Digital Communities @ellysdigitalhub-blog - Tumblr Blog

Global and social media- China

Thoughts and findings-

‘Made in China’ is a stamp we have seen on almost everything that we own, so it only makes sense that they have one of the most progressive social media activities in the world, regardless of their communist political ruling. Social media accounts enable people of China to access areas that are prohibited in any other way. Such as clothing brands, people in China are able to access via WeChat people who provide services in different countries that stock clothing brands that are illegal in China. For example, in Australia a brand such as Zimmerman or Review is blocked from the Chinese market, however, Chinese women in Australia have services over WeChat that sell such items back to China, labelling them as gifts. Without WeChat this service would not be possible.

In China, “internet usage has expanded more quickly than anywhere else in the world” (Mckinsey, 2012, p.1). Sites such as WeChat have recorded around 963 million active users monthly on their platform (Statista, 2017). Reportedly 490 of those users are in China alone, making up more than half the monthly users of the platform. With 84% of the 1.36 billion population in possession of a smart phone. A factor to this statistic can be the prohibition of Facebook and Twitter within China, therefore, forcing citizens to use sites that are legal.

WeChat is also used in China as a method of currency, where people can pay with a cryptocurrency for their meals and shopping. It is also a method to order food whilst sitting at a restaurant that has worked towards broadening the scope of what a social media site can accomplish.

A few years ago in 2012 the Chinese government instated the ‘Great firewall of China’ which was a online barrier from the citizens of China accessing any politically sensitive information they government did not want their people to see. Due to the firewall websites have been shut down for violating their constitution and attacking state leaders (Lecture, 2018, May 18). The government is constantly fighting to keep barriers around their citizens in the name of ‘protection’ but the influence of the internet could not have been foreseen by any government.

ONLINE GAMING COMMUNITIES

Online gaming communities live in a realm of augmented reality, where players come together to play games that bare alternate realities to their own. This is a place where people can wear a persona that is different from their reality. Such as Second Life, a game where players can create an avatar that they wish to be. For example, you can make yourself a tall, leggy blonde half your true age instead of a 5’2 middle-aged brunette; you become the person you wish you were.

Online gaming has a different construct of social norms than those within our real lives (Suzor & Woodford, 2013, p.2). These social online spaces develop sets of rules that govern the players, those players have the ability to agree to those sets of rules before they enter the game (Suzor & Woodford, 2013, p.2). Therefore, it becomes a place where rules are set in accordance with what the online community of the particular game would want. This means that there is a strong linkage between players and game developers. These rules work towards stopping scamming, schemes and scandals from occurring within the game. However, a game called EVE does not abide by the social constructs usually found within games today. EVE is a game that has no rules and allows players to make their own rules as they go through the game. Zwart describes that this has left room for scamming, Ponzi schemes and theft to occur within the game (Zwart, 2014, p.78). This can make the social aspects of the game very hostile as players are having to keep constantly aware of other player’s agendas.

#giphy #ice bucket challenge

Public health campaigns and communities

Mental and physical health-

The discussions surrounding mental health and wellbeing has changed with the evolution of social media platforms. This week we broadened our understanding of how much power is behind social medias ability to increase the interaction, accessibility and the sharing of information. Mental health and wellbeing is such a massive topic and an area of discussion which continues to be conversed over the social media sphere.

Social media as discussed in the lecture has had many great attributes when it comes to social change on the mentality surrounding health. This is exampled in the Facebook campaign where people posted videos of themselves throwing buckets of ice water over themselves for the ALS ice bucket challenge. This viral campaign brought much needed attention and funding to the ALS disease, to the point where recently a possible cure has surfaced due to the increase of funding for scientific research.

However, there is also great set backs at the same time, this was exampled in a survey which showed people have a great fear of missing out (FOMO) (Australian Psychological Society, 2015). This contributes greatly to anxiety and depression in young people around Australia (McCosker, 2015, p.1).

Not only did the campaign prove to be able to spread awareness and funding, it worked towards educating the public on mental and physical health issues that may not have caught much attention.

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prezi for in class group presentation, 13/4/2018

Time for a case study: The Ariana Grande Concert 2017 explosion

Crowd sourcing in times of Crises-

I remember when the Ariana Grande concert bombing happened in Manchester last year, an almost live feed to the events unfolded on my social media accounts. I remember a seemingly normal night turning into a storm of instant live video feeds streaming through my social media accounts. What shock me the most is that Snapchat formulated a live story of those at the scenes videos that people at the scene were posting made readily available for public consumption. It felt like I had a microscopic lens on something that I was completely desensitised to as I was not physically experiencing it. Crowdsourcing of information on crises events has both a positive and negative effect.

A hashtag #RoomForManchester over twitter went viral as people of the community reached out offering any help for those who were affected in the concert. At the same time news was breaking out as it was happening, creating a lot of false accusations and misinformation as the whole story was yet to be uncovered, creating more panic and fearmongering.

Facebook after the rise of crises has implemented ‘Crisis Response’ where users can share information about recent crises and can have access to Safety check. This is where users can let their family and friends know that you are safe during a crises situation near you. This is integral for the public to having an easy accessible way to notify their loved ones of their safety.

Social media platforms have become the hub for crowdsourcing information on crises events around the world. The ABC has identified that social media has the ability to impact immensely on emergency situations (Posetti & Lo, 2012, p. 34). For the first time, people around the world are able to respond to, share information and get alerts on what is happening in real time. This is exampled in the Thailand volcano eruption in November 2018, during the Haiti earthquakes, the Boston bombings and the numerous mass shootings in America such as the Los Vegas shooting in 2017. Giving ordinary people the extraordinary ability to provide much needed information and help during times of need.

