The upside of social media

[digicomsanna-blog]

Blog #8: Global Social Media: Case Study China

When I first read the information for this week, I couldn’t help but notice the sweat bead across my forehead and the twist in my stomach… No social media?! No Facebook or Instagram or snapchat?! How do these people communicate?! Ha-ha J But then I pulled myself together, and realised that this really won’t be the end of the world – please don’t read this near any teenagers, they may start screaming, or melting, I’m not sure which; or wait, melting is the wicked witch from Oz…

On a serious note, yes, I realise that ‘no social media’ is over the top; and that it is that they use other platforms, which are a lot more governed and protected than that of Facebook, Instagram or snapchat. China’s authorities maintain a tight grip on the web. With the largest population of web users in the world, China also has the one of the most restricted internets, with a host of measures employed to make sure that netizens cannot read about sensitive issues nor themselves post – or at least for very long – information the government deems threatening (Open Democracy, 2013).

In the readings, I learnt that social media in China is very protected and that China’s government takes a very serious look upon the social media. The censorship system that China uses is complex and multi-levelled, it is broken down into three levels – the technical, human-powered and self-censorship. The Firewall is one of the most technically sophisticated internet censorship system around the world. Basically, if you want access to the internet in China, there are only eight internet service provides that are licensed and these are controlled by the Ministry of Industry and Information technology.

The size of internet users amid Chinese citizens is astonishing, there are only so many internet ‘police’ and web commentators to hire to make sure that any internet content that is an issue, is watched closely. This leads to more Chinese citizens gaining technical knowledge and finding more means to circumvent filtering methods.

I feel that I agree, but also disagree with Chui, Lin and Silverman’s claim that ‘Social media is exploding worldwide, and China is leading the way.’ I agree that the way that China handles social media and what it is to censor everyone using it is the way to go. However, I disagree with the fact that China is leading the way. I think that if China was leading the way, more countries and governments would also be moving towards this way. But it is the blatant disregard for their own people’s freedom of speech and right to view the content that they choose that has made China a major proponent in the mitigation of basic civil rights.

References

Chiu, C, Lin, D & Silverman, A 2012, China’s social-media boom, McKinsey & Company, viewed 27 January, 2017, http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/chinas_social-media_boom

Jasmine, 2014, China to strengthen the network blockade outside efforts over the wall, Chinese Jasmine Revolution, viewed 27 January 2017, http://www.molihua.org/2014/06/blog-post_3990.html

Riley, C, 2014, The Great Firewall of China is nearly complete, CNN Tech, viewed 27 January 2017, http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/30/technology/china-internet-firewall-google/

Open Democracy, 2013, The Great Firewall of China, viewed 27 January, 2017,

https://www.opendemocracy.net/china-correspondent/great-firewall-of-china

[digitalblogger-blog]

Who needs Facebook? Not China!

Wow I must live under a rock! I had no idea that China were so censored by the government with regards to the internet. It has been very interesting reading about China’s Great Firewall and the layers of control they have comprising the monitoring of what people read and post, the restrictions on content including no access to the likes of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the numbers of people it takes to implement and maintain this control on such a huge Nation (The Great Firewall of China 2013). So much so I mentioned it to my husband, who says yes that’s correct, so I then mention it to my 15 year old, yes mum that’s in China, we actually learnt about it at school on Friday, of course you did!

Source: expatree 2016 <http://www.expatree.com/blog/president-xi-defends-the-great-firewall-of-china_273>.

My next surprise was when I read the statistics on how many users of social media there are in China, it was estimated to be a staggering 514million in 2016 (Statista 2017). With censorship issues, China did the unavoidable and produced their own social networks and platforms; some of these platforms have user bases that exceed half a billion accounts (DLDconference 2013 and Jaimie 2015). Whilst China often copy Western applications, they have created hybrid versions that pick the best features to make a more tailored platform (DLDconference 2013). For example a popular app in China is called ‘Papa’ and it is a vocal photo-sharing app, with a comparison made that it is ‘Instagram with voice’ (DLDconference 2013 and Milward 2012).

Source:  Totem Media 2014  <http://www.slideshare.net/TotemMedia/papa-an-introduction-to-chinas-instagram-41932648>.

Social media in China plays a major role in the lives of young people, just as it does in the Western world, however in China youth of today are utilising it for more than just user experience, there are issues with youth identity and social media is helping to explore these identity issues (DLDconference 2013). 

