boringgamer.

A discussion about the modern trends of Social Media, and how these relate to the world of Social Gaming.

[chryssieswinburne-blog]

The issue of anonymity and organised trolling online

The internet gives users the power to remain anonymous, saying and behaving at will, most of the time with little risk of consequence. A recent 2014 research study found that 5.6% of internet users describe themselves as trolls or indulge in troll-like behaviour (Mack 2016). The same study noted that trolls share similar characteristics such as “psychopathy, narcissism and sadism” (Mack 2016).

Anonymous online message board 4chan is particularly well known for its history of trolling, as “the site’s users have managed to pull off some of the highest-profile collective actions in the history of the Internet” (Cha 2010). This includes manipulating Google’s Hot Trends list (Sarno 2008), hacking US politician Sarah Palin’s personal email account (Stephey 2008) and false claims of Steve Jobs’ death by heart attack (Kahn 2009).

However, it’s not just these “pranks” that the group is known for – more serious incidents have occurred thanks to the “hive mind” of its members. The 2012 Twitter abuse of now-deceased Australia’s Next Top Model judge Charlotte Dawson was traced back to 4chan, after one user encouraged other members of the site to hurl vitriol at Dawson, using the hashtag #diecharlotte (Sauers 2012). The hatred resulted in her hospitalization, with this cyberbulling mentioned as a contributing factor to her death two years later (ABC 2014).

In another incident, users of 4chan prank called the parents of a 14-year-old suicide victim for 18 months, as well as using an image of the boy’s gravestone as a meme (Schwartz 2008).

But why do these anonymous individuals engage in such behaviours? Simon Rego, Director of Psychological Training at Montefiore Medical Center and a troll culture expert, believes that “not all trolls have a mission or target. There are those who just want to [wreak] havoc on things … and then there are those whose bullying comes with a real purpose and target. There’s a function in that … but they’re all lumped together” (Dockray 2015).

4chan may be the ultimate example of online trolling and what anonymous mob mentality can do, but it’s not all bad – there’s capacity to turn things around and use trolling for good. Calais Action, a charity group helping refugees throughout Europe, recently started a campaign called “TrollAid” – an initiative whereby any trolling or negative commentary on the group’s Facebook page is responded to with a link to a crowdfunding page (Grenoble 2016). Additionally, the money raised is kept separate from any other fundraising efforts, to clearly put into perspective how much money is being raised thanks to the trolls. Calais Action organiser Libby Freeman described the initiative as “a win-win situation, because it will help stop people speaking out negatively by highlighting the abuse, and we’ll raise some extra money" (Grenoble 2016).

It’s this sort of positive reaction to trolling, as well as a greater awareness of cyberbullying, that may work to minimise the ill effects such negativity has had in the past.

ABC 2014, ‘Charlotte Dawson’s death puts cyberbullying back in spotlight’, ABC, 24 Feb, viewed 30 January 2016, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-23/charlotte-dawson-death-puts-focus-on-cyber-bullying/5277904>.

Cha, A E 2010, ‘4chan users seize Internet’s power for mass disruptions’, Washington Post, 10 August, viewed 30 January 2016, <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/09/AR2010080906102.html>.

Dockray, H 2015, ‘It’s time to reclaim the troll’, 6 December, viewed 30 January 2016, <http://mashable.com/2015/12/06/reclaiming-trolling/>.

Grenoble, R 2016, ‘Cheeky group turns internet trolling into donations’, 21 January, viewed 30 January 2016, <http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/calais-action-troll-aid-donations_us_56a9030de4b0f6b7d5448467?section=australia>.

Khan, U 2009, ‘Macworld 2009: Hackers make spoof announcement of Steve Jobs death’, 7 Jan, viewed 31 January 2016, <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/4160810/Macworld-2009-Hackers-make-spoof-annnouncement-of-Steve-Jobs-death.html>.

Mack, E 2016, ‘Internet trolls explained by science’, CNet, 20 Jan, viewed 1 February 2016, <http://www.cnet.com/au/news/internet-trolls-as-explained-by-science/>.

Sarno, D 2008, ‘Rise and fall of the Googled swastika’, LA Times, 12 July, viewed 30 January 2016, <http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/12/entertainment/et-swastika12>

Sauers, J 2012, ‘Next Top Model Judge Hospitalised after Twitter Bullying Leads to Suicide Attempt’, Jezebel, 30 August, viewed 30 January 2016, <http://jezebel.com/5939225/next-top-model-judge-hospitalized-after-twitter-bullying-leads-to-suicide-attempt>.

