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Personal experience

Over the last 17 years, my family has been a one income household. My dad was our provider for the majority of my life. In the year 2023, my dad unfortunately lost his job. Since my family was a one income household, my dad losing his job affected us tremendously. While my dad was struggling to find work, my mom applied for SNAP and was accepted. My sisters and I put forth initiative and found work. I went from graduating high school to working part time while attending higher education in hopes to alleviate financial burden for my parents. My family works endlessly to make sure we as unit are well nourished. SNAP is constantly under scrutiny and demonized; many individuals are harshly criticized for simply using a resource that improves quality of life for many people- including people from all walks of life. I have personally relied on SNAP just as thousands of others. My personal connection to SNAP use has inspired my ability to address the dangers of improper and inaccurate information that is spread about SNAP and its impact .

#EBTUP

Blog Post #9

Blog Post #9- Week 12

Question 1: Does online communities serve as vengeance groups- does true activism exist in the online realm.

Through the recent surge of online communities and participants of listed communities, many people feel as if social media has opened doors for people around the world to connect with shared similarities. In the documentary titled “ The Antisocial Network”, an online community called 2-chan was developed; many people (majority men) found themselves bonding over their shared love of humor and Japanese entertainment. Over the course of many years, 2-chan developed into many variants of online communities that harbor hate speech and trolling. However, a small group of former participants used their knowledge of technology in activism. Their mission was to spread awareness around certain topics, leading more participants to protest for different causes. I believe that the online realm can encourage ordinary people to challenge societal issues. The beauty of social media is in its power of influence and coverage; world issues are harder to sweep under the table and regular individuals are able to take a stand when its needed. With proper caution and research, social media can definitely serve as a tool when challenging issues that surround people around the world.

Question 2: Is social media used as an online microphone for marginalized groups voices to be represented.

In a 2023 article written by Latoya Lee, Lee brings to light the vicious and racist comments that derived from the announcement of the live action version of “ The Little Mermaid”. The live action of “ The Little Mermaid” casted Halle Bailey, a Black singer and actress to play Ariel. Many people complained about the rarity of a Black mermaid and found joy in commenting on the actress’s features. Though the negative response was prevalent, Black twitter didn’t sit in silence. Black users created a trending hashtag called “MyArielisBlack. Many users expressed how important it is for Black people to witness their community in big media. To be represented is to be seen. The power of representation falls deep into motivation; seeing people who represent you can motivate younger generations. Social media can be used to spread malicious content but It can also curate a platform for marginalized groups to find their voices and share their experiences.

Question 3: Does Virtual Homeplace truly harbor a sense of community?

Homeplace can be defined as reshaping oneself- a place where community and nurture are present. In real-life social situations, many people especially People of Color are left in a vulnerable state. Many POC are faced with microaggressions and lack of understanding. In eBook titled “Women of Color and Social Media Multitasking” by Latoya Lee, Lee builds upon the concept of Homeplace by bell hooks. Homeplace can be described as a place where shelter, comfort, and nurture are present. Lee dives into the concept that Homeplace can find its way in virtual communities. Virtual Homeplaces can flow from online blog sites created by Black women in ties to natural hair appreciation. Through these blog sites, Black women are re-defining what it means to be a respected and powerful women, finding empowerment in embracing their natural hair.

Question 4: Can online movements find their malicious views by claiming ethics?

In an article published in 2014, writer Jay Hathaway clarified the timeline of Gamergate. Gamergate is an online movement that supposedly brings awareness and ethics to journalism surrounding the gaming world. Many participants of Gamergate truly believe in the outlined mission, protecting ethics in gaming journalism. However, the Gamergate community usually finds themselves engaging in misogynist and racist hate speech. By backing up the movement as something needed to restore ethics in the gaming community, many participants are able to swiftly get away with spewing hate speech online.

Works Cited

Hathaway, Jay. What Is Gamergate, and Why? An Explainer for Non-Geeks. 10 Oct. 2014, gawker.com/what-is-gamergate-and-why-an-explainer-for-non-geeks-1642909080.

Lee, Latoya. “Are Y’all Ready for a Black Mermaid? How Black Twitter Challenges White Supremacist Imaginations.” Ms. Magazine, 17 Apr. 2023, msmagazine.com/2023/04/17/the-little-mermaid-halle-bailey-black-twitter/.

