Digital Communities @mollyjoneswrites-blog - Tumblr Blog

Visual communities

Digital advertising and visual communication through social media is now an essential part of business marketing and promotion (Hendricks, 2013). Due to social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, traditional forms of marketing have decreased. Businesses are now turning to social media to communicate with their audiences and visual communication is now the core component of advertisement. Instagram is a picture and video sharing application allowing users to share pictures and videos to either a public or private following. Kevin Systrom, CEO of Instagram, launched the mobile application in October 2010. After its launch in 2010, Instagram instantly gained popularity amongst social media platforms with one million registered users in two months, and ten million users within the year (Social Blade, 2017) As a result of this, Instagram has become the home for visual storytelling for everyone, from celebrities newsrooms and brands, to teens, musicians and anyone with a creative passion (K. Systrom, 2018) Instagram has also become one of the top social media platforms for the use of business promotion and advertisement, as it allows businesses to interact with customers, build awareness of their business and drive buyers to the companies websites (Johnson, 2013) As a business using Instagram for promotional use, they are able to easily monitor their campaigns engagement through Instagram’s analytics, meaning the content a business shares on Instagram will suit their audiences needs. Social media users are likely to engage with visual content that is engaging and appeals to their individual needs. Using social media platforms as a business is also mostly inexpensive and provides businesses with instant feedback through the social media users engagement.

References; Hendricks D, 2013, Complete History of Social Media:Then and Now, Small Biz Trends Online

https://business.instagram.com/?locale=en_GB

How are our social experiences bound up with social media platforms and their affordances and how we make use of them?

We are all familiar with the saying “a picture speaks a thousand words’’ and in todays digital era, it more relevant than ever before with various photo sharing social media platforms existing. Murthy (2013) defined social media as ‘’the many relatively inexpensive and widely accessible electronic tools that enable anyone to publish and access information, collaborate on a common effort, or build relationships.” Social media and sharing our lives on social media platforms has become an integral part of our everyday lives. According to Social Media News (2017), approximately 4 million daily active Australian users use Snap Chat everyday. With so many active users a day, it’s no surprise that Snapchat would be constantly updating their affordances.

Don Norman (2011) says that ‘‘the value of a well designed object is when it has such a rich set of affordances, that the people who use it can do things with it that the designer never imagines.’‘ Social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat are constantly updating and refining their ‘affordances’ to consolidate their identity within a rapidly competitive and developing market. Affordances allow various social media platforms to be different from one another and set themselves apart from other platforms with the particular features they offer. Different affordances change the way we connect through these different platforms.

Snap chat is a photo messaging app that lets users send and receive photos and videos that disappear after a set amount of time. Users can send snaps to multiple friends at once or add them to their snap stories, users can also send private messages, and make voice and video calls. Extra features of Snap Chat include decorating your photos and videos by an annotating tool and stickers, multiple layering filters, geo filters, face affects, bit-mojis and snap map where you can track your friends locations. Snapchat allows us to instantly connect and share our experiences with family and friends by capturing a single moment in time #picsoritdidnthappen. This enhances friends and families experience as it makes them feel like they are apart of whatever you are doing in that moment while also allowing you to share your experience with others.

Reference list

Interaction-Design.org 2011, Affordances (Don Norman, 1994), 15 February, viewed 3 August 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK1Zb_5VxuM>.

Murthy, D 2013, Twitter: Social Communication in the Twitter Age, Polity, Cambridge.

Social Media News, 2017 Social Media Statistics Australia November 2017 <https://www.socialmedianews.com.au/social-media-statistics-australia-november-2017/>

Social Gaming

Advances in computers and networking technology have now enabled online games to be played by people on opposite sides of the world, creating a booming online gaming community. To date, there are various online games that allow you to connect with friends, most games are frequently connected to Facebook, or in most current phone game applications, there is an option that connects players to someone unknown.

One of the best parts about playing board games like Cluedo or the Game of Life is just sitting down and playing them with your friends and family, and having some friendly competition. Now, due to the digital age we don’t need to wait for that experience in person, rather now we can experience the fun of gaming at any time with our friends through social gaming communities.

The term ‘social games’ refer to games made especially for and profiting from social media sites such as Facebook, an example of this is the game Farmville.

According to Liszkiewicz (2010), Farmville is a browser-based free online game that is played via Facebook. In 2010, Farmville had a total of seventy million players, with twenty-six million daily players. The aim of the game is to harvest and grow crops to decorate your own farm and interact with other farmers, players are also able to chat to their friends while playing the game.