Schwartz, M 2008, ‘The trolls among us’, The New York Times, 3 August, viewed 31 January 2016, <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html?_r=0>.

Stephey, M J 2008, ‘Sarah Palin’s E-Mail Hacked’, Time Magazine, 17 September, viewed 31 January 2016, <http://content.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1842097,00.html>

[boringgamer]

The hive mind is a scary prospect, especially with the added element of anonymity. Hopefully as technology advances and we get a better grip on laws within the virtual space we will be able to combat such behaviour.

[adigitalcitizen]

Blog #7: Visual communities and social imaging

This is who I am… welcome to my world

As I have discover so far, information technology has dramatically altered the way in which society functions, particularly the way in which individuals associate with one another. Sociality today is looked upon as networks in which unique content (flows) are exchanged between nodes (people) in a variety of ways (ties) (Siapera 2012, p. 197). Through mobile connectivity, Internet broadband and social networking, people are now able to customise their online networks and access preferred publics to connect to others and meet their social needs (Rainie & Wellman, 2012, p. 11). In exploring these digital spaces, one emerging highlight is the increasing importance of the visual to the ways in which individuals choose to connect with others digitally within this social landscape. 

The use of the visual, whether it is through photographs or video, is not a new concept. Photography has maintained a central role in society and culture for more then a century. However, overtime the methods and motives behind capturing a visual image have evolved alongside society’s cultural, technological and economic changes (Vivienne & Burgess 2013, p. 280). This has seen photography move away from the professionally documentation of historical events and the social elite, to a personal photography obtained through mass production and affordable of the camera, first with film and then with digital capacity. Personal photography allowed the individual begin to develop and keep a personal record of their own narrative, which was often kept in photo albums (Vivienne & Burgess 2013, p. 281).

(freepik 2015)

The introduction of the web, and accessibility of content-sharing platforms such as Flicker, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram has allowed the individual to share their once personal visual narratives within visible publics (Vivienne & Burgess 2013, p. 281). As a consequence, the methods and motivations behind the sharing of visual images has once again changed. The visual is now a means self representation, a way of connecting through a visual tie, from one node to another, and saying this I who I am. It has also become a method of creating familiarity by giving others insight into the visual producer’s world as they invite others to be a spectator to moments within their everyday life. The downside of this networked visuality within publics is that it makes the producer vulnerable through exposure, particularity if that visual content is sensitive or detrimental in nature.  

Catering for the users desire for ephemerality - the concept of things lasting only briefly, the time-limited instant messaging service Snapchat has experienced an unparalleled rise in popularity since it conception (Piwek & Joinson 2015, p. 358, Ephemerality 2015). It is estimated that at the beginning of 2015, there were over 100 million Snapchat users (Macmillan & Rusli 2014). Users send snaps (photos or video messages made through the Snapchat smart phone app, which can be customized with text, drawing and filters) to a controlled list of recipients. The user decides how long (between 1 to 10 seconds) a snap will be viewable on the receiver’s device before it disappears off the device (Piwek & Joinson 2015, p. 359). This is what sets Snapchat apart from other popular content-sharing platforms used in image sharing, who create an historical archive traditionally associated with publics.

(Busniessofapps 2014)

As the application has evolved, Snapchat have expanded to provided its users with a number of other features that foster self-representational communication, insight into everyday experiences, as well as a sense of belonging. The stories feature allows the users the option to compile snaps into a narrative that can be viewed by selected recipients in chronological order, with each snap available for 24 hours after its posting (Etherington 2013). Users also have the option to follow official stories of public figures and celebrities (Newton 2015). The recent addition of “Our stories” (also know as live stories) provides a montage of contributed on location snaps at a specific event (Franzen 2014). 

  (Snapchat 2013)

Snapchat is a clear example of how visual communities are taking the digital citizen into new ways of being with others….

References

Ephemerality 2015, Merriam Webster, viewed 29 January  2016, <http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ephemerality>.

Etherington, D 2013, Snapchat Gets Its Own Timeline With Snapchat Stories, 24-Hour Photo & Video Tales, TechCrunch, viewed 29 January 2016,<http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/03/snapchat-gets-its-own-timeline-with-snapchat-stories-24-hour-photo-video-tales/?ncid=tcdaily>.

Franzen, C 2014, Snapchat lets you watch and create group videos of live events with ‘Our Story, The Verge, viewed 29 January  2016, <http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/29/6084221/snapchat-our-story-collective-snaps-from-live-events>.

