Reading Response 7

What really stuck with me in Nakamura’s article was “though the act of communicating with the public about racism, sexism, homophobia, and other social justice issues is unpaid, and often results in the poster being harassed, trolled, and threatened on these fora, these authors claim this content adds traffic and value to these platforms by attracting readers and followers. I really do agree with this concept because I feel this is how most people in our society grab attention. There are many examples on Twitter and Instagram that get attention with the shock value and things that really do go against our typical views. Even on social media platforms like Youtube, the videos that start to trend are things that have two sides to it. Half the people would go against it and the other half enjoys the content which sparks arguments in the comments which drive in views and attention which then goes to the Youtube algorithm which helps videos like these end up on the home page for easy access which then leads to more traffic. This is also why I believe Donald Trump go so much attention so quick. What started off as a “oh this must be a joke”, ended up him gaining on this traffic and attention from the views he gave on issues we have today.