Digital Communities

Yolan aka Yo's Blog: A place to explore the ideas and concepts raised in unit MDA20009.

[aboutayo-blog]

Crowd Wisdom

Usahidi, meaning “witness” or “Testimony” in Kiswahili, was first developed in 2008 as a result of a media ban following the contested election of Kenyan President Mwai Kabiki in late 2007, where protests quickly escalated into widespread ethnic attacks and violence across the country. Over 20 software developers and many international citizen journalists contributed to the coding of the platform that for the first time allowed ordinary citizens to report human rights abuses eg death, rape, looting,  in real time, submitting reports publically and plotting them on a map. When the conflict subsided, it was considered a huge success and the software was rewritten so that it could be used by anyone wanting to take similar action and crowd source crisis information in the future. Now incorporating Twitter and Facebook, there are many different Usahidi sites active and for many different reasons; there are Usahidi sites for natural disaster responses, including one for the earthquakes in Nepal that was called quakemap.org, (that has currently been withdrawn from active service), there are Usahidi sites used by the UN to track peace keeping efforts, Usahidi software is being used by news company Aljazeera, to gather and report upon a range of topics including Crisis in Haiti (http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/americas/ushahidi-tracking-haitis-crisis), and current Usahidi running to track human rights attrocities in Syria including Syria Tracker ( https://www.ushahidi.com/blog/2011/05/24/syria-tracker-crowdsourcing-crisis-information ) which contains a lot of general reports about the situation there and also Women Under Seige, run by the Women’s Media Centre to track and report upon many cases of rape and sexual assault that have occurred there since the beginning of the Syrian Conflict (https://www.ushahidi.com/blog/2012/07/18/women-under-siege-mapping-sexualized-violence-in-syria/). 

This is just to name a few...... Professor Clay Shirky at New York University Heralded Usahidi as “Liberation Technology”, but there are issues involved with this as well. As use of the software has grown, so too has the need to verify the reports that have been pouring in. This is important because sometimes rumours or false information can be leaked intentionally, and if left unchecked could potentially has long lasting effects on the situation on the ground. 

Verifying this information can present challenges; a lot of what an Usahidi Deployer’s job entails actually involves coordinating and training teams on the ground to make sure the information in the reports is as accurate as possible. Ford notes that this can often make the Deployer’s feel like the gatekeepers (usually organised media) that they were trying to sidestep in the first place by creating the Usahidi. The reports that aren’t verified are still visible to the public, but carry less value as they are not considered as reliable.

 It will be interesting to see that if the popularity of the Usahidi software continues how the teams deploying these Usahidi tackle these problems, as I can imagine there is a limit to how many people can really be free to verify human rights and emergency information in times of crisis. It doesn’t help that photo and video editing software is becoming so good, so as time goes on it will be more and more difficult to verify reports coming in remotely. 

What is clear is that this tool has provided citizens with a powerful tool to relay their experiences and record information and evidence that can be for the most part used for good to spread news and to help with prosecution or social improvement once the conflict or emergency has passed. I also found this blog post interesting, http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/blog/tech-human-rights-blog-series-after-ushahidi-using-new-technologies-to-prevent-mass-atrocities.html?referrer=https://www.google.com.au/ which introduces new applications that have evolved from the concept of Usahidi, which not only are designed to record human rights attrocities and disaster, but to also prevent them and to more effectively get help and support to victims of these events. 

Source:  Ford, H. "Crowd Wisdom". Index on Censorship 41.4 (2012): 33-39. Web.

[aboutayo-blog]

“I never quite managed to track down the tweet the young Egyptian woman sent that day. I was left wondering what might she have written in her message? Was she simply reporting what was going on in the square? Or was she inciting her “tweep” comrades to join in a counter attack against the police? Or suggesting the best way to elude security when approaching the square? Or was she just recording a protest souvenir to show to her friends? Who would be reading her tweet, and how would they be reacting? Would they be inspired to join the protests, or would they be scared away? Who was she anyway? Some kind of “leader” or a “follower”? And did all this tweeting really matter when it came to influencing collective action, mobilising and coordinating people on the ground? Or was this all just an activist delusion: a way of feeling part of the action while in fact always standing on the sidelines?”

