After listening to my classmate's EOTO presentations, I can say I have learned a lot. Many of these topics I have never even heard of before, and many I have, but didn't know what they meant. The topic that stood out to me the most was gatekeeping presented by Olivia Porzio. As she also mentioned, I have heard this term being thrown around a lot in recent years, however, I have limited knowledge of its meaning.
So what exactly is the term gatekeeping? According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, "the activity of trying to control who gets particular resources, power, or opportunities, and who does not." When I see gatekeeping being used today, it is almost always on social media. Many examples come to mind, for example, someone commenting on someone's Instagram picture asking "Where did u get your shirt?" The poster then proceeds to respond with something like "I don't know" or "can't remember" just because they don't want to reveal that information to the public and keep it to themselves. Now I know what you are thinking, that is so dumb to hide where you got your shirt so no one copies you. You are right it is, but sadly a very popular thing to do nowadays about many different topics.
On a more serious note, gatekeeping can also be used to withhold much more serious information than clothing or social media drama. Gatekeeping has also been seen heavily in today's news and media. Examples of gatekeepers in the media are editors, producers, reporters, directors etc. They establish something like a hierarchy that will be used to determine what is relevant for the audience or not. These decisions depend on the underlying social, cultural, ethical, and political happenings at the moment. This creates biases in the media and also restricts information the viewers can see, and sometimes can even lead to false information. Gatekeeping can also be seen within the government. There are a multitude of things that the government decides to withhold from the public at all times. They choose what information they want us to know and how they will say it so that we interpret it in a certain way.
As you can see, gatekeeping for the most part really has no positives. Gatekeeping can be extremely toxic to the public. Gatekeeping remains very toxic, exclusionary, and hurtful to many. It can be very harmful to someone’s mental health. While yes, sometimes it is minor, it can get very serious and very harmful quickly. The toxic effects of gatekeeping mainly are caused due to the exclusion feeling it causes.
Overall, I really don't see the point of gatekeeping. Yes, I understand in terms of the government not everything necessarily can be shared with the public, however, choosing not to share information just because is so childish. Gatekeeping can be a slippery slope into online bullying, harassment, and mental health problems for individuals. I think it is important to be aware of gatekeeping so it is easier to identify it happening.
No comments:
Post a Comment