Smediahut

The purpose of this blog is to document my understanding of digital communities as I study, develop and alter my thoughts on social media and how it affects our society, how we behave and interact.

[smdynamo]

Thailand’s army has warned users of social media in the country that it will shut down websites and services if they are used to excessively criticize the military coup that it staged on Thursday. The army took 14 national TV stations and as many as 3,000 radio stations off-air this week as it implemented martial law before seizing power from the elected government. While it forced one national TV station to suspend a YouTube feed maintained after terrestrial broadcasting was suspended, the Thai army has largely left the Internet untouched — however, it has summoned the country’s ISPs to a meeting today. Thailand has not… This story continues at The Next Web

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In response to the resent overthrow in power by Thailand's military coup the army is threatening to block social media platforms after already taking over all traditional forms of media including tv, radio and newspaper. They aim to monitor and suspend any activity that undermines their authority and questions their actions. While on a smaller scale than China this article shows the monitoring of social networking in other Asian countries as a method of controlling power and avoiding spread ability of unrest to minimize damage and conflict.

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What to know what’s going on in social media in China? Check out this Infographic by BestFreeOnline

This infographic gives a more comparative look at social media in China in relation to the western world, especially America and the European continent. Along with this the expected growth and prevalent platforms are outlined.

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Source: http://cdn1.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2011/11/SocialMediaRevolution-L_3073.png

I think this info graphic gives a really concise and easily ingested insight into how Chinese citizens use their own social media platforms and how integrated they are into society. I like how it shows how they use the internet for in comparison to other leading countries of social media including the USA to show their highly difference needs and interactions. The recognition of the increasing dependance of social networking in response to the social changes within their offline society and an explanation of the networks that suit is also very clear and insightful. For a larger, closer look at the infographic click use the source above

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Week 11 - Global Social Media Practise: Case Study China

Until this week I wasn’t aware of the prominence of social networking in China, especially amongst their younger generations. What I was aware of to some extent was the heavy censorship and monitoring by the Chinese Government around Internet usage and opinions that juxtaposed those imposed by power, ascending from this is a sense of citizen empowerment and reliance on each other for truth. What amazed me is the Internet counter culture and reliance upon social media sites to connect with each other predominately through mobile devices and in turn a reliance on each other, creating mobility and spreadibility as a platform to express themselves against China’s strict communist regime. Even more interesting is the invisibility of the Chinese online culture in western society when it is emerging at such a rapid pace within such a dense population uncontested by any other country. Looking at statistics from can often be misleading as a comparative medium when comparing Internet access of citizens. According to backgroundcheck.org On the surface USA seems to dominant with 78% of citizens having access to basic internet access which looks like a vast comparison compared to 36% in China in 2012, although this is not relative. 36% of China’s population accumulated to over 1,337 Million people compared to the 313 Million people in America, Social media platforms in China harnessing the power to reach a much wider community than Facebook could ever attempt in America, the reach-ability is vast explaining the governments hostility towards it.

In retaliation to this emergence of an online culture and citizens reliance on online active engagement which dominates over a third of China’s population the government has initiated the most extensive and restrictive internet surveillance project on the globe known as ‘The Great Fire Wall of China.’ The aim? To neutralize critical opinions, eradicate access to political sensitive information and prevent it’s people form being corrupted by evil cultures that emerge from western opinion. They prevent access to sites that violate their constition and attack leaders which can lead to political unrest and subvert their power contrastingly using the power of the internet to spread government messages in their favour, using social media as a modern age social media platform. By monitoring what the public sees they are directing their opinion and influence. With an estimate between 30,000 and 200,000 Chinese monitoring sites for data deemed inappropriate and monitoring activity, amongst those blocked are western societies largest platforms for social interactions including Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. While this is suppressive it has allowed the public to become innovative online citizens, creating languages that defy censorship as a way of communicating and informing each other, the tight regulations work as a catalyst for a sub-culture of individuality that actively creates community norms and languages around those forced by power. More trust and validity is placed on the online public than anywhere else, the internet it’s self is hard to distinguish from social media in the Chinese culture.

