Memoirs of a Uni Student

this blog is for educational purposes only as part of a university assignment

[legenwaitforitdarythoughts]

Snap, send, erase - the Snapchat phenomenon

Since the dawn of time, humans have used visual imagery in one form or another (paintings, drawings, photographs) to document events and memories. In the 21st century, with the ability to capture a photo on a mobile device and share it with a global audience instantaneously personal photography has “transformed as part of the social web, with its convergence of personal expression, interpersonal communication, and online social networks” (Vivienne & Burgess 2013).

With the birth of social platforms like Facebook and Instagram, a new age of ‘networked visuality’ emerged, and imagery became the centrepiece of communication and self-expression online (Swinburne 2018). As Jurgenson (2013) highlights, the documenting of one’s life through a series of photographs and sharing this with a global audience in a permanent way holds a sense of nostalgia and sentiment.

However, the release Snapchat in 2011 changed the game. With the ‘life’s more fun when you live in the moment’ philosophy and ephemeral, moments are temporary, anti-nostalgia logic, Snapchat introduced a new way of communicating through visual imagery (Jurgenson 2013; Veynerchuk 2015; Snap Inc. 2019).

So, is Snapchat the future of social networking?

Arguing that traditional, profile-based social media is dying, Snapchat founder Evan Speigel said that the selfie culture of Snapchat marks the transition from “digital media as self-expression” to “digital media as communication” (Herrman 2014). In support of this, Jurgenson suggests that the absence of a function for liking or commenting on an image, the ephemeral nature of Snapchat means that “communication is done through photos, rather than around them” (Herrman 2014).

According to Seth (2016), millennials are migrating to Snapchat as a way to share moments with close friends without the “warped virtual validation” that comes with other social media. Research further suggests that Snapchat user’s behaviours and relationships are different to those they express/have on other social media platforms (Phua, Jin & Kim 2017).

To see if these findings had any truth, I decided to observe how my friends used each social media platform. I was surprised to notice a marked difference in the role that each platform played in facilitating self-expression and communication. Facebook and Instagram were primarily used to share past events for self-image purposes. Whereas, Snapchat was used to have a conversation back and forth with a very select group of close friends. I also noticed that my friends often made comments like, “Don’t post that photo on Facebook, I don’t look good in it, just send it to our group on Snapchat” - demonstrating their privacy and personal image concerns. Additionally, there was a drawn-out selection process for which photos were ‘worthy’ of Facebook/Instagram – only the best were ever selected.

In my opinion, each social platform will continue to have its place in the ecological system of the online community. However, I do feel that with growing concerns around privacy, the snap, send, erase culture of Snapchat will continue to grow in popularity and overtake the other platforms.

Keep reading

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

I do love that people think that Snap chat deletes your snaps. Let’s be honest its somewhere on the sever waiting on someone to hack it (Toldyaa 2015) or for someone to find a loop hole (Shontell, A 2013). I love a good selfie. I used to take selfies before it was called a selfie or it was popular. Back in the day my camera was too expensive to give to some stranger to take the photo and so selfie it was.

Can you image our great grand children all looking back at our photo, wondering our self absorbed we all were.

Toldyaa 2015, Oh, Snap! They’re Not Really Gone Forever After All., viewed 3 February, 2019, <https://www.toldyaa.com/blog/snapchatupdate>.

Shontell, A 2013, Actually, Snapchat Doesn't Delete Your Private Pictures And A 24-Year-Old Has Found A Way To Resurface Them, viewed 3 February, 2019, <https://www.businessinsider.com.au/snapchat-doesnt-delete-your-private-pictures-2013-5?r=US&IR=T>.

[unclewez]

Game On!

Ass. 1b. Week 10.  Social Gaming: Playing the Crowd.

Social gaming. What is it? Social gaming is how we describe games that are predominantly made for playing on social media sites (O’Neil 2008). Though that may be the case, it would become clear that it has long since outgrown that description. Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) have grown to the point that within themselves they have created a social network or social group. People do not just play the game, they team up, make plans, and execute them as if they were in the real world. Sure, going alone is an option, but enduring success is unlikely (Williams 2016 p.665).

Understanding the overall picture of the gaming world takes a lot more attention than a surface glance. When we mention online gaming, people automatically seem to think of violence or gambling. However, there are games out there that carry a far more positive aspect. Yes, games like Fortnite, War Thunder, Call of duty, and World of WarCraft call us to arms, to kill or be killed. However, it appears the hype of negative media forget the likes of Farmville, Words with Friends, and Pop Quiz entirely. All of these are social, and all stimulate our capacity to learn. Add Pokémon Go, that got people of their seats and out into the streets, and the benefits of online games become apparent.  

Okay, so we can justify the personal social side of gaming, but what about the issues? Like anything that involves human beings, there is always an issue. For example, online games usually involve an in-game currency. Fortnite had a case where it was accused of being used to launder money (Gershgorn 2019). Likewise, Eve Online has had a couple of scandals that saw players lose $300,000 worth of purchases over a simple in-game deal that went wrong (Thornhill 2014). Eve also encountered an issue when one player from the in-game council (the Council of Stellar Management), failed to step out of his game role and into reality during an online video post. The player, known as ‘The Mittani’, and for his violent and ruthless actions, made statements and threats that are not acceptable in the real world (De Zwart & Humphreys 2014 p.93). While the Mittani apologised, the damage was already done. 

Of course, this poses the question, are people able to distinguish between the virtual world and the real world? That will need to be thrown over to the psychologists and anthropologists of the world, while I go back to my game to fight an air battle over Great Britain.

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. 77-99, viewed 17 January, 2019, <https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=225934593111540;res=IELLCC>.

Forbes 2019, Mew, [image], viewed 29 January, 2019, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2018/06/15/you-wont-be-able-to-transfer-mew-from-pokemon-go-to-pokemon-lets-go/#48c8044f22e6>.

Fortnite 2017, Fortnite Battle Royale - Gameplay Trailer, viewed 29 January, 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gUtfBmw86Y>.

Game On 2019, GameOn, [image], viewed 29 January, 2019, <http://www.gameonlu.com/>.

GameSpot 2014, This is Eve Online - Gameplay Trailer, viewed 29 January, 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqoxRcP5kbo>.

Gershgorn, D 2019, The “Fortnite” economy now has its own black market, viewed 28 January, 2019, <https://qz.com/1528941/fortnite-is-reportedly-a-money-laundering-hotbed/>.

O’Neil, N 2008, What Exactly are social Games?, viewed 13 January, 2019, https://www.adweek.com/digital/social-games/

Thornhill, T 2014, EVE Online sees biggest ever battle involving more than 4,000 players, viewed 28 January, 2019, <https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2547908/EVE-online-sees-biggest-battle.html>.

Williams, D 2009, “Groups and goblins: The Social and civic Impact of an Online Game”. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, vol. 50, no. 4, pp 651-670.

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

Hey Wez, after reading your post I think it's so true that when most people think online games, they think about violence and gambling. I find it funny that online games have such a negative view. Think American football/ gridiron. How violent is that? The whole point of that game is just smash into each other to get closer to your goal. People have been paralyzed from playing that game. And a major part of this sport is the betting around it.  Sport barely gets the negative attention that online gaming gets.

[unclewez]

Activism and Protest.

