mynameismarsh

This blog serves as for educational purposes only #MDA20009 DIGITAL COMMUNITIES

[chinamedia-blog]

Social Media In China: What A Business Should Know.

By Kat Bordogna

March 28,2012

If your business is looking to expand to China and would like to start a website, there are a few things you should know about the Chinese Internet. The first thing to know is there are very strict rules and censorship on the Internet, and people have to be careful of what they say. Businesses can be affected by this because, if they allow the Chinese public to freely speak their mind, the Chinese government might hack into the website to censor the comments that people say.

One example is Google. Google had a Chinese version of their website that was censored. After a while, however, they started to realize that their Chinese user’s gmails were being hacked into, and knew it was the government’s doing. After this, they closed their Chinese site. Months later, they were able to come back and put a link to their site when the people were redirected to another Hong Kong version.

This example is a good reminder to businesses trying to become known in China. The government is very tight and has actual employees whose job are to scan blogs and comments made by the Chinese public and block any with words such as “democracy” or any other word that goes against the government.

Although strict, the Chinese Internet isn’t a complete no-go for businesses. Businesses can still use social media sites to gain attention, all they have to do is keep it about the business, and not anything else. A good site to use to enhance business is Sina Weibo.

Sina Weibo is a Chinese website that is a combination of Facebook and Twitter. It uses the twitter @ symbol to talk to people and also the # to start trends. What makes this site so popular is the Chinese celebrities that use it. This website would be great for businesses because it is very popular and, like Twitter, is a great way to get the word out about an event or promotion your business is having.

Another good thing to know about social media in China is that it is dominated by the younger generation.  In fact, it is said that 60% of all the Chinese Internet users are 30 years old or younger. That is a huge percentage of people and a good thing to keep in mind if you are a business. This can severely impact your marketing approaches when you decide to come over to China. If your business is something that is not targeted to the younger generation, it may not be worth trying to plunge into social media, seeing as the majority of users are young. If, however, your business is targeted to a young population, then social media in China would be a huge success for you, and you should focus a lot of your energy on making sure your business is prominent in the social media world.

Another thing to keep in mind if you are trying to enter the Chinese market is that online gaming is a huge success in China. It is said that 20% of all social media users in China are also users of their games. This can be a very good way to promote your business and get your businesses name out in China. One example is Lay’s using the farming game on the Chinese equivalent of Facebook to promote their product. They had the gamers grow potatoes and buy Lay’s factories. The farming game is not the only type of game there is, in case that is not the field your business falls under. There is also sports games, pet games, restaurant, real estate, etc. By entering your business into these games, it is not just a pointless advertisement on the side of a website. This makes the user interact with your business, get to know what it is, and gives it more publicity than anything else, in my opinion.

Source: “Social Media and Censorship in China” by Synthesio

[mynameismarsh-blog1]

Tips to enter the chinese market?

[chinamedia-blog]

Facebook's Impact Could Help All

By: Elena Frac

April 21, 2012

80% of Facebook’s 800 million users are from outside the United States. This emphasizes the impact that foreign markets have had on domestic firms. This is Facebook’s market without China. With 800 million users without China, think about how big of an impact the addition of China would be to Facebook’s market. The globalization of Facebook is rapid and extremely profitable. Facebook’s interest in China is high, and the anticipation of their IPO has increased China’s population’s interest in the social media market. Trouble with accounting issues and corporate governance had proved problems in the past year, but with the anticipation of Facebook’s entrance to China, the last couple sessions have shown increases in stocks of all China’s social media websites. The two major problems social media websites have in penetrating the market of China are: the strong local competition, and censorship. There are 500 million internet users in China, so the potential is big for a mass improvement. Mark Zuckerberg is in fact learning Chinese to help his case with the officials in China. He is also interested in the market share of other Asian countries such as South Korea, India, and Japan. The penetration rate for India is 20-30%, while it is less than 15% for South Korea and Japan, so there is room for much improvement and penetration of the market overall in Asia. Language seems to be a large obstacle in translating different cultural aspects, which the Facebook team is working to overcome.

