Reaction Realm

Just a random guy reacting to the random aspects of life

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The major influence and growth of China’s social media

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Double the population of USA...

…that’s how many active monthly social networking users China has. Over 650 Million!

China is one of the most restricted countries in the world in terms of the internet, but such constraints have directly affected the increasing success of Chinese social media sites such as WeChat, Sina Weibo and QQ.

 Through the introduction of “The Great Firewall of China”, run under the "Golden Shield Project" by the Bureau of Public Information and Network Security Supervision; the Chinese Government has made it impossible for foreign companies to enter the Chinese social media network.

Recently, the US blacklisting of Huawei has left many Huawei owners across the world shocked and wondering if they will need to stop using their phone. However, social media users in China are unfazed by this predicament and rather are bringing in waves of support for the affected brand.

The US blacklisting of Huawei has lead to Google blocking Huawei access to Android updates after complying with an executive order, issued by Donald Trump. This has lead many Huawei users outside of China worried; with some users on Twitter unsure of what to do with their current device. On the contrary, in China many publics have formed their own communities, discussing and vowing not to abandon Huawei in light of the recent developments on their various media platforms such as Weibo. This is an indication of a strong online identity.

On Weibo, the translated hashtag “Huawei can not rely on the US supply chain” had over 59 million views as of Monday 27th of May.

The hashtag “Huawei’s Self-Developed Operating System Hong Meng” also took off on Monday in response to the news that Huawei has been developing its own OS for years, in case it would no longer be able to depend on Google for the Android OS.

Many users commented that they are looking forward to the Huawei OS, and predict that one potential consequence of the China-US trade war will be that all Chinese smartphones might eventually switch to a Chinese Operating System and use made-in-China chips and electronics.

Publics express that Huawei is more than a brand to them, saying it is a “national pride.” The slogan “Go China! Go Huawei!” is pervasive on social media.

“Some of my close friends are thinking of buying an iPhone, and I think it’s shameful.”

“I will unconditionally support domestically produced products. Go Huawei!”, others wrote on Weibo.

This immense support demonstrates how publics can come together in support of an issue; especially in an environment that is affected by such factors as the The Great Firewall of China.

…That’s this week’s reaction in the realm of Social Media in China.

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58% of Generation Z Males...

...That’s how many Generation Z Males believe that gaming is an important part of their personal and online identity. 

Prior to 2000, ‘social gaming’ was perceived differently - with multiplayer games carried out in a single room with four friends playing against each other. This was the type of gaming that Generation Z was brought up on. Social gaming’ is also a point of connection, with 74% of Generation Z Males agreeing that “playing video games helps me to stay connected with my friends”.  

 Gaming isn’t just a leisure hobby, it is a part of an identity, defined by connection instead of seclusion. Comparatively, Millennials would connect about gaming in chat rooms and read gaming magazines to learn about the latest game releases, cheat codes and other related information when they were in their childhood. On the other hand, Generation Z, has been exposed to a broader social world, with social media platforms like Facebook with social gaming and Twitch specifically dedicated to gaming.

The building of online communities and networks has further impacted the social gaming landscape. Compared to Millennial males who value gaming as a vessel to measure up, and better their friends, Generation Z males treat gaming as the new “going to the mall” - because playing and watching is the way they socialise. Generation Z males also differentiate in their tendency to watch video games. While previous generations connected online via chat rooms, Generation Z uses social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitch to build online communities and friendships, with 77% of Generation Z Males being regular game watchers. The increased social engagement has enriched the role that gaming plays in their lives. This concept of gaming not being a hobby, but a way to define oneself, had a major impact on the development of ‘social gaming’ - leading to the integration of communities and gaming, with the introduction of social ‘online’ gaming on Facebook.

Social gaming provides a digital space for competitive, social, cultural and commercial exchange from the merge of online and offline communities. These gaming communities include a variety of social networks located within and around the spaces of games with the boundaries of these spaces becoming increasingly fluid as players extend the game both online and offline through the prominent use of social media platforms by Generation Z. Such platforms have provided a space for connecting users, friends, and  family, into various online communities, encouraging social interaction and conversation. This possibly engenders a strong sense of belonging and connection within social gaming.

…That’s this week’s reaction in the realm of Social Gaming.

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The invite to the latest ‘party’ in town. Bring a plus one!

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The #FCKHIV Campaign in all its glory. Enjoy :)

***All rights belong to MTV, Oglivy and associated parties. Video sourced from Vimeo***

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7.52 Million People...

