MDA2009 - Digital Communities

[comm-online-blog]

Blog Post #8: Let The Games Begin

I never would have considered myself to be a gamer. I’ve never been into Call of Duty, Fallout or Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games (MMORPGs) like World of Warcraft and Eve Online. The popularity of social games has risen, creating networks and profiting from social media sites such as Facebook, the digital gaming community has expanded to include players of Zynga’s FarmVille and King’s Candy Crush; games which I too, have fallen victim too. Has online gaming become more socially acceptable? 

Eve Online is a MMORPG set in space - players explore galaxies, fights battles, build and destroy empires and participate in economic warfare. According to Eve Online player, Jestertrek, there are 21,000 concurrent players, having reached peaks of approximately 36,000 players in the past (Martin, 2015). Players can interact, socialise and communicate in fan forums, as well as with the Council of Stellar Management (CSM) to contribute to game management.  CSM is a player-elected representative board who relays player concerns, statistics and suggests implementation of change to the game developers - CCP (Crowd Control Productions). 

In 1938, Johan Huizinga introduced the analogy of the magic circle, proposing that events within games world are ‘quarantined from the ‘real world’’ (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.91). Are social games and MMORPGs blurring the line between real world and gaming? The analogy of the magic circle suggests that in the gaming world, everyday rules and morally acceptable conduct are altered for virtual space.

Eve Online players must accept the EULA (End User License Agreement) before commencing. Within the gaming world murder, theft and abusive language are key to the role playing, gaming experience, with players harassing others to maintain dominance and seize control of property. However, ‘abusive, defamatory, ethically or racially offensive, harassing, harmful hateful, obscene, offensive, sexually explicit, threatening or vulgar language’ are all in violation of the  terms of service (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.80). 

The Mittani - CSM member and Goonswarm Alliance leader, received a thirty-day ban before leaving the council following his inappropriate behaviour at the March 2012 EVE Fanfest. The presentation at the Alliance Panel was streamed live, discussing how an anonymous player was being repeatedly harassed and killed, scammed out of his in-game currency (InterStellar Kredits), believing he would be protected. In a chat forum the player announced he was divorced; suggesting suicidal tendencies. Alex Gianturco (The Mittani) then revealed the players in-game name,  for those who ‘want to make the guy kill himself’ (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.88). He later apologised for breaching the EULA and terms of service. Gianturco’s address was leaked, receiving rape threats against his wife (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.91). Is this response justified? 

The Mittani’s 2012 Fanfest case demonstrates how ‘out-of-game behavior can be punished through in-game sanctions’ (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.88). 

Eve Online 2003, Council of Stellar Management, Evelopedia, viewed 28/01/2016 <https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Council_of_Stellar_Management>

de Zwart, M & Humphreys, S 2014, ‘The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space: Code as Law in EVE Online’, Cultural Studies Review, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 77-99.

Lefebvre, E 2012, The Mittani gets hit with ban and resigns in wake of EVE Online controversy, engadget, 28th March, viewed 28/01/2016 <http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/28/the-mittani-gets-hit-with-ban-and-resigns-in-wake-of-eve-online/>

Martin, M 2015, ‘EVE Online’s player count drops to lowest since 2008’, VG247, 29th June, viewed 29/01/2016 <https://www.vg247.com/2015/06/29/eve-onlines-player-count-drops-to-lowest-since-2008/>

The Mitten 2012, 27th March, Apology on Eve Online discussion forum, viewed 29/01/2016 

<https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=86980>

[suaybreeze-blog]

The pattern of negative social media behaviour with activities such as online bullying, trolling, and antisocial gamers is quite stark, don’t you think?   To some degree they all use the cloak of anonymity or virtual environments to abscond from the responsibility of real world social norms, preferring traits such as intimidation, manipulation, mistreatment of others, and predatory habits toward their target audience.  Perhaps a percentage of gaming profit should be afforded to social interventions that promote rewards for shared cooperation, and stricter punishment for violence and victimisation.  Thanks for an insightful post. ☺

[bevsblog-world-blog]

I totally agree with you.  Gaming has changed the way some people behave inside and outside of the game.

[mda20009-digital-comms]

Visual Communities and Social Imaging-- The Selfie

Let me preface this blogpost with how much I hate being in photos.I personally love taking them, I just don’t like being forced to be in one. I also don’t understand the point of all those duck face group selfies of girls who claim that theres #nofilter, or when they post a selfie completely unrelated to the actual caption. We have slowly morphed into being completely self obsessed.

