Arctic issues and realities through the screen – A reflection upon Inuit uses of social media - Julien Hocine

Reflecting upon empirical studies from recent literature discussing “ordinary” uses of social media - such as the “#sealfie” campaign (Rodgers and Scobie, 2015) and Facebook (Castleton, 2016) – as social practices, this presentation attempts to explore issues addressed in the documentary Angry Inuk (2016) written and directed by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril in the context of the anti-sealing ongoing debates, and related uses of social media by Inuit users.

Media production and the appropriation of communication technologies by Inuit people have been framed as, among others, a potential to strengthen Inuit culture and language and the emergence of a counter-discourse in response to dominant representations of Arctic issues. Since internet is socially “propelled” by people and their uses (Christensen, 2003; Coelho, 2018), this contribution will discuss the potential and the limitations of social media to address Inuit issues to a broader audience.