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@katelynbarrydigitalcomms-blog
Since 2006, Facebook opened its platform to developers to encourage social gaming. Social gaming refer to games especially made for, and profiting from, social network sites (Swinburne Online 2015). A social game lives on a social network; it allows you to play with or against your friends....
Wow! awesome piece.. great work.! Not a social gamer myself, but I can now say I pretty much know everything about it in one blog post!
Crowdsourcing is the process of getting work or funding, usually online, from a crowd of people. The word is a combination of the words ‘crowd’ and ‘outsourcing’. The idea is to take work and outsource it to a crowd of workers.
Famous Example: Wikipedia. Instead of Wikipedia creating an…
Thanks for the post. I wonder how far crowdsourcing will develop into the future as technology moves forward. Will our jobs look the same as the do today or will we become roaming freelancers? :)
Great post, love the graphics. Interesting to note China is well above average in amount of social media users in comparison to their population.. Such a massive population at that!.. Yet can't really connect internationally because of government stranglehold.
http://digcomstudies.tumblr.com/post/109872370878/blog-8-global-social-media-case-study-china
WEEK11: ANTI-SOCIAL CHINA
China obsession with control has no limits. And the mystical land of the internet is well within the stranglehold of the Chinese Government. Popular Social Media such as Facebook and Twitter are totally banned, and their localised replacements such as Weibo and RenRen are highly censored (Bea, 2014). Until recently Instagram was one of the few social media platforms that had escaped the plug pulling government fun police. Late last year the Great Firewall of China came into instagram's path as they strolled along giving China's 700 million smartphone and tablet users the creative freedom to post selfies and the like (Bea, 2014). But if you post pictures of the pro-democracy Protests in Hong Kong in September last year - COMPUTER SAYS NO... Well actually government says no. The already highly-censored social media site was reportedly shut down in October, 2014 as the government scrambled in crisis control to contain any images circulating the globe (news.com.au, 2014).
And it wasn't just Instagram that was been blocked in an attempt by Chinese officials to control news reports, but images posted anywhere online that have been tagged or posted with certain phrases. Some of which included #occupycentral and #hongkongstudents (news.com.au, 2014)
It isn't just political unrest or protest that gets on the nerves of government officials, the wealth of China’s top leaders has become a particularly sensitive topic, as the gap between China’s rich and poor grows more extreme, and anything towards this topic on social media gets banned immediately, fuelled further by reports of officials and their families benefiting from their positions (Roberts, 2012).
But despite the highly censored and controlled social media services in China. The population is more social media hungry that ever. Numerous factors help drive Chinese, more than other populations, to engage in social media. These include rural-to-urban migration that has separated families, the loneliness of the one-child generation, and a distrust of information from government-controlled media (Crampton, 2011).
So will China ever really have freedom of speech - particularly in the digital world? Probably not.. Not until they form a DEMOC---- Oops better not.
References
Be a, F, 2014. "Instagram grows in China, despite ban on parent Facebook", CNET, CBS Interactive, published June 11, 2014. viewed 06 February, 2015. http://www.cnet.com/news/fccs-proposed-net-neutrality-rules-put-wireless-carriers-on-edge/
Crampton, 2011,"Social Media in China: The Same, but Different", China Business Review Online, January 9 2011, US-China Business Council, viewed 6 February 2015 http://www.thomascrampton.com/china/social-media-china-business-review/
Roberts, D 2012, "The Great Internet Firewall of China", Bloomberg Business, October 26, 2014, Bloomberg L.P., viewed 6 February 2015. http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2012-10-26/the-great-internet-firewall-of-china
news.com.au, 2014, "Hong Kong protests: Instagram and other social media blocked in mainland China", Online Censorship, News Limited, published 1 October 2014, viewed 06 February, 2015. http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/hong-kong-protests-instagram-and-other-social-media-blocked-in-mainland-china/story-fn5j66db-1227075649941
#5. Being a Troll
(Wilson 2010)
When I was a young boy, one of my favourite stories was Three Billy Goats Gruff. This is the story of an ugly troll who lived under a bridge, making life difficult for anyone who wanted to cross the bridge and get on with their lives (in this case it was three billy goats). I had no idea that when I grew up I could actually be a troll. But instead of hiding under a bridge I could hide behind my anonymity. While I don’t have to show my face, I could be as ugly as the troll from the storybook. And just like the storybook, I could make life difficult for anyone online who crossed my path. A quick scan of the Internet gives me plenty of ideas of how to be a troll.
