If you have the internet, you have encountered a troll online before. If not, I ask you this - how?
Trolls populate Facebook posts, news article comment sections, YouTube comment sections, and probably 90% of Reddit - to name a few. They are impossible to avoid and seemingly equally impossible to get rid of. Reporting them works maybe for a day or two, but they will just make another account and get right back to work.
We all know what a troll is, but how would you define one?
“An internet troll is someone who makes intentionally inflammatory, rude, or upsetting statements online to elicit strong emotional responses in people or to steer the conversation off-topic.” (Vicente 2020)
Trolls thrive off negative energy. They dangle their tantalisingly inflammatory remarks in hope to start an argument. Their usually easy to spot, but even then, it’s difficult not to fall for it. Perhaps that is why they exist; it is so EASY to Troll. There is no consequence. Or at least, there is a perceived lack of consequences. Sites like Facebook require users to use their real names, and many other sites are beginning to implement this rule, but creating a fake persona or alias online is extremely easy. This anonymity may drive more deviant behaviour because it is easy to avoid consequences, and even if a Troll uses his/her real name, there is a sense of obscurity due to their online interactions most likely being with people they will never encounter in real life (Fox 2014). This may give off the impression that their impact is only felt on the digital world, but the impact of relentless and focussed trolling can be severe.
Back in the day ‘trolling’ seemed relatively harmless - just a bunch of silly memes and saying “u mad bro?” every now and then.
Via: Pintrest
Although many Trolls operate alone and seem to be relatively harmless, some Trolls operate in organised groups to focus on specific people. Trolls can target rape victims, people who are LGBTI or people who are mentally ill, trying to incite vulnerable people to harm themselves - they may also target Facebook memorial pages of people who have died by suicide (Gorman 2019). Being on the receiving end of targeted Trolling can have very serious and harmful impact on one’s mental health. Furthermore, there is no specific law that deems Cyberbullying as a criminal offence. However, the bullying may constitute a criminal offence when characterised as:
Using the internet or a device to threaten, harass or offend another person
Stalking
Intimidating or threatening conduct
Inciting or counselling a person to commit suicide
Defamation
Accessing online accounts without authorisation
(Mitry & Rademeyer 2018)
Unfortunately, all of these offences are far too easily undertaken on the internet without any consequences.
For most parents, Cyberbullying is the #1 concern they have regarding their children's health
Via: Pew Research Center
The internet is for everybody. What once started as ‘Rick Rolling’ now seems to have devolved into focussed, hateful bullying. It feels like more needs to be done in order to keep the internet free of hatred. Specific laws related to cyberbullying or cyberhatred should be implemented in order to cleanse the internet of this scourge.
References below...
Fox, J 2014, ‘Why the Online Trolls Troll’, Psychology Today, 12 August, viewed 30 May, <https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/better-living-technology/201408/why-the-online-trolls-troll>.
Gorman, G 2014, 'Internet trolls are not who I thought — they're even scarier ', ABC News, 2 February, viewed 29 May, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-02/internet-trolls-arent-who-i-thought-ginger-gorman-troll-hunting/10767690>.
Mitry, R & Redemeyer, N 2018, ‘Cyberbullying laws in Australia’, 16 August, viewed 30 May, <https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=ff372a76-3f36-4b8e-9f30-08ab4cdd9a87>.
Vicente, V 2020, ‘What Is an Internet Troll? (and How to Handle Trolls)’, How-To Geek, 21 January, viewed 29 May, <https://www.howtogeek.com/465416/what-is-an-internet-troll-and-how-to-handle-trolls/>.
Why would you want to watch someone else play a video game?
This is the age-old question all non-gamers ask. Personally, I don’t use Twitch, although I do watch some YouTube channels about gaming. There is something calming, comfortable, relatable and oddly nostalgic about watching someone playing a game. It is almost reminiscent to watching my friends or brother playing Pro-Skater 3 on my old box-set TV, back when I was 10; and it appears many others feel this way.
Right in the feels
Source: @Rachid Lotf
Video game live streaming is an industry which is experiencing immense growth and has a massive community supporting it. Twitch, the most well-known live streaming service, is one of the fastest growing platforms on the internet. In 2019 Twitch had 600 Billion minutes of streaming watched total, up from 355 Billion in 2017 (Twitch Tracker, 2020). That is insane growth, and with the COVID-19 pandemic currently happening, Twitch is thriving. The platform is currently sitting at a 44% growth from last year. Many people are finding respite watching their favourite streamers with the extra time on their hands, while many are discovering the appeal of live streams for the first time.
