#AllThingsGesh

Don't take life too seriously.... no one gets out alive anyway... 

[themindofscottywmitch-blog]

Let me take a selfie!!!

As I write this blog post, there are 346,938,095 public posts on popular social media platform, Instagram, with the hashtag #selfie (Instagram 2018). That is a whole lot of selfies for the world to see and this trend in imagery has transformed the way we take photos. Gone are the days of setting up a tripod, putting on a self-timer, rushing back to pose for a photo and praying that it turned out ok until you got your photo developed.

Now, its all about the instant selfie that you take, usually with one arm up in the air holding your phone and taking a few pics to get the ‘perfect’ photo. As Oakeley, 2016 writes “taking selfies has become an intrinsic part of our culture, and looking at the incredible popularity of apps like Instagram and Snapchat, they don’t seem to be going away anytime soon”. In fact, mobile phone companies are tapping into this trend and developing products that can meet this must-have need.

Tech giant Apple delivered this when they launched the iPhone X with its revolutionary TrueDepth Camera (Apple 2018). This technology allows users to “create beautiful selfies with sharp foregrounds and artfully blurred backgrounds” on its front-facing camera (Apple 2018).

We are indeed part of the selfie revolution and its doubtful that it will be going away any time soon. But it begs the question – what are we trying to achieve from having a selfie? A bit of research online found that there are a number of reasons why people take selfies. Corner (2014) found:

seeing body transformations and boosting self esteem (the classic before and after photos)

chasing fame by being noticed

purely to boost your self esteem

promoting your model look

sharing different ideas of beauty.

So what does all of this information tell us? Well, we are deep in the selfie revolution that will most likely last for a long, long time. It’s not going away anytime soon. They are also a great way to communicate in a digital world – the amount of Instagram models and sharing travel experiences allows us to show who we are and where we are in the click of a button and in an instant.

Selfies really are being used for good, but let’s just hope they aren’t being used to exacerbate internet trolling, because that can really un-do the ‘selfie revolution’.

References Instagram 2018, #selfie, Instagram, viewed 3 June 2018, <https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/selfie/>.

Oakeley, L 2016, The next step in the ‘selfie’ revolution, Esquire Middle East, viewed 3 June 2018, <https://www.esquireme.com/content/17036-the-next-step-in-the-selfie-revolution>.

Apple 2018, iPhone X, Apple, viewed 3 June 2018, <https://www.apple.com/au/iphone-x/>.

Corner, L 2014, Selfies: Pioneers of a Visual Revolution?, Independent, viewed 3 June 2018, <https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/selfies-pioneers-of-a-visual-revolution-9353663.html>.

[frangolive]

[allthingsgeshblog]

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

[yespurplewizardbouquet]

SOCIAL GAMING

The first time I ever heard of social gaming was when a guy at work explained to me that he spent most nights floating around a second reality game as a floating head. This was a man in his thirties married with kids. He was very happy with what he was achieving in his second life. Gaming is big business now and hugely popular and could be described as a cultural phenomenon. Another fella from work plays online war games with people across the globe. He noted that the Americans in particular that he played with where very blood thirsty putting more bullets into their opponents than needed and using aggressive language while killing.   

Eve Online has recently documented many of its greatest online battles and events. Eve Online is a space war game that has built a huge online gaming community. The game has conferences and launched books about its history documenting the great battles. Gaming has become cult status and built online loyal communities.  

Pokémon Go still may have been popular according to Cleanprincegaming (2018). Although due to the people behind the game being tech company Niantic   they were too concerned about the bottom dollar, wouldn’t address technical issues and wouldn’t listen to what the user/followers wanted. 

Social gaming has had a few issues with some users being racist to other players once they knew that the other player  was `of a certain race or had darker coloured skin. Hiding behind the blanket of anonymity players spew out racist comments or write out nasty text to either attack other players or just to put them down.

Social gaming has been said to be quite addictive and players can deprive themselves of living a healthy lifestyle void of proper diet and exercise and sleep. I guess it is a challenge to find a nice balance and limit oneself to playing for too long, missing out on other activities important to us such as spending time with family and friends, engaging in recreational physical activities and receiving an education.

Skarupova & Blinka (2016) present a study that explores the relationship between social motivations and addiction to online gaming and if that possible connection can be explained by the personality traits responsible for social functioning 

Using different concepts of interpersonal dependency to distinguish healthy dependency, dysfunctional detachment, and destructive overdependence. An online questionnaire was administered to a self-nominated sample of 4,074 online gamers. Two regression models were constructed to separately explain gaming addiction and high engagement using social motivations to play, while controlling for age, gender, and time spent online.

Results

High scores on subscales measuring dysfunctional detachment and destructive overdependence were positively associated with online gaming addiction, while healthy dependency was negatively correlated with addiction scores. 

It was found that people with healthy relationship profiles were less likely to develop problems with online gaming. However high in-game engagement although sharing some similar factors with addiction suggested a mutual exclusiveness of addiction and engagement.

Professional gamers

Professional gamers are the talented albeit lucky ones who make it a profession playing for money in elusive competitions around different parts of the globe. Some are well known by the gaming community and have status of being an example with the skills and reflexes required to be amongst the best. E-Sports Earnings ranks the top 100 players showing the games they have played and the years they made the most money and at what age they were when they did this (E-Sports 2018; Russel 2013).  

                                 Korea’s Kim Taek Yong , business Insider 2013 

Gaming in a professional scene has been going for some time now. Hailing from the Netherlands, Sander Kaasjager made most of his money in 2004-2005 playing Painkiller as a 19 year old making $230,000 (E-Sports Earnings 2018). Players can earn substantial money from huge sponsorship endorsements from streaming live practice games on services like Twitch wearing the sponsors brand whilst playing (Russel 2013). 

Tonight I watched New Zealand gamer Quin 69 play Bless Online streamed live on Twitch with 3,335 other viewers around the world. I read the comments and was entertained for a while as he gave a commentary about the game as he navigated his way with other players moving through the different sections. 

This is indeed a massive entertainment industry, now where I can wake up in the early hours of the morning and watch someone on Twitch in real time play games online with thousands of others watching as well. I swapped to see who else was playing other games and was surprised when a anti domestic violence ad from the Queensland Government suddenly intervene. It said that the ad supports this game which was Shiptur (Twitch 2018). So even the Government knows how popular Twitch is. I never even knew about these sorts of things before writing this!!

References

Skaupova, K, & Blinka, L 2016, ‘Interpersonal dependency and online gaming addiction’. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, vol. 5, no.1, viewed 30 May 2018, < https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5322987/>.

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-highest-paid-professional-gamers-2013-7?r=US&IR=T Â The Highest-Paid Professional Video Gamers In The World | Business Insider

[allthingsgeshblog]

@yespurplewizardbouquet ... WOW... what a wealth of information and research in your post. Thank you. I found it interesting that elements of the subject matter we’ve been studying over the past 6-7 weeks have also played out in this field also... not only are aspects of “trolling” present, but also networks, comms, social media as well as a way to make a $ from the process as well. A whole world I didn’t understand, but now do... thanks again. 

[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. 

[bulletinthebrian]

What are you looking at, butthead?

