Sarahs Digital Communities Blog.

Hi, my name is Sarah and I am a Social Media student at Swinburne University in Melbourne. This is my tumblr blog for my Digital Communities class where I will post my weekly readings, summaries, and discussion posts - in addition to sharing some of my classmates posts.

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Week 10: Digital Citizenship and Conflict: Social Media Governance

For as long as there has been social media, there has been social media harassment and misconduct. It is important to discuss social media harassment as often social media is discussed as something wholly positive.

Social media harassment is an umbrella term which can refer to being called offensive names, being embarrassed online, being physically threatened online, being sexually harassed online, being harassed over a long time, being hurt online by a romantic partner, being impersonated, spreading damaging rumours online, encouraging others to harass you online, and attempting to hurt the victim in person after online harassment. (Lenhart, et al in Marwick & Caplan R 2018, pg. 544-545).

A prime example of subtle online harassment could be “gaslighting”. A term which has risen in prominence in recent years. The central tenet of gaslighting is the psychological manipulation of a person in order to erode their sense of self and sanity. (Gleeson 2018). Gaslighting’s re-emergence in our day-to-day vernacular is in part due to a wider societal focus on violence against women. (Gleeson 2018).

This week's lecture focused on the harassment women face online, and how many forms of social media harassment are heavily used against women. For example, planned and networked harassment such as doxing, revenge porn, social shaming and intimidation were used by mens rights activists and anti feminist gamers during a protected online controversy known as Gamergate (Marwick A & Caplan R 2018, pg. 544) As a result of social media harassment and misconduct, there is social media governance. Most social media platforms have systems in place to protect and censor users from harassment, in addition to keeping platforms safe and preventing harmful people from having a platform for their hate speech. These methods of governance are quite complex as they have to cover multiple and sometimes conflicting interests. These can include the commercial and public sector and different countries approaches with varying internet regulations.

In Australia there is no sadly single piece of legislation against bullying or online harassment. However there are a number of acts which offer some protection to victims. These include The Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 and the Enhancing Online Safety Act 2015. (Milne 2021). It is important to raise awareness on the dark side of social media and to encourage users to be as nice and positive as possible, to create a space that is safe and enjoyable for all users.

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Week 9 - Social Media influencers and the slow fashion movement

To be active in online spaces, means that one claims online citizenship. Citizenship can be defined as meaning to carrying out the duties, responsibilities or values of a member of a particular society or group or organisation. (Cambridge) This translates to online spaces as well, especially social media. There are certain obligations and movements which gain traction on social media and thus creates an obligation for users to be aware of the movement, support it or follow it themselves.

A movement like this which is prominent on social media is the slow fashion movement.

The slow fashion is not a new movement, it is linked to the counterculture of the 1960s, the anti-fur campaigns of the 1980s and protests against unethical working conditions that were prominent through the 1990s and early 2000s. (Lai, et al 2017) Slow fashion is also linked to the sustainable consumption movement, a movement which is ‘built on the essential concepts of sustainability values, ethical working conditions and decreasing environmental contaminants’ (Chi, et al 2021).

Sustainable fashion refers to goods that respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life, while minimising the use of natural resources, toxic materials and emissions of waste and pollutants over the life-cycle. For fashion to be deemed sustainable, the items must be be child labour free across the entire supply chain, materials used in the production process must be as less harmful as possible to the environment, ie recycled or up-cycled. Additionally, the production process must be ethically and socially responsible. This can be done by ensuring paying workers fair wages and suitable working conditions.

In recent years, with the rise of social media, sustainable slow fashion has become more mainstream. Social media platforms have provided the space for more grass roots activists and their work to be shared across larger audiences. There are lots of social media “influencers” who promote sustainable fashion. Some of my favourites (on instagram) are;

(Screenshots are from Instagram.)

References:

‘Citizen’ 2021, in Cambridge Dictionary, viewed 6 May 2021 <

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/citizen>.

Ting Chi, Jenisha Gerard, Yuhfen Yu & Yuanting Wang 2021 'A study of U.S. consumers’ intention to purchase slow fashion apparel: understanding the key determinants' International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 14:1, 101-112, DOI: 10.1080/17543266.2021.1872714

Zhen Lai, Claudia E. Henninger and Panayiota J. Alevizou 2017 ‘An Exploration of Consumers’ Perceptions Towards Sustainable Fashion – A Qualitative Study in the UK’.

