Now that the research excursion is over, it's fascinating to see what my fellow classmates researched about after reading the text Home fire. A topic that had interested me after reading Home Fire was of the recruitment process of ISIS. Before reading the text, I found it hard to believe that people would want to willing join ISIS, my opinion on this changed however when I read Parvaiz's section. After I read about the manipulation that had taken place to get Parvaiz to join ISIS, I was horrified yet interested to see how it applies to the real world. I looked into Sena's and Arnav & Alexa's research excursion to further my knowledge in the topic.
When I looked at Sena's presentation, I was surprised to read that the majority of the recruitment process had taken place on social media. With the advent of technology, more and more people are using socially media, I included, so I'm surprised there isn't more news coverage on the topic. I don't know how I feel now knowing that millions of people are prone to the manipulation of this recruitment process.
I learned more about the people who were vulnerable in this recruitment process through Alexa & Arnav's podcast about the recruitment process. From their podcast I had learn that the demographic of recruited people fall into the age category of fifteen to twenty years old. This came as a big shock to me, as I fall right around the middle of the range. I couldn't imagine leaving my life here in the United States to join ISIS.
After viewing both of these research excursions, I was able to increase my knowledge in the recruitment process ISIS uses to gather more people. I hope that more people can become aware of this information, as I just did, so that we can teach people how to protect themselves through the manipulative recruitment process.
I also found it surprising that a lot of the ISIS recruitment happens through social media. I am surprised that I have not heard of it or seen any of it since I use social media too.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see that you listened to my podcast! Hopefully you found it interesting and enjoyable to listen to. And yes, the advent of technology plays a really significant role in recruitment, which is a very sad reality. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised most recruitment happens through social media. It's a little bit scary when you think about it. Propaganda can be distributed to the masses all through a few taps on a phone screen. With national security being at the top of America's priorities, I'm surprised at how recruitment posts can still slip through the cracks.
ReplyDeleteThe dark sides of social media can hold so many undetected networks and agendas that go almost entirely unnoticed, except by groups that recruiters specifically intend to target. I recently learned that white supremacists and white nationalist groups also have a huge online presence responsible for recruiting and promoting. These patterns are noticeable if you pay attention for long enough, and it's pretty terrifying to realize that social media is rapidly becoming a weapon of mass destruction.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great how multiple students did research on this same topic and each of them learned something different than the others. It's a great concrete example of how important it is to have multiple perspectives on a topic, because one perspective only gives you limited knowledge and has the danger of suggesting that that is all the knowledge. I really liked the different emphases on geography, gender, tactics, etc.
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