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WEEK10: MIND GAMES
The evolution of Internettechnologies has seen the stereotypical childhood playtime change significantly in modern times. Children are exposed to social gaming from an adolescent age more frequently than ever before (Vitelli, 2014). But while the media may deem this as having a negative impact a child’s upbringing, social gaming could actually be integral to social and cognitive development now and in the future.
Research by the American psychological Association has shown that video and Internet games may actually promote learning, health and social benefits for both children and adults (Bowen, 2014).
The participation in social gaming improves skills such as “spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception”. Playing video games may also help children develop problem-solving skills. Spatial skills have been found to have critical implications for education and career development. The power of spatial skills has been proven to assist in achievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. According to the study “This enhanced thinking is not found when playing other types of video games, such as puzzles or role-playing games” (Bowen, 2014).
Another stereotype research has challenges is the socially isolated gamer. More than 70 percent of gamers play with a friend, and millions of people worldwide participate in massive virtual worlds through video games such as "Farmville" and "World of Warcraft,". Multiplayer games become virtual social communities, where decisions need to be made quickly about whom to trust or reject and how to lead a group. People who play video games, even if they are violent, that encourage cooperation are more likely to be helpful to others while gaming than those who play the same games competitively.
References
Bowen, L 2014, “Video game play may provide learning, health, social benefits, review finds”, American Psychology Association, February 2014, Vol 45, No. 2, <http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/02/video-game.aspx>
Vitelli, R 2014, “Are There Benefits in Playing Video Games?”, Psychology Today, Sussex publishers, Feb 10, 2014. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/media-spotlight/201402/are-there-benefits-in-playing-video-games>
WEEK 9: SNAP!
The upward rise of the selfie has been well documented over the last decade and has only fuelled the quest (particularly for women) for perfection. It is a significant part of the growing trend of ubiquitous photography and social imaging (Mount & Garcia Martinez, 2014). Applications such as Instagram and snapchat give leverage to this ‘epidemic’ as the imagery floods our feeds with clean eating, exercise programs, makeup tutorials and weightless guides… (Maybe I just follow these types of accounts)…
Source: Instagram @saasha_burns
The increasing number of the visual in photographs and videos gives social media users a greater ‘presence’ (Mejias, 2010). The way we socialize can now be as simple as a self-taken photo visible for only a matter of seconds to the receiver, through the application sensation, “Snapchat”. The pastime of archiving photos is no longer, as we crave something newer, more exciting and better. Snap chat adviser Evan Spiegel “makes sense as the fundamental unit of communication on Snapchat because it marks the transition between digital media as self-expression and digital media as communication” (Herrman, 2014).
But with visual interaction this comes greater social, moral and ethical risks of the use of these images by persons other than the owner or subject (Mount & Garcia Martinez, 2014).. Over the last 100 years, photography and video have become a necessity in documenting every moment of our lives. Camera technology including the incorporation of high quality cameras into the mobile phone has allowed the fast, up-to-date nature of visuals on social media to become instantaneous (Mount & Garcia Martinez, 2014). However this evolution and now prevalence of personal photography has also developed a number of difficult privacy, ethical and legal dilemmas over the management of personal imagery as part of the change to social culture. The publics who are able to view personal imagery are greater than ever before, and there can be detrimental social and possibly legal implications if an unintended audience sees this imagery.
References
Hermann, 2014, “Meet The Man Who Got Inside Snapchat’s Head”, Buzzfeed, published 28 January 2014. http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/meet-the-unlikely-academic-behind-snapchats-new-pitch#.wfAVXPobA
Mejias, 2010, The Limits of Networks as Models for Organizing the Social, New Media & Society, 12(4): 603-617.
Mount, M, & Garcia Martinez, M 2014, ‘Social Media: A TOOL FOR OPEN INNOVATION’, California Management Review, 56, 4, pp. 124-143, Health Business Elite, EBSCOhost, viewed January 17 2015.
WEEK8:MOBILE MOSH #qldfloods
Emergency situations often bring us to our knees but the evolution the internet and the social networks online can bring us the most help when we are offline. Crowdsourcing is the proposal by an individual, organisation or group to a large number of people by means of internet communication. It is used to gather together the required people, knowledge, experience, goods, services, funding, or supplies by appealing to a mass audience. This is often done on a voluntary basis in times of crisis (Bruns et al, 2012). People are forced to reach out for help and social media gives them the greatest reach.
