Oleg's Digital Community

This blog aim is to provide help in understandings of social media and communications platforms in placement their expanding performance and predominance in our day to day activities and in the broader social and political scene.

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How much political influence does social media really have?

When asked what brought him the most pleasure in all the different aspects of his business, Rupert Murdoch replied ‘being involved … in a [political] campaign - trying to influence people’ (McKnight 2013).

Murdoch takes his role as a political influencer very seriously and his media empire spans the globe across print, television and online environments. His favour is sought by politicians and aspiring leaders in the hope that he will write positive things about them, and his print dominance in many markets can be shown to have actually influenced election results (McKnight 2013). But in light of the statistic that in 2017, two-thirds of American adults now get their news not from newspapers or broadcast news, but from social media (Pew Research Center 2017), will his influence be maintained in the future?

Scratching backs. Image Source: NY Mag

Given that the top three most visited news websites in the US are more centre-left leaning politically (CNN, New York Times & Huffington Post) (Feedspot 2017), one could assume that users social media feeds (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) would more be more heavily populated by news that is opposed to the Murdoch ideology. Social media, however, works by friends sharing information that appeals to them - not to mention ‘organisations or politicians who are paying Facebook for their attention’ (Phillips 2016). Enter ‘filter bubbles’. First described by Eli Pariser in his 2011 book about the topic, filter bubbles are media we are exposed to that only reinforce our own opinions, excluding other views. According to Bill Gates, social media ‘lets you go off with like-minded people, so you’re not mixing and sharing and understanding other points of view’ (Gates in Delaney 2017).

Video Source: Quartz Media

Politicians such as Jeremy Corbyn (the British Labour leader) and Bernie Sanders in the US capitalised on their younger audiences consuming their news primarily from social media. While attracting little press attention - Sanders received less than a third of the media attention as Hillary Clinton (Phillips 2016) - their Facebook and other social media mentions vastly outnumbered their opponents. Despite this coverage however, most of the time, thanks to filter bubbles, stories about them were only being seen by audiences who shared the same viewpoint. For those who have a different social media profile to Sanders supporters, their news feeds could well be silent about what he had to say. As we know, both of these men built impressive followings, but were not able to capitalise on it and claim victory. Phillips (2016) notes that ‘social media provides a mobilising force that builds passionate partisanship’. In other words, it does not generally cross over partisan lines. She goes on to say that ‘viral news needs the blood stream of broader media to carry it from one silo to another’. 

With this in mind, perhaps Rupert Murdoch’s days of influence aren’t over yet?

References

Delaney, K 2017, Filter bubbles are a serious problem with news, says Bill Gates, Quartz Media, viewed 5 January 2018, <https://qz.com/913114/bill-gates-says-filter-bubbles-are-a-serious-problem-with-news/>.

Feedspot 2017, Top 100 USA News Websites on the Web, viewed 5 January 2018, <https://blog.feedspot.com/usa_news_websites >.

McKnight, D 2013, Murdoch and his influence on Australian political life, The Conversation, viewed 5 January 2018, <https://theconversation.com/murdoch-and-his-influence-on-australian-political-life-16752>.

Pew Research Center 2017, News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2017, viewed 5 January 2018, <http://www.journalism.org/2017/09/07/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2017/>.

Phillips, A 2016, Social media is changing the face of politics – and it’s not good news, The Conversation, viewed 5 January 2018, <https://theconversation.com/social-media-is-changing-the-face-of-politics-and-its-not-good-news-54266>.

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Hey Andrew,

Great post! Love the quote at the start, really gives you some food for thought…and it’s a scary thought at that! In my blog on this topic I touched on how social media and networking media affords everyday citizens a level of democratisation, as far as political content goes. What are your thoughts on whether social media opens up these discussion channels? Keeping in mind we have filter bubbles and Facebook algorithms working against us, I like your point that ‘viral news needs the blood stream of broader media to carry it from one silo to another’, however I’m of the opinion that with more transparency and education, social media will be able to overcome the reliance on broader (and usually biased) media conglomerates and will hopefully be able to provide less filtered discourse in the near future! But maybe I’m just being optimistic!

Cheers,

Izzy 

[oleggaevoy-blog]

Hi Andrew, thank you for great post. Special thanks for quote in a beginning. I just want to comment a thing about Jim Morrison. For me it is absolutely incredible that a young man, who known for many of us with his wild lifestyle, could pick out with absolute clarity the types of people who would wield the greatest influence on our life today.

