Educação em valores, educação midiática e justiça social: como esse diálogo se concretiza na vida de três jovens influenciadores de uma cidade do interior de Minas Gerais

Abstract

The popularization of the Internet has changed the capacity for communication from being something essentially local to becoming truly global, a phenomenon that has made social networks a vehicle for cultural expression. Before social networks, it was the media agenda (Agenda-Setting) that set the agenda. Now, marginalized voices compete for power in the media landscape with institutionally validated voices, becoming a catalyst for the organization of online social movements that seek social justice. Considering that the concept of social justice is fundamental to thinking about education, this thesis investigates the values underlying the posts of digital influencers that address the issue of social justice on social networks. It is assumed that, with the popularization of the Internet and the advancement of digital platforms, communication has ceased to be local and institutionalized to become global and decentralized, allowing marginalized voices to compete for space and influence with traditional media agents. In this new scenario, influencers emerge as protagonists in the construction and circulation of public discourses, including those that mobilize the idea of social justice. The research seeks to answer the question: to what extent do these discourses reflect a substantive understanding of this concept, traditionally linked to complex philosophical-political foundations? To this end, a field study was conducted using interviews, a qualitative approach, and interpretative analysis of the content of selected posts, based on the value axes proposed by the World Values Survey (traditional values vs. secularrational values and survival values vs. self-expression). The theoretical framework articulates classical and contemporary authors, such as Aristotle, Plato, John Stuart Mill, John Rawls, and Marshall McLuhan, the latter being mobilized to discuss technological mediation as a conditioning factor of discourse. Concepts such as justice, equity, veil of ignorance, equality of opportunity, and primary goods (including media literacy) guide the data analysis. The results point to tensions between the values conveyed in digital discourses and the theoretical foundations of social justice, suggesting that the structure of the digital environment, although democratizing participation, can also hinder the authentic communication of complex and polysemic concepts. The research thus contributes to the debate, which is fundamental for all education agents, on the ethical, formative and communicational challenges of the contemporary digital public sphere.