Digital Communities

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An Apology

My apologies for my Tumblr posts being out of the desired order. Some were accidentally scheduled for later postings, and others were actually posted later. 

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Week 9 - Public health campaigns and communities

Public health is a part of social life that is embedded into human communication technologies. This blog post will demonstrate how people become connected through social networks due to public health issues. 

The campaign I want to talk about is the ALS ice bucket challenge. In 2014, this challenge went viral. The challenge was to dump a bucket of icey water onto your head and then challenge someone to do the same in order to raise awareness and donations for of the disease amyotropic lateral sclerosis, or ALS for short. Although thousands of videos were made, including celebrities (as pictured above), there was a lack of understanding as hardly any people knew the reason for the cold water. The reason the challenge is to pour ice water on your head is because it simulates how those with ALS can feel. This disengagement and lack of awareness is perhaps why, even though there were more than 2.4 million tagged videos on Facebook; 40-50% of people who donated money were likely to be one time only (Van der Linden, 2017). 

Another issue raised with the ALS ice bucket challenge was the lack of people knowing where the money donated actually goes, as many sources just stated ‘testing’ and similar things. Pamela Anderson attempted to raise awareness on the fact that a large portion of the money donated would go towards animal testing - which is something deemed unethical to her and many other people. Unfortunately, her message wasn’t spread all that well as the challenge still spread. This shows that there can be a good and bad side to joining, and therefore promoting a public health campaign. You may think you are helping someone, you may also be hurting another. 

Although there are downfalls of the ALS ice bucket challenge, it did bring a large quantity of people into a community on social networking sites; those people believing and trying to help others. 

Reference:

Van der Linden, S 2017, ‘The Nature of Viral Altruism and How to Make it Stick’, Nature Human Behaviour.

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Week 8 - Crowdsourcing in times of crisis

In times of crisis, methods of communication often are shut out. This requires innovative people and groups to form a fully functioning way of communication. Crowdsourcing has been developed by social mapping platforms. According to the Oxford Dictionary (2017), crowdsourcing is ‘the practice of obtaining information or input into a task or project by enlisting the services of a large number of people, either paid or unpaid, typically via the Internet’. Sometimes, there are also volunteer hackers have joined forces to help those in need. These hackers are what this post will discuss, more specifically, the Random Hacks of Kindness (RHOK) group, a member is pictured below. 

According to their website (2017), Random Hacks of Kindness is a not-for-profit organisation that consists of a “community [of volunteer] technologists who solve problems for purpose driven organisations”. They are Australia’s leading hackathon for social good and provide their community with social challenges to solve. 

Just by paying one visit to their website one can see that they have established a lot of projects that are either completed or still ongoing. The ones that stood out to me the most were one done with Spur project, #OldMate, and the concierge. The project #OldMate was essentially put into action as the volunteers at Random Hacks of Kindness came up with a way to lessen the number of men aged 80+ who take their own lives. They noticed that this demographic had twice the rate of the national average of suicide and were determined to change that. The project was very easy to anyone to follow. One simply has to take the pledge to spend one hour a month with an ‘old mate’, resulting in a boost in their mental health, self-esteem and reduction in fear of isolation and actual isolation, which is often what drives these men to suicide. Many Australians took this pledge and there has been a decrease in the suicide of men ages 80+, because of Random Hacks of Kindness. 

The second project that stood out is Concierge. The aim for this project was to develop solutions for those in remote areas who are in need of health and medical support services, including those in who require palliative care. The community from Random Hacks of Kindness essentially created a system using databases to geotag and link their information to maps, therefore allowing services to be navigated through and located quickly. Although it is not set into motion quite yet, their system can be duplicated all across Australia, helping thousands in need. 

References:

Random Hacks of Kindness 2017, http://www.rhokaustralia.org/.