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Social gaming in 2020-2021

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Week 8 - Social Gaming

Gaming has always been a social activity. Communities grow around games, before the internet, arcades and games were always seen as a social activity. As gaming moved online these practices followed. The rise of online gaming has created public online spaces that lead to community and connection through social gaming. Social gaming exploded in the late 2000s - early 2010s, with the rise of social media it became more and more possible to incorporate our online social networks into our gaming lives.

This was first seen through mobile games such as Farmville, or CandyCrush, which utilised facebook friends and incorporated them into the game that encouraged small daily gameplay. Online games adapt your friendship ties for play purposes, while accommodating your daily routines. (Hamari and Järvinen, 2011)

However, as our online capabilities grew, so did the way we game online. Soon platforms such as Twitch, and Discord grew in popularity. These platforms make it possible to stream your gameplay live, or chat live with your friends while playing online games together. Examples of online gaming allowing us to connect in real time with our friends or strangers, are games such as Among Us, which rose to immense popularity during the pandemic, and Fortnite.

Additionally, within the gaming community there has become celebrity gamers, professional streamers who use platforms such as discord to build audiences, their brands and incomes. (Taylor 2018 p. 4)

References:

Taylor, TL 2018, ‘Broadcasting ourselves’ (chapter 1), in Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming, Princeton University Press, pp.1-23

Hamari, J. and Järvinen, A 2011. Building Customer Relationship through Game Mechanics in Social Games. Business, Technological, and Social Dimensions of Computer Games, [online] pp.348-365. Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256033706_Building_Customer_Relationship_through_Game_Mechanics_in_Social_Games> [Accessed 1 May 2021].amon

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Week 7 - Instagram Filters

Filters have become an important part of popular visual culture (Rettberg 2014 p. 21). Instagram filters have the ability to change self perception on a huge global and social scale. Additionally, apps such as Face-tune and SnowApp also work to edit our appearances in a convenient and efficient way.

Applications such as Face-tune and SnowApp only give us the illusion of control or choice, they have pre set settings and filters over the faces or filters that they provide. There is a choice users can make between filters, but all filters are pre chosen to work in a specific way. In the majority of cases, these filters work to enforce a heightened sense of femininity, plumping lips, thinning faces, stronger and sharper cheekbones, bigger eyes. Additionally, these filters have often been criticised for being racist.

Filters have commonly been criticised for being racist as often the preset choices are based upon Eurocentric standards, ie. thinning of the nose. Or in the case of SnowApp, a facial beauty app based in and created for the South Korean market, whitens the skin in almost all of the beauty features, thus enforcing negative and racist views over a preference of skin colour; “People of colour find their complexions unnaturally and undesirably lightened by snapchat's filters” (Barker 2020 p. 209)

Social media apps such as Instagram and Snapchat originated as a space to share our lives with our friends. Filters have always been an option on instagram. However, they started out as small colour adjustments or grain filters/borders. Recently there has been a shift towards AR filters, augmented reality - shifting, editing and adding to reality into something new, rather than simply “improving” the original photo. AR filters morph to your face instead of simply being laid among the top. The addition of filters to Instagram and Snapchat changed the platform from an authentic, ephemeral playground where users were free to ‘send ugly photos’ to yet another social media 'beauty pageant’. (Barker 2020 p. 211)

However, these filters are not inherently negative. There can be power and liberation in the technology. There are simpler filters which can apply simple makeup, giving power to people who can not in real life access makeup products. In addition, they can also be used as a way to experiment with our appearances, to trial hair colours or piercings in a non permanent and inexpensive way.

References: Barker, J 2020. 'Making-up on mobile: The pretty filters and ugly implications of Snapchat'. Fashion, Style & Popular Culture. 7. 207-221. 10.1386/fspc_00015_1 Rettberg J.W 2014, 'Filtered Reality'. In: Seeing Ourselves Through Technology: How We Use Selfies, Blogs and Wearable Devices to See and Shape Ourselves. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137476661_2

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Week 6: Body Modification on Visual Social Media.

Body modification on social media is incredibly normalised - it’s almost out of the ordinary to post a completely unedited photo. This is exemplified tenfold if you are a person with a sizeable following, where all your posts are under a higher level of scrutiny.