This time, I want to write this post in a more serious tone, since this is a topic that I think deserves attention, and a good degree of empathy. Also, it is a practice that I find despicable and coward, since it is always target those individuals, that are not strong enough to defend themselves, or are alone. 

“Bullying is an ongoing misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that causes physical and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power over one or more persons. Bullying can happen in person or online, and it can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert).” (Bullying Go Away, 2018)

Online bullying, or cyberbullying, is a matter of which research, has increased drastically lately, and it is due to the increasing use of electronic devices (Bayraktar, 2014) . Electronic devices and social media offer an effective way to harass the others without having to be physically there (Bayraktar et al., 2014) . As if it wasn’t an enough coward practice already. A substantial difference with traditional bullying is that cyberbullying’s use of physical force is minimum. But even if this may sound more harmless, the psychological damages produced by this practice can even exceed traditional bullying’s (Bauman et al., 2013) . The ongoing agony that the victims of cyberbullying have to endure, many times bring them to harm themselves or commit suicide, as it really affects their self-esteem and self-control (Bauman, et al., 2013). 

How many times we hear about troubled teenagers that end up committing suicide, because they had been pushed to do so? Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth, and suicide is often caused by the lack or deterioration of social ties to the collective system (Durkheim, 1897) , which can be cause by bullying (Bauman et al., 2013). With the always increasing use of social media and electronic devices, it is not surprising that cyberbullying is also a practice of which popularity, especially amongst adolescents, keeps raising. It is such a broad topic, and there is a lot of stuff to say about it, so I am going to post some links on here about some episodes that I have found being particularly relevant to cyberbullying. Read the story of Daniel, 17 years-old, who took his own life after being blackmailed (Harrison, 2013). Or Conrad, 18 years-old, whose “girlfriend” lead him to suicide (LeBlanc, 2017). Or watch the ‘Black Mirror’ episode ‘Shut up and Dance’, that shows exactly the kinds of actions that people are ready to perform, when they are psychologically controlled.

References

Bauman, S., Toomey, R. B. & Walker, J. L. (2013) Associations among bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide in high school students, Journal of Adolescence, Vol. 36 (2), pp. 341-350 viewed 16 May 2018 at <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.12.001>

Bayraktar, F., Machackova, H., Dedkova, L., Cerna, A. & Ševčíková, A. (2014) Cyberbullying The Discriminant Factors Among Cyberbullies, Cybervictims, and Cyberbully-Victims in a Czech Adolescent Sample, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 30(18), viewed 16 May 2018 at <http://journals.sagepub.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/doi/abs/10.1177/0886260514555006#articleCitationDownloadContainer>

Black Mirror (2016) Shut Up and Dance, Endemol UK.

Bullying Go Away (2018) Definition of Bullying, viewed 16 May 2018 at <https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/WhatIsBullying/DefinitionOfBullying>

Durkheim, E. (1897). Le Suicide. Paris, France: Alcan

Harrison, A. (2013) Cyber-bullying: Horror in the home, BBC News, viewed 16 May 2018 at <http://www.bbc.com/news/education-23727673>

LeBlanc, P. (2017) The text messages that led up to teen’s suicide, CNN viewed 16 May 2018 at < https://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/08/us/text-message-suicide-michelle-carter-conrad-roy/index.html>

[frangolive]

Baraktar et al’s point about the abscence of physicality in bullying scenarios is spot on. I remember seeing my neighbours kids running around at at BBq and acting out what they had been engaged in online gaming together.  At first there was a decent amount of surprise, pain and WTF type questions until the processes in RL sank in and got a deepened context via touch and senses that are simply not engaged online. Having said that it did take them at half and hour to realise that it would hurt everytime they wacked each other with a ‘stick sword’ :). Psychological manipulation of publics is rife on social media in so many ways from the ‘time urgent purchase’ to the ‘if we get X amount of likes we’ll donate to’ and so it is easy for peeps to act rashly and simply move on sometimes. Thanks for a really insightful read :), cheers F

[allthingsgeshblog]

@bulletinthebrian A very thought-provoking post. Having teenagers myself, my radar is in a constant sense of “are you ok?”, “are your friends ok?”... it probably drives them a little crazy. I remember feeling quite “off” after watching Black Mirror’s Shut up and Dance episode... the power of influence psychologically is unbelievably powerful. A friend of my eldest son, said to me one night, “I wish Social Media didn’t exist”. I felt for her, I can’t imagine life today for teens. It was hard enough when it was physical in my time... wounds heal, you can see your attacker, attack back, this ghostly villain hides behind a keyboard and can vilify, destroy and hurt without seeing the consequences of their actions, and with a lack of caring. The damage is just too high. 

[allthingsgeshblog]

I’ve had a ball... what’s next???

Over the past 9 or so weeks, we’ve come to know each other, share our thoughts, experiences through this lovely lil medium, called Tumblr. 

source: http://www.geckolvldesign.com/about-me/gaming-group/

I’ve truly had an absolute ball. It occurred to me over dinner with my family tonight, that our lovely TP is coming to an end soon... and the “need” to blog, will be gone with it... 

I will honestly miss our interactions. You’ve all provoked thought in me that I didn’t think about prior, and I’ve loved it. 

I kinda don’t want it to stop... but how can we continue? Would we continue? What would we chat about? Would you want it to continue, or are you happy to just let it go? 

Musings of a now addicted Tumblr fan... 

[allthingsgeshblog]

our digital footprint... forever increasing... oh dear!

Reading @thoughtsofchanelle ‘s response to an earlier blog with regards to how our information is viewed, stored and displayed on the net, for just about everyone to see… I thought I would ramble a little after I had an inkling into mine just now!

It’s clear, I can’t get into politics! 

Way tooo many skeletons… A number of years ago, for a bit of fun, I typed my name into the harmless Google search bar to see what would happen… 

…. then, there were a few pics, mentions of old positions I held, nothing too scary… 

till today! all those years on, I have very much played into the “expose me” world of LinkedIn, Facebook, becoming a Google Guide, sharing and caring… 

Within seconds, I’m faced with my “whole life” on a screen… ANYONE can see this, use this… sure it’s kinda cool in a way, I’ve achieved a lot, but Christ, I’m all over this thing! 

OBrien Real Estate, everyone I’ve attached on our company website, my facebook profile, LinkedIn, Cardsite, even a video that I did 2 years ago!!! 

Who would vote for a car hoon that happily screams around Werribee on occasions, and can even see that sometimes I come in first, and at times I hit a flag and get penalised… 

WAY TOO MUCH PRESSURE!

Is there a way to reverse this? … reduce my footprint… anyone… ????

… and now.. with this lil blog! I’ve added to it!!! arrghhh… 

[allthingsgeshblog]

It could be ironic or scary - a premonition,  that I posted this prior to realising what this week’s topic was about... Turns out I was spot on... Very appropriate I think... 

Like many of us, I grew up with photos being taken, me taking photos and these being displayed throughout our homes, making our childhood homes “warm and inviting”. I’ve continued this throughout my married life, with our walls covered in memories. It’s almost as if I’ve created a warm home in my social life too. Clearly based on the screenshot I posted, I’ve shared a hell of a lot over the years, creating an online history... 

