Reflections of a University Student @amandapaigebruce-blog - Tumblr Blog

Hello everyone,

Today is the final post on my blog. We will be looking into a topic that I find quite interesting, this is social media in China. Denyer (2016) explains that China’s Internet censorship has created a virtual barrier, preventing information harmful to the Communist Party from entering the country.

China is a large country; well they actually have the largest population in the world. There are a huge number of Chinese who do not have access to social media we use everyday such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. For us Westerners it makes us think ‘China are missing out on the social media revolution’ (Swinburne Online 2017).

Chui et al. (2012) explains that China still have access to social media. In fact, 95% of Chinese that live in Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are registered on social media. They are active users online, they are just not using the same social media as us. Popular platforms such as WeChat, RenRen and Weibo are used by Chinese citizens. The majority of my Chinese friends prefer their social media and it meet theirs needs.

‘Almost 1 in 4 of the world’s population is behind the Great Firewall’ (Denyer 2016). This means, that they are not able to access all knowledge online and information share with people around the world. Their resources are limited, allowing them to only view information that the government believes is appropriate.

Where is China’s social media going to be in the future? Denyer (2016) reports that China are not holding back. In fact, this censorship is increasing with new laws being passed to increase cybersecurity to control the Internet. New domains will be registered with the Government to prevent any new content online to go out of their guidelines.

The concerning factor for Chinese are they are limiting themselves to grow and see outside the box. With the Government controlling their content, they may only see things one way. It will become more difficult for them to want or ask for change. The Communist Party will be able to stay in power if the Chinese citizens are not educated.

Thank you for following my blog! Big waves, Patrick

References:

Chiu, C, Lin, D & Silverman, A 2012, China’s social-media boom, McKinsey & Company, viewed on 31 January 2017 < http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/chinas-social-media-boom>

Denyer, S 2016, China’s scary lesson to the world: Censoring the Internet works, The Washington Post, viewed on 31 January 2017 < https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinas-scary-lesson-to-the-world-censoring-the-internet-works/2016/05/23/413afe78-fff3-11e5-8bb1-f124a43f84dc_story.html?utm_term=.26cadd62fd79>

Swinburne Online 2017, Week 11: Global social media: case study China, Swinburne Online, viewed on 31 January 2017 < https://ilearn.swin.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-5949031-dt-content-rid-31715130_2/courses/2016-SO3-MDA20009-217733/UnitLearningMaterials/week-11.html>

amandapaigebruce-blog

Hi Patrick!

Loving your blogs!

This week really interested me too!

I found the whole concept so foreign and so comprehendible. I didn’t realise until this week that they actual have their own social networking sites.

It does make me feel uneasy that their Government are so open about censoring the peoples lives. purposely not educating them on the wider world or different opinions. It truly does scare me, but maybe what you don’t know can't hurt you?

Glad we finished this semester! Great working with you!

williamcolvin-blog

Week 9: Visual Communities and Social Imaging

As a society we seem to be desperate to find motivation and/or inspiration wherever we turn. What was once the noble art of photography has become something of a hobby for anyone with an iPhone and there are more photos of peoples pub meals online now than there are pubs in the world (probably). When I first started reading up on the topics covered this week the first thing that instantly came to mind was an image I had seen on Facebook many times (but for the life of me cannot find now!)

Promoting individualism and the idea that we are all special it is simple stock photo of a single white flower amongst a sea of red poppies with a caption to the effect of “why fit in when you were born to stand out”. Sure, some may find this inspirational or motivating - however - it loses its sheen somewhat when you see it on loop, as it is, copy and pasted hundreds of times only with different names and profile images next to it.

Yes, photography is a different beast today than it was when you would round up the family in their Sunday bests and meet with a photographer or an afternoon of snaps - nowadays if you see something, you have your phone out and it is captured and online before you could even spell photographer. This was made no more clearer to me than when I reached that magical age where, well I’ll let the Skyhooks explain:

Weddings used to be all about the fanfare and the pomp and ceremony with photographers and videographers running around making memories that would last forever - which has now become a thing of the past, seemingly with apps like WedPics which allow guests to log in to the wedding album and take as many photos as they like, which can then be accessed in high definition clarity and remembered for years to come. The cost of this is considerably cheaper as well compared to the traditional photographer - not saying that their time and effort is not worth the money - but to put it in perspective my wife and I will have been married 2 years in June and we still haven’t been able to afford to pay off the last part of our album!

Fortunately it’s not all doom and gloom on the selfie front thanks to one of my favourite photosharing apps - Snapchat. Unlike the rest the images don’t last for very long and you can make some hilarious changes with filters and the ability to draw on pictures. Snapchat is one of the best additions to social media in recent times, in my humble opinion, because it lets you connect with people without being constantly in contact with them - and whatever you show them disappears after a while so there’s no monthly cleanse of your downloads to remove 2GB of images and stupid videos of cats (thanks to all my WhatsApp group chat pals for that). The only downside to Snapchat is, well, ghosts…

amandapaigebruce-blog

Hi William,

I enjoyed reading your blog about visual communities.

