Digital Communities :)

[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>.

[mda20009-digital-comms]

I agree with your point about the fact that selfies should be looked at what is keeping social media together together, and your point on how selfies are essentially a form of self expression. An interesting way of looking at things :)

[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 

[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]

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>

[mda20009-digital-comms]

I completely agree with your point about there being a lack of a gatekeeper for false or misleading information posted on social media during a time of crisis. It seems like it could cause more problems that it could solve, mainly because people check social media before more reliable news outlets.

[bevsblog-world-blog]

Blog # 6 – Crowdsourcing in times of crisis

Crowdsourcing platform Ushahidi – was created in 2007 for the Kenyan presidential elections allowing citizens to report human rights abuses (Ford 2012).  As the years have gone by, the website has grown to the point of the public being able to report on incidents around them.  This is another example of a social media platform enabling people with like-minded information to share the information they have gathered and help others at the same time.

I was reading the report on the South East Queensland floods of 2011 and found that Twitter was used quite regularly to update the general public on what was happening.  Both Emergency and media organisations used this service to distribute updated regular reports.  The # or @ symbol before significant words relating to the disaster were used frequently to reach a wider audience with updates.

One of the recent significant disasters was the cyclones in the Far North Queensland.  Emma Potter has reported on her time inside the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services headquarters to observe how timely information was relayed through social media in times of crisis.  During this time, not only were the emergency services and news crews updating social media, the public was encouraged, when safe to do so, to upload pictures of the damage (The Conversation 2015)

Crowdsourcing is an important part of social media these days.  Social media allows the general public to post pictures and videos of a disaster in their area.  Although social media can also be a devil in disguise, not all information is accurate.

Again this week while writing my blog post, I have had a personal experience with this weeks’ topic.  My suburb experienced a freak storm one afternoon.  My husband was home at the time the storm hit and I was ready to leave work to go home.  Luckily we didn’t have too much damage, however, my street and surrounding streets had trees fallen down on the road and onto powerlines.  I used Facebook to as a tool to find information about the damage to the surrounding area.    

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

The Conversation, 2015, “The role of social media as cyclones batter Australia”. Viewed 17 January, 2016, <http://theconversation.com/the-role-of-social-media-as-cyclones-batter-australia-37835>

[mda20009-digital-comms]

Its good to see one of the positive outcomes of the rise of social media. It almost seems like the concept of crowdsourcing using social media could and probably is a great comfort to those who are worried about a particular crisis during that time. 

[mishcommunication]

There is always at least one…

Today social media and internet trolls go hand in hand. 

An internet troll can be defined as: An individual that deliberately joins an online community and attempts to deceive other members by starting arguments and provoking an emotional response (Wilson, Fuller & McCrea 2013). 

As Judith Donath states “Trolling is a game about identity deception” (Wilson, Fuller & McCrea 2013). Social media hasn’t created trolling, but encouraged the ability of anonymity (boyd 2014). As an online community we are still trying to determine signs and develop new strategies in identifying fake online profiles. Anonymity makes it easier for internet trolls to exist without experiencing any ramifications. 

Digital citizenship is so prominent in our everyday lives, danah boyd expresses this as the ‘always on’ lifestyle (boyd 2012). As part of an online community we need to focus on creating an environment where people can feel safe. Any unethical behaviour needs to be addressed with the help of Social Media co-operations and correct reporting procedures through our Government bodies. 

https://www.humanrights.gov.au/cyberbullying-what-it-and-how-get-help-violence-harassment-and-bullying-fact-sheet

There needs to be a zero tolerance approach to any type of bullying, whether it is cyber, trolling or ‘teenage drama’ (boyd 2014), whether it is between school students or adults, the appropriate actions need to be taken. I am a strong believer that cyber-bullying and/or internet trolling is not acceptable and it should not be tolerated. Just because ‘keyboard warriors’ lie behind a mask and feel safe in their own environment, does not make it okay to target and harass other individuals. It is not tolerated in our offline community so why should the online community be immune? Public shaming individuals who partake in face-to-face racist and discriminative behaviour with online videos, is a step in the right direction. This needs to translate to any online racist and discriminative behaviour as well. Clementine Ford demonstrated this by calling out and public shaming individuals who lowered themselves to name calling and had partaken in verbal abuse on her social media profiles (Ford 2016). 

