words n stuff

a discussion on digital communities.

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Welcome!

*Disclaimer*

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Social Media Conflict: Ah! Run away!

Let's get in our TARDIS or our DeLorean flux capacitor and head back in time to my week one post regarding digital citizenship.

Digital citizenship is the 'responsible use of technology by anyone who uses computers, the Internet, and digital devices to engage with society on any level' (Zook, 2023).

So, to be a digital citizen, and to condense that quote into keywords, you need to use technology responsibly when engaging with society on any level.

Responsible. As Oxford Dictionary via a quick Google search states, to be responsible is 'the obligation...to care for someone.'

SO BASICALLY...DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP INVOLVES CARING. FOR OTHERS. Caring. For Other People. Simple!

Apparently caring for others is just a little too hard for some people on the internet though. That's where conflict begins.

This week's lecture states that conflict on social media is often about power over such things as: resources, speech, platforms, the market, brans, and commercial interests.

Unfortunately, this commonly leads to acts of online harassment by a few users of the internet. Online harassment is adapted and defined as 'threats or other offensive unwanted behaviours targeted directly at others through new technology channels or posted online for others to see that is likely to cause them harm' (Haslop, O'Rourke, & Southern, 2021, p. 1420).

Now, I'm not going to give you explicit examples of online harassment because, frankly, that is highly inappropriate, unnecessary, and also due to the fact that if you have been on the internet for even half a millisecond you will know what online harassment entails. It's not pretty, that's for sure.

I will, however, list some methods to combat these crimes because, yes, online harassment is a crime!

1. Take Legal Action.

Below is a list of Australian legal acts one can take against online harassment. These acts offer protection against online abuse, image-based abuse, child cyberbullying, and other seriously harmful and dangerous content, a few examples of such include:

The Criminal Code Act 1995

The Australian HUman Rights Commission Act 1986

The Enhancing Online Safety Act 2015

The Online Safety Act 2021

2. Advocate For A Safer Online Space

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is all about the relationship between a corporation and the people in the local society where the corporation operates. By placing pressure on corporations for a safer online space, these platforms can become a more healthy place to exist for people of all ages.

3. Take A Humorous Approach

Remove the power the online harassers think they have by making jokes to raise awareness and to resist and fight back with intelligence and dignity.

Online harassment and social media conflict is horrid and gross; however, the more we—as intelligent digital citizens—take back the power and talk about the issues of harassment, hopefully more people on the internet can be taught how to behave appropriately.

Be nice to one another, y'all!

References:

Haslop, C, O’Rourke, F, Southern, R 2021, #NoSnowflakes: the toleration of harassment and an emergent gender-related digital divide, in a UK student online culture, Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, vol. 27, no. 5, <https://iam.atypon.com/action/saml2post>

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Social Gaming: Makin' Friends, Havin' Fun, and Gettin' Paid.

"Playing a game is the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles."

(Suits 1978, p.41)

It is kind of funny to think about games like that. A voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles. As humans, we do all we can to avoid obstacles, unless they're games. Ha!

As of this year (which is 2023, for you time travellers reading this from the future), the amount of gamers worldwide lands juuuuust around the 3.22 billion mark (Josh Howarth, 2023).

Let's be honest, the gaming community is typically viewed to be dominated by white or East Asian men; however, I believe that there are more gamers than what meets the eye.

I mean, and in my opinion only so gamers don't get mad at me, if you play any sort of video game—you're a gamer. If you play Crash Bandicoot, Dora the Explorer, Mario Kart, Overcooked, Stardew Valley, Minecraft, Rocket League, Overwatch, or ANY OTHER VIDEO GAME—you're a gamer!

A lot of those games listed above—almost all of them—can be played with other real gamers. Locally, meaning you can play with your friends who are right next to you; or online, meaning you can play with your friends who are across the globe in another country. That's so cool, right?!

I, for one, like to play games locally and socially with my friends and family. As a result, I seem to have found my very own gaming community.

A gaming community is essentially a group of two or more people who have a flow of communication over a shared interest in video games. Games are something people can bond over, skipping that otherwise awkward silence on some occasions.

For example, my partner and I love to play Overcooked together and sometimes recruit my brother and his girlfriend for a bit of friendly competition—thus forming our own little gaming community!

Apart from social gaming, there is what is known as competitive gaming. I mean, I understand that games are competitive in nature; like...that's the whole point of games, right? to win? But, in this instance, we're going to be talking about esports (electronic sports) to win money and sponsorships and exposure!