It all started with the simple photograph, used as a way to commemorate certain milestones throughout an individuals life, as well as a means to share memories with others. Slowly, the camera got turned around and went from taking pictures of things, be it certain events, holidays or family gatherings, to taking photos of ourselves.

With the rise of using social media to share photos, there has now been a creation of visible publics, which can be viewed as “(re)makers and (re)distributors, engaging in shared culture and knowledge through discourse and social exchange as well as through acts of media reception” (Mizuko Ito (2008, pp. 2-3). Visual publics are publics that are created using the various ‘tagging’ features available on social media, making other users aware of the fact that they are part of or visible within a particular photo, and also linking the photo back to that individuals account, providing them with more social media exposure.

This sense of community achieved through the use of social media platforms is most evident when looking at YouTube, but more specifically, bloggers. They form a relationship with their viewers that makes them want to continuously come back to the channel to see whats going on in their lives. Because of the constant updates, and the fact that they are viewed constantly, the viewer feels as if they know they YouTube star on a personal level, and will therefore relate to the content that is shown. This phenomenon can often be referred to as videos of affinity, where “feelings of membership in a social network, or feelings of attraction to people, things or ideas’ (2009, p. 71)

(missmalini, 2014)

Reference List

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

Miss Malini, 2014, 15 Hilarious Responses to Selifes (As told by Memes), November 8th 2014, viewed 4th February 2016, <http://www.missmalini.com/2014/11/08/15-hilarious-responses-to-selfies-as-told-by-memes/

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

[bevsblog-world-blog]

I really enjoyed and can relate to your first paragraph.  I too would rather take the photo than be in it.  

[hannahyoungblog]

Are social games unhealthy for an avid gamer?

We all enjoy an escape from reality from time to time. Let’s face it, work, schooling and drama filled relationships can drain us. This has led to parts of society getting involved in the gaming world, in particular, the fad of social games. It is an escape that sends you into an alternative reality. It feels fun and exciting, but is it healthy? Is the violence featured in World of Warcraft, Eve Online and other violent social games fueling the gamers for real life violence?

Eve Online, a violent massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), based upon spaceships, has been known to have players participating in scam or theft within the game (de Zwart & Humpreys 2014, p. 77; Drain 2010). This has been so severe, that in reality, the game should be banned (Drain 2010). There has been countless Eve online scams that have occurred, where some of the scams have been labelled as ‘The ISK Doubling Scam’ or the ‘Contract scam’ (Worldshatter 2015). These scams are based upon outsmarting the gamers, where their minds have been played (Worldshatter 2015). In addition, Eve Online has encountered fraud, corporate raiding and ponzi schemes as well (de Zwart & Humpreys 2014, p. 78). It sounds to me like the constant usage of this game is making people lose touch with reality, where they can break the rules in virtual world, with real world consequences.

Furthermore, should social violent games be banned altogether? The debate of violence in social games contributing to real life violence is very serious and should be taken under high consideration. Eve Online experiences 10 people blowing up a minute, which showcases the violence these gamers experience (de Zwart & Humpreys 2014, p. 77). World of Warcraft has been known to have effects of a drug addiction to the gamer, without the use of drugs, which leads the gamer at risk of being violent in real life (Independent 2008). Without these social violent games, gamers would not have the seed of violence planted into their minds, and therefore, violence in society would decrease. Sounds like a terrific idea, which unfortunately would be difficult to implement. However, the rate of hacking and scams amongst these games need to drastically drop. It’s a shame more people aren’t gravitated to innocent social games, such as Farmville.

References

de Zwart, M & Humphreys, S 2014,’ The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space: Code as Law in EVE Online’, Cultural Studies Review, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 77-78.

Drain, B 2012, EVE Evolved: Top ten ganks, scams, heists and events, Engadget, viewed 30 January 2016,

<http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/28/eve-evolved-top-ten-ganks-scams-heists-and-events/>.

Drain, B 2010, Eve Online player steals $45,000 worth of ISK in massive investment scam, Engadget, viewed 30 January 2016,

<http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/11/eve-online-player-steals-45-000-worth-of-isk-in-massive-investm/>.