I read an interesting article, “The Sadistic Psychology of Internet Trolls.” In this article, Jennifer Golbeck tries to comprehend the development of an internet troll by referring to a published study done in 2014 (Buckels E E, Trapnell P D & Paulhus D L, 2014, ’Trolls just want to have fun’, The Dark Triad of Personality, vol. 67, no. 1, pp. 97-102). In psychology there is a study of the ‘Dark Tetrad’, a group of four personality traits that include Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy and Sadism. Researchers conducted a variety of tests and studies on 1,200 individuals, measuring how they enjoyed time online with their Dark Tetrad scores. Majority of individuals in the study had close to normal scores on their personality test, except for people who like to troll. Trolls had extremely high scores on all four Dark Tetrad personality traits. Scientists developed a connection between trolling and sadists (Golbeck 2015), individuals who enjoy being cruel and seeing others in distress. 

As I further examine the realm of digital citizenship, one thing I have observed is how attention is becoming a commodity, as social media increases there is an underlying obsession with attention (Solis 2015). The online community can spread information and news across the globe faster than ever before, this news is usually replaced with something different just as quickly. Internet trolls feed off attention and what lingers after the actual breaking story is the argument within the comments. Internet trolls thrive off grabbing and maintaining this attention.

[mda20009-digital-comms]

I completely agree with your statement about social media not creating trolling and cyber bullying but enhancing it. I think thats the one thing that people forget about.

[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 one of 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. We have now become visual storytellers using selfies, live streaming and videos of affinity for self-expression and to communicate. Have 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 Snickars & 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, n.d, 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 January, viewed 2/01/2016                              

<https://www.facebook.com/alicia.murray.524?fref=ts>

[mda20009-digital-comms]

Your post really made me re-think the way I personally think about people who take selfies :) I love your point on how this is now just the tool that we use to express words to visuals :)

[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>.

[mda20009-digital-comms]

Trolling and cyber bullying are so horrible. I can’t imagine deliberately hurting someone in an attempt to make yourself look or feel better. I completely agree with your comments on awareness being a possible solution for the end of trolling and cyber bullying. 

[bevsblog-world-blog]

Blog 4 - Activism & Protest

We started this week by reading about how social media is a magnet for activism and protests.  The first reading was “Tweets and the streets”. People use social media when they witness a protest or riot.  The first thing we do these days is reach into our bags, grab our smart phones and either take a picture or record a video of what we are seeing in the streets. Gerbaudo (2012) witnessed this exact behaviour while observing a protest in Cairo.  A woman standing nearby took a picture of the violent arrest that was happening in front of us and as Gerbaudo watched on, he presumes she was posting onto a social media site (Gerbaudo 2012).  

Culture jamming is about activists using their freedom of speech, by sabotaging a poster or billboard advertisement from a company using words of negativity.  Culture jamming is a way for people to express their dislike to the way a company is advertising their brand.

www.mrcheddahcheese.files.wordpress.com /2011/11/starbucks-coffee-culture-jamming-copy.jpg

An example of a website devoted to culture jamming is www.Adbusters.org. Upon researching this website, I started to realise how popular this culture jamming is. Adbusters is a not for profit organisation voicing their opinions on political and social issues.    

www. 2030now.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/slacktivism.png

Upon reading about slacktivism I was faced with the reality of being guilty of slacktivism.  Joining Facebook and twitter groups, liking, commenting and sharing to support a cause is classed as slacktivism.  By using social media to show your concern or support for a particular cause, can reach groups around the world at the click of your mouse.  This process takes no effort at all.  

www.notenoughgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/hashtag-2.jpg

Activists who use social media to advertise their protest is called clicktivism. This is just another way for activists to voice their opinion and reach an audience all over the world.  Sometimes this “voice” or “opinion” is not always right, but in the eyes of an activist who is passionate about a particular topic, they feel empowered by expressing their opinion.  