He said that people who can assemble huge masses of people into one spot will be the major influencers on mass culture. He called them “Connectors”.  He also said that the next heroes would be  “a more intellectual sort. Political activists and perhaps scientists and computer experts”

You can listen it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQfr-BtcDII

It was 1970, almost fifty years ago. Such emblematic artist of that era clearly pointed on vital social issues, creating the shifts and balances humankind feels today.

[mazunistudent86-blog]

The power of crowdsourcing during times of crisis

One of the most powerful ways social media has changed our lives is by the way that we now as a society deal with crisis. Crowdsourcing has changed the way society manage these times, and how we respond to crisis.

Crowdsourcing is the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers’. (Merriam Webster Online 2014). During a crisis we can see its many forms being used all over the world. For example in the recent bush fires in Los Angeles, friends and family were marking themselves “safe” if they managed to escape the fires to let their loved ones know they are ok – all across the globe. This tool developed by Facebook has replaced the need to have as many call centres that used to exist to check on loved ones overseas during a crisis.

Online social media platforms turned into notice boards for updates and news during the Lindt Café Siege in Sydney in 2014. As the events unfolded Twitter became a noticeboard to update the country on the events in real time. The majority of updates came from within the Sydney CBD, including one of the first comments by Sydney Journalist Chris Kenny, who at the time was believed to be the last person to walk out of the café before the events took place. The updates were simple, factual posts updated by journalists detailing the information they had at hand. This was a quick and simple form to keep the country updated on what was happening, which hostages had broken free or been released and the actions of the NSW Government and Police Force. This also updated the population on the parts of the city that were deemed unsafe at the time as the offender had also threatened that he had placed bombs around the city.

More importantly, social media allows us to build online communities and grieve together openly or come to terms with facts during times of crisis.

During the Paris Attacks Twitter used its “Moments” tool to use highlighting top news tweets about the attacks, as well as the prayers and good wishes posted by celebrities around the world. This enabled the world to come together in support and solidarity.

Hashtags such as #prayforparis have taken social media platforms by storm during times of crisis. It received 6.7 million posts in 10 hours. Hashtag’s such as these symbolise the world unifying after a horrific event has occurred through our online community. It shows the strength of social media and how quickly it can be used to bring a country or several nations together.

The hastag #UneBougiePourParis (which means a candle for Paris) sparked live community action, taking it from just a message online to the physical actions of Parisians lighting a candle to mourn their loss and the countries grief.

References

‘crowdsourcing entry’ 2014, Merriam Webster, viewed 29 December 2017,<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crowdsourcing

Ford, H 2012, 'Crowd Wisdom’, Index on Censorship, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 33-39.

Howard, J 2006, ‘The Rise of Crowdsourcing’, Wired, 14 June, viewed 3 August 2016, <http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/14.06/crowds.html>.

Inside Story. 2017. Crowdsourcing terror. [ONLINE] Available at: http://insidestory.org.au/crowdsourcing-terror/. [Accessed 29 December 2017].

[oleggaevoy-blog]

You are right. The use of crowdsourcing  increase significantly. Reliable Information need to be shared in timely manner. It could help save many lives in crisis situations. Saving times can make all the difference.  The faster responders get reliable information, the sooner they can set the priorities in their further actions. Very often it help to mobilise relief efforts based on established needs. Like Facebook safety check functions, many of them very useful tools. It was interesting for me to learn that this function was created in close collaboration with many humanitarian organisations such a UNICEF, Red Cross Committee and ARC

[mazunistudent86-blog]

The power of a selfie

Photography has changed over the years and evolved in both its purpose and technology. Before social media platforms and smart phones existed, photography’s main purpose was centred around people coming together for a photograph to mark an occasion, and event or simply the family being together at that particular point in time. Martin Hand defines personal photography as anything that includes those photographic practices and images that are inextricably part of personal life. Fast forward about 20 years and that definition and statement is still very applicable and correct, but in a different way. You see, we as a society are still interested in photography and marking occasions, however our audience has grown from simply our family and friends who may look at our photos in the family album, to a wide variety of followers on platforms across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube to name a few. These followers are what we refer to as visual publics.

Mizuko Ito defines visual publics as “Publics can be reactors, [re]makers and [re]distributors, engaging in shared culture and knowledge through discourse and social exchange as well as through acts of media reception”.

So our need to take photographs has also enabled us to use them as a form of communication to engage with these publics.

With all of these platforms at our disposal our photos now tell a much bigger story. We are now able to find other people by using hashtags online, for example when you attend a wedding and the bride and groom have their own tag for the day. This will now enable you to find all the photos associated with that event and who took them, even though they are not all just your photos. We are now associating our photos with places we have visited by checking into the place while posting the photo online, we are sharing experiences by tagging friends into our group photos or photos of ourselves to keep family updated with travels and we are increasing daily public visibility through all these actions, all stemmed from photos.