Independent 2008, Is World of Warcraft just mindless violence?, Independent, viewed 30 January 2016,

<http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/is-world-of-warcraft-just-mindless-violence-1024311.html>.

Worldshatter 2015, A new player’s guide to Eve’s most common scams, The Mittani Dot Com, viewed 30 January 2016,

<https://www.themittani.com/features/new-players-guide-eves-most-common-scams?nopaging=1>.

[bevsblog-world-blog]

I don’t like the violent games that are available.  I agree that these games tend to take over peoples lives and they don’t realise what is a game and what is real life.

[bevsblog-world-blog]

Blog 8 – Social Gaming: Playing the crowd

While reading ‘The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space’ by De Zwart & Humphreys, I felt like had been living under a rock when it comes to online gaming.  I had no idea such an online game existed where there were no rules.  De Zwart & Humphreys (2014) explains Eve Online as a space-themed massive multiplayer online game (MMOG) where the aim of the game is to be lawless and attack other players.  This behaviour is encouraged and includes sabotage, piracy, murder and ruthless gameplay (De Zwart & Humphreys 2014).  Although these behaviours are encourages, I believe at the same time, gamers are expected to abide by their own moral standards.  People come from all different cultures and sometimes mixing these cultures can be a good thing to boost game play.

For some, the idea of connecting socially through an online game is more appealing than having a face-to-face conversation.  These people can be labelled as anti-social or introverted and prefer to spend their time socialising through the online game community (Ng & Wiemer-Hastings 2005). I know a young teenager who was playing games and interacting in the online social scene to the point it became an obsession.  This poor boy ended up overweight, to the point that I didn’t even recognise him, with depression and wouldn’t leave the house, often not leaving his bedroom. Luckily for this family, after a few years he pulled himself out of this depression and is now back at school and exercising.

It’s funny how the digital world keeps changing.  Nowadays, you can interact with online communities on the computer, Playstation, Xbox, Wii, your mobile device.  So much to choose from in today’s world.  For me personally, I go through stages where I like to play online games.  These are mostly played on my Iphone, some which are connected to Facebook so I can request extra lives and resources from friends.

References

de Zwart, M & Humphreys, S 2014,' The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space: Code as Law in EVE Online', Cultural Studies Review, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 77-99.

NG. B & Wiemer-Hastings, P 2005, “Addiction to the Internet and Online Gaming”, CyberPsychology & Behaviour, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 110-113

[bevsblog-world-blog]

Blog 7 – Visual Communities and Social Media

Nowadays many people upload video’s to various social media sites.  Lange (2009) talks about videos of affinity which are intended to only reach an individual’s social network or sometimes looking for a wider social network with others who have similar interests.  Generally the content contained in these videos have a purpose or meaning which the general public would not understand.

These videos that are uploaded onto social media, become public.  The wider audience has access to these and can view, comment and share as many times as they like.  Sometimes these videos can become an instant phenomenon, without the intention of this happening.

Originally when we wanted to capture a moment in time, we used a camera, which had a roll of film and was required to be developed, at a special place, where they would develop the pictures taken onto photo paper. Then came the digital camera where pictures could be taken, deleted and taken again until you had the perfect shot. These pictures were then uploaded onto a computer and either printed or left there to look at from time to time. Nowadays almost everyone has a smartphone, acts similar to the digital camera, takes pictures and uploads them onto a social media platform.  How times have changed. Once upon a time a picture represented a memory of your life, now a picture has become a way of communication in our daily lives (Hand 2012).

www.kineo.com/m/0/woody-selfie.jpg

Then came the selfie and Snapchat.  The selfie - a picture of you take expressing yourself and showing where you are at that time.  The selfie has become a phenomenon.  I too have been guilty of taking a selfie when out and about.  For me it was just a way of showing people where I was at the time. People upload selfies to Snapchat to quickly show the receiver where and what they are doing.  Snapchat is also a unique way of sharing personal content of an image/video and have it disappear once the image has been sent.  Once the receiver has received the image/video, they have a limited time to look at it before it disappears (Piwek & Joinson 2016).    

