One of the great benefits of my job is occasional travel to present at conferences. I’m participating in the SW/TX Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association annual convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this week.
I presented in a panel on activism online yesterday and chaired one about blogs and apps. Today I’m participating in a round-table discussion on the future of computer culture. I’m honored to have been selected from all of the participants in the computer culture division to help lead this discussion.
The research I presented concerns recruiting for social movements in social media. In particular, I’m analyzing communication about rescue of shelter animals on Twitter and Facebook. Can we use this rhetorical moment to determine if the call for “No More Homeless Pets” is evidence of a social movement (rather than a lobby group)? What we can learn about recruiting activists for social movements in social media through this example? The paper was well received, especially for 8 am on the first full day of the convention, and we had great conversation about my research and work on Jet Li, It Gets Better, and the role of social media in the Arab Spring.
I also get to see mountains and friends, and take a side trip to Santa Fe. Useful and Pleasant, indeed.