References

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

[mda20009-digital-comms]

Great post! Love the images too, add a great quality to your post. Completely agree with your points. I think we can all be a little guilty of slacktivism. It would be good to see people going out there and making a positive change, as opposed to just ‘liking’ on FaceBook and hoping for a change :)

[comm-online-blog]

Blog Post #4: Activist or Slacktivist?

Social movements have been organised through online communication networks, raising awareness, encouraging participation in protests or raising money for charity, using social media to ‘appeal to the ‘people’’ (Laclau, 2005 cited in Gerbaudo, 2012 p.2). However, does online activism really work or is it just an avenue for slacktivists to feel like they are contributing to a cause, not too much, not too little, but just enough?  

According to Paul Mason (BBC journalist), ‘Facebook is used to form groups’, ‘Twitter is used for real-time organisation and news dissemination’, whilst ‘Youtube and the Twitter-linked photographic sites’ ‘are used to provide instant evidence’ (Gerbaudo, 2012, p.3). Influential members of these sites become like leaders, assembling followers. 

Theorist Clay Shirky believes new media is allowing greater communication and accessibility; therefore allowing networked communities more opportunities to participate in social movements, with lowered costs, fewer proximity obstacles and easier coordination (Gerbaudo, 2012, p.7). However, Evgenyi Morozov takes a more pessimistic approach, claiming that online ‘activism’ is ‘feel good activism that has zero political or social impact’, creating the delusion that we are helping (Gerbaudo, 2012 p.7). Slacktivism/clickitivism/subactivism is considered the easy way out. Bakardjieva argues that although subjectivism/slacktivism has proven beneficial in ‘weaving connections’, ‘their consequences have been neither revolutionary, nor even conspicuous’ (2009, p. 103). 

Has social media enhanced civic participation and involvement in global issues such as the 2011 Arab Spring and Kony 2012? Do these short bursts of participation contribute to the end goal or are we just clicking ‘like’ on Facebook, sharing tweets and signing petitions to feel like we are a part of something bigger? Slacktivism has received negative stigma: taking less effort, with ‘minimal cost to participants’ (Seay, 2014). On the other hand, online activism raises awareness and brings everyone together to form a virtual community of members seeking change. During an analysis of over 10,000 tweets, Hubspot Social Media scientist, Dan Zarrella, determined that 51% of tweets which included ‘Please ReTweet’ in their post were retweeted more than once, whilst 12% of tweets which excluded this, were not shared (2011). 

You may inspire people to go that bit further, informing them of the injustice being served. In conjunction with real-life activism, slacktivism can work to inform, collaborate and organise.

Bakardjieva, M 2009, ‘Subactivism: Lifeworld and Politics in the Age of the Internet’, Information Society, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 91-104.

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

Seay, L 2014, ‘Does slactivism work?’, The Washington Post, 12th March, viewed 17/12/2015         

<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/03/12/does-slacktivism-work/>

Zarrella, D 2011 ‘New Data Proves 'Please ReTweet’ Generates 4x More ReTweets [Data]’, Hubspot Blogs, 31st May, viewed 20/12/2015 

<http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/14982/New-Data-Proves-Please-ReTweet-Generates-4x-More-ReTweets-Data.aspx>

[mda20009-digital-comms]

Great post! I completely agree with your point of how a ‘like’ on FaceBook makes people think they are making a difference. It takes a little more than that to make a change...

[mishcommunication]

Online political self-expression

Ever since I can remember I was told to never discuss politics and religion in a public setting, “it creates unnecessary arguments and awkward situations.” 

As social media developed and users increased there was a surge in online self-expression and especially political online self-expression (Bond et al. 2012, p. 295). The development of different social media platforms constantly blurred the lines between public and private and online and offline. Whether it was Facebook with a combination of strong and weak ties or anyone in the Twittersphere, the tiniest gesture such as a like, share and retweet indicated to our family, friends and followers our particular stance on a topic, thought, or argument within a debate. Political discussions had become a part of our everyday lives, at times unknowingly. 