The most normalised, convenient and common form of photo editing is filters. Filters have become an important part of popular visual culture. (Rettberg 2014, p. 22). In my opinion, filters can be fun and add interest to selfies, they can be fun gimmicks or just cute. But there are some filters, especially now with instagram's new feature of users being able to upload their own coded filters, that just prioritise morphing one's face into a generalised norm of what is considered beautiful in society. Examples of this include altering nose shapes, thinning faces, enlarging eyes, and sharpening jaw lines. Filters can help to give confidence to people online, or empower people with an altered view of their own image, but there is no denying that eventually it will become damaging to people to only ever see an idealised version of other human faces, and then the unedited, unfiltered version of their own. This could lead to losing confidence in your natural looks or finding new aspects of yourself to feel insecure about.

Source: Instagram story screenshots. This phenomenon can be described as digital dysmorphia; there is both a collective and individual habit of editing the female body by using digital technology to sculpt the body and face into virtual proportions based on societies imposed standards of unattainable, unrealistic and specific types of feminine aesthetics. These standards are often based and narrowly modelled on stereotypical, white, slim, able bodied Westernised aesthetics which saturate today's online culture. (Coy-Dibley, 2015, p. 2)

However, I think if we were to start a movement against filters and editing, then the movement would have to be headed by the celebrities and models who start the trends and the standards for instagram or other visual social media, or on a broader level, in print models and photographers. It is unfair to hold regular people to a higher ethical standard with regards to filters and editing than celebrities. Being honest and polished on social media began with celebrities and influencers, and for the trend to die, it will have to by their hand as well.

References: Coy-Dibley, I, 2016. ‘“Digitised Dysmorphia” of the Female Body: The Re/Disfigurement of the Image’ Palgrave Communications. 2:16040 doi: 10.1057/palcomms.2016.40

Rettberg J.W, 2014 'Filtered Reality'. In: Seeing Ourselves Through Technology: How We Use Selfies, Blogs and Wearable Devices to See and Shape Ourselves. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137476661_2

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Week 5: Digital Citizenship / Hashtag publics and online activism.

On online spaces there is often a want to engage and show support over every public issue, to be an active online activist - to use your platform for good. Your online profiles are a place where an individual has the power to amplify issues that would usually be dismissed or ignored by mainstream society.

Online activism is a good way to share one's own thoughts on an issue, as previously you would not have had that platform, especially if one is part of a marginalised group. As a result of this, there has been a rise in awareness and publicity around issues that predominantly impact and surround marginalised groups. Online spaces have given a voice to the average person and the issues they face, outside of what issues gather the interest of the mainstream media - predominately run by white Men.

Currently, the way most citizens engage in politics is individualised. Majority of citizens choose to be activists in ad hoc, grass rooted ways, instead of the traditional ways of joining formal groups (often which are hard for the average person to become a member of). This could be by online or offline petitioning, donating money directly to the people in need or the cause, and using their consumer power to boycott products over consumer concerns - money speaks louder than words afterall. (Vromen 2017).

Another benefit to online/digital activism is the power it has to unite voices. A prime example of this is the Black Lives Matter movement, where the use of a hashtag (#BLM / #BlackLivesMatter) created a space to help and share news and information, in addition to raising awareness and the platform of the issue. Social media magnified the issue onto the global stage and thus allowed more and more people to engage and lend support, people which otherwise would not have been aware of the issue due to censorship in mainstream media or various other reasons. Online and social media activism gave a space for Black people to be able to express their thoughts and share information without interference from mainstream news which often have other priorities, often maintaining favour with their audiences of white, conservative people, while reinforcing negative and harmful racist stereotypes of the black community in the minds of their audience. (Crick, 2020) References:

Vromen, A 2017, ‘Digital Citizenship and Political Engagement The Challenge from Online Campaigning and Advocacy Organisations’ London : Palgrave Macmillan. Accessed 13th April 2021

Crick, N 2020, ‘The Rhetoric of Social Movements : Networks, Power, and New Media’, edited by Nathan Crick, Taylor & Francis Group. Accessed on 13th April 2021 < ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/swin/detail.action?docID=6295914. >

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WEEK 4: Reality TV and creating online public discourse

Trigger Warning: Domestic Abuse

Reality tv encourages digital public forums and participation because it is usually a light hearted topic to engage in, and is not intimidating - plus you don't need much background knowledge outside of the show to be able to contribute.

