JJ Lau

This Tumblr profile is for education purpose. No copyright infringement intended.

[jjlau99]

Is China’s AI technology the answer to the future?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not just another technology trend. Within ten years, everything from daily business to genome editing will touch artificial intelligence in some way. Today, China is expected to become its undisputed global leader, which will affect the future and global scope.

Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has made great progress in many fields, especially in artificial intelligence. The business community and the government have collaborated on a comprehensive plan to make China the world's leading AI innovation center by 2030, it has made significant progress towards this goal (Webb 2018). The new government is unlikely to abolish the plan. In March of this year, China abolished Xi Jinping’s term limits and will effectively make him in power for life. This gives China an incredible advantage over the West. It also gave a superpower to China's three major companies - BAT (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent). Collectively, they are all part of a well-capitalized, well-organized AI plan. Even if we have never used BAT services and don't do any business in China, BAT are very important to us.

This is because BAT has now established a good foundation around Seattle and San Francisco, and is investing heavily in start-ups in the United States. This is attractive to start-ups because BAT trading usually means entering the lucrative Chinese market, otherwise it will be impenetrable. Take Zoloz, the Kansas City, Missouri-based face-recognition start-up bought by China's Ant Financial for an estimated $100 million in 2016. It became a core component of the Alipay payment service, and thus immediately gained access to hundreds of millions of users--without having to contend with strict European privacy laws or the threat of privacy lawsuits in the U.S. (Ding 2020).

Many of us still think that China is good at copying, but not good at innovation, but I think this is completely wrong. If you have been to China or studied the latest news about China, you will find that China is now completely different and it’s on par with the United States.

References:

Webb, A 2018, ‘China Is Leading in Artificial Intelligence--and American Businesses Should Take Note’, Inc., viewed on 2 June 2020, <https://www.inc.com/magazine/201809/amy-webb/china-artificial-intelligence.html>.

Ding, J 2020, ‘Is China Taking the Lead in AI?’, MIT Sloan, viewed on 2 June 2020, <https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/is-china-taking-the-lead-in-ai/>.

[jjlau99]

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

Games as a service refer to a broad class of online games which provides in-game content on a continuing revenue model (Lehdonvirta 2009, pp. 98). It is designed to encourage users to make ‘in-game purchases’ or ‘microtransactions’, which involve money usually spent on small expenses (such as between $1 and $5) to access virtual items or currencies in the game.  Approximately 70% of revenue from in-app- purchases comes from 10% of players. Within the gaming industry these players have become known as ‘Whales’. The basic design and implementation of purchasing options in games, especially their rapid pace, repeatability and inherent randomness in certain formats, have been invited some comparisons to gambling products, particularly electronic gaming machines (King & Delfabbro 2018, pp. 1637). Video game publishers usually monetize their game products and it is pretty normal. The purpose is to return money to game developers, copyright owners and other stakeholders. As monetization methods continue to diversify, they also influence game design in ways that sometimes lead to criticism and game communities.

Going back to the topic, I agree that the gaming community is less concerned about games and more concerned about monetization. I think this is because people will have a comparative mentality. If the gamer reload and purchase in game, he/she will get a unique upgrade for a skill or weapon, known as a ‘skin’. For example, the prices of these skins range from relatively inexpensive to thousands of dollars, and even have the ability to sell on e-bay and other sites for other players to purchase. As of Feb 2017 the most expensive weapon skin in Counter Strike Global Offensive (CS:GO), a hugely popular eSport game, was valued at approximately $100,000USD. So gamers nowadays are more care about the spec of their user in the game rather than enjoy the game itself.  

References:

Lehdonvirta, V 2009, ‘Virtual item sales as a revenue model: identifying attributes that drive purchase decisions’, Electronic Commerce Research, no.9, pp. 97-113.

King, D & Delfabbro, P 2016, ‘The Cognitive Psychopathology of Internet Gaming Disorder in Adolescence’, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, no.44, pp. 1635-1645.

[jjlau99]

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

Fan culture, or fandom, is a term which describes communities built around a shared enjoyment of an aspect of popular culture, such as books, movies, TV shows, bands, sports, etc. Fan cultures are examples of participatory cultures. Participatory cultures involve fans acting not only as consumers but also as producers and creators of some form of creative media. Though most fan cultures, including sports fans and fans of music groups, have elements of participatory culture (Lewis 2020).

