Martha Browning // Digital Communities

An insight

[comm-online-blog]

Blog Post #8: Let The Games Begin

I never would have considered myself to be a gamer. I’ve never been into Call of Duty, Fallout or Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games (MMORPGs) like World of Warcraft and Eve Online. The popularity of social games has risen, creating networks and profiting from social media sites such as Facebook, the digital gaming community has expanded to include players of Zynga’s FarmVille and King’s Candy Crush; games which I too, have fallen victim too. Has online gaming become more socially acceptable? 

Eve Online is a MMORPG set in space - players explore galaxies, fights battles, build and destroy empires and participate in economic warfare. According to Eve Online player, Jestertrek, there are 21,000 concurrent players, having reached peaks of approximately 36,000 players in the past (Martin, 2015). Players can interact, socialise and communicate in fan forums, as well as with the Council of Stellar Management (CSM) to contribute to game management.  CSM is a player-elected representative board who relays player concerns, statistics and suggests implementation of change to the game developers - CCP (Crowd Control Productions). 

In 1938, Johan Huizinga introduced the analogy of the magic circle, proposing that events within games world are ‘quarantined from the ‘real world’’ (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.91). Are social games and MMORPGs blurring the line between real world and gaming? The analogy of the magic circle suggests that in the gaming world, everyday rules and morally acceptable conduct are altered for virtual space.

Eve Online players must accept the EULA (End User License Agreement) before commencing. Within the gaming world murder, theft and abusive language are key to the role playing, gaming experience, with players harassing others to maintain dominance and seize control of property. However, ‘abusive, defamatory, ethically or racially offensive, harassing, harmful hateful, obscene, offensive, sexually explicit, threatening or vulgar language’ are all in violation of the  terms of service (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.80). 

The Mittani - CSM member and Goonswarm Alliance leader, received a thirty-day ban before leaving the council following his inappropriate behaviour at the March 2012 EVE Fanfest. The presentation at the Alliance Panel was streamed live, discussing how an anonymous player was being repeatedly harassed and killed, scammed out of his in-game currency (InterStellar Kredits), believing he would be protected. In a chat forum the player announced he was divorced; suggesting suicidal tendencies. Alex Gianturco (The Mittani) then revealed the players in-game name,  for those who ‘want to make the guy kill himself’ (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.88). He later apologised for breaching the EULA and terms of service. Gianturco’s address was leaked, receiving rape threats against his wife (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.91). Is this response justified? 

The Mittani’s 2012 Fanfest case demonstrates how ‘out-of-game behavior can be punished through in-game sanctions’ (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.88). 

de Zwart, M & Humphreys, S 2014, ‘The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space: Code as Law in EVE Online’, Cultural Studies Review, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 77-99.

Eve Online 2003, Council of Stellar Management, Evelopedia, viewed 28/01/2016 

<https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Council_of_Stellar_Management>

Lefebvre, E 2012, ‘The Mittani gets hit with ban and resigns in wake of EVE Online controversy’, engadget, 28th March, viewed 28/01/2016 

<http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/28/the-mittani-gets-hit-with-ban-and-resigns-in-wake-of-eve-online/>

Martin, M 2015, ‘EVE Online’s player count drops to lowest since 2008’, VG247, 29th June, viewed 29/01/2016 <https://www.vg247.com/2015/06/29/eve-onlines-player-count-drops-to-lowest-since-2008/>

The Mitten 2012, Apology on Eve Online discussion forum, 27th March, viewed 29/01/2016 

<https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=86980>

[mda20009-digital-comms]

I pretty much agree with everything you’ve said :) this is a really well throughout and and researched blogpost :)

[martha-browning-blog]

Wow that is very intense about ‘The Mittani’, what a horrible thing to do and it definitely blurs the line between online gaming and real life. It is completely inappropriate to do such a thing! I am glad that there are terms and guidelines that users have to follow though, as long as they are punished if they break the rules!

[hannahyoungblog]

Are social games unhealthy for an avid gamer?

We all enjoy an escape from reality from time to time. Let’s face it, work, schooling and drama filled relationships can drain us. This has led to parts of society getting involved in the gaming world, in particular, the fad of social games. It is an escape that sends you into an alternative reality. It feels fun and exciting, but is it healthy? Is the violence featured in World of Warcraft, Eve Online and other violent social games fueling the gamers for real life violence?

Eve Online, a violent massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), based upon spaceships, has been known to have players participating in scam or theft within the game (de Zwart & Humpreys 2014, p. 77; Drain 2010). This has been so severe, that in reality, the game should be banned (Drain 2010). There has been countless Eve online scams that have occurred, where some of the scams have been labelled as ‘The ISK Doubling Scam’ or the ‘Contract scam’ (Worldshatter 2015). These scams are based upon outsmarting the gamers, where their minds have been played (Worldshatter 2015). In addition, Eve Online has encountered fraud, corporate raiding and ponzi schemes as well (de Zwart & Humpreys 2014, p. 78). It sounds to me like the constant usage of this game is making people lose touch with reality, where they can break the rules in virtual world, with real world consequences.

Furthermore, should social violent games be banned altogether? The debate of violence in social games contributing to real life violence is very serious and should be taken under high consideration. Eve Online experiences 10 people blowing up a minute, which showcases the violence these gamers experience (de Zwart & Humpreys 2014, p. 77). World of Warcraft has been known to have effects of a drug addiction to the gamer, without the use of drugs, which leads the gamer at risk of being violent in real life (Independent 2008). Without these social violent games, gamers would not have the seed of violence planted into their minds, and therefore, violence in society would decrease. Sounds like a terrific idea, which unfortunately would be difficult to implement. However, the rate of hacking and scams amongst these games need to drastically drop. It’s a shame more people aren’t gravitated to innocent social games, such as Farmville.

