Derrick Teo

This profile is solely for education purpose only.

[derrickteo]

Social media and China

Is China’s AI the answer to the future?

In today’s society, A.I isn’t a new thing. Most technologies from everyday business to genomic editing will somehow involve A.I. Today, China is ready to become its undisputed global leader (Webb 2018). The State Council of the People’s Republic of China published the Artificial Intelligence Development Plan which is part of the national “Made in China 2025″ plan and will be linked to the new (digital) Silk Road (Westerheide 2020). 

Under President Xi Jinping, China has made huge steps in many fields, especially in A.I Businesses and government have collaborated on a plan to make China the world’s primary A.I. innovation center by 2030 and is already making big progress towards that goal (Webb 2018). According to Tom Mitchell, the professor of computer science that founded the world’s first research centre for A.I at Carnegie Mellon in the US, the US has more experience building tech companies but China might have the advantage when it comes to AI applications replying on big data sets for example the medical field. “In the US we’ve had electronic medical records for over 20 years but we still have not put together all the records in the country to run machine-learning algorithms on those.” The reason behind this is because of privacy concerns and also fractured, for-profit industry. Tom Mitchell also said that “in China, it’s a different situation. If the government decides that it’s going to have country-wide electronic medical records.. then it’s going to happen.” 

Based on the government-backed China Center for Information Industry Development, China is estimated to spend and estimate of 10 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion)  from now until 2025 on AI and IoT as well as ultra-high voltage lines and high-speed rail. 

China vs. US in AI

The fight between the US and China is now moving to other countries which are being pushed to take sides as tech firms from the two compete for turf (Sherman 2019). The US has urged its allies to stop using technology from China’s Huawei, for example, citing concerns that Beijing could use the firm’s equipment for hacking and also raised human rights concerns. Nicholas Wright, who has worked with the US and UK government said that as long AI technologies drive arguments over values like privacy and surveillance, censorship and freedom of speech, conflicts between the two countries are like to increase. And as for now, only the advancement of A.I will know who will reach the end of the line first. 

List of References

Webb, A. 2018,  Inc., ‘China Is Leading in Artificial Intelligence--and American Businesses Should Take Note‘, viewed 4 June 2020, <https://www.inc.com/magazine/201809/amy-webb/china-artificial-intelligence.html/>.

Westerheide, F., 2020, Forbes, ‘China - The First Artificial Intelligence Superpower’, viewed 4 June 2020, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2020/01/14/china-artificial-intelligence-superpower/#66350f882f05/>.

Sherman, N., 2019, BBC, ‘Is China gaining an edge in artificial intelligence?’, viewed 4 June 2020, <https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50255191/>.

Bloomberg, 2020, ‘Tech savvy: China’s big plan to overtake US in AI, wireless comms’, viewed 5 June 2020, <https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/tech-savvy-china-big-plan-overtake-ai-wireless-comms-200521162419229.html/>.

[derrickteo]

Social Gaming

Does monetisation affect the growth of organic, grassroots communities?

I believe that monetisation does positively affect the growth of organic, gamers communities. Through monetisation, game developers are able to generate revenues to create a better quality game and professional gamers will have a clearer goal on choosing this path as they are making income. For example, eSports is a way for gamers to generate their income which could rack up millions of dollars competing professionally (O’connell 2020). According to Newzoo, a gaming industry analysis company, global eSports revenue rose dramatically in 2019, up 27% compared to 2018. And with digital streaming now, gamers are able to earn by streaming themselves gaming on platforms like Twitch. Therefore, monetisation is a win-win situation for both the game developers and the gamers.

Are gaming communities becoming less about play and more about monetisation?

Personally, I think that gaming communities are not becoming less about play and more about monetisation. Instead, I think there’s a balance between both playing and monetising. If the gamer has the passion to game, he or she can earn monet out of it. As example, there are many existing famous gamers/youtubers such as the Faze clan, Ninja, PewDiePie and so on which are making use of their hobby/passion of gaming and using that to earn millions of dollars. Esports is a place for competitive, organized video gaming which allows professional gamers to come together and could win millions or huge brand endoresements for it (Willingham 2018).

Are gaming communities becoming more toxic environments for some?

