Write an essay about TikTok using this prompt/directions: For this essay, you w
Write an essay about TikTok using this prompt/directions: For this essay, you will select one of these corporate media entities and create an historical narrative of its creation, development, use, and controversy. This is an historical research paper, requiring you to reference resources you must find using library materials and articles found through the UIUC Library website. You must use a minimum of four resources total: one academic text (that means a book!), one academic journal essay, and two journalistic articles) from credible, established news sources like newspapers, news periodicals, trade publications. No IMDb or Wikipedia. No “listicles” from Buzzfeed or similar sites.
This is not intended for you to state your opinion about your chosen topic. You must use your research to create a critical, historical profile of your subject. This assignment allows for space in which the author can state how it is useful and how it can serve a positive social purpose. You will also point out the ways in which the platform can be dangerous or damaging to users or contribute to larger social problems fueled by misinformation.
This is a lot to consider, but fortunately you have some room in this essay to address the topic with detail.
By “critical” I don’t mean thinking like a professional critic, like an art critic or movie critic. Academic critique is not a value judgement. It simply means that your historical profile will include material that addresses, or occasionally emphasizes, controversy and negative impacts. Supplying this information doesn’t have to conclude with “…therefore Twitter is bad.” Or whatever your topic is. Being critical is noticing that your topic has a practical application but also has harmful effects.
This point is more or less correct. Your historical profile doesn’t have to be detailed to the point that you are submitting something much longer than the minimum requirements, but a more selective discussion of key moments in the development. Each of these platforms had moments that were more significant than others. Part of your job is to determine what those are.
The histories of these platforms are an evolution of use and meaning. When your topic, let’s say Twitter, was first developed, was there an intended use? What did it allow people? In a broad sense, how did that change? For Twitter, maybe it started as a way for people, from regular folks to major celebrities, to interact with each other. There were (perhaps) other practical applications, some of which are constructive. Now Twitter is perceived as a politicized space. Sometimes it can be seen as a tool for “cancel culture.” Or perhaps there are implications for the platform currently because it may be owned by one man. Can that affect the democratic process when one man controls a platform that millions of people use everyday? To summarize, select a topic. Discuss in general terms its evolution of use, intended or otherwise. Include in your discussion aspect that have been perceived as harmful or destructive (which is where it becomes critical).