🎭 How Social Media Can Support Transformative Conversations

 

By Friedel Marquardt

Changing the way we think — and appreciating new perspectives — can be a complex and vulnerable process. Drawing from her research into social media as a space for sharing marginalised narratives, Friedel Marquardt presents the online ‘grace space’ to safely foster transformative conversations around new ideas

Transformation needs space and safety. Is social media the answer?

Democratic transformation involves moving from one state of being to another, often through engagement with others. My research focuses on the transformation of ideas and mindsets; that is, learning and growing through the understanding of a new perspective. This can be a long, involved and vulnerable process, sparked by a range of factors. Regardless of its cause, this kind of transformation usually involves considering ideas and engaging in conversations to make sense of those ideas, especially in democratic contexts.

In the past, the public sphere has been the place for transformative democratic conversations. But the public sphere is also exclusive, and this makes it difficult for transformation to occur, particularly in favour of marginalised groups. Newer public spaces, like social media, can be exclusive, too. Yet social media offers accessibility in a way that traditional public spaces do not. Here, nearly anyone can engage with a conversation online if they have the tools to do so.

Social media as place for storytelling

My research examines social media as a space for storytelling, especially for groups whose voices have historically been excluded. On social media platforms, previously silenced voices have agency over the stories they present and how they present them, along with some control over who sees their content.

You can share perspectives, tell different sides to a story and, potentially, challenge mainstream or dominant ideas. You can support causes, and further your message’s reach. This can be powerful and transformative, particularly for those who have lacked opportunity to speak through traditional media. Sharing online can even lead to movements that influence legislation, as with #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter.

This resonates with our Democratic Transformations series. Taina Meriluoto argues that social media allows users to curate their online presence, empowering them to explore new sides of their identities. And as Alfred Moore writes, people can take on anonymous forms to explore an identity they may not otherwise be able to.

With improved moderation, could we tap into social media’s accessibility to nurture democratic conversation and transformation?

These new democratic transformations are dependent upon platform design. As Jennifer Forestal points out, physical and digital spaces affect how much or little a person engages, which identities they reveal, and which stories they share.

Yet, platform design can also have detrimental effects. It could result in negatively targeted messaging and the spread of mis- and disinformation, and it could perpetuate harmful narratives. How far users can participate in detrimental social media engagement depends on platform regulations. Lax or poorly enforced regulations can hinder a person’s willingness to engage with new ideas in these spaces, lest they become targets of online abuse.

With improved moderation and the safety of a closed group, could we tap into social media’s accessibility to nurture democratic conversation and transformation? Could such platforms become ‘grace spaces’ where people explore and test new ideas?

What is a ‘grace space’?

I imagine a grace space as an accessible online platform for personal transformation that welcomes the messiness of the process. Grace spaces are conversational platforms that invite the questions people may otherwise hesitate to ask. They also offer space to openly respond to those questions, and allow people learning to make mistakes as they engage with new concepts.

There are, at present, only limited online spaces that invite people to have vulnerable conversations without the risk of trolling or hateful interactions. However, there are spaces online that allude to this kind of conversation.

The subreddit r/IAmA provides a space for a ‘crowdsourced interview’, which Reddit calls an ‘ask me anything’. Here, redditors can ask questions in response to someone’s description of themselves and what they do. The subreddit is moderated, with rules around what questions users can ask, and how moderators expect redditors to interact. Topics are diverse, from learning about surrogacy, to immigration law, to celebrities and much more.

Online grace spaces allow people to ask the questions they may not be brave enough to ask elsewhere. They welcome the ‘messiness’ of personal transformation

r/IAmA is certainly a space for more honest information sharing. But it provides a predominantly unidirectional response to questions. Redditors may comment on the OP’s (original poster’s) response to their question, but the OP does not usually respond to that comment again.

The grace space I am proposing is conversational. It is deliberative in nature and would benefit from many of the traits found in citizens’ assemblies, but specifically, mutual understanding and respect. We might even think of it as the r/IAmA subreddit with democratic facilitation, optional anonymity, and in closed-group form. Listening and empathy are key factors in this conversation, because they help create a caring environment that welcomes people and their stories.

A space to assist transformative journeys

As in online forums, conversations in a grace space have a purpose: participating in democratic discussion about an issue to enhance understanding. In such spaces, people are not condemned or ‘cancelled‘ because of their group identity or affiliation, or because they make mistakes in responding to ideas. They may be corrected if their interactions have a negative impact on others, or even removed from the online space if they are continually disruptive. However, everyone involved enters the space with the understanding that people are there to make sense of what ideas mean for themselves and their identities.

All users enter a ‘grace space’ with the understanding that people are there to make sense of what ideas mean for themselves and their identities

The grace space is there to help people make sense of their own identity in response to others’ stories and ideas, and to foster conversation among participants throughout the process. It is there to support people’s transformative journeys.

No.19 in our Democratic Transformations series

This article was originally published at The Loop and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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