Macmillan, D & Rusli, E. M 2014, ‘Snapchat is said to have more than 100 million monthly active users’, Wall Street Journal Blogs, 28 August, viewed 29 January 2015, <http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/08/26/snapchat-said-to-have-more-than-100-million-monthly-active-users/>.

Newton, C 2015, Snapchat rolls out ‘official stories’ to verify celebrity accounts, The Verge, viewed  29 January, <http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/13/9731440/snapchat-verified-accounts>.

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

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

Rainie, H, & Wellman, B 2012, Networked : The New Social Operating System, Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press, eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost, viewed 25 January 2016.

Vivienne, S & Burgess, J 2013, ‘The Remediation of the Personal Photograph’, Journal of Material Culture, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 279-98.

Images

freepak 2015, ‘The evolution of the camera’ [image], in Graphics, freepik, viewed 29 January 2016, <http://www.freepik.com/free-vector/the-evolution-of-the-camera_797907.htm>.

Snapchat 2013, Introducing Snapchat Stories (Feat. Guards), 1 October, viewed 29 January 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPzZevSbgGk>.

Businessofapps 2014, ‘Snapchat usage statistics and revenue’ [image], in Appstats, businessinapps, viewed 29 January 2016, ‘<http://www.businessofapps.com/snapchat-usage-statistics-and-revenue/..

[prprincess-blog]

Do you think Snapchat will be around for a long time? When it first came out I think I was among the group of people who had no idea how to use it! Your blog has made me want to go back and re-explore the app!

[adigitalcitizen]

Who can tell prprincess, things are progressing at such a fast rate! However, I do think Snapchat has opened up a new way of doing things within visual publics..

[sarahcurlblog-blog]

Ive never used snapchat before but i know a lot of people who do, so its great to see some more information about it, especially as its become so popular! Though i have heard that someone has created a program that can save the snaps you are sent so they may not be as private as originally thought :/

[adigitalcitizen]

Yes, I have heard of the too. App entry there are a number of ways to bypass the ‘security procedures’ snapchat have. My son showed me one of YouTube…. So it seems nothing can’t be hacked online.

[boringgamer]

I feel like we put less value on photos now because they are so easily taken and stored. We used to have 30 photos on a role of film and would need to ration that out over a weekend, now we take 100′s of photos in one night and hardly look back at them. 

I think its really interesting that you mentioned ephemerality. It has gotten to a point that a photo means so little to us we are willing to let it vanish after a 10 second period. Maybe this is why there has been a movement back towards disposable cameras and polaroids, so that photographers feel their is more value/weight to each photo. Interesting. Great blog article.

[boringgamer]

Social Gaming

When the average person mentions gaming, or refers to a person as a gamer, we tend to conjure up the mental image of an antisocial, overweight, unhygienic, male, teen yelling sexist taunts into a microphone headset. While there may be a speck of truth to this like many other stereotypes this is a gross misrepresentation.  The gaming industry is a growing sector that has become a legitimate form of entertainment for a large cross section of demographics. With the ability to connect with friends online and play together, gaming has also become a preferred social activity for lots of children and adults alike. The average age of a gamer these days is 31(grubb, 2014). And the ratio of male to female gamers is nearing 50/50. With a growing user base the industry does not show signs of slowing down with an predicted revenue of over US$93 Billion by 2019 (sinclair, 2015).

When we take this information on board, it is not surprising to see the development of gaming communities as large, dedicated and intricate as the EVE Online community. As De Zwart and Humphreys dissect EVE Online it is apparent that it “consciously and deliberately sets itself apart from other game worlds.”(de zwart & humphreys, 2014) EVE Online harbours an in game world that relies on politics, resources, a functioning economy, factions and, unsurprisingly, its own democratic council: the Council of Stellar Management. The outstanding size of the player base, over 500,000 subscribers (macdonald, 2013), warrants this council to so that it may keep order in the virtual galaxy. Through the means of the CSM, the game’s developer CCP are able to converse with the player base, find out what needs to be improved and also gage reactions to gameplay changes/updates. However this council would not exist if not for the work “freely given” by dedicated fans. The developer CCP is also invested in conflict management. CCP can engage with the CSM in order to manage conflict both in and, sometimes, outside of the game; one player received a 30 day ban (de zwart & humphreys, 2014). It is important to note, however, that ‘“In most game worlds, platform providers have neither the resources nor the inclination to become involved in such disputes.”(de zwart & humphreys, 2014) This is not something that is typical of a regular video game and hints to a level of responsibility and dedication that is often associated with the game. Gaming is a relevant, complex, social activity. Yes, 18-and-unders remain a large portion of the demographic. No, gaming isn’t only for children. Yes, a large portion of the community simply engage in casual gaming. No, gaming isn’t an elementary form of entertainment, it can be full of emotion, intricate storytelling, complex mechanics, tough decision making and, as shown in EVE Online, hard work and dedication. Yes, people can play video games on their own (just like reading a book, or watching a movie.) No, gaming isn’t antisocial, it is a way to connect and interact with friends. It can even present itself as an exciting activity that can let people interact if weather, geography or disability would prevent them from doing so in real life. Gaming is a serious industry, and we should begin to treat it as such. 

