This is a summary of the May 14th Technology Salon in New York city on “Does social media exacerbate poverty porn”.
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Some RTs from this morning’s #techsalon on #povertyporn w @tmsruge @lksriv @viewfromthecave coming up – courtesy of @nidhi_c
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MT @nidhi_c: #povertyporn is never about the beneficiary..it’s an org’s attempt to stay relevant. #techsalon
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RT @nidhi_c: How do we teach orgs & journalists that #povertyporn isn’t necessary to raise $ or awareness? #techsalon
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Fr my notes on today’s NYC #TechSalon on #povertyporn: Ppl visit Africa like it’s the zoo. Do you know the names of ppl u took photos with?
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#povertyporn is disempowering both to those it portrays and to those it’s aimed at, bc you only offer one solution – yours. #techsalon
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Telling only “positive” stories is also not the solution. Life anywhere is not only one or the other. It’s complex. #povertyporn #techsalon
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Great question from @meowtree & #TechSalon on #povertyporn – Do you know the names of people you take photos with?
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Stop hijacking people’s stories by putting your NGO/organization at the center of it. #povertyporn #techsalon
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transmedia storytelling is one good way to bring in more stories fr more angles to create a diverse narrative #techsalon #povertyporn
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Don’t need to take the western voice out. We need all the voices. But often the most vulnerable are not included. #povertyporn #techsalon
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Why do donors demand impact evals for ‘regular’ devt pjcts, but to prove soc med impact they’re fine w likes/clicks? #povertyporn #techsalon
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Where is the accountability to small individual donors/donations garnered via social media, i.e. for Kony2012? #povertyporn #techsalon
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Why do ppl from US photo’d during tragedy have name/story, yet ppl from other places are unknown victims? #povertyporn #techsalon
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Yet also, are we respecting privacy, consent and dignity when we photograph ppl in other countries? #povertyporn #techsalon
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Why ppl in US portrayed as heroes after tragedy (eg., Boston, 911) but not first responders in other countries? #povertyporn #techsalon
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How to get influentials w lrge audience (eg N Kristof) to see that external hero narrative not helpful in long term? #povertyporn #techsalon
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#PovertyPorn not only problem of “white” saviors/Africa. Privileged often view “the poor” this way in their own countries #techsalon
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Social media does not necessarily reduce the “othering” of #povertyporn. We still create our own filter bubbles #techsalon
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NGOs send media teams to find pre-conceived #povertyporn stories. Eg: this post by @morealtitude ht.ly/l23yQ #techsalon
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Diff to change existing orgs/system. But what is being done in schools re global education and media literacy? #povertyporn #techsalon
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Sites like everydayafrica.tumblr.com can help to overcome the #povertyporn narrative. #techsalon
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Or google “tumblr” and any country a hashtag (eg., #elsalvador) to find a diverse range of images, not only #povertyporn #techsalon
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How can we harness social media to show this range of images/realities to overcome the #povertyporn narrative? #techsalon
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And I’ll stop now – here’s @viewfromthecave‘s summary of this really thought provoking #techsalon on #povertyporn ht.ly/l24sJ
Wait... What? 
This sounds very interesting. Despite the opportunities offered by online communications, the NGO sector still seems to advance the same narrative about global poverty. Although there are some notable exceptions, online platforms are still dominated by disempowering images of distressed children, women in passive motherhood roles and people in traditional rural environments. But the shrinking of attention spans makes using familiar images and narratives the easiest options. My recent research on audience responses to NGO appeal adverts found that people interpreted the familiar image of the distressed child as asking for their guilt, pity and money. They thought positive images asked them to donate because they would feel good about making a child happier and happier. But the appeal for solidarity with people’s self-organised collective struggle for justice was so unfamiliar to them that almost all my focus group respondents didn’t really understand what it was all about. Could this be because NGOs have for decades been exposing them to ‘poverty porn’ and not with the messages we really want them to think about. What do people think?