Blog 3: UNL Haters

We have all seen hateful tweets and statuses posted on our friend’s social media accounts. These posts could be simply for fun or very direct against different cultures; however, whether it touches either side of that spectrum, it can still be hurtful and discriminating. The real question is once we see these posts, how do we react? The UNL Haters tumblr account brings forth these posts and gets the problem out there in the light for everyone to see and think about for themselves. UNL Haters (n.d.) says “Nebraska is no place for hate! We expose tweets from haters here, especially those which were deleted.” Analyzing this blog made me clearly realize the different types of hate out there and more aware of the issue at UNL.

This was my first time reading the blog and I was very surprised and interested in it. I even read on all the way to the beginning. There was a lot of different levels of hate from race, religion, sex, and sexuality, along with a variety of other levels. I found some posts a lot more offensive then others; however, I could see the reason they were posted. It is clear that we commonly miss the fact that making fun cultural comments can still be offensive to others and stereotyping. I could relate to some of these posts and honestly have said some before without noticing the issue behind it. This account does an excellent job of bringing out the problems by simple posting them.

These posts on the UNL Haters account tie in closely with the power effects of labels. Different labels “communicate many levels of meaning and establish particular kinds of relationships between speaker and listener” (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, p.245). Labels can fall into positive and negative sides, with the negative side being emphasized and exposed with this tumblr account. Some of these “small” racial or sexist comments may not have much effect on the speaker at the time, but it can impact the listeners. These negative labels can work in powerful ways to change someone’s life for worse. It is great that UNL Haters is addressing this issue in a non-aggressive way by simply getting the word out there for others to be aware.

One post I saw used language to be racist towards her roommate, even though she (potentially) sent a message later saying they make these “jokes” all the time and it isn’t offensive. Martin and Nakayama (2012) refer to this situation on how it makes a difference if the speaker and listener are close friends or barely know each other. Since they were close friends, they don’t find it offensive. However, to someone who just saw the comments can see it only in a negative light. Our language and the meaning of our language varies with the people we are speaking with.

As we go from here, I believe UNL Haters is on the right track. It is a small but effective step towards addressing this issue on campus. Exposing these comments makes the people who posted them and the people who read over it more consciously aware of how it can be interpreted between different cultural groups. We need to be aware of our communication styles and the powerful impact that our words, however intentional or unintentional they are, can have a meaningful impact on another identity group.

Sources:

Martin & Nakayama, 2012. Intercultural Communication in Contexts, Sixth Edition.

UNL Haters