When it comes to game streaming, communities are formed around the streamers themselves. However, becoming a popular streamer is MUCH harder than it seems. Stephen (2020) notes, “You have to bet on yourself, again and again and again. And even then, it might not work.”. For the most part, skill level comes second to personality. Discoverability can be a seemingly impossible task and many streamers go years without ever having a single viewer (Hernandez, 2018). Of course, this can be extremely demoralizing for these people. This makes the popular streamers even more impressive and inspiring for fans. Due to the difficult nature of getting even a single viewer, fans and streamers have a deeply personal connection. Streamers are grateful for their fans for making them popular and fans feel responsible for supporting them. Big streamers usually have giveaways to show gratitude to their fans and connect with their fans via in-stream chat during streams. Without fans, there will be no streamers.
Herschel Beahm, AKA, Dr. Disrespect, is one of the most well-known streamers around. I don’t watch his streams, but I do watch his YouTube videos and stream highlights. He is extremely skillful, but I don’t watch him for that. I watch him for his unique character and personality. There are probably thousands of people better than him at what he plays, but they lack his charisma, and that’s what viewers are looking for. To some, the character of Dr. Disrespect is more than just entertainment. Fans regularly send him mail and messages saying he has helped them through PTSD, anxiety and depression (Stephen, 2020). To these people Dr. Disrespect is an inspiration and they look up to him, similar to the way basketball fans would look up to Lebron James or Kevin Durant.
Popular streamer Dr. Disrespect with an army of fans
Source: @DrDisRespect - Twitter
As well as being an iconic figure, Herschel “Guy” Beahm (the man behind Dr. Disrespect) is making a substantial amount of money. With an estimated sub count of over 22,000 on Twitch, Dr. Disrespect is making around $100,000 a month from subscribers alone. This figure does not include fan donations, ad revenue, sponsored streams, YouTube income, or YouTube ad revenue. Beahm also recently signed a multi-year deal with Twitch to remain on the platform, but the figure is unknown. Going by other high-profile deals in the past though, it would be safe to assume that Beahm would be making between 10-20 million dollars. For many up-and-coming streamers, the amount of money being made by top-tier streamers ads makes being a streamer a legitimate job prospect.
Tyler Blevins, A.K.A “Ninja”, is one of the biggest names in gaming and one of the figures who made Twitch, and game-streaming in general, popular. Blevins has appeared on Ellen, live-streamed playing Fortnite with mega-star Drake, and has even featured on the front page of ESPN Magazine.
Ninja playing Fortnite with Ellen DeGeneres on Ellen
Source - GamesRadar
Ninja was the first ever Esports athlete to feature on ESPN Magazine
Source: Variety
In an interview with Tom Ward (2018), Blevins states that watching a professional gamer stream is no different to watching a professional athlete play sport - “Why would someone sit and watch someone throw a football around, or a basketball when they can just do it themselves? If a streamer or gamer has a great show/channel and also is a top player, it is entertaining!”. Blevins makes a solid point. Gaming is steadily becoming a more popular and respected competitive sport and is easing into mainstream popularity. For example, the 2019 League of Legends finals, thanks to live streaming, had around 100 million unique viewers (not including Chinese viewership) – which is more than the 2019 Superbowl (Pei, 2019). Like most competitive sports, there’s also large amounts of money to win. The largest prize pool for gaming currently belongs to the popular MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game, DOTA 2, sitting at $34 million total (Esports Earnings, 2020). To compare, the PGA tour, golfing's biggest tournament, has a prize pool of $15 million (Golf Channel, 2020). Gaming is on the rise and live streaming is a huge contributor.
A massive crowd at a League of Legends tournament.
Source: Gaming4cash
Gaming has always had a tight-knit community. Whether it be a small micro-community of modders for a specific game, or a guild in World Of Warcraft, or the entire (extremely pleasant) community of Call of Duty - games have always managed to bring people together. Live streaming only seems like the natural progression of this.
References below...
ESPORTS EARNINGS, 2020, Largest Overall Prize Pools in Esports, ESPORTS EARNINGS, viewed 22 May 2020, <https://www.esportsearnings.com/tournaments>.
