Digital Communities

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[miacosgriff]

For many people on the receiving end of trolling, they start to pick themselves apart and see themselves as the bullies describe. 

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Digital Communities and Trolls: understanding social media conflict (Week 11)

Since the beginning of social media, online bullying and harassment occurred. As media has grown and expanded ‘trolling’ has become increasingly more prevalent. So much so that most of the time we may not even realise that the content we look at is a form of trolling. The memes that may seem funny, are most of the time a form of bullying against the person who is the centre of the joke. The large scale of social media makes it difficult to control these outbursts of harassment.

Trolling is essentially a person or group of people using their social media accounts to provoke one other person to disrupt them in some sort of way including in their reputations and relationships (Baccarella et al. 2020, p. 435). Most of the time the target for trolling are people with a bigger following or political leaders’. A pop star from the singing group Little Mix, Jesy Nelson, has been hugely effected by online trolls. She was bullied online after gaining attention in media, people picked on her weight, her appearance, her talent and essentially tore down her confidence. When many people are ganging up on one person it’s difficult to fight back, she turned to her family and friends for support. She’s done several interviews talking about her experience, and gives hope to people on the receiving end of online bullying.  

In conclusion I believe that with all the positives that social media has brought us. It also has a very dark side which can often end in tragic circumstances. I’m grateful that more attention is being brought to this issue, and I hope that in the future we see our online space as a safe place for everyone.

References 

Baccarella, C, Wagner, T, Kietzmann, J, McCarthy, I 2018, ‘Technical tweets won’t stop online abuse’, ScienceDirect Journals, vol. 36, no. 4, pp 431-438, viewed 5 June 2020, <https://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0263237318300781>

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Gaming Communities, Social Gaming and Live Streaming (Week 10)

Gaming is a very unknown concept to me, but this week’s lecture was interesting and gave me an insight into the world of online gaming. Gaming allows people to come together in a common place, a game. The gaming community since the beginning has been evolving and is a place of constant change. The arcade games were the start of adults being involved in games, with multiplayer functions allowing for people to come together and verse each other. Once computers were more commonly used, naturally games were being created to be accessed on computers, and to be used online and versing players. People were able to meet people on other sides of the world and be connected through the game. The interesting thing about online gaming is how it relies on gamers to play, stream, and develop their own community in that game in order for the game to grow. Streaming of games is where people started to show their games to a live audience of people. This has expanded enormously with millions of people watching streams of people gaming on sights such as Twitch.

In an article by T. L. Taylor he mentions how he was watching a live stream of StarCraft which was being recorded in Paris, and it made him feel like he was part of a community using the word ‘powerful’ to fully describe his feeling. Live streaming has even allowed people to create careers by building an audience, brand and income. With about 10 million daily active users, Twitch is one of the largest streaming platforms and even developed a convention dedicated to its streamers. The gaming community is ever expanding, evolving and is a place for socialisation. During the pandemic that 2020 has brought us, a few of my friends have used online gaming such as Words with Friends to interact with each other and be connected in some sort of way.  Although Words with Friends is on the more amateur side of gaming I can now understand the reason why gamers love the game. 

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Illustration by Geoff McFetridge

The impact of voices coming together, the connection online also can have a major impact. 

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Digital Communities, Political Engagement and Activism (Week 9)

Technology has allowed us to move many parts of our life online. Shopping, music, messaging and politics have all moved to an online space. Now more than ever, and with COVID-19 especially, we look to our online sources for information about current issues. People are able to use their phones and computers to instantly connect with people all around the world, from different socioeconomic levels, different ethnicities and any age. This has allowed people to successfully become online activists, “working together to achieve a shared aim” (Stickels 2020) and campaign about what they are passionate about.

An example of online activism is Australia’s recent deal with the Adani Group, an Indian trading company with the hopes of using our land to build a coal-mine on the Australian coast. The damage this project would do to the environment is shocking. Online communities came together with the hashtag #STOPADANI to campaign against the company and the Australian government. People used the hashtag to create a common place to have a conversation about the project and protest against it, “Anti‐Adani voices are clearly dominating” (Hobbs, M, Bosca H, Schlosberg D, Sun C 2020 pp. 8) in regards to the traction on twitter. Similarly to the hashtag against Equinor drilling in the Great Barrier Reef, the hashtag #fightforthebight created an enormous amount of traction and ended in the company pulling out of their plans to drill for our oil. The reason that both of these online campaigns are/were so successful is the nation wide reach that social media created. “Networked technologies make it possible to access and take part in political action anywhere and any time” as stated by (Alvarez, Lauzon & Zaiontz 2019), couldn’t be more true regarding these campaigns.