According to Emily (2016), she think that Fandom can be weird and alienating but it’s driving the conversation in crucial ways. In my opinion, I do not completely agree with her point of view, this is not the entire picture of fandom. There are a part of weird fandom, such as “Sesaeng fan”. In South Korean’s fandom culture, a Sasaeng fan is an obsessive fan who stalks, or engages in other behaviour constituting an invasion of the privacy of a Korean idol. They will be driven to commit what in some cases may amount to borderline criminal acts in order to gain attention from celebrities. For example seeking out celebrities at their dorms or homes, stealing their personal belongings or information, harassing family members, and sending idols inappropriate gifts such as lingerie. But most fandom are normal and peaceful, and some media deliberately amplify the problem and saying that fandom is “weird” and “over-emotional”.

For my experience of fandom, I used to be a big fan of the Korean pop band BIGBANG. I used to buy a lot of their album and listen to their song a lot since I was in my secondary school. I will also attend to their concert when they have a tour in Malaysia. Since 2013 they have held a concert in Malaysia every year, so I had to save money and buy their concert tickets. I really like each of their concerts and I am lucky to be a fan of them. But now I think about it, I was a little crazy at the time, my friends and I lined up for five days just to buy their front row concert tickets. But it is undeniable that it was one of the best times in my life being a fan of BIGBANG.

References:

Koreanboo 2018, ‘13 Extremely Disturbing Stories Of Sasaengs That Went Too Far’, viewed on 20 May 2020, <https://www.koreaboo.com/lists/13-disturbing-stories-sasaeng-fans-went-far-1/>.

Emily, V 2016, ‘Fandom can be weird and alienating. But it’s driving the conversation in crucial ways.’, Vox, viewed on 20 May 2020, <https://www.vox.com/2016/6/9/11890246/fandom-weird-critic-important>.

Lewis, K 2020, ‘The Rise of Fandoms’, Scope, viewed on 20 May 2020, <https://scope.scholastic.com/issues/2019-20/020120/the-rise-of-fandoms.html>.

[jjlau99]

Can the social media movement benefit the community when needed?

Since the Election Commission announced the determination of the polling day, many people have expressed concern that they will not be able to return to the constituency in the middle of the week or raise funds for the election in a timely manner. It is estimated that 400,000 Malaysians live in Singapore, and 250,000 Malaysians travel between the two countries every day; 1 million Kelantans work outside the state, and 150,000 East Malaysians live in Peninsular Malaysia (Chia & Augustin 2018). Shortly after the Election Commission announcement, in response to demand, the cost of flights from the urbanized west coast of Singapore or Peninsular Malaysia to smaller towns and rural areas in Peninsular or East Malaysia began to rise.

Amidst the buzz, Twitter user @klubbkiddkl started a social media croudsourcing campaign: #PulangMengundi. #PulangMengundi means "return to vote" in Malay and this hashtag quickly became the top Malaysian trending topic on Twitter (Azman 2018). #PulangMengundi is aims to connect Malaysians with other Malaysians by providing carpooling services or travel subsidies to help them travel home to vote. Those in need of financial assistance (mainly students) immediately took to the social media platform to seek help from fellow Malaysians.

One of the example is a Hanna Alkaf (Twitter name: @yesitshanna), who wrote:

Do you need help getting home to vote? Are you in a position, financially, to help someone get home to vote?

Comment below if you answered yes to either of these. Let’s see if we can match up willing donors to people in need.

After that a Twitter user @nisasyaharudinn who is a student studying at West Malaysia replied to her tweet:

Yes please! I’m a student in the Peninsular and I need to return home to East Malaysia to vote, this is my first time voting. #PulangMengundi #FirstTimeVoter #FinalYearStudent

In response to civic-minded people like Hanna Alkaf, many generous Internet users offered to join or sponsor gasoline, bus fares, train fares and even airfare. Since the launch of this social media movements, more than 300 drivers have provided ride-sharing services and collected donations of up to RM4,400 to assist nearly 400 voters in just 36 hours. This social media crowdsourcing campaign was very successful and had a major impact on society and politics.