References

de Zwart, M & Humphreys, S 2014,’ The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space: Code as Law in EVE Online’, Cultural Studies Review, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 77-78.

Drain, B 2012, EVE Evolved: Top ten ganks, scams, heists and events, Engadget, viewed 30 January 2016,

<http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/28/eve-evolved-top-ten-ganks-scams-heists-and-events/>.

Drain, B 2010, Eve Online player steals $45,000 worth of ISK in massive investment scam, Engadget, viewed 30 January 2016,

<http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/11/eve-online-player-steals-45-000-worth-of-isk-in-massive-investm/>.

Independent 2008, Is World of Warcraft just mindless violence?, Independent, viewed 30 January 2016,

<http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/is-world-of-warcraft-just-mindless-violence-1024311.html>.

Worldshatter 2015, A new player’s guide to Eve’s most common scams, The Mittani Dot Com, viewed 30 January 2016,

<https://www.themittani.com/features/new-players-guide-eves-most-common-scams?nopaging=1>.

[mda20009-digital-comms]

I never thought to look at this topic this way, that people could become so addicted to virtual reality that is eventually comes into their ‘normal’ reality. I guess that this goes to show the serious effects that certain games can have on individuals 

[martha-browning-blog]

Interesting points on the violentness of online games, it is so mindblowing to me that people take them so seriously.. and to be stealing fictional objects?! it’s crazy! 

[martha-browning-blog]

Social Gaming // Playing the crowd

Social gaming refers to those games that are specifically designed to be played on social media platforms such as Facebook and it is through these games and their platforms that social communities are formed (Swinburne Online Week 10 2015). The communities can develop in relation to not just the games that are played but also in relation to the wider communities that develop including forums and fan bases.

KingTM, the creators of Candy Crush Saga and ZyngaTM, creators of FarmVille, created two of the biggest social games which have developed huge fan bases due to their addictive nature and prominence on social media platforms. They require the user to ask for help from their friends and have the ability to share the users results directly with their social media accounts, meaning that the word is spread rapidly and invites more and more individuals to join the community. I know that I personally was sucked into the world of Candy Crush Saga yet fortunately not so much that I spent any money on the game. Shockingly, in 2014, players spent an astonishing £865 million on the game, and this was a steady drop from 2013 (Dredge 2013)!

Further to the abovementioned games that are single player with the help of others through social media platforms, are online multiplayer games known as ‘Massive Multiple Online Role-Playing Games’ (or MMORG’s) which provide another form of social communities for its users where they can role-play (Techopedia). Some of these can be quite intense, such as the game World of Warcraft community which has hundreds of forums, users, wikipedia pages and fansites dedicated to the game - each providing another dimension to the community.

An interesting part of these social games are that players can make money out of them, by recording videos of themselves playing the games and posting them to platforms such as Youtube where fans can watch, comment and discuss the tactics and results. Further, there are online gaming tournaments where people compete across the world to win huge amounts of cash (Lynch 2016)!

References

Dredge, S 2015, ‘Candy Crush Saga players £865 million on the game in 2014 alone’, The Guardian, 13 February, viewed 4 February 2016, <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/13/candy-crush-saga-players-855m-2014>

Lynch, J 2016, ‘Gernot Abl shows how to make money from video games with asx launch of esports company’, Sydney Morning Herald, 4 February, viewed 5 February 2016, <http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/gernot-abl-shows-how-to-make-money-from-video-games-with-asx-launch-of-esports-company-20160203-gmkqy8.html>

Swinburne Online 2015, ‘Week 10: Social Gaming - Playing the crowd’, MDA20009, Digital Communities, Learning materials on Blackboard, Swinburne Online, December, viewed 4 February 2016.

Techopedia n.d., ‘What is a MMORPG?’, Techopedia.com, viewed 5 February 2016, <https://www.techopedia.com/definition/1919/massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game-mmorpg>

[hannahyoungblog]

The selfie phenomenon, a new form of communication

The selfie has taken over the 21st century, and now I struggle to remember a time when it didn’t exist. It has taken over all forms of social media, where it is now highly common to find a selfie as a profile picture. The selfie was also the foundation for the app, Snapchat, which is based upon sending a photo with a caption, which can only be viewed for a certain amount of time. Selfies have turned into an everyday phenomenon, which has set the atmosphere for the digital communities.

Selfies have turned into a worldwide sensation, where everyone from politicians, to celebrities, to astronauts are getting involved in the craze. Kim Kardashian, known for uploading her fair share of selfies to social media, released a book dedicated to selfies, named Selfish (Stern 2015). Is this really all just an action of feeling vain? I have been face to face with hundreds of selfies on social media, where it was obvious some males and females just like the way they look. However, as the selfie has evolved, it has become so much more then showing off good looks, but a way to communicate feelings, an activity or a place. Hence why this phenomenon has been a global success, where a large part of society is getting involved. Moreover, selfies have created imaging communities, which is the communication we have through images on our media devices (Hjorth 2011, p. 51). It is clear to me that selfies have had an enormous impact on society.

