Chapter three of Kidd’s Social Media Freaks talks about the pros and cons that social media has on the LGBT community. This has become a major topic in society today. Many people have opposing ideas and it can be difficult for many people to express themselves. In Chapter three Kidd explains the story of a Brendan Jordan. His social media rise to fame all started with him dancing behind a news reporter at an opening of a new mall. The video went viral and soon Brendan was on talk shows. He then used what seemed to be just 15 minutes of fame to his advantage by calling out Lady Gaga as his inspiration. Gaga then went on to shout him out and following that Brendan began a twitter, YouTube, Vine, Tumbler, and Facebook accounts. He then posted a video entitled BRENDAN JORDAN- ARE YOU GAY? This video went viral and allowed Brendan to express himself and come out to the world. He used his platform to give others the confidence to feel comfortable with being apologetically themselves. This was definitely a positive effect of social media and the LGBT community. It allows people to express themselves and support others who are going through the same thing on a mass scale.
However, this also allows for negative responses. Social allows people to express themselves positively or negatively. Many people choose to use social media as a way to tear people down and hide behind their screens while leaving negative and mean comments. Social media allows for harassment of others and their identity. This is very prominent on posts or videos that go viral because more people see it allowing for more hateful comments. This is a hug problem in the LGBT community on social media. In an article looked at this week in class the eye opening statistics of which groups were targeted the most for online harassment on social media were looked at. 63% of the LGBT community were targeted because of their identity. The next highest were Muslims at 35%. Why is the LGBT community targeted so much higher than any other group online?
This can also be related to the mindful listening that was discussed in class this past week. Many people do not use mindful listening when reacting to things on social media or in communication with others with opposing ideas. Many people do not respect the ideas of others and are quick to react to things and hide behind the screen so they are not able to have the repercussions of their actions. It is important for us as social media citizens to respect others online even if we do not agree with their actions or beliefs.