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Week 7 - Trolling

A heavy downside of social media is that it allows its users to remain almost completely anonymous. This can be a HUGE issue, especially for younger users, as some people create social media accounts for the sole use of trolling. According to the Oxford Dictionary (2017), a troll is “a person who makes a deliberately offensive or provocative online post”. Often, trolls are fairly harmless. They may target a large internet personality who has hundreds of thousands of comments, and therefore are unlike to see their post, however, trolling can sometimes be extremely worrying. Sometimes trolls can target one person, on multiple accounts posting rude or explicit comments about them. Selkie (2015) has statistics showing that cyber bullying (which is a broader term for trolling) has been experienced by 40% of internet users. This is especially harmful to young users, who may not understand what trolling is. It can result in the receiver harming themselves in many ways, for example developing an eating disorder or in some cases suicide. 

An example that would come to many peoples minds when discussing social media trolling, cyber bullying and the effects it has on a person (especially a young person) would be Amanda Todd, as pictured above. Amanda Todd’s story went ‘viral’, including a video she posted on Youtube prior to her suicide. This 15 year old girl was bullied and trolled extensively on social media and pushed so far to the edge that she cut herself, drank bleach and killed herself. 

I think this case study alone shows how important it is to prevent social media trolls, as well as punishing those. Social media users should be informed of how to spot trolls prior to joining a site, as well as taught what can happen to social media trolls, as there are laws in place for them currently. A possible solution is to make a troll’s post invisible to the rest of the community (Oxford Dictionary 2017), however this cannot prevent the user from initially seeing it. Although it is hard to draw a line between simple banter and trolling sometimes, there should still be effort put in to try and find and stop as many trolls as possible, especially the most harmful ones. I think there should also be MUCH stricter legislation against social media trolls. 

References:

Oxford Dictionary 2017, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/troll. 

Selkie, E M 2015, ‘Cyberbullying, Depression, and Problem Alcohol Use in Female College Students: A Multisite Study’, Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, no.18, vol. 2, pp. 79-86.

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Week 2 - social media and politics

Social media has allowed political actions/knowledge to be spread far and wide, as well as assisting politicians to further spread their influence. News regarding political material became available during the 2,000′s (Young, 2010). Although the involvement of the public has only developed over the past few years (Young, 2010), this still means that that since the 2,000′s, politicians have been using social media in attempts to influence social media users, especially those of a younger generation. Social media, especially Twitter, has allowed politicians to get personal with the other users. Often they will post things that can be seen as ‘relatable’, for example Donald Trump tweeted about eating tacos. 

This allows social networking users to see what these politicians are like and then form an opinion about them as a person, not just a political figure. This can work in their advantage as, if they gain a large following on social media and have people who like them, then those people may be more likely to vote for them come election time. A problem with this however, is that these politicians can have a very fake online presence, which some users can see through, effecting their employment. Further, if a politician posts about something that can be seen as controversial, or even just offensive or odd, then that may also result in less interested online followers, and therefore less votes.  

Social media is a great way for political parties and movements to have a voice and reach out to their people. Twitter and Facebook are the two main platforms in which political organisations voice their ideas and opinions. It has become a brilliant tool for countries in a democracy to give everyone a chance to have their say. Online activity from political parties can also be educational for people who lack in political understanding and knowledge and help people better understand and make a better decision on who to vote for in the next election. Sadly this can be taken advantage of by corrupt politicians and political movements.

Aside from the individual politician, social media is great in helping political parties express their opinions and ideas. It not only helps spread the messages quickly (with the help of hashtags and retweeting), but it allows for those who may be less educated in the topic to better understand. This can help these people feel more secure in who they are voting for as it allows for them to gain a better understanding of the movements a particular party is doing, including changes in legislation. This means that some people may feel as though they are helping change the world in a positive way by voting. The downside to this however is some gullible users can be taken advantage of by incorrect/false information spread by politicians and/or political parties. 

Reference: Young, S 2010, ‘New, political reporting and the internet’, How Australia decides: election reporting and the media, Cambridge University Press, Australia, pp. 203-228.

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Week 11

Write about how you use networked media to understand other places.