The competitive gaming industry is an extremely lucrative one that is very closely linked to online live streaming— which is when someone live streams themselves and the game they are playing for live audiences to watch online.

Gaming has always had a massive come-togetherness vibe to it, in my opinion. From board games to campfire games, to school playground games, etc. We are now simply just living in a digital era and our gaming has moved online!

Howard, J 2023, How Many Gamers Are There? (New 2023 Statistics), viewed 15 May <https://explodingtopics.com/blog/number-of-gamers>.

Suits, B. 1978, The Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Viewed 15 May.

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Living a Filtered Life: AR, AI, a-what-now?

Look, we don't have flying cars and hotels in the sky—but we do have augmented reality facial filters and artificial intelligence. Filters that can make you look like something you're not? Weird! But...Kinda cool? What are your thoughts on filters?

Yay or Nay: Filters

yay

nay

Voting ended onMay 13, 2023

Jessica Barker states that '[Snapchat] filters apply virtual accessories and modify facial features, enabling users to incorporate augmented reality into their daily sartorial practice and self-presentation' (Barker, 2020, p, 208).

If we compare filters to, say, a coffee filter, I feel like it's easier to visualise what exactly is happening. When the water is being poured, the white coffee filter paper stops the coffee grounds from getting into the smooth cup of coffee at the bottom, so that the cup of coffee is being served exactly how you want it to be served.

The Coffee filter acts as the Instagram beauty filter filtering out bags under your eyes or uneven skin (not that either of those are inherently bad things) so that the final Instagram or Snapchat post is curated exactly how you want it to look so that the audiences are seeing exactly what you want them to see.

Jill Walker Rettberg, in Filtered Reality: Seeing Ourselves Through Technology, explains how 'Instagram was one of the first sites to really popularise filters, and now they are everywhere, allowing us to make our selfies and other photos look brighter, more muted, more grungy, or more retro than real life' (Rettberg, 2014, p. 21).

Now, let's talk about...

Visual Filters vs Cultural Filters.

Jill Walker Rettberg describes the similarities between visual filters we put on photographs that we post on social media; the technological filters that are applied to our social media usages themselves; and the cultural filters (like expectations and norms) that teach us subconsciously how to 'mimic' models and influencers when we photograph ourselves. (Rettberg, 2014, p, 22).

The author goes on to explain how 'we don't just filter our images before we post them, though: filtering has become an important and far more general concept in today's digital culture. We filter our images, our emails, and our newsfeeds' (Rettberg, 2014, p. 21). 

Here we have an Instagram filter made by Kylie Jenner's team who have a filter that smooths the face, fills lips, and adds butterflies and blush that helps users look that tiny bit more like Kylie Jenner herself (although she doesn't go round with heart-shaped blush I'm sure, but you get it).

We are essentially filtering out ourselves to fit into society as a whole.

The Psychological Effects of Filters

People who are using these augmented reality filters are feeling 'detached from their natural faces' (Barker, 2020, p, 215) and are likening beauty filters to cosmetic surgery and virtual violence.

If used daily, Barker states that Snapchat's brand of 'unattainable and exclusionary beauty' can become internalized as they can begin detesting their very own beautiful features as they don't match the fake and filtered versions they are seeing through their front camera on Snapchat.

Users may result to cosmetic surgery as a result of feeling that gap between filters and reality. (disclaimer: not totally against cosmetic surgery).

Barker acknowledges that Snapchatters have 'confessed to mild identity confusion when comparing the unfiltered [versions of themselves] and the selfie-self' (Barker, 2020, p. 216).

Jessica Barker on Snapchat Filters writes that these filters operate within a system of sociocultural issues as they attempt to implant a beauty ideal through the augmented reality technology—influencing the way people see themselves and one another.

Perhaps to be mindful about your own usage and the way we read into other people's photos—specifically when using AR filters—may help contribute to create 'a new standard of beauty and image of fashion' and to help foster an environment that is 'inclusive, respectful and empowering' to all users. 

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Body Ideals, Body Modifications, and Body Trends: What Can We Do?

As digital citizens, we need to be mindful of our thoughts and catch ourselves before we slip down that slippery slope of comparison on social media.

Have you ever seen a microcelebrity on your daily Instagram scroll and think, 'Wow...I wish I were them! They seem to have their life together—and they look *amazing* doing it!'?

I won't lie to you, I most definitely have. Especially when, in recent years, microcelebrities have made it so easy to do so.