Furthermore, I often consider selfies the glue that keeps social media together. Without selfies, Snapchat might not exist, and Instagram, Facebook and Twitter would be lacking in personalised content. Snapchat has become successful from their image messaging idea, which lead the app to drastically grow from 10 million in 2012, to 100 million in 2015 (Piwek & Joinson 2016, p. 358). Perhaps the selfie is gaining these apps further financial income. Selfies showcase your identity on social media, and has been a vital contribution to the social networks since the start. Snapchat has even included selfie lenses to their app, where certain animation filters appear, but only when you are taking a selfie (Constine 2015). In my opinion, it sounds like Snapchat is using the phenomenon of selfies and letting it shape their app, which is most likely the main reason why Snapchat has become so successful.

References

Constine, J 2015, ‘Snapchat Starts Charging $0.99 For 3 Replays, Adds Face effect “Lenses”’,  TechCrunch.

Hjorth, L 2011, ‘Mobile spectres of intimacy: the gendered role of mobile technologies in love – past, present and future’, in R, Ling & S, Campbell (eds) The Mobile Communication Research Series: Volume II, Mobile Communication: Bringing Us Together or Tearing Us Apart? Transaction Books Edison, NJ, pp. 51.

Piwek, L & Joinaon, A 2016, ‘What do they snapchat about?” Patterns of use in time-limited instant messaging service’, Computers in Human Behaviour, vol. 54, no. 10, p. 358.

Stern, C 2015, Keep them to yourselfie! Kim Kardashian’s selfie book, Selfish, sells just 32,000 copies in three months, Daily Mail Australia, viewed 24 January 2016,

< http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3185027/Keep-yourselfie-Kim-Kardashian-s-selfie-book-Selfish-sells-just-32-000-copies-three-months-despite-reality-star-boasting-41-4-million-Instagram-followers.html>.

[suaybreeze-blog]

It never ceases to amaze me, the creative ways individuals find to share, and distribute visual images, and the appeal of the technology that allows use to do so.  I generalise but it seems many personal selfie images are about self-promotion, other selfies tell a story, and ignore superficial appearance, some selfies are spontaneous, and others are well staged. I agree with you that the selfie is evolving; there is definitely a conversational function suggesting the selfie is an important, and meaningful visual experience for many social networks.  Thanks for sharing your views, Hannah :-)

[martha-browning-blog]

You’re spot on that Snapchat have used the selfie craze to shape their app and become so popular and successful! Good on them!

Interesting blog post, I like how you have talked about the way that a selfie isn’t just about how you look nowadays but also to communicate feelings/activities/places. It makes sharing so much easier!

[comm-online-blog]

Blog post #7:  Visual storytelling

According to Evan Spiegel, founder of Snapchat, ‘traditional social media required that we live experiences in the offline world, recording experiences, and then posting them online to recreate the experience and talk about it’ (Herrman, 2014). However, technology today allows us to capture experiences live and share these moments through photos and videos - visual communication and social imaging. Siegel (cited in Herrman, 2014) states that the selfie has become a ‘fundamental unit of communication’, with digital technology transitioning from a tool for self-expression, to communication. Do selfies represent a narcissistic generation or does social imaging and live streaming represent a shift; communicating the same language differently?  

People who take selfies regularly are often accused of being self-obsessed and having low self-esteem. Psychologist Pamela Rutledge recognises that ‘selfies frequently trigger perceptions of self-indulgence or attention-seeking social dependence’ (Magnuson, n.d). However, theorists argue that there is lacking evidence to indicate that today’s generation of selfie lovers are more narcissistic and isolated from society than prior (Cannold, 2016). Rather, we have adapted our tools of communication from words to visuals.

We share our experiences online, building connections and a network of visual publics through tagging. These collections of photos on our Facebook profile and blogs, work similarly to keeping a photo album. Recently my work mate and her boyfriend went to America over the Christmas holidays. Every couple of days an album of 30+ photos were uploaded to Facebook - keeping her friends and family up-to-date. It was like we were on the trip with them; seeing what they were seeing, going where they were going. They spent New Year’s Eve in New York, where Stephen proposed to Alicia; capturing the moment on camera and sharing it on Facebook. The next day her notifications skyrocketed with 55 likes and dozens of comments congratulating them (Murray, 2016). 

Similarly, YouTube vloggers such as Sam and Nia Rader, upload videos of affinity, sharing their lives online daily and building a rapport with their audience, developing a loyal following. One such post that went viral was Sam announcing Nia was pregnant with their third child, reaching approximately 11 million hits (Jones, 2015). We shared in their excitement, viewing the announcement as it happened. However, days later, we were faced with an emotional collapse. Speaking directly to the camera, they shared their grief after revealing Nia’s miscarriage, sharing the loss with their followers. Traditionally, proposals and miscarriages, were considered to be private, whereas today such events are shared online, whether with friends and family, or a following of strangers. What happened to the barriers between public and private; online and offline?  

We have watched technology evolve with the introduction of the PC, mobile phones, internet and more recently social media, allowing us to join the digital community. Now we have become visual storytellers using selfies, live streaming and videos of affinity for self-expression and to communicate. Has live streaming and ephemeral Snapchat messages brought us closer to real-time and the real-life or have we fallen deeper into the digital world?

Cannold , L 2016, ’Ugly selfies are all about girls trusting other girls’, The Age, 19 January, viewed 20/01/2016 <http://www.theage.com.au/comment/ugly-selfies-are-all-about-girls-trusting-other-girls-20160118-gm80vs.html#ixzz3yAAwHfXv>

Herrman, J 2014, ‘Meet the Man Who Got Inside Snapchat’s Head’, BuzzFeed, 28 January, viewed 19/01/2016  <http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/meet-the-unlikely-academic-behind-snapchats-new-pitch#3dlvjg2>

Jones, A 2015, ‘Vlogger Couple Grieves Miscarriage Three Days After Announcing Pregnancy in Viral Video’, Gawker, 8 October, viewed 25/01/2016 <http://gawker.com/vlogger-couple-grieves-miscarriage-three-days-after-ann-1723078900>

Lange, P 2009, ‘Videos of Affinity on YouTube’, in P, Snickars & P, Vonderau (eds), The YouTube Reader, National Library of Sweden, Stockholm, pp 70-88.