References

Hand, M 2012, Ubiquitous photography, Polity Press, Cambridge, UK

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

Piwek, L & Joinson, A 2016, “”What do they snapchat about?” Pattersn of use in time-limited instant messaging service”, Computers in Human Behavious, vol. 54, pp. 358-367

[bevsblog-world-blog]

Blog # 6 – Crowdsourcing in times of crisis

Crowdsourcing platform Ushahidi – was created in 2007 for the Kenyan presidential elections allowing citizens to report human rights abuses (Ford 2012).  As the years have gone by, the website has grown to the point of the public being able to report on incidents around them.  This is another example of a social media platform enabling people with like-minded information to share the information they have gathered and help others at the same time.

I was reading the report on the South East Queensland floods of 2011 and found that Twitter was used quite regularly to update the general public on what was happening.  Both Emergency and media organisations used this service to distribute updated regular reports.  The # or @ symbol before significant words relating to the disaster were used frequently to reach a wider audience with updates.

One of the recent significant disasters was the cyclones in the Far North Queensland.  Emma Potter has reported on her time inside the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services headquarters to observe how timely information was relayed through social media in times of crisis.  During this time, not only were the emergency services and news crews updating social media, the public was encouraged, when safe to do so, to upload pictures of the damage (The Conversation 2015)

Crowdsourcing is an important part of social media these days.  Social media allows the general public to post pictures and videos of a disaster in their area.  Although social media can also be a devil in disguise, not all information is accurate.

Again this week while writing my blog post, I have had a personal experience with this weeks’ topic.  My suburb experienced a freak storm one afternoon.  My husband was home at the time the storm hit and I was ready to leave work to go home.  Luckily we didn’t have too much damage, however, my street and surrounding streets had trees fallen down on the road and onto powerlines.  I used Facebook to as a tool to find information about the damage to the surrounding area.    

References

Bruns, A, Burgess, J, Crawford, K & Shaw, F 2012, #qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods, Arc Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, pp 7-10, viewed 17 September 2015, <http://www.cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf>

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

The Conversation, 2015, “The role of social media as cyclones batter Australia”. Viewed 17 January, 2016, <http://theconversation.com/the-role-of-social-media-as-cyclones-batter-australia-37835>

[comm-online-blog]

Crowdsourcing a crisis: How to use Twitter in a tragedy

In a rush to share information and find the Boston bombing suspects, news outlets and amateur Internet detectives showed the best and worst of social media in a few whirlwind days.

[bevsblog-world-blog]

I really enjoyed reading this article.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the social media circus that we loose sight of what the true facts actually are.

[martha-browning-blog]

Digital Citizenship 3: Trolling and social media conflict

Source: The Best of Tumblr Facebook page.

As discussed in the previous blog post, social media can be used for positive causes such as promoting injustice and issues around the world which awareness needs to be increased, sharing information about emergency situations, events, connecting with distant family and friends… and cat videos. But unfortunately at the other end of the spectrum there is the issue of trolling and conflict on social media, which can have major negative impacts on individual’s experiences with social media.

Social media is a relatively new platform for bullying and harassment, away from the typical school playground area. It provides users with a screen to hide behind, or even a fake profile with which to troll and bully others.

Urban dictionary describes trolling as “The art of deliberately, cleverly, and secretly pissing people off, usually via the internet, using dialogue” (Urban Dictionary 2009). Trolling is meant to be harmless and for humour, rather than malicious but it can be taken too far. There are numerous ways that social media can be misused including by way of harassment, bullying, hate flaming and abusive.

Charlotte Dawson is a very sad example of misuse of social media by ‘trolls’ which unfortunately played a part in the celebrity’s suicide in February 2014. Although she suffered from depression, in 2012 she was subject to a mirade of abuse via Twitter and attempted to take her own life due to the internet trolls but was fortunately admitted and recovered before relapsing again (O’Brien and Ralston 2014).

The issue in today’s society is how social media can be regulated to prevent misuse. Government associations, schools, universities and parents are looking for more ways in which they can control younger generations use of social media and create codes of practice to avoid misuse and the many incidents similar to that of Charlotte Dawson (Swinburne Online 2016 Week Seven).  

At the end of the day, with the ability to create anonymous profiles and the inability for users to fully disconnect from social media, it is a problematic situation and ultimately the best way to fix it is to teach kids the ramifications of bullying and not to bully in the first place… again, easier said than done!

References

O’Brien, N & Ralston, N 2014, ‘Charlotte Dawson found dead’, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 February 2014, viewed 4 January 2016, <http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/charlotte-dawson-found-dead-20140222-338j6.html>.

