I grew up in a very small town in BC, one that was predominantly white. Inclusion was never stressed in my high school education; in fact, segregation was the norm. Students with disabilities were placed in different classrooms, or different schools altogether. Indigenous students had their own classroom, where the small group of them spent the majority of their time, which I never really understood. In this system, I didn’t think about inclusion because it was lacking altogether. Diversity was not embraced, and differences were not celebrated.
When I started studying at the University in Victoria, it obviously looked much different. I began to realize how important inclusion was as I talked with my peers, who were a much more diverse group of people than I had experienced in my hometown. People of colour, LGBTQ+ members, people with disabilities, all had something different to say than me—all had a drastically different life experience. Especially as a writing student, those differences were prominent and talked about a lot. They were interesting to listen to and learn about. In class, we celebrated those differences. The diversity even within one UVIC classroom was amazing to me, and it was even more amazing that those differences were celebrated.
Thinking about social media in terms of inclusion is interesting, especially as it pertains to our professional identity. We are all experts of our own experience; we may not be an expert in the field we are going into, but our own experience will always be the thing we know the most about. When asked, Markiel Simpson mentions how he didn’t use his post secondary education to do the work he is doing today; he mainly uses his own life experience to be a community advocate and dismantle racism (Miller, 2021). We represent ourselves, typically, on our social media, and when using it for professional purposes, we would presumably try to showcase our skills and expertise. But personal things, like our life experience, that is displayed on social media, is also showcasing our expertise. For example, Markiel mentions how he uses two hashtags prominently, #strongertogether and #togetherwerise. The hashtags represent Markiel’s professional career, but also his personal lived experience, in which he is an expert (Miller, 2021).
Social media is great tool for networking and reaching a large audience, and therefore a very diverse range of people. Sharing language, like hashtags Markiel uses, can carry a message across distances, and reach like minded people, but also people who can help make the change happen. Amplifying leaders voices and interacting with their content will carry the message even further; in Markiel’s case, Twitter helps him reach several politicians who can take action in office (Miller, 2021).
Social media also exposes a diverse range of people to different issues or individuals, in a professional or personal sense. Once I started interacting on social media with more diverse individuals from my classes at UVIC, my feed was flooded with human rights campaigns, students advocating for different causes, or just instances of different cultures as I scroll. Inclusion is much more prominent in my life ever since attending UVIC, and so is my social media as I have followed more diverse individuals. These differences should be celebrated as diversity is beautiful, and inclusion is important.
Miller, J. [MILLER]. (2021, June 1). EDCI – 338 Markiel Simpson [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsoDHGaXNNs
Hi Sarah! This was a great read. I can relate to a lot of this. I also grew up in a small town in BC and inclusivity was never a thing. Social media has definitely helped educate people in my town and we are starting to see more inclusivity, but still not enough to be near where we should be. Thanks!