Illustration by Emily Cork

In summary, the use of our digital communities has allowed us to involve ourselves more easily in politics. It has allowed people of a variety of ages and locations come together online to use their voice as a whole.

References Alvarez N., Lauzon C., Zaiontz K. (2019) ‘On Sustainable Tools for Precarious Times: An Introduction’. In: Alvarez N., Lauzon C., Zaiontz K (eds) Sustainable Tools for Precarious Times. (Contemporary Performance InterActions). Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-25.

Hobbs, M, Bosca H, Schlosberg D, Sun C 2020, ‘Turf wars: Using social media network analysis to examine the suspected astroturfing campaign for the Adani Carmichael Coal mine on Twitter’, Media and Communication, pp. 8, viewed 22 may 2020

Stickels, L 2020 ‘Lecture 9. Digital Communities, Political Engagement and Activism’, MDA20009 Digital Communities, Learning material on Canvas, Swinburne University of Technology, viewed 22 May 2020

[thebikinipost]

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Instagram Aesthetic, is it up to the consumer to be cautious of who they follow if it may affect their confidence? 

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Public Health Campaigns and Social Media Influence (Week 8)

In this week’s Tumblr post, I will be focusing on body modification, body image, and the Instagram aesthetic. Aesthetic templates are the 'aesthetic choices people make when creating content for their profiles that become their online brand.' Instagram has created a space for women and men that idealises a specific 'look.' For men, it may be perfectly shaped muscles, and as a woman myself, I know that the ideal body for females is a tiny toned waist and a perfect bum, blonde, big lips, and tanned. For some, this may be achievable, but for the majority, this is unrealistic and unachievable. Many people forget the behind the scenes of this perfect image. Behind the picture is ideal lighting, fake tan, lip injections, a makeup artist, a hairdresser, posing, and sometimes photoshop.

Instagram post from @reneeherbert_ 

Jameela Jamil, a body positive actress promotes body positivity and speaks about the importance of inspiring young women in a healthy way. She started an Instagram account called @i_weigh, which highlights the important things in life such as friends and family. She wants influencers to remind themselves of the role they play in making young people feel self conscious regarding their irresponsible posts

Young model Bella Hadid’s major face lift

A study taken in LA has shown an increase in non-invasive surgeries rise by 40% from 2009 - 2015 for ages between 20-29 years (Harel 2016). Young adults are searching for a perfect look, which has gone from edits on Instagram to wanting to look like the girls on Instagram in real life. With the Kardashians filling our Instagram feed with images of perfectly sculpted bodies, immaculate clean skin, and hair, women look up to their beauty filled pages. Surgeons are starting to use Instagram influencers and celebrities to promote their workplace. Dr. Simon Ourian gives discounts to celebrities in turn for promotion, his regular posts on lip filler, stretch mark laser removal, and facial dermal fillers and more, normalise these types of procedures for his audience. Is his promotion convincing his consumers to achieve the Instagram look? The porn chic aesthetic he promotes creates an unhealthy ideal for his 3.5 million followers.

In conclusion the ‘porn chic’ aesthetic that many major Instagram influencers promote creates an unrealistic reality for their followers. The aesthetic templates that influencers endorse often promote unhealthy ideals.

References 

Dorfman, R, Vaca, E, Mohmood, E, Fine, N & Schierle, C 2018, ‘Plastic Surgery-Related Hashtag Utilisation on Instagram: Implications for Education and Marketing’, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 332-228

Falzone, D 2016, ‘Plastic surgery docs use Instagram stars to boost their practice.’, Fox News, 16 June, viewed May 20 2020, <http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/06/16/plastic-surgery-docs-use-instagramstars-to-boost-their-practices.html.>

Jameela Jamil: Girls’ body image problems are ‘out of control’ 2018, BBC News, viewed May 20 2020, <https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-43501074>

Harel, M 2016, ‘Self Esteem through Plastic Surgery’, Hollywood Reporter, vol. 422, no. 35

[miacosgriff]

Unknown source. 

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Image by http://www.molliemakes.com/ showing community coming together to work towards a greener future. 

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Instagram, Influencers and the Slow Fashion Movement (Week 7)

Our clothes often are the first thing we are judged off, they speak words before we introduce ourselves to others. Glasses – is this person is smart? Bold colours – is this person is confident? Blazer – is this person important? We care about the clothes we wear, it is our identity and our source of confidence at times. We are inspired by the world around us, but we also need to be conscious of the impact of our choices. Similar to bringing a reusable bag to the supermarket, we also can make a choice of the clothes we buy and how they impact the earth.