...That’s how many people are living with HIV in South Africa as of 2018.

South Africa has the highest HIV infection rate in the world. It’s commonly known that the first step in overcoming the spread of this disease, is to get tested and know your status. Non-government organisations have tirelessly preached this message. However, their message doesn’t seem to be resonating with the youth.

This was about to all change on World AIDS Day 2017 (December 1st, 2017), when MTV collaborated with Marketing communications company Ogilvy South Africa to launch a campaign to urge the youth the break the stigma of being “positive” or “negative”. The MTV #FCKHIV campaign inspired teenagers to “give HIV the middle finger” by simply changing the finger that is usually used to get tested. Instead of using the index finger, the campaign asked for teenagers to switch to their middle finger – in a movement to #FCKHIV.

Within five hours of its release, the campaign received 6.8 million impressions and became the no. 1 trending topic within 9 minutes – out trending #WorldAidsDay. Through the success of the campaign, MTV is now partnering with South Africa’s largest HIV prevention program.

The success of the campaign is partly attributed to the appropriateness of its release date. Other than coinciding with World AIDS Day, December also flags the commencement of the ‘party season’ in South Africa; a time when the youth go ‘massive’ and ‘party hard’. Hence, releasing #FCKHIV promoted awareness and restraint during this season of festivities.

The #FCKHIV was also successful due to its unconventional means of spreading awareness. As the campaign depicts, teenagers don’t take well to long, boring talks from NGOs – “all they hear is blah blah blah”. Instead, the use of animated objects, vibrant colours, and tweets of #FCKHIV are more closely aligned with the values of a teenager. The mere use of a hashtag adds to the campaign’s effectiveness.

The #FCKHIV brings together younger demographics to form these online communities where they can express their feelings about being tested without fear of being judged or criticised and follow up by “giv[ing] HIV the middle finger”. These online communities potentially increase their self-esteem and confidence with the campaign, as 42% of Generation Zs feel that social media has a direct impact on how they feel about themselves. 

Further, 39% say social media has an effect on their self-esteem! This delineates how campaigns such as #FckHIV that utilise social media, are potentially more successful in their reach and improvement of self-esteem as confidence in others.

…That’s this week’s reaction in the realm of Public Health Campaigns.

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678,000 people...

...That’s how many people disapproved of Paramount Pictures’s first official trailer for their upcoming live-action movie Sonic The Hedgehog. Paramount received heavy internet backlash concerning the appearance of the main character – Sonic.

Within a two days of release, director Jeff Fowler responded to the criticism on Twitter – stating how “the message is loud and clear”, with changes to Sonic promised to be made before releasing the film in November.

This rapid response would not have been possible if social media wasn’t as prominent as it is today. As we are living in the digital age, crowdsourcing as increasingly become more popular within various organisations. It has become a growing, fast-paced and effective way for organisations to collect the best concepts from online communities and utilise them in a manner that benefits both the contributor and the organisation. Despite this, one-third of marketers do not monitor social media accounts and trends – leaving them at a disadvantage in this digital era. Crowdsourcing has also been an engaging and faster way for audiences to interact with organisations like Paramount Pictures and provide simultaneous feedback.

The presence of social media also contributes to the facilitation of communication systems; especially distributed networks. 

Through a distributed network, social media allows for a message to be delivered efficiently to the receiver. In December 2018, a leaked design of Sonic was published on Twitter. However, due to the nature of a distributed network, the damage had already been done; with screenshots of the design spreading like wildfire on social media. The trailer released a few months later only solidified audience concerns – resulting in the outburst of built up disgust for the appearance of Sonic the Hedgehog.

During this time, these audiences have become networked publics. They are actively engaging in shared culture as reactors, re-makers and re-distributors of the film’s trailer as a form of media reception. Various videos posted on YouTube expressing audience reactions, and memes of Sonic’s unnerving appearance have gone viral – further dominating the message in which the audience aims to deliver to Paramount Pictures.

I’m personally not a fan of Sonic’s live-action look, so here’s a prayer that this ‘fix’ changes my mind.

…That’s this week’s reaction in the realm of Crowdsourcing.

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55 million light-years away…

…in the centre of a galaxy called Messier 87, there lies a supermassive black hole – Powehi, dubbed by astronomers and the University of Hawaii.