Our photos now speak a language of their own, and tell stories to a much larger audience about our lives and personalities. Selfies are a huge part of forming our digital personality online, and filters on these selfies can change our image for the purposes of our online communities to see us as we would like to appear or be presented. This gives us the control to be able to change our personality for our online communities and creates ideologies about our personality. Thanks to apps such as Snapchat, the selfie has developed its own culture – where images are literally being used to develop a conversation and because they are not saved into photo libraries of the recipient, it encourages those who are normally camera shy to use the app.

While all of these technological advances have their many perks, it does bring me back to one of my earlier blogs about whether or not the digital space is slowly replacing the need to human interaction. Why now would you even bother to send a text of what you are planning to have for dinner, when you can now simply send that person a photo of it?

References

Hand, M 2012, Ubiquitous Photography, Polity Press, Cambridge.

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

[oleggaevoy-blog]

Great post. Thank you. I totally agree with you that  Our photos now speak a language of their own, and tell stories to a much larger audience about our lives and personalities. Using selfie properly can be an art. For many users it help to see themselves as reach the goal and being absolutely happy in this place/time/role. It is the opposite to “I am not good enough to become a great artist, too old or too young to reach the sky, not smart enough to drive a business.” Selfie helps many to create believes of being good enough in what they set as a goal.

[ebonymccabe-blog-deactivated202]

2. ... So What Do You Blog About?

There are currently an estimated 173 million bloggers worldwide (MediaKix 2018). The world in total has about 7.6 billion people, so that’s a extremely large of the whole world considers themselves a blogger.

Confronting, right?

In the age of new media, everybody has a voice (Siapera pp.195-206). If you’re passionate about something, you can have your voice heard by as many people as you can reach. I will put my hand up as one of those people, although I have no experience brewing beer or blogging, I run a craft beer blog (www.babeswhobeer.com). Why? Because I love craft beer, I can and because I get sent free beer. This, is the attitude of many. It is no longer a secret than influencers make money, and get freebies for promoting anything and everything. This asks the question, when did blogs become so popular?

The blogging world started out as a niche communication option, but has now gone mainstream. With social networks now amplifying the reach of blogs, they have become as useful and often reputable as mainstream media once was (Cross 2011). With terms like Fake News’ and ‘Clickbait’ thrown around regularly in regards to corporate owned news outlets, more and more people turn to individual voices for opinions on important matters. This also gives readers the impression that they are dealing personally with the writer, giving them a personal connection. 

Blogging along with social media, allows constant communication and connection with others. This is great in many ways as through both channels, you can connect with other people who identify with the same likes (Cunningham pp.291-295). An example of positivity from blogging is in blogs of those being treated for serious illness. Many people going through treatment or living with an illness are able to share and often connect with others in the same situation. This is priceless support to those who may otherwise feel alone whilst undergoing treatment. This is also a way for those newly diagnosed with an illness, to read through blogs and get insight into how the illness may affect them (McCosker & Darcy pp. 1-20). Blogger communities like these, are why blogging and social networks are so important in today’s new media society (Boyd pp.39-58). In amongst all the influencers and money makers, there are communities that support each other and make online media worthwhile. I’m convinced and excited, that blogging is a permanent fixture in society and will only continue to grow year on year.

References

Boyd, D 2010 ‘Social network sites as networked publics’, in Zizi Papacharissi, A Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Network Sites, Routledge, Hoboken, pp. 39-58.

Cunningham, S, Turnbull, S, McCosker, A & Wilken, R, 2014 ‘The media & communications in Australia’ Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 4th Edn. pp.291-295.

Cross, M, 2011 ‘Bloggerati, Twitterati : How Blogs and Twitter Are Transforming Popular Culture’ ProQuest Ebook Central, viewed <http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/swin/detail.action?docID=713477>.

McCosker, A & Darcy, R 2013 ‘Living with Cancer: Affective Labour, Self-Expression and the Utility of Blogs’, Information, Communication and Society, vol. 16, no. 8, pp. 1-20.

MediaKix, 2018 ‘How many blogs are there in the world’ viewed <http://mediakix.com/2017/09/how-many-blogs-are-there-in-the-world/>.

[oleggaevoy-blog]

Great job. You are really heat the nails with  your opinion. there are communities that support each other and make online media worthwhile. When you trust to someone, his or her opinion can cut through the noise of million invasive and annoying  commercial so called influencers.  The only problem how to find who do you believe.  And this could be difficult.