As discussed by Dr. Savas and Professor Frohlich, domestic photography is going through a significant change over the past two decades, where we are seeing technology affording us the capability to create memories digitally, quicker and easier than ever before, coupled with mobile device data, individuals like you and me can simply create a memory, then share it on the go with our connected networks (Savars, R & Frohlich, D, 2011). There is constant innovation, and with it comes the opportunity to evolve with it. 

As much as I love the connectivity, are we simply bringing our private lives into the public eye? to be scrutinised? or worse?

How do your profiles look on Google? Is your lives mapped out for everyone to see, whether you know them or not? 

References: 

Savas, R & Frohlich, D, 2011, From Snapshots to Social Media - The Changing Picture 1 of Domestic Photography, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Springer-Verlag, London pp. 1-2

‘DigitalFootprint-1-825x340′, [image] viewed 15 May 2018, <http://www.charterisconsultancy.co.uk/maintaining-a-positive-digital-footprint/>

‘card-usecase-beginner’, [image] viewed 15 May 2018, <https://www.dpreview.com/buying-guides>

[frangolive]

Standing out from the shadows...

MDA20009: Week 6: Digital Citizenship 2: activism and protest

Once a cause has got a networked individual or community’s attention via a social media platform, how are you going to frame your message to best support your cause?  In the cases of Egypt, Spain and the US since 2009, you use the most powerful platforms of Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to set dates, share logistics and show the world your agenda (Gerbaudo 2012, p.3). Growing the nodes of activist networks means getting your audiences to conquer the fear of putting their voices out there and increasing visibility of political alignment (Gerbaudo 2012, p.1).

15 Public art projects advocating social justice can be found at https://mashable.com/2016/09/24/public-art-social-good/

Privileged countries have the advantage of high levels of connectivity and access to digital platforms that disseminate protest and activist causes and afford societies a habituation of physical gatherings in public spaces (Gerbaudo 2012, p.2).  But do we really capitalise on this liberty apart from evidence items of selfies or clicks to show ‘I was there’ (Gerbaudo 2012, p.3)?

 With so many causes lined up on the platform of the social media train, it is possible to feel like you are getting overwhelmed from all the posts in your various inboxes soliciting financial and emotional support.  With activist use of social media so prevalent, diverse and impactful, which journalist, citizen or professional do you engage with first (Gerbaudo 2012, p.3)?

The Sunday Age on the 22nd of April this year runs an article called ‘The Secrets of their success stories’. Straight away the headline is effective as it uses signifiers in the words ‘secrets, success, stories, and most humans from a sociological standpoint like all three of these elements, especially rolled into one semiotic bundle (Feldman & Hart 2015, p.101).  The publication presents the situation of several African – Australians who work between their ethnic, cultural and wider communities to lobby society and government in support of integration strategies that enable increased opportunities for socioeconomic assimilation into their Australian life (The Sunday Age 2018, p.13).  I found it an encouraging example of the three main message modalities that Lauren Feldman and P. Sol Hart describe in their study of ‘efficacy information’ that motivates activism (2015, p.100).

Ahmed Hassan, operations manager at Activating Youth based in the Brunswick.

Photo: Chris Hopkins, courtesy of the Sunday Age

Firstly, it evidenced the ‘internal information’ of the self and the individual’s agency and steps they could take themselves, working over two years on a plan to present to government.  Secondly, it showed the ‘external (systems) information’, explaining how the presentation of the plan to State Multicultural Affairs minister’s office outlined a 12 year plan of 5 essential goals that sought government and representative agency.  Thirdly, it included ‘response efficacy information’ showing how implementing the activist policy would give young and disadvantaged people a voice and diminish citizens falling through the cracks in society and community (Feldman & Hart 2015, p.100).

A Somali-Australian who now lives in Footscray, Halima Mohamed, works to empower African women by helping them establish businesses.

Photo: Chris Hopkins, courtesy of the Sunday Age

The use of these three ‘efficacy messages’ had the effect of making me fearful for peeps who fall through the cracks, angry that in such a privileged country it should happen to anyone, but ultimately hopeful due the solutions enthusiasm of approach to protest, activism and networking (Feldman & Hart 2015, p.101).

I definitely will not be culture jamming this cause (Dery 2010)…

REFERENCES:

 Dery, M 2010, Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing, and Sniping in the Empire of Signs, Shovelware, viewed April 2018, <http://markdery.com/?page_id=154>.

 Feldman L, Hart P. Sol 2015, ‘Using Political Efficacy Messages to Increase Climate Activism: The Mediating Role of Emotions’, Science Communication, Vol 38, Issue 1, pp. 99-127, viewed 19.4.18 <https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/10.1177/1075547015617941>

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

 Hinchcliffe Joe 2018, ‘The Secrets of their success stories’, The Sunday Age, April 22, 2018, p. 13, viewed 22.4.18, < https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-african-australian-success-stories-you-ve-probably-never-heard-20180421-p4zay1.html>

The Art Assignment 2016, PBS ‘The Art of Complaining – The Guerilla Girls’, PBS Digital Studios [online], viewed 21.4.18, <https://youtu.be/5i5cEhd6Vt8?t=2s>

[allthingsgeshblog]

@frangolive , very edgy post... There are statements here that are sharp... One, in particular, I resonate with and am embarrassed to admit, a “tagger” at the occasional event rather than using the opportunity to raise further awareness and jump up and down for the cause itself. It is true isn’t it.. through this digital platform, we have the opportunity to “check in” – for our own gratification perhaps? Truly, if we did care for the cause, would we bother? Isn’t there more important things…

[frangolive]

A rose, a sign of standing …

 MDA20009 Digital Communities Blog: Week 5

How does social media hail younger demographics’ consumerism that shapes them into proper grownups, capable of handling first relationship responsibilities of public discourse and outcomes?  How do political agendas conscript youth, especially under 30’s, creating brand loyalty, inspiring activists for ideologies (Young 2010)?  With traditional news outlets no longer the head of the media rocket, social media as an increasingly UGC platform affords immediacy, increasing diversity and potentially mediating more genuinely as the people’s voice (Young 2010, p.205).  I get the obvious of why politics and social media are such great bedfellows with strong chemistry – social media is that volatile colourful dynamic ‘it girl’ or bachelor that will get a candidate noticed out in public(s) (Young 2010, p.205)!

http://www.outside-the-line.com/blog/kloppenburg-vs-prosser 20.4.18

Advantages of social media platforms pursuing social media channels of political comment is the scale of weak ties immediately created via engagement and energetic tracking of meta data the 25’s and under can bring to the party (Young 2010, p.207). But just how serious is this synergy between politics and social media? If traditional news websites and blogs from 2004 are anything to go by, will we soon be witnessing MalcomTurnbullshites.com and BillShortencomings.com blogs to rep for our upcoming elections discourse (Young 2010, p.209)?  Judging by the ABC’s political websites, the dashboards are distinctly orientated around which media celebrity and where to hook up rather than the content, with promotions about what packaging you want it in (Young 2010, p.210).  If Youdecide.com (2007) is an indicator, to attract networked individuals to a date with political destiny, the packaging better be framed in a disruptive, sexy and/or controversial manner to cut through all the other media product and intepellate (Young 2010).

https://youtu.be/VN1wFInea20

In fact, my Tumblr site could rep for a ‘wham bam, thankyou ma’am’ approach and host ‘Val Halarin, chief economist of Gogglebox’, who promises to give political facetime in under seventy seconds so you can headline check your updates at work while tapping the campaign trail (Young 2010, p.218).

