Go JOE ninja

Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.  

[ajoeblogs]

Article 13 from a Different Perspective

More than ever before, the migration, immigration and mass movement of millions of people are considered a challenge for governments worldwide. Today’s mass movement of people is caused by leisure; however, most of the time, poverty, famine, environmental disasters, wars and conflicts push and force millions to leave their homes and search for a safer, better life in a new country.

By contrast, freedom of movement is an important human right, and Article 13 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) gives all people the right to move freely within their own countries, to choose where they want to live, to leave their countries, or to return to their countries from abroad. However, while the UDHR recognizes the right to emigrate, it does not recognize the right to immigrate. The principle under international law that grants entry and termination of residence by non-nationals is one area that sovereign states command independently. The legal interpretation of freedom of movement in Article 13 permits the departure from any country and re-entry into the home country, but it has no legal obligation for entering a country and does not grant a right for immigration.

This particular human right has often been violated – freedom of movement to leave any country and return to a home country – has often been violated throughout history. According to Childs (2014, pp. 99-101), several states of the former Soviet Union, and especially in East Germany the German Democratic Republic (GDR), very quickly introduced a ban in 1952 on leaving the country to prevent mass exodus of citizens and to stop them from re-entering once they left the country, forcing them to remain in exile.

On the other hand, in 1973, the GDR joined the United Nations, and in 1975, it also signed the final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), whose participating States committed to respecting all universal human rights, including freedom of movement. However, the concessions of the GDR regime to the international community were just a façade, and the regime made no attempt to grant East Germans the right of free movement (Richardson-Little et al. 2013, pp. 53-58). Furthermore, in 1961, the Berlin Wall with its barbed wire and death strip was installed to stop East Germans from entering West Berlin and ultimately the free world. According to Willis (2014, pp. 59-61), the flight from the GDR was a crime, and there was a shoot-to-kill order in place on its borders to prevent East Germans from unlawfully leaving the GDR. Furthermore, travel restrictions existed even for other socialist brother states of the former Soviet Union, and a travel request needed to be applied for in advance through the GDR Ministry of State Security (Jähne 2017, p. 787).

 The poster attached is about the UN UDHR Article 13 illustrates an original stamp motif of the 25th anniversary of the Berlin Wall. The image is manipulated with a wall and warning signs for landmines facing East Berlin with East German Soldiers and a woman with red flowers from 1986. This represents the ultimate symbol of the Cold War, a symbol of division and imprisonment, which politically divided the world into a Western and Eastern hemisphere. It also symbolizes the bankruptcy of the socialist East German dictatorship, which could only secure its existence by collectively imprisoning its citizens. The GDR regime praised the Berlin Wall as a borderline of peace or the so-called anti-fascist protection wall against the capitalist West, and ironically, the GDR regime proclaimed itself as a socialist worker and peasant state based on socialist values and brotherhood (Stand 2014, pp. 63-67). Moreover, the text features the wording of UDHR Article 13, and below the stamp, the additional text highlights that all walls violate human rights and further emphasizes the cynicism of the GDR regime and its phoney socialist values. Then again, the Berlin Wall in the GDR violated this fundamental human right and eventually Article 13. After almost 69 years, Article 13 of the UDHR is far from having universal acceptance. For example, freedom of movement generally does not exist currently in North Korea. According to Human Rights Watch (2015), North Koreans are barely able to move freely within their own country, let alone travel aboard, and some North Koreans who have managed to flee to China are regularly sent back.

 In sum, it can be concluded that Article 13 of the UDHR is firmly anchored in international law and universally valid to all people, regardless of their origin, gender, religion or age, but in reality, this human right is repeatedly violated. Since this area has little legal validity thus far, increased cooperation between various transnational actors is essential for effective protection of human rights. It remains to be seen whether binding regulations, treaties or even protective mechanisms will emerge in the course of this process.

 Reference

Childs, D 2014, The GDR: Moscow’s German Ally, Taylor and Francis, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 04 December 2017, <http://bit.ly/2khQEzP>.

Human Rights Watch 2015, North Korea Events 2015, Human Rights Watch.org, viewed 06 December 2017, <http://bit.ly/2AqjCZf>.

Jähne, M 2017, International relationships in ophthalmology in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Der Ophthalmologe, vol. 114, no. 9, pp. 787-793.

Richardson-Little, N 2013, ‘Dictatorship and Dissent: Human Rights in East Germany in the 1970s’, in J Eckel & S Moyn (eds), The Breakthrough: Human Rights in the 1970s, University of Pennsylvania Press, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 05 December 2017, <http://bit.ly/2ycnmrq>.

Stand, K 2012, Ambivalences, Contradictions, Choices: The Legacy of GDR Socialism, Routledge, vol.26, no. pp. 58-84.

United Nations n.d., The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, viewed 04 December 2017, <http://bit.ly/2iKdBLM>.

Willis, J 2014, Daily Life Behind the Iron Curtain: Daily Life Behind the Iron Curtain, ABC-CLIO, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 06 December 2017, <http://bit.ly/2iNqxR3>.

Image Reference

Concrete wall with barbed wire, [image], in Dreamtime.com n.d., stock illustration isolated cartoon of concrete wall, viewed 06 December 2017, <http://bit.ly/2ycR3bC>.

GDR 25th Anniversary Stamp, [image], in Tendance Coatesy n.d., Reasons to like the Berlin wall: ‘Anti-Fascist Protection Wall’, viewed 06 December 2017, <http://bit.ly/2Ab22EA>.

Landmines Sign [image], in Daily Galaxy 2009, Glowing Bacteria to Track Long Buried Landmines, viewed 06 December 2017, <http://bit.ly/2ycYZdb>.

Warning Sign [image], in Language Connections n.d., 7 Confusing Biotech Acronyms, viewed 06 December 2017, <http://bit.ly/2ydbdlT>.

[frangolive]

Waiting for the gift of (sound &) vision…

MDA20009: Digital Communities

Week 9: Visual Communities and networked visualities

Nicholas Mirzoeff, Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication and New York University, helps to explain the shift from print media to new modes of media engagement and what it means for our world …

In the world of ubiquitous media imaging, immediacy is taking over our displays and archiving of photos and videos and they are now not the accessories to what we publish – they are the main story!!  Our tech and networked communications allows us to author, distribute and manage them ourselves rather than hand the task over to a professional, in the blurring of business and leisure and how we document life (Hand 2012, p.5)  Rather than funnelling our social and public images through one or two platform accounts, they can now be networked via Youtube and Vimeo, Instagram, FB and Snapchat to get the broadest reach possible (Posetti & Lo 2012).

https://www.photo.net/discuss/threads/the-most-beautiful-camera-ever-made.498101/

Mind you, if you do take the happy snap of your boss ‘gifting’ his secretary at the office Christmas party, thanks to LBS (that’s location based services, not little black stilettoes) he will be able to trace the pic if he really wants to …mmm Geotagging.  Of course, you could try and disguise it with baby features and a rattle, via augmentation afforded on Snapchat and Instagram, in order to confuse timelines and publish the present as our future past (Herman 2014).  But it is not really the textual content that matters according to sociologist Nathan Jurgenson – it’s just a drop in the ocean of our fluid self, with the content standing in for an ephemoral wave or a ‘hi there’, or in your boss’s case, maybe a wink (Herman 2014).  But be wary of mixing your drinks and your modalities in combining text and imaging, it can produce new cultural languages – just ask Warnie! (Vivienne & Burgess 2013).

http://oceanup.com/2016/05/24/ed-sheehan-takes-his-new-bong-straight-to-the-head/ed-sheeran-new-bong-shane-warne-head-photo/

Once we augment, filter and manipulate a base level image and send it out into the ether, the semantics of it can vary due to our competencies with tech, language and culture(s).  If someone sends an image with bunny ears, does it mean they want to work at a huge high roller’s mansion surrounded by variations on a theme of themselves, that its Easter Sunday everyday or they are perhaps ready to procreate 😊? (Mizuko 2008, p.2).  It’s a resource intensive approach that lets account ‘produsers’ remake and redistribute content to tailor to the more niche audiences in terms of cultural mores such as art, politics, social recreations and affiliations (Lange 2009, p.71).  With so many networked visuality platforms, it can be challenging to manage what is retweeted and what becomes that afternoon’s gif of the boss yawning in front of Santa (Posetti & Lo 2012).

In fact, Patricia Lange tells us that one of the greatest gifts you can give anyone is your time, and attention should be valued as a gift rather than a measure of human capital in the realms of socionomics (Lange 2009, p.70).  In this way audiences generate a social negotiation with videos they feel affinity for and that determines our attention to them and in what circumstances or context.  Lange also advises there is relational value in videos of affinity or affiliation in that they are perceived in a largely binary way, in the aesthetics of professional videos and amateur video production.  Affinity to both styles, based on attraction to people, their ideas or products can garner their own niche markets and audiences and like pledges made at a work Christmas function can vary in levels of sincerity (Lange 2009, p.71).

These videos form part of an ‘imaging community’ that reflects modes of labour, creativity and intimacy, affording structures to configure and interact amongst imagined communities (Hjorth 2011, p.51).  My Moonage Daydreams Tumblr site is a platform for the ‘imagined community’ of MDA20009, Group 01-2018, that I have never met in person but are very much part of my real world and evidence the duality of digital publics and networked visualities (Herman 2014).  Another point Lange (2009) makes is that ‘Videos of Affinity’ are contemporary, they don’t say “this is what we did in the past”, they say “this is what we are doing now and hope to do in dreams of the future”.