I don’t personally play Farmville or many online games at all, other than Words with Friends or Trivia Crack, but I do however see the appeal and benefits of Farmville and other multiplayer games.

Farmville is a fun alternative way to interact with friends and exclusively your own friends, being able to choose who you invite off your Facebook list, also being able to play the game with friends gives Farmville a competitive advantage over other games. References: https://www.google.com.au/search?q=farmville&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiYkvf0vYHZAhWEHZQKHUNbAyEQ_AUICigB&biw=1333&bih=699#imgrc=SX0eIxul9sW7PM:

Liszkiewicz, A.J.P 2010, ‘The Real Reason You Are Addicted To Farmville (And Zynga Is A $5 Billion Company)’, The Insider Australia, 27 April, viewed 22 January 2018, <https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-cleverest-explanation-as-to-why-zynga-is-a-multi-billion-company-you-will-ever-read-2010-4?r=US&IR=T>.

myoungdigitalcommunities-blog

The ABC has launched a crowdsourcing initiative to plot the effects of the Queensland floods.

crowdsourcing in times of crisis

The definition of crowdsourcing can be looked at as the stream of information that comes from the online community surrounding particular events, commonly crisis’s revolving around natural disaster. Crowd sourcing relies on the collective intelligence of the public for a common goal and purpose. Crowd sourcing in a time of crisis is useful for helping gather data, solve problems and is often utilised by emergency services and news outlets to gain information from the public who are first hand experiencing a disaster. In 2009, the fires that burned across Victoria on Saturday 7th of Feb, known as Black Saturday, were the worst bush fires Australia ever witnessed. Crisis communication was significant in social media platforms, such as Facebook and twitter, allowing the CFA and news outlets to give updates. Additionally, by using social media, members of the community, emergency services, organisations and the government were all able to gain and spread important messages quickly and cost efficiently.

https://www.google.com.au/search? q=crowd+sourcing&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiggL_arYHZAhVIi7wKHXNNBmEQ_AUICigB&biw=1333&bih=699#imgrc=IxaqkKySZGZAcM:

Trolling and Social Media Conflict

Anybody who is active on social media wouldn’t be a stranger to the terms ‘’trolling’’ or “cyber bullying.’’ Trolling and cyber bullying are not new concepts, and while social has opened many avenues for communication, it has also bought forward the issues of trolling, bullying and social media conflict.

While trolling is meant to be looked at as humorous, too often it turns into a negative online experience and gets out of hand. Boyd (2014) argues that “social media has not radically altered the dynamics of bullying, but it has made these dynamics more visible to people.”

Cyber-bullying and trolling doesn’t only affect celebrities or those living in the media spotlight anymore, but is heavily impacted the lives of young people too.

Recently, a young girl from the Northern Territory, Australia sadly took her own life after years of online bullying and trolling. Dolly’s parents are now campaigning to start a trust called ‘’Dolly’s Dream’’ to raise awareness of bullying, anxiety, depression and youth suicide. On social media the hashtags #stopbullyingnow and #doitfordolly are being used to spread Dolly’s story and message.

Boyd, 2014), in It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-10/dolly-everett-nt-suicide-cyber-bullying-campaign-launched/9317056

Activism and Protest

While activism traditionally was activists meeting up and physically engaging in protests, the digital age has now given a whole new meaning to activism. Social media has provided a public forum for activists, minimising the physical boundaries and empowering the online community.

Due to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, people are not only able to express themselves but also connect, engage and spread campaigns to a wide range of digital communities through social media connection.

As Sieb (2012) discusses, citizens are now more aware of what is going on around them and are able to use social media in order to create communities of interest and enhance political activism. Thus, if an individual is concerned about an issue happening in another country but can’t physically be involved in activism, they are still able to contribute via social media.

Additionally, Albinsson (2011) argues that this rise of online activism is a form of ‘slacktivists’ and describes this type of person as individuals who “care for social causes, but only to a certain point of engagement.” Slacktivists may sign an online petition, but have no further desire compared to traditional activists to further act on their beliefs.