[ebonymccabe-blog-deactivated202]

4. Is Social Activism Above The Law?

Social activists can show up anywhere and protest. Social media and networks amplify this, allowing groups to gain attention at an even larger scale than ever before (Gerbaudo pp.3-10). The internet and social networks give everybody a voice. The problem sometimes is that according to some groups, not everybody deserves it. 

Several years ago I watched ‘We are Legion’. A film that documents Activist group Anonymous. It’s members, the acts they do and some of their intentions behind why they do what they do (We are Legion 2012). They speak about how they’re stereotyped as being nerds, alone in their parents basements on computers and how that compares to who they actually are and what they do.

Anonymous claim to speak and act for those who don’t have a voice. They are known as an elite group of hackers. Their Motto is: 

We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us. (Anonymous 2018). 

Little is known about who exactly makes up Anonymous, but there is no denying they are powerful and have done some unbelievably impressive technological feats. As not much information is truly known about them, this poses the question… what are their real motivations?

Anonymous famously hacked and took down hate group ‘Westbro Baptist Church’s’ main leaders Twitter account and website (www.godhatesfags.com) in 2012. This followed the groups response to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The Church had plans to picket the funerals of deceased children “to sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment.” (Oremous, 2012).

The issue seen is with anonymous is that they take the law into their own hands. These hacktivists do as they please, often without consequences. Many disagree with their approach to social justice, suggesting governments and police should handle matters of hate groups rather than anonymous activists.

It is really easy to support groups like Anonymous, that seem to correct the wrongs of many online and take away their voices when the government don’t step in. My only question, is what is their true motivation. Is it purely to do the right thing, or do they have an ulterior motive?

References

Anonymous, 2018 ‘Anonymous Official Website’ viewed <http://anonofficial.com>.

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

Oremous, W 2012 ‘ Anonymous Hacks Westboro Church Over Plans To Picket Sandy Hook Funerals. Bad Idea.’ Future Tense, viewed: <http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/12/17/anonymous_hacks_westboro_baptist_church_over_sandy_hook_picket_is_there.html>.

We Are Legion 2012 [DVD], Luminant Media.

[oleggaevoy-blog]

Thank you for reminding me such a great documentary. I do remember watching it.

For me it was like opening my eyes and showing how democracy still looking for new supporters and finding them. How new generations find new way of delivering the truth to people. It can be messy, but fascinating. They are brave and boldly declared.

There is another “hacktivism” hero worth to remember and documentary about him. Edward Snowden and the movie “Citizenfour” by Laura Poitras. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EgTXEn15ls

[captainzitak]

Blog 3.  Politics & Civic Cultures.

This week’s blog, looks at politics and civic cultures, and the relationship between political campaigns and social media.  It leads to the thought provoking questions that this relationship raises.

·         How effective are social media platforms when used as a part of a political campaign?  

·         Do social media platforms increase civic or political involvement and participation?

·         Is the use of social media platforms, such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, an effective strategy to engage constituents?

Social media (Jacob Mosolf, 2016).

It could be argued that political engagement with social media is a double edge sword.  It can generate immediate internet coverage that can reach a vast audience; and it can also decimate a political career just as quickly.  As noted by Jerico 2012, social media can come back to haunt you and cites political candidate Peter Watson’s homophobic words on a blog written as a teenager, forcing him to resign.  The author also provides the advice from former US president Barack Obama on social media use; to always be careful about what you write as your number one rule.

ABC news article, describes the prolific use of social media in Australian politics and notes there were 1,700 tweets using the #qldvotes in 24 hours, when the Queensland Premier, Annastascia Palaszczuk, called for a state election on 25th November 2017.  With ‘15 million Facebook users in the country’, a social media presence is vital for politicians to maintain as part of their political campaign (Bali 2017).

Many Australian politicians have embraced social media and used it to enhance their political coverage, especially with the under 30 demographics.  The use of social media as part of a political campaign can work effectively for politicians to increase their coverage (Thomas 2016).

The following YouTube clip from The Project, gives an insight into politicians and their use of social media.

Does the increased coverage for politicians using social media, correlate to an increase in political participation of constituents?  Or equate to more engagement and civic duty?  

Politicians that provide transparency, are deemed to be reliable and trustworthy by the public.  This leads to informed constituents, who are more likely to be politically engaged and participate in civic duties.  In turn, this results in improved governance and democracy in action (Khemani, et al. 2016).

The use of social media by politicians, seems to be a strategic move that can improve their coverage and engage the younger demographic.  It can create awareness of their policies, inform the public and promote participation of constituents.  Social media can be used effectively, and forms a vital part of any political campaign.  

On a lighter note, the following YouTube clip highlights 2017 and some laughable moments in Australian politics.