But if publics decide that dedicated newsites are no longer needed as a wingman, who will chaperone for quality and accuracy and will reckless decisions be made rushing to be the ‘produser’ with the scoop?  In the who does what and how of political mediations, trad platforms like dedicated newsites and psephology blogs fiercely protect the authority and expertise they invest in their media product (Biro 2016). They strive to show civic integrity from collective peeps who have a stream of media work in common, rather than common peeps who have a stream of media work (Biro 2016).

http://www.quotemaster.org/Counting+people

Personally, I would love to see my media product on a massive architectural site of hangers on and only if it reflected responsible communication standards underpinned by authenticity of content (Jericho 2013, p.254). But be warned, you may be meta dated as human capital by my host platform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB8AW23GIoE

In the meantime, would you please accept this rose?…

REFERENCES:

Biro, A 2016, ‘Responsible journalism, democracy and the newspaper crisis’, CCPA Monitor, 23, 2, pp. 36-37, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018

Jericho, G 2012, 'How many votes are there on Twitter?’, in The Rise of the Fifth Estate, Scribe, Victoria, Australia.

Young, S 2010, 'News, political reporting and the internet’, in How Australia Decides, Cambridge University Press, Victoria, Australia

[allthingsgeshblog]

Hey @frangolive, safe to say gone are the days of traditional political campaigns, aspects of the old will I think still be there… the posters, the flyers, the kissing babies foreheads, however, I do strongly believe, the playing field will be a much larger one, and one played in the digital arena as much as any, and the winner will be determined by how fast they respond, how they respond, essentially, how good their digital gurus are….

Skeletons can be managed, it’ll be just how well they can be deflected into another space to take the heat off, will determine the outcomes in future... 

[frangolive]

Shadows of irony under the bridge …

MDA20009: WEEK 7: Digital Citizenship 3: Trolling and media conflict

Wilson et al (2013) talks about the dark arts of flaming, hating and trolling as techniques using digital platforms to gamify social media spheres, eliciting attention, performing one-upmanship, setting up unsuspecting networked passers-by for negative experiences.  They frame trolls as knowing, deliberate, calculated and manipulative in their end game of hijacking market segments of digital attention, with an intricacy based on cues and clues (Wilson et al 2013).  But it is important to note they also advise that distinguishing trolling can be a matter of aesthetics and can lead to problematic judgement of ways to generalise an individual and their emotional identity – one person’s trolling is another’s healthy political debate (Wilson et al 2013). 

It also begs the question that in the well structured, plotted and developed detective game of trolling’s dynamic between identity and intent, how do we protect the most vulnerable (Wilson et al 2013).  It’s clear that the speed of technological changes to our digital communities in turn changes society as we engage platforms of social media networks (Fuller 2014).  But as a species, if children still mimic adults, could some of their social media behaviours be attributed to ‘copied modalities’ rather than openness of tech usage – are kids simply copying the communications ‘burn outs’ of their elders on a digital highway (Fuller 2014)?

For digital minors, social media platforms are just as much a space where kids should feel safe and confident in their networked relations as schools, playgrounds and homes. This is somewhat ironic considering the empirical vulnerability in their real life community spaces.  With this in mind, we have censorship and societal protection systems for broadcast commons of radio, television and cinema.  So are we on track with governance of ‘third screen communities’ or do we trust that even though it is driven by peeps with all their collective acts of controlled folly, it will all work out in the end?

To capitalise on broader community understandings of cyber misuse and abuse, we need to bridge the gap between generational concepts of what was pre digital bullying and socially ‘gone too far’ and what is now deemed to be digitally supported extensions of antisocial behaviours (Fuller 2014).  To truly manage and/or govern a platform, it’s prudent to use socially intelligent knowledge that genuinely and discretely recognizes its signs and cues for what they actually are, rather than lump it in with generalities because it is foreign or confusing (Fuller 2014).

https://workingsmartercafe.files.wordpress.com/2014/03

The quest for experimenting with a developing identity and trying it out for prominence and/or acceptance is still motivating social behaviours of digital citizens, and importantly our reactions (boyd 2014).  Our digital citizenship presence on social media has made those behavioural elements more visible and traceable, if not always the results (boyd 2014, p.152).  It is this very visibility that can be operationalised to guide impressionable identities away from embedding toxic social traits into the psyche of community and personal networked relations (boyd 2014).

20 years of study and research show negative behaviours can drive away digital citizens who ironically need online community spaces more than others and miss out on opportunities to send and receive messages of advocacy, activism and positive resistance (McCosker 2014, p.201).  What digital citizens can consider is that online passions, contests, conflicts and vitriols all spring from real life human emotions (McCosker 2014, p.206).  In the social relations remediated and reflected from our digital platforms, we can operationalise the techniques and digital tools of how trolling uses network structures to inject intelligent, provocative debate that attracts rather than repels visitors to the bridging platform (McCosker 2014).

Well, at least I flaming hope so …

REFERENCES:

Boyd, D 2014, ‘Bullying: Is the Media Amplifying Meanness and Cruelty?’, in It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, Yale University Press, New Haven, USA, pp. 128-52

Fuller, G 2014, 'Cyber-safety’: What are we actually talking about?’, The Conversation, viewed 30.4.18, <http://theconversation.com/cyber-safety-what-are-we-actually-talking-about-23505>.

  McCosker, A 2014, ‘Trolling as provocation: YouTube’s agonistics publics’, Convergence, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 201-217, viewed 1.5.18

Wilson J, Fuller G, McCrea C, 2013, ‘Troll Theory?, The Fibreculture Journal: 22, viewed 30.4.18, <http://twentytwo.fibreculturejournal.org/issue-22-trolls-and-the-negative-space-of-the-internet/>

[allthingsgeshblog]

Great read @Frangolive… Something you raise, I hadn’t considered… what might be considered trolling, could be another’s healthy political debate.. very interesting indeed.

With digging into this topic, I found I was laughing at Meme’s that could be really hurtful to others.. even my 13 year old found one, laughed like crazy, yet, when we dug into it deeper, the meaning behind was quite nasty. I don’t think I would’ve noticed this prior to researching or being made aware of it by my peers like yourself. Thank you for the lightbulb moment.…

Another great point.. are our children simply emulating our behaviour? How DO we protect them? I don’t think we’d want to shake their innocence, but we want to make sure they are communicating within a safe environment.

With governmental guidance and policy we are able to protect our radio and TV, but from what I understand, we currently do not have governmental control in this digital world.

Is it possible?

Where should they start?