Golf Channel, 2020, 'The Players Championship increases purse to $15 million; winner takes home $2.7 million', Golf Channel, 25 January, viewed 21 May, <https://www.golfchannel.com/news/players-championship-increases-purse-15-million>.
Hernandez, P 2018, ‘THE TWITCH STREAMERS WHO SPEND YEARS BROADCASTING TO NO ONE’, THE VERGE, 16 July, viewed 21 May, <https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/16/17569520/twitch-streamers-zero-viewers-motivation-community>.
McCormick, R 2014, 'This is why people want to watch other people play video games', THE VERGE, 26 August, viewed 20 May, <https://www.theverge.com/2014/8/26/6068993/this-is-why-people-want-to-watch-other-people-play-video-games>.
Patterson, C 2019, 'Dr Disrespect reveals streaming income compared to CoD developer salary', Dexerto, 22 October, viewed 20 May, <https://www.dexerto.com/call-of-duty/dr-disrespect-reveals-streaming-income-compared-to-co-d-developer-salary-1170063>.
Pei, A 2019, 'This esports giant draws in more viewers than the Super Bowl, and it’s expected to get even bigger', CNBC, 14 April, viewed 20 May, <https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/14/league-of-legends-gets-more-viewers-than-super-bowlwhats-coming-next.html>.
Stephen, B 2020, 'THE MAN BEHIND THE MUSTACHE', THE VERGE, 12 March, viewed 20 May, <https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/12/21151223/twitch-dr-disrespect-streaming-contract-personality-mixer-kobe-bryant>.
Ward, T 2018, 'The Biggest Gamer In The World Breaks Down Twitch For Us', Forbes, 1 May, viewed 21 May, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomward/2018/05/01/the-biggest-gamer-in-the-world-breaks-down-twitch-for-us/#48d9f6815bb5>.
It’s actually crazy to think that Drake, one of the biggest celebrities in the entire world, played Fortnite with Ninja on Twitch.
Gaming is steadily becoming a more respected and viable means of popular entertainment.
Even more recently, Travis Scott had a virtual concert on Fortnite. Who would have ever thought rappers would be so prevalent on a video game, especially Fortnite.
Image via - https://mobilesyrup.com/2018/04/11/ninja-plays-fortnite-drake-rapper-gives-5000/
Dr. Disrespect is THE most entertaining personality in the gaming world.
He’s changed the streaming game by creating his own character, The Doc.
Where other streamers are simply themselves playing a game, The Doc adds a much needed layer of personality, bravado, confidence, and entertainment to his streams.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Doc gets his own TV show in the near future.
Image via - https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/12/21151223/twitch-dr-disrespect-streaming-contract-personality-mixer-kobe-bryant
Almost all of us have been involved in some sort of digital activism. Whether it be simply sharing a politically themed video on Facebook, or using a filter on an Instagram story, or quickly signing a Change.org petition, it is very easy to take part in political movements online. It almost feels as if it is too easy. It can even become overwhelming trying to keep up with all of the hashtags and viral videos that are constantly showing up on our newsfeeds. However, despite the ease of taking part in these movements, online activism has the ability for movements to evolve in new and exciting ways.
I found it strange seeing people on my newsfeed, in Australia, posting and sharing things to ‘help impeach Trump’.
The practice of online activism, or ‘Clicktivism’ has become subject of many critics. Micah White (2010), one of the minds behind the Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011, believes Clicktivism is ruining the ‘soul’ of activism by “promoting the illusion that surfing the web can change the world”. A common critique of those whom oppose the effectiveness of Clicktivism is that instead of real-world change, the focus is on the amount of popularity a hashtag or video garners online. In an interview with Eric Westervelt in 2017, White states movements such as Black Lives Matter, despite their popularity and support, are not achieving any ‘real’ change, “We have become obsessed with the spectacle of street protests, and we have started to ignore the reality that we are getting no closer to power” (White, 2017).
A Black Lives Matter protest in Atalanta. A large crowd protests for justice after two young black men were killed by police.
Source: Reuters
From Whites perspective, if there is no legislative change in the very structure of society, then there is no change at all. No matter how many protests or demonstrations there are. Despite the fact that this belief system can be seen as positive as it promotes the desire to achieve substantial and dramatic changes through ‘physical’ demonstrations, it ignores the benefits of digital activisms ability to expand a movement’s reach infinitely.