---. Virtual Homeplace (Re)Constructing the Body through Social Media. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.

#gsskittens

Blog Post #7

Question 1: Is trolling a specific and set behavior- are there layers to trolling as time evolves?

As we move towards a digitized world, trolling has found its way to evolve through online communities. Many participants of social media understand trolling to be an action caused to disrupt communities. In eBook titled “ The Origins of Trolling”, author Philips expresses the difference in trolling. Trolling is a set of different behaviors depending on the individual as well as the setting and context. In some cases, trolling can be aggressive, other forms of trolling can include longevity, independent, and community based. Trolling isn’t simply just causing disruption; many online trolls are able to target individuals and say almost anything without any repercussions.

Question 2: Can being a victim of cybercrime truly affect your reputation in a real-life setting- can you truly detach from social media at any point?

Cybercrimes like cyber-harassment and cyber-stalking have left many of their victims struggling to escape from virtual world and reality. Majority of real-life situations like looking for a job, building personal relationships, academic journey, etc. All of these experiences rely on the reputation one has online. In eBook titled “ Hate Crimes in Cyberspace”, Citron mentions how cyber harassment victims struggle to find jobs due to their reputation being tarnished. Often times cyber harassment victims find themselves having to uproot their lives and wipe their existence of social media completely. Taking part in the digitized world means the unconscious mending of online you and reality you. There is no separation of online persona and physical existence, that’s why cybercrimes truly affect people in real-life situations rather than solely staying online.

Question 3: Are online communities truly founded on the principles of connection, more specifically are these online communities spreading hateful agenda?

I believe online communities are a way to practice community and connection through similarities, nonetheless, individuals can quicky turn community into control over beliefs. In the documentary titled “ The Anti-social Network”, the documentary dives into the origins of 2-chan, 4-chan, and 8-chan- all these titles are online forums that were created under the origin of 2-chan. 2-chan was an online forum created in hopes for people to share common interest in Japanese entertainment and humor. As 2-chan gains momentum in popularity, more people join and start changing the trajectory of 2-chan. 4-chan, 6-chan, and 8-chan were created to spread sexist, racist, conspiracy theories, and white supremacy. All these online forums used their platforms to spread misinformation that led to individuals foster hate for marginalized groups without repercussion.

Question 4: Are we able to truly hold trolls accountable- does trolling remove accountability and repercussing?

Leslie Jones was unfortunately one of many victims affected by online abuse. Jones was subjected to multiple hacks that left her online website tarnished with naked photos of her and aggressive replies. Many people stood with Jones and called for twitter to evaluate her situation; however, their intervention didn’t encourage permanent change. As of now, Jones was forced to deactivate her personal website. Trolling is seen as inconvenient rather than actual harassment due to the nature of the attacks. Trolls have no need to defend their actions because they’re already covered. Trolling is seen as jokes and not necessarily true opinion, nonetheless, the effect it has on their targets is true and significant.

Works Citied

Danielle Keats Citron. Hate Crimes in Cyberspace. Harvard Univ Press, 2014.

Phillips, Whitney. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things : Mapping the Relationship between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture. Cambridge, Massachusetts, The Mit Press, 2016.

Silman, Anna. “A Timeline of Leslie Jones’s Horrific Online Abuse.” The Cut, 18 Aug. 2018, www.thecut.com/2016/08/a-timeline-of-leslie-joness-horrific-online-abuse.html.

#gsskittens

Blog Post #5

Question 1: How does Digital Identity influence people’s perception regarding racial stereotypes?

In every online space, whether it’s a social media platform, educational websites, gaming forums etc., people naturally form community through shared ideals, opinions, and feelings. Our Digital Identity are specific parts of who we are, strategically pulled to fit into whatever space we are in. When online spaces and Digital Identity are brought into the picture, participants of certain communities as well as readers looking in can fall into harmful ideas regarding race. In the reading “Race after Technology”, Benejamin focuses on the reality of widespread social media and how forms of media like hashtags and memes are used to vocalize racist transgressions ( Benejamin, 2019).