I so agree, times are a changing! I remember as a kid helping my mum do up the photo albums, lining up a kmart kodak to print them off. How special and irreplaceable a photo was. It seems so archaic to think of a photo as “irreplaceable” or “treasured”. I feel as though when I was a young girl, my dad spent thousands on buying the latest camera so that we could document these special moment in our lives. Now taking a photo seems so frivolous. So “un-important”.

I fell like the memories attached to the photos we take now are few and the in the moment enjoyment of taking a hilarious photo on snapchat is becoming the new rage.

Thanks William!

megatam2012-blog

Week 10: Social Gaming

Looking at this weeks topic, it takes me back to my childhood when I used to play car racing on Atari with cousins. A friend of mine owned a Nintendo which had Super Mario. We used to sit together and play that game endlessly. Later, in the mid-nineties, when I was in university the first time round, me and my flatmate chipped in to buy Play station one together. Straight after work at Maccas, all our friends would drop by at our place to have a go on the play station. We used to be up all night playing games Tony hawk, Tekken 3 and Gran Turismo. I guess we were all into arcade style games than strategic ones. They are fond memories and I am still in touch with the friends I shared those times with.

Now we are much older and hardly have the time to be sitting in front of the screen for endless hours. My son now plays Minecraft with his friends on the same network and I can see the same joy and excitement in their faces we once felt. He also plays Minecraft with his cousins who are in America on weekends. With the internet, today, all of this is possible and it has really helped with the cousins bonding and sharing a common interest. Their cousin in Mansfield (country Victoria) is also able to join the game and share the fun.

Image Source: https://mmos.com/editorials/mobile-mmorpgs

Mostly we only hear negative stories of aggression, depression and erosion of real-life friendships in the media but studies have shown that playing social games have resulted in decrease of anti-social behaviour (Trepte et al. 2012). Online games like Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) allow players to play in a team and interact with each other in the virtual world. This creates social proximity among players so they share interests and form bonds (Hughes et al. 2017).

Though I have never played any social games like Farmville or Candy crush, I can understand its appeal and how game developers have been able to leverage on the social media platforms popularity to make the game ever so engaging to its players. Although I am not a gamer any more I do understand how social gaming can make one feel included and part of a group of like minded people.

Image source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PBc5hi65AQ

Reference list;

Hughes, C Griffin, B & Worthington, E 2017, ‘A measure of social behavior in team-based, multiplayer online games: The Sociality in Multiplayer Online Games (SMOG) scale’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol.69, pp.386-395.

Trepte, S Reinecke, L Juechems, K 2012, The social side of gaming: How playing online computer games creates online and offline social support, Computers In Human Behavior, 2012 May, Vol.28 no. 3, pp.832-839

amandapaigebruce-blog

HI!

I found your blog really interesting to read this week .

It was nice to see social gaming written and spoken about from a different perspective. I don’t have kids, nor did I play many tech games as a child. So this week was hard for me as I simply do not understand the hype. Your blog made me look at this from a different perspective and to see how it can actually encourage children to play together.

Thanks!

Great Walls of Fire!

For my very final blog…

We got to learn about something I find pretty interesting. Social Media in China.

As a woman of the “Western World” with little “actual” information on the subject I was very quick to cast judgement on how the Chinese Government denied their people full access to social media sites. I have had many friends have worked and lived in China over the years and it always baffled me how they could never use Facebook. I was however, very unaware that they actually have created their own social networking sites. And these sites alone are incredibly popular. Denyer (2016) explains that almost 1in 4 of the world’s population are behind what is referred to as the “Great Firewall”. These people do not have full access to the same online knowledge that we have. Their resources are continuously monitored and information must be approved by the government.

Denyer (2016) explain that the reason for China’s internet censorship prevents information that harms the image of the Communist Party.

At this point in time, with their personal social media sites coming increasingly popular, , reports have shown that censorship rules and regulations will too increase. There a new laws being passed to increase censorship and “security”.

For me this is wildly unimaginable, to live in a world that all kinds of information you read have been edited and chosen by your government to what? brainwash you in to thinking something? The government is choosing to not educate their people as a way of staying in power and maintaining control.

I wonder if the Chinese people see it this way?

Thanks for a stressful, yet enjoyable 12 weeks!

References: Denyer, S 2016, China’s scary lesson to the world: Censoring the Internet works, The Washington Post, viewed on 31 January 2017 < https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinas-scary-lesson-to-the-world-censoring-the-internet-works/2016/05/23/413afe78-fff3-11e5-8bb1-f124a43f84dc_story.html?utm_term=.26cadd62fd79>

Farmville...

Week 10- A hard week. Social gaming!? SNOOZE

This week was a challenge, I have absolutely zero interest in online gaming, gaming, social gaming or any kind of online game activity. See what happens if you send me a farmville request…

Now while I am personally not in to social gaming, there are many, MANY people out there who seems to love it.

