“Yo soy:” Public Protest, Private expression: Contestatory uses of social media by Contemporary Mexican Youth

• In Event: Visa para un sueño: Mexico, jóvenes, inmigrantes.

Abstract

After the Mexican Revolution, young intellectuals and artists were assigned a central role in defining the vision of post-revolutionary Mexico and were urged to balance their private creative work with public service through educational and public art projects. In contrast, in recent years Mexican youth have been criticized in the national press which coined the term Generación NiNi (Ni estudian ni trabajan) to underscore the supposed apathy and laziness of 18 to 25-year-olds. In addition, some older intellectuals see youthful use of the Internet as evidence of artistic and intellectual decay. Nevertheless, during the 2012 presidential election, the “Yo soy 132” youth movement used the internet to great effect to create and maintain a coherent intervention in national debates. This paper examines the generational shift in Mexico around concepts of political activism and public art through an analysis of the uses of social media that lead up to and flowed from the #Yosoy132 movement and the debates over its authenticity. Specifically these uses of social media constitute contestatory practices that reject the neo-liberal obligation to consume by affirming individual and group rights to creativity and self-expression as civic acts. This study proposes that a new narrative structure is created by the intermingling of varied social media forms and that this in turn reshapes the way Mexican youth interact with political structures as well as the traditions of cultural journalism and public intellectuals.

Author

• Mary K Long, University of Colorado