A very thoughtful and well-researched post @Frangolive… Thank you, :)

[despazito]

im bored reblog and add a photo of the grocery chain you grew up with:

[truckhole-deactivated20181203]

[pokemiku]

[minicy]

[sigmabunny]

[emmi-kat]

[sinfulauthor]

[squeekz4all]

[the-mymbles-daughter]

[princefletcher]

[samaritanpoledancing]

[awkwardscotty]

[lexaproletariat-deactivated2018]

[smellyhipster]

[aspiringpolymath]

which got bought by Giant Eagle

[laughterkey]

I had two.

[therustyskull]

[reelaroundthedavekan]

[r2-d2-soon]

[firelordsarah]

[tactical-necromancy]

[ghouldilocks]

[girlbossjodiarias]

[acmesalesrep]

[alfa-lima-limon]

[akamuffintop]

[maritsa-met-deactivated20210227]

[neutralangel]

I also had two.

[staff]

[allthingsgeshblog]

[allthingsgeshblog]

our digital footprint... forever increasing... oh dear!

Reading @thoughtsofchanelle ‘s response to an earlier blog with regards to how our information is viewed, stored and displayed on the net, for just about everyone to see... I thought I would ramble a little after I had an inkling into mine just now!

It’s clear, I can’t get into politics! 

Way tooo many skeletons... A number of years ago, for a bit of fun, I typed my name into the harmless Google search bar to see what would happen... 

.... then, there were a few pics, mentions of old positions I held, nothing too scary... 

till today! all those years on, I have very much played into the “expose me” world of LinkedIn, Facebook, becoming a Google Guide, sharing and caring... 

Within seconds, I’m faced with my “whole life” on a screen... ANYONE can see this, use this... sure it’s kinda cool in a way, I’ve achieved a lot, but Christ, I’m all over this thing! 

OBrien Real Estate, everyone I’ve attached on our company website, my facebook profile, LinkedIn, Cardsite, even a video that I did 2 years ago!!! 

Who would vote for a car hoon that happily screams around Werribee on occasions, and can even see that sometimes I come in first, and at times I hit a flag and get penalised... 

WAY TOO MUCH PRESSURE!

Is there a way to reverse this? ... reduce my footprint... anyone... ????

... and now.. with this lil blog! I’ve added to it!!! arrghhh... 

[nathanielsamuels-blog]

Week 7 - Trolling & Cyber bullying

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/trollface-coolface-problem

Cyber bullying and trolling have become well known in society these days especially with such severe punishments being enforced in Australia and around the world when an indivudial is found guilty of cyber bullying. Cyber bullying and trolling, though have separate aims I feel they both go hand in hand.

Cyber bulling is the intentional act of using social media against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself. Its main purpose is to either get revenge, to humiliate, intimidate or upset the victim while trolling is internet slang for individual who intentionally start an argument or upset others by posting inflammatory remarks for the sole purpose of angering people. Their purpose is a source of entertainment, to get attention and to upset the victim.

A good example of how cyber bullying effects people in society is the story of Ghyslain Raza, aka the Star wars kid who became an internet sensation through a video he made of himself school. Gyslain recently opened up about his life after his supposed fame and how he had to deal and how it made him suicidal. He luckily got through this dark time  and went on to complete university with a law degree and is now an advocate against cyber bulling.

Cyber bullying is very real in this day and age and I for one believe that stricter punishments should be in place. Long gone are the days where bullying was only limited to the school area, with social media and its place in society victims do not have a means to get away.

Have a read of this article which goes into more detail about Gyslains Raza and his fight against cyber bullying.

http://gawker.com/star-wars-kid-breaks-silence-says-online-fame-made-h-499800192

[allthingsgeshblog]

Hey Nathaniel, thank you for pulling this together... and sooooo well too. I have to admit, the “untold story” did leave me more than a little disturbed... It’s one thing to read about it, but it’s another to see the volume and how it was re-invented and understandably affected Ghyslain Raza emotionally, and psychologically. I found it tragic that although perhaps meant in jest, in the examples of Family Guy & South Park, there is the underlying nastiness that encompasses cyber-bullying. Thank you for providing this. Amanda

[allthingsgeshblog]

We DO have the power!... through crowdsourcing!

2 heads are better than 1… aren’t they?

I grew up with this ol’ adage as a child. If I was ever struggling with an idea or pulling something together, I reached out to family and friends to help me to understand it and to ultimately solve my problem. It seemed to work every time. 

Imagine what you could do with the collaborative power of connecting large groups of people to solve problems. Mind-blowing!

So how do we do this? 

Through the use of the internet of course! And it even has a name! Crowdsourcing 

So let’s look at Crowdsourcing in its basic form, then we’ll delve a little deeper and see how it could be applied through Social Media to help people in times of crisis. 

So what in a nutshell, what is Crowdsourcing. 

According to Crowdsourcing.org, Crowdsourcing can be loosely defined as connecting large groups of people using the internet. This can be utilised for many different purposes, in particular, to connect knowledge, expertise and resources which produce results in shorter time periods than if attempted alone (Crowdsourcing.org, 2012). 

Furthermore, Crowdsourcing.org discusses the affordance that the internet can provide to solve problems, by simply connecting people quickly together in a guided fashion that you wouldn’t know without the internet (Crowdsourcing, 2012). Pretty cool eh? 

So who can use Crowdsourcing? Pretty much anyone Crowdsourcing.org states, can utilise the benefits of Crowdsourcing - companies, individuals, groups and governments. So how does it work? 

1. Access an online workforce, then simply select and identify workers 2. Ask the crowd questions to help you solve the problem at hand 3. Information pertaining to your problem may already be there, but you need help to find it 4. Seek ideas and feedback from the crowd to help you solve your problem

Does the connectivity of the internet make the possibilities endless?

What if we add another layer.... and add the power of social media!

What Social Media platforms have you used to get updates in times of crisis? 

Is Twitter the most effective? searching using #hashtags? 

Is Facebook your favourite go to? 

I’d have to say, I fall into the Facebook category, not having a Twitter account, and not knowing the power of # I readily use Facebook to keep up to date with burn offs, check local board pages about updates of helicopters etc. I also strongly believe now that I’ve moved to a technically “rural” area more recently, I am more keenly aware of issues surrounding bushfires etc, as they will have a greater impact on my family now, rather than before - living in suburbia. 

So how is Social Media changing the way emergency services and the government communicate with us, the public, in times of crisis?

Julie Posetti and Ping Lo discuss the significant shift in the use of Social Media and Crisis Management in their report about the Queensland Floods in 2011. They discerned that the Queensland Police Media Twitter feed was the most viewed resource for keeping the public informed about changes in the situation. The report details the importance of funnelling many sources into the one feed, to create a “source of truth”? for the viewer, however to do so, came with challenges as discussed by Posetti and Lo which included coordination of many sources into the one feed, being pulled from all over the state, while still being true to serving their public on traditional media platforms, as well as the untested use of the platform Ushahidi (a platform developed to bring together the compelling location-based information from people on the ground utilising SMS, tweet, online form and email). 

The key benefits of utilising a platform like Ushahidi allows any member of the public the opportunity to offer information which is collected and mapped, which would reduce the impact on the physical resources of the police stations that are bombarded with telephone queries almost to the point of meltdown. 

Are there any drawbacks?