Swinburne Online 2016, ‘Week 7: Digital Citizenship 3 - Trolling and social media conflict’, Swinburne University, learning materials, January 2016, viewed 4 January 2016.

Urban Dictionary 2009, Trolling, Urban Dictionary, 21 September, viewed 4 January 2016, <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trolling>

[bevsblog-world-blog]

I agree that there needs to be more done to regulate online bullying.  It’s very scary that profiles can be created by anyone, and really not knowing who it actually is behind the computer.

[aboutayo-blog]

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

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

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

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

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

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

His response was:

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

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

References:

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

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

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

[bevsblog-world-blog]

The first passage from Tweets on the Streets really grabbed me too.  Reading this made me think about some of my actions using social media and I have started to observe others around me.  I also did not link the sharing, liking etc on social media to activism, but I guess it is.  I really enjoyed reading your blog.

[bevsblog-world-blog]

Blog 5 – Trolling and Social Media Conflict

This week the first article was ‘Trolling as Provocation’ (McCosker, 2014).  McCosker (2014) discusses two events in New Zealand that took place in 2011 and were publicised through the social media platform YouTube.  These events were the Christchurch earthquake and the Flash Mob Haka.  A lot of these videos were uploaded without any consideration for the people and their country.  Several comments were at times were filled with criticism.  

The next reading was a few pages of ‘It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens’ by dana boyd.  I found this a very interesting read about teenage bullying. In this article, dana boyd (2014) discusses how teenagers do not always understand the consequence of their actions of bullying.  Until teenagers start to realise the hurt and pain they inflict on others, they will continue to follow the current destructive path.  Although bullying has been around for a long time, social media has made bullying more visible to people (Boyd,2014). 

In 2012 anti-bullying laws have been implemented, with specific provisions for online bullying (Boyd 2012).  The way we use social media today may cause conflict, sometimes even without realising it.  People tend to hide behind their computer or smartphone to troll or bully others.  It’s sad to see how selfish and unsocial society has become.

While writing this blog, my son showed me a video that had just been posted on Facebook of a former soccer player inappropriately rubbing his daughters’ chest during the national anthem.  The anthem was played just before a soccer match that evening. At the time of watching this video, I found it quite disturbing.  The former soccer player was instantly trolled, mainly on Twitter (Daily Telegraph, 2016).  Although I too found this behaviour inappropriate, especially on live television, I did not find the need to express my disgust on social media.  

I think it is very important for Australia to dedicate an Ombudsman to online safety for everyone, not just children.  I couldn’t find a website that was available for adults to find help.  Yes children are more susceptible to cyber bullying; however adults are just as susceptible to cyberbullying.  If an adult has was bullied as a child, moving into adulthood, and still being bullied, might cause a lot of mental health issues.  Luckily for me, in my adulthood I have not experienced or know of anyone who has been bullied this way.  

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.

Daily Telegraph, 2016, "SBS TV presenter Craig Foster trolled over footage of him with daughter at soccer match", viewed 8 January, 2016, <http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/sbs-tv-presenter-craig-foster-trolled-over-footage-of-him-with-daughter-at-soccer-match/story-fni0cvc12277014062679->.

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

[bevsblog-world-blog]

Blog 4 - Activism & Protest

We started this week by reading about how social media is a magnet for activism and protests.  The first reading was “Tweets and the streets”. People use social media when they witness a protest or riot.  The first thing we do these days is reach into our bags, grab our smart phones and either take a picture or record a video of what we are seeing in the streets. Gerbaudo (2012) witnessed this exact behaviour while observing a protest in Cairo.  A woman standing nearby took a picture of the violent arrest that was happening in front of us and as Gerbaudo watched on, he presumes she was posting onto a social media site (Gerbaudo 2012).  

