Analysis of Instagram’s Algorithm on #decolonizeeducation

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Assemblages, Realities And Tensions In Decolonizing Education

Abstract

While any individual Instagram post may be largely inconsequential, when examined critically, they from part of an assemblage that helps us to understand the complexities of the discourse around a topic such as decolonization. The vastness of this ecosystem necessitates some form of quantification to make sense of it all. And as the assemblage shifts and grows, a diffractive approach allows us to discern meaning. In the case of decolonization, it is important to assess if posts are extractive or redistributive, as these concepts get to the heart of decoloniality as a theoretical stance. These posts indicate that the online discourse on decolonization in education leans toward extractive tendencies, but that there were still positive contributions to be made.

Author

• Andrew Flanagan, Teachers College, Columbia University