That’s still 35% more than 0%. Glass half full.
Source: http://foblindsey.com/digital-activism/
Digital activism, although not perfect, does have a wide range of positives. By utilising digital media, campaigners are able to reach more people and bypass traditional media channels (Finnegan, 2020). Digital online communities form around the world, and can be sustained by a single hashtag. Whites perspective ignores the ability that social media has to inform the public of issues that they may never have found out about otherwise. Although White does have valid points, such as the potential for digital activism to promote complacency if no physical action is taken. Due to the ease at which information can be shared, it is possible for individuals to share a few links and feel as if their work is done. However, digital activism should purely be looked as a means of being able to promote ideas quickly and to a massive range of people.
In order to achieve real results, we have to do more than virtue signalling. Likes and reposts won’t change deep societal issues.
Digital technology sometimes allows for new and exciting ways to be involved in important global movements. Environmental Activism is one of the biggest online movements of the past decade. 2020 marked the 50thanniversary of Earth Day. Earth Day is held on the 22nd of April and is an annual event dedicated to educating the public of the importance of sustainability. The first ever Earth Day, 1970, was held primarily in the United States, with mass peaceful protests across the entire country reaching hundreds-of-thousands of people.
The first Earth Day in 1970. Are movements as massive as this still possible today with digital technology around?
Source: Bettmann - Getty Images
As Cooke (2020) describes, any other movement since pales in comparison to “the continental scale of this demonstration.“. For the 50thanniversary, Earth Day organisers were hoping for something similar in scale. However, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, this was unfortunately impossible. Instead, Earth Day evolved into a 12-hour live-stream during which actors, athletes, musicians, politicians, and even Pope Francis were present (Finnegan, 2020). Despite most of the world being in complete lockdown, millions of people were still able to be involved in this important event.
If this happened today...SO. MANY. GERMS. SPREADING.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/04/22/earth-day-1970-was-more-than-protest-it-built-movement/
Overall, Clicktivism isn’t a perfect method of achieving a movements goals, but it still has tangible benefits. It is important to keep in mind Clicktivism is a new concept, and is has only recently began to become a legitimate method of achieving real world results. It is exciting to imagine the possibilities of it in the years to come.
References Below...
Cooke, A 2020, 'The first Earth Day - archive, April 1970', The Guardian, 22 April, viewed 17 May, <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/from-the-archive-blog/2020/apr/22/the-first-earth-day-april-1970>.
Finnegan, W 2020, 'Environmental activism goes digital in lockdown – but could it change the movement for good?', The Conversation, 7 May, viewed 16 May, <https://theconversation.com/environmental-activism-goes-digital-in-lockdown-but-could-it-change-the-movement-for-good-137203>.
Westervelt, E 2017, 'Occupy Activist Micah White: Time To Move Beyond Memes And Street Spectacles',NPR, 20 March, viewed 16 May, <https://www.npr.org/2017/03/28/520911740/occupy-activist-micah-white-time-to-move-beyond-memes-and-street-spectacles>.
White, M 2010 'Clicktivism is ruining leftist activism',The Guardian, 12 August, viewed 16 May, <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/aug/12/clicktivism-ruining-leftist-activism>.
These are the different terms that i found whilst researching this topic.
Everyone seems to have a very strong opinion in what digital activism entails and the effects it actually has on the world...
It is undoubtedly great that we are now seeing more ‘normal’ body types on the media with plus size models and ‘dad bods’ getting more representation.
But is there a line? And if so, when do we cross the line?
In 2018 Cosmopolitan UK featured the well known plus-size model Tess Holiday on a magazine front cover. This sparked controversy. Some praised Cosmopolitan for challenging unhealthy body standards and some stated that the cover is dangerous due to it potentially normalising obesity.
Personally I believe that the cover is fine. It’s something new and interesting and the discussions sparked by it are important. However, if overweight models become the norm, if we start seeing magazine covers like this frequently, there is a serious issue. Similarly to young people growing up thinking size-0 waists are the standard of beauty, young people will grow up thinking obesity is perfectly fine. Of course, neither of these are healthy.
If you're comfortable with being plus size, that’s awesome. Same with being undersize, that’s awesome too. But, we must remember that there are very real health complications with both, and normalising either is not healthy.
What do you guys think? Is this a good or a bad thing? Is promoting obese models a step too far? Or is it simply not important enough to discuss?