A microcelebrity is a relatively new form of identity that is linked almost exclusively to online spaces. (Senft, 2012). It refers to a person with a large following that creates and maintains an online identity that resembles a branded good in order to gain status through visibility online (Marwick 2013; Senft 2012).

To be a 'microcelebrity', one has to create an amplified version of themselves that adheres to aesthetic templates* that are endorsed by microcelebrity culture that have been put in place often through product campaigns.

*are poses, accessories, props, and bodywork that are often used for commercial benefits. Editing photos, posing intentionally, and even getting work done on your body (i.e., lip fillers, BBLs, etc.), are all examples of how someone can adhere to these aesthetic templates.

(Disclaimer: there is nothing wrong with getting bodywork done—gif below is exaggerated for comedic purposes only. You are amazing either way. Okay, you get it. Continuing now.)

In workplace settings, workers enact aesthetic labour by embodying attributes that will resonate with customers for commercial benefit (Dean, 2005; Witz, Warhurst & Nickson, 2003). This involves behaviour such as dressing professionally, smiling with sincerity, and attempting to form relationships in these short interactions.

So, we can see the similarities between these workplace aesthetic templates and these social media microcelebrities aesthetic templates. Because, at the end of the day, customers want to buy things and employees want to sell those things to them.

This gif here below shows you how to behave if you DON'T want to work with those aesthetic templates in mind...

The beauty standards that these microcelebrities are portraying through their adherence to their own set of aesthetic templates have recently begun to impact the viewer's mental health as the beauty standard is seemingly unachievable for the common folk. Without the cash flow that these influencers/microcelebs are raking in, we aren't able to spend the thousands that they do on clothes, beauty products, bodywork, etc.

So, what can we do?! How do we combat the ever-presence that is social media influences?

I mean, body dysmorphia disease (BDD) is at an all-time high. Himanshu states that to help the disease, we need to start by recognising the 'the increasing incidence and influence of social media [and] there needs to be increased awareness among caretakers as well as professionals working with adolescents like teachers to promote positive body image' (Himanshu et al., 2020, p. 567-570).

Not only that, but we—as individuals—need to hold ourselves accountable. The body dissatisfaction that is the byproduct of self-comparison of those on the internet is unhealthy and by becoming self aware of what our brains are thinking whilst scrolling—we can put a stop to those unhealthy comparisons to microcelebrities and those aesthetic templates they adhere to.

Below is a video that further explains the impact of social media on BDD:

Body dissatisfaction is largely a social issue that has the potential to slow down if we all agree that a mindset change needs to occur.

If you find yourself comparing yourself to another—opt for a social media detox, for example. I know we always get told to 'go for a walk, it'll clear your head' or to 'go spend time with your family'. But those seemingly silly suggestions can help a tonne.

Versions of your face have been loved by plenty of generations before you—you should remember that the next time you feel down about yourself. (Gosh, I sound like an INstagram quote from 2010 like 'keep calm and carry on' LOL. Okay, again, enough...cya next time!)

References:

Dean, D 2005, Recruiting a self: Women performers and aesthetic labour. Work, Employment & Society, 19( 4), pp.761– 774.

Himanshu, Kaur A, Kaur A, Singla G. Rising dysmorphia among adolescents : A cause for concern. J Family Med Prim Care. 2020 Feb 28;9(2):567-570.

Marwick, AE 2013, Status update: celebrity, publicity, and branding in the social media age. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Senft, T 2012, Microcelebrity and the Branded Self. In Hartley, J, Burgess, J & Bruns, A (Ed.), A Companion to New Media Dynamics, Blackwell, UK.

Senft, TM 2012, Microcelebrity and the Branded Self. In Hartley, J, Burgess, J & Bruns, A (Ed.), A Companion to New Media Dynamics, Blackwell, UK

Witz, A., Warhurst, C., & Nickson, D 2003, The labour of aesthetics and the aesthetics of organization. Organization, 10(1), pp. 33– 54.

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Fashion as Slow as a Turtle: Sustainable Fashion that Saves our Ecosystems.

Sustainable Slow Fashion—or should i say suuusssstaaainnableeeee sllllooooooowwwwwww fassssshhhhiiiiooooonnnnn—is defined as the need to 'focus on more durable products and traditional production techniques or design concepts that have no season emphasizing quality in order to achieve sustainability' (Domingos et al. 2022, p.1).

If you have ever heard of the following terms, you will probably already have a basic understanding of what 'slow fashion' means...