Social media was once a thing of millennials, politics was once a thing openly discussed by ‘professionals’ who studied and lived in the political world. The thought of combining the two seemed outlandish. But today with the variety and correlation of different social media platforms, individuals continue to form a comprehensive online presence. Studies continue to highlight social media complimenting the research behind the “Strength in Weak Ties” (Granovetter 1973). Social media self-expression and online political self-expression is now embraced by modern society (Young 2010), the increase in social media users has amplified our ability to receive, process and share information. 

“Age differences: Seniors make strides – Young adults (ages 18 to 29) are the most likely to use social media – fully 90% do. Still, usage among those 65 and older has more than tripled since 2010 when 11% used social media. Today, 35% of all those 65 and older report using social media, compared with just 2% in 2005.” (PewResearch 2014) 

Politicians and advisers have seen these trends as a perfect opportunity to not only create an edge and impact the younger generation, but to expand their audience (Rice 2013). Research has revealed particular voting behavior in a network, even though studies indicate that political social media will have more of an impact and influence with strong ties on Facebook, the weak ties create an ability to share and reach a larger audience (Bond et al. 2012, p. 297). Political campaigns that incorporate a variety of social media platforms such a Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, ensures that political messages are well received by users. 

As Simeon Duncan, former digital campaign adviser to Tony Abbott stated “As we know, politicians aren’t the most trusted people in the country but we do trust people like ourselves, we trust our friends.” (Rice 2013) 

Barack Obama demonstrated the importance of social media for grassroots mobilization; connect with society and provide more options for individuals to have a say in the political process (Rice 2013). The affordances of social media to monitor engagement and the instant ability to target, record and express a message, has improved politicians’ insight into their potential voters. Individuals are attracted to online political discussions due to the ease and timeless ability to choose a discussion of their liking and gather information as they please, developing their own opinion. 

Social media provides politicians with the opportunity to connect and respond on a personal level with other media outlets, other political parties and especially potential voters. Social media assists in the public formation and development of a politician’s story (Jericho 2012, pp. 254-255). 

Whether we enjoy it or not, the combination of social media and politics today is not about the trend in these politicians being able to use these platforms, but how they go about using these platforms. Understanding the public is more crucial than informing the public. However, their heavy involvement with social media can lead to an increase in public scrutiny (Jericho 2012, p. 273).

[mda20009-digital-comms]

LOVE that gif! It essentially sums up his personality :) You make really good point throughout this post, and I love the use of visuals :)

[bevsblog-world-blog]

Blog # 3 - Politics and Social Media

This week sees us explored the way politicians use social media as part of their campaign.  Politicians around the world are using social media as a way to connect with the people.  I decided to research the 2008 and 2012 Presidential election in America and the 2013 Federal Election in Australia.

The 2008 election in America saw a huge number of people using the internet to obtain updated information on the campaign for their favourite candidate (Young, 2010).  Leaders from around the world are starting to realise that social media is playing a big part in their campaign to win over voters.  Voters are seeking assurance from these platforms to ascertain who they might vote for on the day of election.

During the 2012 Presidential election in the United States of America, Obama and Romney used social media platforms to attract people to like, comment and re-tweet their thoughts and expose their alliance to their favourite candidate (Dalton-Hoffman 2013).  One of the reasons Obama succeeded in winning the election was due to his presence on social media.  Dalton-Hoffman (2013) shows statistics between August 27th and September 23rd,  on the amount of tweets and Facebook posts President Obama had, 11, 179, 537 tweets and 442,524 Facebook posts, while Romney had 7, 740,992 tweets and 249, 567 Facebook posts.  It was clear to see that Obama was more popular on social media that Romney.  If found the following Youtube video interesting.

America is in the middle of the campaign for the 2016 presidential election.  I’m sure the use of social media has increased dramatically since the 2012 election.

The last federal election in Australia was in 2013. According to Waters (2013), this election was ‘dubbed the “social media election”’.   Kevin Rudd used social media to obtain votes from a younger audience on with his support on same-sex marriage, while Tony Abbott was focusing on showing the family man he is by posting pictures of his family.  In the end, Tony Abbott had more followers than Kevin Rudd.  He must have been doing something right.