References:

De Zwart, Melissa and Humphreys, Sal. The lawless frontier of deep space: Code as law in EVE online [online]. Cultural Studies Review, Vol. 20, No. 1, Mar 2014: 77-99. Availability: <http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=225934593111540;res=IELAPA> ISSN: 1446-8123. [cited 02 Feb 16].

Grubb, Jeff. Gaming advocacy group: The average gamer is 31, and most play on a console. venturebeat.com, April 29 2014. Availability: <http://venturebeat.com/2014/04/29/gaming-advocacy-group-the-average-gamer-is-31-and-most-play-on-a-console/> [viewed 04 Feb 16].

Macdonald, Keza. EVE ONLINE PASSES HALF A MILLION SUBSCRIBERS, ign.com, 28 February 2013. Availability: <http://au.ign.com/articles/2013/02/28/eve-online-passes-half-a-million-subscribers> [viewed 04 Feb 16]

Sinclair, Brendan. Global gaming market to hit $93 billion by 2019 - Report, gameindustry.biz, 3 June 2015. Availability: <http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-06-03-global-gaming-market-to-hit-usd93-billion-by-2019-report> [viewed 04 Feb 16].

[boringgamer]

Visual Communities and Social Imaging: Vloggers

In this weeks reading Lange (2009) describes Social networks as “connections between people who deem other members important to them in some way”. This is important when we look at the interplay between content providers and content consumers in relation to “videos of affinity”.  While this term can describe any number of individual productions meant for a niche audience, I first thought of Youtube Vloggers.  Vloggers are basically individuals that keep a video blog, that being regular updates on their life made in the form of video and directed towards their fanbase or viewers. In these videos the Vloggers will often talk directly to camera in an informal way as if addressing friends. They make themselves vulnerable by opening up emotionally and intelectually to their audience, and offer a window into their own lives. This is an important aspect of Vlogging as it is all about befriending the audience. “Videos of affinity attempt to maintain feelings of connection with potential others who identify or interpellate themselves as intended viewers of the video” (Lange 2009). Because of this connection these viewers develop loyalty to particular Vloggers, even to the point that the fans identify themselves with a collective name e.g. The Nation (fans of PhilDefranco), Bros (Fans of Pewdiepie) and Nerdfighters (Fans of the Vlog Brothers). Vloggers try to establish an emotional connection with their viewers in the hope that it will be reciprocated, which in term will help them develop a loyal fan base. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU1ULKsgM6M&ab_channel=PhillyD

Link: An example of a Vlog by Youtuber Phil DeFranco, published on his channel Philly D For someone to actively broadcast their thoughts, feelings, opinions and arguably meaningless day to day activities out into the public without invitation does suggest that there is a level of narcissism involved in Vlogging. However, it could be argued that this perception of self involvement may be dependant on whether or not they have an established audience. Someone who regularly Vlogs and receives thousands of views may not be viewed as a narcissist as the content is actively being consumed by others who must, in some way, hold value to what the videos are showing. Someone who regularly Vlogs and only receives tens of views, however, may be viewed as another self involved person trying to get peoples attention. While there are many forms of videos of affinity, the Vlog does demonstrate an interesting, an important, relationship between the viewer and the creator. Without an audience their is no affinity, their is no shared experience, no reciprocation of emotions or intellectual discussion. A novel may be a masterpiece whether or not the author is the only one to read it. A Vlog with no audience fails to achieve what it set out to do, that being creating a valuable personal connection. In this way Vlogging is quite unique as its success is defined by whether or not it is consumed.  References: Herrman, J 2014, ‘Meet the Man Who Got Inside Snapchat’s Head’, BuzzFeed, 28 January, viewed 24 September 2015, <http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/meet-the-unlikely-academic-behind-snapchats-new-pitch#3dlvjg2>. 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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU1ULKsgM6M&ab_channel=PhillyD (viewed January 22, 2016)