Renren climbed 33%, to $5.55 after word of the anticipation of Facebook expecting to file for an IPO, where Sina rose 13% to $70.27 in this expansion. “The ‘Facebook’ effect on China Internet companies has already started,” said Sina Chief Financial Officer Herman Yu. “A successful Facebook IPO may further heighten investor’s interest in social media” and other potential leaders in related categories such as open platform, social advertising and e-commerce.“

Gary Wang, chief executive of online video company Tudou Holdings hopes the IPO will turn more attention to China. "The market has been fixated on the Facebook IPO for so long,” Mr. Wang said. “I hope their IPO will be done successfully and have a good post-IPO performance…the market will see there are plenty of great companies out there, including the Chinese Internet companies.” The penetration of Facebook to China’s internet servers will prove an advantage for all social media websites as well. It will bring more attention and interest in social media in itself, while increasing the market of users for local Chinese Internet companies.

[mynameismarsh-blog1]

The second great wall of China? How China controlled the internet.

When you think about China, you think about its great wall which has defended the region from enemies outside of the region. However, do you know that China already has a second great wall? That wall is the wall of internet which is to prevent external domains especially those from western countries to be accessible in China. 

Ever since social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram dominate the internet, China has banned all of it from being accessed in their country. This restricts the freedom of the people from obtaining information. The country is indeed living according to its title as the world’s worst internet freedom even beating the likes of Syria and Iran. 

Nevertheless, China’s high restriction of the internet does not stop its users from being active online. In fact, in 2011, China has the highest number of internet users which totals up to 513 million users as compared to the United States which has 245 million users. Research even shows that 50 percent of Chinese users spend 12 hours a week online, which is higher than any country in the world as of the year 2011. 

How does China not just maintain, but increase its internet activity over the years despite the absence of internet giants? The answer is simple. Just replicate the functionalities and cater it to Chinese users. 

Although it is no doubt an unethical thing to block users freedom from accessing information elsewhere outside region, i find this a pretty smart move from the Chinese government. This is because it basically kills 2 bird with 1 stone. Over the years, the Chinese people have developed multiple replicas of software giants which existed outside the region. This not only benefited Chinese tech entrepreneurs but also the government so as to sustain their grounds as the ruling party. 

Such replicas includes Chinese social media like Sina Weibo, Douban, Renren, Youku and many more. What makes it different than other global social medias is that it is catered more to the Chinese people as it is all in Chinese language and most people in China are more proficient in Chinese. Since western e-commerce platforms have no access in China, Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and Taobao have ruled the the Chinese market and even some outside the region taking the expected sales of e-commerce in china to almost 600 billion US dollars in 2018. 

Another example which describes the activeness of Chinese social media users comes from a survey conducted by MTV Music Matters which shows that most people around Asia have the same number of friends online and offline. However in China, people seem to have more online friends. This displays how powerful internet is in China despite of having blocked western domains. 

In conclusion, the Chinese government has definitely devised an almost perfect strategy to ensure sustenance of power flow within the country and away from outsiders influence. However, i believe there will come a time where the world will be interconnected in many ways and the freedom of information shall flow around the world freely. 

[mynameismarsh-blog1]

The evolvement of games. How it shapes a society.

Remember back in those days, when games were merely played just for the fun of the game itself, where competitiveness was only restricted to the player and the game. Games such as Pacman, Super Mario, Mega Man, and Street Fighter were among the few of the top mainstream games that were often played back in those days.

However, times have changed. Games now serve a bigger purpose and is usually more than what meets the eye. One of the key aspects on the growth of games around the world mainly circles around the introduction of multiplayer game modes. With the existence of such feature, it brings forth an opportunity of connection between players which in result, formed gaming communities. This all revolves around the topic of Social Gaming.

There is no actual definition on what social gaming is but it is agreed that multiplayer features were one of the contributors to what makes a game, social.

Aside from that, multiplayer or online games have taken a step further when gaming communities were formed. It was a little different back then though. Gaming communities first started in the form of clans or guilds which exist within the game itself. Speaking from my own personal experience, I was once an avid fan of the online first person shooter game, Blackshot and have joined multiple clans in the Blackshot community.

