Hate Culture: Blog Update #2
- Simone Durbin
- May 12, 2020
- 1 min read
My project morphed a little bit, so now I'm exploring the “them vs. us” polarization between the West and the East (specifically China) and its emerging consequences with the #ChineseVirus tag on Twitter. I'm still a little wary about this project because there is a possibility that there very well could be bots posting controversial messages to "stir the pot," so I plan to be as wary as possible about every source I gather (and also screen the profiles of the posters).
I'm having a little difficulty with actually starting my project, besides gathering my sources. I kind of lost sight of what I was doing, then had to narrow down my topic more, but I'm also facing the hesitancy to begin. I'm not sure if it's a concern about the content I'm incorporating, or (dumb) self-consciousness about my own commentary that's making me suddenly hesitant, but I've hit a bit of a roadblock. I plan to overcome this by fleshing out my project even more by writing/sketching out a new detailed plan of my project.
Also I've gotta learn how to get tech savvy ASAP and I'm not entirely sure if I can complete this project this week. We'll try though.
Maybe when you're trying to begin your project, consider ways to narrow it even further--instead of pushing yourself to find as many sources as possible to get as broad a range of ideas as possible, maybe limit yourself to finding a few--say, 3-5, popular tweets that you think embody your project's aims as much as possible, and then write a short analysis of each, using them more as evidence for your argument (that the term "Chinese Virus" is hateful rhetoric and plays a pivotal role in sewing division, for example) and focusing more on the analysis than making the tweets the focus? That could be a way to make your project easier.
You acknowledged that your initial idea was biting…