A different take on social media and democracy
V Spehar of TikTok's Under the Desk News joins us to discuss how social media can strengthen democracy by creating space for community and encouraging offline civic engagement.
Democracy Works · V Spehar, Candis Watts Smith, Jenna Spinelle, Michael Berkman
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (op3.dev) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
We've talked about social media a lot on this show over the years — usually focusing on algorithms, echo chambers, polarization, and the other ways it's damaging to democracy. This week, however, we hear a different take from V Spehar, who has more than 3 million followers on the TikTok account Under the Desk News.
V built a reputation providing recaps of the daily news for an audience who might not consume news anywhere else. The Under the Desk News audience is politically diverse and V talks about some of the conversations that happen in the comments section. V's also seen how social media can bring people together in real life and encourage people to become civically informed and engaged.
Check out V’s new podcast, American Fever Dream.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.