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Check out this sexy presentation about Digital Communities in China :0

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My Favourite Fall Vegetable is a Sweet Potato

Michelle Obama. The queen of fall,

vegetables,

and sweet potatoes.

Because my favourite fall vegetable is a sweet potato.

Okay, let’s put one of my favourite videos aside real quick.

Michelle Obama has truly been an influencer in her time. One of Michelle’s feats that’s I admire the most is her health movement - Let’s Move! Launched in 2010 when childhood obesity was on the rise, Michelle led the campaign to reduce childhood obesity and promote healthier, more active lifestyles for children around America. [x]

Whilst legislative change such as the push for nutritional labelling in food products and the change to school cafeteria lunches is truly commendable, as a social media student, Michelle’s savvy manoeuvres in the digital space was the most interesting.

Michelle is somewhat in touch with her audience, like her husband, and knew how to appeal to them. Like the Movember and The Ice Bucket Challenge to come, in 2011, Beyoncé was invited by Michelle to join in on the campaign (YES BEYONCÉ) with a reworked version of her song ‘Get me Bodied’ with the more kid-friendly fitness song ‘Move Your Body’ - even recording her own instructional video of the expertise routine that went with the choreography. This new leg of the campaign was called ‘Let’s Move! Flash Workout!’

Michelle was also seen in the Ellen Show, Jimmy Fallon, and Billy Eichner all to promote this healthy lifestyle. By seeing this, I believe Michelle Obama truly understands the viral power of the internet. Although she may have not reached the insane infamy of some challenges, she knew the autonomous potential of sustaining campaigns and movements. She demonstrates the power of the internet and campaigns that can take off. Imagine using the viral power to promote mental health, smoking, cancer, diseases and weight loss.

Virality may be the newest front for the campaigning of public health and I think it’s taken off. Given Michelle is out of office, I don’t think we’ll be seeing any new dance challenges for fitness from the White House anytime soon. I guess we will have to settle for Melania.

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How To Get Away with Murder (of a Troll)

I'm back-back-back-back-back again to talk about digital communities!

I don’t know about you, but I’d consider myself at pretty internet savvy (catch me quote Jasmine Masters). However, I don’t think you need to be an internet savvy person to say that you haven’t experienced trolls. Yes, whether it’s that bloody troll face or that super attractive catfish - I think, given our current state of internet obsession, it's safe to say we’ve ALL experienced trolling once in our lives.

So what is a troll?

Trolls are internet users who perform ‘malicious online behaviour’, mainly prominent in internet communities and social media. They exploit the online space and its unaccountability to purposefully provoke, irritate, disrupt or distress others. [X]

As annoying as they can be, I’m here to teach a little lesson.

This is How To Get Away with Murder (of a troll).

(Yes, it is I, Viola Davis)

From how I see it, there are a few ways to kill a troll, but there are two that are particularly common - starving a troll or fighting troll with a troll. 

STARVING A TROLL

As trolls feed off the attention and satisfaction of their actions, simply by denying them this sustenance, they should surely cease. Aka, ignoring it. When they do not elicit the reaction they are after, they may simply stop or move on, but beware. You may be in for a big storm, honey. A small possibility is that the troll may bring in reinforcements of other trolls to bring more pressure and try to elicit that response they so desperately desire.

FIGHTING TROLL WITH TROLL

Another course of action may be fighting troll with a troll. What does this mean, you ask? Well, it has been found that some people will retaliate against trolls with their own form of trolling. Imagine someone purposefully acting dumb or playing along to the actions of a troll, simply to make a fool out of the troll and take the power back from the situation.

Whichever you choose, never let a troll get to you. You now have weapons at your disposal. And to close this post, I won’t be showing that troll from Harry Potter. Instead, you can have a picture of Shuga Cain’s Troll doll look.

Terrifying, am I right? Keep an eye out for trolls! You know what to do now.

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Rupaul’s Culture Jamming Race

Tonight’s category is Culture Jamming. Gentlemen, start your engines, and may the best woman win.