In Australia, we have seen the emergence of social media as an effective method of disseminating information since 2011 (Bird, Ling & Haynes, 2012). This was evident in the 2011 Queensland flood crisis which devastated much of the state. Communities were thrust into crisis when flooding destroyed and isolated thousands of homes (Bruns et al. 2012). With flooding cutting off power supply an most forms of communication, the use of social media came to fruition as stranded residents tried to contact emergency services and visa versa (Sykes, 2011), getting lifesaving information to the people who needed it most. The increasing trend of access social media via smart phones makes social networks particularly use during a disaster when power disruptions eliminate television and radio services as information suppliers to communities (Bird, Ling & Haynes, 2012). Facebook became paramount to the crowdsourcing in this time of crisis. With over 900 million , making it the biggest networking globally (Bunker & Ehnis, 2012), emergency messages were able to reach further and be received quicker.
Figure 1. shows the dramatic spike in the number of "likes" on the Queensland Police Services Facebook page during the time of the floods during the 2010/2012 summer. Significant events are shown to explain the interest and dependency on social media for information during these times.
Source: Bird, Ling & Haynes, 2012
In times of crisis it is these innovations that help save more and more people each time they occur (Bruns et al. 2012). The comprehensive coverage in the networks ability to provide up-to-date information and support to such a number of people in a difficult situation is paramount to the effectively deal with the situation, and crowd source for food, supplies, shelter etc. in the aftermath of the disaster.
This audio report from ABC, Brisbane gives an overview into an investigation into the effectiveness of Social Media in The Queensland Flood Crisis
(Sykes, 2011)
LINK: http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2011/04/05/3182906.htm
References
Bird, Ling & Haynes, 2012, "Flooding Facebook- the use of social media during the Queensland and Victorian floods", Risk Frontiers, North Ryde QLD, viewed January 18 2015 https://www.em.gov.au/Publications/Australianjournalofemergencymanagement/PastIssues/Documents/Flooding_Facebook.PDF
Bruns, A, Burgess, J, Crawford, K, Shaw, F. (2012) #qldfloods and @QPSMedia:Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods. Brisbane: ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, 2012.
Syke, E 2011, "Emergency 2.0: How Social Media proved itself in the Queensland Floods", ABC News Online, 5 April 2011. viewed January 19 2015.http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2011/04/05/3182906.htm
WEEK7:FI FIE FO.. THUMB
TROLL DOLL
Source : FanPop, 2014, "Troll DOll", Image, FanPop Inc 2006-2015. http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/troll-dolls/images/1353646/title/troll-doll-photo
When I think of Troll, this is exactly what imagine. And if you asked me five years ago, I would've said the same, however today I imagine this little ugly guy (or girl..who knows) sitting behind a computer, or with phone in hand abusing anything and anyone they can for self-gratification.
Named after the evil, ugly trolls creatures of children's tales, an internet troll is someone who stirs up drama and abuses their online anonymity by purposely sowing hatred, bigotry, racism, mysogyny, or just simple bickering between others (Griffiths, 2014). Trolls enjoy the being the centre of attention with a big audience, so they frequently spam blog sites, networking sites, news sites and discussion forums. Trolls thrive in any environment where they are allowed to make public comments, usually defamatory and wanting others' to react. Their thumbs are far more dangerous than their fists.. and unfortunately have far greater reach.
But unfortunately the act of trolling usually does't stay between screens of the device. The act of constantly abusing, vilifying and putting another down if bound to have adverse effect on them eventually (Griffiths, 2014). Social Anxieties regularly arise because of young people's use of social media platforms and apps (News.com.au, 2014 ). And while, school, businesses and government agencies scrambling to implement preventative and disciplinary measures to stop the in creasing trend.. it keeps rolling on. The ugly heads of troll arise everywhere on social media (News.com.au, 2014).
Trolls thrive on anonymity. If these malicious keyboard warriors were too come into such confrontation in reality, you can imagine them running away in droves. But by way of the internet they can hide from the consequences of the malicious words (News.com.au, 2014). This anonymity has been highlighted in popular culture. Such as in Disney Film Frozen (Buck & Lee, 2014). The trolls can disguise themselves as rocks to camouflage in their valley. When the sun comes up, they turn to stone, but by sunset, they resume their normal troll forms. This is reflective of the camouflage an internet troll assumes in their anonymity.
Griffths (2014) initiated a ground level campaign which encouraged the appropriate use of social media from an adolescent age.
The LOLz NOT TROLLS was a simple and easy to remember three-point checklist with the acronym ‘LOL’ for teenagers to think about when they are using online and social media: (i)
1. Look at what I write before I post – recognise how it might make someone feel.
2. Own what I write – take responsibility for what I say
3. Live online the way I live offline (Griffiths, 2014)
References
Buck & Lee, 2013, Frozen, film, released 10 November 2013, Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Griffiths, MD 2014, 'Adolescent trolling in online environments: A brief overview', Education & Health, 32, 3, pp. 85-87, Education Research Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed January 10, 2015.
