KATIES SPACE

Let's talk everything digital and social media!

[shivaniielizabeth-blog]

I highly recommend you watch this! A funny yet serious take on the online world.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver 2015 [television program], HBO, 21 June.

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

Great example I think of the dark side of online communities. I feel like relevant to all fields of online resources!

[newblogger42-blog]

Week 10: Knowing the boundaries of online gaming

Just as online technologies and platforms are advancing at a rapid rate of knots, so too is the potential for negative social behaviour to escalate.  It is no longer just a game where it is player against the computer.  The online environment now affords opportunities to become part of a community that isn’t necessarily enjoyed offline (Swinburne Week 10, 2016), but brings with it the same social issues of bullying and exposure to child predators.  Even as adults, online gaming can still be a high pressure environment that impacts on our everyday lives.

Online gaming gives players a world that is somewhat anonymous with the creation of avatars who are a reflection (at times) of who you would like to be in real life and allows you to behave in ways that aren’t normally accepted in real life societies.  But there in-lies another problems.  What is acceptable online behaviour in one culture, may not be acceptable in another.  And with the internet spanning many countries across the globe, gaming laws and contracts can be extremely difficult for the online gamer to navigate (de Zwart & Humphreys 2014).

Developers of these games have created rules and End-User License Agreements (EULA) that online gamers are required to agree to before gaining access the game.  These contracts imply expectations that supposedly govern the rules around game participation and how negative and abuse behaviour will be dealt with.  However, you have to ask the question as to whether developers have done this in order to look like they meet ethics and code of conduct laws.  Is it just words that really have no legal weight other than if it directly involves the creators themselves?  Is it just ‘lip service’ and gamers are ultimately left to defend themselves against any abusive behaviour?  Sounds like it.  Then again, most gamers acknowledge that they click through the terms and conditions without actually reading through it entirely and therefore don’t understand any implications (Chee et al 2012).

Then there is the addiction of online games.  Can too much gaming create a person who no longer can distinguish between their own person and the avatar they create? van Rooij et al (2011) argue that this behaviour is associated with low self-esteem and social anxiety.  These gamers don’t like who they are in real life or are perhaps being bullied and therefore see online games as an opportunity to become the bully instead, escaping reality.  This seems to occur particularly with kids today.  Here is a link to some further reading about gaming addictions in kids.

http://www.video-game-addiction.org/video-game-addiction-articles/

So if the EULAs are just written words and can’t protect our kids adequately from being bullied online, we need to find ways to protect our children from negative behaviour ourselves as parents.  In my opinion, we need to set the boundaries around how much time they spend playing the games and which games they participate in.  Maybe then, once they are adult gamers, they will be able to distinguish between the two environments a lot easier.

References

Chee, F, Taylor, N and de Castell, S 2012, ‘Re-Mediating Research Ethics: End-User License Agreements in Online Games’, Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, Vol 32(6), p497-506, Sage Publications, SAGE Journals.

de Zwart, M and Humphreys, S 2014, ‘The lawless frontier of deep space: Code as law in EVE online’, Cultural Studies Review, Vol 20(1), p77-99.

Grewal, J 2013, ‘Ways to protect your kids when they play online video games’ [image], Tech in 5, viewed 25 January 2016, <http://www.techin5.com/2013/10/ways-protect-kids-play-online-video-games/>

Lee, E 2015, ‘Online Gaming’ [image], viewed 25 January 2016, <http://www.sites.utexas.edu>

Swinburne 2016, ‘Week 10 Social Gaming: Playing the Crowd’, MDA20009 Digital Communities, Swinburne University of Technology, Learning Materials on Blackboard, 25 January, viewed 25 January 2016.

van Rooij, A, Schoenmakers, T, Vermulst, A, van Den Eijnden, R and van de Mheen, D 2011, ‘Online video game addiction identification of addicted adolescent gamers’, Addiction, Web of Science, Vol 106(1), p1, EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete.

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

“These gamers don’t like who they are in real life or are perhaps being bullied and therefore see online games as an opportunity to become the bully instead, escaping reality” 

This is perfect example of intense gamers of today. 

