Investigate the power of hashtags in storytelling and their potential regulation to protect human diversity and cultural pluralism.
As social creatures, humans are highly involved in storytelling. With the continued advancement of communication systems, the mechanisms for telling the narrative of human events also have evolved. Social media and the memetic properties of hashtags’ going viral are the apex of modern, digitally mediated, storytelling tools. This critical essay discussed two hashtags, i.e., narratives, of the Charlie Hebdo Paris shooting to illustrate how hashtag virality can be a mechanism for the spread and enforcement of Western perspectives. It then explored precedents under which international law could potentially warrant regulation of such behavior. Concerned with the protection of human diversity and cultural pluralism, this essay advanced a normative course of action to facilitate social change as conceived by an interdisciplinary framework.
Reviews Phoebe Hart's examination of documentary filmmaking in the post-COVID era. Analyzes how filmmakers can balance creative vision with subject agency while adapting to new funding models and work-life considerations.
Explores how strategic storytelling can support justice reform and second chances.