About the lecture
This talk draws on a media ecology approach by analysing both Facebook and Twitter content to explore social media platforms and hashtagged political activism in South Africa. The talk argues for the potential role of social media in expanding the democratic political space in South Africa via forms of hashtag activism and highlights the possibilities for social media to help movements gain momentum, even if social media alone does not make these movements more effective in driving offline policy change.
About the speaker
Tanja Bosch is an associate professor of media studies and production in the Centre for Film and Media Studies at the University of Cape Town, where she also holds the position of deputy dean of research and postgraduate affairs. She teaches journalism and multimedia production, social media, radio studies and research methods at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Her first book, Broadcasting Democracy: Radio and Identity in South Africa, was published by the HSRC Press in 2017. Her second monograph, Social Media and Everyday Life in South Africa (Routledge, 2021), explores how South Africans use social media apps for personal and group identity formation. Dr Bosch has published widely in the field of radio studies in South Africa, and is currently emerging as one of a few African academics publishing in the area of social media activism, with her work on #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall and other hashtagged campaigns.