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

Week 10: Social Gaming

Social gaming has evolved so much within the past 10 years. Yet it was interesting to read how the two big technology platforms of social media and gaming have come together and made this successful hybrid.

 The fact that gaming is now becoming more accessible upon social media websites means that gaming is not just limited to the young ‘nerd’. It ranges from everyone, young and old, women and men. Now the rise of smart phones are making for even more access for social games on the run.

 In 2014, 365 million users of Facebook were access social gaming through the social platform (Leonov, 2014). Social gaming A great way to connect with current Facebook connections and a fun way to establish new ones. Yet, Thornhill (2014) brought to light the honest exploration side of gaming. A living breathing game EVE took to battle with over 4,000 partaking making for a fight that would of cost over 300,00 US if it was to happen in the real world.  Servers based in Iceland have been running overtime in regards to the detailed and well throughout of game.

 Yet, what happens when social gaming has it addictive elements? For example, losing large amounts of money in the real world. MacPokies (2015) suggest the Australian online publics have taken to in app-purchases that come with free gaming and social gaming apps. Could their be serious negative effects like the pokies? In addition, MacPokies (2015) suggest the negative effects of these social gaming apps getting in the hands of underage children and impressionable teenagers. Some of the games are not exactly age appropriate (such as EVE) for the younger generations to partake in. Are these settling in bad habits and examples too soon and are they too accessible? Should these social gaming communities be censored too?

  Leonov. I, 2014, Mobile and Social Gaming Industry: 2014 Highlights, Gamesutra, viewed 25 January 2016

<http://gamasutra.com/blogs/IevgenLeonov/20141229/233307/Mobile_and_Social_Gaming_Industry_2014_Highlights.php>

 Thornhill . T, 2014, The online videogame battle that cost $300,000: Gamers see hundreds of costly spaceships destroyed after user forgot to pay bill to defend their base, Daily Telegraphy, viewed 25 Januaray 2016

<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2547908/EVE-online-sees-biggest-battle.html>

 MacPokies, 2015. Social gaming online casinos, viewed 25 January 2016

<http://macpokies.com.au/social-gaming-online-casinos/#continue>

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

are these only communities unsafe for the younger generations? will they take it one step too further?

[foraminutethereilostmyshelf-dea]

Selfi(sh) week 9

So this week we covered Visual communities and social imaging.

And we looked at the selfie culture.

Funnily enough I just watched a season of ‘Selfie’ which follows a self absorbed 20-something girl called Eliza Dooley who seeks help from Henry Higgs for an image revamp. It’s a modern day spin on ‘My Fair Lady’ (Eliza Dooley - Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgs = Henry Higgins) where the premise of the film is to improve Eliza’s social status. I won’t spoil the rest.

Take a look at the trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcIFD5VJTpI

Unfortunately the show got cancelled *sad face

I grew up in the 80s 90s and I’m constantly thankful for that. I liked going out alot. 

President Obama had some great advice for young kids, “be careful about what you post on Facebook, because in the YouTube age, whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life.” (Williams 2015)

References

clvever news 2004, Selfie Preview Trailer, viewed 20 January,<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcIFD5VJTpI>.

Williams, M 2015, Obama Warns Kids on Stupid Facebook Posts, PC World, viewed 20 January, <http://www.pcworld.com/article/171712/article.html>.

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

I love love love the trailer used for the example! I feel like this is the life of nearly every instagram/snapchat famous person and how they think.

[samblrposts-blog]

‘Selfie, Selfie On the Wall’

In a world where mobile technologies have taken monopoly over much of the Internets user generated content, lives have been saved or altered by the presence of concepts such as citizen journalism. It has liberated much of the worlds population, giving them a voice and enabling them to enact change through an extremely powerful, democratic process. But there is something else that has spawned from the depths of this incredibly vast and exciting time of social and techno-cultural change, the Selfie.

Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are visual platforms that are affording us the ability to show everyone how good we look “before Jenna’s 21st”, “how unhappy we are about going to work :(“ and letting us assess the visual aesthetics of our meals. It has become an important element of our modern behaviours and interactions with mobile technologies and has perpetuated a culture of narcissism amongst much of our digital communities.