 Ass.1b: Week 6: Activism and protest

This subject has been an eye-opener for me.  I am one for being forthright, direct and very pointed in my discussions, so protests and activism are somewhat built into my personage. So, reading about uprisings and occupations across the world fascinated me. What got to me is the level of involvement people think they are having by sitting back and posting/tweeting from the safety of their western homes, and quite often with anonymity.

So here is what I have learnt. People seem to be somewhat confused as to what activism is. Clicking and sharing may help to identify an issue, but at large it does not help that cause, nor does it drive people to actively participate in a rebellion (I prefer this word to activism as it implies some sort of oppression in the first place). While as westerners we might disagree with some situations, like the ones that lead to the Arab and Egyptian uprisings, or the Occupy movements, we cannot possibly fully understand or feel the same way that the locals did.

To bring this to a relevant question, is our “armchair activism” worthless? Has our social media fetish contributed to or taken from the relevance of movements? There are two sides to this argument. Firstly, one argument by Paola Gerbaudo (2012) suggests that social media played a large part in the success of the numerous uprisings of 2010/11. Secondly, William Youmans and Jillian York in their article “Social Media, the Activist Toolkit (2012) suggest a more pessimistic view where social media might, in fact, detract from any real action being taken. While both arguments are valid and make their points, it is pertinent to understand that neither acknowledge if we as sharers, bloggers and tweeters have any real impact on the situation. 

Social media advanced the situations mentioned above. “Facebook was used to set the date; Twitter used to share logistics, and YouTube used to show the world” (Gerbaudo 2012 p. 3). All of these sights connected people and information. However, that, of course, is only relevant when physical action takes place. While the sights achieved the intended purpose, the rest of the world sat back and clicked and shared information. One cannot be certain, but that appeared to make little to no impact on the situation. It is this lack of impact that coined the term slacktivism, which is “feel good activism that has zero political or social impact but creates an illusion of having a meaningful impact without demanding anything more than joining a Facebook group” (Morozov cited in Gerbaudo 2012 p. 7).

As the above is a huge subject, it is entirely impossible to go into any lengthy discussion on the topic. However, as I may have said in a previous post, like it or not, social media has impacted the world in a way that can only be considered good. Posting, blogging, tweeting and Tubing has all brought to light a great imbalance across the world.

References

Gerbaudo, P 2012, Tweets and the streets, Pluto, London, pp. 1-17.

Giphhy 2019, CONFUSED GOOD LUCK CHARLIE, [image] viewed 1 January, 2019, <https://giphy.com/gifs/baby-confused-idk-CPskAi4C6WLHa>.

Know Your Meme 2019, Image #566,376, [image] viewed 1 January, 2019, <https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/566376-slacktivism>.

Michael, S 2019, Lazy Activism Statistics : rise of the slacktivist infographic, [image] viewed 1 January, 2019, <https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/rise-of-the-slacktivist-infographic>.

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, viewed 30 December, 2018, <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=7f0c6882-720f-447e-a611-6d2baafd23d6%40pdc-v-sessmgr06&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=74043536&db=ufh>.

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

I couldn’t stop laugh at your meme for the doctor saying just a couple more likes and I can save a little girls life. I can’t help but feel this is the way the future.

There a Black Mirror episode that makes me feel this is the way we are heading. Black Mirror season 3 episode 1 Nosedive. Here is a great run down of it https://www.telegraph.co.uk/on-demand/0/black-mirror-season-3-nosedive-review-a-thought-provoking-pastel/.

I feel like a lot of people just want to be seen that they are helping or supporting but how many are doing more than just clicking yes?

[captainhannahuniverse-deactivat]

Crowdsourcing spreads awareness, but is it effective enough in times of crisis?

Week 8- Crowdsourcing in times of crisis

Before talking about the topic of crowdsourcing, it must be defined first, well what is crowdsourcing? 

Crowdsourcing focuses on work, opinions and information being obtained from a group of people who sometime work as freelanced or through a voluntary basis. They submit data through the big wide world of the internet including, smartphone applications and social media platforms. It is believed that social media is seen as one of the most effective components of crowdsourcing because it reaches a bigger audience, resulting in a more efficient and fast way of crowdsourcing. However, in times of a crisis, is crowdsourcing still as effective? i refer this to Bruns article about the 2011 Queensland floods as he makes valid points about the effectiveness of social media platforms, in this case, Twitter and how it allowed the community to help. 

In 2011, South East Queensland was hit with floods. The floods crisis went on from the 10th to the 16th of January. Through the time of the flood crisis, social media platforms were seen as effective ways of communication as updates and information were being shared with the public and locals. 

Crowdsourcing through twitter was a very effective role that was played during the time of the crisis. For example, many users of Twitter tweeted a hashtag “qldfloods” to mark a message that was relating to the topic to further the awareness of the crisis towards the users of Twitter. From the 10th to the 16th of January, 35,000 tweets were hashtagged, resulting in 50 to 60% of users retweeting the hashtag and around 40% of them users containing further information about the floods (Brun et, al, 2012, pp. 7-10). 

In my opinion, i believe that crowdsourcing through the use of the internet, especially through social media platforms is one of the most effective ways to get information across to the community. I even think it is more beneficial than the news providing this information through televisions as it is important to understand that many individuals may be at work and do not have access to a television at their worksite, however, the use of smartphones throughout the twenty first century gives crowdsourcing an effective element to raising awareness as it is a faster way to communicate to the audience of social media and can also result in raising donations to help the community that is affected much quicker. 

What do you all think about crowdsourcing being an effective element in times of a crisis? 

For further information, please refer to these links below. 

https://www.redcross.org.au/news-and-media/news/support-in-north-qld-floods 

https://goldcoastpets.com.au/2011/01/13/queensland-floods-ways-to-help-qldfloods/ 

References

Bruns, A , Burgers, J , Crawford, K & Shaw, F 2012, ‘Crisis communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods’, viewed 14 January 2019, <https://eprints.qut.edu.au/48241/1/floodsreport.pdf> 

Salvation Army, ‘2011 Queensland Floods- update 30/1/2011′, [image], in Google, viewed 14 January 2019, <https://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=932&bih=519&ei=EWQ8XJjxI5f3rQGDk6qIBg&q=2011+queensland+floods&oq=2011+queensland&gs_l=img.1.0.0j0i8i30j0i24l8.576.3529..4956…0.0..0.159.2336.0j16……0….1..gws-wiz-img…..0..0i5i30.aVTEYaydH_k#imgrc=hxEOJc8AQ4YEsM:> 

Twitter, ‘Twitter (@Twitter) | Twitter’, [image] in Google, viewed 14 January 2019, <https://www.google.com/search?biw=932&bih=470&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=3mQ8XL-GFMeH9QOg2KWgBQ&q=twitter+&oq=twitter+&gs_l=img.3..0i67j0l9.11323.11323..11707…0.0..0.152.152.0j1……0….1..gws-wiz-img.II_JhAlhHMg#imgrc=gUUd1zMCwaxvPM:> 

Youtube, ‘The Best Smartphones to Buy’, [image] in Google, viewed 14 January 2019, <https://www.google.com/search?biw=932&bih=470&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=xGU8XNacAonfrQG1-ojQDw&q=smartphones&oq=smartphones&gs_l=img.3..0i67j0j0i67j0j0i67l2j0j0i67l2j0.5342.7980..8070…0.0..0.238.1841.0j10j1……0….1..gws-wiz-img…..0.M5k-NVRRmvI#imgrc=hYszvUXes6JBSM:> 

[unclewez]

Hi  @captainhannahuniverse, thanks for your post. I cant help but wonder, despite the success of crowd-sourcing during the QLD Flood crisis, if in Australia as a whole internet coverage is adequate enough to help this. Do you think maybe more attentions should be thrown at connectivity in order to help authorities reach people using this method? Uncle Wez 

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

I love the use of technology to get information. I believe it has the power to connect us all for the greater good but at the same time it has the ability to cloud and miss inform everyone.