I think there is a common misconception of China as a copycat nation especially when it comes to networking sites, seen as internal platforms that mimic their western constructs but in reality they interpret and reinvent social networking to adapt to their culture. For every western social network platform there is multiple Chinese equivalents. My favourite is their adaption of Twitter through their own micro-blog platform Sina Weibo. Like twitter the netizen’s, or online citizens have a limit of 140 characters, while this is limiting in the English language in China each word is one character so while it looks as condensed as your average twitter post it is spreading way larger amounts of information making it a platform that’s sways towards blogging. With nearly half the users interacting through mobile devices compared to 20% in the USA. Even the equivalents of Facebook are more segmented and specialized in audience and ability the largest and most relative being RenRen while Douban supports an art subculture, attracting art students with similar interests. Chinese social networking is unique as it is so dominant in their everyday lives investing more time online than any other average in the world. It is driven by culture, language and trust amongst citizens an outlet that lets them be expressive and individual even when being heavily monitored.

China is becoming an established online society that should be watched and interpreted by the western world. More and more prevalent is the Chinese recognition of the online consumer and their direct affect on the economy of business. We too should take a leaf out of their book and look at how sustainable online interactions can aid the economy.

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source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkXVM6ad9nI

This is an example of the interesting culture that surrounds online gaming through social media platforms. Pewdiepie as mentioned in my blog is a YouTuber who plays videogames and documents his reactions while participating within both multiplayer and single player games. This is a compilation of various uploads of multiple game play including his commentating on the online world he is participating in. Through this shared experience he has a large following and is paid to upload weekly expanding to video blogs outside the gaming forum. This is his singular means of income and he also interacts with other YouTubers on his channel. Gaming in a way becomes his job.

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Source: Newszoo.com

These infographics show the dominance of online gaming within our online lives and the large economy that surrounds social gaming all over globe. I found it interesting that Asia Pacific was the largest games market in 2013, although it does have the largest population by far. The other thing that surprised me that was console gaming is still the dominant platform although MMO is emerging.Through looking at these social patterns it is estimated that the world games market will grow to $86.1 billion US by 2016. This shows the large influence of gaming that often goes unrcognised and the emergance of the counter/sub culture into mainstream online society and offline economy.

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Week 10 - Online Social Gaming

Personally I have never really engaged with online gaming or invested large allotments of my time developing my position within an online platform although I do think it is a largely emerging culture that is often under recognized and goes without praise. Gaming is an industry in itself and a very profitable one, although it often goes unrecognized, hidden in an underground subculture that dominates through social networking and sustaining interest. There is a large population of gamers out there that don’t fit the typical mold of the social outcast who sits at home attached to their computers, all who have different levels of investment and time in the game that is reflecting within multi-player online platforms where a society emerges within a constructed space and hierarchies are formed.  

When I was younger I used to play Runescape, a medieval multi-player online game that was formulated into society of hierarchy and levels, where you would trade with others and complete quests to become more powerful and advance in relevance within the community. It had the social interaction of networking and forming alliances and the alias of avatars which meant people could form their own persona and become a construct of themselves, or someone completely different. While there are strict regulations in the 'themepark' fantasy society from the developer and regulation through reporting via the community within the game minor divergent behaviour goes unnoticed and unpunished. In many way this behaviour stimulates the interactive element of the game, creating tension, aiding societal connections and developing an in game language while stimulating the progress. It encourages dialog between players through an integrated instant messaging system creating sub-connections within the game that sustain a private relationship while allowing dialog bubbles to create interaction in the wider public space. Online gaming conflict that fuels the attention and investment in time.

Online gaming is an invisible emerging industry for those outside the online culture of gaming, although it is ever present in many ways, crossing boundaries into social networking and diffusing the concept of digital dualism. Personally the online culture that has evolved around gaming interests me more than becoming a participant of the gaming community itself within a multiplayer platform. For gamers surrounding platforms, forums and networking aid in sustaining their interest, developing skills and connecting with likeminded individuals. YouTube has seen a rise in everyday gamers becoming internet stars, blogging their experiences and documenting their reactions often in a humourous way that connects to the audience. I personally like Pewdiepie's channel on Youtube where he commentates while playing, creating a shared experience of game play while stimulating interest in the game. His reactions are often humorous and the split screen creates a shared experience. His online life bleeds into his personal life, profiting from his interaction in gaming platforms and spreading awareness through opinionated responses.

