Carlos

My name is Carlos, and I’m a junior Communication PR Major in the University of Maryland. I took the COMM398O class because I’m tremendously interested in the interaction between Social Media, and Modern Society. The class up to this point has been quite fascinating in examining the history of social media. The interaction between ISIS, and social media is a fascinating topic in examining when looking at the interaction between Social Media, and terrorist group’s like ISIS, who use social media to enter into communities other than the middle east.

I care about the topic of ISIS because it is an issue that affects the world. And, personally I have some family members, and friends who live in the region, and have been effected by the Syrian Civil War, and the rise of ISIS , or Daesh as it is refereed to in the Arab Media. The growth of ISIS illuminates a transnational threat where anyone who has an access to a computer can be indoctrinated into the ideology of ISIS and can be recruited as one of its fighters.

As this project continues, I will be interested in examining how ISIS has used social media to indoctrinate followers not only in the Arab world, but in Europe, and even here in the US. Another focus of this project will be how the opponents of ISIS has used new media to combat the group, and what methods can be used to counter this dangerous group, and it’s equally dangerous ideology.