Paper 3: Outline

            Ableism, like many other occurring issues, has gained more interest and attention. With this comes many perspectives- biased or not, it is important to decipher the facts from these opinions. Separating out these facts will allow you to gain a deeper understanding of the issue and with that, you can further help the understanding for others.  With the technology that we have today, we are able to spread awareness on topics such as ableism within a click of a button.

Thesis: Blogs, social media, and other multimedia platforms are different sources where we can further our understanding on ableism as well as spread this awareness to others.

Blogs have sculpted our first-hand experiences with ableism and defines some of the different perspectives that you may come across.

• Through the blogs of those who are disabled, we can gather information on how they perceive their lives, how they may perceive interactions with others, for example, when an able-bodied person asks them for help, and even the awkward situations they may encounter daily. (We can see directly from first-hand accounts how this affects those who are disabled)
• Blogs are useful sources for educational papers, such as the one that I am writing, as it provides a clear and concise perspective
• We can identify that the source is biased to an extent, however, it supports the perspective of those who are disabled-not to say that everyone has their own opinion, however, it gives you an overview on how those that are disabled may interpret their encounters with others
• We are also able to identify the fact that those who are disabled can be productive like any other human being and do not have to rely on others in contrast to what some may think
• You may also come across blogs of those who are not disabled, but go out of their way to help those who are disabled- you can see their perspective through that blog and why they may not be understanding of the fact that disabled persons don’t always rely on others or want help for that matter
• In the Ted Talk, Caroline Casey, shares her story about what it’s like to have ocular albinism. Through the platform, Ted Talk, Casey and other public speakers can share their stories with the rest of the world, potentially making an impact on those who view their videos. These videos are often reposted on Instagram stories and shared through tweets.  Without social media, stories such as Casey’s would not reach as many people.

Through social media platforms, advertisements, posts; comments and reposts have initiated the progression towards ableism.

• Using social media, it has become easier to inform others on current issues, including ableism and this in turn has a further impact on our society
• Platforms such as Instagram and snapchat generally target teenagers, young adults; and middle-aged persons so when posts are created, there is a chance for this target group to click on the post/ advertisement and potentially educate themselves on this topic
• Facebook is generally targeted towards middle-aged people ranging from the ages of 30-60ish. And with that, posts and reposts can reach more audience in this target market.
• The ability to repost posts that are meaningful to you, allows us to spread awareness on marginalization issues such as ableism and helps educate everyone on the topic
• Celebrities and influencers also have an impact on issues that have come to be known as “trendy” by young adults and teenagers, when they repost something or follow or “like” something that has been posted- this ultimately helps bring more awareness to certain topics
• Like blogs, people can post about their day to day lives-informing others on what it may be like to be disabled and hopefully make an impact on the society that we live in by educating people on something they may have no experience with
• Silenced voices no longer need to be silenced as there are free platforms where those who are disabled can share their stories and comfort those who are going through a similar situation or simply make others aware of what is going on and what they go through

Television commercials have also become a source to spread the awareness of ableism to others.

• Television commercials generally target those who are in the older population as younger generations tend to not watch as much television
• These television commercials may look a little different from the advertisements that the younger generations may see, as older people tend to have their opinion on something already and are more likely to be settled in their ways
• Similar to social media advertisements, these commercials typically include pathos- this will grab the audiences’ attention as they may have a similar experience or know of someone in a similar experience
• Most commercials contain a well-known person- advertisers like to do this as it catches their fans attention and could potentially bring a better outcome

Although media platforms have become an influent source of awareness, these platforms have also created a further amount of marginalization and hatred towards those who are disabled since people will always have different views.

• Social media, in general, has its pros and cons and with this, those who are disabled may encounter hateful comments from others on occasion
• Creating a safe space where everyone is comfortable is difficult as there are many people who do not want to be educated on ableism and there may be others that are biased as evidenced through their hateful comments and actions
• Social media can also create more of a barrier between different perspectives, making it even more difficult to resolve this issue of ableism
• Many posts also tend to be bias, so it may be difficult for someone who wants to deepen their knowledge on ableism to see past the bias and get the background knowledge the facts
• Blogs tend to be a first person-narrative, meaning that there is most-likely going to be bias present within the article as it only depicts one’s perspective on ableism
• Some bloggers may have different beliefs as some of the viewers, which can create an area of judgment and further distance the different perspectives
• Television commercials, similar to social media can create more hatred towards one perspective, furthering the different opinions

Through these media platforms, ableism awareness has been brought to more attention, in hope to reduce the marginalization within our society.  It may be difficult to educate every member of our society, however, if we try to help those who want to learn more, than we have taken some steps towards progress in a positive direction.