This excerpt from the introduction to “Tweets on the Streets” really grabbed me. I had never really thought about social media and activism in so much depth before. Which was interesting because I myself have used social media to record protests on many occasions and to spread awareness and attempt to elicit further support and understanding for many activist issues I've found out about over the years. It has always just felt natural to use the sharing culture of social media to attempt to do so. An extension of the platforms so to speak. But then I read about how social media had been mobilised in other countries and communities to create a powerful contemporary force of awareness and change, such as during the protests in Egypt in 2011 that are used as an example in the text. Today, with the wide reach of smart phones and internet connected technology, as the text notes, activists are taking full advantage of “that group of internet based applications..... that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content” (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010 p 60).

These applications are used in different ways but to achieve collective goals; Facebook is used to create groups that bring together like minded individuals and to create events where everyone in those groups can come together and mobilise. Twitter is used more for real time organisation and real time spreading of information and news. Youtube is used to disseminate video evidence of the claims being made, and photo sharing sites like Flickr are used to disseminate photo evidence. Link shortening sites like bit.ly are often used to spread key articles and blog posts. (Mason 2010, p75). And this is only the conventional ways of doing so; as we will discuss in a future blog post, there are now more innovative ways of spreading real time information in serious political or emergency situations, eg Usahidi.

Paul Mason, a BBC Journalist with who's insights we have gleaned how different social platforms are used by activists, also wrote this very famous blog post in 2011 which helps us to understand WHY activism is changing: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/paulmason/2011/02/twenty_reasons_why_its_kicking.html

This article was written at a pub with a group of activists hashing out the details together with him. Practically overnight it was shared on twitter more than 83,000 times. In an interview with Mason in January 2012, he was asked: “Why do you think your initial blog post struck such a chord with people?”

His response was:

“I think because of the 20 reasons, there’s actually only three things. One is the graduate without a future. The second thing is the network; the network is key. The third is something that’s far less tangible but something I have begun to explore – the changes in human consciousness that come about when you are living in a networked society.” (Stanley 2012)

2011 was the “year of the protester” according to TIME magazine. But since then only 5 years have passed. It is the beginning of 2016, how can we know how these 20 reasons and 3 ultimate factors can continue to shape activism into the future? We will continue to explore the integration of social media and the extension of social media applications into activism in future blog posts.

References:

Gerbaudo, P 2012, Tweets And The Streets : Social Media And Contemporary Activism, London: Pluto Press, eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost, viewed 9 January 2016.

Stanley, Rod, 2012, “Paul Mason: Why It's All Kicking Off”, www.dazeddigital.com, viewed 9th January 2016, <http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/12271/1/paul-mason-why-its-all-kicking-off>

Mason, Paul, February 5th 2011, “Twenty reasons why it's kicking off everywhere,” BBC, viewed 9th January 2016, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/paulmason/2011/02/twenty_reasons_why_its_kicking.html>

[about-social-media-deactivated2]

#PrayForParis

Social media give us the opportunity to share our thoughts and feelings with one another. They help us bring people from all over the world closer together. We are sharing happy moments with each other, laughing and celebrating together.

But sadly, there are not always happy moments. The most recent news about what happened in Paris on November 13th, 2015 remind us that our world is not always peaceful. In times like these, people take to social media to express their fear, grief, and sympathy. The amount of reactions to the terrorist attacks in the capital of France is immense.

On Twitter, people are expressing their thoughts, adding hashtags like #ParisAttacks, #JeSuisParis, #NousSommesUnis, #Prayers4Paris, or #PrayForParis. The hashtag #PorteOuverte (meaning “open door”) was established to let people in Paris know where they could find shelter.