I love how we can now help share and create in an idea. I love buying in on a good Kickstarter. I love how we are now able to support a design that we would like, even if its just a couple of bucks.

[unclewez]

Quick Pic.

Ass. 1b. Week 9.  Visual Communities and Social Imaging.

Okay, I get it. Visual social media has taken the place of face-to-face relations and communications. Good, bad, who knows? Only time will tell. This past week I have read some stuff on visual media. Funnily enough, the material was not very visual which I found quite amusing. It is like reading a poorly written book on professional communication. Nonetheless, the following is what I have learnt. Pictures and video have always been a part of our lives. I recall a multitude of times when I have had to endure the family album or a video of my grandparents’ holiday. Blah! The boredom. However, times have changed, technology has changed, and people have changed. I enjoy seeing pictures of friends away on holiday. I enjoy the 5-minute video blogs my son posted while travelling around Europe.

 I guess if we cannot be there and share the experience, the next best thing is to watch a video of the experience. It adds to our sense of relationship with that person.  We usually gain a feeling of affinity with someone when we eat, drink and socialize together (Snickars 2009 p.78). Today, videos are an expression of the same sort, attempting to fill the gap (Snickars 2009 p.77). Of course, technology has made that a lot easier with the ability to drop a video link on Facebook, YouTube or Twitter, or a picture on Snapchat and Instagram, and then a hashtag to bring them all together.

There is a range of pros and cons associated with visual social media. In some cases, people can feel a level of anxiety as the imagery that is posted may be used and abused, taken out of context, and shared without consent. If we cast back a few weeks, I blogged about trolling and bullying. It is often in the realm of visual social media that this trolling and bullying takes place. Yes, there are means to protect yourself. However, you need to read a nasty comment before it is a nasty comment, by then the damage is done.

On the upside, you can build a genuine relationship with anyone anywhere, and you can stay close to those that are physically far away. You can also choose whom you wish to befriend. There is no need to befriend those that leave nasty and negative comments. So what if your picture is permanent. So what if your video is embarrassing. It is not like that does not happen in face-to-face communications, is it?

References

Getty Images 2015, Internet Troll Using Computer, [image], viewed 19 January, 2019, <https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/ginger-gorman/virtual-trolls-do-real-damage_b_8186848.html>.

Mak-a-meme.org 2018, That’s embarrassing, [image], viewed 20 January, 2019, <https://makeameme.org/meme/well-thats-embarrassing>.

Quick Meme 2019, Joker Kid, [image], viewed 20 January, 2019, <http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3r43h5>.

Snickars, P 2009, The Youtube reader, National Library of Sweden, Stockholm, pp. 70-88.

Wesley, C 2019, Day 29, Amsterdam, [video], viewed 16 January, 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgULPbSH0aE&feature=youtu.be>.

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

I remember growing up and we were taught don’t use your real name on the internet and now these days everyone is happy use their full name on Facebook and upload videos of ourselves away on holidays. A terrible movie but a great real life event, the Bling ring. They were a group of teenagers who rob celebrities because they would post on their social media that they were away or that media would write stories about celebrates away from home.  If you want to read more follow the link below, don’t watch the movie. Its pretty bad.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10143334/The-Bling-Ring-what-happened-next.html

[adigitalworldstudent-blog]

'Clicktivism' or ‘Slacktivism’

Activism 

“The policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change” (Oxford Dictionaries 2019).

How activists communicate has expanded to an uprising of new media activism ‘Clicktivism’ - a way for activists to use the internet to support a political or social cause. While some believe that this has brought more opportunities to spread a message and support a movement. It has also brought to activism a sense of passivity - “acceptance of what happens, without active response or resistance” (Oxford Dictionaries 2019).

A real-world example of this passivity is the campaign of warlord Joseph Kony ‘Kony 2012’. Kony was a movement by non-profit organization Invisible Children was created to raise awareness about Joseph Kony and stop Kony and his violent militant army. The video became a huge viral sensation with over 100 million views and 1.3 million likes. 

You can view the Kony 2012 video below, warning video contains upsetting images.

So, what happened to this campaign? In the end, the viral sensation died to be replaced by the newest craze in social media. Invisible Children did not achieve their objective with Uganda’s military ending its pursuit of Joseph Kony in 2017. 

But really what was their objective?

According to Invisible Children, “KONY 2012 was an experiment” (Invisible Children 2014). To the people who suffered at the hands of Kony and the people who got on board the movement, many believed there was a much more profound sense in what they were trying to achieve. However, if you go on to the Invisible Children website to try access the video it says the film “no longer exists”. Between an experiment and a video that no longer exists, it becomes apparent why there is so much criticism around clicktivism. 

Some argue that the current disparaging utilisation of word clicktivism does not do justice to the concurrent advancement of creating innovation and modern-day methods of participation (Halupka 2014, P.116). Furthermore, Invisible Children (2014) argue that the Kony campaign still served its purpose which was to make him famous enough to get world leaders to act against the Lord’s Resistance Army (Invisible Children 2014). 

So, what of the well-known form of activism culture jamming. The aim of culture jamming is for society to see their messages and adopt a social movement towards change. This is done through sabotage advertising and consumerism by introducing noise into transmitters to a receiver, invest ads, newscasts, billboards and other media artefacts with subversive meanings (Dery, M 2010). Why is there more criticism towards clicktivism when graffiti, a form of culture jamming, cost the Australian government 1.5 billion of dollars annually for its removal?

Culture Jamming is getting people consciously involved, ego’s aside.

When I ask people if they knew that clicking the like button on a movement on social media meant they had become an activist; they all said no!

For an interesting view into Clicktivism read Activism or ‘Slacktivism’? Can the #IceBucketChallenge really change the world? 

References

Dery, M 2010, Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing, and Sniping in the Empire of Signs, Shovelware, viewed 3 January 2018, <http://markdery.com/?page_id=154>.

Halupka, M 2014, “Clicktivism: A Systematic Heuristic”, Policy & Internet, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 115-132, viewed 3 January 2019, <https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/doi/full/10.1002/1944-2866.POI355>.

Kony 2012, Invisible Children, 5 March, viewed 3 January 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc>.

Kony Meme 2019 [IMAGE], Clicktivism/Slacktivism, viewed 6 January 2019, <https://reflectionsoncampaigning.wordpress.com/2014/11/20/clicktivismslacktivism/>. 

Oxford Dictionaries 2019, activism | Definition of passivity in English by Oxford Dictionaries, viewed 3 January 2019, <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/activism>

Oxford Dictionaries 2019, passivity | Definition of passivity in English by Oxford Dictionaries, viewed 3 January 2019, <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/passivity>.

Slacktivism Meme 2019 [IMAGE], Slacktivism: Image Gallery, viewed 6 January 2019, <https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/slacktivism/photos>.

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.

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

OMG yes, thank you so much for not writing another fluff piece on how we can change the world just by changing our Facebook picture to pink.

Yes, the ice bucket raised awareness however did it raise awareness for the ice bucket challenge or did it really raise awareness for …….? I ask everyone what was the illness or charity was it raising awareness to? To be honest I don’t know what the ice bucket challenge was for, I just remember the challenge.