Two moons hoax: Mars won’t be as big as the moon on August 27; ignore those social media messages - News18

https://www.news18.com/news/india/two-moons-hoax-mars-wont-be-as-big-as-the-moon-on-august-27-ignore-those-social-media-messages-709753.html

With this in mind, I am a glaring example of Videos of Affinity and true contemporary, amateur modality, in that last week I published a video of montaged images for what students were doing in the present and like a stonkered boss at a party, what they potentially might be avoiding in the future.

It was totally not engaged with in anyway by the audience platform it was presented to and under the premise Lange (2009) makes that it was not professional and not selling or advertising any product, was considered insincere and not relational enough.

I am sincerely taking this as a compliment 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/177610779030869172/

Mizuko’s (2008) remaking and redistributing of a networked text …

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2541162/Rickrolled-Student-pranks-physics-teacher-inserting-lyrics-Rick-Astley-s-Never-Going-Give-You-Up-paper-quantum-mechanics.html 

REFERENCES:

Hand, M 2012, Ubiquitous Photography, Polity Press, Cambridge

Herrman, J 2014, ‘Meet the Man Who Got Inside Snapchat’s Head’, BuzzFeed, 28 January, viewed 3 August 2016, <http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/meet-the-unlikely-academic-behind-snapchats-new-pitch#3dlvjg2>.

Hjorth, L 2011, ‘Mobile spectres of intimacy: the gendered role of mobile technologies in love – past, present and future’, in R, Ling & S, Campbell (eds) The Mobile Communication Research Series: Volume II, Mobile Communication: Bringing Us Together or Tearing Us Apart? Transaction Books Edison, NJ , pp. 37-60.

Lange, P 2009, ‘Videos of Affinity on YouTube’, in P, Snickars & P, Vonderau (eds), The YouTube Reader, National Library of Sweden, Stockholm, pp. 70-88.

Mizuko, I 2008 ‘Introduction’, in K, Vamelis, ed. Networked Publics, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 1-14.

Posetti, J & Lo, P 2012, The Twitterisation of ABCs Emergency & Disaster Communication, Australian Journal of Emergency Management, Vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 34-39

Trinity College Dublin 2010, Professor Nicholas Mirzoeff, Trinity Week Lecture, [video], viewed 22.5.18,< https://youtu.be/LiEK4fJ_I9M>

[frangolive]

from@allthingsgesh

“ Hey @frangolive ! What a great post! Rarely do I pull out the Nikon these days… It’s even in a back pack to make it easier and I just simply take the phone in my bag instead.. not am I content to just take one! It must be perfect!!! Although I only selfie in Facebook I’m still playing in that space.. I wonder what will be next. Cheers. A “. 

This was actually a response to a @hellouniwork post about selfie’s.  But I feel compelled to answer the query here, especially in light of the fantastic camera design at the top of this blog post.  I have embraced my camera phone entirely, especially for immediacy and access and its always on affordances. However, I love my Canon SLR - its tech and the macro lens allow me to take close up shots of dragonflies that make you feel you are about to walk into the cabin of the world’s most beautiful helicopter.

I totally get ‘form follows function’ but I don’t want to rush everything, so my other Canon Digital model allows me to play and take action snaps of water coming off the side of the Manly ferry in Sydney and elide the ephemeral files that aren’t what I wanted to frame and capture.

I guess my answer to what next is that when you try to make one tech tool do everything it becomes increasingly about the tech and not about the user/creator/producer and we become more materially determined (ta v much Marshall Mcluhan :) ).  I say keep the Nikons and Pentax’s if you have room and interest, there will always be an occasion and an aesthetic where they will come into their own - just ask a Hasselblad owner if they regret the gift of time and attention when they take pics of ancient emojis in their travels (Lange 2009). So don’t hesitate to take the Nikon Ms Gesh, its already packed and ready to go remember :), cheers F

https://www.danstacuve.org/hasselblad-500c-vs-mamiya-c330f/

[ajoeblogs]

hi fran, 

u r an amazing writer/blogger! thx for all your thoughts and posts... got heaps out of them. u are definitely thinking outside the box and norms. we need people like u in canberra and white house !!! :)

joe

[ajoeblogs]

A New Species Called Trolls

The Internet is known to be vast, fast and informative. But it’s also a dark place full of dangers… like ruthless online trolls – never heard of them? Unlike the trolls in the fairy tales, online trolls neither hide nor live in caves or deep down in a forest. No, online trolls lurk in public, in the suburbs and some in the city centres of the great capital cities around the world. Precisely where and when they smell the best opportunities to attract the public’s attention, they strike. Not to mention, online trolls are far less harmless and cause a lot of damage. Their repertoire ranges from verbal abuse and slander to serious threats (Boyd 2014, pp. 131-132).

Online trolls are easily one of the scariest inhabitants of the Internet and thrive on negativity and cyberbullying. They love to stir up and spread hatred (Rosewarne 2016, p. 94). But who are “online trolls” – and what should you do if you come into contact with such a shameless species?

According to McCosker (2014, pp. 206-209), online trolls are people who purposely provoke others on the Internet, typically through inflammatory, insulting or provocative comments. Trolls have one goal: to upset others and cause emotional, preferably provocative results (Rosewarne 2016, pp. 105-111). To achieve this goal, trolls will grumble wildly and often on an off-topic post and ride personal attacks, post simple hate speech and even post death threats (Rosewarne 2016, pp. 90-97)

But it’s important to differentiate between some trolls. According to Dowling (2014), some online trolls can be passionate about a topic or cause and simply intolerant to differing opinions – for example, some die-hard unsocial individual or young kids who make fun of something and others. Usually, however, online trolls are generally intelligent people who leave no gap behind the comma. For the sake of simplicity, this group is often referred to as online trolls. In fact, the Internet is full of people who want to share their opinions.

But unlike the angry users who share negative but sincere beliefs, trolls probably don’t believe a word of what they’re writing. They choose their words precisely to upset others (Arendholz 2013, pp. 121-124). In short, trolls are online bullies. They’re found on virtually any Internet platform that allows comments or interaction. One study found that a disproportionately large percentage of online verbal abuse occurs on Twitter. This may be due to the rather anonymous nature of the platform compared to other social networks, such as Facebook. Apart from that, trolls can lurk everywhere on the Internet.

What you should avoid in your response to trolls?

First, don’t fall into the online troll trap and feed the trolls. This is very important. However, it’s also easier said than done, especially if a troll posts personal attacks. Dowling (2014) sums it up in his article: “If they want to be funny, your willingness to swallow the bait is their punchline. If you do not bait, there is no joke at all.”

Reference:

Arendholz, J 2013, Title:(In)Appropriate Online Behaviour: A Pragmatic Analysis of Message Board Relations, John Benjamins Publishing, EBSCOhost-Ebook, viewed 17 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2J8ehpN>.

Boyd, D 2014, ‘Bullying: Is the Media Amplifying Meanness and Cruelty?’, Yale University Press, New Haven, pp. 128-52.

McCosker, A 2014, Trolling as provocation: YouTube’s agonistics publics, Convergence, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 201-217.

Rosewarne, L 2016, Cyberbullies, Cyberactivists, Cyberpredators: Film, TV, and Internet Stereotypes, ABC-CLIO, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 17 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2JjyI6x>.

Image Reference:

‘Seven Tips for Dealing with Online Trolls’ [image], in SPINSUCKS 2013., viewed 17 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2JlsJy0>.

[marnyaw-blog]

“trolls probably don’t believe a word of what they’re writing. They choose their words precisely to upset others”

I will be interested to read Arendholz work.  Is this a case study that makes contact and discusses the motives behind their posts.  That would be fascinating! I couldn’t find anything of value when I was researching.

[ajoeblogs]

Arendholz referes to: “They choose their words precisely to upset others” 

[studentlifeforme-blog]

Trolling and Bullying

Social media is a very strong and efficient way to communicate and influence and spread messages all over the world within milliseconds.  When people of all ages have access to the internet at all times of the day all over the world they have two choices, they can either put positive content and spread positive messages or put negative content online and promote and spread negative messages. When you are online you have to be careful on what you post as this can have drastic affects on the audience (people watching) and the person the message is directed at.

An example of using the internet in the wrong way, called trolling was of a 12 year old called Gabrielle Green who was just an innocent young girl who went to school at Surfside Middle School. Gabrielle suffered tremendous bullying from two former school peers. One 12 year old girl would send her text messages and communicate on social media with her putting her down and calling her horrible names. This girl also spread rumors all over social media being Facebook and numerous other platforms stating that Gabrielle had STDs and exposed very sensitive details of her life. Another boy  told police he had a phone conversation with Gabrielle and she advised she tried to kill herself and then he said “well if you’re going to to do it, just do it” and ended the call. Minutes later Gabrielle hung herself with a dog leash.

Cyberbully and trolling is so destructive and literally take lives every week all over the world.

This is an example of how social media trolling can be used in positive way, see below a video that makes the racist people accountable for their actions.

This is an example of how social media trolling can be used in positive way, see below a video that makes the racist people accountable for their actions.