Question 2: Is the action of partaking in having a Digital Identity harmful?

Digital Identity is a way in which individuals can establish certain opinions, ideals, and influence when participating in online spaces. When thinking about how individuals present themselves online, it may seem harmless at first but if we don’t carefully establish boundaries and real-life morals, our digital identity can shift into harmful influence. In reading titled “ Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights” Daniels expresses the dangers of white supremacy in online forums and its dangers forwarding to reality. Many individuals find community through shared identity even if the shared ideals and opinions are blatantly racist. When online forums build strong community with shared hatred, it can fuel individuals to act on their hatred; leading to instances where hate crimes occur ( Daniels, 2009).

Question 3: Do social media platforms influence our “persona”, are we ever truly genuine when in online spaces?

Social media platforms and our “personas” can be influenced by our communities. Granted, social media can be used as an outlet for people to build the courage to share glimpses of their personality compared to outwardly putting themselves out there in real life. Platforms are where trends in fashion, entertainment, political stances, and opinions are polarized, leaving participants to partake in trends rather than creating their own stances. Social media can birth originality through some aspects but majority of how we express ourselves are shaped by trends and community.

Question 4: When participating in online spaces, does our presentation of who we are influence how we are treated?

How we present ourselves in online spaces can show through a plethora of actions- pictures one posts, terminology used, and who are in one’s community. Social media has become a place where racial stereotypes and microaggressions are expressed with little to no ramifications. In book titled “ The Social Media Handbook”, Hunsinger and Senft bring into light how certain videos on popular social media sites are created solely to target poc. These specific videos make fun of slang used by black women. When people see our profiles and use factors like- the color of our skin, how we speak, and who we interact with as a base of perception.

#gsskittens

Blog Post #3

Digital Labor: Blog Post 3

How does digital labor fall into the Critique of Domination and Exploitation?

Critique of Domination and Exploitations focuses on the concept where one side is dominating ( reaping positive effects) while the other side is exploited at the expense of personal gain. In reading titled Working at Google, Fuchs highlights how big corporations- specifically Google, find loopholes to tie in workers. Stripping their staff from personal time. Fuchs says “It was 130-hour weeks. People say, ‘there’s only 168 hours in a week, how can you do it?’ Well, if you’re strategic about when you shower and sleeping under your desk, it can be done”. Google doesn’t outright assign people to work overtime; however, the company produces a warm environment to cater to all staff needs. If you have everything you need, there’s no need for personal time. ( Fuchs, 2013) Theres two sides- Google, a big corporation that feeds off constant labor from their workers and Employees, regular citizens that fall into the trap of long work hours.

In what ways does a Digital Market System support a capitalistic society?

In Notions of Participation, Fuchs briefly mentions a statement that labels YouTube as a platform that is designed to advertise major media. YouTube is owned by google, all content and revenue that accrues from content majority falls into Googles pocket while regular individuals are given scraps. Fuchs states “without considering the fact that YouTube is owned by Google and that the revenues that are accumulated with online advertising on YouTube do not belong to the immediate content producers, but to the shareholders of Google.” A social media platform as popular as YouTube leads to the building numbers of recognition and revenue big corporations get. Businesses are pushed in media and consumers are manipulated to fall into the cycle of consumerism.

How do we as the general public fall into believing dangerous ideologies when digital media is in place?

In digital media and cyberspace, most of our content is specifically created with an intention to spread ideologies that are not only harmful but blatantly racist and sexist. “ The Yellowface Cyborg Terminator” is a video game character that forces its players to fall into the role of savior; colonizing and violently harassing Asian characters- specifically women. In this game, players are encouraged to commit mass violent acts through the eyes of a colonizer. Forcing certain stereotypes of specific ethnic groups. ( Ow, 60) Games like Terminator vilify certain demographics and bluntly encourage violent regimes, categorizing them as justified.

Does social media encourage the reality of merit society, more specifically, are we truly free of unfair systems in today’s age? ( Black Mirror Episode)

I personally believe that social media doesn’t support a merit-based society. Majority of what is consumed and pushed in social media is strategically planned. Inheritance of status, wealth, appearance, and connections dictate whether or not someone is able to benefit of social media. With the help of social media, I believe that hierarchy is still present in certain ways; our economic status, social circle, and family ties all influence our place in the world.