Is social media good for body image? Probably not.
With 3.6 billion people now using social media (Kemp, 2020), and new forms of beauty standards being created online, our perception and understanding of body image is increasingly being challenged.
Instagram has had the biggest impact in creating unhealthy beauty standards and impacting the mental health of users. A survey of 1,500 teens and young adults conducted by RSPH & Young Health Movement found that, by far, Instagram is the worst social media platform for mental health (Cramer & Inkster, 2017). To nobody’s surprise, one of the main contributors to its negative score was body image.
On Instagram, there is a certain face that has been developed which is considered the most beautiful.
This desired face consists of:
Young age
Poreless skin
Plump, high cheekbones
Cat-like eyes
Long, cartoonish lashes
A small, neat nose
Full, lush lips
(Tolentino, 2019).
Source: @kendalljenner - Instagram
Of course, this is extremely unrealistic. This distinct look has also become synonymous with wealth. With the emergence of ‘Micro-celebrities’ and ‘Influencers’ one’s personal identity has now, more than ever, become a source of profit and fame. This is also being thought of a strain of feminism, one that teaches women that self-objectivation is progressive due to it being profitable (Tolentino, 2019). Therefore, many young females are undergoing plastic surgery in order to achieve this ‘perfect’ face and are justifying it as being progressive and empowering.
Source: @richparentsofinsta - Instagram
Celebrity worship has always been an unhealthy practice. Now we have an enumerable amount of celebrities to worship. Undergoing surgery in order to look like celebrities who digitally enhance their own images and have stylists, professional photographers, professional digital editors, expensive clothing and expensive make-up is simply unrealistic and unhealthy, and the rate it which this is increasing is something that requires more attention.
Social media allows worship of unhealthy beauty standards more than ever before. In fact, 42% of plastic surgeons report that their patients are seeking surgery to improve their appearance on social media (Dorfman et al. 2018, p.332), and celebrities such as Kim Kardashian West and Kylie Jenner are most frequently used as templates by patients as a desired final outcome of surgery. There’s essentially no transparency about the manipulation that has gone into posted images on social media (Wakeman, 2018), and these are the images that are forming the current standard of beauty.
Instagram even had a filter that shamelessly mimicked how the user would look after plastic surgery. It even predicted the cost of each piece of work. It has since been removed after public backlash.
The worrying thing is the fact that most internet users are aware of how common digital editing is but are still striving to achieve this standard of beauty regardless. This knowledge of frequent digital altering is proven by the fact that 68% of young people are in support of transparency on social media regarding the use of digital manipulation on images posted online (Wakeman, 2018). It’s interesting to consider that while social media users are aware that images are being altered, we still strive for these unrealistic and essentially fake standards of beauty anyway.
One final point, it’s important to consider how the standard of beauty changes with the times. @blogilates has posted a series of images on her instagram to highlight the forever changing notion of what is considered the ‘perfect body’. The series also proves how easy it is to digitally alter images.
Source: @blogilates - Instagram
Overall, social media seems to be having a negative effect on body image. If 10-year-old girls are growing up believing that Kylie Jenner is how they’re ‘supposed’ to look, then something needs to change.
References below...
Cramer, S & Inkster, B 2017, #StatusOfMind Social media and young people's mental health and wellbeing, ROYAL SOCIETY FOR PUBLIC HEALTH VISION, VOICE AND PRACTICE (RSPH).
Dorfman, R, Vaca, E, Mahmood, E, Fine, N & Schierle, C 2018, ‘Plastic Surgery-Related Hashtag Utilization on Instagram: Implications for Education and Marketing’, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 332–338.
Kemp, S 2020, ‘DIGITAL 2020: 3.8 BILLION PEOPLE USE SOCIAL MEDIA', We are social., 30 January, viewed 9 April 2020, <https://wearesocial.com/blog/2020/01/digital-2020-3-8-billion-people-use-social-media>.
Tolentino, J 2029, 'THE AGE OF INSTAGRAM FACE', THE NEW YORKER, December 12, viewed 8 April, <https://www.newyorker.com/culture/decade-in-review/the-age-of-instagram-face>.
Wakeman, J 2018 , 'Your favorite selfie filter could be contributing to a mental health crisis, NBC News, 16 January, viewed 10 May, <https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/your-favorite-selfie-filter-could-be-contributing-mental-health-crisis-ncna837376>.
