Laura Louden

BWS 370
Final Project
Millennials, Social Media, and the Myth of the Post-Racial Society
When I hurt my knee (again), I knew I wouldnt be able to mentally handle creating an
entire project on something I lived and breathed, but couldnt do right now. So, I wanted to
create a project that would help me understand more about myself and the generation I am
growing up in (I dont believe we ever stop growing up, but thats another topic). In my late
night Buzzfeed and news binges, I kept coming across this term: Millennial. I knew vaguely
what it meant, and that I was one, if not solely by age bracket alone. These articles were mainly
focused for people my age, and many of them focused on combatting stereotypes, or how to be
a Millennial in the workplace, or focused on the huge amounts of student debt looming over my
generation.
Social media is another huge part of my life. Ill admit it: I feed upon it constantly. I love
posting selfies on Instagram, letting people know what Im doing and where Im going in life.
Ive sent out my fair share of ridiculous Snapchats to friends, making the ugliest possible faces
that I could, hoping to make them laugh. I either post ridiculous things on my Facebook news
feed to try and spread cheer, or share social causes or news I find important. My generation has
grown up into being in constant communication with each other. In this way, information is
easily spread and absorbed across a multitude of channels.

Lastly, ever since 2008, with the election of President Barack Obama, I kept hearing this
term being thrown around: post-racial society. What is that? A black man is elected President,
and now theres no more racism? No more discrimination? No more unjustice in white America?
This is hardly the case. While Millennials are a much more liberal and tolerant generation
than the ones before us, we still hold on to some of the more conservative views of our parents.
We have trouble discussing race, but want to celebrate diversity. Instead of becoming a postracial society, I argue that the United States is rather becoming a colorblind society. A colorblind
society, while trying to treat everyone the same, is incapable of making the proper steps to
lessen discrimination because it allows for its cover-up.
Studies by Holien and Shelton and research embedded in their article show that racial
minorities can struggle in instances of white-washed colorblindness, where their own personal
narratives and diversity are cast aside because their colleagues see everyone the same. I think
colorblindness can also effects whites in some circumstances, but more great effects people of
racial and ethnic minorities.
Ive learned that social media can be a very useful platform for displaying your identity,
but its also a very unstable and susceptible platform to discrimination from others. For and
against messages spread like the plague on social media. People can use social media for
whatever purpose, but it will really take a cohesive effort to curb the effect of discrimination and
hateful messages. I dont even know if thats a realistic possibility.
Explaining Buzz.Dump
I chose to do a website because I felt as though it offered a user-friendly and interactive
way to discuss topics that are incredibly relevant to today, but can also be hard to discuss in

themselves. I wanted to be able to incorporate eye-catching media that spoke more loudly than a
traditional paper or essay. Furthermore, I wanted my website to act as a piece of social media
itself, to become the very example of what I was researching for this class. I hope the website is
found to be user-friendly and informative.
I named it Buzz.Dump as a spin off of Buzzfeed; social media is the dumping ground for
all news that is buzzing. On the Millennial page, make sure you to hover the cursor in the
space next to the quiz link.
The first section, Generation Y, focuses on revealing the mysterious Millennial. Ive
included general information and some visuals to help solidify information. The second page is
focused on social media and its implications with race. Lastly, the post-racial society page ties
everything together and hopefully leaves the viewer with something to chew on.
I would also like to explain the video choice on the post-racial society page. Trevor Noah
is a South African comedian; as person who did not grow up in the States, he can offer a solid
alternative perspective. Furthermore, I believe the short 1:50 clip encompasses many aspects of
the project Ive been working on, and eases into the topic with humor.
Time and Sources
I probably spent upwards of two hours on each section. The hardest part was narrowing
down information so that I did not overwhelm the viewer; a lot of information is repeated and
generalize. I used articles from Miamis library site, as well as external surveys through Pew
Research Center, and one by MTV. I also used general Google searches to get me started.

Bibliography
Holoien, D., & Shelton, J. (n.d). You deplete me: The cognitive costs of colorblindness on ethnic
minorities. Journal Of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(2), 562-565.
Look Different: DBR MTV Bias Survey Summary. (2014).
Nakagawa, K., & Arzubiaga, A. E. (2014). The Use of Social Media in Teaching Race. Adult
Learning, 25(3), 103-110.
Williams, M. (2011, December 27). Colorblind Ideology Is a Form of Racism. Retrieved from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/culturally-speaking/201112/colorblind-ideology-is-formracism
Fryberg, S. A., & Stephens, N. M. (2010). When the World Is Colorblind, American Indians Are
Invisible: A Diversity Science Approach. Psychological Inquiry, 21(2), 115-119.
Demby, G. (2014, May 15). Young People Want Equality But Struggle To Discuss Bias.
Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/05/15/312532393/young-peoplewant-equality-but-struggle-to-discuss-bias