An interesting example of how youth in China with all the restrictions and censorship placed on them, are seemingly creating a new language. They are using the app called Papa and through the use of imagery are making up words based on local content, for example the image of the Lama translates into words ‘F your mother’, these words are censored, so by using imagery it makes it hard for the government to censor such images which speak volumes (DLDconference 2013). In other words the youth are not saying that to their mothers, they are using social media to rebel against the government in a very interesting way!

References 

DLDconference 2013, DLD13 - How Social Media is changing China and Asia, 7 February, viewed 3 February 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG3z2ucaR6A>.

expatree 2016, ‘Great Firewall of China’ [image], in President Xi defends the Great Firewall of China, expatree, viewed 4 February 2017, <http://www.expatree.com/blog/president-xi-defends-the-great-firewall-of-china_273>. 

Jaimie 2015, 2015 China Social Media Stats and Trends, make a websitehub.com, viewed 4 February 2017, <https://makeawebsitehub.com/chinese-social-media-statistics/>. 

Milward, S 2012, Papa is a Very Vocal Photo-Sharing App, Wants to be ‘Instagram With Voice’, TechinAsia, viewed 3 February 2017, <https://www.techinasia.com/red-dot-ventures-invests-usd490k-in-the-stakeholder-management-company>.

Statista 2017, Number of social network users in China from 2014 to 2021 (in millions), Statista, viewed 4 February 2017, <https://www.statista.com/statistics/277586/number-of-social-network-users-in-china/>.

The Great Firewall of China 2013, Open Democracy viewed 3 February 2017, <https://www.opendemocracy.net/china-correspondent/great-firewall-of-china>.

Totem Media 2014, ‘China presentation page for app PaPa’ [image], in New Chinese Social Media PaPa, Linked in Slideshare, viewed 4 February 2017, <http://www.slideshare.net/TotemMedia/papa-an-introduction-to-chinas-instagram-41932648>.

[digitalblogger-blog]

‘Connecting’ socially in online gaming

As I sit here researching this blog, I can hear my 13 year old son talking to an ‘online friend’ on Minecraft, he’s getting loudly irritated at what someone else is or is not doing in the game. I often hear cries of frustration ‘quick quick we’re getting raided’ and sometimes-joyous outbursts when his group wins something. Personally online gaming is something I have never done and while this is mainly due to time constraints of work and uni, I actually have no interest, especially as I see the obsessive behaviour my son exhibits everyday from playing. While to me social gaming is a time waster, I see on my Facebook feed (me timewasting another way!) that so many people I know are involved in online games, meaning there obviously has to be more to online gaming for so many people to be drawn to it.

Source: Logitech-g35-gaming-headset 2016 <http://www.sarahblackwoodmusic.com/file/2016/08/logitech-g35-gaming-headset.jpg>.

So what is it that enables these games to draw in so many players? A developer from Zynga, explains why the game FarmVille is so popular and discusses what the plans are for FarmVille2 (ZyngaNetwork 2012). They cite that one of the most important aspects for the new version is ensuring that ‘connecting’ is taken to the next level, and by this they mean how well players will be able to interact with their friends (ZyngaNetwork 2012). This is a major characteristic given the games platform is Facebook. FarmVille 2 is in essence a game based around a digital community that interact and socialise on their ‘farms’ (ZyngaNetwork 2012). Like most online games, they become addictive due to the high maintenance that is required of players in order to keep (for example) their farms running, rewards and competing with friends (Fekri 2014).

Source: FarmVille 2  <http://masterherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/FarmVille-2.jpeg>.

Given the popularity of massively multiplayer online games (MMOG), developers stipulate game rules that in addition to, overlap those rules created socially by the games players, which exhibit emerging cultural norms within the game space (de Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 77). The game EVE Online actually has a player council called ‘the Council of Stellar Management (CSM)’ (de Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 78). The game is known for its violent and attacking game play and along side this has had issues with scams, including corporate raiding and theft (de Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 77). This type of incident equated to a player being suspended due to exhibiting aggression and making comments about another player outside of the game arena (de Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 77). This type of behaviour shows how serious players take online games and the requirement for rules and policies. Again it’s a personal choice to play and become addicted...I mean enjoy yourself socially!