Magnuson, L n.d., ‘Selfies Linked to Narcissism, Addiction and Mental Illness’, Disclose.tv, viewed 23/01/2016 <http://www.disclose.tv/news/Selfies_Linked_to_Narcissism_Addiction_and_Mental_Illness/101410>

Murray, A 2016, Stephen’s New York proposal to Alicia,  2 Jan, viewed 2/01/2016                               <https://www.facebook.com/alicia.murray.524?fref=ts>

[suaybreeze-blog]

Great example of how personal image-sharing (vlogging) created a specific networked public for Sam & Nia to share their personal family joy and tragedy in the public sphere.  Online visualisation depicting a ‘story’ of someone’s life has been described as conversational style photo/video taking because the social media engagement is considered to encourage a richer, and more meaningful conversation.  In the context of online connection, the use of visual representation provides a partial explanation for the rising popularity of social media platforms with visual storytelling capabilities.  I enjoyed reading your post :-)

[martha-browning-blog]

Great post here! The idea of us ‘adapting our tools’ for communication is a really good point :) 

I like how you have related it to your personal experiences of social media image sharing, particularly of your friend’s engagement. I find it very interesting how these days people share everything to social media and the barriers between public and private life are definitely blurred.. but I suppose it is up to the individual person to decide on what they want to share, and us as to whether we care to read/look at it!

[martha-browning-blog]

Visual communities // social imaging

The visual element of digital communities is an extremely important factor that is becoming more prominent with the development of smartphone cameras and the increased usage of social media platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram and Youtube which focus on the visual elements of media sharing. It is a part of everyday communication and is something that would be hard to avoid.

The most recognisable concept of social imaging is that of the ‘selfie’, a phenomenon that has taken social media in the last decade with the introduction of the iphone 4’s front facing camera (Bodnick 2014). Of course selfies have been around for hundreds of years and is a colloquial term of ‘self portrait’ but it has become part of the younger generation’s form of self expression on social media today and has been adopted be celebrities around the globe!

The sharing of these selfies and other images taken is considered to be part of a community of visible publics and this is where problems can arise. As previously discussed in this subject,  there is a limited amount of privacy and it very easy for such images to be found in the hands of the wrong person. Personally I think the selfie it is a great way of documenting how we looked at a certain point in time but also our lives and sharing it with those around us as well as for future generations. That being said, I do consider it to be important to be wary of it being used for the wrong purposes and a limit to the number of selfies you can post in a day.

Ephemeral imaging, the concept of using images to communicate (Jurgenson 2014), is also a fascinating concept that is highlighted by the platform Snapchat where users can post instant images of themselves, or 10 second videos, to their online communities that will document themselves right at the very second but will be gone within 24 hours. Not only is Snapchat visual, but it is also a form of communication with the ability to share videos, caption images and chat with your connections, it is the transition between digital media as self-expression and digital media as communication (Herrman 2014).

A consistent complaint is that people spend far too much time taking pictures of things and therefore not enjoying their surroundings with a phone in their hand. Whilst to an extent I believe that people need to put down their social media apps every now and again, I think the ability we have to document our lives in such a way, and through such great technology, is something that should be embraced, enjoyed and shared!

References

Bodnick, M 2014, ‘How and when did the selfie trend start?’, Quorn, viewed 20 January 2016, <https://www.quora.com/How-and-when-did-the-selfie-trend-start>.

Herrman, J 2014, ‘Meet the Man Who Got Inside Snapchat’s Head’, BuzzFeed, 28 January, viewed 20 January 2016,, <http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/meet-the-unlikely-academic-behind-snapchats-new-pitch#3dlvjg2>.

Jurgenson, N 2014, ‘The frame makes the photograph’, Snapchat Blog, 7 January, viewed 20 January 2016, <http://blog.snapchat.com/post/72561406329/the-frame-makes-the-photograph>.

[sextimebabyy]

Oscar Selfie  

[comm-online-blog]

Maurice Levy CEO for global advertising and marketing company, Publicis Groupe valued the 2014 Oscar selfie at approximately $800 million - $1 billion with Ellen’s tweet reaching 37 million people across the world. 

The power of social media

[hannahyoungblog]

I remember feeling amazed when this photo was released! It just shows the power of the selfie. A very appropriate upload to your blog!

[martha-browning-blog]

Crowdsourcing // in times of crisis

Crowdsourcing has become an increasingly popular trend with the rise of social media. It is a way to create fast sharing information, especially in times of crisis.

Jeff Howe coined the term crowdsourcing in 2006, as a journalist at Wired magazine, to be “... the act of taking a job traditionally performed by an employee and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call” (Howe 2006). This has developed since 2006 to become particularly prominent with the development and widespread use of social media platforms.

Flooded street in Tawoomba, Queensland 2011

In January 2011 Queensland experienced devastating floods which caused mass amounts of damage (see above image). The event is a great case study of crowdsourcing as with the use of social media, such as twitter, information was spread rapidly with the use of the hashtag #qldfloods. During a 6-day period over 35,000 tweets were sent out with this hashtag which meant it was a free source of information that was up-to-date and quick to disseminate into the community with relevant information to not only the locals in distress, but also the wider community and how they could help (Bruns et. al, 2012, pp. 7-10).