News.com.au, 2014, "Psychological study says internet trolls show all the signs of sadism", News.com.au, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, viewed January 10, 2015.
WEEK6: ACTING ACTIVISM
"Calls to Action" relating to social media are prevalent across media platforms. Advertising that calls us to "like us on Facebook and Instagram", has twitter handles in their copy or links to social media websites, are all over my internet usage everyday. So if this call to action can be used by Joe's fish shop, then there's no reason social media can't be an integral tool in calling to action for something that will benefit the whole of society, activism for the greater good or protest against against injustice. And it has, plenty of times actually.. The movement towards digital activism is growing., people are more like to smash out some opinionated activism on social media than attend a rally with a large sign displaying their opinion (Martin, 2014). Encyclopaedia of activism and social justice, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks. Why? because more people see it. The presence of social media is so widespread and dynamic, messages and agendas can be sent and recieved instantaneously.
The negative use of new age media has been seen recently in the prevalence of the ISIS islamic group posting sickening death videos and threats to government agencies (Telegraph, 2014). Extremists of all kinds are increasingly using social media to recruit, radicalise and raise funds, and Isis is one of the most adept practitioners of this approach posting up to 40,000 tweets a day (Telegraph, 2014) in the peak of their destructive activity. But social media can also unite people in grief. This was shown in light of the theorised crash of the Malaysian airlines flight MH370 in July this year, and prompted the hashtag and movement of "Pray for MH370" (Nadhira, 2014).
Source: Nadhira, 2014, "Pray for MH370", image, posted July 2014, NADHIRAWORLD.com http://www.nadhiraworld.com/pray-for-mh370-2/
But is the ability for the average Joe to show their support for a cause, whether it be tragedy or charitable or goodwill cause, from the comfort of their own home, stopping the actual initiative in action? And do these armchair activists use social media to increase their perceived charitable nature without lift in more than a finger, or possible even know the details of the campaign they are 'liking'. Does the couch protester defeat the purpose of activism all together?
There's no reason for people to stop donating or liking, or gaining online peers' approval for supposed activism, but if the protest groups and charity fundraisers and donations to the underprivileged was 'liked' as much as these causes are within the online community, there might just be change in the world (Martin, 2014). But I too am guilty, of jumping on a popular current trend for another misfortunate event or tragedy.. And you know why - because its easy. And that's exactly what the internet and social media has allowed to creep into our lives. It's the purpose of new age media, to simplify relationships, and networking and in this case supporting what we believe in... or at least what we want others to think we believe in.
References
Martin, B 2014, ‘Activism, social and political’, in G Anderson & K Herr (ed), Encyclopedia of activism and social justice, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks.
Telegraph Newspaper, 2014, "How Terrorists are using social media", Telegraph Newspaper Online, Telegraph Media Group, UK. published November 4, 2014.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11207681/How-terrorists-are-using-social-media.html
WEEK5: POLI TWITS
The prevalence of social media as marketing tool is undoubtable, but the use of the platforms in terms of political stakes can sometimes be questionable if not risky, but also possibly paramount to the professional success of the people on charge of our country (Young, 2010).
Barack Obama's successful use of social media in the US presidential campaign including Twitter,Facebook, MySpace, and other social media essentially helped him to win the election. He (and his team's) ability to prove their social (and assumed political) progression with advances in technology and the popular culture of the modern time and the needs of the population, was an integral aspect of his campaign toolbox (Tumasjan et al., 2010). Being able to connect with the younger voter through social media terms meant he connected with more Americans than any campaigner before him, giving him greater coverage of the whole of the country (Tumasjan et al., 2010).
Barack currently has 53.4 million Twitter Followers, a far cry from the 100,000 he started with at the start of his 2008 election campaign (Fitton, Gruen & Poston, 2009). His 262 tweets during the 18 month election campaign became the forefront of publicity, documenting in real time his movements, promises and objectives for the future of America. And Americans responded.
Twitter is able to give politicians a personal connection with the public, while still being a professional voice for the party. Some people (scarily) vote for people they like, not necessarily what they believe in. So to be able to make personal connections is integral to their political success, letting the leaders of our nations gain followers virtually and politically.
Australian politicians have cottoned on to the popular trend too, they'd be silly not to. Since 2008, our feeds have been clogged with Kevin Rudd shaving selfies, or Malcom Turnbull's budget promises (Jericho, 2013).