[captainhannahuniverse-deactivat]

Trolls and Technology- How to handle trolls on social media platforms

Week 7 - Trolling and Social Media Conflict. 

After reading Danah Boyd’s article of whether social media is amplifying bullying, i believe that it is important to understand that the use of technology and platforms is not the blame for the use of drama that arises between peers, however, to understand and focus on the use of media platforms and technology, that have enhanced personal conflicts and made dynamics of bullying visible. (Boyd 2014) 

Anyone who uses social media platforms throughout their life has most probably either experienced trolling, trolled another individual or witnessed trolling of others. Trolls are full of negativity. So, how do we handle trolls on social media platforms? 

Well first, what is a troll? 

Trolls are individuals who try and put people down. This is seen as a form of bullying as they get pleasure of seeing how many feelings they can hurt by writing negative information towards people or about people to get a response. To keep a reputation online and thrive with positivity. Follow these 5 steps to accomplish just that. 

Step 1 - Establish a Policy 

Establishing a policy will help detail what comments will be allowed on your media platforms. This helps trolls disappear and create a more friendly and engaging environment in the social media world. 

Step 2- Kill them with Kindness

With the use of humour, lightness and kindness, turn the tables around and respond to the troll with a positive comment. This can be seen as a great way to bring in positive attention as well kill the troll with kindness!

Step 3- Choose a path that is positive

It is important to learn to laugh at many trolls. Ignore their nasty comments and do not let them get to you, because the troll will then think they have won. It is important to remember you are the better person as you do not bring people down. 

Step 4- Unmask them 

Many trolls thrive on being anonyms, if you take away that power, it can result in that troll to think twice about what they may post on your platform. 

Step 5- Create your own community

My last and most favourite step is to create your own community. This means deleting negative people, blocking them and having no contact with them at all. By doing this, you are creating a positive community within your social media platforms and you will also see less of trolling of others and even yourself as the use of negative people on your media platforms have now disappeared. 

remember, “ Sometimes you just have to take a step back and realise what’s important in your life, what you can live with, but more importantly what you can’t live without” - Lauren Conrad 

References

arabiangazette.com, ‘ Is Online Identity To The Youth In A Contemporary Society? [image] in Google, viewed 3 January 2019, <https://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&biw=932&bih=470&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=DlItXNOVIIOA8wXooYP4Cw&q=media+platforms+friendly&oq=media+platforms+friendly&gs_l=img.3…3225.9524..9835…0.0..0.305.4808.0j17j6j1……0….1..gws-wiz-img…..0..0j0i67j0i30j0i5i30j0i24.Gg6hzh6_mG8#imgdii=jftdv6fYFjBgrM:&imgrc=5Ei2kLGnorBAzM:> 

Boyd, D 2014, It’s complicated: the social lives of networked teens

Daily Mail, ‘Cheerleaders sassy expression’ [image] in Google, viewed 3 January 2019, <https://www.google.com/search?q=sassy+face&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=0NLLvkLkKfNxeM%253A%252C2wa-1A9ec1cY2M%252C_&usg=AI4_-kTadicelHOXA37h8BOqNHvwebpoYg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwixgquKqtDfAhXBgLwKHUNKCgkQ9QEwA3oECAUQCg#imgrc=0NLLvkLkKfNxeM:> 

MIT Sloan School of Management, ‘ Probing the origins of happiness [image] in Google, viewed 3 January 2019, <https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=cFQtXMK7E8GE8wWtubW4Ag&q=happiness&oq=happiness&gs_l=img.3..0j0i67l4j0l3j0i67j0.1596.3012..3096…0.0..0.295.1833.0j4j4……0….1..gws-wiz-img…..0.HuaICj7lN0E#imgrc=g8qq0_6z8bInGM:> 

Tara Leesher, ‘ 6 Ways Photographers Can Deal With Online Trolls’ [image], in Google, viewed 3 January 2019, <https://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=932&bih=519&ei=flEtXNTZG8f28QWx5K1w&q=online+trolls&oq=online+trolls&gs_l=img.3..0l6j0i30j0i8i30l3.487.2994..3226…2.0..0.257.2428.0j7j5……0….1..gws-wiz-img…..0.CHtaHh0yEpU#imgrc=6_rBpqEbXhvUXM:> 

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

I love you steps on how to keep the trolls at bay. I think as child I was bullied, and I was lucky enough to find out own jam. These days people can say whatever they want, they don’t know me, and I don’t care about their opinion. Internet trolls are just keyboard warriors.

It is such a shame that in this day and age we have to teach child so much about online bullies. It feels like no where is a safe place. Especially the internet is in your pocket and so are the trolls

[unclewez]

Politics & Civic Culture

Ass.1b: Week 5

Before one can go and make outlandish comments on politic and civic culture, it would be prudent to define them. In brief, politics, as defined by the Collins dictionary (2018), “is/are the actions or activities concerned with achieving and using power in a country or society”, whereas civic culture is a belief in “participation of civic duties” and/or “the acceptance of the authority of the state” (Oxford Reference 2018). While there is a distinction between the two, the one commonality is the need for self or political promotion. Hence, we have seen an embracing of Social Media by both political campaigners and life campaigners. The question is, has this impacted the way campaigning is done? Of course, social media has impacted how we all do things. Now, for better or worse, we have a populous that can be both reached and can reach back. We have politicians proclaiming their promises, and we have the average Australian giving feedback. Unfortunately, some of that feedback is neither polite nor positive (Jericho 2013 p. 255), but this is no different to a Politician standing on the corner soapboxing or door knocking. That is unless one considers that the feedback is often more abusive due to the ability to comment without showing up in person.

From the politician’s point of view, it is hard to see how one can ignore the social media platforms. In one sense they are incredibly dangerous, with there always being someone watching every move made and every word said in order to correct or pull-up the author.

On the other hand, there are a plethora of opportunities to be had. One thing is of absolute certainty; the use of social media in politics has been for the greater good. Before the crucifixion starts on that statement, let me explain. The use of social media platforms by campaigners has attracted a wider audience. Be they both educated and uneducated, the authors are often terse in their delivery of comments. Still, the level of civic involvement has increased. While it has attracted and highlighted the stupidest of commentaries from both writers and audiences alike, it has broken open the center of the political world (Jericho 2013 p. 287).

Social media has given to the world a means to hold to account those that are meant to be honourable and stand for what is right. Likewise, bloggers on social media sites have pressure journalist to a new level of honesty and accuracy (Young 2010 p. 224). Now we have a special moment in time where we can sit back and watch the leaders of the nation, and the people that comment, metaphorically hang themselves.  Maybe God and Abraham Lincoln had it right when they suggested it was better to say nothing and not be thought a fool. (Proverbs 17:27-28 and QuoteInvestigator 2010).

References

Collins Dictionary 2018, Politics definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary, viewed 26 December, 2018, <https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/politics>.

 Holy Bible 1986, The Holy Bible, American Bible Society, New York.

 Jericho, G 2013, The Rise of the Fifth Estate, Scribe Publications Pty Ltd., Carlton North, pp. 254-314.

 Oxford Dictionary 2018, Civic culture - Oxford Reference, viewed 26 December, 2018, <http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095613999>.

 Quote investigator 2018, Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool than to Speak and Remove All Doubt – Quote Investigator, viewed 27 December, 2018, <https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/17/remain-silent/#note-227-3>.