I think networked media is extremely prevalent in my daily life and I will be explaining how I use it, especially in regards to food.

I eat out at restaurants a lot and often willing to try new things. I normally eat with my dad and boyfriend and I like to find new and interesting places to eat at. Often I just ‘Google’ places, for example, “Japanese food Carnegie”, and then a place will show up, I will click on it, and then one of the first links will be to Zomato. I really like this site as it shows the menu, rough cost, qualities (eg. delivery, vegetarian friendly) and it lets real people review the place. I actually read the reviews / look at the ratings given and take this into account when looking for places to eat. I find this especially helpful when I go out to eat with my brother, who is vegan, as it helps me to find vegan friendly places that are actually good. There is one thing that annoyed me about the site, and that is when accessing it on a mobile device you are blocked from seeing certain content, unless you download their app. I have posted a screenshot above. You can see it blocks you from accessing the full menu, and if you try and click on it, it leads to their page on the app store; where you can download it. The app is free so it is not a big issue, but I can imagine for some people, who maybe have a phone with minimal space, it would be annoying to have to download an app just to see the menu.

Another way I use networked media to understand places is Instagram.  One of my close friends has a food Instagram account called EatsDrinksMelb. On it, she posts photos of all the food places she and her friends visit (mostly brunch) with a caption of where that food was, and details about it. I follow this page so I often see it pop up on my feed. Sometimes if I am planning to have brunch with friends I go to her Instagram to show them some options. It is super easy as if you click on one of her photos, it has a link to go straight to that restaurant/cafe’s Instagram, so you can see what other types of meals they have. 

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Games played:

http://www.mcvideogame.com/

http://www.molleindustria.org/en/faith-fighter/

What is it about?

This game is about the whole process that goes on throughout all stages of McDonalds, from the farms (crops and cattle), to the slaughter, head office and the selling of the burgers. It shows what goes on in front of customers eyes as well as behind the scenes. 

How might we understand them in relation to the lecture and the readings?

The lecturer spoke about ‘social games’ and how people and places such as social networking sites have been able to make a profit out of them. He also talked about forming communities through games. The McDonalds Video Game may have a following of people and I have seen posts about it on Facebook, for example someone sharing it on their friend’s timeline. 

How would this story be different if it was in a different format (movie/book)?

I feel like if this were a movie, it would be too graphic for many to watch, as it would probably be a documentary of some sort, showing how McDonalds works and therefore also showing the treatment and slaughter of the cows. 

I think it would actually be an interesting book as many people like reading about companies and how they operate. 

What do you think the goals of the developer are?

I think one of the main goals of this game’s developer is to make those who play the game better at multitasking - as there is a lot to simultaneously do throughout the whole game. 

Play a second game and compare the two.

The second game I played was Faith Fighter. It is very similar to a game I played when I was younger called Marvel Superhero’s vs. Streetfighter. Because of this, Faith Fighter was a lot easier for me to understand how to play. Although it lacked storyline (especially compared to the McDonalds Video Game), it was more fun for me as there was less to multitask on and very few instructions to follow. I did think that this game however, was extremely racist, which wasn’t something that the McDonalds Video Game was. 

I think if Faith Fighter’s story were in a different format it would be a bit boring, as there isn’t much storyline. I can not picture it as being a successful book however, with a bit of character development and LOTS of action it could possibly be turned into a movie. 

Make a claim about the whole set of games you played. 

I think overall, despite the racism, Faith Fighter is a decent game to play just for fun, although I don’t think it is great at developing players skills (especially those for everyday use) as much as the McDonalds Video Game. I think that the McDonalds Video Game is great for developing multitasking skills as well as showing how McDonalds works and maybe teaching kids how big companies operate. 

