also their own(Schaffer and Smith, 12). When spoken word poems are performed on Def Poetry Jam, empathetic identification takes its form in the audiences vocal responses to the person sharing. I want to further explore the difference in responses the audience gives to varying subject matters of poems being performed on Def Poetry Jam. To begin examining this question I will be using two different performances on Def Poetry Jam, one is “Hit Like A Man” by Georgia Me, which is a defiant rant focused at her abusive partner and the second is “Wife, Woman and Friend” by Dana Gilmore, a lighthearted lament about a former relationship.

Georgia Me walks on the stage to thunderous applause but once she opens her mouth the audience begins to realize the gravity of her subject matter. Little to nothing is said by the audience- a stunned, reverent silence falls over the majority of the audience as her performance starts to build momentum with each word spoken. As Georgia begins to reach the climax of her piece she cries out and the only hoot from the audience can be heard in a brief pause before she barrels forward. Once the last word is spoken the audience immediately erupts in a thunderous applause clearly effected by the artist story.

Dana Gilmore’s performance takes place in a much different atmosphere. As soon as she begins chuckles can be heard from the audience as they find humour in her words about her past lover. Throughout the performance the audience whoops and moans with the ebb and flow of the piece, you can hear the accessional “yeah!” from an audience member as they identify with what she is saying. It almost feels like Gilmore is sharing a story with friends over drinks because the audience is so relaxed with her. It as though she is relating a struggle that everyone in the audience has felt at some point.

Looking at these two examples, there is a great difference in how the audience reacted to different content. I wonder if the audience felt as if it would be inappropriate to yell out when there was darker content discussed. Perhaps more people have gone through relationship struggles rather than abuse and therefore identify more with Gilmore’s performance.The audience was interested in both story lines but empathetic identification took its form differently with each performance.

Citation:

Schaffer, Kay and Sidonie Smith. “Conjunctions: Life Narratives in the Field of Human Rights.” Biography 27.1 (2004): 1-24. Web of Science, MLA international Bibliography. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.

SpokenPoetryTV. Georgia Me- Hit Like a Man on Def Jam Poetry. Online Video Clip. Youtube.YouTube, 28 May. 2013. Web, 8 Nov. 2015.

SpokenPoetryTV. Dana Gilmore- Wife, Woman, Friend on Def Jam Poetry. Online Video Clip.Youtube.YouTube, 19 May. 2013. Web, 8 Nov. 2015.