Culture jamming is about activists using their freedom of speech, by sabotaging a poster or billboard advertisement from a company using words of negativity.  Culture jamming is a way for people to express their dislike to the way a company is advertising their brand.

www.mrcheddahcheese.files.wordpress.com /2011/11/starbucks-coffee-culture-jamming-copy.jpg

An example of a website devoted to culture jamming is www.Adbusters.org. Upon researching this website, I started to realise how popular this culture jamming is. Adbusters is a not for profit organisation voicing their opinions on political and social issues.    

www. 2030now.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/slacktivism.png

Upon reading about slacktivism I was faced with the reality of being guilty of slacktivism.  Joining Facebook and twitter groups, liking, commenting and sharing to support a cause is classed as slacktivism.  By using social media to show your concern or support for a particular cause, can reach groups around the world at the click of your mouse.  This process takes no effort at all.  

www.notenoughgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/hashtag-2.jpg

Activists who use social media to advertise their protest is called clicktivism. This is just another way for activists to voice their opinion and reach an audience all over the world.  Sometimes this “voice” or “opinion” is not always right, but in the eyes of an activist who is passionate about a particular topic, they feel empowered by expressing their opinion.  

References

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

[bevsblog-world-blog]

Blog # 3 - Politics and Social Media

This week sees us explored the way politicians use social media as part of their campaign.  Politicians around the world are using social media as a way to connect with the people.  I decided to research the 2008 and 2012 Presidential election in America and the 2013 Federal Election in Australia.

The 2008 election in America saw a huge number of people using the internet to obtain updated information on the campaign for their favourite candidate (Young, 2010).  Leaders from around the world are starting to realise that social media is playing a big part in their campaign to win over voters.  Voters are seeking assurance from these platforms to ascertain who they might vote for on the day of election.

During the 2012 Presidential election in the United States of America, Obama and Romney used social media platforms to attract people to like, comment and re-tweet their thoughts and expose their alliance to their favourite candidate (Dalton-Hoffman 2013).  One of the reasons Obama succeeded in winning the election was due to his presence on social media.  Dalton-Hoffman (2013) shows statistics between August 27th and September 23rd,  on the amount of tweets and Facebook posts President Obama had, 11, 179, 537 tweets and 442,524 Facebook posts, while Romney had 7, 740,992 tweets and 249, 567 Facebook posts.  It was clear to see that Obama was more popular on social media that Romney.  If found the following Youtube video interesting.

America is in the middle of the campaign for the 2016 presidential election.  I’m sure the use of social media has increased dramatically since the 2012 election.

The last federal election in Australia was in 2013. According to Waters (2013), this election was ‘dubbed the “social media election”’.   Kevin Rudd used social media to obtain votes from a younger audience on with his support on same-sex marriage, while Tony Abbott was focusing on showing the family man he is by posting pictures of his family.  In the end, Tony Abbott had more followers than Kevin Rudd.  He must have been doing something right.

Of late in Australia, Malcolm Turnbull became the first lower-house Australian politician to Tweet (Jericho, 2012).  Not only did Turnbull use Twitter, he recognised the need to use a variety of platforms to advertise his political campaign.  

References

Dalton-Hoffman, M 2013, 'The Effect of Social Media in 2012 Presidential Election'

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

Waters, G 2013, 'Ten social media moments of the 2013 campaign', The Sydney Morning Herald, viewed 2 December, 2015, <http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/ten-social-media-moments-of-the-2013-campaign-20130906-2t9vv.html>.

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

[pleasantlycrookedstrawberry-blog]

Blogging As A Profession

Few things have grown as rapidly or as firmly planted in the public sphere than the concept of blogging. 

Weblogs, better known as blogs, have provided a regular platform for the display of thoughts, ideas, opinions and general musings for just about anyone with a free chance to influence, entertain and inform at every whim and fancy.

The idea that blogging has developed to such a point where it is common place for business, multi-national corporations and governments world-wide to partake in it, as well as continued to provided the sole platform for the common digital user is a strong testament to the idea that the framework structured for blogging is open to the interpretation of both the creator and the consumer on a wide number of levels.

In a Wall Street Journal online publication in 2009, Public Relations guru Mark Penn has reinforced the idea of the blogger as the vanguard of the modern digital media sphere by suggesting that “bloggers have become the fifth estate in America, giving the fourth, the media a run for its money” (http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124026415808636575).

The idea that blogging is creating itself and its participants as the fifth estate, as Penn has dubbed it, begins to further legitimize and strengthen the idea that blogging is a normal, acceptable social content provider and consuming information or ideas created, or at the very least conveyed in blogs is also acceptable and, in fact, becoming expected.

The public sphere, of which blogging has become a huge, legitimate part of is being further stretched and challenged by the concept of the ‘blogosphere’ which, as the name suggests, begins to accept the notion that blogging is such a valid, useful part of society, a genuine piece of the digital society that has developed around us, that it requires its own title, its own signalling factor that the concept of the blog is bigger than any other single form of media in the world today.