We have all experience the constant bombardment of Facebook notifications to help a 'friend' out on Candy Crush or Farm-ville by initiating in game play, creating an ever presence on the online community even if your not apart of the gaming culture. The real world bleeds into the online world through these experience games as they transform and adapt in real time, integrating in people's social practices in the real world. Similarly on multiplayer platform games such a Eve, which has a more 'sandbox' societal hierarchy gaming can become barely distinguishable from real life, even by the gamer themselves as their persona bleeds into their real personality. Just as 'The Mittani's' real life identity found it hard to separate the two personalities in an associated practice in the real world, harming the safety of a player in their daily lives outside the game proving the harm associated and harassment within gaming can bleed into your everyday lives.This is what we have to be careful of as harmful practices can expand from the screen and disrupt sociality in the offline world as gaming continues to advance as a recognized space with a large audience within the online culture.

The current perception of the gaming community dos not reflect that mass of it's reach, sustainability or profitability at the current time. Although within the sub-culture there is a large interaction that allows people to connect on all levels of a society, creating a world that with common and civil laws mimics behaviour in the real world but shifts the context.

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source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYr0VFd-CnI

This video outlines the stigma that surrounds the shameless selfies culture by outlining the stereotypes that have streamlined themselves within this culture. It is more in relation to instagram and the sharing of images through hastags and the language that has become cohesive with it. I like how the video pokes fun at the extremes of selfies and how people portray themselves through visual communities that can be harmful to their reputation/ image while recognising that most people have partaken at some point to some degree in the selfie culture.

[beautifuloutlier]

You know, people are like “ugh kids posting selfies are so narcissistic”.

But we don’t only post selfies. We look at other’s selfies. We like them, we share them, we leave nice comments on them. That is, in fact, the opposite of narcissism. That is communal love.

Narcissism is believing everyone who does things you don’t is doing them because they’re vain and ignorant and manipulative.

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I think this post highlights the polar opposite perceptions of selfie sharing in the online community. While those whose constantly participate in "selfie" sharing are often labelled as vain and attention seeking by some, by others they are an accepted part of the societal norm on social media platforms. It succinctly describes the tension in the digital community surrounding the "selfie". It's acceptance by some and rejection by others, demonstrating the digital public is not homogenous and that tension has the ability and tendency to create hype. 

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Week 9 – Visual Communities: imaging platforms & the new camera consciousness

Image sharing and video streaming on the online community has become a social norm as part of communicating our experiences with others to create a emotional or social connection. The problem with this is the ability of images to be published online without or knowledge or without permission that can have an irreconcilable impact on the reputation of a person, how their peers see them and how the larger communities view them. There has been more and more hype around our profiles and what we share on line crossing into our offline lives, from potential employees using Facebook to get a representation of someone’s personality to damaging images posted from disgruntled friends and exes, or an embarrassing picture from the past.

I think one of the main problems is the differentiation between mediated images posted online and those that are uploaded without consent. Looking at Facebook there is a stigma of tagged photos verses uploaded photos and the profile picture, the profile picture is a representation of how the user wants to portray themselves. The tagged photos show people in their real light, their often seen to be more true and less candid and can capture embarrassing images that you would not choose to upload yourself. Many images circulating out there are not derived by the person in the image, and that image, even if it is only visible for 30 seconds can leave an invisible footprint in the digital world, as soon as it is uploaded it is free to view whether restricted to friends or the wider public. The ability to upload with ease to social networking platforms via mobile devices is making it easier and easier from people to share images and photos from wherever they are in what ever state their in. Posting a drunken Selfie has never been easier, opening your Instagram or Facebook and clicking on a link that allows you to upload an instant image and post means people often post images they may regret, or maybe judged for. By the time they take it down or untag themselves it has already be seen by the mass.

The Selfie culture that has come into strong prominence in social networking over the past few years, creates an intimacy with people in their online communities. While the idea of self portraiture has always been around mobile devices with front screen cameras allows people to frame themselves in a shot. It is one of the cultural norms on social media and I believe it has become a way to connect people and share experiences with more ease. It is dependent on the context of the Selfie that makes it harmful or not by what you show and what is alluded by the image, it can have many connotations the user hasn't even thought of. Traveling around Europe my camera phone became my best friend for capturing moments of the trip, I also took a point and shoot camera as  which captured more scenic photos but my phone became a library of tourists selfies and shared experiences due to it's portability and ease of use. If I was separated from my friends I could still get a photo in front of a attraction without trusting a stranger with my camera. Similarly on nights out my phone was easier to carry around. Technology is making it easier for us to communicate through visuals, but we also have to be more aware of what we are posting.