Of late in Australia, Malcolm Turnbull became the first lower-house Australian politician to Tweet (Jericho, 2012).  Not only did Turnbull use Twitter, he recognised the need to use a variety of platforms to advertise his political campaign.  

References

Dalton-Hoffman, M 2013, ‘The Effect of Social Media in 2012 Presidential Election’

Jericho, G 2012, 'How many votes are there on Twitter?’, in The Rise of the Fifth Estate, Scribe, Victoria, Australia.

Waters, G 2013, 'Ten social media moments of the 2013 campaign’, The Sydney Morning Herald, viewed 2 December, 2015, <http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/ten-social-media-moments-of-the-2013-campaign-20130906-2t9vv.html>.

Young, S 2010, 'News, political reporting and the internet’, in How Australia Decides, Cambridge University Press, Victoria, Australia.

[mda20009-digital-comms]

Love your post! Especially the little caricatures of the presidential candidates. I agree with everything you’ve posted, and am not surprised that its come to social media in order to find the better candidate. Its like nothing can be done without consulting the thought of other, while the rest of the people just don't vote! :)

[mda20009-digital-comms]

Social Gaming--Playing the Crowd

By this point of study, I think we all have a pretty good understanding of how social media, and the rise of technology (and its improvements) work together to keep the world more connected. This same theory can be applied to all those online gamers out there. Most of the games available online require forming relationships with other players and become more social to ensure the success of the individual playing the game. The more social you are, the more likely you are to succeed. This is often referred to as social games, essentially games that require sharing and help from others to succeed, mainly advertised and played on social media platforms. 

“Social is the backbone of all of our games; the ability to play with all of your friends. That’s what makes these games stand apart. And it really is the thing that we consider first and foremost whenever we are designing a game.”(Zynga, 2014) This quote is in reference to a game produced by Zynga called Farmville, and its huge success on FaceBook. This is largely due to the fact that in order for the players farm to thrive, it requires the player to invite their FaceBook friends to help out on the farm, in turn, saving the player any ‘money’ they have to spend to get ahead in the game. As mentioned previously, this can create a niche audience, and will potentially encourage others to want to join in with this games, as a way to join them. And because all games have competition as an underlying theme, the social aspect will play a major role in making that individual want to create the biggest social network in the game in ensure success.

Taking social gaming to a whole other level is the massively multiplayer online game EVE Online, where individuals create their own sort of police systems on that game, and are rewarded as such for doing so. This encourages players to interact with one another, but can also encourage play, because if you become a part of these groups, you become one on the more important players of the game, and will gain success throughout the game.

In all honesty, speaking as a non-gamer, I was aware that certain games are big and can gain popularity quite quickly, but just didn’t know that they could reach to be such a big thing and require a large number of other player helping out to reach higher levels throughout the games. My experience ends at Tiny Towers....any know that game?

Reference List

Zynga, 2014, viewed 5 February 2016, <www.zynga.com>.

[mda20009-digital-comms]

Visual Communities and Social Imaging-- The Selfie

Let me preface this blogpost with how much I hate being in photos.I personally love taking them, I just don’t like being forced to be in one. I also don’t understand the point of all those duck face group selfies of girls who claim that theres #nofilter, or when they post a selfie completely unrelated to the actual caption. We have slowly morphed into being completely self obsessed.

It all started with the simple photograph, used as a way to commemorate certain milestones throughout an individuals life, as well as a means to share memories with others. Slowly, the camera got turned around and went from taking pictures of things, be it certain events, holidays or family gatherings, to taking photos of ourselves.

With the rise of using social media to share photos, there has now been a creation of visible publics, which can be viewed as “(re)makers and (re)distributors, engaging in shared culture and knowledge through discourse and social exchange as well as through acts of media reception” (Mizuko Ito (2008, pp. 2-3). Visual publics are publics that are created using the various ‘tagging’ features available on social media, making other users aware of the fact that they are part of or visible within a particular photo, and also linking the photo back to that individuals account, providing them with more social media exposure.