Relatebly 2018, Political Meme, [image], viewed 27 December, 2018, <http://www.relatably.com/m/political-memes>.

 Thebrotherssj 2018, thebrothersj, Music. Life. The Pursuit. [image], viewed 27 December, 2018, <https://thebrothersj.wordpress.com/soap-boxing/>.

Toles, t 2018, More of the Same, [image] viewed 27 December, 2018, <https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/443041682066901889/?lp=true>.

Young, S 2010, How Australia Decides; Election Reporting and the Media, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 201-228.

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

Reading your blog post reminds me of this new campaign that is hitting the UK. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/16/billboard-campaign-reminds-voters-of-mps-brexit-promises I love it, I love how it reminds everyone that promise were made but promises change. I think that’s the game of politics though.

Politics are like parents they shape the narrative to best fit their agenda but now politics has a medium to broadcast their narrative.

[unclewez]

Trolling and Social Media Conflict.

Ass. 1b. Week 7. Trolling and Social Media Conflict.

Trolling! I must confess, I have used this term often enough, but I have never really been able to define it. After reading Dana Boyd’s piece “Bullying: is social media amplifying meanness and cruelty? (Boyd 2014), I have not only gained a clearer understanding, but I also had a moment of self-realisation. I can be a bit of a bully, and I most definitely have been guilty of being a troll. To me, the two aspects go hand in hand. I grew up in a family of seven kids. It was survival of the toughest. So I became the bully, along with the meanest of sisters. The rest suffered at our hands. Of course, part of that was being able to provoke a reaction from my siblings, hopefully, a violent outburst that would get them in trouble by dad. So along with Boyd’s description and my practical knowledge, I think I can safely say I understand what bullying is. “Central to bullying are three main factors: aggression, repetition, and imbalance of power” (Boyd 2014 p. 131).

Boyd goes on to expand or break this down into what teenagers call drama. Drama is a situation where teens play out (not unlike reality television) dramas in their lives in order to gain social status (Boyd 2014 p. 142). One would assume this includes, or at least encourages bullying, but according to the surveyed youth, it is no longer bullying if there is an opportunity to retaliate (Boyd 2014 p.143). In my case, I would leave no such opportunity, but then, social media was not around.

Having related to Boyd’s writings, and reflecting again on my own social media habits, I had to take a look at my posting. Enter McCosker with his article on “Trolling as provocation: YouTube’s agnostic publics” (McCosker 2013). McCosker suggests that trolling, while negative, or as he put it, vitriolic, may also have a positive impact on the relationship between the troll and the poster (McCosker 2013). Can engaging in banter with a troll develop into some form of legitimate mate-ship? While I believe it can, noting that I love a good bit of hard banter, not everyone would agree. I do it because I love it; I love to argue, and I love people to argue back. Considering that in social media forums people have the opportunity to defend or retaliate, this is no longer bullying, but instead, this is now trolling.

An article in The Fibreculture Journal (2013) makes some valid points. Engaging a troll in a debate is a way of acknowledging them and legitimising them. You answer them, you lose. So as the wise world of the internet says, “Do not feed them!” (Fuller, McCrea & Wilson 2013). At first, the article suggests there is an amount of anonymity in Trolling. Um! Not sure they have opened the net lately, I am a troll, my name is real. So, in my case, that point is redundant. “Eventually it is positively defined as an art of mediated, dialogical performance” (Fuller, McCrea & Wilson 2013). I can live with this definition.

References

Boyd, D 2014, It’s complicated: the social lives of networked teens, Yale University Press, New Haven USA, pp. 128.152.

FB Cover Lovers n.d., The Trollfather, [image], viewed 6 January, 2019, <https://www.fbcoverlover.com/cover/3898>.

Fuller, G, McCrea, C & Wilson, J 2013, “Trolls and the negative space of the internet”, The Fibreculture Journal, no. 22, pp. 1-14, viewed 6 January, 2019, <http://twentytwo.fibreculturejournal.org/>.

Infospace 2013, Dont feed the trolls, [image], viewed 6 January, 2019, <https://ischool.syr.edu/infospace/2013/06/03/sticks-and-stones-does-internet-trolling-really-matter/>.

McCosker, A 2013, “Trolling as provocation”, Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 201-217, viewed 3 January, 2019, <https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/doi/full/10.1177/1354856513501413>. 

Quick meme n.d., Drama drama everywhere, [image], viewed 6 January, 2019, <http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3ofum7>.

tumblr 2018, Love hate, [image], viewed 6 January, 2019, <https://cuckstyle503.tumblr.com/post/172092422224>.

Webdonuts 2014, Bully, [image], viewed 6 January, 2019, <http://www.webdonuts.com/2014/05/bully/>.

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

Even in my own post I wrote about how anonymity had caused a strange group and aggressive mentality however I agree, if you log on to the internet, more and more people are happy to use their name to troll.

Think about Facebook, we use our first and last names and we are happy to troll each other there. We can’t help but be cynical of each other, I’m no psychologist but feel like it is just in human nature to be jealous of each other and to oppose people with different ideals to our own. Look to history, we started wars over different ideas.

[unclewez]

Give people the right tools to do it, and they will.

Ass. 1b. Week 8. Crowdsourcing in times of crisis.

Crowdsourcing is the term used for the practice of gathering content and services from the greater public, primarily via the internet and social media, rather than by using traditional media (Merriam Webster Online 2014). If you need something or to achieve and a particular outcome, crowdsourcing is one way to help it happen. Where this methodology becomes useful is in a time of need and crisis. There have been a few points of crisis where the use of social media, namely Twitter, has helped to disseminate information and to gather information about places that have the highest need for help.

The 2011 Queensland Floods are one case at hand. Twitter was used to keep people updated with valuable information from local authorities (Burns et al. 2012 p. 7). “The Twitter hashtag #qldfloods quickly became the central coordinating mechanism for flood-related user activity” (Burns et al. 2012 p. 8). Social media played a vital part in contributing to the rescue operation and enabled the public to assist and contribute in a time of need.

Another significant development from crowdsourcing has come in the form of social mapping. After the 2007 Kenyan elections when the new president was elected, there was a substantial amount of unrest.  The opposition staged protests across the country which got out of hand and soon broke into violent clashes between ethnic groups (Ford 2012 p. 34). From the unrest, we saw the development of Ushahidi, the social mapping platform that allowed normal, everyday people to make real-time reports of what was happening on the ground (Ford 2012 p. 33). Interestingly, the platform itself was built by crowdsourcing when a local journalist, Kenyan Pundit ask for suggestions and help in reporting the facts (Ford 2012 p.34). Quickly a team arose and developed the platform, which in turn, ended up crowdsourcing crisis information.

Both situations are a great tribute to both the everyday human and to technology. At heart, most people are willing to love, care and help others. Give people the right tools to do it, and they will.

References

Anon 2019, 1037 109 L Tb Tu IUL Diabetes Meme Were Altin This Together Diabetes Awareness Month 113 110 <p> Let&rsquos Spread Accurate Information About Type 1 Diabetes During the Month of November! How Are You Doing Your Part? <br><p> | Andrew Bogut Meme on ME.ME, [image], viewed 14 January, 2019, <https://me.me/i/10-37-109-l-tb-tu-iul-diabetes-meme-were-altin-22117279>.