Overall, do you guys think social media is good or bad for perceptions of body image? Does browsing Instagram make you feel less or more confident in your own body?
Using a keep cup helps reduce plastic waste. But if your buying new clothes every week to keep up with trends, you're harming the planet.
The fashion industry causes an enormous amount of environmental damage and is extremely unsustainable. The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world, behind the oil industry (Sustain Your Style, 2020). The worst offender in terms of environmental impact is the concept of “fast fashion”. Fast fashion is cheap, trendy clothing, that takes ideas from the catwalk or celebrity culture and turns them into garments extremely quickly and efficiently (Rauturier, 2018). If Kim Kardashian is wearing something, there's probably a $20 equivalent of it online. Fast fashion has got so bad that despite buying 60% more garments in 2014 than 2000, we only kept them for half as long (McFall-Johnson, 2019).In 2015, greenhouse gas emissions from textiles production globally totalled 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent, that's more than the emissions of all international flights and maritime shipping combined (Butler 2018). Furthermore, less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing globally is recycled into new clothing (Butler 2018). Fashion has essentially become disposable, and shopping has become consumerist entertainment, and if this trend continues, the fashion industry could become responsible for a quarter of the worlds carbon budget by 2050 (Butler 2018).However, the public are starting become more aware of this issue.
Children in Calacoon looking at purple-coloured suds in the Tullahan River. Upstream are several facilities that manufacture products used in clothing.
In direct contrast with fast fashion, slow fashion considers the processes and resources required to make clothing, particularly focusing on sustainability (Hill, 2018). Slow fashion items are far higher quality than fast fashion garments, and ironically, are usually far more unique and fashionable than the 'trendy' fast fashion alternative. Despite the fact that many Instagram “Influencers” promote fast fashion and create unsustainable fashion trends, some Instagram figures are helping to promote slow fashion and sustainable fashion principles to their followers. Social media allows for the ease of information between users across the world instantaneously. Of course, having a bigger social media presence helps to educate more people, therefore it is important for more well known and larger social media figures to get behind the slow fashion movement.
We need to start considering where our clothes are going once we are done with them.
Personally, I get most of my clothing second hand from Op Shops. The clothing is usually in near-perfect condition and sometimes from top-tier brands. It’s always cheaper, even cheaper than fast fashion. It is also environmentally friendly. Instead of being wasted and thrown into landfill, you get to give clothing a second life. Shopping second hand is also a great experience. Finding an item you love in good condition is a great feeling; a far more gratifying feeling than buying the same garments everyone else is wearing from a retail chain like H&M. You're also getting involved with our local community, and it's fun to show your friends and family the great things you have found at vintage stores. You get even get involved online and post in the countless social media pages dedicated to the weird and wonderful things people find at second hand stores.
A recent post by a member in “Weird Second Hand Finds That Just Need to be shared” on Facebook. They found this in a ‘thrift store. I bet you won’t find this at H&M. Yeah, your missing out.
So it’s time we all start thinking about the importance of sustainable fashion.It needs to be given as much care and attention as recyclable plastic, keep-cups, reducing electricity usage, sustainable energy and all of the above.
References below...
Butler, S 2018, 'Is fast fashion giving way to the sustainable wardrobe?',The Gurdian, 30 December, viewed 2 May, <https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/29/fast-fashion-giving-way-sustainable-wardrobe>.
Hill, M 2018, 'What is Slow Fashion?', Good On You, 9 November, viewed 3 May, <https://goodonyou.eco/what-is-slow-fashion/>.
McFall-Johnson, M 2019, 'The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Here are the biggest ways it impacts the planet.', Business Insider, 18 October, viewed 3 May, <https://www.businessinsider.com.au/fast-fashion-environmental-impact-pollution-emissions-waste-water-2019-10?r=US&IR=T>.
Piera, F 2019, 'Second-hand clothes are good for the environment and economy', Smart Green Post, 19 October,viewed 2 May, <https://www.smartgreenpost.com/2019/10/19/second-hand-clothes-are-good-for-the-environment-and-economy/>.
Rauturier, S 2018, 'What Is Fast Fashion?', Good On You, 7 August, viewed 3 May, <https://goodonyou.eco/what-is-fast-fashion/>.
'The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world',Sustain Your Style, viewed 2 May 2020, <https://www.sustainyourstyle.org/old-environmental-impacts>.