Sustainable fashion ♻️

Ethical fashion 🌏

Thrifting 👖

Circular fashion 🔄

The slow fashion movement attempts to show 'the importance of sustainability to fashion industry partners' (Domingos et al, 2022, p. 9)—like Nike or H&M, for example—whilst also trying to change the everyday consumer's values around their purchasing decisions.

For a fashion industry partner—more commonly known as a fashion label—there are four guiding principles that help these labels qualify as sustainable that reads as follows:

#1 Items must be child labour free across the supply chain.

#2 Materials utilised within the production process should be less harmful to the environment, recycled, upcycled and/or more durable.

#3 The production process must be ethical and socially responsible, paying workers fair wages and help create jobs in the country of origin by producing locally.

#4 The allowance of negotiation for fair prices and wages that fosters the creation of sustainable fashion.

Put simply, for all you new business owners:

Be. Nice. To. Your. Employees. Be. Nice. To. Your. Planet.

The Environmental Impact of Fast Fashion

The goal of fast fashion companies, as Mehrjoo and Pasek state in their production research journal, is 'to produce the most amount of fashionable and trendy apparel in the shortest amount of time, so consumers can keep up with the fast and ever-changing trend cycles and want to consume more products' (Mehrjoo & Pasek, 2015, p. 101).

Anyone with any critical thinking skills at all can see that particular fast fashion philosophy is simply not sustainable. At all. Not for the employees making those garments. Not for the customers continuously trying to keep up with trends. And especially not sustainable for the environment.

Martina Igini writes on earth.org that '92 million tonnes of textile waste is produced every year' (Igini, 2022). Which, to put it into perspective, is as if a 'rubbish truck full of clothes' (Igini, 2022) is dumping textile waste in landfill sites every second. 92 billion kilograms of textiles waste. E V E R Y S E C O N D.

That's a lot. Like... a lot a lot. Not like an alot, but a LOT, you know?

At the end of the day, we—as humans—need to look after each other and the soil we find ourselves living on with more intentional care. We don't have a planet b.

References:

(Domingos, Mariana, Vera Teixeira Vale, and Silvia Faria. (2022). "Slow Fashion Consumer Behavior: A Literature Review" Download "Slow Fashion Consumer Behavior: A Literature Review" Sustainability 14, no. 5: 2860. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052860, p. 9.

Mehrjoo, M., & Pasek, Z. (2015). Risk assessment for the supply chain of fast fashion apparel industry: A system dynamics framework. International Journal of Production Research, 54(1), 1–21.

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#activismthroughhashtags: how to exercise your digital citizenship.

Let's begin with a question:

What Terms Does 'Digital Citizenship' Help Describe?

voting: participation in the political process?

activism: engagement outside the election process?

the appropriate use of technology or social media?

bullying and trolling within social institutions and social media?

the digital divide regarding literacy and access?

Voting ended onApr 3, 2023

The answer is... ALL OF THE ABOVE.

As the week 5 lecture suggests, digital citizenship is the overarching term to describe the above 5 aspects. Digital citizenship also describes the potential to benefit society as a whole and 'facilitate the membership and participation of individuals within society.' (Mossberger et al. 2008: 1).

Furthermore, the Office of the eSafety Commissoner, the NSW Department of Education, suggests that a good digital citizen is someone 'with the skills and knowledge to effectively use digital technologies in a positive way to participate in society, communicate with others, and create and consume digital content.'

What I'm trying to say is that with good digital citizenship, you are able to create a positive impact on real-world issues.

'wait,,, u mean i could make a real life social change thru the 0s and 1s matrix in my phone screen?'

Yes! You can! We can!

In recent years, digital citizens using 'digital mechanisms have become an integral part of young people's political and electoral campaigning' (Vromen, p. 97). Take the Australian Greens Party for an example. In the 2022 Victorian election, the Greens Party took to TikTok—where the majority of the new gen z voters spend most of their online lives these days—to educate young voters on Australian politics under the hashtag #auspol, #votegreens, and #auspolitics.

This meme is a response to the electoral vote of 2022. (and yeah, made by a gen z for the gen zees lol)

NATURE IS HEALING 💚 thanks to @ashmackenzie for this video #auspol #votegreens #auspolitics #fyp

With this introduction of new age communications, such as TikTok media content creation, digital citizens have more easily accessible routes of communications—and that goes both ways. The digital public sphere (remember, the sphere we talked about in recent posts...yeah, y'all know the ones) has encouraged both everyday citizens to communicate and connect with institution and political parties, such as the Greens Party. As a result, social media and the new aged digital public sphere has created an environment wherein a digital citizen can exercise their, well...their digital citizenship!