In 2014, following the siege at the Lindt café in Sydney, the hashtag #illridewithyou was a major trend as an act of support for Muslim Australians. The hashtag started via a Facebook post from a woman (Rachael Jacobs) who was riding a train and noticed a Muslim woman taking off her head covering, Jacobs told the Muslin woman to put the head piece back on and ‘’I’ll walk with you.’’ Another woman tweeted on twitter (Sirtessa) “If you reg take the bus b/w Coogee/Martin PL, wear religious attire, & don't feel safe alone: I'll ride with you. @me for schedule." From there, this campaign went on and saw millions of activists online via multiple social media platforms and in person raise awareness and support for the cause, this support wouldn’t be half as effective without the help of web based activism and ‘slacktivists’ spreading the hashtag.

References:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-15/illridewithyou-hashtag-takes-off-following-siege/5969102

Albinsson, P and Yasanthi Perera, B. (2011) ,“Putting the Roots Back in Grassroots: Consumer Activism Through Social Media”, in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 38, eds. Darren W. Dahl, Gita V. Johar, and Stijn M.J. van Osselaer, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research.

Sieb, P. 2012, Real-Time Diplomacy: Politics and Power in the Social Media Era, Global Media Journal, Fall 2012, Accessed 18 Dec, http://www.globalmediajournal.com/open-access/realtime-diplomacy-politics-and-power-in-the-social-media-era.pdf

Politics and Civic cultures

The era of social media has opened up new ways for politicians to communicate to a diverse audience through various social media platforms.

Twitter is a prime example of how social media has influenced the way politicians interact with the public.

Donald Trump is a political leader who utilises twitter to keep in touch and communicate directly to his audience. Trump himself once said ‘’I doubt I would be here if it weren’t for social media, to be honest with you.” And further went on to say in his interview with the Fox Business network channel that ‘’tweeting is like a typewriter – when I put it out, you put it immediately on your show.’’ According to Jurgen Habermas (1962) the public sphere can be described a place where individuals can come together to freely discuss, identify and debate things that matter and through that discussion influence political action. The public sphere sits between the personal sphere and the authority sphere, but has access to both other spheres. As a result of the public sphere expanding with the digital age, it is now easier than ever before to voice ones opinion to a wide audience and the levels of communication between the public and government are increasing. Trump himself has 47.2 million twitter followers, therefore using twitter at key times throughout his various campaigns means he constantly has the support of his followers and ensures that his name continues to pop up in the news and on other social media platforms, as the media goes ballistic over Trumps controversial twitter attacks on ‘’fake news,’’ celebrities and everything else in between.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

myoungdigitalcommunities-blog

The Social Gaming Development Series is supported by Level 3 Communications, an international provider of fiber-based communications services. Level 3 is committed to carrying d...

myoungdigitalcommunities-blog

WEEK 1

Social media has been broadly deﬁned to refer to ‘the many relatively inexpensive and widely accessible electronic tools that enable anyone to publish and access information, collaborate on a common effort, or build relationships’ (Jue et al., cited in Murthy, 2013, pp. 7-8)

Explore some of the terminology of social media

virtual communities

smart mobs

digital communities

networked publics

digital society

Reflect on your personal use of social media

Instagram - daily personal and professional use.

Facebook - personal use (bi-weekly)

LinkdIn - personal and professional use (monthly)

Reflect on the positives and negatives of social media

In 'Connected but alone’ (TED-Ed 2013) Sherry Turkle discusses her concerns about people becoming connected only through technology, and therefore disconnected from their inner and outer lives and personal real-world contexts.

“… the moment that people are alone, even for a few seconds, they become anxious, they panic, they fidget, they reach for a device. Just think of people at a checkout line or at a red light. Being alone feels like a problem that needs to be solved. And so people try to solve it by connecting.”

“Constant connection is changing the way people think of themselves. It’s shaping a new way of being. The best way to describe it is, I share therefore I am.”

Wilken and McCosker’s (2014) 'we are always managing the aspects of ourselves that we make accessible to others, and communication tools simply afford new possibilities to increase the extent of our visibility, in the process creating new opportunities and new anxieties’.

mollyjoneswrites-blog

theres some really great quotes from the TED talk here, really gets me thinking about society and even reflect on my own life. “the moment that people are alone, even for a few seconds, they become anxious, they panic...” I even turn to my phone just when i’m standing by myself at uni waiting for a friend.

phoebeditommaso-blog

Affordances of our digital world.

“The value of a well designed object is when it has such a rich set of affordances, that the people who use it can do things with it that the designer never imagines.”