Burns, A, Burgess, J, Crawford, K & Shaw, F 2012, #qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods, Brisbane, pp. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/48241/1/floodsreport.pdf, viewed 8 January, 2019, <https://eprints.qut.edu.au/48241/1/floodsreport.pdf>.

Burns, A, Burgess, J, Crawford, K & Shaw, F 2012, #qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods, Brisbane, pp. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/48241/1/floodsreport.pdf, [image], viewed 8 January, 2019, <https://eprints.qut.edu.au/48241/1/floodsreport.pdf>.

Ford, H 2012, “Crowd Wisdom”, Index on Censorship, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 33-39, viewed 8 January, 2019, <https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1177/0306422012465800>.

Lardinois, F 2019, Help Me Help Uses Crowdsourcing To Make Disaster Response More Efficient, [image], viewed 14 January, 2019, <https://techcrunch.com/2013/07/04/help-me-help-wants-to-make-emergency-response-during-disasters-more-efficient/>.

Webster, M 2014, Definition of CROWDSOURCING, viewed 14 January, 2019, <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crowdsourcing>.

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

I love the power of social media and what it has done during an emergency. You mentioned the 2011 Queensland Floods and how Twitter was used to keep people updated with valuable information from local authorities (Burns et al. 2012 p. 7). “The Twitter hashtag #qldfloods quickly became the central coordinating mechanism for flood-related user activity” (Burns et al. 2012 p. 8).

I love how social media connects all of us in such times on hardship. I just wished that people we would more mindful when using those hashtags. I hate when people tweet “someone please tell me what’s going on #qldfloods” How it that helpful to emergency services and people needing valuable information.

[adigitalworldstudent-blog]

Online games in facilitating digital communities

Before I researched this topic, I knew very little about gaming. I always thought it was anti-social time-wasting behaviour of those who engaged in online games. However, research suggests that 55 percent of gamers play with others and that gaming is now recognised as a social activity (Crawford & Rutter 2007, p. 4). I can see that there are many benefits to social gaming including its capacity to bring people together.

Social computing is the social and interactive behaviour between computer users, includes social networking sites (e.g., Facebook) and multiplayer online games (e.g., fortnight). Although fairly new, fortnight is one of the most popular multi-player games at present and allows users to come together to fight off evil and fight off each other. Ertan & Medeni (as seen in EC JRC 2009) defines social computing as a “set of open, web-based and user-friendly applications that enable users to network, share data, collaborate and co-produce content”.

Some online games use the collaborative natures of gaming to structure the culture, norms and rules around how games are facilitated among users. EVE Online, a space-themed hugely multiplayer web-based amusement (MMOG), affords players a channel of correspondence with game managers and developers by effectively empowering player participation in game management (Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 77).

Online gaming facilitates digital communities because it brings people together through the value of shared experience. To form friendship and share interests with other users is what online gaming affords. Social media has enabled these connections to take place and grow through the now larger audience reach it provides. Social gaming is developing an important component in today’s social media sites with social networking sites offering a place for online games to progress in the virtual medium. (Aburahmah et al. 2016, p. 72). Now with the facilitation of social media sites, online gaming is continuing to grow as an opportunity to engage with others through communication and discussions.

According to Crawford & Rutter (2007, p. 1), 

“though the origins of digital gaming can be traced back to the 1950s, it was not until the late 1970s and 1980s that digital gaming began to develop as a leisure activity”. 

But with the benefits of online gamily producing digital communities, there are always going to be risks. Some say that people become addicted to the games and it changes the behaviour in adolescents, making them angry and at times lashing out in violence. Research Internet gamers reported 40% of massively multiplayer online role-playing games users categorized themselves as “addicted to the game’ with one in six reporting frequent problems in life due to “Facebook” use (Geisel et al. 2015, p. 2).

References

Aburahmah, L, AlRawi, H, Izz, Y & Syed, L 2016, ‘Online Social Gaming and Social Networking Sites’, Procedia Computer Science, vol. 82, pp. 72-79, viewed 30 January 2019, <https://ac-els-cdn-com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/S1877050916300254/1-s2.0-S1877050916300254-main.pdf?_tid=e7680ead-c2a4-46e3-abb4-c7fecd7e5b4d&acdnat=1548820467_1fe91c293688c1d370fce69689da3908>.

Crawford, G. & Rutter, J., 2007, ‘Playing the Game: performance in digital game audiences’ in Gray, J., Sandvoss, C., and Harrington, C.L. (eds), Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World, New York: New York University Press, pp. 271-281.

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.

Ertan, A & Medeni, T 2011, ‘A LITERATURE REVIEW ON TRUST, PRIVACY CONCERN AND IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION IN SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES & ONLINE FANTASY ROLE-PLAYING GAMES’, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF eBUSINESS AND eGOVERNMENT STUDIES, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 21-29, viewed 30 January 2019, <http://www.sobiad.org/eJOURNALS/journal_IJEBEG/arhieves/2011_2/03asli_ertan.pdf>.

Geisel, O, Panneck, P, Stickel, A, Schneider, M & Müller, C 2015, “Characteristics of Social Network Gamers: Results of an Online Survey”, Frontiers in Psychiatry, vol. 6, no. 69, pp. 1-5, viewed 30 January 2019, <https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00069/full>.

Online Gaming [IMAGE], in GIPHY 2019, Sassy Star Wars Gif, viewed 30 January 2019, <https://giphy.com/search/online-gaming>.

Person gaming [IMAGE], in Tripwire 2019, The State of Security, viewed 30 January 2019, <https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/vert/checklist-online-gaming-privacy/>.

Team Game Fortnight [IMAGE], in Fortnite 2019, Epic Games Fortnight, viewed 30 January 2019, <https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/home>.

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

As a gamer myself I completely agree with the statements about addiction. I know that when I get a new game I become completely addicted and lose days. This is one of the reasons why I now consider myself a casual games and not a serious gamer anymore because with Uni I don’t have time any more.

Something that I found interesting was the statement some say that people become addicted to the games and it changes the behaviour in adolescents, making them angry and at times lashing out in violence. It would be interesting to be able to see how these same people would act during a contact sport.

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

For the Gamers

Finally the blog post I really wanted to write. I was more motivated to write about Social Gaming than all the other topics. I being a gamer really felt connected to this topic and I disagree with anyone who says that social gaming is just keyboard warriors in their mum’s basement. For starters my mum doesn’t have a basement. The countless hours that I have lost paying World of Warcraft, Halo, Counter Strike, Call of Duty. I might have finished my degree maybe 2-3 years ago. I took a break from my last studies before embarking on my Business degree 5 years ago. I will admit online study has taken away all my gaming time however gaming for 5 years doesn’t get me much, other than achievements on my Xbox and PlayStation accounts. But I kind of get the same thing from Swinburne with my degree on some fancy paper and bonus, I also get crippling debt. Sad realisation right there.

I would say I’m not an active gamer anymore, I would categorise myself as a casual gamer and Fortnite is perfect for that.

So, you might be asking where is the social aspect to all of this? Well, when I play, I’m normally hooked up with a microphone, playing and talking with my friends, as we plot world domination. I have always played in groups with friends, I have even made friends with people from some of my games who I would consider lifelong friends now.

So why Fortnite? If somehow you have missed the storm that is Fortnite is a game that has over 200 million players worldwide (Stuart 2018). So, lets breakdown what is Fortnite?

1.       It’s playable on most computers (Mac and PC), PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, IOS and Android devices, provided your device supports its minimum system requirements (Epic Games 2019).