References

Bali, M 2017, Queensland Election: The power of the Social Media Campaign. Viewed 23 December 2017. Retrieved from <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-06/power-of-social-media-campaign-qld-election/9099402>.

Jacob Mosolf, 2016, Social media [image], viewed 19 January 2018, <http://www.dodlive.mil/files/2016/07/social-media-generic.jpg>.

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

Khemani, S., Dal Bó, E., Ferraz, C., Finan, F., Stephenson Johnson C., Odugbemi A., Thapa, D., Abrahams, S 2016. Making politics work for development: harnessing transparency and citizen engagement (English). Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group. Viewed 19 January, 2018, <http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/268021467831470443/Making-politics-work-for-development-harnessing-transparency-and-citizen-engagement>.

Thomas, J 2016, Young Australians aren’t disengaged, they’re just not interested in traditional ways of doing things in democracy, new research suggests <https://www.sbs.com.au/news/young-australians-are-more-political-than-we-think-research-suggests>.

[mrmichaelbaxter]

No ‘Likes’... Just Donations

Keep reading

[amandafelb09-blog]

Malcolm Turnbull understands the dynamics of being a savvy social media participator.

[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

[digital-communities-blr-blog]

Digital Communities

Do you ever wish you could just take a break from the internet? Give it a flick for a few months. Go off the radar. Disconnect. I find the thought tempting, but then I think I’d feel so ‘out of touch’ without it. Not so much out of touch with people, like friends or family, but out of touch with the whole world. Basically all my news, entertainment, to an extent, my education is fed to me through social media, most of the content being conveniently personalised by algorithms.

While it’s indisputable that the internet connects us, there also seems to be a general consensus that it distracts us from ‘real’ social connections. Sherry Turkle (TED-Ed 2013) elaborates on this by noting that social media grant us “the illusion of companionship without the demands of intimacy”, meaning we lose something valuable in relying on new technologies to create connections with people. Turkle (TED-Ed 2013) warns that mobile technologies are creating networks that are addictive in nature and somewhat artificial; instead of truly connecting us, they tend to isolate us.

In the era of Web 2.0 we create new kinds of relationships with each other, and through this, new definitions of community. Lee & Wellman (2012, p. 8) outline how we’ve moved away from longstanding social operating systems that were based around groups or units (for example family, work, neighbourhood, social groups), and have moved into a society of 'networked individuals,’ where the person is the focus.

Source: The Verge, 2017

I often scrutinise my own social media use and wonder if I ceased to use the internet for a bit, would it impact my notions of society and community? Would using the internet less enhance my connections with other people or would my relationships crumble? How much would I gain, and how much would I miss out on? These are the questions that keep me up at night. Thankfully, The Verge journalist, Paul Miller, wrote an article about going internet-free for a whole year, so I can get some perspective, and sleep.

Image: Paul Miller, 2017

Miller writes how he initially enjoyed being pulled away from the echo chambers that internet culture created. He found himself being productive and creative as he let his ideas branch out freely. Soon though, he struggled to keep in touch with friends who were overseas or interstate. Work became increasingly difficult, he began to feel as though he was burdening his co-workers by being off-line (Miller would drop off a thumbdrive of his work to the office each day as opposed to collaborating over the internet) (Kelly 2013). He started to feel “out of sync with the flow of life.” I imagine I would feel the same. Miller recognises that even while spending time away from the internet, it still had an impact on him because he’d already created an inextricable link to it. In embracing these technologies and creating digital communities in the first place, we’ve already redefined what human connection is.

Reference list:

Kelly, H 2013, Disconnected: My year without the Internet, CNN, viewed 9 December 2017, <http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/10/tech/web/paul-miller-internet-year/index.html>.

Lee, R & Wellman, B 2012, ’ The New Social Operating System of Networked Individualism’ in Networked : The New Social Operating System, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

'Paul Miller’ [image], in I’m still here: back online after a year without the internet, The Verge, viewed 9 December 2017, <https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/1/4279674/im-still-here-back-online-after-a-year-without-the-internet>.

TED-Ed 2013, Connected, but alone? Sherry Turkle, 19 April, viewed 3 August 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv0g8TsnA6c>.

[mrmichaelbaxter]

@digital-communities-blr WOW what a great read, i was hooked!!!! I wrote in my first post what it was like before the internet. Just like yourself, I love the thought of going internet free but really don’t think I could! I think relations ships can be sustained with call or text, but I think major FOMO would kick in if a friend said ‘Did you see that on facebook’. I think that may be the isolating part, when you don’t feel apart of the conversation or not knowing what’s going on. I’m scared to think what Web 3.0 will bring (it’s practically upon us)

[oleggaevoy-blog]

Social Mapping

Web 2.0 Revolution and mobile apps technologies not just remove the barriers for people to access the internet but allowed them to create and share content (Beer, 2009). Through open-source, collaborative programs the creation and distribution of information has effectively been crowdsourced.