Yes.. Not everyone is honest, are they? Not even in times of crisis can we totally rely on everyone doing the right thing, this is particularly apparent and discussed in Heather Ford’s article where she discusses similar challenges (Ford, 2012), as well as the report developed by Posetti and Lo, that not all information is verifiable at the time of submission, which in extreme conditions, can be the difference between life and death (Posetti & Lo). However, it is determined that Ushahidi has the potential to make sense of this 'noise' but it almost requires a disclaimer to state that “it’s not perfect”. 

So what’s the bottom line... 

In a time of crisis, I personally would like to think that most of the information is verifiable, but with a degree of uncertainty. Additionally, I would be grateful for being able to view “almost real-time” data about a situation that may threaten my family, as opposed to sitting back in front of the TV hoping that there’ll be coverage of my area. I take the risks front on and accept that they may not be 100% right, but hope that in time of crisis, that our Emergency Services and Government pull together to utilise something like Ushahidi to keep us informed.

What're your thoughts?

References: 

‘561′, [image] viewed 6 May 2018 <https://i2.wp.com/www.qudsn.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/561.jpg?fit=1117%2C816&ssl=1/561>

‘two-heads-better-than-one-note-bulletin’, [image] viewed 6 May 2018 <https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/two-heads-better-than-one-note-bulletin-board-65145123.jpg>

Crowdsourcing.org 2012, Crowdsourcing and Crowdfunding Explained, 15 March, viewed 6 May 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-38uPkyH9vI>

Ford, H 2012, Crowd Wisdom [online], 30 November viewed 7 May 2018 <http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0306422012465800>

Posetti, Julie and Lo, Ping. The Twitterisation of ABC's emergency and disaster communication [online]. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, The, Vol. 27, No. 1, 2012: 34-39. 

[kengalvin-blog]

An Activists Holiday in Cambodia

While reading Mark Dery’s infamous essay “Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing, and Sniping in the Empire of Signs” I came across a quote by Jello Biafra, this quote directly related to Derbys ideas of culture jamming and how mass media can be manipulated by activists to visually challenging the effects of consumer culture (Dery 2010).

Culture jamming - Enjoy Capitalism (Skrbec, J 2014)

After reading the quote by Jello Biafra my thought pattern started to segue, I began to think about the lyrics to the Dead Kennedys song  “Holiday in Cambodia” (Dexbom 2015). The late 70’s and early 80’s were a hotbed of political and social activism in America spreadhead by the sounds of punk rock music and Jello’s band Dead Kennedys. The Lyrics to Holiday in Cambodia called into question America’s consumer culture and the ethnic class divides within the US while Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime lead a communist revolution that would see millions of Cambodians persecuted and murdered from 1975 till the regime’s demise in 1979 (Chandler 2009, p. 257).

Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia (Dexbom 2015)

When Pol Pot’s regime came to an end the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) seized control and have governed Cambodia for more than 30 years. The CPP has strictly controlled the countries broadcast media over its reign, but in the lead up to the 2013 national elections something interesting happened, the opposing Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) used social networks to address and cultivate voter participation. The CNRP did not have access to Cambodia’s broadcast media and turned their attention to Facebook, which did not fall under the control of the CPP. The CNRP saw how the spread of the internet and use of networked publics like Facebook throughout the country were allowing citizens to become involved in social issues and practices online, invoking their “digital citizenship” (Mossberger 2007, p. 1). By 2012 Cambodia’s Internet penetration rate was at an all-time high with 18.5% of the population connected to the Internet, this gave the CNRP access to over 2,716,305 million Internet subscribers (Kimseng 2014, p. 107).

Over a third of registered voters in Cambodia were between the ages of 18 and 30 and the CNRP’s ability to use Facebook helped engage the countries youth in political activity. Cambodia’s youth are by no means digital natives but they began to adopt digital platforms and immobilised civic activism, which quickly transcended from computer screens to the countries streets. A 24-year-old CNRP supporter Kimsour Lim told the ABC “I use Facebook to coordinate with the youth to inform them when we are marching for the National Rescue Party,” (ABC 2014).

Digitial activist Kimsour Lim uses Facebook to coordinate CNRP marches (Oaten, J 2014)

Ultimately the CPP won the 2013 Cambodian election but the CNRP’s use of Facebook helped win them the digital vote and generated peaceful political activism by citizens never seen before in Cambodia. Cambodia is a country where democratic freedom has not always been a right, but the growth of networked publics gives Cambodian’s further avenues for digital democracy and the ability for its citizens to critically question Cambodian society and national political practices much like Jello did.

A political rally organised by the CNRP (Oaten, J 2014)

Reference List

Chandler, D 2009, A History of Cambodia, Westview Press, Ebook Central (ProQuest).

Dery, M 2010, Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing, and Sniping in the Empire of Signs, Shovelware, viewed 27 April 2018, <http://markdery.com/?page_id=154>.

Dexbom 2015, The Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia, VIDEO HD, 10 August, viewed 29 April 2018, <https://youtu.be/5IuJ5fUwywU>.

Kimseng, M 2-14, ‘Shaping Political Change: The Role of Social Media in Cambodia’s 2013 Elections’, Asia Pacific Media Educator, vol. 24, no. 1, pp.107-116.

Mossberger, K, Tolbert, C & McNeal, 2007, Digital Citizenship: The Internet, Society, and Participation, MIT Press, Ebook Central (ProQuest).

Oaten, J 2014, ‘Kimsour Lim utilises social media’ [image], ABC, viewed 29 April 2018, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/4834694-3x2-940x627.jpg>.

Oaten, J 2014, ‘Sam Rainsy meets supporters at Freedom Park’ [image], ABC, viewed 29 April 2018, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/4834830-3x2-940x627.jpg>.

Oaten, J 2014, Young activists take to the streets ahead of the Cambodian elections, ABC, viewed 29 April 2018, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-22/an-cambodian-spring-feature/4834450>.

[allthingsgeshblog]

Hey @kengalvin ... I have a chance moment in front of the laptop to read into Jamming a little more, pouring over Dery’s essay.. What an interesting read. I didn’t realise how “jamming” came about - the ol’ CB eh... very cool. 

Furthermore, it’s clear that Mark discusses in his article that “culture jamming” affords the media age provocateurs who use “culture jamming” the opportunity to expose “the ways in which corporate and political interests use the media as a means of creating behaviour modification.” certainly seems to ring true in your research into the Cambodian election (Dery, 2010), particularly when one considers, as you outline in your blog, Cambodia’s youth find digital interactions, new yet, they adopted digital platforms in order to mobilse coordinated activist marches and events certainly goes a long way to prove there is considerable value in getting on board with “culture jamming”. Again, fantastic read. Really appreciate your insights. Thanks again. 

References:

Dery, M 2010, Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing, and Sniping in the Empire of Signs, Shovelware, viewed 27 April 2018, <http://markdery.com/?page_id=154>.

Cheers. Amanda

[allthingsgeshblog]

Social Media Trolls - don’t just live under the bridge! They’re everywhere!

Take a look at this guy - are all trolls this damned cute! 