Quote from the creator of this video  - I want people to share this video for two reasons. Firstly because although we like to think we live in a culturally inclusive society, sadly this kind of stuff isn’t that uncommon. I know I’ve copped my share for being brown and all my ethnic friends have a story or two. It’s a thing in this country, let’s not pretend it’s not. And secondly so this video gets back to these three in particular. I want you guys to see this in the sober light of day so you can see how truly pathetic you are. - (Checkpoint Media 2012)

References:

2 arrested for cyber-bullying after 12-year-old girl’s suicide. (2018). Retrieved from http://abc13.com/2-arrested-for-cyber-bullying-after-12-year-old-girls-suicide/2983420/

Caught on camera racist Australian abuse girl smash bus window YouTube (2012)  <http://bit.ly/2j2duNx> 

[ajoeblogs]

Great post. I really enjoyed your summary! 

I would like to add the Dr. Susan Carland move. Have you ever heard about Dr. Susan Carland, an Australian academic, a Muslim woman and married to Waleed Aly. 

Dr. Carland became an Internet celebrity by developing an unusual reaction to Twitter trolls: for every ‘hate tweet’ she received, she donated one dollar to UNICEF. At the end of October 2015, she had already donated more than $ 1,000 in this way.

According to Mannix (2015), Dr. Carland explained her motivation to actively do something good for the world for every ugly verbal attack sent in her direction. Furthermore, these children receiving UNICEF aid in the end seemed to be the logical recipients of counterbalancing hatred ( Mannix 2015). 

And donating to UNICEF whenever she was attacked on Twitter due to her religion gave her the feeling of something tangible in response to virtual hatred. Meanwhile, others have joined in her approach. Some donate in their place for future troll tweets. Inspired by her idea, UNICEF has launched a campaign called Tweets for the Good, which aims to make people turn "hate tweets into the power of good".

While Carland's idea of dealing with trolls may not be appropriate for every situation and recipient of troll news, the unusual approach can certainly serve as a role model.

Reference:

Mannix, L 2015, Academic Susan Carland, wife of Waleed Aly, donating $1 to charity for each hate tweet, Sydney Morning Herald, viewed 20 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2LSggQH>.

[gem-vs-ba-mcmns-blog]

1B: Week 9 - Visual communities and social imaging

The selfie.

(Source: https://giphy.com/gifs/superbowl-commercials-2016-butterfinger-xT0BKmiSjvaBgCh13G)

It’s certainly not a new concept.

(Source: https://gifer.com/en/AA2L)

From carving our own likenesses into cave walls 20,000 years ago (Vallencourt & Poolos 2015, p. viii) to artists painting self-portraits over the centuries, we’ve been selfie…ing since long before photography was invented in 1839 (Vallencourt & Poolos 2015, p. x).

That same year, the first recorded photographic selfie was taken (Dinius 2015, p. 446).

(Source: http://roonby.com/2016/03/16/robert-cornelius-the-first-person-that-perform-selfie-photo/)

It’s only since the advent of the internet and the subsequent ease with which images can be posted and shared via social media, that the selfie has become the epidemic it is today (Dinius 2015, p. 448).

Now it’s 2018 and there’s no escaping the selfie.

Five years ago, ‘selfie’ was even the Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year (Dinius 2015, p. 445) and we’re now all used to posting our (very carefully constructed) photos without even giving it a second thought.

But should we think twice? After all, not everyone limits their selfie-taking to photos of their face.

WARNING – SEXUAL CONTENT 

We all know what a dick pic is. Some of you will have sent them with the receiver’s consent. Some of you will have asked for them. More often than not, the (dreaded) dick pic is unsolicited and unwelcome.

(Source: https://giphy.com/gifs/tipsyelves-halloween-text-l1J9LpewY0ZzIt692)

Listen.

As a general rule, if someone wants to see it, they’ll ask.

Otherwise what you’re doing is known as a little thing called SEXUAL HARASSMENT (Waling & Pym 2017, p. 2). A far too common form of harassment now synonymous with dick pics, as Whitney Bell discovered when putting together her exhibition “I Didn’t Ask For This: A Lifetime of Dick Pics” (Stevenson 2016).

(Source: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ppxjem/this-woman-turned-her-collection-of-unsolicited-dick-pics-into-an-art-show)

So…what happens when the protest against dick pics gets (*cough*) out of hand?

In 2013, feminist artist collective Future Femme (O’Connor 2013), staged a similar exhibition to Bell’s. On the surface, “Show Me More: A Collection of DickPix” seemed like a warranted expose of online harassment.

There was just one catch – none of the images in Future Femme’s exhibition was unsolicited. In fact, members of the collective set out to collect dick pics, openly asking men on online forums and dating sites to send them (Knibbs 2013).

These were then exhibited publicly without the senders’ consent or knowledge.

Which raises questions.

If the tables were turned and this was a non-consensual exhibition of female genitalia or revenge porn, would there have been more outrage?

Have men brought this upon themselves by engaging in this unwanted behaviour at other times?

Was Future Femme’s approach actually detrimental to their cause and protest?

Is the selfie culture to blame?

Let me know your thoughts…

References:

Dinius, M 2015, ‘The Long History of the “Selfie”’, Technologies of the Visible World, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 441-451, 454, viewed 16 May 2018, <https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/docview/1716697848/fulltextPDF/F15418B08E1442E3PQ/1?accountid=14205>. Knibbs, K 2013, This intimate picture exhibition isn’t art or a statement, it’s exploitation, Digital Trends, viewed 16 May 2018, <https://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/dick-pic-art-show/>. O’Connor, M 2013, Art Gallery to Show Unknowing Men’s Dick Pics, The Cut, viewed 16 May 2018, <https://www.thecut.com/2013/08/art-gallery-to-show-unknowing-mens-dick-pics.html>. Stevenson, A 2016, This Woman Turned Her Collection of Unsolicited Dick Pics into an Art Show, VICE, viewed 16 May 2018, <https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ppxjem/this-woman-turned-her-collection-of-unsolicited-dick-pics-into-an-art-show>. Vallencourt, M & Poolos, C 2015, History of Photography, Britannica Educational Publishing, New York, viewed 16 May 2018, <https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/swin/reader.action?docID=2101666&query=>. Waling, A & Pym, T 2017, ‘‘C’mon, No One Wants a Dick Pic’: exploring the cultural framings of the ‘Dick Pic’ in contemporary online publics’, Journal of Gender Studies, viewed 16 May 2018, <https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/doi/citedby/10.1080/09589236.2017.1394821?scroll=top&needAccess=true>.

[ajoeblogs]

What an interesting post!

You are definitely thinking outside the box, and I never really thought about dick pics when it came to this particular topic. 

As Flo already mentioned, this seems to be a phenomenon of modern culture. However, I would like to add to this that, actually, it is solely a Western phenomenon. I doubt that young men in Africa, Asia or even in Muslim countries share pictures of their bits with others. 

Just the act of taking a pic of your private parts is a bit odd. “We live in a weird time with no boundaries”, as Turkle mentioned in her TED lecture (Turkle 2013, cited in TED 2013). 

I remember my history teacher at school saying that television is the new anti-Christ, especially TV productions from Hollywood. 

Now, I am pretty sure my former history teacher is telling his current pupils that the anti-Christ is the Internet and ultimately social media. 

I found this very interesting video of Alison Graham on TEDx – about how social media makes us unsocial, and it is gobsmacking how simple the solution is. 

Delete your social media profiles and switch off your device. 😊

[allthingsgeshblog]

Social gaming + exercise = healthy?

Is it possible to improve your health while gaming? 

I’ve always associated gaming with sitting on my behind, a can or two of coke, an endless supply of chocolate nearby, headphones on, never to see the sunrise or sunset, at least not until the next day! Surely this behaviour can’t encourage a healthier lifestyle? 

Or can it? 

Perhaps, change the snacks out for celery sticks, carrot straws and a tub of tzatziki, a glass or two of water….. better right? 

According to Maciej Behnke, the idea isn’t so crazy… particularly with games like Pokemon Go, a game whereby players are connected via a community, play through their mobile devices to seek objects to help them level up, and wait for it, walk to each target! (Behnke, Dziekan, Guzik, Kaczmarek & Misiak, 2017) Yes, walk… 

Gaming socially not only provides a unique experience for the user, but it encourages connectivity with other like-minded individuals that otherwise wouldn’t be connected. Additionally, with games like Pokemon Go, which encourage movement within the play experience, the “virtual world” gives an individual flexibility to connect with others inside and outside of the playing world. 

Pretty cool. Maybe more games should be tailored this way?

Source: https://gph.is/2biaBlX

So let’s look at the health benefits:

Source: https://gph.is/28JO8Aq

Maciej Behnke goes on to explain through their study that video gaming used to be a sedentary activity whereby users, like I just sat back and watched the day go by, stuffing myself with all sorts of nasty but super tasty morsels, but now, with development enhancements have been made to the gameplay experience to incorporate exercise into the mix. I recall playing Wii tennis, and ended up a little buggered! At the time, I felt embarrassed, but I should’ve thought, hey, this is more fun than the treadmill! and it’s giving me a good heart experience (Behnke, Dziekan, Guzik, Kaczmarek & Misiak, 2017). 

Games like Pokemon GO have also allowed the inside play to come to the outside world, encouraging connections with people that otherwise would not have had the opportunity. Additionally, it is important to realise the correlation between higher physical activity and a healthier body (Miles, 2007), coupled with the potential for weight loss and healthier composition that reduces the risk of high blood pressure and diabetes, crippling conditions in today’s day and age (Buttriss & Hardman, 2005).