I strongly believe that gaming communities are becoming more toxic environments. Emotional, using foul languages, blaming others are only some of the toxic characteristics (Mustofa 2018). I think the reason why such things are happening is because competitive gaming makes us put winning over everything else and that includes shaming other players. Moreover, most gamers use nickname for their character which will make them feel free to say anything as others will not know their true identity. Nonetheless, all these can be avoided by following influencers out there with a positive behavior which does not throw tempers but instead laugh it out as after all it’s only just a game or one could also turn off chat and ignore team members. This could help us by not looking or hearing the chat and allow us to focus on the game to win.

List of References

O’connell, B. 2020, The Street, ‘How much do eSports players make?’, viewed 27 May 2020, <https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/how-much-do-esports-players-make-15126931/>.

Willingham, AJ. 2018, CNN, ‘What is eSports? A look at an explosive billion-dollar industry’, viewed 27 May 2020, <https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/27/us/esports-what-is-video-game-professional-league-madden-trnd/index.html>.

Mustofa, A. 2018, HYBRID, ‘Toxic Behavior in Online Gaming, is it necessary?’, viewed 27 May 2020, <https://hybrid.co.id/post/toxic-behavior-in-online-gaming-is-it-necessary/>.

[derrickteo]

Fandom & Fan Activism

Tumblr is currently the preferred social space for fans, how do these fans formulate the boundaries of their community?

Tumblr acts as a social media platform which allows users to participate in online fandom communities. According to Hillman et. al. (2014), they found out that fandom users feel their Tumblr experience is “always-on” whereby they can participate in anytime and anywhere. Tumblr users have also use GIFs to match their desired fandom activities. 

Are media representations of fans as ‘weird’ and ‘overly emotional’ fair? What is your own experience of fandom?

In my opinion, I don't think fans should be represented as ‘weird’ or ‘overly emotional’ because that’s just mean to categorize them in such ways. Everyone has their own way to express how much they love or adore a person or a group of people and this includes fans around the world. I believe fans get too excited when they see their idols which will then be captured by the media as ‘overly emotional’ when they are shouting or bursting out tears of happiness which I think it's completely normal. This is because it’s not everyday that we are able to see our idols in real life. For example, singers seldom perform world tours and when they do, it is once every no-one-knows year. Therefore, when fans are only able to see their idols once in that short period of time, it is no doubt that they want to enjoy themselves and of course they’ll be excited and emotional to meet them. Personally, I don’t consider myself a huge fan of anyone and have no bias and would just like any good songs of my own taste if I come across any and like what I see or watch. 

Is fandom a friendly space for a Chinese/Malaysian/Southeast Asian fan?

I believe most fandom doesn’t label any race on them as that will be the opposite of a fandom which is to grow a fan base. Most fandoms are friendly and welcoming to new fans as it will benefit their main idol. Thus, I think that most fandoms are a friendly space for anyone including Chinese, Malaysian or Southeast Asian fans. Furthermore, to provide a good example will be Youtubers based in Malaysia and Singapore have made collaboration videos and fans from both side has been very supportive about it. 

List of References

Hillman, S., Procyk, J. and Neustaedter, C. 2014, “Tumblr fandoms, community & culture”, viewed 22 May 2020, <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262246094_Tumblr_fandoms_community_culture/>.

[derrickteo]

Crowdsourcing and crowdfunding

In times of need (social or political), can social media movements like #pulangmengundi (crowdsourcing and crowdfunding transportation to mobilise youths to vote) benefit communities?

I believe social media movements can certainly benefit communities as it has the ability to spread information in the matter of seconds. Social media is expected to reach 2.5 billion people worldwide in 2018 (statista.com, 2018). Moreover, social media also provides a participatory media environment thanks to the interactive Web 2.0 platform. This feature has made social media an effective tool to allow people to participate in social movements (Kim 2015). Social media is also a good starting ground to initialize, organize and communicate social movements (Ergun & Erdogmus 2017). 

In an era filled with fake news, what effect can this have on crowdsourced information?

In today’s society, we often come across fake news and it is not a new problem at all. Fake news has become a way more problematic issue due to social media as it can be created and spread around easily. A study done by Rand and Pennycook has examined whether does crowdsourcing work as an effective tool to curb the spread of fake news (Carufel 2019). According to their study, they discovered that laypeople(people without professional or specialized knowledge in a particular subject) trust reputable news outlets more than those that create misinformation and that the trust ratings of the laypeople surveyed closely matched the trust ratings of professional fact-checkers. Another study co-authored by an MIT professor has also shown that crowdsourced judgments about the quality of news sources may effectively marginalize fake news (Dizikes 2019). 

Can crowdfunding actually overtake traditional funding mechanisms for the creative industries?

