How to Process Controversy as a Community Panel at Summer in the City 2018

The How to Process Controversy as a Community Panel took place during Summer in the City on Saturday at Panel Room B. Moderated by Rosianna Halse Rojas, it included Lucy Moon, Riyadh Khalaf, Taha Khan and Liam Dryden.

The panellists began discussing the difference between a scandal and controversy, which the more they discussed thought about it, the more they realised the significance between the words. Riyadh said the word scandal reminded him of tabloid news headlines while Liam said it very much depended on the number of people affected in said event.

When Rosianna asked the panel about how they processed controversial events both offline and online, Lucy noted she is a lot more careful about what she shares online compared to how she was a year ago. She found that she is now able to take it in more slowly and allow herself time to process it personally.

Riyadh, takes a more reserved approach. He understands he isn’t qualified to talk about certain issues, for example the Me Too and Time’s Up movement. Riyadh mentioned that he has seen the effects of speaking out about issues too quickly but adds that using your voice is a good thing. He says, “Our generation speaks up about issues which they find important and are passionate about and we should not bash ourselves for putting our voices out there.”

When discussing the community Taha was quick to point out you need to add value to the conversation. A lot of the time people are just agreeing with a statement rather than adding something else. When he adds his voice to a controversy he does so because he has a different view of the controversy and steer the conversation in a slightly different direction.

An interesting development during the panel came when discussing the effect money can have on whether a creator comments on a controversy or not. Taha pointed out some creators may be less likely to speak up on topics due to the fact it could affect sponsorships while Lucy added that she recently found out there were some creators who worked behind the scenes to help correct issues and controversies.

When it comes to processing the controversies Lucy calls it a healing process and working to make sure it does not happen again. Liam mentioned the fact you have to accept YouTube is a bigger bubble than we realise and there are unfortunately thousands of people whom we have never encountered taking advantage of the platform.

Riyadh shared a slightly more different approach in processing controversy. He says rather than just make a video about the topic he will also actively seek out others who are talking about the controversy in question – particularly if they hold a different to view to him. The reason being it helps him understand why he feels the way in which he does.

Photos by Emma Pamplin.