I love a good sale as much as the next girl, but the impacts of cheaply made clothing and the impacts it has on the earth weigh on my mind. Fast-fashion has major impacts to the environment in many major ways including filling the ocean with microplastics, is one of the second largest consumers of the worlds water supply, takes up 10% of carbon emissions and up to 85% of textiles end up in landfill each year. It also impact has a major impact on the workers that make the clothing. People are forced to work in inhumane and unsafe working conditions, many workers are forced to take these jobs because it is all they have. Fast-fashion brands exploit poor communities and use them for their cheap costs. Fast-fashion impacts our world more than we know, all we see is the end result and a cheap sale.

Slow-fashion is gaining more and more traction, and is being brought to peoples attention. Slow fashion is the idea of slowing down the fashion life cycle, having only four lines annually, prioritising quality over quantity and not mass-produced. It doesn’t involve child labour across the whole line, materials cause minimal harm to the environment, pays workers fair wages and create a long-term relationship across the whole supply chain. For example brands such as Patagonia strive to care for the environment, they are transparent about how they reuse materials, their social responsibility and the effect they have across the entirety of the supply chain. They qualify as a slow fashion brand.

(Image above by Sasa Elebea showing the use of clothes bins)

Instagram and the influencers on the platform share their life with their followers. Influencers impact how their followers live their lives. Their followers often look up to the people they follow and want to find inspiration from them. Regarding fashion, if an influencer is preaching about slow-fashion their followers will most likely listen and become more informed on the impacts they have. Instagrammers such as @kissenundkarma (aka Corinna)  promote buying from ethical clothing brands, purchasing clothes from op shops/second hand, only buying what you need, buying quality clothes rather than cheap clothing that won’t last and mending what you already have and caring for your clothes you have. With close to 60,000 followers Corinna has an impact on how her followers view fashion and clothing, and in turn how and where they shop.

References

Andrews, A F 2020, The End of Fast Fashion is Closer Than You Think, Arden Fanning Andrews, viewed 25 April 2020, < https://www.papermag.com/climate-change-future-of-fashion-2645808243.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1>

Lai, Z, Henninger, C & Alevizou, P 2017, ‘An Exploration of Consumers’ Perceptions Towards Sustainable Fashion – A Qualitative Study in the UK’, in C Henninger, P Alevizou, H Goworek & D Ryding (eds), Sustainability in Fashion – A Cradle to Upcycle Approach, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 81 - 101

Patagonia c. 2020, How we’re making changes, Patagonia, viewed April 25 2020, <https://www.patagonia.com/our-footprint/>

What’s wrong with the fashion industry? 2020?, Sustain you Style, viewed April 25 2020, <https://www.sustainyourstyle.org/en/whats-wrong-with-the-fashion-industry>

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Happy #pride 🌈🌎✨❤️ #art #design #women (at New York, New York)

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Images like this represent women being able to come together online. Showing they can be any place, race or age and are still able to be a digital citizen. They all have the ability when online to voice their own opinion and be part of the conversation. 

[keashamcgowan]

Digital Citizenship

In response to this week’s topic, digital citizenship, it reflects the potential of each individual’s capacity to access, retrieve and respond to relevant topics. Digital citizen is a person who has the knowledge and skills to use digital technologies to communicate with groups, participate in relevant information and produce content to audiences (Mossberger et al, 2007). Digital citizenship creates a positive and engaging opportunity for communities to develop content to share thoughts and ideas that are relevant to each societal factor or issue (Ribble et al, 2004).  

Media has changed the way people view information and how it is perceived. This often depends on the geographical location, personal trait and interests. Social media has most definitely changed the way political factors are held and broadcasted. Donald Trump’s election will present a number of concerns and coverage which many may question, did he win because of the social media coverage he had? Is it because he has social media presence? It shows that journalists have great power, in regard to media coverage. This create bias in news outlets and therefore convince and persuade viewers to respond and engage to these sources (Mughan, 2000).  

The cancel culture is a form of boycotting a person or group in a certain community, commenting on a controversial argument (Parker, 2020). This term has led to the negative and dramatic side of media. Most times, it creates even more popularity towards the person being attacked, however, some people cannot rebound from this as it depends on the level of controversy (Wilson, 1993). Many of this cancelling culture occurs in politics, music and beauty community. Technology has an impact on how we view others and how we interact with others.

References:

Mossberger, K., Tolbert, C.J. and McNeal, R.S., 2007. Digital citizenship: The Internet, society, and participation. MIt Press.

Mughan, A., 2000. Media and the presidentialization of parliamentary elections. Springer.

Parker Beard Ph D, J.C., 2020. Click Bait, Cancel Culture, and the Rhetoric of Civic Discourse.