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Digital activism

It is common knowledge that social media can have a significant impact on gaining a large presence for activism. Although in many ways this can be a good thing, it can also have a downside. The main two sites for digital activism would be Facebook and Twitter. This would be because of the way they ‘trend’ hashtags and how easy it is to share a post/tweet or join an event. There are many groups on Facebook dedicated to activism. There are also frequently made groups for when there will be rallies or protests about certain issues. This makes it extremely easy for someone to simple join the event on Facebook. They will get reminders about when it is and can invite their friends to join as well. The same goes for the Facebook pages that often share petitions. It is so easy nowadays to sign a petition as it is just by clicking a button, especially since some of the sites save your information. This gives people a sense of helping without actually doing much, therefore making people more disconnected. However, the other side to this is positive as, because it is so easy to sign a petition, like a page, or join an event, these almost anonymous people become helpful as often, petitions put an end to things if there are enough signatures.

Twitter is another site that is so relevant to digital activism as the hashtags spread incredibly fast. This allows for emergency issues, for example a flood or bombing, to receive immediate help and attention as this information can reach a massive audience in such a short period of time due to hashtags. Not only is twitter good for this, but it allows for figures, for example politicians, to connect with their audiences, especially the younger ones. This allows them to seem more ‘relatable’ as, if they are eating breakfast or playing with dogs, this is something that isn’t often paperazzied, but can still be shared with their audience. Furthermore, people can see what these figures ‘like’, and can determine if they have similar interests or not. Additionally, these figures can really help out with activism groups as they can post activism information to their millions of followers. There is a downside to this however, as people can be taken advantage of as they can have an extremely fake online presence, for example they can accidentally help out fake causes, as so infamously happened to Donald Trump, or they could be writing about something where they pretend to care but really don’t. furthermore, sometimes social media can be bad as some political figures may be too worried to express their opinion on something, as, if it is controversial, then they may not share it even if it is important as they don’t want to lose followers and potential voters.

In the future, I think there will be many more Facebook groups and events, as well as Twitter hashtags about activism, however I cannot see it going much further than it is already.

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Is Tumblr a blog or social network?

In my opinion, Tumblr is a mixture between a blog and a social network. The aspects that make it blog-like is that it Tumblr pages are more category oriented. Often the pages are for when people need help or advice, for example fashion, lifestyle and mum blogs. Because of this, many Tumblr pages have sponsors from companies. This means that the bloggers receive items, such as clothing from companies to review or post about to earn a portion of the profits. This turns the blog into less of a person to person atmosphere, which is common in social networking, and more into a business to person atmosphere. Furthermore, blogs, and Tumblr, are more informative. This is in regards to both the categories they belong to and the in depth information one can read about the blogger, for example the bio or ‘about me’ page on Tumblr is often more informative of a person than it is on a social network such as Facebook. Also, on social networking sites, it is very easy to communicate. On blogs, and Tumblr, it is harder. This is because you cannot directly reply to another user. The only ways to directly communicate is via a question that you can answer, however they cannot reply to that without reposting/sharing that post. Finally, Tumblr is much like a blog as blogs allow the user to have more control over how they want it to look. For example, one can re-code Tumblr in order to better represent its user and their ‘aesthetic’. One can also choose the font and text size they want, as well as many other technical aspects.

There are a few reason as to why Tumblr is like a social network. Firstly, there is the option to ‘like’ or ‘heart’ posts. This is something that blogs generally do not have but is something that is seen in many social networking sites such as liking or reacting to a post on Facebook, or favouriting a tweet on Twitter. Furthermore, Tumblr has a very big sense of community. This means that there are many people who will meet up and become friends in real life due to mutual interests on Tumblr, something that can often be done on social networking sites, particularly Youtube stars who collaborate in a video as they have similar interests and end up becoming friends in real life.

One thing that makes Tumblr both blog and social network is that the order of the posts is from earliest at the top to latest at the bottom of the page.

To finish, in many respects Tumblr is a blog, however it has a few components that also make it a social network.

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About me

My name is Mahalia,

I am 20 years old and studying a bachelor of business and communications, majoring in marketing. I am working at the Melbourne Aquarium and in my spare time from work and uni I like to hang out with friends and my pets. :)