Crowdfunding has become a valuable source of funding for new projects or businesses. The traditional methods for creative industries include patronage, government grants, endorsements, foundation and corporate sponsorships (Brabham 2016). According to Agrawal et al. (2013), crowdfunding functions as an innovative tool to finance artists from different sectors through various online platforms and social media and is proving to be successfull as an innovative financing channel, specifically in the funding of creative areas and tech. In my opinion, crowdfunding can actually overtake traditional funding mechanisms for the creative infustries due to the fact that start-up ventures often face problems in obtaining a certain amount of funds from traditional venture capitalists or banks as they have a several strict criterias to follow. Therfore, people will certainly use crowdfunding in reducing the funding gap in the early stages of new ventures to prevent any hiccups along the process.

List of References

Kim, K. 2015, “Social media as a tool for social movements: the effect of social media use and social capital on intention to participate in social movements”, viewed 13 May 2020, <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282497633_Social_Media_as_a_Tool_for_Social_Movements_The_Effect_of_Social_Media_Use_and_Social_Capital_on_Intention_to_Participate_in_Social_Movements/>.

Ergun, S. and Erdogmus, I. 2017, “The impact of social media on social movements: the case of anti-consumption”, viewed 13 May 2020, <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316511433_The_Impact_of_Social_Media_on_Social_Movements_The_Case_of_Anti-Consumption/>.

Carufel, R. 2019, “Fighting the spread of fake news-why crowdsourcing is effective”, viewed 13 May 2019, <https://www.agilitypr.com/pr-news/public-relations/fighting-the-spread-of-fake-news-why-crowdsourcing-is-effective/>.

Dizikes, P. 2019, “Could this be the solution to stop the spread of fake news?’, viewed 13 May 2020, <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/02/want-to-squelch-fake-news-let-the-readers-take-charge/>.

Philips, R. 2017, “Success factors and barriers for crowdfunding campaigns for arts-based projects in the UK”, viewed 13 May 2020, <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325756099_Success_Factors_and_Barriers_for_Crowdfunding_Campaigns_for_Arts-Based_Projects_in_the_UK/>.

[derrickteo]

Is social media useful in spreading information on COVID-19 in Malaysia or your home country?

Yes, I strongly believe that social media has played a very important role in spreading information on Covid-19. Apart from newspaper, news channels or just normal channels are using social media to spread information on Covid-19. For example, people have been using WhatsApp to spread information about Covid-19 while some accounts on Instagram have been using it to update on the number of Covid-19 cases around the world.

What are the dangers of the reliance of social media for public health campaigns?

Many people are becoming more resistant to public health messages as the global health community races to control the spread of Covid-19 (Griffin 2020). I do think that there are dangers as social media is the fastest way to spread "fake news" in today's society. Once these sort of fake news are out, it becomes hard to control them and some people might have doubt or some might actually fall for them.

Is public health campaigns on social media more of a one-way communication than conversation?

In my opinion, I think it all depends on the audience. For example, if the audience are just the group whereby they just want to listen to the news, then of course it's a one way communication. On the other hand, if the audience are interactive, they will voice out their opinion and thus it will turn into a conversation.

List of Reference

1. Griffin, R. A. , March 2020, "Danger zone: the impact of social media on public health", viewed 8 May 2020, <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340129213_Danger_Zone_The_Impact_of_Social_Media_on_Public_Health/>.

[derrickteo]

Thinking about activism / protest

Think of your own engagement with digital activism. Have you clicked a “Like” on Facebook or been part of a group that has used social media to unite members, plan actions or develop petitions?

Through social media, many activists has used them as technological tools of liberation, connecting with like-minded people, mobilize the masses, influence public opinion, push for social change and ignite revolutions (Manal 2018). Personally, I don’t really participate in any protest either digitally or physically. However, due to this current pandemic, I, myself have taken part in one, which is the petition to allow students of Swinburne Sarawak to get a certain amount of percentage back from their fees. The petition was, of course created by a student from Swinburne Sarawak and the point of this petition was to, in my opinion, sort of fighting for the rights of the students. I was drawn and involved in this petition as the reasons provided were solid points to why the students should have the right to get part of their money back. However, the petition was sadly rejected. 

How might activists use social media in the future?

