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Midterm Project

ccywes's picture

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sarahmayer's picture

Hi Claire! I just finished reading your paper, and I learned so much, so thank you! Something that I'm not sure many people are going to highlight but really helped me grasp and absorb the information better was the stylistic choices you chose. Each paragraph started with a video within the first sentence allowing the reader to watch it before continuing with your paper. Also, all of your videos had captions on them, which was also really helpful! I think it was really important to include your disclaimer at the bottom to show your intentions and stylistic choices for this project. Why did you choose to include it at the bottom, though, instead of starting with it? Overall, I think you highlighted an important topic that is prevalent on social media platforms, but especially Tik Tok and will be more cognizant when absorbing content in the future. 

alana_ponte's picture

Hi Claire,

I really appreciated this essay and how you describe the nuance of this topic. Social media platforms like TikTok can both be used to educate users about disability as well as miseducate users, which is why it is super important for non-disabled people especially to do their research and be critical of the content they consume. Honestly I thought one of the most powerful statements in your entire statement was in your note at the bottom: “Additionally, not all videos posted by disabled creators need to be educational.” Yes yes yes! Love how you mentioned this. So many people are so quick to judge disabled creators for what and how they post. As you mentioned in your paper, intentions and perception are important. While being disabled is an identity marker for many disabled creators, however, this does not mean they responsible for educating you about their disability or disability in general (which you mention). While social media is one good avenue to explore disability and provides inspiration for specific avenues to further research, I argue that individuals must do the work to learn about these topics outside of social media (which may help limit the development of knowledge based on misleading content). 

- Alana 

brisakane's picture

I really appreciated your essay. I have been thinking a lot about disabled representation on TikTok, as I feel like I come accross TikToks from disabled creaters very often. I love the Deal family, and I feel like I've learned a lot from some of their videos. It's hard to balance both the positive and negative effects that TikToks on disability can have. I really appreciate the multiple creators that you looked into in order to complete this project.