A good dose of Vitamin D through sun exposure wouldn’t hurt either! 

Essential takeaways from this research are as follows;

Individuals who played Pokémon Go more were more physically active.

Individuals who played Pokémon Go more spent more time outdoors.

Health and social gaming motives predicted stronger health outcomes.

Men played more and derived more health benefits from Pokémon GO.

There I have it, there are some games out there that can encourage my 13 year old to drag himself away from the console in order to soak up a little vitamin D. No longer will there be whinging and whining, it’ll be just a matter of better choices! 

References: 

Behnke, M, Dziekan, M. Guzik, P. Kaczmarek, L & Misiak, M, 2017 ‘The Pikachu effect: Social and health gaming motivations lead to greater benefits of Pokemon GO use’, Computers in Human Behaviour, pp 356-363, viewed 25 May 2018 <https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0747563217303527>

Buttriss, J., & Hardman, A. (2005). Physical activity: Where are we now. In S. Stanner (Ed.), Cardiovascular Disease: Diet, Nutrition and Emerging Risk Factors: The Report of the British Nutrition Foundation Task Force (pp. 234e244). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Miles, L. (2007). Physical activity and health. Nutrition Bulletin, 32, 314e363. 

[ajoeblogs]

Once again a great read! I love the self-irony in the post regarding social gaming. 

However, I would like to analyse further the harms of social gaming and bring a sense of seriousness to this matter. I am not having a go with your gaming habits, I promise! However, it is very serious, and I am concerned. 😊 I absolutely agree with the idea of having healthy snacks while binge gaming, which is a good start... However, the key is actually the excessive media consumption, which refers to the use of screens and media consumption by passive and active consumption (Golbeck 2017). 

Young kids and adults now spend a lot of time in front of a screen. According to Golbeck (2017), the risk of media abuse is particularly high for children, especially those from low socioeconomic backgrounds. It is obvious children and teens are most vulnerable to gaming as they lack the needed media competence to use social media and ultimately social gaming in a meaningful way. According to Apperley (2015, pp. 238-243), it is necessary to connect social gaming to terms such as ‘media addiction’, ‘media dependence’ and ‘media abuse’.

Excessive gaming also causes aggressive social behaviour (Schott & Mäyrä 2015, 139-149). Furthermore, it can even cause a sleep disorder. Often, playing games only in the evening and night hours causes prolonged sleep latency and reduced rest periods during sleep. 

My advice to all gaming addicts is to switch off all of your devices and allow yourself a minute (or 20!) of freedom. Social media and ultimately social gaming restricts and controls us. 

However, we still have the power to switch off everything. Let’s start a new revolution – a Pokémon-free world!

Reference:

Apperley, T 2015, ‘Section IV: The Right to Play in the Digital Era’, in S Conway & J deWinter (eds), Video Game Policy: Production, Distribution, and Consumption, Routledge, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 20 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2xAaH6C>.

Golbeck, J 2017, Video Gaming Disorder Is Now a Mental Health Condition, Psychology Today, viewed 20 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2J7L1Uk>.

Schott, G, & Mäyrä, F 2015, ‘Section III: Violence in Video Games’, in S Conway & J deWinter (eds), Video Game Policy: Production, Distribution, and Consumption, Routledge, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 20 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2xAaH6C>.

[allthingsgeshblog]

Social Media and Politics... do these mix or is it just counter-productive to the cause?

Let’s have a deeper look at politics and how Social Media impacts on politics. Through advanced technological advancement within Social Networked sites including Facebook and Twitter, coupled with advancements within the physical structures of the internet worldwide, anyone with a device, app and the internet can now have a political voice according to Jodi Dean. Interesting to note however, that an individual always had a voice, whereas now that individual can leverage the larger group that the internet and the Social Media sites can provide to create a larger impact thus magnifying their voice.

It’s also Important to understand that the values of democracy and advanced technology have allowed the “cause” to become a more practical form through global telecommunication, achieved simply through the expansion and accessibility the of the internet, which has effectively reduced class power and economic inequality (Dean, 2013). With increased technology and infrastructure within telecommunications, participation and traction is increased globally.

With these advancements, it is also important to note that the individual voice or message can also be lost within the larger group communication.

Kind of like a double edged sword if you will isn’t it? With greater participation by many increases traction, however, the initial message can be lost within the larger group message. Additionally, as Jodi discusses the whole piece of communication through Social Media channels such as Facebook and Twitter can become more about the “story”, rather than the fight itself, its fighters and or the ones suffering that the initial message was designed to help.

Can one find a balance? Is it even possible? 

Say you reach out to express your distaste of a particular circumstance, with every intention for it to reach as many as possible. Brilliant, your message is flying, awareness is increasing globally.. 

How do you pull it back in line before the original message and purpose is lost? particularly if it goes viral!

Can widespread awareness and traction be harmful to the cause?

Awareness of your cause is viral, global and gaining fantastic traction. The media are all over it! 

What about the more fundamental issues, ones closer to home, has focus been removed from these while your cause has been flying? Poverty? Food, shelter, homelessness… Jodi reflects a valid point, while the awareness of ones cause is fantastic through larger group communication, it can unfortunately overshadow the smaller more critical economic issues which is effectively detrimental… 

I don’t yet see a way to balance this? Do you?   

References:

‘Social-Media-Politics’, 2018, viewed 22 April 2018, <http://capitolmediasolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Social-Media-Politics.jpg>

DCU School of Communication 2013, IAMCR 2013 Plenary No. 3 - Jodi Dean, 3 July, viewed 22 April 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5ABPuNQ6IU>.

[ajoeblogs]

Great read! I really enjoyed your post! I would like to add the dynamic of algorithms and the technology behind social bots.

Programming a social bot is easy. There is free software available on the net that can be used quickly with just a few changes in the code. Behind bots there is no artificial intelligence, just an algorithm (Brin 2016, pp. 58-60). 

Algorithms are – somewhat simplified – fixed event chains. Here is an example, in the most basic form, of how an algorithm is set: ‘if a, then b - if not a, then c’. You work with simple keyword searches, scan Twitter timelines or Facebook posts for specific words and hashtags (Brin 2016, pp. 58-60). 

If a bot finds the right words, then it comes into action. With commented answers, the bot comments on contributions or tries to engage others in a fictive conversation (Brin 2016, pp. 58-60). Then a bot can also write its own answers. Usually, it assembles them from texts that it found on certain websites or simply takes over entire statements. 

That's how social bots are created that do not just write the same news over and over again, depending on how well they are programmed. Furthermore, they can imitate human (communication) behaviour, for example, sending friend requests on Facebook, following other accounts on Twitter or preparing their own texts. Their purpose is different and the transition between the following three categories is fluent. 

And social bots and algorithms helped Donald Trump to beat Hillary Clinton. 

This is serious, folks! 

We need to regulate and restrict social bots and algorithms on social media, especially during an election. Or what do you think?

Reference:

Brin, S 2016, ‘Bots’, in J Hanson (ed), The Social Media Revolution : An Economic Encyclopedia of Friending, Following, Texting, and Connecting, ABC-CLIO, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 20 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2HbzxZT>.

[itssuzblog-blog]

Crowdsourcing in times of crisis

With all the negativity surrounding social media now, I think we forget how, in times of crisis, society can come together and help fellow human beings. From earthquakes, to floods, to war ravaged countries like Syria. Social media allows people around the globe to be able to donate funds and goods, to check that friends and family are safe and to keep up with the latest news out of an area that would otherwise be silent.

Ushahidi:

Born out of an idea by software developer, David Kobi, in 2007. It garnered international attention and around 20 developers joined together to help code. The necessity for a large-scale crowd mapping site like this came from a government media ban in Kenya during their elections. They were declared as rigged by the Kenyans and violent protests followed. As these protests were often happening in rural and remote areas, the media could not get access to what was happening on the ground. Ushahidi had people texting and emailing their stories and then uploading them to a Google map to keep everyone informed of what was happening and where. It was able to compile a complete picture of the crisis, the only organisation to be able to do this.

But this was just the beginning. Because they used open source coding, anyone could use it to create crowd maps. “It was Ushahidi’s use in a fast-moving crisis situation, mapping what journalists call hard news, provided inspiration to many others.” (Jeffery, 2011). In fact, it has been used many times since from a wildlife charity using it to map animals, to Al-Jazeera using it during the 2009 Gaza war, in Haiti in 2010, to map the BP oil spill, during the Nigerian elections, during the Japan earthquake and tsunami, and as recently as the 2016 US presidential elections. These, of course, are just a few of the higher profile examples of crowd maps that were created.

But it drew some criticism, the site needed to be updated to make it more user friendly. It was deemed to be hard to use and too techy. In 2010, it was, and it is now super easy to create a map and get real time updates to it.

Christchurch Earthquake:

New Zealand is directly on a fault line. Growing up in Auckland, we had regular earthquake drills and were used to the tremors. However, in February 2011, still reeling from another major earthquake, the country watched as Christchurch was all but razed to the ground. My family, like many others, had family and friends down there and could not contact them. We were glued to social media, to find out live updates from the area. Finally, we got messages that everyone we knew, at least, was safe. With the internet, as soon as there was a signal, they could update their profiles to let their loved ones know they were safe. People were saved through crowd mapping. “With institutionalization, information from crowdsourcing could conceivably be available within hours after imagery is acquired, making it a feasible resource for response teams.” (Barrington et all, 2011) Disaster relief teams were able to use these sites to find out where to look for buried victims.