One way that activists have been using social media to voice their opinion is via “hashtags”. As an example, 7 years ago, the use of #blacklivesmatter has took the internet by storm, especially on Twitter. Pew Research Center analysis of public tweets finds the hashtag has been used nearly 30 million times on Twitter – an average of 17,002 times per day – as of May 1, 2018 (Anderson et al, 2018). I believe activists will use social media for often more frequently in the future as first of all, it is way less violent to protest without any physical contact and moreover, through social media, it can be more controllable as contents can be filtered or removed if found offensive.

How might fake news and propaganda factor into the use of social media for activists and protesters?

In today’s society, when people see something that is too good to be true, it is often classified as “fake news”. Fake news requires three different items to succeed, which are tools and services, social networks and motivation (Trend Micro 2017). Without any one of them, it will not work. First off, tools and services used to manipulate and spread the message across relevant social media networks, many of which are sold in various online communities from across the globe. For example, paid followers, likes and so on. The next element related and extremely essential for it to work is social networks. Social networks exist as a platform for spreading propagandas. Lastly, the motive behind it. Fake news can simply just be used to earn money through advertisements. Whereas for some cases it can be for criminal or political gain. The goal of any propagandas campaign in the end will ultimately be based on how much it has affected the real world.

How does graffiti/street art, art, music or popular culture become symbols of a protest or a social movement?

In general, art is the most effective and easiest way to get anyone to relate and understand what the artist is trying to convey. During the 60s to 70s, many creatives can be observed as protests artists visibly opposed the Vietnam War and also Chris Burden’s performances with intentional wound inflicting called upon the audience to engage with political messages and consider their responsibilities (Martinique 2016). Art became a potent language to speak against various forms of oppression and persisting inequalities regarding gender, race or class. I think art became symbols of a protest as it can be easily understood as said and a picture can show the emotions of the story behind it. As the saying goes, a picture speaks a thousand words. 

Has any fandoms you’re involved in been part of any protest or acts of social activism?

Like I’ve mentioned above, I, personally am not a huge fan of protesting unless the cause will somehow make a dent in my life for the better. Therefore, I am not currently involved in any fandoms that are part of any protest or acts of social activism. 

List of References

Manal 2018, “The dangers of digital activism”, The New York Times, viewed 30 April 2020, <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/16/opinion/politics/the-dangers-of-digital-activism.html/>.

Anderson, M., Toor, S., Rainie, L. and Smith A., 2018, “Activism in the social media age”, viewed 30 April 2020, <https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/07/11/activism-in-the-social-media-age/>.

Trend Micro 2017, Fake News and Cyber Propaganda: The Use and Abuse of Social Media, viewed 30 April 2020, <https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/nl/security/news/cybercrime-and-digital-threats/fake-news-cyber-propaganda-the-abuse-of-social-media/>.

[derrickteo]

Is politics just about governance, or is it more?

To view this questions, I will first define what does both politics and governance mean respectively. According to the Cambridge dictionary, politics is defined as the activities made by the government, members of the law-making organization or the people who try to influence the way a country is governed. The word politics can also be defined as the relationship within a group or organization that allow particular people to have power over others. On the other hand, the concept of governance is rather new which was introduced in the late 80s (Turmel 2018). Governance is defined as the way a society and the groups within it come together to make decisions. 

With that being said, is politics only about governance? My answer to that is a yes. Just as the definitions stated above, I believe that politics will somehow be related to governance. This is because once politics are made, people or organizations that are involved will be governed and will have to play by the rules set.

When does social movements become about politics? Should it become politicized?

According to Rootes 2007, social movements are example of collective actions which vary in degrees of formal organization, scale of mobilization and forms of actions and is political as they can make demands or changes upon a state. A social movement is typically based upon two factors - firstly, whom the movement is trying to change and secondly, how much change a movement is advocating. Lee 2019 states that there are four types of social movements. First we have the alterative movement, which is after partial individual change and its goal is partial change towards individuals’ behavior. For example, the efforts to promote recycling. It is merely trying to get individuals to recycle their daily waste. Next will be the redemptive movement. This movement seeks total individual change. As an example, a religious movement that promises salvation through a complete personal transformation. Third will be reformative movement which seeks partial social change in social systems. An example will be the movement for marriage equality  which started in the 1970s but became more prominent in American politics in 1993. Lastly, the transformative movement which seeks total social change. This movement typically seeks to somehow change or destroy the current system altogether rather than merely being included equally within it.