Image Source: Instagram

Applications such as Instagram play a pivotal role in the dissemination of these images and as a result have lead to a rise of popularity for particular individuals of who may not have achieved such a status, if it weren’t for the presence of this phenomenon. Ana Cheri is one such individual who literally squatted her way to over 2 million followers on Instagram.

Image Source: ANACHERI - Instagram

But how and why does this happen? There is the initial question of the ‘how?’, which can be easily explained by the appealing nature of Ana’s page. Fitness pages (particularly those focused around a woman) are incredibly popular due to the fact that they play on the desires of both men and women. Perhaps women ‘want to be her’, whilst men simply ‘want her’. It’s a very out dated idea but it appears to be the logic behind it.

Secondly there is the question of the ‘why?’. Burgess and Vivienne explain, “changes in media technologies have engendered changes in how we capture, remember and communicate personal images of everyday and family life” (Burgess & Vivienne 2013, p. 280). We need to remember that the selfie, like many other aspect of the digital community, is a medium, a text and a narrative. The Selfie tells others about oneself, what they are doing, wearing, eating, drinking, the list goes on and perhaps we have grown to rely upon that narrative as a means of connection to each other.

References

Vivienne, S., & Burgess, J. (2013) ‘The Remediation of the Personal Photograph’, Journal of Material Culture, pp 279-98

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

“The Selfie tells others about oneself, what they are doing, wearing, eating, drinking, the list goes on and perhaps we have grown to rely upon that narrative as a means of connection to each other.” I think statement relates hugely to celebs and you tubers who rely upon instagram and snapchat to keep followers updated!

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

Snapchat for Marketing! This gives you a run down of everything you need to know about marketing and advertising!

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

Week 9: Visual communities and social imaging

This week’s topic reaching into the more visually narcissistic side of media and I thought this would be perfect to research behind the snapchat and youtube communities. 

Firstly, I will start off with the correspondence of the youtube community. I am a huge youtube follower and it interests me  to see Lange (p. 70, 2009) coined the term, “one of the greatest gifts you can give another person is your attention,”. And this quote is the fundamental of the youtube business of today. People have drawn from certain online communities and publics to create a niche following and in some cases fame on a worldwide scale. Lange (p. 73, 2009) suggests the viewing of the channels go beyond a reality-TV-like viewing, and take it to a level of interacting and following.

This is due to the fact certain accounts have specific focus or intrest in hobbies or aspects of lifestyle. These films are not considered to be home movies, they are not stored for historic reasons and they are made to connect and to interact with communities. These channels are able to take a hold of huge advertising opportunities. Not only are brands taking the opportunity to use banners and pre content advertising yet also product placement. These channels gain huge amounts of traffic and for some niche youtube gurus can gain huge amount of followers, estimating about 3 million. Over the past 4 – 5 years ‘youtubers’ have started to establish products and brands of their own. Youtubers have made so much money off advertising their own brands and others, that it has resulted in the Advertising Standards Authority. Now it has been enforced that youtubers have to state clearly either verbally or written within the description that the video is either sponsored (Sweeny, 2014). However, even though youtubers are not sponsored brands still get a huge amount of exposure from their videos which then effects the choices us consumers make.

 This then leads onto the selfie culture, which is now pushed my the snapchat app. As stated within this weeks reading, “The selfie 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”(Speigel in Herrmen, 2014). This quote depicts the exact means of the app within todays technology driven generation. For celebratities this is a way to give their followers a sneak peak into their lifestyle or into their work. For example internet profiles such as NikkieTutorials and Jenna Marbles have a following not only on youtube but keep people updated upon snapchat. Or for reality TV stars such as the Kardashian’s this is a way to maintain their followers and fans in-between episodes.

Again, advertising makes a huge appearance within these snapchats. The use of everyday products and promoting their own brands, for example Kylie Jenner (youngest of the Karashian clan) sells her lip products only on snapchat and they sell within seconds of promotion.

It is great to see how far these apps have developed yet it makes us think. How much advertising are we exposed to? What is real opinion and what is endorsed by large amounts of money? Will we ever escape the vicious cycle of advertising?