Game developers latched on to something clever years ago. By leveraging on the popularity of social media platforms they were able to take advantage of the huge user-base and networked structure of sites like Facebook. Game developers then focused on making the heart and structure of these games “social”. Highlighting the ability to play with your friends in settings like these (Zynga, 2014) .

This would be the first thing, as a non gamer, that would come to my mind about social gaming. I have developed a preconceived idea that online gaming is isolating. I immediately force a child hunched over a computer in the dark with cheetos everywhere…

However, after further research i found it interesting to learn about Online games like Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG). And how these games allow players to play in a team and interact with each other in the virtual world. This creates social proximity among players so they share interests and form bonds (Hughes et al. 2017).

Even after learning something new and opening my horizons so that when i think of online gaming i now picture this:

I still wont be part taking any time soon, despite hottie in the white shirt.

Reference:

Zynga, 2014, viewed 3 August 2016, <www.zynga.com>.

#selfie #nofilter

I don’t know about you, but it confuses me as to why a selfie I post gets a cute 100 likes on Instagram, yet a photo a post of my family and friends gets a dismal 30?! Just the other week my friends and I were talking about how strange that it is. People are more inclined to like a photo of your face, than of you and your friends.? The whole concept is a little bizarre to me, like, I have just taken a photo of my face, posted it because I think I look good and now I need some form of validation from a bunch of “friends”. Even weirder… I still post them.

Over the years the way we take photos and what we then do with them has changed greatly. Gone are the days of lining up at Kmart Kodak to get your films printed and finding out you blinked in the photo. Gone are the days of physical photo albums and storing them as cherished memories in a book case. I remember as a young girl, our house was being threatened by a raging bush fire, we were on holidays at the time. All I remember from those chilling phone calls was my mum saying “please just get the photo albums out of the house”. Oh how times are different. My phone alone currently has 2678 photos from the last year. I’d take a guess and say at least 100 of them are selfies.

Snapchat has taken over the younger generation! The day snapchat filters were created will be a day our children will remember. The amount of hours I have wasted with stupid filters on my face and sending them to my friends is embarrassing…Sinder (2017) reports that Snapchat is on the pace for 217 million users by the end of 2017. On this particular photo sharing app, the photo can last for a maximum of 10 seconds. In direct contrast to my mum’s precious photo albums, these photos are not taken to form memories to look back on they are simply taken as a form of entertainment for that moment in time.

The culture has changed dramatically with how we value, use and share photos in such a short period of time. It makes me think what life will be like in just another 10 years…

Reference Snider, C 2017, Social media statistics, Chris Sinder Design, viewed on 28 January 2017 <https://chrissniderdesign.com/blog/resources/social-media-statistics/>

Mark Yourself Safe

I have a hot brew of coffee sitting next to me and a house completely to my self. Sounds like it would be easy to complete this in that kind of environment… WRONG! Apparently I do not know how to use the do not disturb feature on my work phone and it has not stopped ringing…

As I ignore the phone calls I begin to think, “crowdsourcing” what is that!?

Whoops, not that...

I had never heard this term before today. So I found this week to be quite interesting.

Apparently Crowdsourcing is ‘the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contribution from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or supplies’ (Swinburne Online).

Crowdsourcing is often used in a crisis situation. The benefits of crowdsourcing in a crisis is that it is able to help emergency services direct and pay attention in areas of disaster. Crowdsourcing allows these services to be where they are most needed. There are many examples of crowdsourcing, one in particular is the the ‘Boston Bombings”. The boston policed asked attendees of the event to upload images at the time of the disaster to help pin point the offender. 13,000 videos and 120,000 photos were posted online just days after the bombing (NBC News, 2014). These images and videos were then used by police as evidence.

The immense power of a community in a crisis is simply breathtaking. With such growing and advancing technology the ability to detect and predict moments of disaster and aid in the aftermath is incredible. This is a nice reflection after last weeks lessons on the trolls of social media.

References

NBC News 2014, Boston’s Legacy: Can Crowdsourcing Really Fight Crime, NBC News, viewed on 13 January 2017 < http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/bostons-legacy-can-crowdsourcing-really-fight-crime-n74831>

Swinburne Online 2017, Week 8: Crowdsourcing in time of crisis, Swinburne Online, viewed on 13 January 2017 < https://ilearn.swin.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-5949028-dt-content-rid-31715127_2/courses/2016-SO3-MDA20009-217733/UnitLearningMaterials/week-08.html>

megatam2012-blog

Week 7: Digital citizenship 3: Trolling and social media conflict

As a parent of a 5 and a 7-year-old that use way too much electronics, I do worry about their their virtual interactions online. Though its only kids videos and Minecraft games for now, I have to rein it in and constantly monitor what they are watching online. I have setup a web proxy server, changed router settings, fire walled the computer and fine-tuned browser settings to control their viewings for now but one day they will venture deeper into the virtual world and start online social interactions on the web. So this week’s topic of trolling and social media conflict has definitely been peaking my interest.