Although i may not be active in gaming anymore, I remember those days spending countless of hours to work my way up the ranks in not just the game, but also the community itself. By that, meaning joining well known clans of Blackshot just to show that I am part of something recognized.

I am unsure about how the Blackshot community works right now, but back in the year of 2012, Blackshot clans are commonly found active in social media such as Facebook. I remember I had to request the Facebook group admin of the clan and get on their good sides in order to secure my place in the clan.

This very much forms countless of interactions with the community itself even though we were all not in the game but discussing on issues related to the game or events often occur in our Facebook groups and were often lead by a “leader“. What this situation is trying to imply is that, the interactions that happen revolving a game, not just Blackshot but other online games can help is shaping players skills in terms of communication. Although this is very much just virtual, it can be seen to be very similar on how it is applied to reality especially when applying for jobs and working up your way within an organization. As mentioned by Matthew Southern, games can no doubt bring benefits in terms of contemporary work skills especially in communication and team-work.

In conclusion, there is no doubt that online or social games can contribute negative impacts to players. However, there could also be benefits as long it is not played in an abusive manner. Since games around the world have evolved further than what we could imagine, it has brought many communities together, creating a competitive industry on its own.

References:

Southern, M., The Cultural Study of Games: More Than Just Games.

[the-chosen-half-of-one]

Me watching a dramatic episode of a show:

[fanactivism-bts]

BTS speak at United Nations ‘Generation Unlimited’ campaign Launch

 Yesterday BTS appeared in front of the United Nations to give a speech on the importance of empowering young voices and promoting their “Love Myself” campaign. It coincides with the launch of the UN campaign called ‘Generation Unlimited’  which wants “to ensure that every young person is in education, learning, training or employment by 2030″. 

The leader of the group, RM, detailed the struggles of finding his own voice and the struggles BTS faced at the beginning of their careers. He acknowledges the importance of learning to accept yourself during your journey in life, summed up eloquently when he says “I have come to love myself for who I am, for who I was, and for who I hope to become.”

The group has helped propel the conversation about youth mental health in Korea and have created hundreds of thousands of twitter engagements talking about mental health awareness. Speaking at the UN has given their campaign even more legitimacy and importance. Their fanbase, ARMY, has greatly supported their causes and this appearance at the UN proves how their efforts are recognized. 

[mcr]

reblog if you miss mcr

[mynameismarsh-blog1]

The rise of the fans from bandom?

Over the years, fans of various entities around the world have grown not just in numbers, but also in their fan activities. These activities could range from being beneficial to being overboard and unnecessary. The birth of groups of fans of similar preferences are known as fandom. The fandom communities have evolved to a point where they engage in public to support or create a change known as fan activism. As mentioned by Henry Jenkins, fan activism is a form of civic engagement and political participation that comes from the culture of fans itself. 

Fan activism is often related to participatory culture due to the rising of fans being the catalyst of change to whatever cultures that they are a fan of. Often, fans bring social or political change using the help of online campaigns. The power of online campaigns are more effective as news are able to be spread wider at a faster rate. 

Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda Solo Tour Campaign

Just early this year, Mike Shinoda from the famous punk rock band Linkin Park shared his first solo effort in preparation for August Summer Sonic Festival in Japan. Following the news, fans of Linkin Park around the world begin campaigning by promoting and sharing the new record of his. Fans created a campaign on WeDemand, in order to get Mike Shinoda to play in their city. The campaign was spread around social media with a hashtag, #PostTraumaticTour. 

My Chemical Romance Goodbye Tour Petition

Another example was seen even back in 2013, when the popular emo punk rock band My Chemical Romance announced the band’s split up. The announcement has left many of their fans upset as they were never prepared for it. In response to the breakup, fans have launched a petition on change.org to call for a final world tour from the band. The petition has received a response of 21,485 supporters. Unfortunately, their wishes were not fulfilled as the band were already determined on their split-up.

In conclusion, the activism formed by fans can sometimes be deemed successful or may sometimes be not. Nevertheless, social media is still one the most active platform utilized by fans around the world to spread activism. 