Social mapping an important element of system on the way to acquire vast cognitive, effective and sociological communication. It assist in understanding the geographical area, people difference, language, cultural practices, social networks and interactions. It help people in using rapid appraisal techniques, cartography, effectively summarizing and presentation of data of social relevance. The different language and cultural background of the community was the main challenge encountered.

Visual graphic and mapping of situation, especially in an important events such a crisis or disasters, playing vital role for all participant.

The mapping feature is one way to highlight danger areas, but it is also a way to notify aid and crowdsource assistance. For example in the picture above there are various categories of information and needs situated on the map, with some areas requiring more aid than others. The map is a helpful tool with date submitted, links to original source, etc.

There is number of apps currently available enable anyone to publish and manage a crowdsourced story or event to which any other person can contribute photos or videos with captions. It is a very useful tool to engage a specific or general audience on the subject of your choice.

Ushahidi created a website in the aftermath of the argued elections in Kenya in 2007 where activists could report acts of violence by email and text messages and place them on a Google map. The platform has since been used and developed by many organisations and movements around the globe. Please see video below for further explanation of Ushahidi and its capability.

Beer, D., 2009. Power through the algorithm? Participatory web cultures and the technological unconsciousness. New Media & Society, 11(6), pp. 985-1002.

Merriam Webster, crowdsourcing entry' 2014, viewed 29 December 2017,<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crowdsourcing

[oleggaevoy-blog]

Offence Comments.

Everyone perceive offence in different way. For many people offence unlike bullying can never be given, only taken. Offended person must allow offenders to do so. Others could be offended very easy, even the tone of someone’s comments or posts can be misunderstood as more offensive in written form than what they mean in off-line world. Some people based on strong emotional reaction to a subject.  They may feel offended instantly by something that considered as a little joke by someone else. This delicate nervousness can be something what create a reason such person take offence at online posts or comments that originally was not planned to be a offense. As pointed by McCosker (McCosker, 2013)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

On the other side, I agree with Olweus (2012)  who suggest that bullying based on three components involved in situation at the same time: aggression, repetition, and imbalance in power.   Those activity have to be immediately controlled up to removing from network and bullying persons have to be punished.

This type of human behavior comes from pre-exist dark side of personal conditions and social media allowed it to increase and grow up in online communities.

Boyd (2014) suggest that some people believe that cyberbullying is a whole new phenomenon. Others argue that technology simply offers a new site for bullying, just as the phone did before the internet'.My personal experience supports that second group of people. During my childhood, before the social media rule the world kids in the school were brutal and harsh to some and offensive to others. Sometime those conflicts resolutions could be provided only with school principal involvement.  Considering this there is a good chance that introducing a Commissioner who can forcibly remove ‘offensive’ online content can safe certain people and groups from bulling and offending.

References  

Danah, B., 2014. It's complicated : the social  lives of networked. 1 ed. New Haven: Yale University Press.

McCosker, A., 2013.  Trolling as provocation: YouTube’s agonistic publics. Convergence, 20(2),  pp. 201-217.

Olweus, D., 2012.  Cyberbullying: An overrated phenomenon?. European Journal of Developmental  Psychology , 9(5), pp. 520-538.

[oleggaevoy-blog]

Social media and Business advertising

There so many reason for businesses to be advertising in Visible Publics.  If someone not sure whether Instagram or Snapchat advertising can benefit brand, it worth to try.  It is not that expensive and there is a big chance  it will help to increase sales.

One of the main reason brands advertise on Visible Publics like Instagram is the efficiency of this marketing channel. The cost considered reasonable and affordable by many and easy set up process makes this kind of ads an easy way to access enormous audience.

Instagram’s users base is growing at a solid pace. It is being reported that in April 2017 Instagram reach 700 million daily active users. (Constine, 2018)

At the same time, Social media advertising revenues have grow rapidly over past couple of years and reach almost 18 billion dollars in 2017 (Statista, 2018)

Another reason of  popularity for Visible Public advertising is the fact that such advertising is constantly evolving. Social platforms such a Twitter and Facebook updated regularly to provide better user experience. Things such a photo filters, new campaign objectives  or influencers marketing features Instagram story formats not only makes social platforms increasingly beloved by all users, but also let business much better engagement with their target audience and constantly bringing new users on board. And this reason makes Snapchat and Facebook the big future for testing innovations in marketing. At the same time Audience Targeting tools and technologies are constantly getting better and more productive.  For example,out of 1,6 billion monthly users, the average person spends 50 minutes daily on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. This makes Instagram users highly likely to engage with adds as well. Especially if company match its marketing offer with target groups interests. As stated by Ito publics can be reactors, [re]makers and [re]distributors, engaging in shared culture and knowledge through discourse and social exchange as well as through acts of media reception (Mizuko Ito 2008.)

