Switched On

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8. The Great (fire) Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is a one of the most well known wonders of the world, originally serving as a defensive fortification to protect the country. Today, the wall has shifted to the internet, serving to censor online information from their citizens.

 Censorship is the practice of limiting access to information, ideas or books in order to prevent knowledge or freedom of thought. China has always been strongly censored, beginning BC more than 2 thousand years ago with the burning of books and live burials of scholars by China's first emperor, and has progressed as new technology such as the internet has become accessible. Todays censorship tactics are strict media controls using monitoring systems and firewalls, shuttering publications or websites, and jailing dissident journalists, bloggers and activists. China is a one-party state, the communist party claim they only censor information that exposes states secrets or endanger the country. Censorship has further tightened since the 19th communist party congress in 2017, when president Xi Jinping secured his leadership for the next five years, even going to the extent of removing all images and articles containing “Winnie the Pooh” in response to the spread of memes comparing him to the cartoon character.

So why aren't the Chinese people actively fighting against against this censorship? The reason most likely lies in the fact that they are so in the dark they don’t realise the extent of the governments power over them in regards to their online activity. Their own social media industry has been developed with over 600 million users active in 2018, which mimics sites such as 'Facebook' and 'Twitter' so that the public feels they arnt actually missing out.

Users are becoming smarter in how they post content to avoid alerting authorities, this is seen after the #MeToo movement got banned, leading activists posting emoji's of a bowl of rice and a bunny, as the two words in mandarin sound 'mi tu'. The Chinese public lacks freedom and the great fire wall is inhibiting them from connecting with the rest of the world, and quite frankly something must be done about it.  

 https://prezi.com/view/adjcD1jCveq1q1MZurUR/

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7. Not-So-Social Gaming

A Game is an activity that one engages in for amusement, standing 'consciously outside of  ordinary life, as being not serious, but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly', put  simply, it is playing make believe.   

Social gaming begins as children, toddlers making games up playing amongst each other, I'm sure we all played 'Mums and Dads' or 'Cops and Robbers', but with technology advancements.. and age, the way we game has changed.  After playground games, many move up the ranks to consoles such as Nintendo's or PlayStations, played singularly or with a friend who would have to be sitting next you. Games involved completing or working together, arguably good for developing social skills. Classic games such as Mario Cart or Crash Bandicoot allowed hours of harmless, light hearted fun enjoyed in the company of friends.

  As we get older in life, everything appears to become more serious, and gaming is no exception. Online gaming has allowed people to create their own persona online, and connect with other personas. Gaming has mimicked everything we do in real life, from hobbies to income.  Second life is an online game that simulates real life,  described as 3D virtual world where users can create, connect, and chat with others from around the world. As well as socialising, users can purchase real estate and start businesses with real currency, watch entertainment and travel.

 Whilst online gaming forms communities,  it prohibits real life socialisation. With a lack face-to-face communication and becoming addicted to the game, users will struggle to distinguish what is real life and fantasy.  Many  obsessed 'Gamers' find refuge and friends through online games as they struggle to do so in life, and although any support system is appreciated, extreme gaming hinders  real social interaction.  

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6. A Healthy Dose of Social Media

Public health is the science of protecting the safety and improving the health of communities through education, policy making and research for disease and injury prevention.

 Growing up, I remember public health campaign advertisements being slammed during peak television time. I'm sure we all remember the Cancer Councils "Slip Slop Slap" or the TACs "Drink and Drive, You Bloody Idiot" slogans, which is a clear indicator that they worked. However, with television rates declining and social media rates seemingly forever on the rise, health campaigns are changing their methods of delivery.

Television ads provided guaranteed audience viewing, but social media is no different with many campaigns being sponsored, meaning they are likely to show up on our feeds regardless of wether we follow the account. The public viewing the advertisements is essential, but it is how they react with the information that warrants a successful campaign by sharing onto friends and family directly. Interactive campaigns are effective as people do more than just view the information, but activity get involved and therefore are caused to thoroughly think about the issue. Movember is a great example, with a broad aim of raising awareness for men's health, men grow moustaches during the month-long campaign and post a photo to social media with the hashtag #Movember. The #RUOK campaign is also an extremely successful campaign, it doesn’t directly target individuals health, but rather provokes involvement by urging  individual's to check their friends and family mental health.  It is  also common for influencers and high profile celebrities to jump on board public health campaigns gaining further audience outreach.

Whilst social media has predominantly aided in the success of pubic health campaigns, its important to note how it can also hinder vulnerable peoples health. Those with low self-esteem are constantly comparing themselves with others photos, which are often photo shopped and unrealistic, this is of particular concern to young people and their mental health. Ill people posting to their social media accounts can become targets of scams as they are vulnerable and willing to try anything as seen in the Belle Gibson saga. Social Media does however allow for ill people to unite and form communities, supporting each other through times of need.