[action]

Black Girls Vote, Tumblr team up to get voters to the polls

Black Girls Vote Inc. and Tumblr teamed up to get at least 2,018 people to vote in 2018.

Did you hear? We partnered with Black Girls Vote (@blackgirlsvote) for “A Social Experience” at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. Our goal was simple: increase voter participation, and make sure people had fun while doing it. There was an upbeat, cheerful march to the polls. There was a dance floor. There was DJ, a photo booth, Tumblr swag, free food, and one beautiful community coming together.

Before marching to the polls, students gathered at MSU’s quad to hear speakers Dr. David Wilson, President of MSU, Bridget Kyeremateng, our very own Social Impact Coordinator, and Nykidria Robinson, founder and CEO of BGV, about the inherent power in voting, especially from historically marginalized people .

“We’re here to say that Black girls will vote, but also we’re going to take our husbands, our boyfriends, our brothers, our sons with us to the poll. Because it’s so important for us to vote.” — Nykidria Robinson, founder and CEO of Black Girls Vote.

Tumblr, we need you. People all over the world need you. Use your voice. Use your vote. It is the strongest asset you have. Historically, the youth vote—ages 18 to 24, have the lowest turnout of any age bracket. You can change that this year. You can change that every year moving forward. You can be heard. 

If you have any questions relating to state-specific election rules, check out How to Vote. HTV provides a summary of voter registration and voting rules for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. in both English and Spanish. Users can learn about registration, voting methods, important dates and deadlines, look up contact information for election officials and information for military and overseas voters, and check their registration status. If you have a question, chances are they have an answer. 

See you at the polls? See you at the polls.

[mynameismarsh-blog1]

Pushing the boundaries of communication through the power of many?

Social media has been a tool which circles around our everyday lives. From keeping in touch, watching videos and getting the latest updates around the world, businesses around have taken advantage of the logic on how a social media could work and it has slowly evolved over the years such as using it for crowd sourcing and funding. 

Is the crowd sourcing approach cheaper?

Businesses around the world have taken an approach to use crowd sourcing as a an alternative to outsource a task to the public. As defined by Paniagua and  Korzynsk, crowd sourcing is a process of outsourcing a business task to a network of individuals which mostly takes place in social media platforms. The reason why crowd sourcing is often revolved around social media is due to the mechanisms adapted in social media which allows information and engagement to happen in a massive rate. 

As mentioned in an article by Prescient Digital, social media is an essential tool to crowd sourcing as it allows businesses to reach a wider audience faster at a cheaper rate with maximum efficiency. 

One of the top examples of crowd sourcing can be seen in a contest organize by Dunkin Donuts which uses social media as a platform to gain attention from the public. The “Create Dunkin’s Next Donut” contest allows the company to gain ideas for a new donut while at the same time, offering a prize of 12,000 dollars to the winner. 

This example aligns the five trends of crowd sourcing as identified by Palocius et al. (2016) which consists of problem solving, learning paradigm, open innovation, new product development and collaborative initiative. 

Aside from crowd sourcing, social media can also be used as a tool for crowdfunding. 

How does social media relate to crowdfunding? 

Before i go in depth, crowdfunding is basically the process of raising funds which is targeted to a large group of people on social networks via an open call through the internet. This is considered quite common today as people often seek help from others on the internet through social media as it is the fastest way to call for help as the whole world is basically connected to it. If the contents and purpose of the crowdfunding call is able to get the attention the people online, people would certainly contribute even if the amount is just a little. 

To put crowdfunding more into a local context, lets take the “Tabung Harapan” crowdfunding project which was started by the new government of Malaysia for the purpose of minimizing the debts of the country. This crowdfunding project is clearly driven by nationalism and the patriotism by the citizens of the country. Surprisingly, it comes of as very successful as it manages to receive over RM 150 million from citizens nationwide.

To conclude, I could definitely view social media as a gateway to all possibilities and solutions. Ever since its birth, it has been used as a tool or platform for multiple purposes which has benefited the public in many different ways. I could only imagine how it could be in the next 10 years as it steps up to another level.