Digital citizenship is a concept which is difficult to define in a sentence. Essentially, it puts forth the idea that due to the possibilities of the digital world, we have the responsibility to redefine who we are in a more complete way by correcting our behaviour and social beliefs in the digital stratosphere (Ohler 2010, p.2). Basically, the ultimate good Samaritan, but online.
The gap between our online personas and 'real world 'selves is becoming increasingly small. We are sharing what we are doing in the real world to our virtual community more frequently. Recently, during the 2014 British election campaign voters were being warned not to post “booth selfies” while voting (Highfield 2016, p.1). People wanted to share their involvement of the election process online. Whether it was to help influence their friends, or to simply share the fact they did vote; they were sharing personal political values on social media. Not only does this prove that even the most private and confidential areas are exempt from being the subject of an online post; it also portrays many peoples willingness, or even eagerness, to share deeply personal values online.
Politics has the potential to be a very divisive topic. However, nowadays it seems almost synonymous with social media. During the 2016 US presidential election social media was ablaze with politically orientated posts and heated arguments. Of course, this is still happening today. This made it apparent that despite everyones willingness to share their values online, it also seems we are becoming increasingly reluctant to have these values challenged. Seeing a reasonable discussion between two 'digital citizens' online about their conflicting opinions seems to be an extreme rarity. This is a disappointing reality, as it dismantles the potential harmony of a “global village” (McLuhan 1962, p.31), or at least more understanding and open discourse amongst social media users. Rather than having a single global village for all to live and thrive together, the internet seems to have split into a various villages, only open to those who share the correct values in order to enter. For example; a 'right' and 'left' village. Actually discussing conflicting beliefs and differentiating values allows individuals to gain knowledge. Simply dismissing another persons values or going on online witch hunts for people who disagree with your values simply seems to be going against the reason social media was crated to start with, or at least has the potential to work towards.
References below...
Highfield, T 2016, Social Media and Everyday Politics, Polity Press, Cambridge.
McLuhan, M. 1962, The Gutenberg galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man, University of Toronto Press, Toronto
Ohler, JB 2010, Digital Community, Digital Citizen, Corwin, Thousand Oaks.
“Kruse, Norris and Flinchum demonstrates the way social media has an impact on the digital community by prompting that it “may revitalise the public sphere” (2018, p.63) and he cites “to challenge discourses, share alternative perspectives and publish their own opinions” (Loader and Mercea 2011:760). Furthermore, supporting the idea that Tumblr acts as an online space that is free from government intervention and is at liberty to express and voice reason.”
- @the-new-digital-era
This is an interesting perspective taking into account the controversial NSFW content ban. I found out that Tumblr was once very open to people practicing sexual expression and openness, but it seems this ban has gone against that. To refer to my own piece, the ban resulted in Tumblr losing almost a third of their monthly visitors in 3 months. Many of them would have been regular users and posters who used Tumblr due to not feeling accepted elsewhere on the internet. Do you believe that the implementation of this ban has gone against the freedom of self expression?
The digital communities found on Tumblr are vast and the members within are free to express themselves. This is mainly due to design of the platform, user customisation, and the social norms of not only Tumblr, but other social media sites also. However, Tumblrs tumultuous recent history cannot be overlooked while discussing its digital communities.
Over the last few years Tumblr has been through quite a lot. Tumblr was once commonly known as a website for users to find NSFW content not permitted on other social media platforms. For these users Tumblr acted as a judgement-free platform for sexual self-expression and exploration. Leskin (2019) notes that Tumblr acted as a “haven” for these marginalised groups, due to their content not being accepted elsewhere on the internet. Collectively, these groups formed one of the largest digital communities found in Tumblr. However, in late 2018 the Tumblr app was removed from the App Store after child pornography was found on the platform. In response to this Tumblr announced that all NSFW content was to be banned. Consequently, Tumblr immediately lost a significant amount of page views and users. Three months after the ban, according to Mashable (2019), Tumblr had 29% less page views per month. Not only did Tumblr lose countless users in an instant, those that remained found that many of their posts were getting flagged for no logical reason. Naturally, these illogically flagged posts made for some great memes and perhaps acted as a silver lining, as these memes became quite popular on the internet.