Even mobile platforms like SnapChat where the image appears to only exist for 10 seconds or less promotes a false sense of immediacy and short term life span. The images can still become screenshots through the IPhone and circulated. These platforms create conversation through visuals, often more personalised and personal than text, but that ugly selfie can still come back to haunt you in a more public forum. Visual communities are exiting but we should use them with caution.

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Group Presentation: Trolling & Conflict

Academic poster for week 7 can be viewed HERE

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source:http://vimeo.com/21190136

This video outlines the ushahidi's platform for mapping crowd sourced information onto an interactive network to correlate information during crises. It integrates information submitted from  Sms, email, web and twitter providing from a wide scope of users and their capabilities. The platform 'revolutionises how information flows' allowing people to communicate what they see, shifting the authority in crisis situations and allowing for ground up information.

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Week 8 - Crowd Sourcing in Times of Crisis

While crowd sourcing on social media during times of crisis can allow for immediate on the ground responses to issues and first hand information, it is also in early days of adaption and there are a lot of issues with verifying relevant data within a pool of thousands of reactory comments. Another factor to consider is every situation is different and social networking platforms have their own strengths and weaknesses, although societies on reliance on the internet as a communication tool today makes it a vital way of spreading information fast. Early adaptions of crisis models using crowd source data have seen lock-downs in the communication systems at the height of crisis’s due to their inability to cope with the overwhelming amount of data coming from the ground.

  I believe crowd sourced data has a large potential as it decentralizes the information during a crisis situation to allow the people to hear what is really going on, in real time rather than information only streaming from mainstream media that has been constructed to deliver messages in a certain way to the public. The real issue is sorting through the information submitted by the online community, while it gives people a real sense of community and support the information can stream in and be overwhelming, it can also be heightened by fear, worry and uncertainty of those delivering the news and therefore I think there is a need for verified comments to filter through the noise. In saying this there is a real need to conserve traditional formats of delivering information in crisis situations as not everyone interacts with social networks, especially in rural parts of Australia where many rely on radio and televised updates, especially amongst the aged community. While twitter may be a good source of information for families of those in danger as it is fast and direct, for some in danger zones of disaster who don’t have access to internet traditional forms of communication are integral to their survival.

  I think circulating crowd sourced data is a great way of gaining awareness of an issue in places where media is very controlled and hostile, often blocking information from becoming public knowledge. The development of the Ushahidi platform in 2007 used people sourced data in Kenya after a government ban on media was put in place, following protests from the election outcome. A blog developed by Ory Okolloh became one of the main sources of information, providing on the ground reporting of the protesting and developments both locally and internationally. She asked for the public's involvement, putting out a plea for locals to document what they saw, collating the information and asking for them to assist in gaining information from non government organizations and hospitals so that a generalized death toll could be developed. From the visibility and sociability of this blog which allowed for a congregated community and collated data, a simple mapping platform was developed where information sent primarily through SMS from the ground could be uploaded and mapped ultimately giving a voice to the violence the government was trying to hide. I think it worked so well as it integrated old and new technology allowing all of the public to participate, acknowledging that 50 percent of citizens had phones compared to the minority with access to internet. The development of the Ushahidi platform has evolved to integrate Facebook, Twitter and Internet updates so that it can be used across the globe to respond to different disasters.

  Crowdsourcing works when it responds to the public's needs at the time of a crisis, but it can only be successful if people accept it as a viable source and the information as truth. The information has to be sorted to relay the truth and disregard unneeded hype or swaying of opinions. While there has to be a participatory nature the feeling that everyone’s voice will be heard, there has to be a system to allow the vital information to be at the forefront of the platforms communication to the public allowing them to respond accordingly with the right aid and assistance available.

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Source: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTLzh2WvZtIYjYGWJ1AZFw5RzF6W0owHB3kTd2xL-djso77xDf1,

Sometimes the behaviour that is deemed as trolling by others isn't seen that way by the person themselves, the act of trolling can sometimes be hard to define even by the 'troll'. As this behaviour is often a conscious decision this quote questions whether it is only trolling if the person aims to be a troll, or if people that react with the same provocative responses are trolling as well.