All of us would have experienced some form of bullying at some stage of our lives, maybe in the school yard when young, at the work place or some crazy rant by a bigot in a public area. Now that we are also connected online all the time, bullying can be seen and experienced by people on the internet and in social media. The comments section on news sites, youtube, facebook feeds, twitter and blogs sites are filled with examples of haters and negative comments.

Image sourced from: https://twitter.com/flamethrower_30

Trolls are internet users that deliberately upset others by making foul and inflammatory comments to start an argument and rise others in a website or social media just to have fun and entertain themselves (Moreau 2016). These are idiots, also known as trolls, putting inappropriate content online just for the sake of it that give internet a bad name. It gets worse when they form groups to repeatedly try and hurt or embarrass others, an example of cyber bullying. Social media allows these kinds of posts to be liked, shared and re-posted to make it spread fast over the internet. Though this kind of behavior is not old and can be seen among teenagers in school yards everyday, now the same can be seen online where the bullying is aggressive, repetitive and there is an imbalance in power as defined by Boyd (Boyd 2014, p.131)

While trolling is done with an intent to make fun of others and as a joke, social conflict is far more serious. This is when bullying takes a more sinister turn and the bully starts using private messaging with threats and hate messages. There have been many cases of suicide triggered by relentless cyber bullying, especially among teenagers (Ford 2015).

So how do we educate our kids on these issues and who do we turn to for help if we ever experience one. Well of course, the first thing is to just turn off the device and forget about it. Don’t engage as they are only trying to get a rise out of you. You can also tell your parents, teacher or an adult supervisor about your experiences online to look into the issue. Most importantly, don’t be a troll yourself. Don’t say something that you wouldn’t say to others face to face. Just because its virtual does not mean you can act like an idiot. Learn to respect others online like the way you would do offline.

Reference list:

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

Ford, M 2015, Cyber bullying: Father crusades to stop bullies after daughter’s suicide following Facebook tirade, ABC News, viewed on 15 January 2017, < http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-17/father-crusades-to-stop-cyber-bullies-after-daughters-suicide/6703668>.

Moreau, E 2016, Internet Trolling: How Do You Spot a Real Troll?, Lifewire, viewed on 15 January 2017, < https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-internet-trolling-3485891>.

amandapaigebruce-blog

HI Megatam!

I enjoyed reading your post, and found it very interesting reading your blog on your perspective as a parent. I am not a parent, nor anywhere close to being one, but it has always crossed my mind what it would be like to raise a child in a such “tech reliant” world. The lengths you have gone to to control and protect your children on the internet thus far is impressive and well thought out, I would not know where to begin if I were in your shoes.

I do think it is helpful that this issue is slowly being regulated by governments. Education about the effects of this I too think is important for kids in school.

A great read, thank you.

#howembarassing

Back so soon you say? Yes that is because I am beyond behind and catching up on weeks of work all at once…

Last week we looked at online activism and protesting which lead to the possibility of online trolling. During week 7 (only 4 blogs to go!) we explored the harsh reality that is online trolling.

This week I’d like to pay particular attention to anonymity and cyber bullying. We’ve all heard of keyboard warriors, and they are out there. Fortunately I grew up in a time where I did not have to deal with trolls behind a keyboard. If someone wanted to say something they did it the old fashioned way… behind my back.

I’ve seen a growing amount of media attention focused on cyber bullying over the years, and as our online presence grows so does the ability to be targeted online by someone you don't even know. Anonymity allows a sense of freedom in ways of speech, surveillance and judgment (Judith Donath,1999), yet it can be a horrible cause of abuse, harassment and fraud with what seems to have no accountability.

Such anonymity poses the question, “does more need to be done in order to keep our youth safe?”

There are a growing amount of support sites that aim to help youth that may be affected by cyber bullying. Swinburne Online (2016) suggests that there are Governments, schools and other organisations rushing to devise social media codes of practices. Through-out the media there has been discussions on the proposal of new laws to control what people do with social media. There is grave concerns that has stemmed from tragic situations that have raised the concern of the “openness” of social media platforms and the ability to form anonymous accounts.

References: Donath JS 1999, ‘Identity and deception in the virtual community’, in MA, Smith & P, Kollock (eds), Communities in Cyberspace, Routledge, London, pp. 27-58.

Swinburne Online 2017, Week 7: Digital Citizenship 3: Trolling and social media conflict, viewed on 2 January 2017 < https://ilearn.swin.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-5949027-dt-content-rid-31715126_2/courses/2016-SO3-MDA20009-217733/UnitLearningMaterials/week-07.html>

“When do we want it? NOW”

And I’m back! A move interstate, a new job and a break up and I some how have managed to not stay on track at all…

Lets do this…

During week 6 we explored the role social media plays in activism and protesting. It’s no surprise that activism and protesting has been around for decades, however the way in which it is conveyed differs from the traditional medias. Once upon a time newspapers, tv’s radio and filmed were used to convey strong messages of protest and now we can add social media into the mix.