2.       It allows cross platform play, so people with PlayStation can play with people on Xbox .

3.       It’s quick battle royal games.

4.       Its updated regularly and is very quick to add pop culture reference in game.

Before we move on, the game play style battle royal is pretty much a fight to the death. 100 players start and last one standing takes all the glory (Epic Games 2019). Fortnite is a free to play game however Fortnite has made over $1 Billion in microtransactions (Kain, E 2018). Well that escalated quickly.

The increase number of social games means that users can interact with each other on multiple gaming platforms (Heider 1944). Good and bad interactions. I’m not saying that its all great in game land, Fortnite too, is no stranger to players using racist slurs, sexist comments and just plain terrible language. Fortnite has been linking it to multiple cases of abuse and inappropriate language (Zhou, N 2018). However, it happens everywhere, I’ve never seem to mind nor do I let it get to me. My friends and I are there to have a good time, we have a quick game chat up and then log off and continue with our lives. Its just a place for us to hangout together without actually hanging out, because God forbid, I leave my mum’s basement.

To say that social gaming isn’t social would be incorrect however I don’t personally believe it satisfy physical human interaction. I play games because it’s fun and convenient however if my friends were to invite me out to play something, I would be there in a heartbeat. I enjoy playing with friends and I enjoy the games. You make it as social as you want to be.

I leave you with my favourite but banned xbox commercial 

  72andSunny 2019

References

72andSunny 2019, Xbox 360 ad - "Standoff", viewed 28 January, 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0VOM7e5Hug>.

Epic Games 2019, Battle Pass Season 7, viewed 13 January, 2019, .

Heider, F . 1944. Social perception and phenomenal relations. Psychol. Rev. 51, 6, 358--374

Kain, E 2018, 'Fortnite: Battle Royale Has Made Over $1 Billion As It Completely Dominates Video Game Streaming', Forbes, 18 July, viewed 12 January 2019, .

Stuart, K 2018, Fortnite: a parents' guide to the most popular video game in schools, viewed 13 January, 2019, .

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

But first, Let me take a selfie

Selfies and social media seem to go hand in hand, like a match made in heaven. Snapchat and Instagram seem to be flooded with selfies. So much so there is even a song about taking selfies and using Instagram filters by the Chainsmokers appropriately called #selfie (The Chainsmokers 2015). The dominance of social media can be regarded as narcissistic (Murray 2015, p. 490). I admit I have taken my fair share of selfies and share them to social media. Events like my birthday, achievements like buying my first home and even on my wedding day; these moments were documented by me taking a selfie.

These days we connect to each other by sharing moments of our lives in photos on social media or videos. These photos have become an essential part of communication especially online with each other. Almost everyone has access to a camera from your phone, your computer or an actual camera.

Something that I learnt this week is an app called The French Girls App. I think the name comes from Titanic. However, it has become such a meme, even I have taken a photo of my friend whilst he was lying on a hospital bed waiting to be seen by a doctor for his torn achilles, blowing on a green whistle using the snapchat app outlining him and captioning it “draw me like one of your French girls.” However, I digress. The French Girls App is about posting your selfie an having complete strangers draw a portrait of you (frenchgirlsapp 2014) but you get to keep your clothes on unlike Kate Winslet.

Tenor 2017

Highsnobiety 2019

Just like that Snapchat was dead. Snapchat has over 186 million daily users, generating over 10 billion views per day (Statista 2018), however Kylie Jenner is no longer one of them.

It was unavoidable that an app like Snapchat would be created with the release of mobile phones with inbuilt cameras and readily available internet access. It became so normal to take a photo of every moment and share them instantly on your chosen social network. This method of story telling has become a staple in the way we communicate with each other.

The appeal of Snapchat was that images we posted only visible to other users for a short time, but it’s gone (Tillman & Betters 2018). Perfect for creeps to send photos of their unwanted genitalia. I joke but it is a serious issue. But just like Snapchat’s photo disappearing so is its popularity with one tweet from Kylie Jenner. Yes, we live in a world where one tweet from Kylie Jenner can cost your company $1.3 billion dollars (Highsnobiety 2019). Its scary to say but this is reality.

References

Frenchgirlsapp, 2014, viewed 27 27 January, 2019, <https://www.frenchgirlsapp.com/>.

Murray, D. C. (2015). Notes to self: the visual culture of selfies in the age of social media. Consumption Markets & Culture, 18(6), 490-516.

Highsnobiety 2019, Kylie Jenner's Tweet Did Not Cost Snapchat $1.3 Billion, viewed 27 January, 2019, <https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/kylie-jenner-snapchat-tweet/>.

Statista 2018, Number of daily active Snapchat users from 1st quarter 2014 to 3rd quarter 2018 (in millions), Statista, viewed 6 January 2018, <https://www.statista.com/statistics/545967/snapchat-app-dau/>.

Tenor 2017, I Want You To Draw Me Like One Of Your French Girls GIF, viewed 27 January, 2019, <https://tenor.com/view/titanic-kate-winslet-leonardo-di-caprio-voglio-gif-8627264>.

Tillman, M & Betters, E 2018, ‘What is Snapchat, how does it work and what is it used for?’, Pocket-Lint, 27 September, viewed 6 January 2018, <https://www.pocket-lint.com/apps/news/snapchat/131313-what-is-snapchat-how-does-it-work-and-what-is-it-used-for>.

The Chainsmokers 2015, #selfie, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC.

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

Crowdsourcing and Crowdfunding

Crowdsourcing in times of crisis, but what is crowdsourcing. The Cambridge Dictionary defines, crowdsourcing as the activity of giving tasks to a large group of people or to the general public, for example, by asking for help on the internet (Cambridge English Dictionary 2019). When I think of crowdsourcing, I often think of all the crazy events where I found out about it because Facebook starts a let people know you are safe program. I feel like I learn about natural disasters on Facebook faster then I learn about it from the news. I work a 9-5 job and in my moment of procrastination I often check Facebook and that’s how most of the time I find out that something terrible happened. People often look to social media including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram for all the latest updates and details on the events both good and bad. I know I do.

(Crowdsourcingweek 2019)

Social media has the ability to connect the whole world with a touch of your finger especially in time of a disaster. It also has the amazing has the potential to save tens of thousands of lives and help get assistances to the neediest survivors of a disaster (Wiederhold, 2013, p. 781).

These days you can’t go past something tragic event happening without a GoFundMe page popping up. You can find any cause you are passionate about and donate a little or a lot depending on what you are feeling. People can even go fund a complete stranger’s wedding. A quick search on GoFundMe for the word wedding comes up with 43470 results found (GoFundMe 2019). Now crowdfunding isn‘t always for personal gain. The Cambridge Dictionary defines, crowdfunding as a practice of getting people to each give a small amount of money to provide the necessary finance for a project, usually through the internet or social media (Cambridge English Dictionary 2019). Other sites crowdfundning platforms include Kickstarter, which is the world's largest funding platform non-personal agendas. Kickstarter funds creative projects such as film, music, art and designs (Kickstarter 2019). Another site for crowdfunding is Indiegogo. Indiegogo is like Kickstarter but also allows personal funding as well as funding for human rights (Indiegogo 2019). Using social media to promote your crowdfunding project you can depending on the purpose of your project or cause, find the appropriate site to use as a medium to begin to promote and beginning funding your campaign. What a world we live it in today.

References

Cambridge English Dictionary 2019, CROWDFUNDING | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary, viewed 27 January, 2019, <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/crowdfunding>.