In this week's reading by Moonsun Choi and Dean Cristol, the authors explain to us readers how this real life social change is made. 'when individual's personalised activities and engagement become a collective process, the movement for change grows larger and stronger, leading to a social movement.' (Choi & Cristol, 2021, p. 365).

In this video below, an Australian #IndigenousDad Joel Bayliss, explains how social media can inspire social change. The collective process that Choi & Cristol explain in their study is in full swing in Bayliss's talk. Real people on social media, just like yourself, can make REAL and POSITIVE CHANGE.

References:

Choi, M & Cristol, D 2021, Digital citizenship with intersectionality lens: Towards participatory democracy driven digital citizenship education’, Theory Into Practice, vol. 60, no. 4, pg. 361-370

Mossberger, Karen & Tolbert, Caroline & McNeal, Ramona. (2007). Digital Citizenship: The Internet. Society, and Participation.

Office of the eSafety Commissioner, circa 2023, 'About Digital Citizenship': The attitude, skills, knowledge and behaviours in a digital society. <https://www.digitalcitizenship.nsw.edu.au/about>

Vromen, A, 'Political Engagement in the Australian Digital Context' Australian Parilament House. p. 97).

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'I GOT A TEXT!': How Reality TV creates a Digital Community of its Own.

'I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to [win/find love]'

- every reality TV contestant ever, probably...

Reality TV and Social Media: The Paradox Edition

If you go to the grocery store and walk on up to the egg section, you are going to have to make a decision. Free range or caged eggs. Now, most people stray away from caged eggs because, well...they're bad. Hens are kept in confined and relatively small spaces for the sole purpose of laying eggs. Whereas free-range eggs are able to walk free and spread their wings and lay eggs in their own time.

In a way, we can relate this decision back to us, as an audience, having to make that decision: do we watch Reality TV or do we not?

Having a basic human conscience and empathy for our fellow earthlings, means that one should agree that people should not keep other people in confined spaces for the benefit of other people. I mean, duh! right? Unless, of course, those people are going into those confined spaces VOLUNTARILY. Now all bets are off.

Or are they...?

Now, and stay with me here, I'm going to introduce you to the term 'hate watching.' Hate watching is defined as 'the activity of watching a television programme for the sake of the environment derived from mocking or criticizing it. (Oxford Languages)

Here are some things we know:

We know that Reality TV is essentially placing hens in cages and watching them exist for a while.

2. We know that we shouldn't be enjoying watching other humans confined for entertainment.

And yet Reality TV is that entertaining that we simply cannot peel our eyes away from the screen. It is that attention-hooking that we cannot not talk about it. The talk about Reality TV 'is not only found in homes, workplaces and schools, but also proliferates online in forums, web comments, blogs, vlogs and social media.' (Deller, 2019).

Reality TV and social media go hand-in-hand like bread and butter. There is no one without the other these days.

'hey! did you watch [insert your chosen reality TV show here] last night?'

'ugh, no...but somehow i know exactly what happens?!'

If you have ever had a similar conversation to the one above—just know that you are not alone.

Jacquelyn Arcy states that 'the proliferation of transmedia storytelling– creating ongoing narratives across multiple media platforms indicates how the television industry is using new media to keep viewers engaged between broadcasts.' (2018, p. 2).

Social media has opened up new markets and audiences—drama now occurs on multiple platforms. You can't just turn off the television and have the little people in your screen disappear. No—the drama will follow you through small talk in that café, or with your co-workers, or through your phone on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook—and especially Twitter. That's the newfound paradox of Reality TV. You don't have to physically watch the show to know what happens.

(Reality TV... ha ha... get it?)

Anyway, good luck trying to escape #MAFS or #LoveIsland chitchat when you're in a media and communication class—#youcannot.

If you are interested in learning more about how reality TV has shaped modern-day fashion, beauty, celebrities, and politics–below is a 10-part podcast series that delves into the exploitation, lack of aftercare, and the impact of sudden fame that reality TV stars have come across after they have stepped out of the spotlight.

Introducing Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV

References:

Deller, R. A. (2019). 'Technology for Talking Telly.' Reality television: The tv phenomenon that changed the world. Emerald Publishing Limited.

Arcy, (2018) 'The digital money shot: Twitter wars, The Real Housewives, and transmedia storytelling', Celebrity Studies. p. 2.

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'The public sphere is the space where people can interact; where public opinion is formed; where citizens deal with matters of general interest and express and articulate their views.'