References:

Chia, J & Augustin, D 2018, ‘Malaysians Prepare to #PulangMengundi’, New Naratif, viewed on 12 May 2020, <https://newnaratif.com/journalism/malaysians-prepare-pulangmengundi/>.

Azman, K 2018, ‘A Team Of 5 Malaysians Have Set Up This Website To Help You #PulangMengundi’, Says, viewed on 12 May 2020, <https://says.com/my/news/a-team-of-malaysians-have-set-up-this-website-to-help-you-pulangmengundi>.

[jjlau99]

Is social media useful in spreading information on Covid-19 in Malaysia?

I think social media is very useful for spreading information about Covid-19 in Malaysia. We are waiting for Facebook to release daily updates on new Covid-19 cases every day. Not surprisingly, millions of people are talking about Covid-19 on social media. According to data from the analysis platform Sprinklr, the number of coronaviruses mentioned on social media on March 11 (the day when the World Health Organization called the pandemic broke out) exceeded 19 million, while Twitter reported COVID-19- in a report in early April. Related tweets are shared every 45 milliseconds (Column 2020).

Social media has become the main source of online news, with more than 2.4 billion Internet users, and nearly 64.5% of people receive breaking news from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram instead of traditional media. In a recent survey, 50% of Internet users surveyed said that they hear about the latest news on social media before ever hearing about it on a news channel. Many Internet users will see major news in their feeds and visit news sites for more information. The survey found that visits to news sites referred by social media increased by 57% (Martin 2018).

The spread of COVID-19 is unprecedented in almost all public domains, including communications. Public information professionals are also required to provide regular updates to the anxious public at uncertain times (Tran 2020). Every single day we waiting for the announcement of a daily update of new cases of Covid-19 by Facebook. With the help of social media platforms, it provides us with a timely and convenient platform for receiving news.

On the contrary, fake news is also widely spread on social media. According to a study released by British media regulator Ofcom last week, almost half of adults in the UK exposed false statements or misleading information about Covid-19 online (Child 2020). When reading news on social media, we need to make sure to read the news wisely. Make sure the publisher is authentic, so the news we read will not be fake.

References:

Child, D 2020, ‘Fighting fake news: The new front in the coronavirus battle’, Aljazeera, viewed on 7 May 2020, <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/fighting-fake-news-front-coronavirus-battle-200413164832300.html>.

Column, C 2020, ‘Going viral: how to boost the spread of coronavirus science on social media’, Nature, viewed on 7 May 2020, <https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01356-y>.

Martin, N 2018, ‘How Social Media Has Changed How We Consume News’, Forbes, viewed on 7 May 2020, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolemartin1/2018/11/30/how-social-media-has-changed-how-we-consume-news/#477cdec23c3c>.

Tran, T 2020, ‘Social Media in Government: Benefits, Challenges, and How it’s Used’, Hootsuite, viewed on 7 May 2020, <https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-government/>.

[jjlau99]

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?

I didn’t clicked a ‘Like’ on Facebook nor been part of a group that has used social media to unite members, plan actions or develop petitions. I have seen some digital activism on my social media before, but I did not react to it because it did not draw my attention and I am not interesting in it. Secondly, I’ll scared if it is a scam or something because when we submit a petition, we need to fill in our personal details. I will also consider whether it is illegal, because I might be in big trouble if it is illegal.

How might activists use social media in the future?

In my opinion, I think that activists will use social media as the main media to promote activism in the future. Social media can reach many audience in a short time. By using electronic forms, the collection of petitions will be easier and save time, and the submitter only needs to fill in some information.

How might fake news and propaganda factor into the use of social media for activists and protesters (e.g. 5G technology causing Covid-19, US’s anti-lockdown protests, Trump using the term ‘Chinese virus’)?

I think social media developers need to use artificial intelligence security mechanisms to find out sensitive posts (text, video or other content) and make actions (Example: send a warning to the users, delete the posts). These fake news and propaganda factors will not only mislead the audience, but also cause unnecessary disputes.

How does graffiti/street art (e.g. Banksy), art, music (e.g. Hong Kong ‘national’ anthem) or popular culture (e.g. Superman for illegal migrants in US) become symbols of a protest or a social movement?