(Don Norman, as cited in Affordances Interaction-Design.org 2011)

In looking at different platforms of social media and comparing, we can develop a deeper understanding of the different affordances and ways we connect and interact through the different mediums.

Siapera (2012) discusses the affordances of new media and notes that developments in the technological world have afforded their emergence as a dominant form of social organisation. The research by Wellman looked at the social affordances of new media & the possibilities they have created for social relationships and social structure. The parameters explored and discussed were bandwidth, personalisation, wireless portability & global connectivity. Our experience with the online world and the platforms has drastically changed in the past years with the advancement of technology.

The affordances of a social media platform such as Facebook allows us to be connected with friends and people all over the world, to socialise and ‘network’ around topics that collectively interest a larger group of people than we ever have had before. On the other hand, the social media platform Twitter, enables anyone to connect based on the topic or #hashtag utilised. As opposed to Facebook where most of the sharing is between selected friends and networks, Twitter usually operates in an ‘en masse’ forum, in which anyone (in the millions) can be seen and heard) the affordances of such connectedness can be viewed in a positive light, and that we can globally discuss topics that are relevant. But on the flipside, the ability to have access to ‘vent’ or ‘oppose’ or ‘lash out’ at others before really reflecting if it is the right thing today is now also a harsh reality of living in todays technological world.

In critically looking at the affordances of social media, an article posted on the idea of social media and it’s impact on our everyday lives looks at the dangers of the time we now spend ‘active’ or ‘ON’ social media (http://www.timewellspent.io) The article touches on the notion of how social media controls our world today and how it shapes the thoughts and feelings of the world. Whilst the technology of today allows us to be connected to the world, and ‘in touch’ with people all over the world, the TED talk “How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day” https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=636&v=C74amJRp730 looks at the depth in which tech companies go to, to capture the minds of US, daily. It discusses the ‘cost’ of this technology and how it changes the way we communicate, react and relate to one another.

REFERENCES

Boyd, D 2014, ‘Participating in the Always-On Lifestyle’, in M Manadalong (ed.), The Social Media Reader, NYU Press, pp. 71-76.

Siapera, E 2012, ‘Socialities and social media’, in E Siappera (ed.), Understanding New Media, SAGE, London, pp. 191-208.

“How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=636&v=C74amJRp730

mollyjoneswrites-blog

this is so well written and a very informative read!

Theories, approaches and general ideas.

Weeks 1-4, we explored different ideas and theories around Social media & digital communities and the role it plays in our everyday life. -Turkle criticised the digital world and discussed her concerns about people only being connected through technology and lacking physical social interaction through her TED talk ‘’Connected, but alone.’’

-Boyd discussed the idea of how we are always in an on state, and how we are always connected to people and information, and how we are always trying to keep up with technology.

- Through Siapera we looked at the definitions of Community and how society is formed. -We explored Blogspheres and how blogging is now a lifestyle and career. -We learned about Affordances and how they allow various social media platforms to be different from one another and set themselves apart from other platforms with the particular features they offer.

Week 4 - Blogging practices and cases

This week we looked at the ‘Blogosphere’ and the part it plays in digital communities.

There has been a massive increase in blogging throughout the 20th century, it allows people to explore and share their individuality, their thoughts and opinions to a global audience. Bloggers are given a sense of community and are able to network and make a career out of it. Companies are also taking advantage of how popular blogging now is, being able to get advertising, promotions and engage with audiences in a whole new way.

phoebeditommaso-blog

Affordances of our digital world.

“The value of a well designed object is when it has such a rich set of affordances, that the people who use it can do things with it that the designer never imagines.”

(Don Norman, as cited in Affordances Interaction-Design.org 2011)

In looking at different platforms of social media and comparing, we can develop a deeper understanding of the different affordances and ways we connect and interact through the different mediums.

Siapera (2012) discusses the affordances of new media and notes that developments in the technological world have afforded their emergence as a dominant form of social organisation. The research by Wellman looked at the social affordances of new media & the possibilities they have created for social relationships and social structure. The parameters explored and discussed were bandwidth, personalisation, wireless portability & global connectivity. Our experience with the online world and the platforms has drastically changed in the past years with the advancement of technology.