Facebook set up a safety check, so people who are currently in Paris could signal their families and friends that they were safe.

Photo: fortune.com (originally from Facebook)

Furthermore, the social web was flooded with images and videos on different social media platforms. One of the most significant images is an illustration by Jean Jullien (Twitter: @jean_jullien), which went viral in just a few hours.

Illustration: Jean Jullien, via twitter.com

The omnipresence of yesterday’s happenings might make the majority of us feel scared and weak, as we cannot do anything about it. But it is reassuring to see how many people across the globe express their support for those affected. It reminds us that there are still good people in this world and there is hope for humankind.

My thoughts and prayers are with those affected and their families and friends.

Je prie pour tous ceux qui se trouvent à Paris maintenant ou qui ont de la famille et des amis là. Le monde pense à vous.

Sources: fortune.com, telegraph.co.uk, time.com

[aboutayo-blog]

What really frustrated me about the #prayforparis was that there were no hashtags for any of the other terrorist attacks eg there were terrorist attacks in Lebanon and Iraq in the same week that went largely unnoticed on social media. There were no hashtags that trended for that or Facebook filters introduced for the victims in Lebanon etc. It just seemed really racist to me.... and pointless as well. Terrorists don’t stop just because people post about it on social media. It’s frustrating as well to see so many people posting #prayforparis and never having an interest in posting about terrorism on social media at all prior to the paris attacks. I definitely feel terrible for the people in Paris but I feel that the other victims of terror deserve recognition as well. 

[virtualm-blog1]

I posted this on my reddit account a few weeks ago. When reflecting through my history to find some funny content for this blog, I realised that a high percentage what I post is risqué or controversial. Essentially things I would never tell someone I didn’t know and trust because I would be worried about being treated differently (van der Nagel, 2013 p.6). So I entirely agree with the argument van der Nagel makes about the productiveness of anonymity. I asked for a knitting pattern that I wouldn’t have asked for if I wasn’t anonymous and people in the comments said they benefitted from the content as well. 

nothingelsefits, Oct 27 2015, ‘Pattern help - would you just add a sock pattern to the bras/underwear?’ Visited 22 Nov 2015<https://www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/3qddro/pattern_help_would_you_just_add_a_sock_pattern_to/>.

van der Nagel, E 2013, ‘Faceless Bodies: Negotiating Technological and Cultural Codes on reddit gonewild’, Journal of Media Arts Culture, Volume 10, Melbourne, pp. 6.

[aboutayo-blog]

I agree that anonymity allows us to feel more comfortable expressing ourselves in ways we otherwise wouldn’t feel comfortable doing so virtually. I feel that ultimately I agree with the arguments Van Der Nagel raises and feel that having the option of being able to post anonymously is ultimately healthy if it gives an individual an outlet that they otherwise would have been denied.

[pleasantlycrookedstrawberry-blog]

Self-Policing Digital Communities

Attempting to define something as fluid and dynamic as a virtual community, in the modern digital age, is an almost fruitless endeavor.

The idea that a single tag can accurately identify all that a digital community can be simply falls far too short of what a digital community can offer modern society.

“While virtual communities abound, there is no single definition of the term ‘virtual community’ that is embraced universally. A virtual community has been conceptualized as an aggregation of individuals or business partners who interacts around a shared interest, where the interaction is at least partly supported and/or mediated by technology and guided by some protocols or norms” (Porter 2004, para. 2 via Cantoni & Danowski, 2015, p. 162).

As suggested by Porter, the virtual community must have, at the very least, some form of protocols or norms however vague or unheralded, meaning that even the deepest, darkest forums across the web, which would appear and almost free-reign society where anything can be said/posted freely, there are some socially accepted norms and protocols that are followed, even if following them is purely on a subconscious level.