Social Media is assumed to be used by the younger generations, however JMIR  reports that nearly 90 percent of older adults have used social media to seek and share health information. Public health campaigns can reach many through social media in more creative forms and are crucial to the populations health. 

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5. Crowdsourcing in Times of Crisis

Although crowdsourcing is not a new concept, the advancements in technology have had a huge impact on how it is defined today. Crowdsourcing is the practice of engaging a 'crowd; or group to achieve a common goal, often innovation, problem solving or efficiency and is powered by new technologies such as social media and the internet.  

The internet has granted us with accessibility to information and knowledge , but has also allowed us to create and share content ourselves. Produsers is a term associated with crowdsourcing,  and is a conjunction of the words "Producer" and "User". Wikipedia is a website we are all familiar with, often a first port of call when doing a quick internet search, but what many don’t realise is this is one of the greatest example of world scale crowdsourcing. Wikipedia allows users to edit and publish articles on their website with the common goal to benefit its readers by  presenting neutrally written summaries of existing mainstream knowledge in a fair and accurate manner with a straightforward, "just-the-facts style". Obviously, when you allow anybody to publish information, not everything is going to be accurate or supported by facts, so wether Wikipedia actually achieves their goal is up for debate, but we can save that for a later conversation.

Crowdsourcing particularly comes into play when disaster strikes,  rallying contributions from the public to pinpoint trouble areas, gather critical information, perform time-sensitive tasks and deem people involved or in the area as safe. Smartphones have lead to amateur footage of disasters becoming crucial sources of visual coverage. In Australia, amateur footage of the harrowing effects the drought has had on our farmers was brought to our attention. Without the public producing and posting their own coverage of the drought most of us would not even be aware of this disaster. In attempts to provide support, the public crowdfunded by purchasing bales of hay to donate to famers. Crowdfunding works similarly to crowdsourcing, relying on small donations from a 'crowd' equating to a large amount with a common goal to provide financial support to those affected. The 'Buy a Bale' campaign saw over 46,000 bales of hay provided to farmers in just a few short months. 

It isn't just large scale or world wide disasters that are assisted through crowdsourcing. A few years ago an unexpected bush fire tore through my small community, luckily it was small and put out quickly with no one being hurt. Our Facebook community group was where most of us found out the facts, where is happened, why it happened, who was involved etc.. Discovering that two families had their lost their homes and were eft with only the clothes on their back our community united through the same Facebook group to organise donations of money, clothes and accommodation. Crowdsourcing and Crowdfunding occurs on local and global levels for various industries and causes and has been greatly supported by technological advancements, as Thad Allen explains;

“We all have to understand that there will never again be a major event in this country that won’t involve public participation. And the public participation will happen whether

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4. Digital Citizenship and Trolling

Citizenship is known to be an individuals response to membership in a community. Digital citizenship has become extremely relevant as society's form online through social media networking.  The most accurate definition of digital citizenship I've found to be is 'the quality of habits, actions, and consumption patterns that impact the ecology of digital content and communities.

In the 'real' world, it is the norm for people to  communicate with other members of their community with respect, provide support, encouragement, information and feedback. Instances where these attributes are not displayed, and where an individual has intentionally been negative or harmful towards another is labelled as bullying. This similarly occurs online, and presumably more often as people are able to hide their identities and avoid  repercussions of their actions. Trolling is the term used for online bullies, defined as creating discord on the Internet by starting quarrels or upsetting people by posting inflammatory or off-topic messages in an online community.  The lack of face-face confrontation gives trolls confidence in attacking others whilst hiding behind their keyboards.

I'm sure there are endless reasons for Trolls' behaviour, low self-esteem and boredom and attention seeking come to my mind. They put others down in order to make themselves feel better, and obviously have too much spare time on their hands wasting there days attacking others.

 Celebrities and social media influencers are often targeted, with everything they post being critiqued publicly. Millie Bobby Brown, the 14 year old rising star from the hit Netflix series 'Stranger Things' was forced to take a hiatus from Twitter after she was targeted by trolls. The teenager was harassed with homophobic slurs, with trolls even sharing the hashtag #TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown. At the MTV Movie and TV awards, Brown delivered a speech in response to the trolls, telling her fans to 'rise above the hate'. This examples how trolls disregard age and vulnerability of victims, with more young people using social media they have more exposure to bullying.

So what can be done?

Most social media sites have rules and guidelines in place as an attempt to monitor negative behaviour. Users are able to report posts and comments for review, and if deemed inappropriate by the site it will be taken down and the account can be suspended. This is really a band-aid fix for the problem, nothing prevents the user from creating another account and continuing a path of destruction.  

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3. Activism and Social Media

The purpose of activism is to create social movements that bring together people and organisations around a central idea or goal providing a sense of collective identity . Since the internet become accessible to the public there has been an increasing shift to online activism.