 Lange. P, 2009, Videos of affinity on Youtube, National Library of Sweden, viewed 15th January 2016,

<http://onlineres.swin.edu.au.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/99333066111.pdf>

Sweeney. M, August 2014, Vloggers Must Tell Fan Paid adverts ASA Rules, The Guardian, viewed 15th January 2016,

<http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/nov/26/vloggers-must-tell-fans-paid-adverts-asa-rules>

[theresesollazzo-blog]

Week 8: Crowdsourcing in times of crisis. #qldfloods, #prayforparis and #banjir

Traditionally, emergency information has been distributed via radio, TV and as shown below with communal boards for community and tourists. 

Nowadays, with the advent of social media and digital apps, crisis communication has improved, especially around the speed of communication and its effective ‘cut through.’ Crowdsourcing in times of crisis allows alerts of danger to reach its immediate audience as well as be passed along and thus amplified many times over. As seen with #qldfloods, Twitter users became further information disseminators, especially at the height of the crisis. In addition, tweets containing situational information and advice, pointers to news media stories and multimedia updates, how to help or donate funds, were particularly “resonant” on social media.  (Bruns et. al, 2012, pp. 7-10).

When a Qantas Airbus A380 had to make an emergency landing in Singapore last year, passengers Tweeting pictures of damage to the plane at a time when the airline were still saying they were unaware of any damage. We live in a world where not even the US Special Forces, never mind corporations, have the power to control the speed at which news travels (Morris 2015). 

According to Morris, social media doesn’t change, but instead underlines, the basic rules of crisis communications. But the speed at which crises can travel in a digital age means you need to be fully prepared and have a plan ready to implement.

Since the Queensland floods more and more people have looked to social media in times of crisis, including the recent Paris terrorist attacks.  During this time, Facebook activated its Safety Check tool, which allowed users in the Paris area and affected by the attacks to mark themselves or others as ‘safe’. No statistics are available currently to track and measure Safety Check’s role in these attacks. (Goel & Ember 2015) Twitter statistics available show,  The hashtag #prayforparis,  was very popular, with 6.7 million posts in 10 hours. And the hashtag #StrandedInUS gained a lot of traction in the United States to help French people whose flights had been canceled (Goel & Ember 2015). 

Interestingly, Jakarta is flooded with information during disasters and the Indonesian capital is also the world’s most active Twitter city- however the value of social media as a disaster response in Indonesia is mostly discounted. According to iRevolution, ‘ actionable information on rising flood levels could somehow be gleaned from millions of tweets in real-time, these reports could be inaccurate or completely false. Besides, only 3% of tweets on average are geo-located, which means any reliable evidence of flooding reported via Twitter is typically not actionable—that is, unless local residents and responders know where waters are rising, they can’t take tactical action in a timely manner.” A report is considered verified when a confirmed geo-tagged tweet includes a picture of the flooding, like in the tweet below. These confirmed and verified tweets get automatically mapped and also shared with Jakarta’s Emergency Management Agency (Meier 2015).

References

Bruns, A, Burgess, J, Crawford, K & Shaw, F 2012, #qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods, Arc Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, pp 7-10, viewed 13 January 2015, <http://www.cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf>.

Morris, S, 2015, Using Digital and Social Media During a Crisis, The Quarterly: The Digital Edition, viewed 13 January 2015, http://www.portland-communications.com/publications/the-quarterly-issue-4/using-digital-and-social-media-during-a-crisis/

Meier, P 2015, iRevolution, viewed 13 January 2015 , <http://irevolution.net/>.

Goel V & Ember S 2015,  As Paris Terror Attacks Unfolded, Social Media Tools Offered Help in Crisis, The New York Times, viewed 13 January 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/technology/as-paris-terror-attacks-unfolded-social-media-tools-offered-help-in-crisis.html?_r=0

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

I really like the example of Jakarta floods. it was interesting to see the geo mapping came into use. 

[riceage-blog]

Blog Post #6; Week 8

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

I agree with Matts positive note here. At the end of the day everyone is there to support each other. I think that relates back to the video within the post I did in regards for everyone has each others backs.