Everyone loves Social Media and Visible Publics especially! Millions usual People and Advertisers shared hundreds millions photos and videos on a daily basis.  According to Pew Research, Instagram, for example, reach $2.81 billion last year in global mobile ad revenues.  Which makes it accounting for more then 10% of parent company Facebook’s global ad revenues. (Greenwood, Perrin and Duggan, 2018)

With such impressive statistics, Instagram became a highly engaging social media platform that provide significant attention to the brands and engage with number of new users.

There is a huge army of users waiting to explore more about mesmerizing brands and influencing story tellers. It is never too late to start advertising on Visible Public. Watch this video which explain a bit more on Instagram advertising.

References:

 Constine, J. (2018). Instagram’s growth speeds up as it hits 700 million users. [online] TechCrunch. Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/26/instagram-700-million-users/ [Accessed 20 Jan. 2018].

Statista. (2018). Selected U.S. social network ad revenues 2018 | Statistic. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/426520/us-social-networks-ad-revenues/ [Accessed 20 Jan. 2018].

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

[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

[sianrhianydd-blog]

 Honestly what a fabulous post! Those articles were simply fascinating to read and helped me change the way I look at social media. What do you think are the costs of social media? Personally I think in engaging with social media as we do we forget to live in the now, instead we live through our screens. 

[oleggaevoy-blog]

Activism and protests

“I’m all in favor of people protesting if they want to protest. But you don’t protest during our national anthem” said that time candidate Trump about a controversy around NFL players who have knelt during the national anthem just before game opening to protest racial injustice. What is the right way to protest? When is the right time to protest? What form of protest is more appropriate than others?

Modern protests can be anonymous, unaccompanied, include wide usage of digital devices. Social movements targeting supporter’s intellectual resources, their time and money. There is number of scientists who support the theory that contemporary activists do not need to be well-connected, quick-witted, be smart or impatient on cause. They don’t need much time or money. Digital media and social networks, campaign websites and e-mails became the new Town Square where everyone has the right and ability to say against something. The Arab spring not only happened because of Twitter and Facebook, but those who protest used e-mail to engage each other in social networks.

There is number of socially active organisations who design and build the new civic environment based on capitalisation of people desire to free world. Groups like Get Up and Change.org create a vast circle of “Clicktivist Protestors” being right in the centre of it. Those groups have a million of members who are ordinary people with the good will to take small political actions such a signing a petition or commenting someone’s Twitter. People grow in passion and commitment, and causes build up other time. Million drops make a rain, lots of small actions contribute to big change.

Others argue that there is a struggle between digital activists, who adopted marketplace logic, and organisations who strictly against the marketisation of social communities.

Micah White, co-creator of Occupy Wall Street and author of The End of Protest: A New Playbook for Revolution suggest that clicktivist damage every genuine political movement they touch and unfairly compete with legitimate local organisations who represent an authentic voice of their communities.

Using gloried events or viral campaigns Digital Activists inflate figures of how many likes they have. Good looking websites nothing but a dazzling self-portrait with a big marketing contribution. Such organisation usually accompanied by good willed people who honestly believe they doing something important and good for community. However, a little bit of self- censoring required from their leaders.

The reality is that collapsing distinction between Clicktivism and marketing push away large number of individuals who previously trusted digital organisation. Formerly socially engaged people coming away not believing to any forms of activism.

The result of this conflict would be a rise of new type of activists. It will be individuals who passionate, ideologically strong against consumerism logic and actively attacking corporate and their view on commercialisation of human life.

Funnel, A. (2018). Activism is broken: Here's how we fix it. [online] ABC News. Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-25/activism-is-broken-heres-how-we-fix-it/9077372 [Accessed 20 Dec. 2017].

Butler, M. (2011). Clicktivism, Slacktivism, or "real" Activism. Cultural codes of American activism in the internet era. 1st ed. [ebook] Ann Arbor: ProQuest LLC, pp.3-6. Available at: http://individual.utoronto.ca/christine/sources/clicktivism.pdf [Accessed 25 Dec. 2017].

White, M. (2018). Clicktivism is ruining leftist activism | Micah White. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/aug/12/clicktivism-ruining-leftist-activism [Accessed 24 Dec. 2017].

Trump, D. (2018). Make Ameriсa Great Again. [Blog] Real Donald Trump. Available at: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor [Accessed 1 Jan. 2018].