A large issue with crowdsourcing is the quick spread of false or incorrect information, either intentionally or by accident. There is rarely a ‘gatekeeper’ as such with social media and this presents issues across the medium in a number of ways as we have previously discussed in this blog. Ford (2012) discussed the need for verification of reports to in particular in the case of Ushahidi platform which was developed to provide a platform for African citizens to report human rights abuse after the Kenyan presidential election in 2007. Wikipedia is also a form of crowdsourcing that, although not social media as such, is not often verified information and it is up to users to generate the content and can often lead to incorrect information being published.

Another interesting phenomenon that has sprouted from crowdsourcing is that of crowdfunding which never ceases to amaze me and restore my faith in humanity. Crowdfunding is where strangers come together to raise money for those in need or with a goal they need help reaching. This can be anything from raising money to start a new business, to help in times of national disasters such as bushfires or floods, or as demonstrated most recently, when a pregnant woman dies in a car accident, leaving her unborn child to be delivered without a mother. Crowdfunding has helped raise over $100,000.00 for the family since the accident (ABC News 2016).

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 17 September 2015, <http://www.cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf>.

Ford, H 2012, 'Crowd Wisdom', Index on Censorship, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 33-39.

Howe, J 2006, ‘‘The Rise of Crowdsourcing’, Wired, 14 June, viewed 10 January 2016, <http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/14.06/crowds.html>

ABC News 2016, ‘Candlelight vigil held for pregnant mother killed in Hobart car crash; baby survivor now stable’, ABC News, 23 January, viewed 25 January 2016, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-23/baby-born-after-fatal-crash-now-stable/7109314>

[comm-online-blog]

Blog Post #6:  In Times of Crisis

Social media platforms allow sharing of information, collaborative preparation during natural disasters, an avenue for seeking and offering support to those in need, as well as being an important tool during the recovery process.  Social media is growing in popularity. Therefore, when the traditional communication services are compromised in times of crisis, people turn to Twitter and Facebook for information - crowdsourcing. Do social media platforms really help?

Services must now also keep an eye out on social media for distress calls. For example, during the 2012 floods in Manila in the Philippines, stranded individuals sought help via Twitter using the hashtag #rescueph. Survivor, Kassy Pajarillo, described how she used Twitter to seek help, informing fellow tweeters about her mother and grandmothers’ whereabouts, who were also caught in the floods. Emergency services responded quickly, monitoring the site (BBC, 2012).

Similarly in Australia, State/Territory Emergency Services communicate Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) campaigns during natural disasters. In addition to this, government and non-government organisations including Get Ready Queensland, FloodSafe, StormSafe and HardenUp make use of social media (Dufty, 2015 p.14). In Victoria, the Government implemented a Summer Fire Safety Campaign, using online mediums including the VicEmergency website, FireReady app, social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as traditional news sources to inform the public and warn people against threatening fires. According to the Australian Journal of Emergency Management, approximately 367,000 CFA Facebook and Twitter followers receive warning messages (Dufty, 2015 p. 14).  

Heather Ford states, ‘crowdsourcing has the opportunity to lower the barriers to expression and ultimately help and support ordinary people in times of crisis’ (2012 p.39). However, social media crowdsourcing comes not without its limitations.

Fake accounts, Photoshop and video editing applications allow users to post inaccurate information, troll and spread rumours, as with the Boston bombings, April 15, 2013. According to researchers Gupta, Lamba and Kumaraguru, ‘nearly 8 million relevant tweets were sent by 3.7 million people’, with only 20% being accurate facts, 29% rumours and incorrect information, with almost half being opinions of the users. A large proportion was identified as fake accounts (Schultz, 2013). There is no gatekeeper on social media to distinguish between the truth and the lies, so how do we know?

Platforms such as Twitter and Facebook allow individuals to share knowledge and contribute to help those in need and during times of crisis, but at what cost? 

BBC, 2012, ‘Floods paralyse Philippine capital Manila’, BBC News Asia, 7 August, viewed 11/01/2016                             <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-19159509>

Bishop, R 2015, ‘Week 8: Crowdsourcing in times of crisis’, MDA20009 Digital Communities, Learning Materials on Blackboard,  Swinburne University of Technology, 11 January, viewed 11/01/2016

Dufty, N 2015, ‘The use of social media in countrywide disaster risk reduction public awareness strategies’, Australian Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 30, no. 1, p. 12-16, viewed 13/01/2016 <https://ajem.infoservices.com.au/items/AJEM-30-01-06>

Ford, H 2012, ‘Crowd Wisdom’, Index on Censorship, vol. 41, no. 4, p. 33-39

Jastrow, S 2013, The Use of Social Media During Natural Disasters and Emergencies, 11 December, viewed 10/01/2016 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-7i5KAYcYs>

Schultz, C 2013, ‘In the Wake of the Boston Marathon Bombing, Twitter Was Full of Lies’, Smithsonian.com, 24 October, viewed 11/01/2016 <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-the-wake-of-the-boston-marathon-bombing-twitter-was-full-of-lies-5294419/>

[suaybreeze-blog]

I liked your overall discussion.  It highlights the wide-range of implications for crowdsourcing in a crisis.  The emergencies you outlined confirm many of the benefits of crowdsourcing, but you have also raised a contrasting issue – verification.  As you stated, individuals use social media to share information, and public participation increases during a crisis.  How to control the data seems to be a pressing question.  I suspect it will be a combination of innovative verification technology, identifying authentic publics to act as gatekeepers, and ‘the crowd’ challenging inaccurate posts.  Thanks for an interesting post.