Before beginning this topic I had never heard of “culture jamming”. Swinburne Online (2016) describes culture jamming as a form of resistance to the hegemony of pop culture. Culture jamming is often used to make, simple and obvious points in a light hearted and comical way. The sheer simplicity of a photo like this:

Is that it can target such a large and varied demographic.

The image above depicts a regular street sign in Australia with three added stickers that completely change the meaning of the sign and inflict such a powerful emotive response. The benefit of this image being displayed on social media is that it is quick, powerful and easy to respond to. The image pulls on the heart strings even though it is simply a stick figure.

I found that during the weeks readings it became evident that people were more inclined to contribute when their was no risk of recognition. They simply can contribute to the cause by just typing (McCaughty & Ayers, 2013).

Does a lack of recognition do more good than harm though? When you can’t be held accountable, my thoughts being to stem in to the world of ‘online trolling’ which convienantly we will be covering next week! So stay tuned friends!

REFERENCES

McCaughty & Ayres 2013, Cyberactivism Online Activism in Theory and Practice, Rutledge New York, Viewed 5th February 2017.

Swinburne Online, Week 6: Digital Citizenship 2: Activism and protest, Swinburne Online, viewed on 30 December 2016 < https://ilearn.swin.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-5949026-dt-content-rid-31715125_2/courses/2016-SO3-MDA20009-217733/UnitLearningMaterials/week-06.html>

patrickdc-blog1

Part 2 of week 6!

Before this week I had never heard of the concept ‘Culture Jamming.’ Swinburne Onlie (2016) disucsses that it uses existing media to comment on the media they are using. Culture jamming is often used to protest a company in a light-hearted manner. Attached is my personal favourite is the ‘Eat Fast, Die Young.’ This shows what McDonalds could do to you. The benefit of culture jamming is it is simple and can target a large demographic. Within social media, our attention spans are short, these culture jams are quick and easy to respond to.

The main thing to get out of this week is, how are you going to use social media to make a stand? There are many different tactics, if there is something you believe it find a way to communicate it to your demographic. If it’s through pulling on heart strings or making people laugh.

References:

amandapaigebruce-blog

Hey Patrick!

Loving your blog!

I found the culture jamming section of this week to be particularly interesting! The ideas are so simplistic yet so powerful! I find that brands are so deeply positioned in our lives that these ideas are conveyed so easily. I used this image in my blog-

With just three added stickers to a regular street sign the meaning haas so drastically changed and becomes quite empathetic.

I look forward to reading more of your posts!

freestyler-universe-blog

Social Media - The new political battleground or just a sandpit for squabbling grownups?

Greetings fellow castaways

In light of the recent political hullabaloo from across the Pacific, and the continued social media scrimmaging among certain personalities and political figures, I have to say I’m a little bewildered. In fact I have a headache from shaking my head in disbelief! As I throw this message in a bottle out into the virtual sea, I know that there are many like me, scratching their heads at the way supposed ‘grown up’ political types and their detractors are slugging it out in the social arena.

Here’s the thing. Social media is here, it’s happening and it’s not going away. But in terms of our political brethren, the old saying of ‘if you can’t beat em, join em’ doesn’t seem to be translating. According to Jericho (2013) our pollies in Australia seemed to be taking a very cautious approach to the adoption and use of social media. Rather than a tool of engagement, social media/network platforms such as Twitter or Facebook have become a conduit for political blurb and spin. Take the Twitter tweeting of NSW Premier Mike Baird. Apart from the usual self-congratulatory political announcements, his feed is dominated by attempts to make himself seem like a really nice guy. It’s like standing on the street and yelling ‘hey, you should like me, I’m a really great guy’ but then running inside refusing to hear anyone say a bad word about you. Is that really engagement or is Twitter just one more mouth piece sprouting they party line?

This makes me think of social media/network platforms as merely virtual stages where an increasing amount of our pollies perform for the masses in order to make themselves come across relevant, likeable, in touch, or like they actually care. Who am I to judge though? Mike’s 64.4K follows (of which I am now one – for the sake of this blog) can decide for themselves if he is what he is portraying.

Let’s not kid ourselves though. The power of social media to influence and shape political culture has been brilliantly displayed recently by those abovementioned duelling politicians and celebrities from the US. If there is anyone more adept and inept at performing on social media it’s Donald Trump. Sure, we may be left wondering why his advisors leave him unsupervised, with a phone and a Twitter account. But it sure makes for great reading.

I refer to a recent Twitter exchange between Donald and actor Alec Baldwin (who does a fantastic impersonation of Trump). Feinstein (2016) reported poor Donald wasn’t too happy with one Alec’s portrayals of him on Saturday Night Live. So like any mature and politically savvy individual, he took to the Twittersphere to whinge. Sadly for Donald this just gave Alec (who seems at least a little politically savvy) the opportunity fire back a response telling him he’ll stop portraying him, if he releases his tax returns. Ha! Take that soon to be Leader of the Free World.