[abhincsomnus-deactivated2022030]

My gf Kenzie and I are 2 months late on our share of the rent, which puts us $800 in debt. So we’re now being evicted with no place to go. We’re gonna attempt to hitchhike from Indiana to her grandma’s house in Schenectady, NY. I’m not asking for help with the rent, I want to handle that part on my own once I find a job. What we need most is money for food, water, and transportation for finding employment once we get there. If you’re not able to donate, you can still help by reblogging this post as often as you can! Pray for us, we really need it! Thank you for reading.

💚 Cash.me/$KenzieMears

💚 Cash.me/$CryBabyDelores

💙 PayPal: [email protected]

[mynameismarsh-blog1]

A good example of crowdfunding. 

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What social media may lead to. Is it really all just benefits?

Social media is depicted as one of the rising trends in technology as more than half of the world’s population have a social media account. It also breaks the barrier of location and interaction as it can be done no matter where you are in the globe, as long as you have an internet connection. 

However, since social media is made available to basically anyone, this has created a window of opportunity for individuals to misuse the technology which bring harm that affects not just emotional health, but also mental health. 

Misusing Social Media

Although social media has no doubt brought convenience in terms of sending and receiving information around the world, there has been numerous cases on the misuse of social media which has impacted peoples lives negatively. 

Cyber bullying is terrible

Cyber bullying is one of the most common examples of misusing social media. Cyber bullying is the act of harassing and harming someone in a virtual environment with the use of electronic technology.  What makes it a very terrible situation is that it is capable of harming a person’s mental health, which is one of the most concerning issues of this era. 

Cyber bulling is often taken for granted as for some individuals, they may view it as an act of entertainment or just for fun. This all depends on the individual themselves as for people who are emotionally sensitive, they may take it in a more harsher way as it affects them mentally.  According to a study, 37% of British teenagers admitted to using social media sites to make fun of their friends or hack into their accounts to post embarrassing stuff. This number is actually very high although some may not consider that as cyber bullying. In relation to the required readings of this week , teens and parents have different perceptions on what cyber bullying is. 

One of the popular cases of cyber bullying is the incident of Rebecca Ann Sedwick who is only 12 to 13 years old when she is bullied to the point she committed suicide. 

Rebecca was harassed by as many as many as 15 girls who picked on her for months through online messages after she left her previous school. She was harassed by being called names, fat, ugly and even asked by her bullies to kill herself. She jumped from an abandoned tower to her death on 10 September 2013.  Even after her bullies were arrested, they admitted to bullying her and still said that they do not care if she killed herself. This shows how twisted their minds really are. 

Cases like Rebecca are just one of the few cases of what cyber bullying can lead up to as there are still many other cases all over. Although social media is indeed very beneficial, if it is not use in the right way, it may lead to the destruction of one’s life. Governments around the world should start creating more laws and policies focusing on social media so as it would not be misuse such as the situation above. 

[strengthins0lidarity]

I have no words to describe the absurdity.

[femestella]

[mynameismarsh-blog1]

We often spend time judging on others rather than making use of it to focus on a real problems don’t we?

[womenofdifferentfaces]

As I was waiting to teach a group of kids, there were two boys who began calling to me.

“DAMN GIRL”

“Hey girl what’s up”

I refused to acknowledge their presence. Doing so would only fuel their motivation to shake me. I simply kept looking at my phone and waited for it to be time to teach.

“HEY INDIAN GIRL”

“HEY DEAF GIRL”

“why isn’t she responding? SHE MUST BE DEAF”

“HEY DEAF INDIAN GIRL”

It continued until it was time for them to leave.

I knew the two minutes that it went on for wasn’t enough to even begin to explain to them what they did wrong. I felt like there wasn’t even a winning situation. talking to them would make them feel that it was “funny” because it elicited some sort of response from me.

I didn’t encourage them, but I know the rest of society will. 

Unfortunately I’m still told to just “deal with it”.

[mynameismarsh-blog1]

What are your thoughts on this?

[mynameismarsh-blog1]

Digital Activism: Does social media power social activism?