[martha-browning-blog]

Very interesting post, thanks! I like your discussion of various case studies where social media has helped people, but how you have also noted the ways in which it can cause problems, along with statistics which show your point! It’s a tricky situation because how do you gatekeep or filter what is fact from fiction!

[hannahyoungblog]

The art of selfie communication the the extreme!

[pleasantlycrookedstrawberry-blog]

A Changing World - The Crowdsourcing Phenomenon

No where has social media had a bigger, more distinct impact than the phenomenon of crowdsourcing. A real-time, socially driven wave of thoughts, opinions and news can flood across the digital community, providing a source of information rich in diversity, clarity and, often first hand encounters.

As we have already discovered, a broad based definition of crowdsourcing is probably best put as ‘the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers’ (Merriam Webster Online 2014).

The concept of people informing people, growing an intertwined web of information, analysis and opinion on major topics, such as major natural disasters or, in more recent times the deaths of celebrities like David Bowie or Alan Rickman means that a digital community gives its citizenry the chance to shape and delivery the news themselves in whichever way they see fit or, in whichever way they believe the particular digital community to which they belong will be at its most receptive.

As we saw with the birth and growth of the ‘Random Hacks of Kindness Australia’ or RHoK group, a self-described “part of a global community of technologists and changemakers who are hacking for good”, the idea that the crowd at large can source from itself a group of people dedicated to acts of kindness and virtuosity is a testament in itself to the strength of ideology and sense of community that can be developed in the digital world when a topic or issue drives significant community involvement and societal thinking.

It is, of course no surprise that the same people with a strong will toward community service and acts of kindness in the real, tangible world would continue to exhibit those traits in a strictly digital sense as well. People have long been, on a whole, charitable beyond what could be expected. From buying raffle tickets to dropping a few dollars into a busker’s hat, people tend to be inherently on the side of helping out a fellow citizen in need.

As digital communities have grown, they have begun to better represent the populous of the physical world, in all their strengths and weaknesses. Last week we looked at weaknesses like bullying and how they have transitioned into the digital age, but now, in essence, through the concept of crowdsourcing, we’re looking directly at the more positive aspects of the digital citizenry.

This thought, that, through crowdsourcing we are given an opportunity to participate in real-world events in real time is a staggeringly beautiful thought. Not so long ago, if a disaster took place somewhere in the world, in a far-flung corner of the world some distance from you, you would rely solely on the nightly news or the morning newspapers for any tidbits of information or scraps of news coming through.

Nowadays, thanks to the accessibility and ease of the digital world, members of the digital community who are in much closer proximity to a disaster, event or just about anything of interest can post images, thoughts, comments and video footage of what is happening, in real time for the ease of consumption anywhere around the world.

It really is a thought-provoking and stunningly simple concept that has become a social norm in the digital community.

[martha-browning-blog]

Such a lovely post to read! It is very positive compared to last week’s topic and you have explained crowdsourcing really well. I love the idea that people’s real-world traits can transition into the digital world. It’s definitely one of the most positive things to come out of social media! Thanks!

[hannahyoungblog]

Why is trolling so evident amongst the social media age?

Trolling, the art of bulling on social media to people you may or may not know. It is the absolute demon of social media, which keeps persisting and persisting. Even though I’m not personally subject to trolling in my social media life, I have noticed that anyone who might post something a little bit wacky or someone with a huge fan base (such a celebrity) is subject to the painful sting of trolling. It does make me think however, why is this so apparent in social media? Why do people put their time and effort into posting nasty comments at the cost of someone else’s emotional wellbeing?

As social media has taken over our lives, trolling has also been created within the process. This negative term that keeps popping up in the media, can also be known as cyber bullying (Bishop 2013, p. 301). Furthermore, the person behind the trolling often has noticeable differences to the victim, which can create a desire to harm the individual (Law et al 2012, p. 227). Due to our society being made up of different races, religions, beliefs and interests, internet trolling has become unavoidable. People like to feel superior over others, where they enjoy the power feeling over an individual, which leads to the harm of trolling (Law et al 2012, p. 227). I call this pathetic and damaging to society, especially the younger generation. The younger generation are going to grow up with baggage they received from online trolling. The baggage will become evident in the way they view themselves as a person and their relationships. Trolling is harmful and damaging, and unfortunately the internet is an unavoidable ground to allow this to happen.

How can we stop internet trolling affecting the masses? The internet is a large platform, with very little supervision. Perhaps the awareness needs to be raised over trolling. This could be accomplished through the implementation of education on trolling in schools and the damaging effects this can have on someone’s life. Ultimately, trolls and bullies need to be stopped before they even become one. Young people also need to learn valuable tactics to reduce trolling, such as not replying to internet conflict that may come their way (Wilson et al (Eds) 2013). I believe that with awareness and tactics on reducing trolling, this issue can be reduced.

References

Bishop, J 2013, ‘The art of trolling law enforcement: a review and model for implementing ‘flame trolling’ legislation enacted in Great Britain (1981-2012)’,  International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, vol. 27, no. pp. 301.

Law, D, Shapka, J, Hymel, S, Olson, B & Waterhouse, T 2012, ‘The changing face of bullying: An empirical comparison between traditional and internet bullying and victimization’, Computers In Human Behaviour, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 227.

Wilson, J, Fuller, G & McCrea, C (eds) 2013, Trolls and the negative space of the internet, Fibreculture Journal, Issue 22, viewed 10 January 2016, <http://twentytwo.fibreculturejournal.org>.