I’m afraid not, this little guy could easily spend some time on my desk at work, help me to reminisce the old days when these lil guys were so popular and represented fun! Twirling their hair, stick them on the end of pencils. Those were the days... 

Even the trolls of the fantasy world tend to live under bridges... isn’t that what we were told? We knew what they looked like, some even had a name! They certainly didn’t have keyboards to hide behind nor have the have the access that individuals do now..  

Back to the reality of today.

The more ugly of the variety, live behind their keyboards and do their work in anonymity! These are the absolute worst kind!

According to AsapSCIENCE 5.6% of individuals who like to chat and communicate online, identify themselves as “trolls”. So what makes an internet troll? 

Are there any traits that are common? 

Yes, say AsapSCIENCE, the study conducted by scientists of the 1200 internet users they interviewed reflected common traits which they’ve colloquially called “dark traits” (AsapSCIENCE, 2016). 

These horrible individuals have high levels of Psychopathy, Narcissism and Sadism (AsapSCIENCE, 2016)! 

What a combination eh? 

So how do these 3 traits reflect in an individual... as outlined by Keith Campbell who states that a narcissist is an individual who shows elevated and sometimes detrimental self-involvement behaviour (Campbell, 2016). Furthermore, Sadism can be defined as one creating pain without pity on others as outlined by SDictionary in their video created in 2015. In a nutshell, internet trolls are attention-seeking individuals who relish the pleasure of hurting others! 

WOW. 

Just the type of person you’d love to bring home to meet your family right?

Or am I just being too harsh? We enjoy watching a good fight on TV? Does that make us evil? According to AsapSCIENCE it does not. Would you believe there is a condition called “everyday sadism” - which covers exactly this! We like a “little pleasure” in someone else’s pain? Just a little? (AsapSCIENCE, 2016) 

Would this just mean that ultimately, we’re all trolls in some way? No, I believe as AsapSCIENCE do, that a combination of high levels of Sadism, coupled with argumentative and disruptive behaviour (anti-social behaviour) lead to a “successful troll” (AsapSCIENCE, 2016). 

So how do we minimise the impact on us from internet trolls? 

Simple, according to AsapSCIENCE, “negative feedback only encourages continued negative comments” (AsapSCIENCE, 2016). They suggest we simply ignore them which will reduce their efforts. 

This would ring true I feel as the characteristics of the sadist and narcissist feed off continued communication. Remove it, and the “fun is gone”. Remember, the troll wants to disrupt you and hurt you. 

Having been trolled once or twice recently on Facebook, and being awfully hurt, I simply de-friended / blocked the individual as my means of action.... 

Have you been trolled? What platfom was it in? What did you do to shut it down? Do you think “ignoring” fixes or reduces it? 

Would love to hear your thoughts... 

References: 

‘TROLL-THUMB-1′ [image], viewed 29 April 2018 <http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/it-s-official-men-who-troll-women-are-losers-literally-61865>

AsapSCIENCE 2016, The Science of Internet Trolls, Jan 17, viewed 29 April 2018, <https://youtu.be/6Zxy_dScjsM>

SDictionary 2015, Sadism,  Apr 14, viewed 29 April 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InHNTiRdjlY>

W. Keith Campbell 2016, The psychology of narcissism, Feb 23, viewed 29 April 2018 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arJLy3hX1E8 >

[allthingsgeshblog]

Just JAM it!

I would like to take you through Culture Jamming.

Culture Jamming put simply is the act of altering existing advertising campaigns to subvert the originally intended mega corporate message within the marketplace as explained by stormileemcleavy in her video (stormileemcleavy, 2013).

The resulting images can elicit a humorous response from the receiver, or challenge the receivers pre-conceived values towards a corporation or product with the intent to raise awareness and or social and political commentary (stormieemcleavy, 2013).

Let’s take a look at a subverted McDonalds ad...

The subverted message created is quite clear isn’t it.

By consuming “Maccas” you’re waistline among other areas of your body too will expand immensely.

In a nutshell, activism through Culture Jamming is achieved creatively. One can subvert the message without holding placards or forming a sit-ins or marches like the old days. With the expansion of social media, Culture Jamming has a plethora of channels through which to get the message out. 

 Apple.

This subverted message is quite powerful I think. The conglomerate Apple has certainly a following. With any new release there are hundreds of people with deck chairs lined up out the front of Chadstone 24 hours beforehand just to be in the doors as fast as possible! It goes further to reflect “Connected, but alone?” that was discussed by Sherry Turkle <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv0g8TsnA6c&feature=youtu.be>

Pepsi.

On the face, this subverted message is quite comical, however the underlying message challenges obesity and society’s sugar level consumption, much like the McDonalds ad.

Esso...

A powerful subverted message I think, don’t you? By adding red vertical bars through the original logo, Esso is now portrayed as a money hungry conglomerate, and by association, all oil/petrol companies are perceived to be tarred in similar fashion.

Marlboro cigarettes.

Ouch! Just one word, changes the whole message doesn’t it. The logo is easily recognisable, coupled with the word “breathe”, forever links Marlboro, cigarettes and a lack of breathing together.

I’d even hazard a guess here, to say the stand looks very much like one you would expect to see at a funeral introducing the deceased or am I delving too deep here?

Starbucks.

I had a chuckle when I first saw this one. The clear link between Starbucks and overpriced coffee is quite prominent in this subverted message.

Dig a little deeper though, the fact remains that Starbucks’ success is driven by its ability to make $6 coffees cool!

Sad, but true, there is always the consumer that will be prepared to pay an exorbitant amount of money for something that is essentially hot water and flavouring.... a little harsh, I know.

I currently buy my coffee at the local cafe near work, refusing to “enjoy instant”, but I do draw the line at $4.50!

Calvin Klein.

This one plays isn’t so funny, yet it is very thought provoking and plays into the body image space. So many of the ads produced by Calvin Klein have the young strapping young man with a 6 pack - the ideal man! This subverted message shows reality, and challenges the conceived idea of the perfect man beautifully. I love this one!

Obsession.

Finally, Obsession. Very very powerful. The word Obsession would normally reflect the perfume, however, in this case, the word represents the battle of Bulimia / Anorexia and raises awareness of the overwhelming part that media and the larger corporate face chooses to reflect the “perfect woman”. Like the Calvin Klein one above, this subverted ad has “an sharp edge”. Through Social Media, this could be quite effective no?

As discussed by Chung and Kirby, the use of media technologies allows one to use Social Media as instruments of creative expression and social activism (Chung S & Kirby M, 2015). Furthermore Chung & Kirby discuss the importance of understanding the domination that corporate has over the media, how that domination influences consumer buying behaviour, one can reject this influence by raising awareness through creativity, distributing it through Social Media in order to gain as much traction as possible.

Furthermore, as discussed by Chung & Kirby, Culture Jamming provides an opportunity for open dialogue which is fantastic for building awareness, and the basis for change (Chung S & Kirby M, 2015).

It’s certainly a form of activism I could get involved in. Couldn’t you?