[hilarioushumorfromouterspace]

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I think this shows how acts of trolling online don't assimilate into the cultural norms of the real world, the computer screen acts as a shield between the troll and the trolled. Many trolls don't see the behaviour as bullying because they cannot see the affect it has on the victim, seeing it as a harmless behaviour but contextualising it in a real world situation helps us to see the negativity of this behaviour. It also satirically highlights the cowardliness of the provoker.

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Week 7 - Trolling and Online Conflict

  While the online society becomes more and more apart of our daily lives so does they complications that arise with the possibilities of animosity and ability to hide behind a computer screen. The common misperception of internet trolling and instigators of online harassment, bullying and prevocational behavior is that they were born as a product of the social networking. This type of behavior has always been apart of our culture, social networks just allow platforms for greater spreadability and visibility and lesser regulations on disruptive citizens from taking part in this behavior. The user based nature of many of these networks creates a participatory public, open forums used as a platform for individual expression within a collective environment, but at the same time it fosters widespread disruptive behavior from those who misuse networks to create conflict in interactions.

  So what exactly is trolling? The term can often be hard to define and even harder to differentiate from practices of cyber bullying and harassment, often all being associated together under a big umbrella of prevocational activities.  According to the most upvoted definition on urban dictionary trolling is the art of deceiving and deliberately pissing of users, they aim to disrupt flow in conversations in a thoughtful and often malicious or humorous manor to motivate emotive responses. They thrive on the interplay and responsive dialog of users, some becoming counter trolls, who can adopt the same aberrant behavior in response. This again prompts a question should the trolls be the only ones that are punished? Or targeted? Because they portrayed hostile behavior even if counter trolls use the same type of language that is often abusive, derogatory and victimizing. It is the panics and anxieties that surround social conflict and the nature of trolling that make provocation such a dominant issue, it is not the acts act of trolling itself that creates social tensions but the effects on those being trolled outside the digital world and the dangers of participating online.

    Many trolls aim to embarrass, offend and discomfort users often for their own amusement, although some do have political motivations and more serious aims with those being trolled becoming the but of their jokes, often no one is off limits.  The best advice instigated by many online citizens is ‘Don’t feed the trolls’, basically don’t add flames to the fire or instigate response but how many people are going to do this and not protect their opinion? A whole new internet culture surrounds trolling, it is inescapable in the cyber world with sites like 4chan dedicated to this type of behavior and visual trolling through memes. Troll hunters actively seek out to report provocative contributors by reporting online content but troll behavior can become malicious and hard to control. Kaitlin Jackson hunted over 500 people to date, and has dedicated thousands of hours to eradicate disruptive and harmful behavior online but through 4chan she and her family became trolled, all their private information was published online, allowing people to target her online. Comments like ‘take this bitch down’ arised and the problem integrated into her real life, being placed on craigslist looking for a ‘quick fuck’. It is this type of behavior that has created anxiety and unrest in many online users, becoming victims of public discrimination, harassment and becoming the butt of jokes.

  People who are victimized by this kind of behavior have little ability to protect themselves with minimal laws and regulations and maximum spreadability, many of the online community are taking on responsibilities but that comes with danger as well. While some trolling is deemed harmless others acts are malicious and this is when the line of trolling and harassment becomes blurred. Safety online is important and shouldn’t be neglected although the global nature makes it hard to patrol and its ever-changing nature makes it hard to keep up.  It is the effects on the most vulnerable in society such as children and those who suffer from depression and anxiety that is worrying. Behaviour online can so easily affect a person in their every day lives, the inability to see this harm is what makes trolling seem such an innocent behavior.

[dystopiance]

[smediahut-blog]

I think this illustrates the idea of slacktivism that can be compared to the culture of clicktivism on social networking platforms. Many people are happy to voice their support for a cause, which can create a certain amount of hype but lesser are willing to become actively involved and bring action to words. This cartoon shows that there is can be  slack mentality in traditional forms of activism too which generates a sense of self accomplishment for people that they are aiding in change, just like a like on Facebook makes you feel like you are supporting a cause but how does that like make a difference ? Does it make much of a dent on change compared to other methods of activism ?