[martha-browning-blog]

I really like how you’ve shown your personal thoughts on trolling, especially about how we can deal with it, by raising awareness and focusing on teaching the younger generation about the negative impact and damage it can cause but also to learn tactics to reduce trolling. It is a hard area to Police as the internet is mostly unmoderated, but if we teach people not to be bullies in the first place, maybe this is a step in the right direction!

[bevsblog-world-blog]

Blog 5 – Trolling and Social Media Conflict

This week the first article was ‘Trolling as Provocation’ (McCosker, 2014).  McCosker (2014) discusses two events in New Zealand that took place in 2011 and were publicised through the social media platform YouTube.  These events were the Christchurch earthquake and the Flash Mob Haka.  A lot of these videos were uploaded without any consideration for the people and their country.  Several comments were at times were filled with criticism.  

The next reading was a few pages of ‘It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens’ by dana boyd.  I found this a very interesting read about teenage bullying. In this article, dana boyd (2014) discusses how teenagers do not always understand the consequence of their actions of bullying.  Until teenagers start to realise the hurt and pain they inflict on others, they will continue to follow the current destructive path.  Although bullying has been around for a long time, social media has made bullying more visible to people (Boyd,2014). 

In 2012 anti-bullying laws have been implemented, with specific provisions for online bullying (Boyd 2012).  The way we use social media today may cause conflict, sometimes even without realising it.  People tend to hide behind their computer or smartphone to troll or bully others.  It’s sad to see how selfish and unsocial society has become.

While writing this blog, my son showed me a video that had just been posted on Facebook of a former soccer player inappropriately rubbing his daughters’ chest during the national anthem.  The anthem was played just before a soccer match that evening. At the time of watching this video, I found it quite disturbing.  The former soccer player was instantly trolled, mainly on Twitter (Daily Telegraph, 2016).  Although I too found this behaviour inappropriate, especially on live television, I did not find the need to express my disgust on social media.  

I think it is very important for Australia to dedicate an Ombudsman to online safety for everyone, not just children.  I couldn’t find a website that was available for adults to find help.  Yes children are more susceptible to cyber bullying; however adults are just as susceptible to cyberbullying.  If an adult has was bullied as a child, moving into adulthood, and still being bullied, might cause a lot of mental health issues.  Luckily for me, in my adulthood I have not experienced or know of anyone who has been bullied this way.  

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.

Daily Telegraph, 2016, “SBS TV presenter Craig Foster trolled over footage of him with daughter at soccer match”, viewed 8 January, 2016, <http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/sbs-tv-presenter-craig-foster-trolled-over-footage-of-him-with-daughter-at-soccer-match/story-fni0cvc12277014062679->.

McCosker, A 2014, YouTrolling as provocation: Tube’s agonistics publics, Convergence, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 201-217.

[martha-browning-blog]

I really enjoyed your breakdown of what you got from the weekly readings and think it is very important for adults to have support for bullying as well! 

[martha-browning-blog]

Digital Citizenship 3: Trolling and social media conflict

Source: The Best of Tumblr Facebook page.

As discussed in the previous blog post, social media can be used for positive causes such as promoting injustice and issues around the world which awareness needs to be increased, sharing information about emergency situations, events, connecting with distant family and friends... and cat videos. But unfortunately at the other end of the spectrum there is the issue of trolling and conflict on social media, which can have major negative impacts on individual’s experiences with social media.

Social media is a relatively new platform for bullying and harassment, away from the typical school playground area. It provides users with a screen to hide behind, or even a fake profile with which to troll and bully others.

Urban dictionary describes trolling as “The art of deliberately, cleverly, and secretly pissing people off, usually via the internet, using dialogue” (Urban Dictionary 2009). Trolling is meant to be harmless and for humour, rather than malicious but it can be taken too far. There are numerous ways that social media can be misused including by way of harassment, bullying, hate flaming and abusive.

Charlotte Dawson is a very sad example of misuse of social media by ‘trolls’ which unfortunately played a part in the celebrity’s suicide in February 2014. Although she suffered from depression, in 2012 she was subject to a mirade of abuse via Twitter and attempted to take her own life due to the internet trolls but was fortunately admitted and recovered before relapsing again (O’Brien and Ralston 2014).

The issue in today’s society is how social media can be regulated to prevent misuse. Government associations, schools, universities and parents are looking for more ways in which they can control younger generations use of social media and create codes of practice to avoid misuse and the many incidents similar to that of Charlotte Dawson (Swinburne Online 2016 Week Seven).  

At the end of the day, with the ability to create anonymous profiles and the inability for users to fully disconnect from social media, it is a problematic situation and ultimately the best way to fix it is to teach kids the ramifications of bullying and not to bully in the first place… again, easier said than done!

References

O’Brien, N & Ralston, N 2014, ‘Charlotte Dawson found dead’, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 February 2014, viewed 4 January 2016, <http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/charlotte-dawson-found-dead-20140222-338j6.html>.

Swinburne Online 2016, ‘Week 7: Digital Citizenship 3 - Trolling and social media conflict’, Swinburne University, learning materials, January 2016, viewed 4 January 2016.