Cambridge English Dictionary 2019, CROWDSOURCING | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary, viewed 27 January, 2019, <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/crowdsourcing>.

Crowdsourcingweek 2019, 14-Parts-of-the-Crowd-Economy, viewed 27 January, 2019, <https://crowdsourcingweek.com/14-parts-of-the-crowd-economy-landscape/>.

GoFundMe 2019, GoFundMe: #1 In Fundraising & Crowdfunding Online, viewed 27 January, 2019, <https://au.gofundme.com/mvc.php?route=homepage_norma/search&term=wedding>. Indiegogo 2019, Indiegogo: Crowdfund Innovations & Buy Unique Products, viewed 27 January, 2019, <https://www.indiegogo.com>.

Kickstarter 2019, Kickstarter, viewed 27 January, 2019, <https://www.kickstarter.com/>. Wiederhold, BK 2013, 'In a Disaster, Social Media Has the Power to Save Lives’, Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 16, 11, pp. 781-782, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 May 2014

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

Confessions of an internet troll

Where ever there is social interaction, there will always be both positive interaction and negative interaction such as bullying and now with the internet trolling.

According to Boyd (2014) ‘if you take pleasure in trolling you are most likely a sociopath’. Then I must confess I am a sociopath. I’m not actively looking for people to make miserable, but I cannot help but troll people who think that antivax or flat earth is a good idea. I don’t know how any one born in this century thinks the world is flat, but there they are on my Facebook sharing stupid content and I just can’t help myself. Trolling online is to embarrass, anger or disrupt often it is purely just for amusement (Dahlberg 2001). I confess I do it for the kicks too.

Anonymity of the internet has made it even easier to troll someone, to bully someone. People now hide behind their screen trolling one other. Internet trolling happens to everyone, people like you and me and even famous and public figures on the social media like between artists, actors and politicians.

Great example of it doesn’t matter how famous, pretty or rich you are. You will get trolled. A great example of this is by Jimmy Kimmel comedy skit, celebrities read mean tweets.

Trolling can happen anywhere, including this blog. Anywhere that allows for user to comment or leave feedback can be subject to trolling. Nowhere on the internet is safe, from site like reddit, your personal emails, YouTube video comments and literally any social networking site. With everyone of the internet subject to the possibility of internet trolling why do we do this to each other? I personal think it comes back to Dahlberg (2001) theory that people do it for amusement. I know I draw amusement from it when I have schooled someone in the past. But I’m sure the other person on the receiving end isn’t enjoying it.

Why we treat each other like this is interesting, because how many of us would speak out like this is the real world? How many of us would just randomly in the street mock others and just call them out for being stupid or just out right racism or sexism. Yet behind the anonymity of a keyboard, there we are calling each other names.

    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

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

Click that petition!

Are you a digital citizen? Have you subscribed to a cause for good or for bad?

The term digital citizenship used to describe the relationship that social medial allows for users to participate in the potential benefit for society (Mossberger et al. 2008, p. 1).

Before the dawn of the internet social movements had to communicated though slower methods such as newspaper publications, snail mail or word of mouth. However, since the internet has now become readily available the way that social movement communicate has evolved to digital activists. Sites like Change.org, have emerged specifically as a result of digital communities.

In 2011, we saw the rise of the Occupy movement which highlighted the disproportionately wealthy and the other 99% of the population (Occupy Wall St 2019). The way in which the world protest has changed, traditional methods of protesting has now evolved with advances in technology and mass communication has allowed for causes to spread globally.

At the same time that people are now mobilizing their social agenda to social media and spreading the word faster than before. It has become so easy on Facebook to click like or share a post to show your support for whatever cause you want to public to know that you are supporting. You no longer have to even leave your house to support the cause. The digital age has given birth the new much lazier sibling to activism which has many names such as clicktivism or subactivism (Bakardjieva, 2009, p. 103). For everyone who is too busy but still wants change or too lazy, you now don’t even need to leave the comfort of your own home. Whilst reading this blog, on another tab you could sign as many petitions as your heart desires.

Social media has become an amazing platform for change and to notify the world of your movement (Gerbaudo 2012, p. 17). Facebook is a great platform for recruitment, people can form groups and pages, together they can set movements and share ideas and content. Twitter has become a great platform for live updates and YouTube is the platform to upload your videos to then share to the world. No movement is complete now without the use of social media to push your agenda to the world.

I do personally think some clicktivism is stupid, like when everyone changed their profile pictures to a certain colour to support some cause. I’m unsure how that changed anything, but I guess awareness, is still better than nothing.

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

Clicktivist 2018, Clicktivism, [image], viewed 12 January, 2019,<http://www.clicktivist.org/what-is-clicktivism/>.

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

Occupy Wall St 2019, Occupy Wall Street | NYC Protest for World Revolution, viewed 20 January, 2019, <http://occupywallst.org/>.

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

The politicians are coming!

Whether or not you follow politics, it follows you. Politics good or bad finds a way into your life. The current president of the United States of America tweet absolute nonsense and the world is still trying to work out confeve.

(Twitter, 2017)

Its not hard to see why many politicians have jumped on the social media bandwagon. Do it right will can create free promotion and marketing for your campaign but doing wrong creates media hype and apparently you can still even will an election, just like Donald Trump. Social media allows politicians to get engage with their followers and promoting themselves during elections. I personally don’t care much for politics. I hate it when it seeps into my personal life. I like to remove or mute people off my Facebook who preach politics, life if too short and there are already so many things trying to get my attention. I don’t need this extra distraction.

Twice our Prime Minster, surviving a back stab from his own party. Kevin Rudd’s had an amazing campaign back in 2007 with Kevin 07. Seriously someone from marketing needs a promotion. Kevin Rudd not only engaged with followers on Facebook, but he even joined Reddit (Foster 2017). 

Close to an election voting become the new food pictures on Instagram, political engagement and involvement on social media can be easily seen, users use hashtags like #auspol #politics, #vote, #metoo and more. One of the great things about social media that politics takes advantage of is that every engagement is that it affects the everyone around like a spreading virus – even users who are not purposely engaging in politics are exposed to politics on social media even when they are not looking for it (Bode 2017). Being political engaged on social media for both the politicians and for the end user takes minimal effort and skill, all most zero costs and everyone and anyone can engage just by following, liking, sharing or commenting political content. These simple actions can cause huge ripple effects even though they seem non-influential actions by individual however they continue to transcend into the individual’s network, with the result of me blocking you off my feed.

There is no question that social media is holding a growing power and the sense of being digital citizen has become a force in the life of people. Social media has a great became a medium for people to voice out their opinions, share their thoughts, if their opinions are unwanted. I’m looking at you flat earthers. The use of social media is no longer just creating content, socializing with friends, it has extended to posting about politics and sharing one’s political agenda. Sharing on social media can be very public, therefore it is important to understand its subtle yet monumental effects.

References

Bode, L 2017, ‘Gateway political behaviours: the frequency and consequences of low-cost political engagement on social media’, Social Media + Society, 25 November, viewed 12 January, 2019, <doi: 10.1177/2056305117743349>. Foster, A 2017, Kevin Rudd proves he is the handball king, viewed 20 January, 2019, <https://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/news/kevin-rudd-lives-up-to-his-title-of-handball-king/news-story/c023263aa12f64aa3bc38740850a88dd>. Twitter 2017, Screenshot, [image], viewed 12 January, 2019, <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?lang=en&lang=en>.