It’s also being used in the rebuilding efforts. Users can upload locations and pictures of collapsed and damaged buildings, and Disaster Mapper allows people to annotate maps of disaster areas. With new technology, we can use drones etc to map out the safe and unsafe places, so lives are not needed to be put at risk.

These are a couple of positives to come out of our new, technology obsessed, world.

References:

Barrington, L, Ghosh, S, Greene, M, Har-Noy, S, Berger, J, Gill, S, Lin, AYM, and Huyck, C 2011, ‘Crowdsourcing earthquake damage assessment using remote sensing imagery’, Annals of Geophysics, viewed 21 May 2018, <https://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/view/5324>

Ford, H 2012, ‘Crowd Wisdom’, Index on Censorship, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 33-39.

Halliday, J 2010, ‘Ushahidi launches simplified crisis-mapping service’, The Guardian, viewed 21 May 2018, <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/aug/11/ushahidi-crowdmap-crisis-mapping>

Jeffery, S 2011, ‘Ushahidi: crowd mapping collective that exposed Kenyan election killings’, The Guardian, viewed 21 May 2018, <https://www.theguardian.com/news/blog/2011/apr/07/ushahidi-crowdmap-kenya-violence-hague>

Kuo, L 2016, ‘A Kenyan crisis-tracking team has deployed to monitor US election violence and voter suppression’, Quartz media, viewed 21 May 2018, <https://qz.com/825442/kenyas-crisis-mapping-startup-ushahidi-will-monitor-the-us-presidential-election/>

Images:

‘Oil spill crisis map’ 2010 [image], viewed 21 May 2018, <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/aug/11/ushahidi-crowdmap-crisis-mapping>

[ajoeblogs]

What a great read. 

I found also a variation of crowdfunding and crowdsourcing is, in my opinion, the best bit of social media. 

There are apps such as "iCoyote", which is fed with information from drivers about accidents, construction sites, traffic jams and even lightning. 

OpenStreetMap is the basis for a navigation system, such as "Skobbler". Here, too, thousands of users share the task of keeping a global online navigation system up to date. Skobbler is much cheaper than offers that are otherwise found on the market. 

Now, crowdtesting, in turn, embraces the intelligence of an unlimited number of people who evaluate products, such as software (see TestCloud.com). The idea of open software is based on the principle of sharing intelligent solutions. It is very exciting how crowdsourcing replaces governments and international corporations. 

But I bet it is just a question of time before a giant corporation will take over or protect entire industries against crowdsourced products and services.

I can’t stress enough about the algorithms and the technology behind social bots.

[joelblogshere-blog]

Post 1A (1) - Are we connected but alone - further analysis

I’m going to start this blog journey by reflecting on week one “Are we connected but alone”.

Above video: Professor Tracy Alloway says that “social media has changed our attention, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing” (TEDx, 2016)

Sherry Turkle, a Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology believes that whilst Facebook helps us keep in touch with friends, it is also used too much to substitute spending face to face time with them (New York Times Upfront, 2014 p. 23). Sherry continues to suggest that due to people feeling the need to keep up with their friends’ online activities, people have forgotten how to disconnect and enjoy alone time. In the same article, Sree Sreenivasan believes that it is ridiculous to blame Facebook for people being lonely, and that social media only amplifies who you are in real life – if you’re a lonely person in general, social media will only make you more lonely.

There is a lot of interesting studies about the link between connectedness and loneliness. A study on older adults found that technology can be an enabler (Ballantyne et al 2010 p. 30), and that the internet and social media sites can help bring long distance family members together. It’s also important to note that this particular study was conducted on a one on one basis in the individuals own homes, creating a supportive environment, and that without that support older individuals may not understand the technology well enough to be able to participate. Melbourne University philosopher Damon Young suggests that older people who haven’t been saturated with information may be more able to enjoy their own company compared to Generation Y who grew up in a connected world (Griffin, 2011).

Above image: It’s interesting to note that whilst different sources suggest the birthdates of Generations are different, that the understanding of generation beliefs is pretty much the same. (Consultancy UK 2015)

What does all this mean though? Are Generation Y – those of us who were born from the late 1970’s-1994 and went through their teen years as the world wide web started to develop, and Generation Z – those born from 1995-2012 and even more internet savvy than Gen Y (WJSchroer, n.d.), are we too much connected via the internet and social media than Gen X and the Boomers who have been around longer than us and weren’t exposed to online environments until they were much older? Is wanting to communicate through a computer or a mobile device because people are more comfortable something that needs to be dealt with, a condition that needs to be labelled, and a fix/cure found for? Personally I don’t think there’s one single answer to this. We all come from different backgrounds – different life experiences, different cultures, different medical conditions that may affect how we communicate. Our backgrounds also affect how we manage social conflict too.

I think most people wish they had more friendships, and face to face encounters. Do you agree?

Above image: “Social Media is like Ancient Egypt, writing things on walls and worshipping cats” - George Takei (Sahakians 2016)

References

Ballantyne, A., Trenwith, L. Zubrinich, S. and Corlis, M. 2010, ‘I feel less lonely’: what older people are saying about participating in a social media website”, Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, vol. 11, no 3., pp. 25-35, viewed April 2 2018 <https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/10.5042/qiaoa.2010.0526>.

Consultancy UK 2015, ‘So who are the different Generations?’ [image], in Consultancy UK – Generation Y less satisfied than other Generations, Consultancy Network, viewed 2 April 2018, < https://www.consultancy.uk/news/2061/generation-y-less-satisfied-than-other-generations>.

Griffin, M 2011, ‘Generation Y is so connected, but oh so lonely: survey”’, The Age, 20 July, p.8, viewed 2 April 2018 <http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A278112330/AONE?u=swinburne1&sid=AONE&xid=0f2042de>.

New York Times Upfront, 2014, Is Facebook making us lonely? Some say social media keeps us connected. Others argue that it breeds loneliness., New York Times Upfront, 17 March, viewed April 2 2018 <http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/apps/doc/A361711282/AONE?u=swinburne1&sid=AONE&xid=232f82ea>.

Sahakians, S 2016, ‘…like ancient Egypt’ [image], in Buffer Social - 20 Metaphors That Explain Social Media Perfectly, Buffer Blog, viewed 2 April 2018, <https://blog.bufferapp.com/what-is-social-media>.

TEDx Talks 2016, Facebook Fearless: How social media can be good for you: Tracy Alloway, 12 December, viewed 2April 2018 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkqaQ-0bCpM>.

[ajoeblogs]

Thanks, Joel, for an interesting post…

Indeed, friends make you happy, make you healthy, and have the same effects as a natural painkiller – these are some findings of Grayling’s (2013, pp. 177-182) research on interpersonal relationships. One thing is clear: our friends are very important to us. Some people prefer friends over family because we cannot choose our parents and siblings. Friends, on the other hand, are the people who understand us and accept us as we are. These days, many people say that they only have a handful of good friends. The next moment you hear the same people saying they have 500 friends on Facebook. 

In my opinion, we need to more closely analyse the term “friend”. On Facebook (FB), being ‘friends’ only means that two independent people are connected to each other (Lambert 2013, p. 2-5). I do not consider just added strangers on FB as friends, so these unknown friends on FB are technically not friendship-relevant. 

That said, of course, a large number of contacts may be meaningful to some people, but in my opinion, it is more about seeking recognition or validation in a sense of, “I have a lot of friends, so I’m irresistible and cool.”

So what is friendship?

The answer to what makes a real friend can be very different. For some, it is important to meet regularly and do something together. Others do not like frequent appointments; instead, they value trust and intimacy. According to Vernon (2010, pp. 32-35), friendship is based on two people mutually confirming acceptance and respect. Furthermore, the definition of friendship is constantly changing (Vernon 2010, pp. 25-26). In my opinion, friendship changes as soon you get married and have children. Your perspective and priorities change overnight.

Reference:

Grayling, A 2013, Friendship, Yale Univerity Press, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 11 April 2018, <http://bit.ly/2HlMkx1>

Lambert, A 2013, Intimacy and Friendship on Facebook, Palgrave Macmillan, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 11 April 2018, <http://bit.ly/2GSQ21U>

Vernon, M 2010, The Meaning of Friendship, Palgrave Macmillan, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 11 April 2018, <http://bit.ly/2INklmY>

[dotcomwriteon-blog]

Interesting post, Joe. You raise some great arguments about social media’s ability to offer different forms of communication for different people. Whilst I’m a bit cynical myself and wish the new social norms that have come with social media would revert to earlier times, I do see how the ability to engage in this way would be greatly beneficial to people suffering from social anxieties and mental illness. I suppose I just find it sad in many ways also. Frankly though I find social media’s potential to create further mental illness even more disturbing. See my blog for information. What do you think? Does social media have the capacity to induce mental illness on its own? 

P.S: I really like the name of your blog. Very punny. 

[ajoeblogs]

Thank you for your input. I think social media can cause depression and other anxieties. There is no doubt that a negative connection is so obvious that it no longer needs a special mention. It is crazy how social media forces us to be constantly available and accessible to others, which creates stress. Besides, you do not want to see how nice other people's lives are when you have depression.

[dotcomwriteon-blog]

I predict a riot! I predict a riot!