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

Week 8: Crowdsourcing in times of crisis

One day I was sitting in a journalistic writing class. The class was going through how everyone sources current affairs and current news. About three-quarters of the way through, my tutor then realized that this exercise was useless because the only way we kept up with our news was not by talk back radio, news reports or the papers. Yet it was by Twitter and Facebook. He then stated, “oh I forgot, your generation doesn’t watch TV,”. Most of us turned to each other thinking if this statement was actually true or not. And everyone in the class came to an agreement that we would rather keep up with out latest installments of Netflix and posts by Buzzfeed than to watch the news.

 O’Reilly (2015) states that the art of liner TV broadcasting is now dying. The only generations to keep these traditional forms of media alive are Gen X and the Babyboomer’s. The Millennial generation each year are lowering the statistics broadcasted TV and publications.

However, this does not mean that the consumption and upkeep of news is not important for the Millennial’s. The access to so many platforms gives the generation the freedom to pick and choose different content to keep tabs of. Facebook seems to be the main concern when it comes to keeping up news. Research conducted by American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 47% visiting Facebook to keep update with news is the main reason for their visits and 88% will find all of their news on Facebook daily (American Press Institute, 2016). Therefore in times of crisis these social media platforms are taking on a huge responsibility. More than they were initially developed for. Keep the masses updated with certain warnings and crisis can make for a massive change for informing a crowd.

 This is great that our generation has found their our sources and outlets to keep tabs of when it comes to relevant news. Yet, does this make us more vulnerable to consuming irrelevant news that does not concern us? Group E touched upon Wikipedia in this week’s presentation. And I think most of the generation can agree that Wikipedia is not a notable source yet it is a great to gain an understanding.  Yet these general understandings and knowledge people can mistake for legitimate sources of news.

 Due to Wikipedia’s free and open policy it likes to maintain, seems to create more bad than good. Issues from pornographic scandals, plagiarism and vandalism are just some of the issues that wiki face everyday. Shcapps (2015) argues that Wikipedia has run its course within modern day technology and is eventually on its way out. Yet crowdsourcing when it time of crisis and anxiety it is a place that people are able to view for basic facts.

Yet, the Internet is a place for freedom of speech and is somewhere people go to talk about current affairs and certain viewpoints. Where would the online community develop from here?

This is quite a long video, but it is great to understanding the crowdsourcing and social media influence when it comes to public safety. 

http://video.arcgis.com/watch/591/crowdsourcing-and-crisis-mapping-for-public-safety

Shcapps. G, April, 2015, Grant Shapps and the dark side of Wikipedia, The Times, viewed 10 January 2015,<http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/article4419571.ece>

 American Press Institute, 2016, How Millennials Get News: Inside the habits of America’s first digital generation, viewed 10th January 2016, <https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/reports/survey-research/millennials-news/>

 O’Reilly. L. January 2015, Most Young People Have Stopped Watching TV, Business Insider Australia, viewed 10th January 2016,

<http://www.businessinsider.com.au/forrester-video-and-tv-consumption-report-2015-1?r=US&IR=T>

[aleksnajd-blog]

Week 7: Digital citizenship 3: Trolling and social media conflict.

What is a troll? A troll is someone of the internet community who would posts offensive, divisive and controversial comments. Trolls would make it obvious and inflammatory statements that are meant to find weak users (newbies) into reacting. Despite multiple attempts at trying to limit trolling across the internet, it is still widespread in social networks, comment sections and pretty much everywhere else where users can post anonymous (Techopedia, 2010).

Where would you usually find these internet trolls? Trolls over the internet are very common to come by. They can be pretty much found anywhere online. They will try to abuse others in blogs, forums, political discussion, Facebook pages, online game chat and torrent sites threads. Trolls nowadays have become common in new sites. Many of the online news sources now avoid people using the comment section due to so many internet trolls would use this to post hate comments on news articles (Paul Gill, 2015).