Sakariaseen, H 2020, 'A digital public sphere': Just in theory or a perceived reality for users of social network sites?' MedieKultur, 2020, 68, pp. 126-146.

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On Tumblr about Tumblr: Is Tumblr a Public Sphere?

A public sphere—developed by fancy man (and German philosopher), Jürgen Habermas—refers to the social and technological transformations in society. Put simply, a public sphere needs these three things to, well...actually be a public sphere:

to have UNLIMITED ♾ access to information

EQUAL ⚖️ and PROTECTED 🔑 participation

the ABSENCE 🚫 of institutional INFLUENCE.

(Kruse, 2017. p. 63)

To learn more about zee Gerrrman philosopher, please refer to the video embedded below.

To imitate Cobb from Christopher Nolan's 2010 blockbuster, Inception, let's be inceptive and introspective for a moment—just as (I'm pretty sure) everyone on this site is personally—and let's look at Tumblr as a platform.

'What is Tumblr? What is it known for? Why am I even on this site?'

↗️ are the questions you might be asking yourself. I guess that is my job here today—to answer those age-old questions for ya!

Basically, Tumblr is where people come to hide—most of the time. The anonymity of the site is what has appealed over 518.7 million blog owners as of February, 2021. In conjunction with the fact that the site has less surveillance than other social media sites (like sites that rhyme with Schmeenztergram and Bacefook...), and being one of the first social media sites to use #hashtagging as a community building tool as users don't need to follow each other to see each other's content—I mean, why wouldn't you want to use Tumblr?

Queen — I mean, author of 'Oh, She's a Tumblr Feminist' (2019), explains that Tumblr 'could be understood as a platform that prioritizes aesthetics, amplified through its allowance of user-customized short-form blogs and reflecting its original positioning as a creative community.' (Keller, 2019).

To be technical for just one sec, (i know, ugh, sorry y'all), let me introduce you to a term called... dadadaDAAAA...

✨platform vernacular✨

Keller highlights the fact that platform vernacular recognises the 'ongoing interactions between platforms and users' and the creativity of users to repurpose platform allowances and limitations for particular modes of expression (Keller).

Which, and to put simply, means that Tumblr users will do what they want, when they want, and how they want, all the while making their pages look pretty doin' it. PreTTy badass if you ask me. #BigSlay.

So, let me ask you a question...

Would You Rather Use a Platform That:

has more of an opportunistic space for #bodypositivity content.

an app you could be penalised on at even the mention of an uncovered body part..

Voting ended onApr 8, 2023

Anna Reif's analysis of women's self-presentation under the hashtag #bodypositivie includes a quote from a Tumblr user that reads,

'I am not perfect, I have wobbly bits, bits maybe sometimes I would prefer not to have, but do you know what? I am healthy and healthy in my body and mind and that is all I need.' (#678, 2022, p. 14).

Tumblr, as a public sphere, allows for Tumblr users—such as #678 quoted above— to have that level of EQUAL ⚖️ participation that we talked about previously. Reif's study argues that the analyzed content suggests that 'when users are dedicated to self-acceptance, blog descriptions are empowering for both the users and their audiences' (Reif, 2022, pp. 13-14).

Whilst we don't have time to talk in depth about the restrictions, rebuttals, and negatives of Tumblr as a public sphere in our new aged digital community, I will leave you with this one question—and feel free to drop a reply or comment below...

Is the absence of surveillance on a site such as Tumblr a good thing or a bad thing?

References:

Keller, J 2019, 'Oh, She's a Tumblr Feminist': Exploring the Platform Vernacular of Girls' Social Media Feminisms, Social Media + Society 5.3, 2019.

Kruse, L, Norris, D, Flinchum, J 2017, 'Social Media as a Public Sphere?' Politics on Social Media, The Sociology Quarterly, vol. 59. no. 1.

Reif, A, Miller, I, Taddicken, M 2022, 'Love the Skin You’re In': An Analysis of Women’s Self-Preservation and User Reactions to Selfies Using the Tumblr Hashtag #bodypositive, Mass Communication Society, Taylor and Francis Group.

Harnett, G. 2021, 'Jurgen Habermas and the Public Sphere: Simplified,' Grace Harnett. Youtube.

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<3

I would like to recognise the crucial role that all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations play in my education and I would like to respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri People, and their Elders past, in perpetuity, and present, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which I learn, create, and work. I acknowledge and recognise reconciliation is a mutual process that I, as a student, can participate in, to ensure my work is culturally inclusive and respectful.