WHAT IS CULTURE JAMMING?

Culture jamming is this beautiful form of subverting and criticizing the status quo, making us reflect upon ourselves and problems that exist - through our consumerism, politics, world issues and media consumption (x). You’ve probably seen or heard of some before: Banksy? M.I.A? Borat? Literally any meme ever? They all spin what we are used to on its head and try to make us think in a new way. This makes culture jamming an amazing tool for political communication and activism.

(X) But was does Mama Ru have to do with all of this? Besides my current obsession with it at the moment (we stan Plastique), RuPaul’s Drag Race is strangely this amalgamation of culture jamming and demonstrates culture jamming done successfully! Its charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent literally reads reality television, drags consumerism and snatches the status quo’s wig (and is wildly good at it). Okay, if you have no idea what I’m talking about (lol) it’s totally fine. Let’s break it down!

So, we’ve already established that Culture Jamming is all about taking what we know and flipping it so we can see a new light, right? Well, if you haven’t seen RuPaul’s Drag Race, It may look like it on the surface...

Drag Queens come onto the show and all compete to become the winner, with a queen eliminated each episode. Replace Drag Queen with singer, dancer, cook, or seamstress and that sounds like every other reality television show out there. However, it is the nuances within RuPaul’s Drag Race that demonstrate the artificiality of reality television. While other shows like X-Factor, Masterchef and Yummy Mummies attempt to exude authenticity, a show about men dressing up as over exaggerated women is fundamentally based off and celebratory of the fake and artificial. The show almost plays like a parody, riffing off other reality shows to point out the manufactured and systematic reality of reality television.

RuPaul’s She-mail is a play on Top Model’s Tyra Mail:

RuPaul plays on Tim Gunn and Hiedi Klum from Project Runway:

Contestant preform to remain in the competition, like on X-Factor:

Contestant’s spilling the tea on each other in confessionals, like Real Housewives:

RuPaul’s Drag Race’s love for the artificial is not more apparent that the show’s unapologetic use of product placement. While other shows might try to hide sponsorships with judges drinking Pepsi or seamlessly promote a brand with cooks shopping at Woolies, RuPaul will stand on that runway and plug his song, album, chocolate bar, or a new brand of wigs, fabric, liquor or holiday experience with no shame. This subversion of product placement spins the norms of reality television. While others shy away from the ‘pitfalls’ of reality television, RuPaul culture jams the culture and brings it all to light.

The only thing fake about RuPaul’s Drag is literally everything, including Alaska’s leg.

But how is this really culture jamming?

Once you watch an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race or maybe even finish reading this post, you’ll realise the unrealistic reality of reality television. RuPaul’s Drag Race demonstrates how you can successfully culture jam an entire section of television culture. If the gays can do with television, imagine the capabilities of all of us on politics and social issues and the world.

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Plastique Tiara

📸 by E.G. BeautyStudio

[dragmaniarpdr]

Credit: NotTodayBianca (IG)

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politics? who is she?

‘Oh yeah, Donald Trump am I right?’

‘Eggboi!’

‘Is it weird I dreamt of Justin Trudeau?’

‘Who is our prime minister now?’

Me and my amazing contribution to the political discourse 🙃🙃🙃

For some context, this is literally me whenever anyone ever asks for my political opinion...

Despite my tendency to yeet myself away from offering my opinion in any political discussion, the relationship between social media and politics is something that really gets me going.

Social media, in theory, is this amazing public sphere where everyone from all walks of life (yes, this, unfortunately, includes the likes of anti-vaxxers and flat earthers) can come together and freely discuss societal problems like the legitimacy of Kylie Jenner's self-made billionaire legitimacy and the Keto diet. The radical development of social media was this new frontier for political discussion where regardless of your race, class, gender, sexual orientation - you could contribute to the discourse. This means everyone can become more informed, more political educated, and develop their own views by understanding and respecting contrasting and differing views. Because that’s how Facebook works, right? RIGHT?