Is this part of the performance? Does Donald really think squabbling on Twitter will garner more political capital with those who engage politically through social media? Maybe it will. A US study from the American Press Institute has found that social media is beginning to shape how Millennials are engaging and getting involved in politics (Fromm, 2016). And for all his faults, gaffs and faux pas, Mr Trump’s tweets appear to have influence. Bell (2016) reported that Trump recently tweeted his criticism of Boeing’s costly new Air Force One and that the order for the plane should be cancelled. Following the tweet, the share price of Boeing actually fell by more than 1%. Coincidence? Perhaps, but his comments resonated with almost 120000 people who liked the tweet and nearly 38000 people who retweeted.

Are politicians playing the social media game because they have to or because they need to? I think it’s a bit of both. In Australia’s current political climate, the need to connect with voters by any means possible is growing and many politicians risk being left behind. As to the validity of social media playing a crucial role in influencing the political landscape, let’s just see which pollie starts whinging and slinging mud via tweet first.

References

Fromm, J 2016, New Study Finds Social Media Shapes Millennial Political Involvement And Engagement, Forbes, viewed 6 December 2016, http://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffromm/2016/06/22/new-study-finds-social-media-shapes-millennial-political-involvement-and-engagement/#7b131ffc15de.

Feinstein, A 2016, The battle between Alec Baldwin & Donald Trump is escalating thanks to ‘SNL’ and Twitter, Inquisitr, viewed 6 December 2016, http://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffromm/2016/06/22/new-study-finds-social-media-shapes-millennial-political-involvement-and-engagement/#7b131ffc15de.

Trump, D J 2016, Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One, 6 December 5:52am, viewed 7 December 2016, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/806134244384899072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw.

Baird, M 2016, Hope it goes well, 29 November 2016, viewed 6 December 2016, https://twitter.com/mikebairdMP?lang=en. Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force OneBoeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One

amandapaigebruce-blog

Hey Shawn,

Firstly, I LOVE your title! I feel like it hits the nail on the head for this weeks readings!

You make such a valid point about the cautiousness of Australian political social media adaptation. I find their posts to be so scripted. It feels as though this 140 tweet was written by a junior, sent to her supervisor, then sent to their supervisor, then sent to a different department for approval and then posted by a different department again. It lacks authenticity and personal, genuine touch which is the point of social media right?

On the other end of the spectrum you have explored Donald Trumps use of social media and it couldn’t be more different to our fellow Aussies. During the week’s discussion I spoke about this a little bit. Clearly, Trump has displayed the “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” cliché and it worked for him... I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog! Can’t wait for more!

rileyh20009-blog

Blog Stage 1

Week 1: Introduction to digital communities and social media platforms

The idea that as a society we are now “always-on” because of our access to technology and social media platforms is deeply explored in the first week’s learning materials. While accessibility to each other 24/7 can make us as individuals feel switched on all the time, Boyd offers the point that their “always-on-ness doesn’t mean” they are “always-accessible-to-everyone”, continuing to say that just because their phone buzzes with a message notification, it does not mean they are compelled to look at it (Boyd 2012, page 72). Boyd refers to this appropriate distancing between themselves and accessibility as not being antiphone, but procontext, which is believable how much of the population view social media interaction. For most adults, texting at the dinner table is rude, however texting while you’re on the toilet is considered a social norm. The learning materials also explore social networking as a controllable platform in which you can choose the level of privacy you wish to have, with platforms “encouraging increasingly public levels of self-disclosure or exposure” (Wilken & McCosker 2014, page 292), seen in social networks like Facebook providing automatic profile privacy settings that are relatively loose, and Instagram’s automatic privacy settings allowing anyone to follow you without your approval first, all of which must all be changed by the user after the account is created.

Week 2: Social theory and social media

Sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies and his exploration of sociality prompted much of Week 2’s learning materials. While his theory did not take technological advancement into considering why the world has transitioned from a community to a society, the same questions till apply when inquiring “what do late modern informational societies function as?” (Siapera 2012, page 193), or more simply put, how will technology and new media continue to develop the world into its next stage of sociality? Siapera (2012, page 194) foresees this societal shift to move individuals further and further into isolation and into new virtual communities that are based not merely on where they live and who they know from work, school and leisure activities, but common ideas, beliefs and experiences. This shift has already begun as seen on microblogging sites like Tumblr, which provides users will the ability to follow and blog alongside users of similar interests and ideas regardless of each individual’s physical location, eventually developing into smaller communities within the site itself. Youtube has opened up the reality of Siapera’s prediction in a similar fashion, giving the world the capacity to share how each individual lives their life differently through the sharing of video blogs or diaries, or how each person learns by watching someone from a different country teach their language or a skill to the viewer, again regardless of location.

