Sara Strasser | Ball State University (original) (raw)
I am cuurently PhD Candidate at Ball State University, where I study Rhetoric & Composition. Previously, I taught FYC courses in Rhetoric & Writing and Composing Research. Currently, I’m teaching Introduction to Digital Literacies and working as a Graduate Assistant Director of the Writing Program.
My research focuses on digital rhetoric, media studies, and the circulation of information. I am currently working on my dissertation which studies the circulation of fake news through an ecological lens. More specifically, I am studying the ways that social media has been used as a novel weapon through the use of hashtags, trolling, and bots.
Supervisors: Dr. Rory Lee
Address: Muncie, Indiana, United States
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Conference Presentations by Sara Strasser
Accompanying PowerPoint presentation
In this presentation I analyzed how social media has been co-opted as a novel weapon in the circu... more In this presentation I analyzed how social media has been co-opted as a novel weapon in the circulation of fake news. Over the last decade social media has become an established part of the circulation of information. As such, social media platforms have been appropriated for purposes outside of their original intent; advertising, news coverage, outreach, and the like are now common aspects of these platforms. In this presentation, I looked at how social media has been appropriated to circulate political information. More specifically, I analyze the ways in which social media has been used as a novel weapon with which to infiltrate and invade the circulation of political information. From fake news stories, like Pizzagate, that ran during the election to Trump’s unprecedented use of Twitter the use of Twitter bots in the 2016 presidential election, social media has been weaponized in an effort to alter the content of political information circulating in society. Using Callaway and Ridenour’s (2004) novel weapons hypothesis I examined how the intersections of social media and politics have created a space for the weaponization of these platforms. I explored the evolution of both mainstream news coverage and the circulation of political information in an effort to better understand how we have arrived at our current information ecology. Looking at how previous generations circulated information and how that led to our current situation gives us more insight into how and why social media was able to be used as a novel weapon. In the current moment, we are experiencing a crisis of truth and fact. People are questioning not only what information they can trust, but also what sources from which they get their information. This is especially true when it comes to politics and political information. As rhetoric scholars, we need to be aware of how and why people are receiving information. This presentation worked toward this awareness by analyzing political discourse and information circulation to demonstrate the extent to which social media has been and continues to be used as a novel weapon.
Accompanying PowerPoint presentation
In this presentation I analyzed how social media has been co-opted as a novel weapon in the circu... more In this presentation I analyzed how social media has been co-opted as a novel weapon in the circulation of fake news. Over the last decade social media has become an established part of the circulation of information. As such, social media platforms have been appropriated for purposes outside of their original intent; advertising, news coverage, outreach, and the like are now common aspects of these platforms. In this presentation, I looked at how social media has been appropriated to circulate political information. More specifically, I analyze the ways in which social media has been used as a novel weapon with which to infiltrate and invade the circulation of political information. From fake news stories, like Pizzagate, that ran during the election to Trump’s unprecedented use of Twitter the use of Twitter bots in the 2016 presidential election, social media has been weaponized in an effort to alter the content of political information circulating in society. Using Callaway and Ridenour’s (2004) novel weapons hypothesis I examined how the intersections of social media and politics have created a space for the weaponization of these platforms. I explored the evolution of both mainstream news coverage and the circulation of political information in an effort to better understand how we have arrived at our current information ecology. Looking at how previous generations circulated information and how that led to our current situation gives us more insight into how and why social media was able to be used as a novel weapon. In the current moment, we are experiencing a crisis of truth and fact. People are questioning not only what information they can trust, but also what sources from which they get their information. This is especially true when it comes to politics and political information. As rhetoric scholars, we need to be aware of how and why people are receiving information. This presentation worked toward this awareness by analyzing political discourse and information circulation to demonstrate the extent to which social media has been and continues to be used as a novel weapon.