Ribble, M.S., Bailey, G.D. and Ross, T.W., 2004. Digital citizenship: Addressing appropriate technology behavior. Learning & Leading with technology, 32(1), p.6. 

Wilson, S.L.R., 1993. Mass media/mass culture: an introduction. McGraw-Hill, Inc.

[miacosgriff]

Hi Keasha, 

I agree with you on how cancel culture can in fact give a person more popularity however I think the way they then use their new popularity can result in two different outcomes. I believe they can either use it in a positive way and gain more followers and grow their social media or it can negatively impact them in more ways than one including their career and they can continue getting cancelled. I think that social media can turn ugly very quickly and gain up on vulnerable people. Many people online forget that they are impacting a person, they only see a screen and an account without recognising a human being. 

[miacosgriff]

Digital Citizenship (Week 6)

A digital citizen is a person who uses social media to participate in conversation with others. Digital citizens are able to use social media as a way to directly get information regarding politics. In Australia the hashtag #auspol has enabled users to find a common place to discuss Australian politics. The hashtag (predominantly on twitter) allows anyone with a twitter account to interact with others posts and voice their opinion on topics. The great thing about a hashtag like this is it doesn’t discriminate against users based on their popularity, as anyone can view your tweet making it a wide discussion amongst Australians.  

Politicians can now use platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc. to share their message, and bypass mainstream media.

Social media platforms have been able to reshape politics across the globe. Now more than ever media platforms are used by politicians to instantly communicate with their followers in a matter of seconds. Political campaigns are digitised and widespread across personal media accounts; promo videos on YouTube, personal photos on Instagram, thoughts quickly shared on twitter. Its allowed campaigns to become more authentic compared to formal media. Donald Trump used his personal Twitter account to give his thoughts and opinions directly to the public, and although at times controversial, the tweets were (and still are) a source of entertainment for many. With his authentic style he was able to grasp the attention of American’s and was a major contributing factor for his win in the 2016 election.

In conclusion social media has brought a new dimension to politics across the globe. Social media platforms have enabled not only leaders to directly share their thoughts, opinions and information with their audience, but also allowed people to involve themselves in discussions with their community. Hashtags such as #auspol have created a common area to discuss Australian politics. World leaders including US President Donald Trump directly share their thoughts to his millions of followers and are able to bypass mainstream media. This has changed the way election campaigns are managed and have possibly changed the outcome of elections too.

References

Bogle, A 2016, ‘#auspol: the Twitter hashtag Australia can’t live without’, Mashable Australia, 21 March, viewed 25 April 2020, <https://mashable.com/ 2016/03/21/twitter-australia-auspol/>.

Bulman, A 2016, Donald Trump’s ‘celebrity-style’ tweets helped him win US presidential election, says data scientist, May Bulman, viewed 25 April 2020, <https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-twitter-account-election-victory-president-elect-david-robinson-statistical-analysis-a7443071.html>

Enli, G 2017, ‘Twitter as an arena for the authentic outsider: Exploring the social media campaigns of Trump and Clinton in the 2016 presidential election’, European Journal of Communication, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 50-61.

The New York Times c. 2019, The Twitter Presidency, The New York Times, viewed 25 April 2020, <https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/02/us/politics/trump-twitter-presidency.html>

[miacosgriff]

How does Tumblr function as a digital community?

In this modern world we have seen the uprising of social networking sites which have taken over the internet and influenced people to alter their ways of communication. Digital communities are seen to be a place where people communicate with each other on a network over the internet. Some popular networking sites in today's society are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Tumblr. They all have distinguishing features and differences however they all are digital communities.

(This image was taken from Pinterest and illustration by Janice Chang)

This image is a representation of the connection online and how online communities can connect people in a positive way.

Tumblr is one of the many sites on the global net that is able to connect like minded people. It can link people with similar interests to an online space where they are able to communicate and interact with each other. People can create a profile which allows them to display a specific persona and their opinions and creativity, discuss topics happening in the world currently. Tumblr allows you to follow pages, you can then interact with these by liking, reposting, or commenting on them and create a discussion.

The public sphere is “a realm of our social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed” (Haberman, Lennox & Lennox 1974). Tumblr allows for people to debate different topics, make up their own personal opinions and have the freedom of speech. Everyone on the site has equal access to information and is able to follow whoever they like, however Tumblr will never be completely free from influence as smaller communities within the site may sway peoples opinion and scare them from disagreeing with their community.

References Habermas, J, Lennox, S & Lennox, F (1974), ‘The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article (1964)’, New German Critique, no. 3, p. 49.