[boringgamer]

Crowdsourcing in times of crisis

Crowdsourcing is the gathering of content, information or monetary funding from the larger community in order to contribute to a single cause or project. While it is most commonly mentioned in reference to raising money, for charities or the production of projects such as independent movies and video games, crowdsourcing holds the powerful ability to help gather and distribute information during times of crisis.  In this weeks readings two case studies are used in reference to crowdsourcing in times of crisis. The first example, referenced by Ford (2012), is Ushahidi, a platform designed to enable citizens to report human-rights abuses. The second example, referenced by Buns, Burgess, Crawford and Shaw (2012), is the way in which information was shared during the Queensland floods, particularly on Twitter using the tag ‘#qldfloods’ and the Queensland police Twitter account ‘@QPSmedia’. In both these cases this information was shared in a collaborative way between those affected by the crisis and the greater public. 

In the case of Ushahidi, the individuals affected by human-rights abuses were passing this info onwards so that they may be shared in order to create awareness. By letting the reports be submitted via text message Ushahidi was able to make itself more accessible to the public, Ford (2012) writes “here was a group of mostly African technologists and citizen journalists solving local problems through their own ingenuity and resources.” However one of the larger issues that Ushahidi encountered was verifying these reports. “Verification can be relatively straightforward when a single team with similar views is working together”, writes Ford (2012), however as users hijacked the service for their own agendas, false claims and reports began to come through. Because of this the “process [was] greatly challenged.” This essentially slowed the rate at which Ushahidi was able to publish information and made the service less affective, prompting those behind it to look for better ways to verify accounts. The platform also encountered apprehension from government bodies as they were unable to be the ones verifying content. While in some countries the government may be credible, in others this may cause conflict as they may only verify certain content that serves their agenda. By keeping the service independent and separate from the government it allows for a certain level of transparency. 

In the case of the floods, information was being shared in several ways. Those affected could share information, for example certain areas of danger, and this was then able to be spread so that it could firstly inform the greater public, who could then pass it on in the hopes that it could prevent further incidents. Simultaneously, accounts like the Queensland polices’ Twitter page could also publish information, such as evacuation plans or warnings of danger, and this too could filter down and be spread in order to assist those already affected and to prevent further people from being affected by the floods. The tag #qldfloods made it possible for users to make their content visible and relevant. Irrelevant or incorrect information could be ignored and debunked withthe help of  “@QPSMedia’s ‘#Mythbuster’ tweets.” The retweet feature, which essentially lets users republish previous tweets, created an amplifying effect in which relevant and important tweets received more coverage. “Tweets largely managed to stay on topic and focussed predominantly on sharing directly relevant situational information” (Buns, Burgess, Crawford and Shaw, 2012) Co-operation between the public and government bodies was imperative, with “Emergency services and media organisations were amongst the most visible participants in #qldfloods”. (Buns, Burgess, Crawford and Shaw, 2012) While these two crises, and the media platforms used during them, are vastly different they do show interesting and different ways in which information can flow in times of crisis, as well as give us an insight into the difficulties that can occur whilst crowdsourcing.

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. http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2011/01/09/1225984/454417-queensland-floods.jpg (viewed 20 January, 2016) http://europeandcis.undp.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Ushahidi500.jpg (viewed 20 January, 2016)

[boringgamer]