References:

Chung S & Kirby M, 2015, Media Literacy Art Education: Logos, Culture Jamming, and Activism, Art Education, 62:1, p. 34-39

stormileemcleavy 2013, Culture Jamming, 11 April, viewed 24 April 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZaK4q4UTJc>

‘548584_508789855815669_1417389212_n’ [image] viewed 24 April 2018 <https://sites.psu.edu/comm411spring2015/2015/02/17/culture-jamming-an-eye-opening-form-of-advertisment/>

‘culture-jamming-the-esso-logo12′ [image] viewed 24 April 2018 <https://blog.tickyes.com/a-brief-history-of-culture-jamming/>

‘iaddict’ [image] viewed 25 April 2018 <http://wpmu.mah.se/nmict151group2/2015/03/14/culture-jamming-cure-or-curse/>

‘fe89ce5451b24c01b8f9166b2d5b030c’ [image] viewed 24 April 2018 <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/518899188297580112/>

‘7efff583cf6b257511ffb0928976de05′ [image] viewed 25 April 2018 <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/165859198750496058/>

‘starbucks-coffee-culture-jamming-copy‘ [image] viewed 25 April 2018 <https://sites.psu.edu/comm411spring2015/2015/02/17/culture-jamming/>

‘bbc39f87b5b038c74bc100645741e60f’ [image] viewed 25 April 2018 <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/572168327634695219/>

‘adbusters_reality_for_men’ [image] viewed 24 April 2018 <https://www.adbusters.org/spoofads/fashion-slashin/attachment/adbusters_reality_for_men/>

[florenciablogs-blog]

Just ‘like’ it?

Life is busy! We are always running from one thing to the next struggling to find time. Enter technology: Providing the tools required to “get s&*t done” so we can meet ALL of our objectives.

Many question if technology has taken over our lives preventing the occurrence of an uninterrupted dinner or afternoon at the beach. Devices have already surpassed social convention to become a safety guard, one that allows us to hide behind our software during awkward conversations or moments we consider boring.

In this distorted reality we are sincerer in text than in person and visually represent ourselves to perfection. This virtual self alludes to excellence in all aspects, social (Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat), professional (LinkedIn, Slack) and soulful. No, I’m not referring to the Beygency, but rather soulful as the emotional aspect with which we nurture, often through helping others. Activism is an act of civic duty that in one way or another strives to improve our surroundings. In the good old days, one could include these to be acts of volunteering at specific locations or attending sit-ins.

In today’s modern, tech obsessed era there is no need to get out of ones snuggie to save the world because, of course, there’s an app for that. Every charity, NGO or movement has social media behind it to ensure they are seen and heard. This flat structure of earned media ensures accessibility for any and all with a cause, to publish it online and capture an audience. There have been many examples of viral campaigns which have gained traction and brought important issues to light like the #bringbackourgirls crusade and the recent #marchforourlives.

Social media platforms have provided a new array of options for global citizens or e-activists. One can participate, share, like, comment, donate, attend events and e-sign petitions. One can also inform themselves about current campaigns, their setbacks and accomplishments. This tie creates a personal link and solidifies a bond rather than donating ‘blindly’ to a cause. It also means the activist will be more than likely to continue a relationship with the organisation rather than a one off donation.

Currently, even digital activism is easy but the question then begs, is this enough?

Like me, many have grown tired of the traditional ‘donation’ pathway, losing faith not only in its administrators but also its effectiveness in reaching victims.

Amnesty international (Australia) has a mass following and relies purely on public support as they do not accept donations from government or political organisations as a matter of policy. While their online community is enormous, they are well aware that the digital self alone cannot make sufficient impact. Their volunteer base boasts activists willing to protest at any location around Australia in days or hours. This is of course possible because of the communication power of the internet  but they are aware that without the physical people power, many of their successes would not have been achieved. In order to counter act slackitivsm they regularly promote protests and gatherings. Recent public demonstrations include rallies for Same Sex Marriage and the Manus/Naru Island Refugees. They offer free Workshops (as per below) providing citizens activist resources. 

While I don’t believe the current problems faced are any less than those before us, I do think we are unaware of how to channel our energies. You see, Martin did not have a tweet, he had a dream and while today he probably would have had both, without action there is no change.

We need to begin thinking outside the screen to ensure technology assists our actions without dominating them.

References:

Amnesty International Australia, (2018), Community Sponsorship Activist Resources - Amnesty International Australia, [online] Available at: https://www.amnesty.org.au/cspresources/ [Accessed 18 Apr. 2018]

Earl, J, (2016), ‘Slacktivism’ that works: 'Small changes’ matter, [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/slacktivism-that-works-small-changes-matter-69271 [Accessed 18 Apr. 2018]

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

Grace, R, (2017), Australians making fewer donations to charity, report finds. [online] The Age. Available at: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/australians-making-fewer-donations-to-charity-report-finds-20171205-gzz2gs.html [Accessed 18 Apr. 2018]

March For Our Lives, (2018), Our Mission to End School Shootings | March For Our Lives - March 24, 2018, [online] Available at: https://marchforourlives.com/mission-statement/ [Accessed 18 Apr. 2018]

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

Image references:

Newman, D, (2014), The Role Of Paid, Owned And Earned Media In Your Marketing Strategy, [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2014/12/03/the-role-of-paid-owned-and-earned-media-in-your-marketing-strategy/2/#4623afa43cd4 [Accessed 18 Apr. 2018]

Wikimedia Commons (1963), Dr. Martin Luther King, [image] Available at: https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/martin-luther-king-jr-much-radical-message-dream-racial-brotherhood/ [Accessed 18 Apr. 2018]

[allthingsgeshblog]

Great post Flo, and I soooooo resonate with the threads contained within... 

I would've sworn I would not care if I wasn't connected to the wider world! but alas it seems I experience the most intense form of separation anxiety the moment I don't have access to the internet.

My family recently suffered through pacing and angry unrelenting irrational, almost abnormal expression when our net was down for scheduled maintainence one night... turns out I only had to wait for an hour, but my goodness, my world was going to end.

We are super connected family.. questions of "what do we do now?" "how am I going to research my paper?"... "what could I be missing on Facebook" were being kicked around our loungeroom.

It seems I have a new label to add to my collection - I'm a "phubber"... What a word! the "bing" of a message puts me into a tail spin - conversation, hurry up, I need to check what's going on! <shaking head> Am I lost cause?

Like many, I'm a clicktivser... placquards, marches, who has time for that these days, when I can simply swipe, share and click and do my bit from my loungeroom! I don't even need to search for a cause to put my "like" behind, just wait a little while, and there's a plethora of causes I can pick and choose from. I don't even have to be selective in my cause-clicking, why not put my "like" behind many which gives me a great dose of "feeling good" at the end of the day. Not like the old days, sure, but it's a way I can engage within my tech driven routine, and my justification for doing so, is that I've been able to do something, that time currently would not allow me to do prior.

Scary!

Currently, even digital activism is easy but the question then begs, is this enough?

Take your statement above... when was the last time we clicked our support, but also took the time to check how our click has improved the situation? or are we simply too busy to do this?

Agreed, Martin Luther didn't have twitter, yet had a strong voice, a strong following and thus enforced significant change. Can a click, albeit millions of them, create any real change? or is the message simply lost within the thousands of clicktivists like me?

Thank you for such an engaging read...