Activist social media use today is what newspapers, posters and leaflets were to the labour movement (Gerbaudo 2012, p. 4). A way of spreading a message and garnering support to affect change. By utilising Facebook groups, tweets, and even Instagram posts, activist leaders are able to easily create groups of likeminded individuals who can participate across geographical boundaries and coordinate them to undertake collective action (Shirky 2011). 

But is it actually achieving change?

The 2012 Kony movement certainly didn’t. It cleverly used a post akin to a music video to create a sense of social norming, and incite a call to action to have Kony captured and stop the Lord’s Resistance Army. Additionally, it placed deadlines on participation, fostering a culture to ‘act now or miss out’ (Burrowes 2012). This pressure resulted in both slacktivists liking or commenting to demonstrate support for the cause with minimal effort, and clicktivists who despite their supportive stance, could do little more than like and share the post. Neither party could contribute anything toward actually capturing Kony besides funding the movement through donations and purchasing merchandise. I myself fell into the clicktivist category. I experienced the intended shocked response. I did feel bad about Kony’s exploitation and endangering children. I wanted to help and make it all stop. But I didn’t see how giving money to an organisation I had never heard of just so I could wear a red t-shirt was going to help.

This was the central problem. Invisible Children had done a terrific job viralising the issue and gaining support, but they left supporters like myself with absolutely no practical avenue to effect change and facilitate Kony’s capture. Despite raising $28 million nothing was achieved and no progress was made as Kony remains at large and the LRA is still in operation (Taylor 2014). 

Unfortunately the failure of the movement was not enough to stop new slacktivist trends immerging. Plastering Facebook filters over profile pictures quickly became the next wave of slacktivist participation, with the practice going viral after many terrorist attacks like the 2015 Paris attacks. Whilst this did much to create a global sense of unity and afford bystanders the sense of having ‘done their bit’, it did nothing to change the victims’ reality. In fact, the filters recieved much backlash with many accusing Facebook of ranking human suffering as no filters were created for victims of the attacks in Lebanon and Syria (Bondarenko 2017).

This year, Greek activists successfully harnessed social media’s power to organise protests against compromising with Macedonia over naming rights. Whilst police officials and protest organisers disagree on attendance numbers, what stands out is organisers’ success in bringing citizens from all over Greece together in Athens to show their support. In response to the pressure from protesters, the government has remained strong and knocked back Macedonian proposals deemed to be appropriating Greek heritage (ABC News 2018). 

So, can social media activism achieve lasting change? I think so. But only if those truly motivated to effect change are given a viable avenue to do so.  

References

ABC News 2018, ‘Greek hold massive rally in Athens to protest over Macedonia name dispute’, ABC News, 5 February, viewed 18 May 2018, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-05/greeks-rally-in-athens-to-protest-use-of-the-name-macedonia/9395502>.

Bondarenko, V 2017, ‘Facebook has quietly stopped offering flag profile picture filters after terrorist attacks’, Business Insider, 8 June, viewed 18 May 2018, <https://www.businessinsider.com.au/facebook-stops-offering-flag-profile-picture-filters-after-terrorist-attacks-2017-5?r=UK&IR=T>.

Burrowes, T 2012, ‘Kony 2012: The biggest social media experiment in history ends in failure - so why is no one talking about it?’, Mumbrella, 23 April, viewed 18 May 2018, <https://mumbrella.com.au/kony-2012-the-biggest-social-media-experiment-in-history-ends-in-failure-so-why-is-nobody-talking-about-it-86939>.

Gerbaudo, P 2012, Tweets and the streets : Social Media and Contemporary Activism, Pluto, London. 

Taylor, A 2014, ‘Was #Kony2012 a failure?’, The Washington Post, 16 December, viewed 18 May 2018, <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/12/16/was-kony2012-a-failure/?utm_term=.caf370d6127f>. 

[ajoeblogs]

You did it again! Great post, and I absolutely agree. 

The settings for a successful movement and protests need to be right in the virtual world as well as in the real/physical world. Otherwise, well-intentioned movements are doomed to fail. Furthermore, it is not always easy to filter out the truth in the midst of all the different, often conflicting information we receive on a daily basis online. Unlike traditional journalism, the Internet is very emotional – people are confronted with provocative and emotionally charged content on controversial topics. Of course, black lives matter, and in my opinion, all lives matters… Obviously, subjective opinions on political issues cannot be shared in the news, but there is hardly a filter on social media.

According to Kneuer (2016), organizational aspects were predominant on the Facebook and Twitter pages examined – mostly with a local reference. Although there are also a number of very active users, it was just a small group of people. Instead, there are often ‘feel-good activists’, or let’s say slacktivists, who feel they have influence, without doing more than joining a Facebook group. The ‘Like’ button on Facebook invites you to join a social movement from your couch or desk with just one click, creating a perceived participation that still has little or no effect, according to Youmans & York (2012, pp. 316-317).

In my opinion, social media ‘activism’ still has a long way to go to be taken seriously. Websites like Facebook, Twitter and so on are often a reflection of ourselves and our society. Social media will adapt to us and grow organically until the boundary between the real and the virtual world is completely torn down.

Reference:

Kneuer, M 2016,  Soziale Medien dienen der Organisation, Frankfurter Rundschau, viewed 25 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2sx7uih>

Youmans, W, & York, J 2012, ‘Social Media and the Activist Toolkit: User Agreements, Corporate Interests, and the Information Infrastructure of Modern Social Movements’, Journal Of Communication, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 315-329.

[ajoeblogs]

Wanna Play?

Increasingly more people worldwide are playing online games. Whether strategic or adventure games, there’s something for everyone. Social gaming even broadcasts live on TV in South Korea, Japan and China – and has a huge fanbase. What is social gaming, and what potential does it offer the social media world? You’re about to learn.

The best-known pro-gamer is "Fatal1ty", a.k.a. Jonathan Wendel. He works for the Fatal1ty Gaming Gear team. Other successful pro-gamers include Dendi (Danil Ishutin) and UNiVeRsE (Saahil Arora). Each player is on a team under contract. Both teams and individual players are strongly represented on social networks – Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. There, they post gaming news, share behind-the-scenes videos and announce tournaments and events. The top 20 e-gamers have a fanbase of around 5.8 million on Facebook (Dunn 2017). So, what about pro-gamers? They play social gaming professionally and are sponsored by well-known companies.  

Are e-gamers the new influencers?

A vital part of social media marketing, influencers allow companies to communicate with their target groups much more effectively (Hjorth & Richardson 2014, pp. 35-41). Remember how pro-gamers are the absolute stars in their industry and have a ton of followers? That's exactly why pro-gamers need to communicate with other gamers and use social media for self-promotion. On Facebook, for example, countless fan pages exist where other gamers can exchange ideas about idols or get playing tips (Partis 2018). But Facebook isn’t the top social gaming community. The ultimate social gaming platform is Twitch.

At first glance, Twitch looks like any other video platform, but some features are made for social gamers. Twitch sorts the video streams by channels and by video games (Asarch 2018). In the "directory", users get a list of the most popular video games, which usually have a worldwide audience. Plus, "communities" can collect streams for keywords such as "role playing", "art" or "Japan"(Asarch 2018). The main difference, however, lies in the interaction among players because it’s just as live as the streams themselves. Streamers and channels can be financially supported – either by the cheering function or by subscribing to a channel (Asarch 2018).

So how can social gaming be combined with social media?

The symbiosis of influencer marketing and vlogging with social gaming is that marketers can rely on branded games. Branded games have tremendous potential for companies to unify strategies, tactics and the customer experience of social gaming and social media (Mäyrä et al. 2017, pp. 16-21). Many companies that sponsor social gaming benefit from a huge reach and a very interactive and international community, which particularly offers large companies the opportunity to enter a new market. For example, the Asian region in social gaming is very far ahead and an integral part of society. Another big potential is the live feature of the e-gaming scene. Companies can report live events via Snapchat, Instagram or Facebook or have gamers report on it in a channel takeover.

So, the only question is – why aren’t you already part of this exciting social gaming experience?

Reference:

Asarch, S 2018, What is twitch? Understanding the explosive life streaming service, newsweek.com, viewed 18 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2xAhWve>.

Dunn, J 2017, Competitive video gaming will be a $1.5 billion industry by 2020, researchers say, businessinsider.de, viewed 18 May 2018,<http://bit.ly/2L9tMOT>.

Hjorth, L & Richardson, I 2014, Gaming in Social, Locative and Mobile Media, Palgrave Macmillan, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 20 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2LOE1cx>.

Mäyrä, F, Stenros, J, Paavilainen, J & Kultima, A 2010, ‘Chapter 2: From Social Play to Social Games and Back’, in R Kowert & T Quandt (eds), New Perspectives on the Social Aspects of Digital Gaming, Routledge, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 20 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2Ld2ZkR>.

Partis, D 2018, "The role of influencers isn’t just growing, it’s also impacting how other players in the industry engage with their audiences", influencerupdate.biz, viewed 19 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2Hc4AEO>.

Image Reference:

‘McAfee finds that gamers are strong candidates for cybersecurity jobs’ [image], in cybersecobservatory.com 2018, viewed 19 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2snhVFW>.

[ajoeblogs]

Vlogger, or Influencer? – Is There an Social Imaging Crisis?

Vloggers and Influencers are prompting purchasing decisions as much as TV and radio advertising. According to Duke (2018), 13 percent of all Internet users in Australia bought products or services within a year because they were recommended by a YouTuber. And over five percent followed shopping tips from bloggers (Duke 2018).