Trolling and Bullying

The act of Trolling involves baiting other social media users with hateful comments, uninformed opinions, false accusations or crudely offensive language in order to incite a reaction. McCosker (2014) labels these comments as “tools for intensifying an agonistic space that seeks to draw out and multiply interaction or reaction and extract responses.” Often these baiting comments will be comically ludicrous and clearly untrue; simply being posted to offend another. For example “Ur mother got u as a consolation prize when she lost in a poker game that's why you are fucking retarded Ps4 is the best” by user KUKUNURI SATYANARAYANA in response to a to another user who had commented on a video titled: PS4 vs. Xbox One: Year Two . However comments are sometimes simply the commenting users’ own opinion which in turn invites opposing opinions to be shared, McCosker (2014) cites Thelwall and Pardeep (2011) in saying “topics such as politics and religion were most likely to trigger and sustained comments and discussion.”  The interactions that follow the trolling comments can sometimes be positive, in other cases it can give rise to even more trolling behaviour, McCosker (2014) saying it is often “difficult to distinguish origins for the vitriol; rather, there is only escalating levels of aggressive expression”. In a case study involving two separate Youtube videos, McCosker (2014) points out that the vitriolic comments that feature in the comments section are more so a way to engage the video and promote interaction with other users rather than the pointless voicing of hate. In this sense, though sometimes cruel and offensive, these individual comments are not particular victimising, rather they are one off acts that aim to provide the commenter with a small sense of accomplishment and a brief period of entertainment. When this behaviour is repeatedly directed from one individual to another, or when multiple users engage in the pack mentality and victimize a single user, then this becomes Bullying. Boyd (2014) references three characteristics that define bullying as aggression, repetition, and imbalance in power. In trying to return my blog to the theme of gaming, I will discuss an example of online Trolling and Bullying that is central to the video gaming community. Anita Sarkeesian is a media critic / journalist that is known for her Youtube channel Feminist Frequency, and has gained a lot of attention over the past years. Sarkeesian is a staunch feminist and has focussed some of her work on sexism and misogyny within the gaming community, particularly in respect game design and character design. Her series Tropes vs Women in Video Games received much backlash for instances where it is argued she uses misleading facts / footage to get her point across. Instead of engaging Sarkeesian in academic discussion many users berated her online via socially media, particularly via her Twitter page, with sexist comments, threats of rape and even death threats. It even came to a point where she needed to leave her home for fear that she would actually be killed. The below image is just one example of the daily:

This is a prime example of aggression (threats of physical harm and death), repetition (the threats still continue to take place) and an imbalance of power (Sarkeesian has been victimized by countless social media users because of her views and opinions).  Sadly this behaviour is not uncommon within the gaming community. I find it disappointing, though ironic, that it took one journalist calling out misogyny with in the gaming community in order to bring out so much hatred and violently misogynistic behaviour, ultimately proving that it exists.

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.

McCosker, A 2014, YouTrolling as provocation: Tube's agonistics publics, Convergence, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 201-217. Youtube Comments sourced from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmybw-v1EP4

[boringgamer]

Protests

Gerbaudo (2012) best sums up the role of social media plays in modern day activism when he says “Social media can be seen as the contemporary equivalent of what the newspaper, the poster, the leaflet or direct mail were for the labour movement.“ Like the printing press before it, sites like Twitter and Facebook allow citizens to co-ordinate large social movements and as a result have transformed the way we can instigate protests. These protests can be broadcasted and reported in real time from the locations at which they are taking place, providing evidence, exposure and awareness others that are both directly or indirectly affected. The Arab spring acts as an example of social media being an important cog in the wheel of revolution with many calling this period the “Twitter evolution”. Social media in the Middle East and elsewhere “undermine the territorial, coercive, and social underpinnings of despotic governments” (Maroud 2011). However it must be understood that Social Media only contributes to revolution and is not the sole instigator. There are many contributing factors that bring upon protests and revolution, and this has been happening since well before the era of internet. Furthermore there are other limiting factors in online protests. Take for example the Egyptian protests of January 25th, 2011. After protests started gaining traction online access to sms and twitter was blocked by the Egyptian government in a hope to quell the uprising. These services rely on working infrastructure, in this case access to internet, and this can fail unexpectedly or be taken away by those in power. Fortunately in the case of the Egyptian protests there were others sites that could facilitate the spread of information in the place of Twitter, namely Youtube and Flickr. It must also be remembered that, as discussed by Youmans & York (2012), these services are commercial entities and, while they are invested in serving there customer / user base to the best of their ability, they are ultimately aiming to be financially profitable and must operate as a responsible company in order to do so. That is to say that when certain activity or content does not align with their terms & conditions they are well within their rights to remove it. This can often cause issues during times of protest. Youmans and York (2012) provide several examples of this, such as a Facebook user that was perpetuating protests in Egypt being removed due to the use of a pseudonym on their profile rather than a real name, and a graphic video of a tortured and murdered boy in Syria being removed due to the content being deemed “disgusting”. 