References 

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

Fekri, A 2014, Farmville 2: Cheats, Tips and Additional Information on How to Tackle Eagle Eye Eddie!, Master Herald, viewed 3 February 2017, <http://masterherald.com/farmville-2-cheats-tips-and-additional-information-on-how-to-tackle-eagle-eye-eddie/2483/>.

FarmVille 2 2014 [image], in Farmville 2: Cheats, Tips and Additional Information on How to Tackle Eagle Eye Eddie, Master Herald, viewed 3 February 2017, <http://masterherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/FarmVille-2.jpeg>.  

Logitech-g35-gaming-headset 2016 [image], in The Generation of Adult Gamers, sarahblackwoodmusic.com, viewed 3 February 2017, <http://www.sarahblackwoodmusic.com/file/2016/08/logitech-g35-gaming-headset.jpg>.

ZyngaNetwork 2012, The Making of FarmVille 2, 5 September, viewed 3 February 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnNKko2ELKQ>.

[digitalblogger-blog]

Social Photography and privacy

Those friends who insist on a daily basis to share their lives through photos and status updates on Facebook and Instagram can be pretty annoying. It’s made worse when they include you in that picture upload, without asking and then go ahead and tag you as well! Now this can be a great picture or mostly it’s not and you yourself would never have uploaded it, so why should someone else be able to and think nothing of it? Is this a privacy issue or not?  

Source: Thorpe (nd) <http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/MjAxMi05NWQ3YjI1YzQzMjU2OWY1>

Facebook in particular has a heavy-duty facial recognition engine that has the ability to recognise you pretty much straight away, it then promotes you to tag each person in the picture (Brandom 2015). There has been much discussion about whether this is a privacy issue, and a lawsuit in 2015 in the US called into question the actual face recognition system, which Facebook then disputed (Brandom 2015). 

Source: Clark 2015 <https://www.classaction.org/blog/facebook-sued-over-face-recognition-feature>.

The impact of being tagged means that the horrible picture your ‘friend’ posted will now feature in their feed and your feed and will be seen by so many more people. On a personal level you agree to the terms and conditions when you sign up, so if someone uploads your photo or tags you then it is allowed. Your choice if you disliked the image or felt uncomfortable enough about it would be to ask the person to remove it, detag yourself, or complain direct to the social media platform and ask for it to be removed (eSafety 2017). There is however an option in settings where you can turn off being tagged by selecting “no one” to the question "Who sees tag suggestions when photos that look like you are uploaded?" (Brandom 2015).  

Source: Jason Farman 2014 <http://bit.ly/1s6JOIa>

The discussion around digital photography on social media platforms takes us to how much has photography changed from the Kodak camera (Jason Farman 2014)? The main change Nathan Jurgenson identifies in his interview (Jason Farman 2014) is the audience; he attributes this to the fact that old school photography wasn’t necessarily taken with the audience in mind. These days it seems the audience are the prime reason for the imagery. Nathan calls these images “social” photos and they are; photos that have been taken primarily to be uploaded to social media platforms (Jason Farman 2014). While using social media platforms allows for photos to be shared quickly and easily, this also means the social photos can be distributed without your authorisation, rendering you vulnerable (Vivienne & Burgess 2013, p. 282) and is something that everyone should be mindful and respectful of.

References

Brandom, R 2015, Is Facebook ‘s photo-tagging system violating privacy law?, The Verge, viewed 3 February 2017, <http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/21/10634100/facebook-photo-tagging-lawsuit-biometric-privacy-law>.

Clark 2015, ‘Facebook - facial recognition’ [image], in Facebook Sued Over Facial Recognition Software, ClassAction.org, viewed 3 February 2017, <https://www.classaction.org/blog/facebook-sued-over-face-recognition-feature>.

eSafety 2017, Games, apps and social networking, Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner, viewed 3 February 2017, <https://www.esafety.gov.au/esafety-information/games-apps-and-social-networking>.

Jason Farman 2014, Photography, Self Documentation, & Social Media: An Interview with Nathan Jurgenson, 16 June, viewed 3 February 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnPtZ5lKDHo>.

Thorpe, A nd, ‘Confession’ [image], in Some Love, someecards, viewed 3February 2017, <http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/MjAxMi05NWQ3YjI1YzQzMjU2OWY1>.

Vivienne, S & Burgess, J 2013, ‘The remediation of the personal photograph and the politics of self-representation in digital storytelling’, Journal of Material Culture, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 279-298.