Reality tv is also a major popular discussion among lots of groups of people throughout the time where it is airing live, which naturally makes us want to discuss it. Reality TV provokes the citizens in us and thus encourages us to participate in public discussion. (Graham T, Hajru A 2011)

In the current season of Married at First Sight (which has a very popular hashtag that compliments the airing of the show creating a space for live online discussion on the events of the show, #MAFS or #MAFSau) there has emerged lots of discussion around domestic violence and whether the producers are glorifying the abuse or using it for entertainment. 

One of the relationships, Bryce and Melissa, has been deemed extremely problematic, and abusive on Bryce’s end towards Melissa. Melissa has openly admitted she is scared to upset Bryce. She also has rebuffed other contestant’s concerns about Bryce’s treatment, choosing to stay “loyal” to him despite how he treats or talks about her.  Below are some tweets discussing the relationship:

Here is the full image that was referenced in the above tweet:

There has even been a petition asking channel 9 for failing its duty to address Bryce's behaviour. The petition has over 10 thousand signatures at the time of this post. (Click here for the petition link)

The relationship that has been portrayed on screen has spurred lots of online conversation about domestic abuse - a subject that is normally shied away from in society. I agree that the show itself has morphed a serious issue that should be confronted into something as shallow as simple entertainment, channel 9 has not done their due diligence to the contestants, Melissa and the audience. Although, because of how the relationship has played out, I think a very important conversation around domestic abuse is now taking place across Australia, and in doing so is raising awareness which is a good thing. 

References:

Graham, T. and Hajru, A., 2011. Reality TV as a trigger of everyday political talk in the net-based public sphere. European Journal of Communication, 26(26(1) 18–32, 2011.).

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Leading an online social movement requires offline work

Online social movements are not leaderless. On the contrary, leadership duties are often assumed by identifiable individuals committed to doing leadership work.

This is a very interesting article about ‘online activism’ and how it is not as simple or easy as is often suggested! 

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Week 3: Digital Communities and Blogging

How does Tumblr function as a digital community? Tumblr functions as a digital community as it provides the online space for people to share content of multiple various forms - including video, audio, image, text in addition to providing the space for online chat and discourse. Users are also able to interact with other users' posts, adding their own commentary via a reblog or in posts of their own. The ability to add your own commentary was seen as a defining feature of the website upon its creation in 2007, and was one of the main features which led to the site’s success. (Reeve 2016)

The community that Tumblr fostered beginning in the early 2010s was one of the “weird smart teenagers”, Jason Wong explained that teens perform joy on Instagram but confess sadness on Tumblr. (Reeve 2016). Tumblr created a space for all the teenagers who felt like outsiders to come together and share their feelings of sadness or anxiety about school or any other normal happenings of young teenage-hood. Tumblr was about connecting through humour, or shared interest, rather than real life commitments, physical appearances, selfies or romantic relationships like other popular social media like Facebook or Instagram held the space for in the 2010s. This connection on Tumblr was incredibly important for the LGBT youth at the time of Tumblrs peak, and still is today. The anonymity employed by tumblr encouraged discussions about sexuality and gender. The connection of LGBT and gender queer youth through tumblr to communities of teenagers facing the same questions, encouraged confidence in these teenagers. Additionally, the lack of focus on tumblr on a traditional user profile which displays age, gender, location, as encouraged on facebook, made Tumblr a more suitable place for gender non conforming people to reside. (Byron P, Brady R, Hanckel B, Vivienne S, Churchill B 2018)

References:

Byron P,  Robards B, Hanckel B, Vivienne S & Churchill B 2019, ‘“Hey, I’m Having These Experiences”: Tumblr Use and Young People’s Queer (Dis)connections. International Journal of Communication. 2239–2259 1932–8036/20190005  [ Viewed 23 March 2021 ] < https://swinburne.instructure.com/courses/33896/files/12394108?wrap=1 > 

Reeve, E 2016. The Secret Lives of Tumblr Teens. [online] The New Republic. [Accessed 23 March 2021]. <https://newrepublic.com/article/129002/secret-lives-tumblr-teens>