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Crowd Sourcing in Times of Crisis

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“the way to successfully crowd source is to use clear, simple questions. That is the most effective way to get a response particularly in emergencies when people do not have time to sift through a lot of information.”

“How the people of Manchester offered help to those in need after a devastating attack. #RoomForManchester https://t.co/IjeFjC4DSZ”

The viral hashtag #RoomForManchester after the 2007 Ariana Grande concert explosion.

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWBvXRVMPDU)

ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN

Social media activism highlights how anyone of any age can make a change. The march for our lives campaign is a prolific example of how presently this has gone from online campaigning to physical rallies and marches. The digital age has transformed how activism and protest is viewed and used.

The most powerful forms of digital activism are the ones that turn into physical protests, social media allows people to connect online who can then come together in a public place in protest (Gerbaudo, 2012, p.12). This has been exampled in the March for Our Lives campaign where a handful of students banned together against gun violence in America after a mass shooting that killed 17 people at their school in Florida (Alter, 2018). This resulted in physical rallies being held all over America in states such as Washington D.C, New York, Concord N.H, Miami Florida in the hopes to reform gun laws in America. The rallies did not stop there as demonstrations and rallies were held across the world in countries such as Germany, Amsterdam, France and Australia (Somvichian-Clausen, 2018). Where hundreds of thousands of people gathered together in their common goal of stopping gun violence from taking more innocent lives.

Social media has opened up the accessibility a call to movement, these platforms able revolutionaries to share “dissent, dissemination of information, and collective action” (Lafi, 2012, p.315). In the case of the March for Our Lives movement, social media gave the revolutionaries a platform to speak loudly to a transnational audience (Lafi, 2012, p.316). This gave them the power to fight back against the NRA and the hold the NRA still currently has over politicians in government.

#mixingpoliticswithsocialmedia

Mixing social media and politics

Social media and politics have not always mixed and has varied in its ability to influence. Enli (2017, p.59) explains that there is no set model or structure for how to use social media to speak to a digital audience. Social media has traditionally been used as simply a way to channel political marketing rather than a tool to interact and encourage voters (Enli, 2017, p.53).

In recent years there has been a shift, local council and governments have taken to their professional public Facebook accounts to address their publics on certain topical debates and issues facing their area. By 2009 many Australian politicians joined the Twitter community (Jericho, 2012, p. 296). Twitter was an unfiltered medium for politicians to speak to their audiences. There have been great strides such as Premier Daniel Andrews rejoicing on Twitter when the same-sex marriage vote was announced alongside many other Australian politicians. However, it also had the ramifications of people having a platform to directly tell the politicians what they thought of them (Jericho, 2012, p.297).

Using social media to communicate to a politician’s general public can also prove to have risks that can at times out way the good associated. Enli (2017) uses example of President Donald Trump during the 2016 Presidential election. Trumps platform of choice has continued to be predominately Twitter, where he seemingly word vomits his thoughts in to a tweet. It is therefore, apparent that a miss spelling or spur of the moment status can have immense backlash. This has in turn made him a target of ridicule which went viral on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. However, this can happen even if the politician is not engaging in online posts.

It is also known that the majority of internet users read their news quota on the internet every day. Young (2012, p. 227) found that people tend to gather their news from social media sites, creating an emphasis on breaking news on such platforms. For users, it is simply an easy means of collecting information that may appeal to their interests. Therefore, is it better to continue online engagement with audiences rather than have an online silence? It seems that an online presence is better than no presence at all.

The interest has always proven to have a love hate relationship with all who is involved. It has an unlimited ability to be uncensored and can deliver a message, news story, video to a broader audience than any media outlet could before. The coverage of a political campaign will be followed online regardless if the politicians engage themselves. Digital citizens will continue to comment and follow political agendas on social media, regardless if the news consumed in factual or otherwise.

Social media or Blog?

As the social media age evolves, so does the way we use it. Tumblr has provided its users with the ability to interact through reposting/ reblogging content, commenting on others feeds or liking posts. This is a representation of a ‘social’ sphere within the Tumblr world.

It is also to be understood that Tumblr was brought about to be used as a sort of community. Where like minded people could have a platform where they could share ideas, thoughts and creativity; continuing the idea of it being a social hub.

Tumblr incorporates the traditionalistic layouts of a blog, where a person can theme, express and interact in any way, shape or form that they want to with their audience. The way in which engagement is performed is up to the blogger themselves.

Blogging and social media are not mutual exclusive, therefore, a platform can have an interaction of being both a blog and a social media platform. Tumblr does not have a strict guideline of use either. You can use it strictly as a blog, or strictly for social media or for both, there is no one way of interacting within it.

The interaction users are having online vastly differs from ones had in real life. Therefore, there has been an increase in concerns over how users interact with each other on social media. Siapera (2012, p.204) points out that these social media platforms are creating blurred lines of private and public information. This concern of private users communicating information to a public audience is relevant to all platforms that connect people online; including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Tumblr.

Through the rise of social media, having a presence online has become as important as your hands are to update a status. Boyd (2014) describes it as living in a world were we are ‘always-on’ (p.72). As we live in a digital age, we are always connected to the networks we subscribe to. Having this constant IV drip to our virtual social universe, we are constantly keeping updated the presence of the person we want our spectators to see us as. (Wilkin & McCosker, 2014, p.292). The online universe allows us to personify any image of who we want to be, causing a blur within identity alongside what it means to have a private and public life.

Tumblr at its bare bones is a platform where people are able to control their own content and the way they interact with their audiences, friends and communities.

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