The affordances of a social media platform such as Facebook allows us to be connected with friends and people all over the world, to socialise and ‘network’ around topics that collectively interest a larger group of people than we ever have had before. On the other hand, the social media platform Twitter, enables anyone to connect based on the topic or #hashtag utilised. As opposed to Facebook where most of the sharing is between selected friends and networks, Twitter usually operates in an ‘en masse’ forum, in which anyone (in the millions) can be seen and heard) the affordances of such connectedness can be viewed in a positive light, and that we can globally discuss topics that are relevant. But on the flipside, the ability to have access to ‘vent’ or ‘oppose’ or ‘lash out’ at others before really reflecting if it is the right thing today is now also a harsh reality of living in todays technological world.

In critically looking at the affordances of social media, an article posted on the idea of social media and it’s impact on our everyday lives looks at the dangers of the time we now spend ‘active’ or ‘ON’ social media (http://www.timewellspent.io) The article touches on the notion of how social media controls our world today and how it shapes the thoughts and feelings of the world. Whilst the technology of today allows us to be connected to the world, and ‘in touch’ with people all over the world, the TED talk “How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day” https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=636&v=C74amJRp730 looks at the depth in which tech companies go to, to capture the minds of US, daily. It discusses the ‘cost’ of this technology and how it changes the way we communicate, react and relate to one another.

REFERENCES

Boyd, D 2014, ‘Participating in the Always-On Lifestyle’, in M Manadalong (ed.), The Social Media Reader, NYU Press, pp. 71-76.

Siapera, E 2012, ‘Socialities and social media’, in E Siappera (ed.), Understanding New Media, SAGE, London, pp. 191-208.

“How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=636&v=C74amJRp730

myoungdigitalcommunities-blog

The value of a well-designed object is when it has such a rich set of affordances, that the people who use it can do things with it that the designer never imagines.

(Don Norman, as cited in Affordances Interaction-Design.org 2011)

Week 3- social media affordances

In this new digital era, social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter are constantly updating and refining their ‘affordances’ to consolidate their identity within a rapidly competitive and developing market. Affordances allow various social media platforms to be different from one another and set themselves apart from other platforms with the particular features they offer. By comparing different social media platforms, we are able to gain an understanding of different affordances and how we are able to connect through different platforms.

Instagram vs Snapchat:

Instagram:

- Instagram is a photo and video sharing platform that allows users to comment on, like and reblog content. You can also use hashtags to view photos within the same category.

Snapchat: - Snapchat is slo a photo and video sharing platform, however you can take a photo or video and send to a select group or a snapchat story which your whole friends list can view. You can also use snapchat to text and they have geofilters which enables people to take photos and let viewers know where the location is whilst the person snapchatting is at a specific place. Comparing the two: -Snapchat doesn’t have hashtags -They both have photo filters -Snap Chat stories only last 24hrs -Both have privacy settings allowing users to monitor who their friends are/who see’s content.

The affordances of a social media platform allows us to be connected with people all over the world, to socialise and enable networking from places across the globe, connecting with people is now easier than ever.

Week 2 - social media and social theory.

This week the idea of community, social capitol ad society were explored.

Siapera (2012) describes the idea of community as ‘’formed around an organic, natural will; associations we have or seek out of our own choice and volition; self-fulfilling: friends, neighbourhood groups, voluntary groups, and of course family—the bonds that bind these associations are affective ones (affection). Additionally, Siapera’s (2012) definition of society is that society is formed on the basis of rational will, and membership takes the form of an instrumental association, that leads to certain goals: for example, membership in a city or state as citizens (rights, protection etc.), or in private companies (profit etc.).

The idea of social capitol was explored through Putnam, and he argues that social capitol is diminishing with the rise of new world media (Putnam 1995). Through the use of a bowling metaphor, Putnam explores how society is no more than a collection of individuals, and how there is little social interactions within western societies; people are socialising, however they do not share strong connections or common purpose.

it’s only week two into this unit and i’m finding myself really opening my eyes and self-reflecting. I moved to Melbourne from a small country town of about 800 people to complete my VCE schooling, and when I did that, starting a new life in a new city felt like I was withdrawing myself with the social life I had back home, but because of the various social media platform available for us I was able to keep that social life up and sense of community belonging, just in a digital form. Based on my personal experience, I find myself agreeing with both Siapera and Putnam.

References;

Siapera, E. (2012) Understanding New Media: Socialities and Social Media. Sage, London, England.

Putnam. R (2012) Bowling alone Date Uploaded: 28.09.2000 Date viewed: 15.11.2017 <http://cs.pn/1rjk68S>

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