[digitalblogger-blog]

How crowdsourcing is used during a crisis.

Social media is responsible for many changes in today’s society and the way we communicate as a whole. It has many positive traits and possibly just as many negative traits. The words ‘crowdsourcing’ and ‘social media’ make for an interesting subject, especially in times of a crisis. Over recent years and because of way too many disasters and crisis situations users of social media have played a major role in communicating information through their posts, imagery and videos to the world as a whole and specifically to family and friends of loved ones in need.

Source: Maranoa Regional Council 2011

Crowdsourcing also has the ability to assist in supporting imperative decision-making, especially in time poor crisis situations (Callaghan 2016, p. 238). As an example, in the South East QLD floods of 2011, social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook were used extensively to communicate and disseminate information and updates from authorities and residents (Bruns et al. 2012, p. 1). Twitter played a major role in ‘crisis communication’ with the hashtag #qldfloods being used as the main communicating tool (Bruns et al. 2012, p. 12). 

Source:  Idisaster 2012a

News media outlets such as the ABC realise the value and importance of utilising social media as a way to quickly broadcast information and to tap into community supplied material such as images and video (Posetti & Lo 2012). This is especially true during a disaster, these witnesses are on the ground and their imagery is often imperative into understanding the scope of the situation. While the latter poses a risk mainly due to the trustworthiness and timeliness of the information received or available, the ABC believe crowdsourcing is highly valuable, especially given that people of today want to receive up to date information, particularly in a crisis situation (Posetti & Lo 2012). 

Source: Idisaster 2012b

With the advances in technology and social media platforms, information collected during a disaster is often used in social mapping (Callaghan 2016, p. 240). This information is geotagged with coordinates and through the use of inspection and authentication, it is integrated into a central map allowing disaster recovery efforts to be underpinned by the practice of crowdsourcing (Callaghan 2016, p. 240). Again there are risks involved with how authentic the information is and crisis-mapping platform Ushahidi is testament to this issue as they try and verify information received during disasters (Dietrich & Pawlak 2013, p. 1). 

References

Bruns, A, Burgess, J, Crawford, K & Shaw, F 2012, ‘#qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods’, ArcCentre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, viewed 2 February 2017, <http://www.cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf>.

Callaghan, CW 2016, ‘Disaster management, crowdsourced R&D and probabilistic innovation theory: Toward real time disaster response capability’, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, vol. 17, pp. 238-250.

Dietrich, C & Pawlak, P 2013, ‘Crowd-sourcing – crisis response in the digital age’, European Union Institute for Security Studies, November 2013, vol. 39, pp. 1-2.

Idisaster 2012a, ‘Brisbane city Qld Twitter post’ [image], in idisaster, Worpress, viewed 3 February 2017, <https://idisaster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/brisbane41.png>.

Idisaster 2012b, ‘Brisbane - Ushahidi map’ [image], in idisaster, Worpress, viewed 3 February 2017, <https://idisaster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/brisbane.png>.

Maranoa Regional Council 2011, ‘Roma2 – Floods’ [image], in Woolly Days, Wordpress, viewed 3 February 2017, <https://woollydays.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/roma2.jpg>.

Postetti, J & Lo, P 2012, ‘The Twitterisation of ABCs Emergency & Disaster Communication’, Australian Journal of Emergency Management, Vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 34-39.

[digitalblogger-blog]

Social media’s effect on activisim

Activist groups in Cairo see images and video footage in the media of protestors in the Ukraine defending themselves against riot police by using Molotov cocktails (Ketchley 2014). The Egyptian activists don’t care about why they are fighting, they’re just interested in this type of defence tactic so they take to their movement’s social media sites and upload images and videos (Ketchley 2014). This is later studied to see how the Ukrainians use the Molotov cocktails and specifically in which situations in an effort to increase their own line of defence (Ketchley 2014). This example shows that the reach and effects of social media and online news sites of today has taken activism to a whole new level.  

Image source: (Lukatskywap 2014). On the flip side there are many critics who believe that while news and social media sites play an imperative role in disseminating information around protests, they’re not actually mobilizing and getting boots on the ground (Onuch 2015, p.1). Onuch (2015, p. 1) “argues that social media can compound and facilitate the role of pre-existing social network ties that are more influential in the mobilization process”.  