Why do people enjoy being internet trolls? It is basically a power rush to be a troll. Being online is like the atmosphere, because it is largely free of perceived consequences, a person can feel like they have the power online, without ever having to meet the person they are trolling face to face. The internet being a world of fantasy and imagination for some, users can forge an alter ego for themselves, and act out their feelings of adequacy and anger. It’s sad to say that it is quite unfortunate that our advanced communication also can bring out the darker side of many people. What makes trolling so easy, is that anyone can do it, and it can be done anonymously. Trolls hide behind their computer screen, and after they are done, they carry on with their lives without facing any real life consequences (Paul Gill, 2015).

The truth behind internet trolls:

1: Trolls are pretty much immune to criticism and logical arguments. They cannot be reasoned with, they are trying to get a reaction from you.

2: Trolls do not feel any remorse. They have a sociopathic tendencies, and accordingly, they delight in other people having hurt feelings.

3: Trolls consider themselves about social responsibility.

4: Trolls gain energy when they insult you, and when you get angry.

Terrible people exists all over the world. It’s really a sad fact of life. Some people feel like they can say whatever they want on the internet, because in reality trolls don’t have to deal with the immediate consequences of mistreating another person. So if you ever find yourself a target on social media, remember this advice: don’t feed the trolls.

References:

Techopedia, 2010, definition – what does a troll mean? Retrieved 22 December, 2015, from https://www.techopedia.com/definition/429/troll

Paul Gill, 2015, What Is an Internet ‘Troll’? How Should I Deal With Trolls? [Weblog]. Retrieved 22 December 2015, from http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/weirdwebculture/f/what-is-an-internet-troll.htm

Troll make internet mad: https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/p/2/005/078/212/3c36c7f.jpg

Don’t feed the trolls: http://losergurl.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/388554_828866265134_193305984_37095493_1647424391_n.jpg

[v-marshall-mda20009-blog]

Thank you! I loved your post (especially your images…great selections!). Your advice: “Don’t feed the trolls” is spot on. As mentioned in my blog post, I think the most effective forms of managing cyberbullying and trolling is to apply the old-school playground methods of dealing with bullies. It is sad that we have to educate young children and teens on bullying…but I think at the end of the day, the self-awareness, confidence and self-assuredness we gain from it as adults may be worth it.

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

Really enjoy the examples used in this post. The ‘i’m not a guy’ video is great and the use of the voices gives a good understanding of the emotions that a victim goes through. I really though that was quite a poignant example!

[reneemarinaccio-blog]

Blog Post #5 Week 7

Cyberbullying and trolls – this is the part of social media that I strongly dislike.

It is argued that although social media provides the opportunity for bullying and hateful messages, this behaviour would still be happening to the same extent without social media. ‘Social media has not radically altered the dynamics of bullying, but it has made these dynamics more visible to people’ (Dana Boyd, 2014). What this means is that people will still be bullied either way, however social media allows us to witness it happening in black and white. I agree with this concept, however I do feel that social media has made this issue increasingly worse due to the anonymity it provides.

Bullying is a serious issue, especially amongst young people. Young people have access to and rely heavily on technology and more importantly social media, therefore bullying turns into cyberbullying which can lead to lethal consequences. I have been bullied on social media; a page was created about me and two of my friends on Facebook. At the time I felt embarrassed, humiliated, angry and sad it made me feel anxious about going to school and using social media. The page was reported and deleted within a week and everything went back to normal. My point is, if that was how I was affected in 1 week imagine how you would feel if this was happening to you every day.

Trolling is another term used to describe quite simply a bully. Australia’s Next Top Model host Charlotte Dawson was faced with trolls who blatantly told her to ‘hang yourself’, she suffered depression which was caused by multiple stressful events in her life and sadly committed suicide last year (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2014). Whilst this is an extreme example, the effects of trolling/cyberbullying (whatever you want to call it!) can be extreme and it is important that we think about this before we type.

Despite the above, there are also some positives to the anonymity and freedom of speech social media provides. It allows people to raise awareness about things that are happening everyday on our public transport, at schools, workplaces, shopping centres…well anywhere really! I constantly see videos of confrontations that are happening on public transport on my Facebook newsfeed – usually bullying, racism or harassment. Being able to anonymously share this sort of event raises awareness and provides a platform for people to publically speak about an issue that they normally wouldn’t openly discuss (Swinburne Online Blackboard, 2015).