While these actions weren’t taken in direct opposition to the particular protests in question it is a reminder that these platforms do have limitations in their effectiveness during times of protest. It must be remembered that, while being extremely useful, these sophisticated social media platforms do not solely in exist to facilitate the voice of the protester, rather that feature is just an ability that stems from their complexity. References: Gerbaudo, P 2012, Tweets and the Streets : Social Media and Contemporary Activism, Pluto, London. Youmans, W, & York, J 2012, 'Social Media and the Activist Toolkit: User Agreements, Corporate Interests, and the Information Infrastructure of Modern Social Movements', Journal Of Communication, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 315-329. Images: https://journalistjan.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/egyptian-protests-facebook.jpeg

[boringgamer]

Politics

Twitter best represents the changes that politics have encountered due to the growing trends of social media.

In relation to politics on a local level, Twitter has created a two way street between politicians and every day voters in which discussions, challenges, questions, and opinions can be easily shared. Voters are able to tweet politicians from any place at any time. The voter can also have a reasonable expectation of a response as it is in the best interest of the politicians to address the public rather than to be seen as avoiding certain questions or ignoring the voices of the people. This connection benefits both parties. Firstly, voters can take comfort in knowing that elected officials can be contacted in a public forum with such ease. They are no longer illusive figures hidden away in the chambers of parliament. Secondly, the Politicians themselves now have an incredible tool that allows them to stay in touch with the general public and have a genuine insight into their thoughts and concerns.  Sadly with an social media platform comes the same negative trends such as online abuse and trolling. This is not new for politicians as they are constantly subjected to scrutiny as a part of their job, however a public online profile acts as a single focussed point for this to accumulate. This can sometimes block out the genuine discussions, making the platform slightly less effective.  On a larger scale, Twitter has also been a great platform for like minded people to get together and challenge the status quo. This can have outstandingly positive outcomes. Twitter was used to great effect during the Iranian Electoral Protest in 2010, the Arab Spring in 2011, and the Ukrainian Revolution in 2013. As Jericho (2012) puts its : “All that is needed is for the conditions for a revolution to exists. The spark that ignites it can come from anywhere.” Twitter allowed people to voice oppression and injustice, those voices were heard and the political climate started to change as more and more voices joined in, and the momentum grew. However it can also be used as a perfectly legal way to spread hate and fear, such as in the cases of the Westboro Baptist Church, and more recently the rise of ISIS. Thanks to Twitter, politicians and voters are more connected than ever, and we have another tool to help the general public voice their concerns and opinions. References: Jericho, G 2013, The Rise of the Fifth Estate Social Media and Blogging in Australian Politics, Carlton North: Scribe Publications Pty Ltd, EBL Ebook Library

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Blogs

Blogs are spaces that individuals or groups can post articles, photos, opinions and other content in an ongoing fashion. Blogs may deal with a very specific topic such as “US Politics” or broader subjects like “Entertainment and Gossip”. Much like traditional print media, some blogs are informative and some are opinionated, However unlike traditional print media it is the interactivity which sets blogs apart. Blogs aim to create a fan base who will continue to come back and consume content. This fan base will often become familiar with the lives, humour, opinions and attitude of the blogger. This gives blogs a more personalised or relatable feeling as opposed to print media.  Blog readers themselves say the connection with that same personal experience and the chance to comment and hold a conversation about it are what keeps them coming back. (Cross 2011, p.37 - 38) While I wouldn’t really consider myself a blogger, in that I am not a regular contributor or consumer of blogs, there are a few that I will return to. My personal favourites are: http://xkcd.com/ This is a weekly comic strip that covers things from social commentary, humorous musings, scientific theory and even philosophy. This is an example of a blog where I learned the humour of the poster over time. I am now able to appreciate it far more than when I was first introduced to it. http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/ This is a comic strip that takes Garfield out of original Garfield comics. The result is sometimes funny, sometimes unnerving, and sometimes heart breaking. The blog is a perfect format for something like this that would likely never be picked up by mainstream publications but is still able to enjoy exposure and a loyal fan base. http://www.kotaku.com.au/ Kotaku is a news website centered around video games. Is draws heavily from the blogging format, and while I do frequent this website as a way of quickly catching up on daily news in gaming, it does represent an issue I have with the crossover between journalism and blogging. At times Kotaku will literally just repost something, for example a picture or video, straight from the front page of reddit. While reblogging (reposting content from other blogs) is part of the nature of blogging, this can sometimes result in a scarcity of articles on the website and clog up the feed with effortless, time wasting posts. In my opinion it exposes the laziness that bloggers can some times get away with. The blog is a unique form of publication. Its social nature keeps loyal fan bases coming back. It allows for transparency as its individual content creators are often not being held to the agenda of a large corporation. It can be an constructive outlet for people to voice their opinion, or a way for photographers, writers and even comic strip illustrators to give their content exposure. While their are limitations associated with blogs I believe they will long outlast the impending obsolescence of traditional print media. references: 