Gladwell believes that social media platforms are built around weak ties and because of these weak ties, social media platforms seldom lead to any high-risk activism (Gladwell 2000). For example Facebook is an effective tool that allows you to keep up to date with acquaintances that you may not otherwise see face to face, and it’s because of this that you can have over a thousand ‘friends’ on Facebook, however this is not normal in everyday life (Gladwell 2000).

Image source: (Ziggyland 2014).

This is often explained by the term ‘slacktivism’ which is the combination of the words ‘slacker’ and ‘activism’ and “describes the disconnect between awareness and action through the use of social media” (Glenn 2015). Slacktivism refers to someone who performs rather costless and token displays of support for a cause with little motivation or willingness to devote any substantial effort that ensures meaningful change (Kristofferson, White & Peloza 2013, p. 1149). 

Image source: (Monash University 2016).

I’m sure we’ve all been there, scrolling through Facebook and a friend shares a Facebook page about animal abuse and we ‘click like’ or we possibly even share as well. It seems all we are doing is gaining social acknowledgement and possibly some praise from ‘friends’ as caring people, it’s not really classed as activism. However in saying that, there are many causes especially charities who believe that ‘slacktivism’ is useful due to the awareness and discourse that it creates (Carney 2016, p. 184) and any awareness for a cause has to be a good thing, right?

References

Carney 2016, ‘All Lives Matter, but so Does Race: Black Lives Matter and the Evolving Role of Social Media’, Humanity & Society, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 180-199.

Gladwell, M 2010, ‘Small Change’, New Yorker, vol. 86, no. 30, pp. 42-49.

Glenn, C 2015, ‘Activism or “Slacktivism?”: Digital Media and Organising for Social Change’, Communication Teacher, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 81-85.

Ketchley, N 2014, ‘How social media spreads protest tactics from Ukraine to Egypt’, The Washington Post, 14 February, viewed 1 February 2017, <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/02/14/how-social-media-spreads-protest-tactics-from-ukraine-to-egypt/?utm_term=.a1c2fdaed243>.

Kristofferson, K, White, K & Peloza, J, 2014, ‘The Nature of Slacktivism: How the Social Observability of an Initial Act of Token Support Affects Subsequent Prosocial Action’, Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 40, pp. 1149-1166.

Lukatskywap, E 2014, ‘A protester throws a Molotov cocktail on January 22’ [image], CNN: Ukraine protestors, police agree to truce as government, opposition talk, francaisdeletranger.org, viewed 1 February 2017, <http://www.francaisdeletranger.org/en/2014/01/23/cnn-ukraine-protesters-police-agree-to-truce-as-government-opposition-talk/>.

Monarsh 2016, ‘Slacktivism’ [image], in Monarsh University 2016, viewed 6 December 2016, <https://blogs.monash.edu/presto/tag/slacktivism/>. 

Onuch, O 2015, ‘EuroMaidan Protests in Ukraine: Social Media Versus Social Networks’, Problems of Post-Communism, vol. 62, no. 4, pp. 217-235.

Ziggyland 2014, ‘A 1000 friends on Facebook’ [image], in Ziggyland’s tweet, Twitter, viewed 1 February 2017, <https://twitter.com/zingyland/status/530663874182541312>.

[digitalblogger-blog]

Cyberbullying and Social Media

Being a parent of two teenager’s means social media is an everyday part of life and a continual struggle trying to monitor what sites our kids are on and the amount of time they spend on them. For this reason alone, cyber safety is extremely important. 

Image source: http://www.cleancutmedia.com/internet/teens-standing-up-to-cyber-bullies-on-facebook

Parents tend to have no real idea what their teenagers are doing on social media including whether they are being cyber bullied or even worse they’re the bully. While each social media site has their own safety guidelines, if your situation doesn’t meet the exact criteria of what is inappropriate in these policies or even if it does meet the criteria and a picture or post is taken down from the site, then what? The bullying doesn’t automatically stop.

Quick guide to popular social media sites and apps (Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner 2015).

This means a governing body such as the Children's eSafety Commissioner is an important initiative, it creates another level to take further action including a place where you can get advice and discuss strategies on how to deal with your situation (eSafety 2017). A governing body is there to further protect kids and create awareness through advertising campaigns and links to educational and other government sites as well as “investigating and conciliating complaints” (Australian Human Rights Commission 2015). It is important to note that the eSafety website is not just about complaints, it is full of practical tips and information for children, parents and teachers alike enabling them to put safety parameters in place in an effort to reduce the risk of cyberbullying.