Interestingly, the influence on young target groups is especially great. According to Brown & Hayes (2009, pp. 13-19), anyone who runs a successful blog or video blog (a.k.a. vlog) on a particular topic is considered very popular in marketing circles. Therefore, vloggers receive products for testing, event invitations to launching parties, support of all kinds and money for promoting products or services. Why? They’re considered strong opinion makers.

Vloggers on YouTube even affect buying decisions as much as expensive TV advertisements Brown & Hayes (2009, pp. 72-75). According to Heintze (2017) that's only the beginning: "The influence of YouTubers and bloggers on buying decisions will continue to grow strongly in the future". Furthermore, because the success of these influencers is most pronounced in the young, growing, especially internet-affine target groups. Among teens between ages 14 and 19, in the past 12 months, every second online user has selected products or services recommended by YouTubers, bloggers or other prominent people online.

 A quick buck…

How do they do it? One way to earn money through Instagram is to sell your own photos. For this, you need to publicise your contact details on your Instagram profile. That allows potential buyers, such as advertising agencies, to get in touch. 

Sounds easy, right? 

It’s not. 

The sold pictures need licensing and registry for copyrights and so on. Not to mention, much more lucrative is to market your own Instagram channel as an advertising space. Companies pay influencers on Instagram with a large reach of followers to present products and brands on their accounts. In simple terms, this is product placement on social media.

Another way to make money on Instagram is affiliate marketing. This refers to the reference under or on a photo to a product in an online store. By clicking and then buying the product, the sponsored Instagram user receives a commission of between six and 10 percent. In the rarest cases, up to 20 percent. The sponsored Instagramer should appear authentic and credible towards followers, though. Otherwise, most of the audience would lose interest.

Such success stories sound tempting. But as simple as seems, the life of an influencer is anything but. The job is to get as many social media followers as possible. That means lots of posts attracting likes – with shared comments on them. The more followers an influencer has, the more they comment, click and forward. That also means the more valuable the photos, videos and text become for companies looking for media to promote their brands and products. In other words, it’s just another stage of the social media circus. 

What a blessing, don’t you think?

 Reference:

Brown, D & Hayes, N 2009, Influencer Marketing: Who Really Influences Your Customers?, Routledge, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 18 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2sxZMV4>.

Duke, J 2018, The InstaLiars: Australia's influencers with fake followers, Sydney Morning Harald, viewed 17 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2smdATy>.

Hintze, R 2017, Social Media: Die Influencer der Influencer / YouTuber und Blogger laufen TV- und Radiowerbung den Rang ab, Der Tagesspiegel, viewed 17 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2JljMow>.

Image Reference: 

‘Trust issues putting influencer marketing model at failure risk’ [image], in real buisness 2017, viewed 18 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2snhVFW>.

[ajoeblogs]

Together We Are Strong

Imagine having access to the world’s brightest minds to get the idea for your next product or find solutions to a problem you’re struggling with. Surprise! You can already do this today. The Internet and ultimately social media made this possible through crowdsourcing.

In this concept, an online audience (or a “crowd”) is targeted to work or support a project rather than recruiting an individual or business (Howe 2013, pp. 7-9). The issue or project itself is often published online with the request for ideas, along with an incentive for the right solution, letting you just lean back while one suggestion after another flies in (Howe 2013, pp. 10-12). Through crowdsourcing, data and ideas can be collected and shared worldwide. Many digital initiatives are demonstrating how these synergies lead to greater freedom of expression and information. 

For example, "Ushahidi," an open-source software, has already been used in 90,000 projects and uses many examples to show how ordinary citizens are working online for more transparency and security, thus becoming digital activists. Crowdsourcing is a key to this new information age (Ford 2012, p. 33). The term stands for the bundling of knowledge and ideas of many people over the Internet. It’s a modern division of labour that was initially used primarily in the economy. Meanwhile, there’s a variety of social projects that benefit from crowdsourcing, and many platforms are based on the Ushahidi software. The software launched following the bloody clashes in the 2007 Kenyan presidential election, which killed 1,500 people. Eyewitnesses were able to tell by email and SMS where violence was occurring in the major cities in Kenya. The messages were first verified by staff, mostly in cooperation with local journalists and NGOs, and then inserted into a map on Google Maps – making the atrocities visible to everyone. The goal was more transparency and security for the local people. More than 45,000 Kenyans used the software to report danger zones.

Ever since its deployment during the 2010 Haiti earthquake, "Ushahidi" has been known internationally. The software is free and the 90,000 projects have been built by 6.5 million contributions from about 20 million people. The so-called "mapping" is a simple tool with great impact: incidents or grievances that would often go nowhere are documented, mapped and published. Among other things, after the 2011 Japan earthquake, a map was used to illustrate crisis information and aid coordination.

Crowdsourcing is the embodiment of modern information management (Hedges & Dunn 2017, pp. 17-22). Many voices and messages come together to form a large pool of information online. In a crisis or catastrophic situation, the "mapping" of danger zones can save many lives. However, the high number of people without Internet access also shows that it still needs traditional ways to inform and mobilize people. So the informational potential of these initiatives is enormous. Now they just need ideas on how to give more people access to them.

 Reference:

Ford, H 2012, 'Crowd Wisdom', Index on Censorship, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 33-39.

Hedges, M & Dunn, S 2017, Academic Crowdsourcing in the Humanities: Crowds, Communities and Co-production, Elsevier Science & Technology, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 17 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2LdNrgE>.

Howe, J 2013, Summary: Crowdsourcing, Primento Digital, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 17 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2LNXTwc>.

Image Reference:

‘Crowdsourcing your market research’ [image], in Sixdegress.com n.d.., viewed 18 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2kGA9y1>.

[ajoeblogs]

A New Species Called Trolls

The Internet is known to be vast, fast and informative. But it’s also a dark place full of dangers... like ruthless online trolls – never heard of them? Unlike the trolls in the fairy tales, online trolls neither hide nor live in caves or deep down in a forest. No, online trolls lurk in public, in the suburbs and some in the city centres of the great capital cities around the world. Precisely where and when they smell the best opportunities to attract the public's attention, they strike. Not to mention, online trolls are far less harmless and cause a lot of damage. Their repertoire ranges from verbal abuse and slander to serious threats (Boyd 2014, pp. 131-132).

Online trolls are easily one of the scariest inhabitants of the Internet and thrive on negativity and cyberbullying. They love to stir up and spread hatred (Rosewarne 2016, p. 94). But who are "online trolls" – and what should you do if you come into contact with such a shameless species?

According to McCosker (2014, pp. 206-209), online trolls are people who purposely provoke others on the Internet, typically through inflammatory, insulting or provocative comments. Trolls have one goal: to upset others and cause emotional, preferably provocative results (Rosewarne 2016, pp. 105-111). To achieve this goal, trolls will grumble wildly and often on an off-topic post and ride personal attacks, post simple hate speech and even post death threats (Rosewarne 2016, pp. 90-97)

But it’s important to differentiate between some trolls. According to Dowling (2014), some online trolls can be passionate about a topic or cause and simply intolerant to differing opinions – for example, some die-hard unsocial individual or young kids who make fun of something and others. Usually, however, online trolls are generally intelligent people who leave no gap behind the comma. For the sake of simplicity, this group is often referred to as online trolls. In fact, the Internet is full of people who want to share their opinions.

But unlike the angry users who share negative but sincere beliefs, trolls probably don’t believe a word of what they’re writing. They choose their words precisely to upset others (Arendholz 2013, pp. 121-124). In short, trolls are online bullies. They’re found on virtually any Internet platform that allows comments or interaction. One study found that a disproportionately large percentage of online verbal abuse occurs on Twitter. This may be due to the rather anonymous nature of the platform compared to other social networks, such as Facebook. Apart from that, trolls can lurk everywhere on the Internet.

What you should avoid in your response to trolls?

First, don’t fall into the online troll trap and feed the trolls. This is very important. However, it’s also easier said than done, especially if a troll posts personal attacks. Dowling (2014) sums it up in his article: "If they want to be funny, your willingness to swallow the bait is their punchline. If you do not bait, there is no joke at all."

    Reference:

Arendholz, J 2013, Title:(In)Appropriate Online Behaviour: A Pragmatic Analysis of Message Board Relations, John Benjamins Publishing, EBSCOhost-Ebook, viewed 17 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2J8ehpN>.

Boyd, D 2014, 'Bullying: Is the Media Amplifying Meanness and Cruelty?', Yale University Press, New Haven, pp. 128-52.

McCosker, A 2014, Trolling as provocation: YouTube's agonistics publics, Convergence, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 201-217.

Rosewarne, L 2016, Cyberbullies, Cyberactivists, Cyberpredators: Film, TV, and Internet Stereotypes, ABC-CLIO, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 17 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2JjyI6x>.

  Image Reference:

‘Seven Tips for Dealing with Online Trolls’ [image], in SPINSUCKS 2013., viewed 17 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2JlsJy0>.

[ajoeblogs]

Political Flash Mob on Social Media

With the modern mass use of social networks, basic media use has changed. We have witnessed how digital media radically changed the functioning of social movements and political activism, for instance. But the recent often-proclaimed democratic effects of social media activism in countries such as Egypt must be viewed with some disillusionment. Nevertheless, digitalisation and social media mark a big cut in the development of protest movements and their action repertoires.