It is utterly astonishing that as the trend toward a genuine acceptance of blogging, the legitimacy of the concept of the blogosphere has cemented itself into the psych of the general populous, that the concept of paid blogging, of people who have developed blogging into a paid profession beyond a mere hobby or chance to influence a wider audience.

Paid blogging has grown exponentially, leading to a proliferation of ‘how to make money’ from home websites and pages all across the internet. This is relatively small in and of itself, but combined with the growth of blogging and studying of  the concept of blogging have created an entire subset inside the public sphere, lending more weight to the structure and form behind Penn’s idea of the fifth estate.

[bevsblog-world-blog]

I too found it interesting that so many people are making money out of blogging.  It has become a part time job for some people.

[ka88ee-blog]

Blogs, Blogs and more Blogs!

A blog is defined as an online personal journal that is updated frequently (BlobBasics 2014). Blogs are both kept and updated online by the original author, and other readers can leave their comments or opinions at the end of the blog. It is a way for people to express themselves and provides some enjoyment for fellow followers and readers. Check out the following link for more information about blog basics:

http://blogbasics.com/what-is-a-blog/

During week 4 we were introduced to some new terms and ideas, especially the term ‘The Public’. Warner (2002) describes a public as ‘a concrete audience, a crowd witnessing itself in visible space, as with a theatrical public’. Public’s form themselves around events and are therefore cultural formations.

Networked public’s are shaped by three central dynamics. These are invisible audiences, collapsed contexts and the blurring of public and private. The following YouTube video is  At the Hyper public Symposium, Danah Boyd of Microsoft Research discusses how young people adapt to and modify norms and techniques for privacy on social networks, it is long but has some great information that also touches back on the past four weeks we have studied.

https://youtu.be/bdLCKdjClFw

We touched on counterpublics, and the names Michael Warner and Nancy Fraser were mentioned, as these people along with others used the term counter public to describe the smaller and loosely connected groups that are working to counter social structures.

Back to blogs and blogging! I found it quite interesting that blogging is not just done with pen and paper (or keyboard if on the computer). Blogging can also be done by voice recording, and even through the use of YouTube videos, who would have thought! (or maybe I just a bit behind in the technology department). The following YouTube video is about blogging, but is written for simple minded people like myself!

https://youtu.be/NN2I1pWXjXI

Happy reading!

References

BlogBasics 2014 http://blogbasics.com/what-is-a-blog/

YouTube http://blogbasics.com/what-is-a-blog/

YouTube https://youtu.be/NN2I1pWXjXI

[melje-digital-comms-deactivated]

I also found it quite surprising when I realised that blogging can be done by voice recording and through the use of YouTube videos. I had always assumed a blog was only in the form of a written online journal.

[bevsblog-world-blog]

Wow blogging by voice recording.  I never knew that.  I too had assumed blogging was in a written form.  Interesting

[bevsblog-world-blog]

Blog # 2 Blogging

We started the week off by reading “Got Blogg”. Cross (2011) describes blogs as “word of mouth on steroids”.  Well he wasn’t wrong.  You can blog about anything and everything.  Blogs are a way for people to express personal experiences and allow others to follow and comment on the topic (Cross, 2011).  It is easy enough to set up a blog.  There are several platforms which provide templates you can use to blog.  The key to successful blogging is to post new content regularly.

Our second reading was from McDosker & Darcy 2013 - 'Living with Cancer: Affective Labour, Self-Expression and the Utility of Blogs', in Information, Communication and Society. This article talked about how blogging can provide people suffering from an illness a way of connecting with others going through similar issues.  These blogs are mainly dedicated to them sharing their experiences on how the illness affects their body and everyday life rather than the medical aspect of the illness (McCosker & Darcy 2013).

Then we moved onto finding out about publics and counterpublics.  My understanding of these are:  

Publics – are where you and I express our public thoughts through blogs and social media.  These posts are shared with those of similar interests.  This blog is part of the publics.

Counterpublics - is a collection of people who are different to the normal publics.  These groups of people express themselves in a way you would not normally consider that stereotype to be like.