An interesting article on why we need an eSafety Commissioner highlights many of the above reasons as well discusses the initiative of ‘Safer Internet Day’ in February and the importance of remembering children that have taken their own lives due to the incessant cyber bullying they endured before it became too much (Abrahams & Johnson 2015). The article also highlights the fact that according to a 2013 global poll, our country was ranked worst in the world for cyber bullying (Abrahams & Johnson 2015). This shows there are many reasons why we need a governing body to police, enforce and protect our children.

While this document outlines what cyber bulling is, its effects and where to get help it also discusses and outlines what the commissioner is doing to try and combat cyberbullying (Australian Human Rights Commission 2015). Having top down intervention seems to be a necessity as no matter what the social media sites policies, the issue of cyberbullying is still continuing and these platforms can’t seem to do enough to control it.

References

Abrahams, N & Johnson, D 2015, ‘Cyberbullying and why we need an e-safety commissioner’, The Sydney Morning Herald,  viewed 31 January 2017, <http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/cyberbullying-and-why-we-need-an-esafety-commissioner-20150209-13adxk.html>.

Australian Human Rights Commission 2015, Cyberbullying, human rights and bystanders, Australian Human Rights Commission, viewed 31 January 2017, <https://bullying.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/pdf/bullying/VHB_cyberbullying.pdf>.

Clean Cut Media 2012, ‘Cyberbullying Statistics Infographic’ [image], in Clean Cut Media, viewed 31 January 2017, <http://www.cleancutmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Cyberbullying-Statistics-Infographic.jpg>.

eSafety 2017, Home, Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner, viewed 31 January 2017, <https://www.esafety.gov.au>.

Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner 2015, Quick guide to popular social media sites and apps, 19 August, viewed 31 January 2017, <http://www.swinburne.edu.au/library/referencing/harvard-style-guide/>

[digitalblogger-blog]

The ‘News’ Politics of Social Media

Politics is a personal choice, you either love it or you hate it. Some people turn up on Election Day and vote because they have to, they haven’t necessarily researched who is the best choice, perhaps they were given a flyer on the way in or chose based on how their parents voted. On the other hand there are a lot of people who are passionate about politics and actively seek out information including attending demonstrations or turning up to scheduled meet and greets.

(Yahoo 7 News 2016)

Either way political news especially around an election campaign filters through to you one way or another…there’s no escaping it!

Traditionally this was through newspapers and television (Young 2010, p. 205), even if you weren’t really interested every commercial break and news story covered politics.

Between 2001 and 2010 we saw a major change in the way politics was broadcast because of the Internet (Young 2010, p. 205). While the Internet has changed the way we go about getting our news coverage, there is debate whether the Internet’s reach has actually increased audience numbers and participation.

Whilst politician’s have spread their wings to all facets of social media including the likes of blogs, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter it only works if the politician embraces social media and engages as a person on these platforms (Jericho 2013, p. 266). Often a politician’s use of Twitter has been criticized with very few politicians taking to using Twitter in a way that generates greater audience support and engagement (Jericho 2013, p. 266).

Malcolm Turnbull who uses a combination of these platforms, was known as our “Tweetiest Politician” (Jericho 2013, p. 267) mainly because he embraced Twitter by showing his personal and often humorous side instead of only using it to push out political information.

Personally I had never used Twitter until last night, after reading all about political usage of the platform, I decided to sign up. Unsure of what to do on Twitter I searched the term Malcolm Turnbull and was actually surprised by pretty much all negative and not very nice posts with @TurnbullMalcolm in them.

Whilst I am not naive enough to think that all posts and tweets should be nice, especially as that is a big part of the Internet and social media in allowing a person to express their feelings and thoughts, I continue to be disappointed by how rude people can be. I am also not a great follower of political news and possibly it is a person’s passion for a cause that drives them to act in this manner. Either way, as a politician and especially on social media you need to have very thick skin!

References

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

‘Poll Graphic’ 2016 [image], Election blog: Clown fish protestor meets PM in Adelaide, in The West Australian, Yahoo 7 News, viewed 11 December 2016, < https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/31555637/federal-election-2016-blog/#page1>.