Notably, protest and outrage can be articulated more easily by using social media than by using established media structures, which are sometimes controlled and infiltrated by authoritarian governments (Howard 2010, pp. 22-27). This makes it easier to spread information and protest via digital media. In addition, transnational protests, such as the Occupy Movement or the Arab Spring, ignore national boundaries while promoting solidarity on an international level. Nevertheless, the transnational level offers no binding blueprint for social movements. Why? Aspects of modern protest movements are the actors – such as organizations, activists, NGOs – and digital media supports the identity of the movement itself (Youmans & York 2012, pp. 315-316)

But protest and activism on social media can cause clicktivism – a new type of political participation online (Bakardjieva 2009, p.103). According to Bakardjieva (2009, pp. 100-105), through clicktivism, people can comfortably get involved from their home computers with just a few clicks. Still, the aim is collecting such clicks, particularly for politically active organisations and movements seeking support or starting campaigns online – after all, more clicks means greater digital efficiency (Gerbaudo 2012, pp. 152-156). According to Zayani (2017, pp. 26-29), if this efficiency breaks the invisible barrier between digital and classical media outlets, a campaign has a real chance to mobilise a vast number of people.

Unfortunately, though, there’s also a superficial side of activism on social media – slacktivism. The term is composed of "slacker," as in loafers, and "activism," as in militancy. According to (Youmans & York (2012, pp. 316-317), the commitment to slacktivism is mostly symbolic and superficial, and users just like or follow posts but don’t really support movements or causes. Participation is solely based on a mouse click with no further involvement.

So, what can you do with slacktivism or clicktivism? Or better, what cannot be achieved through them? According to Geiger (2012), you won’t be starting the next social revolution. Revolution only arises when activism transfers to the real world and removes the obstacles of laziness and passivism. That said, through the interaction of different media, completely new forms of protest become possible. Through networking, political messages are criticized and shared by users.

In short, parts of the public are created. This can be used to publicize criticism of elitist democratic concepts and a representative democracy diluted by neo-liberalism, or it can create a more grassroots and participatory understanding of democracy. Either way, political protest usually finds its way into the mass media, setting the media and political agenda of both digital and traditional media.

Reference: 

Bakardjieva, M 2009, 'Subactivism: Lifeworld and Politics in the Age of the Internet', Information Society, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 91-104.

Geiger, S 2010, Slacktivism und Clicktivism – politische Beteiligung mit einem Klick?!, Institut für. Kommunikation in sozialen Medien, viewed 17 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2Hb1lxx>.

Gerbaudo, P 2012, Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism, Pluto Press, EBSCOhost-Ebook, viewed 16 May 2018,<http://bit.ly/2JfVY5t>.

Howard, PN 2010, The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Information Technology and Political Islam, Oxford University Press, Oxford Scholarship Online-Ebook, viewed 31 March 2018,<http://bit.ly/2EDbzFG>.

Youmans, W, & York, J 2012, ‘Social Media and the Activist Toolkit: User Agreements, Corporate Interests, and the Information Infrastructure of Modern Social Movements’, Journal Of Communication, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 315-329.

Zayani, M 2017, ‘On the Entangled Question of Media and Politics in the Middle East’, in M Zayani & S Mirgani (eds), Media and Politics in the Wake of the Arab Uprisings, Oxford University Press, Oxford Scholarship Online-Ebook, viewed 15 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2JCg6fj>.

Image Reference:

‘Summer of Unrest: Activism or Slacktivism?’ [image], in Rakuten Kobo n.d., viewed 15 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2sm9RFc>.

[ajoeblogs]

We Need to Talk!

Social media is becoming increasingly important to politicians. Whether it’s politicians, political parties or political institutions doing the talking, online communication is an important part of today’s election campaigning. Yet according to Jericho (2013, pp. 254-255), not many Australian politicians use Facebook; Twitter is used even less. Australian politicians also don’t make use of micro-blogging. This shows that social media does not (yet) seem like a necessary part of Australian political practice. However, Facebook, Twitter and other social media are no longer a new digital phenomenon and the number of social media users increases daily (Lister 2018). The digitization of politics creates new possibilities for communication between politicians and citizens but also increases vulnerabilities for the democratic system. According to Young (2010, pp. 112-116), social media and politics touches the core business model of Facebook and other social network sites: online advertising. Facebook and Google accidently turned harmless online advertising into hardcore political propaganda used by populists (Bisley 2017). In short, social media turned the art of seduction into a science of algorithm manipulation.

Not that advertising itself had ever been innocent – the potential was always there. But the big social network platforms with new instruments have reached an unprecedented power of influence. They show you everything you need to know, and you don’t have to know what they don’t show you. That's how the algorithms work. The symbiosis of algorithms and social media promotes a disruptive selection of information. Furthermore, algorithms in social media have become especially problematic in politics. For example, Facebook conjures up a news stream by creating a kind of personality profile based on your likes, friends, personal details, chat history, etc., and flushes posts into your timeline according to a complicated formula of weighting (Bell 2018). Since we like this on the basis of our own given signals anyway, we click on "Like" and reinforce these signals, and our contacts may become aware of the contents.

At the same time, content outside of our interest becomes invisible to us. Since humans like to surround themselves with other people who share the same interests, other information will not show up over time. In simple terms, social media removed the active search. While we used to have to actively search for information – e.g., turning on the TV, buying a newspaper or conducting a quick search on Google – today we're literally fed news on Facebook and other social network sites based on algorithms. However, there’s a glimpse of hope in Australia.

Australia's national broadcaster, ABC, with its Q&A political talk show encourages viewers to get actively involved – not just the studio audience but also the millions of viewers at home – by using social media and instantly asking questions to politicians on current affairs. In sum, media fulfil basic functions for political systems. It’s expected that politicians inform, contribute by critique and discuss their opinions – and thus enable participation. Media makes that possible.

   Reference:

Bell, E 2018, Why Facebook's news feed changes are bad news for democracy, The Guardian, viewed 15 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2xy4wQd>.

Bisley, A 2017, A tech critic on the sham populism of Silicon Valley, Vox.com, viewed 15 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2Lczsrv>.

Lister, M 2018, 40 Essential Social Media Marketing Statistics for 2018, Word Stream, viewed 15 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2J6rBuL>.

Jericho, G 2013, Rise of the Fifth Estate: Social Media and Blogging in Australian Politics, Scribe Publications, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 17 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2xy2O1f>.

Young, S 2010, How Australia Decides: Election Reporting and the Media, Cambridge University Press, ProQuest-Ebook, viewed 17 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2J67Bbw>.

Image Reference:

‘Assessing “Catholic” Claims About Politics on Social Media [image], in Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore n.d., viewed 15 May 2018, <http://bit.ly/2syij3B>.

[nathanielsamuels-blog]

Politics and Social Media, are they doing it right?

This week we talked about Politics and the role social media has in this day and age.

Social media can be a very powerful tool for politicians and groups trying to get their views across. It however is like a double edged sword, it can help get your view across very effectively or can also be your downfall.

Some examples can be seen with Oscar Morales facebook page that he created to show his disgust with the military arm of the Columbian communist party, also Wael Ghonim is another example of how a facebook page showing the abuse and death of a young boy by the hands of police, caused mass protests and in the end led to the president Mubrak stepping down from power.

Barak Obama is another great example of how politicians can use social media to influence people. Not only was he backed by some influential people such as Operah Winfrey he was able to use social media to engage with and bring to light issues that Americans were able to relate to and cared about. Obama was the first president to have his own twitter account and through this was able to use social media is a way that was never done before by politicians, through engaging and interaction with the American people. This is something that I feel most politicians should strive to achieve, instead of one way communication between people and government opening channels of communication through social media will not only be insightful for the citizens in issues that are currently being looked into but they are able to share with the politicians there concerns.

[ajoeblogs]

Good observation, Nat,

Obama's success on social media did not detract from the fact that the US election campaigns were decided prior on social networks.

As early as 2008, Obama was approachable, charismatic and open-minded, and I truly believe that is why he also left behind the then Republican Party opponent John McCain and, in 2012, Mitt Romney. Even the biggest sceptics might have shown that social media becomes more and more important for politicians and their messages. According to Byers (2012), almost a quarter of respondents in the run-up to the US election exchanged views with their Facebook friends and Twitter followers about which candidate to vote for. Furthermore, 30 percent of respondents also said they had been encouraged to vote for Trump or Clinton on the social networks of friends or family members. Lastly, another 20 percent said they used social media to convince others to vote.

The power of algorithms

In my opinion, the danger is more the political manipulation of social media platforms such as Facebook or Google through algorithms. Interestingly, according to Finn (2017, pp. 113-114), it is not known by which algorithms major social media platforms sort their search results and to which rules they create streams of newsfeeds.  Also, nobody knows the criteria for filtering the content. The power of the algorithms unfolds without control, and it would be easy for providers to block opposing political content by placing it less prominently or showing it to fewer users. Let’s see how long we can put effort into being part of this phony masquerade undermining our democratic beliefs.

Reference:

Byers, A 2012, Study: Social media used to tell votes, Politico, viewed 11 April 2018, <https://politi.co/2JGAFaC>.

Finn, E 2017, Coding Cow Clicker: The Work of Algorithms, The MIT Press, MIT-Press-Ebook, viewed 11 April 2018, <http://bit.ly/2Htx3I0>