Ever since social media have so called “took over the internet”, it has became the main source of method to be use in gathering and sharing information. With the various social media online such as Facebook, Twitter and instagram, citizens around the world have taken advantage of it as a platform to be use in voicing out their opinions about various incidents or facts which in the end, shared among other people of the same opinions as well, forming what is called, a movement using Digital Activism. 

Although social media is often a place where you can find misused or fake information, it definitely still stands as the most important ground for social activism. Social media has revolutionized the way we received, share and gather information as a whole as compared to just 10 years ago, when most of the information are mostly obtained through television and newspapers. As social activism campaigns grew over the years, social media is indeed seen beneficial as it helps in spreading information faster than any other methods in the world. 

One of the best examples of social activism through social media is the #MeToo campaign which was used to raise awareness on sexual assault where people share their experience if they have been sexually harassed or assaulted, accompanied by the hashtag MeToo. 

Aside from that, going more local to media activist such as the Sarawak Report can be a very good example on how people with authorities would fight back against activist. As mentioned by Ghobadi, most of the social activism movements are to push and pressure the elites which are the government on pressing matters. However, the elites often misused their power to fight back using internet filtering or blocking certain websites which are intended to go against them. This is why Sarawak Report, which is an activist media that talks back against dominant institutions and politics as mentioned in the lecture, was blocked by the government. 

All these examples of activism shows that people are willing to make a change and are becoming more brave to step up and voice their opinions with the help of social media. 

When it comes to activism on social media, activist often spread information which are more emotive as it is able to capture peoples attention better. However, study shows that it would be better to share information touching on aspects such as how and why a current situation has come to be and what can be learned for the future. This would create a potential for the development of people who could respond to dynamic social environments with new wisdom. 

[mynameismarsh-blog1]

How Social Media has change the movement in Politics

In this age full of modern reliant technology, social media has played a huge role in almost everything in our daily lives, from communicating with friends, reading the latest news/happenings, watching videos, keeping up with aesthetic trends, a form of study method and last but not least, political engagement. 

The power of social media has revolutionized the platforms for politicians to engage with their supporters which in result, will be able to influence them to obtain their support in election. Besides, reaching out to audiences in social media can be more cost-saving as compared to paying large sums of money to broadcasting companies to televised them on television. (Murse 2018) mentioned on how broadcasting political campaigns on Youtube is much more cost efficient then paying to broadcast on televisions. Besides, younger people are more active in social media which makes it more convenient to reach out to younger audiences. 

Besides, social media such as Twitter is equipped with various analytical tools which could assist in tailoring specified messages to a certain demographic group of people. For example, a post may be suitable for those of younger age as compared to those of older age. The analytical tools in social media will be able to distinguished and assist politicians in analyzing appropriate postings for those people to gain their support in political campaigns. 

Social media has also brought people of the same political interest together to raise political awareness. This is why, in certain social networks such as Facebook, there are various political groups which exist within it with numerous users subscribing to the group and having their own political discussions. In other words, social media contributes to political awareness among the younger generations. 

The power demonstrated in social media has even scaled to the point of it being one of the reasons President Donald Trump winning the election. It is mentioned that the Trump campaign in social media Trump’s digital operations office was able to obtain large amount of funding through Facebook and Email donations. With an investment of over 150 million dollars, the digital team was able to make more than 100 thousand pieces of unique content to be targeted to specified demographics of users to gain their votes and support.

This shows how much of an impact social media could effect in advertising and promoting for political purposes. 

However, having a social media existence is not necessary beneficial to the politicians. With its existence, it opens up a vulnerability of multiple controversies which may spread around social media. Most politicians have their own public relations professional to handle their social media. This is because, if politicians handle it themselves, they may not be able to filter out their postings which may lead them to controversies and bad public relations image. This situation can relate back to one of the readings for week 5 of MDA 20009, ‘How many votes are there on Twitter’, where Obama mentioned that it is always best to be careful with whatever you post on social media as it could be used to go against you no matter what the time frame is. 

Social Media the next weapon for future politics?

I believe social media is already part of the main weapon which will be utilized in today’s politics. Without the exposure through social media, it would be difficult for politicians and citizens to reach an engagement point.