I will use the #MeToo movement to talk more on social movement. #MeToo is changing the American culture and putting weight behind a call for change (Toborg & Rodriguez 2019). According to the executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Ai-jen Poo, #MeToo is a movement of survivors and their supporters, powered by courage, determined to end sexual violence and harassment. North 2019 states that there are 7 positive changes that have come from the #MeToo movement. The first one will be that states are banning nondisclosure agreements that cover sexual harassment. Such agreements allowed wealthy and powerful people to essentially “buy” others’ silence, preventing anyone from discovering about any sexual misconduct allegations against them. Next, states are also introducing protections for more workers as to before, most state laws do not protect independent contractors such as Uber drivers will have little legal recourse if they are harassed on a job. The Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, aimed at helping survivors of sexual misconduct has helped over 3,600 people seek justice. Moreover, the movement to end the tipped minimum wage is also gaining steam, congress has reformed some of its process for staffers reporting sexual harassment as well. Some survivors are getting financial restitution and lastly, Americans have changed how they think about power. 

Through #MeToo movement, it has shown not only to Americans but also people around the world how widespread sexual harassment, assault and other misconduct really are. All this has helped change how Americans think not just about sexual misconduct but also about power and gender. According to North 2019  those changes were especially evident in Americans’ reactions to the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford and those hearings have made half of the voters think about men having more power than women in government.

To sum it all up, I believe social movement for the right cause and purpose should be politicized for the better of a country or organization.

List of References: 

Rootes, C 2007, “Social movements and politics”, viewed 16 April 2020, <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00020189708707861?journalCode=cast20/>.

Brooks, D 2018, “Social movements: a new power structure”, viewed 16 April 2020, <https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2018/04/359754/social-movements-new-power-structure/>.

North, A 2019, “7 positive changes that have come from the #MeToo movement”, viewed 16 April 2020, <https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/10/4/20852639/me-too-movement-sexual-harassment-law-2019/>.

Lee, N 2019, “The four types of social movements”, viewed 16 April 2020, <https://medium.com/@nicklee3/the-four-types-of-social-movements-8db910192573/>.

Toborg, C and Rodriguez, M 2019, “How the #MeToo movement is changing culture”, viewed 16 April 2020, <https://www.koaa.com/news/national-politics/the-race-2020/how-the-metoo-movement-is-changing-culture/>.

[derrickteo]

Is Tumblr a blog or a social network site?

Hi I’m Derrick and this is my first blog. 

Is Tumblr a blog or a social network site? To answer this question, we need to first understand what s blog and a social network site means respectively. According to Skrba 2018, a blog is defined as an online journal or diary and also act as an informational website that displays the newest post. A blog is a platform where people share and publish their views or opinions on a particular subject. On the other hand, a social networking site is a website that allows individuals to set up a profile and post personal interests or blog entries (Kenton 2020).

This brings us back to the question, is Tumblr a blog or a social networking site? Wikipedia has stated that Tumblr is a microblogging and social networking site and i strongly agree with it. In my opinion, I think Tumblr perfectly fits both the definitions of a blog and a social networking site. To add on to my point, Tumblr serves the same purpose which both a blog and social networking site provides. 

However, Tumblr is known as “microblogging” due to the fact that posts in blogs are usually made by one or more writers and may be focused on a particular topic, just like an article on a newspaper or magazine. The blog’s writers drive the content. This makes it lean more towards “is a social networking site” side as users on Tumblr are allowed to produce content and interact with one another. Anyone can contribute. Tumblr allows both a specified topic or a general one which a blog would not. 

Moving on to the next point on why I think Tumblr lies somewhere between a blog and a social networking site is that they both can serve the purpose either to make money or just for fun and to connect with people around the world. As an example, a blog and a social networking site can be used for business that will eventually help the users somewhat by increasing the rank in Google SERPs, which will then increase visibility (Skrba 2018). This is the same as how Tumblr works. Users are allowed to post or advertise something business related to boost up their number of consumers and also to engage and stay connected with them easily and time to time as well.

In conclusion, I think that Tumblr is both a blog and a social networking site but nonetheless weighs more on as a social networking site. I believe Tumblr serves the same main purpose of a blog and social networking site, which is to stay conneceted with users on that platform or in other words - to stay connected with the world and the things happenings at the moment.

List of References:

Skrba, A 2018, “What is a blog? The definition of blog, blogging and blogger.”, viewed 10 April 2020, <https://firstsiteguide.com/what-is-blog/>.

Nations, D 2020, “What is social networking?”, viewed 10 April 2020, <https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-social-networking-3486513/>.

Aamoth, D 2013, “What is Tumblr?”, viewed 10 April 2020, <https://techland.time.com/2013/05/19/what-is-tumblr/>.