This sense of community achieved through the use of social media platforms is most evident when looking at YouTube, but more specifically, bloggers. They form a relationship with their viewers that makes them want to continuously come back to the channel to see whats going on in their lives. Because of the constant updates, and the fact that they are viewed constantly, the viewer feels as if they know they YouTube star on a personal level, and will therefore relate to the content that is shown. This phenomenon can often be referred to as videos of affinity, where “feelings of membership in a social network, or feelings of attraction to people, things or ideas' (2009, p. 71)

(missmalini, 2014)

Reference List

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.

Miss Malini, 2014, 15 Hilarious Responses to Selifes (As told by Memes), November 8th 2014, viewed 4th February 2016, <http://www.missmalini.com/2014/11/08/15-hilarious-responses-to-selfies-as-told-by-memes/

Mizuko, I 2008 ‘Introduction’, in K, Vamelis, ed. Networked Publics, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 1-14.

[mda20009-digital-comms]

#Teamwork--Crowdsourcing in times of crisis

During a time of crisis, it is natural for individuals to help one another out. It’s part of human nature to give someone a hand to make life a little easier when they’re going through a difficult time. Often referred to as crowdsourcing, a large number of people coming together to disseminate information during a time of crisis to assist with the eventual recovery of that crisis. With the rise of social media, and its assistance with helping to deliver constant updates and share information and news in real time, social media is the main and easiest way to crowdsource.

In terms of social media and crisis management, organisations that disseminate information about certain crises, such as CFA for example, uses various forms of social media to keep the public constantly updated on the crisis and any potential risks that may arise. This can also allow users to share information with others that may be affected, allowing them real-time updates to ensure safety and wellbeing of individuals.

Crowdsourcing is also a useful tool when it comes to things such as natural disasters of events that shake the world. One good example of crowdsourcing would include finding the man who both raped and murdered Jill Meagher. Once the CCTV footage was made public, various Facebook pages and Twitter accounts were created in order to assist police in finding the man responsible for her death."The...reason why social media is so important in instances like this is a sense of connection and community, and people want to feel connected to others who feel the same as them..” (Lowe, 2012). This captures the essence of crowdsourcing using social media. It’s people coming together to help with something that is important to them.

It is important to note that while people may think that by posting all this information in trying to assist in helping with the crisis or the current event is that the information may be more of a hinderance than a help to that particular case.

Reference List

Lowe, A, 2012, Jill Meagher: Trial by Social Media A Worry, Experts Say, Sydney Morning Herald, September 28,retrieved 4th February <http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/trial-by-social-media-worry-in-meagher-case-20120928-26pe4.html> 

[mda20009-digital-comms]

The Online Bully—Digital Citizenship: Trolling and Social Media Conflict

Bulling had always been present; from the schoolyard to the workplace, there will always be that one person who thinks that they will gain favor by putting other down. We are aware that it is wrong and understand the negative effects that it can have on individuals self esteem, but it continues to happen.

With the rise of social media, what was previously experienced with bulling is now being magnified on a bigger scale, with more negative effects on those being picked on. “The study of more than 900 Victorian students found that cyber bullies in year 10 were 2.5 times more likely to steal...the risk of violent behaviour from them doubled...victims of online attacks were at four times the risk of depression and twice as likely to self-harm.”(Hore, 2015) Social media allows users to hide behind anonymity, which makes it easier for people to attack other, because they can’t trace the negative comments back to them. Because social media is now available across different platforms, from computer to tablets to mobile phones, young teens now have constant access to social media, which makes it easier for them to bully others constantly. But we are constantly inundated with stories about all the negative effects online bully can have on different individuals.  

One example of cyber bulling occurred last year. While this isn’t as bad as a case of most others, it is important to note that words spoken just once can hurt as much as words that are repeated constantly. Last year, a student from a prestigious private Melbourne all boys school took to a English VCE exam help Facebook page to verbally abuse students from public school from suburbs such as Frankston or Dandenong.

Facebook (mamia, 2015)

As shown in the image above, to counteract the negativity and borderline abuse comment directed toward public school students, one public school student went so far to ‘correct’ the post, making smart comments in retaliation to the assumption that public school students lack the intelligence to be able to gain employment in hight paying careers. While this is a humorous outcome of cyber bullying, it is still important to note and understand that words can hurt and have a long lasting effect on the self-esteem of individuals.