This is a topic that I am extremely passionate about (hence the slightly bleak post!), let’s stay cyber smart and ensure our digital communities are filled with positive and uplifting people.

Please remember support is available for anyone who may be distressed by phoning Lifeline 13 11 14.

References

Boyd, D 2014, ‘Bullying: Is the Media Amplifying Meanness and Cruelty?’, in It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, Yale University Press, New Haven, USA, pp 128-52.

The Sydney Morning Herald (2014). Charlotte Dawson found dead. [online] Available at: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/charlotte-dawson-found-dead-20140222-338j6.html [Accessed 21 Nov. 2015].

Swinburne Online Blackboard, 2015. Week 7 Learning Materials. [online] Available at: https://ilearn.swin.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-5190909-dt-content-rid-26655214_2/courses/2015-SO3-MDA20009-210404/UnitLearningMaterials/week-04.html [Accessed 20 Nov. 2015].

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

I agree. This topic is such a horrible one. And also yes we do need to be cyber smart in todays society. However, we still need that legal push to make this a real issue within todays society. 

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

This describes perfectly what trolls and cyberbullies put people through. To have a legal figure to represent theses victims will put justice back in order within the online communities. 

[katiechapsdigital-blog]

Week 7 - Trolling and social media conflict

I was fortunate enough to actually help conducts learning material. I think it was quite an interesting topic and an issue that everyone could relate to.

Mia and myself chose to take the angle of trolling and cyber bulling within pop culture and the effects it has on the younger generations.

Hanewald (p. 78, 2013) stated traditional bullying requires the bully to know their victims, yet a study conducted reveled that only 50% of cyber bullies and trolls know the identity of their victims. Additionally, because cyber bulling has been spread across many media platforms and is not just measured by a period of time like traditional bullying, therefore is much harder case to keep a track of.

A prime example used to communicate cyberbullying and trolling consequences was Charlotte Dawson. She had gone to hell and back representing the trolling effects online and unfortunately this then lead to take her life later on. Dawson even confronted her cyberbullies and wanted to understand what lead them to attack celebrities like herself on twitter.

 Tacking on the trolls - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASg8x9b2o0M

 People would suggest, she was a celebrity and this type of hatred is just apart of her job. What about 19 Melbourne girl Olivia Penpraze?. Olivia took her life after the constant bullying she received online for 3 years?

 It is understood that schools and governments are implementing harsh consequences if one is found guilty of cyber bullying.

However, for these consequences to be effective cyber bullying must have a direct link to the educational institution for there to be any justice doneas suggested by Berg (p.63, 2015). Meaning, cyber bullying must be certified by schools as a proper issue for action to be taken.

How are the victims meant to have the courage to talk or ask for support from their schools when it happens over the summer holidays and they are not in a classroom?

These victims are torn down and are left helpless. Yet to have an authority of an ombudsman could give people a more direct link to the governing authorities in a more anonymous fashion.

 “The Ombudsman is an independent officer of Parliament with responsibility to investigate the actions of public authorities including State Government departments, prisons, hospitals, schools and technical colleges, local governments and public universities.” (Ombudsman WA, 2013)

 Victims like Charlotte and Olivia had an authority to turn to that would be able help monitor and give legal advice to? As stated within the video, Charlotte fronted a campaign to name and shame the attackers, yet if there was an online ombudsman there would be proper legal implications

 C. Berg, Decemeber 2015, CYBERBULLYING AND PUBLIC POLICY: AN EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE, UniSa, viewed 4th January 2016 <http://www.ojs.unisa.edu.au/index.php/uslr/article/view/1254/816>

 Ombudsman WA, 2013 ‘About Us’, WA Government, viewed 4th January,

<http://www.ombudsman.wa.gov.au/About_Us/Role.htm>

 R. Hanewald, July, 2013, From Cyber Bullying to Cyber Safety : Issues and Approaches in Educational Contexts, ProQuest, viewed 5th January, 2016 <http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/lib/swin/reader.action?docID=10733699>