The internet is having profound effect on the political arena in terms of news journalism and political communication (Young, 2010). Are platforms such as Twitter, a Social Network or are they essentially news outlets? Can politician sway voters within 140 characters?
References
Fitton, L, Gruen, M & Poston, L 2009, Twitter for dummies, 2nd edn, Wiley Pub., Hoboken, NJ.
Jericho, G 2013, The Rise of the Fifth Estate, Scribe Publications Pty Ltd.,
Chicago.Tumasjan, Sprenger, Sandner & Welpe, 2010, "Predicting Elections with Twitter: What 140 Characters Reveal about Political Sentiment", Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Conference on Weblogs and Social Media,http://www.aaai.org/ocs/index.php/ICWSM/ICWSM10/paper/viewFile/1441/1852Predicting Twitter, 2014, "Barack Obama - @BarackObama", tweet posted 10/12/2014 https://twitter.com/barackobama
Young, S 2010, "How Australia Decides : Election Reporting and the Media", Cambridge University Press, UK. Decemeber 1, 2010
When thinking about social media platforms, popular social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest come to mind. Social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter are now on the rise, encouraging growing communication amongst new online connections, both professionally and…
Thanks for the post. It was a really interesting read. You mentioned the importance of comparing platforms, which reminded me of a YouTube video I came across while researching a similar topic. I thought I’d share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjV83CLYTI0
Great Piece! It also led me to watch the Youtube link with some mind-blowing stats about Social media use.. 60 million status updates everyday! I also enjoyed the highlighting of Twitter as a micro-blog.. A social platform "that reduces the distance between you and your customers"... Or you and your friends/family for that matter.. The connective value of social media platforms is incredible in comparison to our communication forms only years ago.
SOCIAL DISCONNECT
Social media platforms provide a way to stay in touch when we can’t physically touch. But are they becoming an excuse not to see our ‘loved ones’ face-to-face or is it an outlet to take on an idealistic persona?
Facebook, Instagram, pinterest, twitter – they let the world know what we’re doing, what we’re eating, who we are with and what we believe in. Just a few years ago this process was done ‘manually’ – friendships were maintained by contact in person, and the network of relationship was fuelled by the everyday face-to-face connection with those in our immediate environment (Siapera, 2012). Catching up on the happenings of friends and family living a distance away was sustained by purposed phone calls or emails. But now it is a matter of scrolling a ‘feed’ to keep in touch with others lives, likely without their knowledge and making friends is as easy as click of a button, despite probably never meeting them in the flesh. Social Media essentially providing a marketing or advertising tool; the product we are selling is ourselves in the public sphere (Wickham 2010). Banks (2012) reports up to fifty percent of users counted less than third of their Facebook friends as real friends.
So how does this evolve or dissolve our sense of community? And can we recreate communities through digital platforms?
Gemeinshaft’s study of communities establishes they are formed from a natural will to seek association with others (Tilman, 2004). The aim of the connection to fulfil the innate need for bonds with friends, neighbours, voluntary groups and family. This contrasts to Gesellshaft in his investigation of society (Tilman, 2004). Society formed through the association or desire for certain goals, leading to the purposeful connection that fulfils the needs of modern society.
Tonnies arguing that this contrast comes from the shift to industrialization, describing the eventual conflict and transition of small communities into industrial societies; now experienced through all aspects of modern life (Tilman, 2004).
Social platforms should give the opportunity to reform the communities through a digital landscape. It is easier than ever to connect with communities of people that may not all be located in the same geographical location. The relatively inexpensive resource allows these communities to connect more often. The platforms used as a supplement to face-to-face interaction, not as a replacement (Siapera, 2012). In the digital age, modern society consists of complex, integrated platforms that allow the near elimination of geographical boundaries and the constant opportunity to unite communities.
REFERENCES
Siapera, E 2012, ‘Socialities and Social Media’, in Introduction to New Media, Sage, London, pp 191-208.
Tilman, R 2004, 'Ferdinand Tönnies, Thorstein Veblen and Karl Marx: From community to society and back?', European Journal Of The History Of Economic Thought, 11, 4, pp. 579-606, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 December 2014.
Bank, D 2012. ‘REAL DISCONNECT: Social media butterflies may not be so popular in real life’, News.com.au, News Limited Pty Ltd, published 29 June 2012.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/social-media-no-cure-for-loneliness/story-e6frfro0-1226411654669
Wickham, G 2010, 'Sociology, the public sphere, and modern government: a challenge to the dominance of Habermas', British Journal Of Sociology, 61, 1, pp. 155-175, SocINDEX with Full Text, EBSCOhost, viewed 7 December 2014.
TEST POST
Digital Communities TP3, 2014/15