How social media works and how we use social media differs crazily from how it theoretically should work. I’m sure we’ve all used social media before -Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Tumblr - so I’m sure, we’ve all seen this before:

1. Fear of online harassment and workplace surveillance. (x) 

Have you ever hesitated when posting something? Been told to think before you post because you’re told it stays online forever and your future employers might look you up? Lived in fear that if you came for Rupaul’s wig that the gays would come for your throat?

Social media users rarely post their raw honest opinion because they fear the potential effects of their political expression on personal and professional relationships, and the possibility of online harassment by others. In addition to the surveillance of online activity by family, friends, workmates, bosses, and the public, this all limits the exchange of ideas and opinions online.

2. Engagement only with politically similar others (x)

When you’re scrolling down Facebook - past the memes, past your aunty’s lasagna, past another bloody hot glue craft video - you’re liking, commenting, and sharing posts. All of this info gets churned in the algorithm machine and allows Facebook to tailor your timeline and keep you on facebook for the longest time possible. This works the same for political views. Naturally, you will interact with the content you agree with and Zuckerberg gives you more of what you want.

3. Characterization of social media as a place for “happy” interactions. (x)

I don’t know about you, but I don’t personally come to social media to have arguments, fights, or to generally get my blood boiling, nor do I have a desire to begin World War 3 on my dashboard. People avoid creating conflict on social media (literally meeeeee) and thusly, don’t post controversial but honest opinions on social media.

Social media might seem like this amazing public sphere for political discussion but as you can see, everything is not what it seems.

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when your teacher cracks a joke but you need those marks

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please

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when they ask if a tumblr’s a blog or social network

i’m roxxxy andrews and i’m here to make it clear, tumblr is both

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Hannah Montana

Is Tumblr a blog or a social network?

14-year-old me probably didn’t care as he mindlessly reblogged vines, but now being a uni student who’s life is now media and communications, it really begs the question: which is it? 

According to Blogging writer, Jill Walker Rettberg, a blog is a ‘relatively free-form type of social media’ that is a ‘discussion or information site published on the World Wide Web and consisting of discrete entries (“posts”) typically displayed in reverse chronological order.’ Tumblr ticks the hell out of these boxes. 

Blogs also fall into one of three categories: diary-style blog, filter blog and the topic-driven blog and, if I’ve learnt anything about Tumblr, it that there is a Tumblr for everyone. Petty revenge stories, confessions of a retail worker, John Malaney worship page, ugly renaissance babies or literally the same picture of Dave Courier every day (look it up, it’s real). To quote a great philosopher of our time: ‘I want it, I got it.’

Tumblr is also often referred to as a microblog, meaning that it is ‘a blogging platform where the amount of information that can be shared per author is either enforced to be very short or just typically very short’ (x). It’s settled then. Tumblr is a blog.

...

The actual gag is that Tumblr can also be used as a social network.

Direct messaging, liking, sharing, commenting. All essential aspects of a social network. A social network is defined as “web-based services that 

construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, 

articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and 

view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others in the system.” (Thanks, Eugenia Siapera for writing Understanding New Media)

Let’s see if Tumblr also ticks all these boxes:

One. A public or semi-public profile within a bounded system: believe it or not, I’m not actually Miranda Cosgrove sipping a coke behind a computer screen as my icon suggests. It’s clear that Tumblr has the capability to create Tumblr-specific profiles that everyone could see - as discrete or open users want their online personas to be. 

Two. Following other blogs is a quintessential experience of a tumblr. Finding blogs you like to curate your dashboard is a route many Tumblr users take. This is a definite translation of ‘articulating a list of other users’. Even you can see it, even though I rather you not because it’s quite embarrassing. Just clicking that following button will show you every person a person follows. That checks off point three: ‘view and traverse their list of connections’, etc.

So whether it's direct messaging through Tumblr’s asks, liking and sharing in the notes or commenting your own captions below posts - Tumblr really does have it all as a social network.

So, in the end, which is it: a blog or social network? 

It’s Hannah Montanna! 

The best of both worlds.