But what can be done about cyber bullying? In a perfect world, we would be able to actively moderate what is being said on social media regarding peers. But in reality, it it much harder to do that, due to the sheer number of comments that are made daily. To moderate them all would take enormous effort. It should come down to educating young teens on the serious effects that cyber bullying can have on their peers. Hopefully, but showing them real cases and the real effects, it will lessen the number of young people ho actively engage in cyber bullying.

Reference List

Hore, M, 2015, Cyber Bullying is a Long Term Disease, March 17th 2015, viewed February 4th 2016 <http://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/cyber-bullying-has-longlasting-effects-on-victims-report-finds/news-story/2a088769b86f1fc01b05ea859973ee97> 

Mamamia News, 2015, A Xavier Student’s Post about Public Schools goes viral, web post blog, October 30th 2015, viewed 4th February 2015,<http://www.mamamia.com.au/xavier-public-school-post/>

[mda20009-digital-comms]

#MakeAChange #MakeADifference--Digital Citizenship: Activism & Protest

Whenever something bothers or becomes and issue to people, they usually turn to social media as a way to vent and complain. Because social media content is updated frequently and instantaneously, it is simple to become aware and become a part of a protest of activist group, as a way of making a change within society.

There are a number of different subcategories that emerge under the umbrella of activism and protest. Because of the rise of social media, and everything going digital, the most obvious form of activism is local digital activism. Some examples of organisations that rely on local digital activism include:

·       Greenpeace

·       GetUp!

·       Change.org

 The way in which these organizations get their messages and mission across are mostly though the use of various social media platforms that include Facebook, Twitter and blogs. This is of great benefit to these organisations as it provides them with mass exposure and the opportunity to truly connect with audiences and other people that feel strongly about those issues that are being discussed.

But what is a digital citizen or digital citizenship? Digital citizenship refers to as “the potential benefit for society as a whole that comes from new digital and social media tools and their ability to ‘facilitate the membership and participation of individuals within society’ (Mossberger etal 2008, p. 1). So, as mentioned previously, this involves the individual or group to utilize and become highly active on social media to ensure that the message is sent and understood to their target audience. This can ensure that their message is constantly heard and individuals have access to it, it will ensure that there is constant and instant communication between the audience and the organization and it will ensure that the message will be heard above other clutter and noise on social media.

Another way in which protests can be staged include culture jamming. This is referred to as a ‘movement seeking to undermine the marketing rhetoric of multinational corporations, specifically through practices such as media hoaxing…billboard liberation and copyright infringement.” (Harold, 2004, pp.181.) The act of culture jamming is usually carried out through some form of art medium, be it defacing a billboard, as mentioned previously, or carried out through another medium such as performance art. Culture jamming can be viewed as a type of activism or protest intended to make the audience think about the deeper meaning of what is being shown, and in turn can potentially lead to a boycott of a particular good or service.

There are also those individuals who want to become involved in a particular political debate or issue that is incredibly relevant within society at a time, but do little more than like a Facebook page associated with that issue. This is often referred to as ‘slactivism’ and ‘clictivism.’ The liking, following or sharing of that page has no real positive effect, or will even make an overall change in regards to that issue or topic. It can be viewed as the laziest form of activism there is.

 < source:D.B Echo, 2015>

  Reference List

 D.B Echo, another monkey.blogspot.com.au, image, viewed 31st January, 2015 <http://anothermonkey.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/facebook-and-november-13-205-paris.html>

Harold, C, 2004, Pranking Rhetoric: Culture Jamming as Media Activism, Critical Studies in Media Communications, vol. 21, no.3, pp.189-211

Mossberger, K., Tolbert, C., & McNeal, R 2008, Digital Citizenship: The Internet, Society, and Participation, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.

Youmans, W, & York, J 2012, 'Social Media and the Activist Toolkit: User Agreements, Corporate Interests, and the Information Infrastructure of Modern Social Movements', Journal Of Communication, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 315-329.