Week 3: Platform case study: reddit

As the focus for Week 3’s learning materials, the social platform reddit and subreddit page ‘reddit gonewild’ sparked a discussion about the value and harm online anonymity can offer an individual. reddit gonewild allowed individuals to upload nude photos of themselves with their faces blocked or removed, and while they maintained anonymity, doing so while “showing such intimate body parts highlights complexities and contradictions implicit in online anonymity” (van der Nagel 2013, page 2). Barton identified (2015) that people are more likely to behave poorly online when they can hide behind anonymity. Arguments can also be made on the contrary, as McElroy (2011) adds that those opposed to online anonymity often blur the line between rude or socially unacceptable behaviour, much like that of reddit gonewild, and criminal acts like the possession or distribution of child pornography. McElroy (2011) added that when a crime happens, it should be investigated with a narrow focus on the individuals accused or suspected; the investigation should not be aimed at controlling the anonymity of the general public. Finally, McElroy finalises their argument to protect online anonymity by identifying that “the right to withhold your identify, like the right to remain silent, is not the sign of a thug or child predator. It is the sign of a free human being” (2011).

References

Barton, E 2015, The danger of online anonymity, BBC Capital, accessed 2 December 2016, <http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20150309-the-danger-of-online-anonymity>

Boyd, D 2012, 6: Participating in the Always-On Lifestyle, Part 2: Sociality, The Social Media Reader, page 72, accessed 16 November 2016

McElroy, W 2011, In Defense of Internet Anonymity, Mises Daily Articles, Mise Institute, accessed 2 December 2016, <https://mises.org/library/defense-internet-anonymity>

Siapera, E 2012, Socialities and social media, page 193-194, accessed 20 November 2016

van der Nagel, E 2013, Faceless Bodies: Negotiating Technological and Cultural Codes on reddit gonewild, accessed 2 December 2016, <http://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/swin:37605>

Wilken & McCosker 2014 in Cunningham & Turnbull (eds), The Media & Communications in Australia, page 292, accessed 16 November 2016

amandapaigebruce-blog

HI Riley,

I enjoyed reading your blog! I find Dana Boyd’s theory of “being always on” so incredibly interesting. You have touched on how she speaks about that we are not compelled to look at our phone when we hear a message tone. However, I must say I don't think I have ever been in a situation where myself or others around me have completely ignored the vibration or the sound of a message before first looking at what it says and then making to choice to ignore or reply. For me personally (even though I too fall victim to it) creates a sense of isolation. I feel as though the directness and the instantaneous nature of social media now out ways the importance of face-to-face conversations.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet? That is the Question.

Week Five:

Week 5!? I feel as though the semester only just started!

This week I took a close look in to the role that social media plays in the big wide world of politics. What a time to be researching this after a HEAVILY publicised American campaign. For months all I saw on my news feed was Donald Trumps face and hilarious Obama memes.

This week my team and I volunteered to do the units presentation on Politics and Civic Culture, which meant I dug a little deeper in to the readings and some wider research than I do in most weeks. I didn't need to sleep this week anyways...

The rapid take off of social media has opened a plethora of new and personable avenues for politicians to reach the public. Over the past decade there has been a notable growth in the relationship between political campaigns and social media. This week my team and I explored in great detail the marketing campaign that was used by Barack Obama in 2008… This was a fascinating topic to research.

During this campaign all presidential candidates explored the use of social media in order to connect with their voters directly (Rollyson 2008). This particular election is often referred to as the “Facebook Election”. It must come at no surprise that co founder of Facebook was indeed the key strategist for Barack Obama’s online and social media campaign (Dutta 2008). With such a successful social campaign in the States, its no surprise that the use of social media in politics spread like wild fire. Before long we were given another avenue to ridicule our own politicians.

#AUSPOL has given many Australians a good laugh paired with head shakes of disapproval. Throughout this week I kept thinking to myself “Do our politicians actually reach the ‘kids’ of today or are they leaving themselves totally vulnerable”.

Throughout the week there was some interesting conversations on the discussion board and Rebecca encapsulated my very thoughts in this question, “We can see Australian politicians jumping on the digital media bandwagon, trying to reach the 'kids' of today. But are audiences buying it?”. Jericho (2012), suggests that politicians are risk adverse, always cautious of saying or doing the wrong thing; and this comes across in politicians' social media / networks attempts to connect. It is obvious that politicians are 'always on' and working their social profile to promote their political careers and not to genuinely trying to connect with others. After having a very close look in to Obamas campaign when the rise of social media in campaigns was taking off, I personally find Obama's social media presence dramatically more genuine than our fellow Aussie Politicians!