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

[digitalblogger-blog]

Society and the digital age

Whilst I have titled my blog ‘The upside of social media’ after being asked to put down in writing how social media has affected my life including how often I use it, it became quite apparent to me that it is way too much for my liking! My biggest use is via my phone, text messaging and surfing Facebook.  I have children who constantly say to me, “Mum put your phone down, stop looking at Facebook”. This frustrates me as often I am organising my netball team or tracking messages on uni Facebook groups, both important, both time consuming, both also lead to me losing time.

I resonated with Anita’s (Collins 2016) post on Blackboard about a quote from Turkle’s, Connected, but alone? video stating; "Technology is taking us to a place where we don't want to go…" (TED-Ed 2013 ). I also grew up pre Internet and would talk on the phone with my friends and I was always outside.

My teenage children can now be found in their rooms most weekends and it scares me the lack of face-to-face communication they have with friends, even with me putting time parameters around the use of the Internet.

Paradigm Malibu 2013

How and when did all this disconnect occur, has it just been the introduction of the Internet? Theorist Tonnies in the 19th century had already devised that there was a shift occurring from “organic communities towards impersonal societies” (Siapera 2012, p. 193) with declining human contact and solidarity due to the industrial revolution and people moving from villages to cities (Siapera 2012, p. 192).

Now skip forward to the new millennium and Putman’s (C-SPAN 2012) interview in 2000 on his book ‘Bowling Alone’ discusses the impact of technologies (mainly television) on social disengagement and how watching television has meant less time socialising with neighbor’s and friends. It suggests that new technologies fulfill individual tastes whilst taking away any good social alternatives (C-SPAN 2012). Reading Putman’s concerns about television seems minimal in comparison to social disconnection of today…..unless you take into account the likes of Netfix, Stan etc?!

ABC 2016

On the flip side Rheingold (Siapera 2012, p. 194) argues how new media actually breathes life into new forms of community. Now if I apply that to Netflix and Facebook, it does start some great conversations about what show to watch next! Aren’t we still connecting or is the fact that you watched Netflix on your laptop for 2 hours straight without any interaction with anyone else, a prime example of a social disconnect?

The options of platforms available are endless from the ever popular Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to ones I have never heard of like reddit and digg. Like anything these platforms have different features, positive aspects and of course limitations. Often one platform links to another with clips from YouTube linked to Facebook, or hash tags on Facebook linked to Twitter.

Either way most of society is digitally connected in some way or form and we need to embrace it, as it’s definitely here to stay, the good and the ugly parts of it!

As an aside these were interesting reading too:-

There are also treatment places popping up for ‘Teen Social Media Addiction’ (Paradigm Malibu 2013), no doubt these are out there for adults too! Interesting read https://paradigmmalibu.com/teen-social-media-addiction-treatment/

A short Fox News (2012) story “Social Media Impact on Children” also suggests technology in moderation and ensuring we as adults also limit our time on social media sites

Fox News (2012) 

References 

Collins, A 2016, ‘Week 1 Activity 2: Are we connected but alone?’, MDA20009 Digital Communities, discussion board post on Blackboard, Swinburne Online, 7 November, viewed 3 December 2016.

C-SPAN 2012, Robert Putnam - Bowling Alone, 19 December, viewed 3 August 2016, <http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4236758/robert-putnam-bowling-alone>.

Fox News 2012, Social Media Impact on Children, viewed 3 December 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEmhgflf6Vs>.

Paradigm Malibu 2013, Teen Social Media Addiction Treatment: What Is It?, viewed 3 December 2016, < https://paradigmmalibu.com/teen-social-media-addiction-treatment/>.

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

TED-Ed 2013, Connected, but alone?- Sherry Turkle, 19 April, viewed 3  August 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv0g8TsnA6c>.

Images

‘Netflix_r1404388_20069297’ 2016 [image], ABC, viewed 4 December 2016, < https://pauberti.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/netflix.jpg>.

‘Teen-Using-Computer-facebook’ 2014 [image], Paradigm Malibu, viewed 3 December 2016, < https://paradigmmalibu.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/o-TEEN-USING-COMPUTER-facebook.jpg>.

[digitalblogger-blog]

My first post

Well here it is after agonising about a layout and what picture to use for my header I ended up clicking on the first picture I had in a folder and making a quirky title to go with it! I also realised the other day that this is actually my second blog as I had a craft blog years back that I had completely forgotten about. In saying that, I am feeling nervous about this blog and having to talk about topics that I am unsure about, but it's all about learning....so here we go!