[oleggaevoy-blog]

Politics and civil culture

Political campaigns are constantly changing.  The use of social networking in an election campaign has colossally increased. Bernie Sanders put a bird on Snapchat filters and saw viral adoption in 2016. Donald Trump use hashtag  Make America Great Again in 2017 and it continue to spread across all digital media.

Looking to the future, how will our politicians act in 2018, 2020 and further beyond as a member of the digital community? What kind of tools would be appropriate for political advertising?  How are social media and new technologies going transform our government?

There is no doubt that Data Mining will play a significant role in future election campaigns. Users digital footprints such as likes and cookies provide advertisers with large amounts of information needed to select and sort out targeted audience and recommend consumers with suggestions on what car they need to buy or what movie they want to see next weekend. This capability of Data Mining is largely used for commercial purpose for the last five years and brings lots of success to retail sector and goods producers.  In a same way data mining helps sophisticated digital campaigns find and target and increased number of supporters who are willing to vote in favor of the candidate, support them financially and donate money or even volunteer for certain activities and help campaigning. This is already happening with presidential election in US and will be used in future campaigns more actively.

Another step in innovative way of politic advertising would be more specific apps created with the purpose of fundraising, consulting or organising online.  Number of start-ups looking for more experiments in digital advertising tools in the near future.

Promoted advertising on social networks prove to be a very powerfultool in politics. Many people remember how it was during Clinton/Trump campaign in US. I believe that more and more candidates onthe local and state level will promote their run for office using platforms such a Facebook, Snapchat Twitter and Instagram. At the same time as more millennials are growing up and cut the cord, the political advertising mustmove away from traditional forms of advertising using TV and Radio stations. For example, some extend big campaigns will pay and buy ads on network television the shift towards to streaming platforms like YouTube will be significant.

Today digital campaigns preferred to follow the lead of social media influencers of the politics world . However individual politicians can innovate and lead the way for new politics advertising.  The bright future of digital advertising and organizing in politics will welcome disruption and active involvement in politic campaign.

Watch a video below to see the compilation of the funniest and most embarrassing moments showing Australian politics at its best, or worst, in 2017. The world of politics isn't without its uncomfortable gaffes or strange times and social media bring it to light.

NBG. (2017). Top Hilarious moments in Australian Politics 2017 | Funniest Aussie Politicians. [Online Video]. 13 December 2017. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhT3co2qNAA. [Accessed: 21 December 2017].

Chandler R, Munday R, 2016. A dictionary of social media. [Online] Available at: http://www.oxfordreference.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/view/10.1093/acref/9780191803093.001.000

Trump, D. (2018). Make America Great Again. [Blog] Real Donald Trump. Available at: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor [Accessed 1 Jan. 2018].

Ormiston, S. (2015). Federal election 2015: How data mining is changing political campaigns. [online] Politics. Available at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-election-2015-how-data-mining-is-changing-political-campaigns-1.3211895 [Accessed 24 Dec. 2017].

[oleggaevoy-blog]

To blog or not to blog?

Having a blog seems like a great Idea. It is like having a constant conversation with your close (and not so close) friends about things you enjoy in your life.  Kids, family, sport and exercise, tools and DIY projects,politics and economy etc.  For many people, it is very easy to put feelings into writing form and voila, you share, connect and experience life with others.    Emerging in the late 1990’s, a blog is a digital self-publishing and social networking platform, were users can write articles, share photos and videos online in chronologically dated posts (Chandler R, Munday R, 2016)  Even with multiple explanations of blogging, even with large amount of positiveness in blogging, one question should be answered firstly by every blogger:

  There are many people who are blogging as a business. Bloggers can make money by sharing stories and accounts of their everyday lives, upon which business products and services are featured and advertised to their audience (Abidin, 2016).  Is this a easy job for them?Lets look at that a bit closer.

For a number of enthusiasts of the internet community, blogging is the second or even third job.  It can take years before a new blogger can become an influencer and start earning money.

As any other businesses, blogging requires initial investment as well as financialfeeding to develop business in the future.  It starts with a host and domain name, but also payment to Web designer and technical assistance, photo and editing service, stock photo subscriptions and many others maintenance and design issues which required financial attention. For example, social media services such as boosted ads, boosted posts and promoted content became an independent business industry in the Internet.

Another form of investment into blogging business is participation in to a vast selection of workshops, network events,

  There is no other way. This is a business as any other, and it takes a money to make money.

To blog, or not to blog? That is the question…… Every author will decide for himself. There is no straight answer. This video help to answer it as well as raise some other issues, including members of  family, who does not appreciate importance of modern communication.