Raquel Recuero – Digital Youth, Social Movements, and Democracy in Brazil

How are Brazilian youth becoming digital, and what potential does digital media provide for democracy and social movements?

Key Questions and Comments:

• (20:31) I’m curious about the ability of people to discuss things in a way that they can come to an understanding. Does social media lead to more understanding, or does it just get more people involved because they read about something of importance to them?
• (26:06) How do you see this kind of prejudice expression within [social media] content in your research?
• (27:35) Distributed communication and the internet is a way to talk back [and forth] about the issues that mass media do all the time […] More and more, [people] are leaving mass media out of these options of entertainment. How do you see it in your research?
• (31:50) How do you see the use of social media as citizen media, how youth are trying to use Facebook and Twitter to create content and news about their places, about their cities?
• (34:44) What is the reception of schools and universities to this new environment that you’re describing: social media, networked learning, peer-to-peer learning? Is it something that’s talked about and folded in or is it not talked about?
• (36:30) I had one question about the internet as media and what changes it brings in communication? Some people talk about the internet as a big delivery space for mass media. Others like to see it as a big conversation […] where collective action is the main subject. How do you see it as a researcher on social media?
• (39:52) Different groups are using social media to advocate their own causes; the example was there are feminist groups who are using social media to fight against sexism and then there are the other groups that are opposed to them who are using it. Did you have a comment on how different groups are using these tools and what you’re seeing there?
• (43:43) I’m wondering if you are seeing any strategies or any new connections youth are making outside of their country? It could be on an issue like violence against women or an environmental issue, but are you seeing any significant examples where youth are making connections with other groups that are concerned about that same cause, and then doing something about it both in their country […] and externally?
  • (46:59) Did you have an observation related to that in terms of the benefit that would accrue from those kinds of connections?
• (47:52) In the efforts that are going on in Brazil […] are there intergenerational connections, intergenerational transfer of knowledge and learning taking place? Or is this primarily the province of youth the way things are unfolding?
• (49:24) Brazil is a young democracy, so I wanted to ask what you thought was captivating or compelling to young people. What is engaging them about social media and the internet? […] What’s capturing youth’s interest in the whole domain?
• (52:32) What is the current state of [the Occupy movement] in Brazil? Is it in a stasis, is it active, is it growing?
• (54:36) What kind of values are we creating in this context of social media? People think it’s very easy to become famous […] become a celebrity.

View the Conversation
During the broadcast, the conversation also took place on Twitter using the hashtag #connectedlearning.

Guests for this webinar included:

• Raquel Recuero: Raquel Recuero is an associate professor at the Departments of Applied Linguistics and Social Communication in Universidade Católica de Pelotas (UCPel) in Brazil. Her research focuses on Internet social networks, virtual communities and computer mediated-communication in general, trying to understand the impact of the Internet in sociability and language in South America and Brazil. You can Follow her on Twitter at@raquelrecuero.
• Jeff Brazil
• Adriana Amaral
• Greg Tuke
• Henrique Antoun
• João Miguel Lima

Resources for this webinar:

• PortoAlegre.cc: a citizen collaboration space aimed at transforming the city of Porto Alegre
• Brazil Facebook stats by SocialBakers.com
• Environment News Service: Hundreds Occupy Brazil’s Belo Monte Dam Construction Site; also, see #BeloMonte on Twitter
• Eleitor 2010: a site created to help Brazilians publish reports and candidate misbehavior and electoral crimes
• Rene Silva – creator of the local ‘Voz da Comunidade’ newspaper in Rio de Janeiro
• The #VetaDilma movement that successfully resulted in the veto of several parts of a controversial forest bill
• Brazilian youth using YouTube to spread interest in (and showcase) “Small Step” dance style