Social Media has allowed individuals with the same views to become collectives, and gives minority groups a platform to make their voices be heard. It unites people across borders, and gives an alternative method to physical protests.

 Slacktivism

Arguably the most effective form of online activism is through hashtags, it allows for easy participation and has the capabilities to spread extremely fast, through only a few clicks of a mouse. Hashtag activism has also faced scrutiny for these features, with it being mock labelled “Slacktivism” as it involves minimal effort and no commitment and often contributions are made only out of ‘feel-good factor’. The shift in activism is obvious, with Micah White , a well-known and passionate activist arguing that “Activism has become about spreading ideas and changing the way people see the world, whilst those are positive and good things, activism is supposed to be about positive, transformative social change that is inherently political”.  Although online methods of activism are extremely powerful in gaining public awareness it is putting words in actions that warrants the success of change and avoids 'slacktivism'.

 'Me Too'

'Me Too'  is a movement  most of us are now all familiar with, but I'm sure many are unaware that it was actually founded back in 2006 to bring awareness to sexual harassment and violence against women. Following public allegations of sexual harassment by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, the movement jumped to social media after a well know actress put a hashtag in front of the words 'me too' and posted it on twitter. Social media users rallied behind her to publicly fight abuse of power. The hashtag was used more than 19 million times  in the first year going online, equating to more than 55,000 posts per day.  It is clearly evident how social media and high profile influencers rapidly progressed the success of this movement, it provided survivors a platform to unite by sharing their experiences with each other and the public and raise awareness of the issue.

Social media has without a doubt revolutionised activism, and we can only hope that it evolves further.

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Politics and Social Media

Traditionally television and newspapers have been the key sources of political news for the public, but today social media has become an increasingly used platform and is now the dominating political communication tool. Social Media has allowed a shift in the power relation from mainstream media and journalists to politicians and their campaigns, as they now have direct access to means of production and direct distribution channels.

Meme-ification of Politics

Political campaigns are far more likely to reach young voters through social media, as they are  generations that are less engaged in traditional media. As a tactic to gain attention, political parties have turned to the use of memes;  images, videos or texts that repurpose pop culture references and themes to share observations and information.

 Do memes reflect a professional  political campaign with Australia's future at interest? Absolutely not. But is it effective? Absolutely.  University lecturer Denisova describes the use of political memes as "absurd, politically incorrect, incomplete and require the knowledge of context to ‘get’ the joke. But most importantly, they mirror public opinion and popular emotions on the subject.” Memes are a creative way of communicating short but effective messages, usually at the expense of the opposing party. The recent NSW state election saw the Labour party use the highly publicised issue of lockout laws to sway voters against the opposition through the memes below.

Although the opposition fired back quickly,

this sort of campaigning needs to  be constantly monitored and reacted to promptly as the internets never shuts off, it doesn't allow for the same response time as traditional media slams. 

#AUSPOL

 Social Media has allowed for the public to become directly involved and interactive with politics. Arguably Australia's most popular hashtag #AUSPOL, short for Australian Politics, has been an umbrella for political commentary for years on Twitter.  Most participants in this platform are far left or far right fascist sparking spirited debate between the public, and this allows those less educated on politics to see views on each side to help influence their own opinion.

  However, views and debates are not always supported or based on facts,  the internet has increased the amount of misinformation being portrayed to the public as anyone is able write on the matter. Donald Trump responds to misinformation on his campaigns as "Fake News", a tactic that appeared to have worked as he is now president, it is also valuable to note that during his campaign Trump had an astounding 17.6 million Twitter followers, whilst New York Times only had a following a 1.2 million. This highlights just how significant social media is for politicians and the ability to control their campaigns and gain attention.

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Tumblr; Blog or Social Site?

David Karp blurred the lines between social networking and blogging in 2007 when he launched Tumblr, and to this day the debate on the sites true purpose remains. Tumblr is a platform that allows users to create their own  public page where they have the ability to share almost anything they desire, from photos, links, GIFs,  music, videos or text. These can be original posts or 'reblogged' from other users.

The way Tumblr is designed coincides with a blog as it is displayed in reverse chronological order,  the latest content being shown first. Although Tumblr does not have strict character limits like twitter, most pages are examples of 'Microblogs' as the content is typically short and posted frequently.

Tumblr is definitely a platform for blogging but cannot be solely charactered by this, as it is a digital community that allows social networking. Users of Tumblr are able to follow each other, private message, share content, search for other users etc., features that major social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all have, and typical blogging websites don’t have. However Tumblr pages are rarely personal and don't provide a profile like say Facebook which contains contact and personal information. I think Tumblr is vastly used by people who want to remain anonymous , and who connect with other users because of the content they share rather than the person themselves, or connections they have outside of the internet.

Tumblr can not simply be defined as one or the other, it uses structural elements of both a blog, with encouragement to interact and network , but ultimately provides users with the decision of how they want to the use the site.

#bestofbothworlds