Design is an important factor in what determines what social media platform people use. However, an equally important factor can be the culture of the platform. These factors are what differentiates every social media platform. Scolere, Pruchniewska, and Erin Duffy (2018) detail the importance affordances and imagined affordances (pp.2-3). Affordances are the actual processes enabled and possible on the platform. For example; being able to post a photo on your page is an affordance. Imagined affordances are more complicated and nuanced. These are affordances imagined by the users of the platform based on a variety of factors. These factors are a combination of the ‘physical’ affordances of the platform as well as socio-cultural expectations and social norms of the platform. Tumblr is unique as it has an almost overwhelming amount of affordances. Cho (2015, p.43) describes first venturing into Tumblr as “disorientating” due to the fact that there is "no clear way to traverse or search the network” (p.43). Unlike other social network platforms, there are no friends or family to cling to while learning how to traverse the network. Tumblrs initial learning curve could perhaps be detrimental to its popularity. However, due to the vast array of features that Tumblr has, and due to the very lenient imagined affordances, Tumblr has a vast array of digital communities.
The communities and public spheres found on Tumblr feel more intimate and open than those found on other social media. Watercutter (2019) believes that Tumblr is important for the internet as “It was, and occasionally still is, a living embodiment of what the internet can and should be”. The possibilities of the internet are endless and all-encompassing. Similar is the nature of Tumblr. Watercutter details that (at its peak) Tumblr acted as a safe space while other, more popular, social media sites emerged. Racists, trolls and homophobes followed the popular sites, leaving Tumblr for people to openly express themselves without fear. This lead to Tumblr being used by a variety of communities including a very passionate feminist group. Tumblrs level of anonymity and user control attracted dedicated feminists to the platform to discuss topics that wouldn't be suitable on other platforms (Keller 2019, p.8). Even after the NSFW content ban Tumblr still feels very open and free in terms of content. Every page and community is built out of a desire to share something. Whether it be a topic to discuss or image to admire, Tumblr is more about creating communities rather than collecting ‘likes’.
The communities within Tumblr are endless and the public spheres found within these communities are open and free. While writing this assignment I found that using Tumblr was out of desire rather than routine or neccessity. However, I’ll let this gif below act as a summary of my final thoughts on the platform.
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References are below...
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Cho, A 2015, 'Queer Reverb: Tumblr, Affect, Time', in K Hillis, S Paasonen & Ml Petit (eds), Networked Affect, The MIT Press, Cambridge, pp.43-59.
Dong M 2018, ‘[Flagged Lion Sketch]’, in M Dongs’ 2018, @sketchshark, Twitter, viewed 7 April 2020, <https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DthoT9tUwAAohMK?format=jpg&name=large>.
giphy 2014, ‘[Thumbs up Gif]’, in Giphys’ 2014, Great Job Reaction GIF, giphy, viewed 7 April 2020, <https://giphy.com/gifs/retro-thumbs-up-XreQmk7ETCak0?utm_source=media->.
Keller, J 2019, '“Oh, She’s a Tumblr Feminist”: Exploring the Platform Vernacular of Girls’ Social Media Feminisms', vol. 1, no. 3, viewed 14 April, <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2056305119867442>.
Leskin, P 2019, 'A year after Tumblr's porn ban, some users are still struggling to rebuild their communities and sense of belonging',Business Insider, 21 December, viewed 25 March, <https://www.businessinsider.com.au/tumblr-porn-ban-nsfw-flagged-reactions-fandom-art-erotica-communities-2019-8?r=US&IR=T>.
Ruocco M 201, ‘[Flagged Diner Sketch]’, in M Ruoccos’ 2018, @AGuyWhoDraws, Twitter, viewed 7 April 2020, <https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DthOaHsU4AAGI7G?format=jpg&name=900x900>.
Scolere, L, Pruchniewska, U & Erin Duffy, B 2018, 'Constructing the Platform-Specific Self-Brand: The Labor of Social Media Promotion',Social Media + Society, vol. 4, no. 3, viewed 1 April, <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2056305118784768>
Sung, M 2019, 'Tumblr loses almost a third of its users after banning porn', Mashable, 15 March, viewed 25 March, <https://mashable.com/article/tumblr-lost-a-third-of-its-users-after-porn-ban/>.
Watercutter, A 2019, 'The Internet Needs Tumblr More Than Ever', WIRED, 14 August, viewed 1 April, <https://www.wired.com/story/tumblr-reinvigorated/>.
