Social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and many others have created unprecedented possibilities for local and global connectivity.
They have changed the very idea of what it means to be a member of a peer culture — and hence what it means to be a “bystander.”
But these new and exciting technologies also have created the potential for new types of abuse: cyber-bullying, stalking, online harassment, revenge porn.
In response to these momentous changes in the very nature of social interaction, MVP sessions include spirited discussions about the positive and negative effects of social media. We explore questions about what it means to be an empowered bystander in the context of abuse that takes place in the ever-expanding virtual spaces of 21st century life.
MVP curricular materials include a range of scenarios that position young men, women, and others as bystanders in and around these spaces, and trainings include discussions about how they can use social media to interrupt and challenge abusive behaviors.
In addition to discussing social media, MVP sessions also frequently include modules on critical media literacy. In these modules, MVP trainers and facilitators show video clips and discuss the role of Hollywood film, pornography, TV, music, and other media in shaping social norms that either contribute to or subvert rape- and battering-supportive attitudes.
An MVP social media scenario
You’re a young man in high school and you receive a text message from one of your guy friends. Attached is a sexually explicit photo of his ex-girlfriend. What do you do? Delete it? Forward it to someone else and risk the image going viral? Tell your friend that he’s out of line and could get in big trouble? Tell the ex-girlfriend or one of her friends? To whom are you responsible? Her? Him? Yourself? Is it possible to do the right thing and still maintain your friendship with all the parties involved?
To learn more about the MVP Model or schedule a training session, please contact us.