Urban Dictionary 2009, Trolling, Urban Dictionary, 21 September, viewed 4 January 2016, <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trolling>

[pleasantlycrookedstrawberry-blog]

Although scholars have examined different aspects of youth-related meanness and cruelty over the past four decades, there is no universal definition of bullying.

danah Boyd, 2014, p. 131 (via pleasantlycrookedstrawberry)

[martha-browning-blog]

Digital Citizenship 2 // Activism and Protest

Social media these days isn’t just used to communicate with friends and family, follow celebrities and post videos of cute animals. It is serving a more interesting purpose of grassroots activism and as a platform for protest and even facilitating a social revolution (Swinburne Online 2015 Week Six).

Culture jamming is a tactic, coined by Mark Dery in the 1990s, used by many anti-consumerists to disrupt or subvert mainstream media, as a form of protest. Culture jammers will often use the existing media, such as billboards, bus-ads or posters, to comment on what the content is saying, or to showcase the ‘truth’ as the anti-consumerists see it (Marshall 2004).  

Forms of culture jamming include:

Performance art

Graffiti art

Hacktivism

Adbusting (Swinburne Online 2015 Week Six).

Slacktivism and clicktivism are forms of activism which are seem to be adopted by a majority of social media users today. It is considered a ‘lazy’ way of joining in and confirming your stance on a particular issue that is popular on social media, clicking like or sharing the media then moving onto the next semi-important thing. The Kony 2012 campaign is a prime example where users shared the video designed by Invisible Children Inc. to share the gross mistreatment of humans by Joseph Kony, a Ugandan warlord, but it is not all in vain as Bailyn (2012) discussed. Bailyn stated that a majority of users of social media will not act unless the tools to do so are in front of them. By sharing the video, donating even a small amount to the cause and spreading the word of issue, people are inclined to act and take part to enforce a change.  Change.org is another form of social media clicktivism where users can ‘sign’ a petition or share a story without leaving the comfort of their own home, again a form of slacktivism but if it helps get numbers/signatures up on a petition, it is probably doing something useful still.

While activism in a digital community does seem to be a ‘lazy’ way of getting involved, social media can be a powerful way of spreading a message to large target audiences if used correctly. It can also be used to create a civic community within social media and often inspires people to go out and make a change (Rosdil 2011).

References

Bailyn, E 2012, ‘The Difference Between Slacktivism And Activism: How 'Kony 2012' Is Narrowing The Gap’, Huffington Post, 13 March, viewed 10 December 2015, <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/evan-bailyn/kony-2012-activism_b_1361791.html?ir=Australia>

Marshall, L 2004, ‘Culture Jamming’, Urban Dictionary, 29 November 2004, viewed 10 December 2015, <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=culture%20jam>

Rosdil, D 2011, ‘Civic Culture, Sub-cultures, Non-Traditionalism and Progressive Policy’, Urban Studies, vol. 48, no. 16, pp. 3471.

Swinburne Online 2015, ‘Week 6: Digital Citizenship 2 - Activism and Protest’, Swinburne University, learning materials, November 2015, viewed 10 December 2015.

[hannahyoungblog]

Social Media, a Saving Grace for Activists

Where activists use to put their time and money into distributing flyers, putting up posters and organising petitions, has now turned into utilising the platforms of social media. This has eliminated time, costs and is allowing activism campaigns to reach a wider market of people instantly. Social media is effective, enabling the message to be published much faster and much easier than ever before. If I were an activist, I would consider it my saving grace.

However, social media has created a niche of activism, which can be referred to slacktivism (Mccafferty 2011, p. 17). Slacktivism takes advantages of what activists have already set up on social media (Mccafferty 2011, p. 17). They will like a page, or send a retweet on Twitter, which leads them to believe they are contributing efforts towards activism (Mccafferty 2011, p. 17). Due to social media being easier to use, this has created what I consider to be a wave of laziness amongst society, and therefore leading the slacktivism to be created. Additionally, I can recall the activism hashtag campaign “I’ll ride with you” going viral after a Sydney café siege, where Australians were supporting Muslims in the wake of an Islamic terrorist (Ruppert 2014). Even though this was a positive campaign after the Sydney siege, it can be argued that this was a form of slacktivism. Furthermore, since social media relationships can be formed through weak ties, this is a factor working against activism, as slacktivism is a slack form of activism from weak ties (Gerbaudo 2012, p. 8). Activism in its most effective form is created from strong ties, which takes time and effort (Gerbaudo 2012, p. 8).

Furthermore, when social media is used with effort and perseverance, the platform can be used as a powerful source of activism. Social media can be widespread, creating a useful tool to gain support for campaigns. Moreover, this creates a civic culture, through the participation of communities coming together supporting activism (Rosdil 2011, p. 3471). This can create more names within a petition, a highly effective protest and a stronger chance of a social decision being changed through the support of social media. To conclude, even after the argument of slacktivism, I would consider social media an uprising platform for activists, which will create stronger campaigns through a stronger support base.

References

Gerbaudo, P 2012, Tweets and the Streets : Social Media and Contemporary Activism, Pluto, London.

Mccafferty, D 2011, ‘Activism Vs. Slacktivism’, Communications Of The Acm, vol. 54, no. 12, pp. 17.

Rosdil, D 2011, ‘Civic Culture, Sub-cultures, Non-Traditionalism and Progressive Policy’, Urban Studies, vol. 48, no. 16, pp. 3471.

Ruppert, B 2014, Martin Place siege: #illridewithyou hashtag goes viral, The Sydney Morning Herald, viewed 13 December 2015,

<http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/martin-place-siege-illridewithyou-hashtag-goes-viral-20141215-127rm1.html>.

[martha-browning-blog]

Interesting piece Hannah, and you’re right about the weak times through social media when strong ties are needed. It definitely comes down to laziness and people being all talk really.. I hate to say I’m the same some time!