WE BELONG HERE, TOO: Women's Voices in Online Comments
Wednesday, March 29, 6pm
Hartford History Center, 3rd fl
Hartford Public Library (Downtown)
500 Main St, Hartford
Comments sections are our modern day venues for collaboration, for public discourse, for democratic deliberation. Ideally, digital discussion spaces are supposed to even the playing field for participation. But for many women, wading into the incivility of online comments is like walking alone down a scary back alley, or into an angry mob with torches and pitchforks. Why put yourself at risk?
The harassment that happens in online comments sections is a form of the “heckler’s veto.” It keeps many women from publicly expressing their views. This threatens to chill digital public discourse by discouraging half the citizenry from participating at all. How can women chime in safely, bravely, and regularly?
Join our discussion on the topic with UConn journalism professor Marie Shanahan, Hartford Courant columnist Susan Campbell, and UConn student opinion columnist & organizer Haddiyyah Halima Ali.