The first-ever image of Powehi was captured by The Event Horizon Telescope, with Katie Bouman (MIT graduate and computer scientist) standing out to many as a role model for young women, within a traditionally male-dominant STEM industry – one of the youngest members involved.

In celebration of such a feat, Bouman uploaded a photo of herself in shock and awe onto Twitter, taken the moment the photograph was processed. It didn’t take long for the photograph to go viral, with over 17,000 retweets, and 155,000 retweets from a repost of the same photo. This was a moment of victory for women in STEM, as their contributions have “long been ignored and downplayed”, as well as a testament to the ground-breaking discovery itself.

However, the celebrations didn’t last long as Bouman became the target of internet trolls, deeming her trying to take credit for the entire project. Many users developed new user identities to attack Bouman online. An anonymous user created a fake Twitter account, pretending to be Bouman, in order to criticise Bouman’s online identity. Others attacked Bouman in a manner that reminded others of the hate towards 2016’s all-female Ghostbusters remake. Twitter wasn’t the only platform to be exposed with content targeting Bouman, with YouTube and Reddit the most active with trolls targeting Bouman.

There were attempts to diffuse the attacks with MIT tweeting out a clarification tweet, Bouman’s colleagues debunking theories on social media as well as the deletion of the fake twitter account. However, these did little to nothing for the trolls, as they kept on coming for Bouman. 

The trolls were finally shutdown by Astrophysicist Kazu Akiyama, where he proved the information on social media to be misleading and clarified that Bouman co-led a project team with a colleague, and while her algorithm wasn’t used in the end, her work was foundational in the success.

Bouman’s story clearly demonstrates how social media and spread and exacerbate misleading information rapidly, fuelling the need to respond instantaneously. Online identities are challenged, Bouman fought to keep the integrity of her own identity, whilst others hid behind masks of falsehood.

…That’s this week’s reaction in the realm of Trolling.

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A word cloud representing how survey participants described trolling behaviours.

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Over 6,000 Amazon employees...

That’s how many employees signed an open letter to Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, urging the company to transition completely fossil fuels and formulate a plan that is reflective of climate change. 

With climate change becoming a bigger issue each year, more businesses are evaluating methods that can reduce their carbon footprint and impact on the environment. However, Amazon has been one of these businesses not to adapt their operations in light of environmental concerns – until April 2019 that is.

The letter calls for Amazon Web Services (AWS) to stop aiding the oil and gas industry getting more “climate-wrecking” fuels out of the ground. Whilst this may seem to be a traditional form of activism, a new front known as shareholder activism has risen; where Amazon employees have used their company’s stock to pressure top executives into implementing environmental policies and procedures.

In response, Amazon have “promised” to turn over a new leaf by disclosing their carbon footprint for the first time. Whilst this is a great step in the right direction, other global businesses have already been doing this for decades – with Microsoft, disclosing their carbon emissions in 2005.

This may suggest that Amazon wants the media to believe that they are making an active move about these concerns, but in reality, they haven’t achieved anything new. Such ideals could be supported by Amazon’s 2018 “secret”, where the company kept its worsening environmental harms a secret from the public eye.

Amazon has been proud of showcasing their contributions to renewable energy. Their most known contribution was back in October 2017, where Jeff Bezos christened a Texas wind farm whilst harnessed to the top of a 300-foot-tall wind turbine on Twitter.

However, when discussing Amazon’s increasing use of ‘dirty energy’ such as coal and game, the company was tight lipped until KUOW, a Seattle public radio service, obtained internal company documents that exposed Amazon’s emission levels of almost 3.3 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Whilst Amazon may be attempting to aid the environment by utilising renewable energy, Amazon is ultimately thriving where the grid is primarily ‘dirty’ such as Virginia, USA, where Amazon has more data centres than anywhere else. This delineates how Amazon isn’t fazed by their employees’ act of shareholder activism – but rather are being selective of what real action occurs.

Big businesses such as Amazon need to be kept in check! Otherwise we may continue to face the catastrophic consequences of climate change.

…That’s this week’s reaction in the realm of Activism.

USEFUL LINKS

ACTIVISM PRESENTATION

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2,900,000 people...

...That’s how many Australians are actively using WeChat monthly. 

Social Media has always had a pivotal role in political elections, creating channels of communication that sway votes to either parties. In light of the upcoming federal election, Australian politicians are spending more time pursuing voters through Chinese social media platforms such as WeChat. Over the past month, politicians including Opposition leader Bill Shorten and Prime Minister Scott Morrison have been active over on WeChat developing their own online identities. Whilst this is nothing new for Australians, the use of WeChat has become more prominent and frequent with Australian politicians in an upcoming election.