References

Rollyson S C 2008, Web 2.0 Case Study Barack Obama’s Use of Social Media, CSRA, 1 December 2016, <http://rollyson.net/web-20-case-study-barack-obamas-use-of-social-media/>

Dutta, S & Fraser, M 2008, Barack Obama’s win means future elections must be fought online, The Guardian, 3rd December, <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/nov/07/barackobama-uselections2008>

Jericho G 2014, The Impact of Social Media on Political Journalism, Papers on Parliament No.62, 12 December 2016, <http://www.aph.gov.au/~/~/link.aspx?_id=AF4D0999B1BA40C99E71B5439E603A13&_z=z>

Reflections of a University Student

Dear Class and Strangers of the Internet,

This thing that I became an adult in, this “digital world” has been such an influential part of my formative years. The online world in which we, in which I live, is something that has helped me grow, helped me understand and helped me learn, however, it is also something that has inflicted a sense of pain, worry and self doubt in me as a person. The first three weeks of Uni in this unit called “digital communities” has triggered a sense of deep thought and confusion internally. It has touched on conflicting theories from well educated professionals, to interesting opinions by fellow peers that have made me seriously question my own stance on the world of social media. It went a little like this…

Week One:

The metaphorical school bells rings, class is back and I feel excited as I do at the beginning of every semester with goals to stay on track, to participate in healthy discussion and to procrastinate less. However, not 2 minutes in to Turkles Ted Talk and I've reached for my phone almost unaware of what I'm doing. I’m flicking aimlessly through the photos on my Instagram feed not really paying attention to the lattes and dogs that appear nor what this lady is talking about.

I’m not present in either sense, yet I am constantly alert?… dana boyd refers to this as being “always on”. This theory explains my natural instinct to reach for my phone as soon as it “beeps”. Freya Flavell from our online discussion board argues that this sense of split attention is what makes us feel so alone. A feeling that I have struggled with constantly since moving states. She explains that even someone we love and can have a meaningful discussion with can lose a substantial portion of our attention in a matter of seconds due to our telephones. Turkle enhances this opinion by remarking that “technology allows humans to have each other at a distance and in amounts they can control”.Is this shift slowly becoming the social norm?

Week Two:

And I’m behind in my readings already! That ideal of staying on track almost disappeared instantly. No thanks to wasting time on Facebook looking at things I tell myself I don’t “actually” care about.

As I sit here writing, in my local cafe I look around… I come here close to every day, I see the same waitstaff, regular customers and people who are sitting in an arms reach from my worn out typing fingers. I never once have tried to engage in conversation, even worse I find myself avoiding eye contact… “What’s wrong with me” I think to myself. I grew up in a small community where our neighbours were our best friends and you said hello to people as you walked passed them. These memories feel almost nostalgic, like something I have lost the ability to do along the years of growing up. Tonnies speaks about the shift from village life with close knit communities where face-to-face contact was the main form of social organisation. I find myself dreaming of things like this, inviting our neighbours over for dinner, drinking wine together, our children growing up together, yet I avoid eye contact with them in the painful 20 second journey in the elevator? It then must be obvious that the main question that stuck out to me in this weeks readings, was what Tonnies posed, “Do the internet and the new media continue this trend of erosion of community or, do they, as Rheingold (1993) argued, breathe new life into a new form of community?”

Week Three:

I’ve opened the weeks learning materials at least 5 times and can’t seem to get to the end of the page, it’s “in one ear and out the other” as my mum used to say (Donna Bruce, 1995-2010). “Surely a glass of wine will help me focus” I soon convince myself.

Reddit… I take a deep breath, and I forcefully immerse myself in a new platform of social media, because another distraction is all I need! Having no previous knowledge of the “affordances” of Reddit I did find it at first confusing, yet interesting that it was used to track down the “Boston Bombers” (Swinburne Online 2012, Week 3). I found the “Reddit Gone Wild” page strange to say the least, it really took me a while to wrap my head around the concept of this week, “Anonymity”. Froomkin (1999, pg114) suggests that anonymity makes us all strangers, and strangers are hard to trust. This makes me think back to week 2 and how I strive to avoid my neighbours… Is it because I don't know anything about them? I continue to read on and I feel conflicted in the sense that anonymity allows a sense of freedom in ways of speech, surveillance and judgment (Judith Donath, 1999), yet it can be a horrible cause of abuse, harassment and fraud with what we believe to have no accountability. However is it truly possible in an online environment to remain completely anonymous? Van Der Nagel explains that on Reddit, by just posting anything on the site you straight away identify yourself as english speaking and a reddit user. Further highlighting Gary Marx’s (2004) argument that “absolute anonymity is never truly possible”

References

TED-Ed 2013, Connected, but alone?- Sherry Turkle, 19 April, viewed 3 August 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv0g8TsnA6c>.

Freya Favell DB

Boyd, D 2012, Participating in the Always On Lifestyle, in Mandiberg (ed) The Social Media Reader, NYU Press, pp. 71-76.

Rheingold, H 2013, Network Literacy Mini-Course, viewed 3 August 2016, <http://rheingold.com/2013/network-literacy-mini-course/>.

Gillespie, T 2010, 'The politics of platforms', New Media & Society, vol. 12, no. 3, Sage.

van der Negal 2013, 'Faceless Bodies: Negotiating Technological and Cultural Codes on reddit gonewild', Scan Journal of Media Arts Culture, vol. 10, no. 2, Macquarie University.

Siapera, E 2012, ‘Socialities and Social Media’, in Introduction to New Media, Sage, London, pp. 191-208.

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