This week I was lucky enough to be a part of a great team where we collaborated to create a presentation called “Mommy Blogging”. What an interesting topic that was! I had no idea the extent of mommy bloggers.  Within our presentation we explored who, what, why, where and when of mommy blogging. According to Cross (2011), mommy blogs are “a cultural force to be reckoned with”.  I was surprised to find out that a lot of mommy bloggers are actually making money or receiving products as a result of blogging about a particular product.  

  References 

Cross, M 2011, Got Blog, in Bloggerati, Twitterati: How blogs and Twitter are transforming popular culture, Praeger, Santa Barbara.

 McCosker, A & Darcy, R 2013, 'Living with Cancer: Affective Labour, Self-Expression and the Utility of Blogs', in Information, Communication and Society, vol. 16, no. 8, pp. 1-20

[socialhouse-blog1]

Interesting facts about the effects of technology and social media on our brains.

[bevsblog-world-blog]

Wow, what an interesting clip about how our brain reacts to social media

[melje-digital-comms-deactivated]

Interacting with others

If you are anything like me, social media is an integral part of your everyday life, and you’re bound to have at least one social media app on your phone for the easy access to your quick fix.  Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, LinkedIn or even Pinterest, the majority of modern society belongs to some form of digital community.

But, have we become too reliant on social media? 

Social media is a networking tool where we are able to interact, educate, inform and entertain others and ourselves on a community-based platform.  It allows us to create personal profiles, upload videos and photos, and interact with friends and family all over the world (Evans, 2010). 

Way back when?


It’s incredible to think that the first identifiable social media site was only created in 1997.  Founded by an American entrepreneur by the name of Andrew Weinreich, the site was called SixDegrees and evolved from the concept of ‘six degrees of separation’ (a theory developed by Frigyes Karinthy in 1929) (Cbsnews.com, 2014).  

Due to a lack of understanding and awareness, the site was only active from 1997 to 2001, and was sold in 2000 for $125 million. It was then shut down a year later (PRSSA, 2012).  

SixDegrees paved the way for future social media and it became one of the first manifestations of social networking websites in the format we now see today.

Today as we know it

The modern versions of social media websites are more refined than their predecessors. Today, social media is not only used as a means to learn about the latest news and events, collaborate with others, and share music and videos, social media is used as a tool by businesses to market their products and services, promote and create brand awareness, connect to current customers and generate new business (Noor Al-Deen et al, 2013).

The way in which we socialise and interact with others tends to be mediated by the ever-evolving Internet (Siapera, 2012). According to German sociologist, Ferdinand Tönnies, there are two types of social groups that have been developed in order to understand the shift and changes in society associated with the progression of the Internet.  These groups include Gemeinschaft, which is translated as “community,” and Gesellschaft, translated as “society” (Tönnies et al, 2001).

Tönnies suggests that while early societies used to rely upon a community type of social group, where relationships are constructed by choice and on the basis of personal and social interactions, these days modern society relies upon a more societal group that is based on indirect and impersonal interactions, and occurs when specific goals and outcomes need to be achieved (Siapera, 2012).

Instead of face-to-face interactions and socialising with others in our immediate environment, relationships are now sustained via a virtual space in which individuals come together through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter (Siapera, 2012). 

Source: (Reaction GIFs, 2012)

References:

Cbsnews.com, (2014) Then and now: a history of social networking sites [online] Available at: http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/then-and-now-a-history-of-social-networking-sites/2/ [Accessed 20 Nov. 2015]

Evans, D (2010) Social Media Marketing, Indianapolis, Ind.: Wiley Technology Pub

Noor Al-Deen, H and Hendricks, J (2013) Social Media and Strategic Communications, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

PRSSA, E (2012) A Forefather of Social Media: Andrew Weinreich and SixDegrees.com [online] EMU PRSSA, available at: http://emuprssa.com/2012/05/26/a-forefather-of-social-media-andrew-weinreich-and-sixdegrees-com/ [Accessed 20 Nov. 2015]

Reaction GIFs (2012) Jim Carrey typing fast - Reaction GIFs [online] Available at: http://www.reactiongifs.com/jim-carrey-typing-fast/ [accessed 21 Nov. 2015]

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

Tönnies, F and Harris, J (2001), Community and Civil Society, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

[bevsblog-world-blog]

I agree that social media has become a part of most people’s everyday life and yes I am guilty of checking Facebook first thing in the morning while drinking my cup of tea.  A bad habit I think :(