One of the major reasons for the sudden influx of attention towards WeChat are the several marginal seats with large numbers of Chinese-Australian voters that are available. By promoting their campaign throughout WeChat, politicians are able to gain a certain level of exposure in these communities. As a result, both Labor and Liberal have put forth two candidates with Chinese heritage, who are active WeChat users - Jennifer Yang (Labor) and Gladys Liu (Liberal) - to campaign for the seat of Chisholm, Victoria; where over 10% of the electorate are of Chinese descent.

Whilst this may prove to be a simple task, there are several hurdles politicians need to overcome in order to effectively use WeChat as a campaigning platform. Before politicians can develop a strategy, they need to understand that Chinese social media is a heavily censored space, regardless of whether it is used inside or outside of China. This can cause a rift, as discussion of sensitive political issues and criticisms on WeChat are frequently deleted, with private messaging likewise monitored and censored. Data security concerns are also a major issue when utilising these platforms. Campaigning can be a tricky slope!

Politicians need to develop a specific strategy to tackle WeChat’s unique interface. With features such as ‘Time Capsule’, and ‘Top Stories’, it can be confusing to navigate. Hence, by understanding the capabilities of these features, it will lend politicians an advantage when campaigning upon WeChat.

Specifically, politicians have been targeting the ‘Top Stories’ feature, using attention-grabbing, and sometimes exaggerated headlines to attract WeChat users and create their own online identities. Whether these headlines are misleading could become a detriment to politicians as it may have the opposite effect, rather users losing trust in a given politician. Nonetheless, politicians need to adopt the communication styles, and personas that are preferred by Chinese-speaking WeChat users.

As more politicians create WeChat accounts, it could be argued that an affordance has risen with WeChat becoming more of a mere popularity contest rather than a platform to campaign based on facts. This affordance may affect the outcome of votes from Chinese-Australians who may be voting out of favouritism rather than for the best candidate.

…That’s this week’s reaction in the realm of Politics and Social Media.

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Bill Shorten’s Live Q&A with 500 WeChat Users in March 2019

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“It’s a bit like Blogger”

“It’s a bit like Instagram”

This is what we have come to like about Tumblr – the familiarity of a blog with the interconnectedness of a social network. Can Tumblr be categorised as either a blog or a social network? Or is Tumblr simply a combination of both entities?

According to Tumblr’s official About page, the platform is described as a “microblogging and social networking website”, allowing uses post content to a short-form blog and follow other bloggers respectively.

A microblogging platform refers to the limited amount of information individuals share on a blog or website. The most popular examples include Twitter and Tumblr, with Twitter’s limit set at 160 characters, and Tumblr’s at 500,000 characters. Whilst Tumblr’s limit may seem unfit for a microblogging platform, majority of “tumblogs” only feature a photo and a brief caption despite the vast limit. Tumblr is also ranked #2 out of the ‘Top 28 Microblogging Sites of 2019′, hence solidifying the notion that Tumblr is a microblogging platform.

A social networking site is an online platform that allows users to create a public profile and interact with other users on the website. Social networking sites promote features that allow users to upload and share content to their followers and enable users to interact with such content through systems of likes, shares and comments. Tumblr features all of these facets to be considered a social networking site. However, according to a study by GlobalWebIndex, out of the ‘Top 15 Social Networking Sites’, Tumblr is ranked at #15 with only 21% of registered users! Whilst Tumblr fits the criteria of a social networking site, it hasn’t been as successful in this category.

By comparing Tumblr’s success solely as a blog or a social network, Tumblr has proven to be stronger as a microblogging platform, allowing users to find their blogging ‘voice’ through personalisation of content. However, as a social networking site, several “tumblogs” have adopted various online identities, further aiding users to discover their blogging ‘voice’ through self-expression. Whilst Tumblr as a social network, can become an affordance with usernames that are barely literate and a deviation of their identity, without the social networking aspect of Tumblr, many “tumblogs” would not have had the exposure to share their content with the world. Whilst Tumblr is stronger as a microblogging platform, I believe that Tumblr is a combination of both entities as Tumblr would not be as successful without.

…That’s this week’s reaction in the realm of Blog vs Social Media.

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Crazy how Tumblr is ranked #15!

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Blog or Social Media? The real question.

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Something to live by

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Welcome!