The idea of self-policing, where a community develop, foster and enforce their own rules and socially acceptable behavior has grown with the digital community, ensuring that, even at a very basic level, the members of a digital community following what their community deems to be socially accepted practices. 

[aboutayo-blog]

I know what you mean. There is even contention over whether commercial social platforms such as Facebook or Twitter could be considered virtual communities. “An aggregation of individuals or business partners who interact around a shared interest” indicates to me, particularly in regards to Facebook that in some ways it might be, but is a persons friendship circle connected by Facebook considered a community or could that comprise several social communities that exist outside it’s boundaries? I definitely feel that facebook groups, for the most part, except perhaps for those selling things as opposed to discussing common interests or values, which is what most exist for, could be considered virtual communities. Keen to hear your take on this.

[aboutayo-blog]

First Blog Post: Digital Communities

Hi all,

Yolan here, aka Yo. With this blog I hope to explore the ideas and concepts raised within this unit.

So what is a digital community?

Well lets break the concept in half; what is a community?

Week 2 looked at sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies work regarding how people moved from living in villages to people living in cities. He pondered the question, “What holds a society together when most of us are  strangers to each other?” Which is particularly relevant today considering that with digital technology and social platforms connect more people than ever remotely.

Tönnies concept of a community was “formed around an organic, natural will;  associations we have or seek out of our own choice and volition;  self-fulfilling: friends, neighbourhood groups, voluntary groups, and of course  family – the bonds that bind these associations are affective ones (affection).” From this we can gather that communities need to be organic and contain willing people to be part of that group. Some of these are formed by affection alone; eg family, friendship groups. Others, such as organisations and volunteer groups are held together by the willingness of the community members to be there; which could be caused by affection for, common interests or a common cause, eg Mother’s clubs working together to help each other learn to raise children, school committees comprised of parents and teachers. Tönnies makes the distinction of community from the concept of society, which to him is driven by rational will; association driven by mutual goals, eg citizenship in a country or state for the purposes of protection and rights, membership in a company for profit through employment or investment etc. Tönnies argument was that as populated areas grew larger, there was a shift away from the forming of them as a result of community, or naturally based on affection for each other or the area, to them being formed as a result of rational will, a society, with people joining most aspects of their lives there based on the decision that they will be able to benefit them in some way rather than an emotional response.

This week’s reading, Society and Sociality, says of Tönnies work,  “If we accept that early societies were mostly functioning as communities and modem societies as societies, then what do late modern, informational societies function as?” To explore this however,  we should explore what makes a community “Digital”. My understanding of the term digital is anything that uses digits to operate in binary, for example, any computer, including modern mobile phones and televisions. In fact, today nearly everything is digital, radio and tv stations, microwaves, watches etc. Remote communication is now easier than ever before, which has allowed for the formation of virtual communities unlike any community we have seen before. The reading mentions that this can be somewhat contributed to a lack of public spaces where people traditionally would come together.

I would argue that while not based on a physical proximity (in fact virtual communities are characterised by a lack of of this), the creation of virtual space (the internet) which people are consistently “switched on” and often constantly using has lead to people doing what they would naturally do when they come together; to create communities united by common interests and/or affection for each other. People who were previously separated by proximity (Industrial development) and rational will (society) now have the opportunity to connect with people in ways that are meaningful to them through the medium of a screen rather than by proximity. People’s values and different roles in society offline no longer necessarily dictate whether or not they will be able to connect online via communities there, as the reading states, “virtual communities are based on shared social practices and interests whereas physical communities are based on shared social and physical boundaries”. My answer to the question at the beginning of the previous paragraph would be that virtually, late informational societies are pulling us closer back to the sense of community we used to have when we lived in smaller groups, through the ways we are now able to communicate with other people. But I feel as though it’s actually different from then in that now we have the opportunity to connect with people that in the past we never would have had the opportunity to do so with. The internet and digital has removed distance as a boundary to the formation of communities, which I see as a social positive.