Graffiti is a venting act. Graffiti artist uses graffiti to release its dissatisfaction. Artist and musician also release their dissatisfaction by their masterpiece and music. It is all easy to understand and relevant to the public, so at the same time, it has become a symbol of protest or social movement.

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

So far, I have not participated in any part of the protest or social activities.

[jjlau99]

Is politics just about governance, or is it more?

Is politics just about governance, or is it more?

According to Living Democracy (2015), politics is defined as the process by which people decide how to live together – whether it is family, school, or country. Everyone has different views and opinions on politics. Some people think that politics is just work, and some people think that politics is the authoritative distribution of social values. Nowadays, politics become more diverse and not only related to governance. Politics could also relate to the status power, a denial of violence and so. The core issue of politics is the issue of legitimacy, which is the issue of the identification of rights with power, that is, the relationship between individual rights and state power. If politics, government power and individual rights are coordinated, the country will prosper (Little, W 2012). Therefore, the essence of politics is the relationship between power and power.

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

For this question, I’m going to talk about Malaysia’s Bersih movement. Bersih means “clean”. in Malay and it refers to the Coalition of Free and Fair Elections. The movement was led by Maria Chin Abdullah from the Women ’s Development Group (WDC) in 2006. The eight demands of Bersih including the removal of "Phantom Voters", the use of indelible ink to prevent voter fraud and at least 21 days of election campaigns to give voters more time to gather information and seriously consider their options (Straits Times 2015).

At the end, Malaysia police have declared that Bersih 4.0 is illegal due to the organisers' failure to furnish permissions from premises owners to use their locations as rallying points. But obviously all of us know that it is because it against the government at the time.

To be honest, I’m not really into politics, but as a citizen, we have a responsibility to understand it.

Living Democracy 2015, ‘Government & Politics’, viewed on 13 April 2020, <https://www.living-democracy.com/key-concepts/government-and-politics/>.

Little, W 2012, ‘GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS, OpenStax College textbook, viewed on 13 April 2020, <https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/chapter/chapter17-government-and-politics/>.

Straits Times 2015, ‘What you need to know about Malaysia's Bersih movement’, viewed on 13 April 2020, <https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/what-you-need-to-know-about-malaysias-bersih-movement>.

[jjlau99]

Is Tumblr a blog? Or a social network site?

Hey guys, my name is JJ and I’m a newbie to Tumblr. This is my first blog.

I have heard a lot of Tumblr, but honestly, I don’t know what it is and how it works.

So here you go some of the history of Tumblr. Tumblr is a microblogging service, founded by David Karp and Marco Arment in 2007 (Shedden, D 2015). The interface is like a “dashboard” that allows users to follow the bloggers or topics that interest them. The platform also allows users to post text, photos and other content as short blogs. This platform was acquired by Yahoo back in 2003, and is now owned by Verizon’s Oath division (Jensen, K 2018). As of today, there are more than 500 millions blogs on Tumblr (Tumblr 2020).

So back to the topics, is Tumblr a blog or a social network site?

In my opinion, I think Tumblr is more like a social network site.

Traditional blogs like “Blogger” tend to involve writing, but Tumblr is more about publishing short blog posts that have photos, videos and some GIFs which is more interesting.

I found out that Tumblr has quite a lot of similarities with other popular social network site such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We can explore the blogs that we are interested by searching the keywords or hashtags. Once you follow some users, it will pop up and recommend you more users that you might interested in based on the users you already follow.

One of the features that makes Tumblr stand out is that it provides users with the ability to customize the profile layout, which is different from other social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, have to stuck with the standard profile layout.

I think there is more to explore at Tumblr. I will share more though with you guys on my next blog. 

Stay tuned.

Shedden, D 2015, ‘Today in Media History: David Karp and Marco Arment launched Tumblr in 2007’, Poynter, viewed on 6 April 2020, <https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2015/today-in-media-history-david-karp-and-marco-arment-launched-tumblr-in-2007/>.

Jensen, K 2018, ‘8 Insane Moments on Tumblr That Will Go Down in History’, Geek, viewed on 6 April 2020, <https://www.geek.com/culture/8-insane-moments-on-tumblr-that-will-go-down-in-history-1764378/>.

Tumblr 2020, ‘About’, viewed on 6 April 2020, <https://www.tumblr.com/about>.