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

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Anonymity

In week three we looked at a case study of the social media platform Reddit. Emily Van der Nagel looked into the importance of anonymity on this platform and how it affected users behaviour. Essentially users are able to sign up with a username as opposed to their real name as is done on platforms such as Facebook or Google+. This can change the way users engage with the platform. Van der Nagel quotes Gary Marx (1999) in saying: “although it carries the risk of anonymous people abusing others, online anonymity is still beneficial to society.” Here van der Nagel is addressing the stigma that online anonymity is dangerous and simply leads to abuse, death threats and other unsavoury behaviour. While this can be true in some forums, anonymity can also liberate the user. Van der Nagel particularly focuses subreddit /r/gonewild. This forum allows users to upload pornographic imagery of themselves to share with others. The up loaders keep their faces hidden, and are uploading via their reddit account which maintains their anonymity. In this case the ability to protect their identity allows them to engage in taboo activities without having to worry about social stigma or judgement from outsiders. In this way we can see how anonymity can be empowering and, as van der Nagel puts it, “is an important social practice”.

Anonymity in Social Gaming

“Having the power to choose a pseudonym isn’t just an Internet tradition, it’s a user-centred design pattern that actively nurtures empowerment” (Maymay 2011). The “Gamertag” is an essential part of social gaming community. It is a way to keep ones identity anonymous, while also creating a new online identity purely associated with gaming. Soulcrusher3000 may be a hulking Orc running around online on World of Warcraft, however in the real world this may be a well dressed lawyer winding down after she has spent a long day at the office. The Gamertag is a liberating and empowering way to give individuals freedom to be who they want to be online, in a virtual world.  Activity: Create a Gamertag I choose the name for my blog, Boringgamer, using the random username generator below: http://www.namegenerator.biz/xbox-gamertag-generator.php Choose a prefix and a suffix and let the generator pick a random adjective for you. Comment on this post with the name that you got.

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Sociality

In week two Siapera asked the question: “How might we understand the shifts and changes in sociality associated with new media’ and social media?” We looked at the new ways in which we now communicate because of social media. We are now able to transcend physical boundaries, instant messaging or video calling someone on the other side of the world at any time with devices that fit in our pocket and that we carry on us 24/7. Because of this online communities can be quite diverse, containing people from all around the globe and not limiting communities to being made up from people from single area. Beyond this, there are smaller pockets of niche communities that have been brought together by specific interests. These communities, both broad and small, blend together and overlap. I looked to my use of social media to better understand where I fit in amongst all this.The three platforms I use the most were Facebook, Reddit and Playstation Plus (an online subscription through my Playstation 4). I realised that the communities I interacted with were vastly different from platform to platform:

On Facebook I have a finite friends list. While I may delete some and add new ones here and there, this number ultimately stays pretty much the same. In reality I only regularly interact with a fraction of this list. I almost never post content. On Reddit I regularly visit the same subreddits, and therefore am most likely crossing over with the same group of users, however I contribute almost zero content, and tend to just view / consume posts I find interesting and move on. Occasionally I may reply to a comment. I do not have a friends list nor do I follow any users. On Playstation Plus I have a very small friends list, only containing friends I regularly interact with. Beyond this I am regularly interacting with many users from game to game, however these are usually random players that come and go. While I am not posting content on this platform, I am contributing regularly as the nature of video games requires you to take part. While this behaviour is very specifically my own, I was fascinated to see that not only does my behaviour change from real life to social media, but the way in which I engage with social media vastly changes from platform to platform. And, in my case, the platform (Playstation Plus) that I use in the most traditionally social way (that being actively contributing input and interacting with others) is largely made up of strangers. References: Siapera, E 2012, ‘Socialities and Social Media’, in Introduction to New Media, Sage, London,

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My Use of Social Media

In week 1 we had a look at our own use of social media. I listed what I thought were my most used platforms. However upon reading the responses from other classmates and going through the provided readings I began to get a better understanding of what exactly social media was. I had always associated the term with sites where you clearly register and set up a profile such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I had failed to think about things like email, Skype and, probably my most used platform for social media, video games. 

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Digital Communities

Hello and welcome to all my fellow classmates! This will be my blog for the coming weeks so that I can talk all things ‘Social Media’. As my group will be presenting on the subject of Social Gaming later I will aim to relate each of my posts to the world of gaming.

Enjoy!