#gsskittens

Question 1: How do digital security guards support the notion of quality protection while policing ,marginalized groups?

Digital security guards found purpose through ensuring protection and quick reporting. Many public services have advanced with technological surveillance; allowing to detect fraud and other mistakes for different sectors. Systems like insurance, public transportation, food stamps, etc. All modernized digital security guards collect data and build reports of misuse. In book by V.Eubanks titled “Automating Inequality” Eubanks mentions how marginalized groups are often the center of monitor through their use of public resources. Since most data that is collected and policed derives from low-income individuals, they are often under scrutiny and targeted for misuse of resources ( Eubanks, 2018). As technology advances and security finds its improvement, automated systems are able to fastly and effectively create safety while inversely leaving marginalized groups as a main target of data policing.

Question 2: Does technology truly influence awareness? More specifically, can technology support awareness in both a positive and negative light?

Technology and social media have revolutionized the way we as a collective are informed about news around the world. Technology is able to build community without barriers, people around the world and from different cultures are able to connect and educate each other through social media. Women of Color are able to connect and build online organizations. Women’s voices online are no longer overshadowed, women are able to advocate for equality while sharing a sense of sisterhood through shared experiences ( Daniels, 2009). The popularization of “ Pro-ana” sites firmly confirm social medias capability to foster negative awareness. “Pro-ana” sites are online spaces when young girls are able to validate their actions of extreme dieting and eating habits to stay thin. ( Daniels, 2009)

Question 3: Does the digitalization of most public services strip ethics from being prevalent?

The digitalization of public services and data collecting seems to administer big rifts between digitalization and ethics. In the big picture data collecting seems unharmful and quite productive. Companies are able to monitor their sites while consumers are met with speed and convenience. However, digitalization has found its target. Eubanks mentions how new tools of digital poverty management often target low-income and working-class families. (Eubanks, 2018)

Question 4: Does the policing of data reinforce common stereotypes that belong to certain marginalized groups?

Data policing is prevalent in public resources, not by coincidence but by strategic planning. Many public resources are used by low-income families. Since data policing collects personal information, many individuals stereotype low-income families as fraudsters. Maine Republican governor Paul LePage used data policing to spread inaccurate information regarding improper use of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).LePage used statistically inaccurate information to brand low-income families as liars who simply misuse funds. (Eubanks, 2018)

#gsskittens

Blog Week #1- Tech Horror

I personally have been raised in the era where technology was present. In the past few years, technology has bloomed into concepts and systems that I’ve never imagined being our reality. With that being said, technology can be confusing and complex even to those who’ve grown with it. Since the age of 14, I’ve had an iPhone and I still don’t know all of the features and ways to maneuver around my phone, especially when it comes to texting.

I have an older sister named Vanessa and for the longest time I saved her contact and Vanessa with no sort of emojis or bizarre spelling. I have another older sister named Ariel and she has a best friend name Vanessa as well. I’ve know my sister’s best friend Vanessa since the dawn of time. Around the year 2023, I was looking for a job fresh out of high school. I connected with my sister's best friend Vanessa and she let me know that she was running an after school program and needed workers. I took this opportunity as a sign and applied. Luckily for me, I was hired and Vanessa became my new boss.

I know had two Vanessa contacts saved in my phone. One day, I got into a huge argument with my mom. I decided to confide in my older sister Vanessa and sent her a long, descriptive, and highly unprofessional voice memo regarding my feelings and thoughts on my altercation with my mom. When “Vanessa” replied with question marks, I was deeply confused. A few seconds later, It clicked, I sent the message to the wrong Vanessa! I confirmed my suspicions by checking the phone number. I indeed messaged my boss instead of my sister. Informing her about my family drama. I then had to humbly apologize to my supervisor and beg that she would view me with the same respect. Vanessa didn’t seem too bothered but for me, it felt extremely embarrassing that I shared such personal information with my boss.

I’ve learned the greatest lesson- Always double check your actions before acting upon them.

First Post!

This is my first time ever using Tumblr and creating a personal blog. As you can probably tell through the layout of my blog, I admire the color purple <3

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