ERIC Number: ED624941
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 231
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-4387-2480-3
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Incidents in the Life of a Cyber Girl: Exploring Instagram as a Potential Counterspace for Black Girls' Literacy Practices
Anderson, Jimmeka L.
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Although research has been done to explore social media as a safe space with Black girls (Womack, 2013), there is limited research that assesses social media as a counter space for Black girls' literacies. According to The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research (2017), Black teens are the largest users of Instagram and SnapChat. While broader research has looked at Black girls' literacies and digital literacies among (Muhammad & Haddix, 2016; Price-Dennis, 2016), there is limited research that has explored the literacy practices of Black girls specifically in the digital space they predominantly use, Instagram. Most importantly, the need to explore the elements of literacy that engage Black girls in non-formal academic spaces in which they utilize excessively may provide context for application in academic curriculum. This research study explored whether Instagram may provide a potential counterspace for Black girls' literacies and the ways in which they practice literacy through the examination of digital posts, online observations, and interviews with two adolescent Black girls during an eight-week period. Findings showed that Instagram offered several affordances of active resistance and counter-narrative formation with Black girls but lacked in building meaningful relationships that did not already exist in their physical lives. While acts of racism and sexism were shared to be visible on Instagram by participants, findings showed that Instagram empowered Black girls to advocate for themselves and others. Additionally, findings from this study highlighted that literacy practices with Black girls were multiple in practice, tied to their identities, historical, intellectual, critical, and collaborative with an emphasis on emotional connection. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Social Media, Literacy, Adolescents, African Americans, Females, Interpersonal Relationship, Racism, Gender Bias, Empowerment, Advocacy, Resistance (Psychology)
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
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