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Gernot Abl's children spend more time watching other people play video games than regular television – and they're not the only ones.

e-sports - gaining popularity in video game culture

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Blog Post #8: Let The Games Begin

I never would have considered myself to be a gamer. I’ve never been into Call of Duty, Fallout or Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games (MMORPGs) like World of Warcraft and Eve Online. The popularity of social games has risen, creating networks and profiting from social media sites such as Facebook, the digital gaming community has expanded to include players of Zynga’s FarmVille and King’s Candy Crush; games which I too, have fallen victim too. Has online gaming become more socially acceptable?

Eve Online is a MMORPG set in space - players explore galaxies, fights battles, build and destroy empires and participate in economic warfare. According to Eve Online player, Jestertrek, there are 21,000 concurrent players, having reached peaks of approximately 36,000 players in the past (Martin, 2015). Players can interact, socialise and communicate in fan forums, as well as with the Council of Stellar Management (CSM) to contribute to game management. CSM is a player-elected representative board who relays player concerns, statistics and suggests implementation of change to the game developers - CCP (Crowd Control Productions).

In 1938, Johan Huizinga introduced the analogy of the magic circle, proposing that events within games world are ‘quarantined from the ‘real world’’ (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.91). Are social games and MMORPGs blurring the line between real world and gaming? The analogy of the magic circle suggests that in the gaming world, everyday rules and morally acceptable conduct are altered for virtual space.

Eve Online players must accept the EULA (End User License Agreement) before commencing. Within the gaming world murder, theft and abusive language are key to the role playing, gaming experience, with players harassing others to maintain dominance and seize control of property. However, ‘abusive, defamatory, ethically or racially offensive, harassing, harmful hateful, obscene, offensive, sexually explicit, threatening or vulgar language’ are all in violation of the terms of service (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.80).

The Mittani - CSM member and Goonswarm Alliance leader, received a thirty-day ban before leaving the council following his inappropriate behaviour at the March 2012 EVE Fanfest. The presentation at the Alliance Panel was streamed live, discussing how an anonymous player was being repeatedly harassed and killed, scammed out of his in-game currency (InterStellar Kredits), believing he would be protected. In a chat forum the player announced he was divorced; suggesting suicidal tendencies. Alex Gianturco (The Mittani) then revealed the players in-game name, for those who ‘want to make the guy kill himself’ (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.88). He later apologised for breaching the EULA and terms of service. Gianturco’s address was leaked, receiving rape threats against his wife (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.91). Is this response justified?

The Mittani’s 2012 Fanfest case demonstrates how ‘out-of-game behavior can be punished through in-game sanctions’ (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.88).

Eve Online 2003, Council of Stellar Management, Evelopedia, viewed 28/01/2016 <https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Council_of_Stellar_Management>

de Zwart, M & Humphreys, S 2014, ‘The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space: Code as Law in EVE Online’, Cultural Studies Review, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 77-99.

Lefebvre, E 2012, The Mittani gets hit with ban and resigns in wake of EVE Online controversy, engadget, 28th March, viewed 28/01/2016 <http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/28/the-mittani-gets-hit-with-ban-and-resigns-in-wake-of-eve-online/>

Martin, M 2015, ‘EVE Online’s player count drops to lowest since 2008’, VG247, 29th June, viewed 29/01/2016 <https://www.vg247.com/2015/06/29/eve-onlines-player-count-drops-to-lowest-since-2008/>

The Mitten 2012, 27th March, Apology on Eve Online discussion forum, viewed 29/01/2016

<https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=86980>

suaybreeze-blog

The pattern of negative social media behaviour with activities such as online bullying, trolling, and antisocial gamers is quite stark, don’t you think? To some degree they all use the cloak of anonymity or virtual environments to abscond from the responsibility of real world social norms, preferring traits such as intimidation, manipulation, mistreatment of others, and predatory habits toward their target audience. Perhaps a percentage of gaming profit should be afforded to social interventions that promote rewards for shared cooperation, and stricter punishment for violence and victimisation. Thanks for an insightful post. ☺

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hannahyoungblog

Are social games unhealthy for an avid gamer?

We all enjoy an escape from reality from time to time. Let’s face it, work, schooling and drama filled relationships can drain us. This has led to parts of society getting involved in the gaming world, in particular, the fad of social games. It is an escape that sends you into an alternative reality. It feels fun and exciting, but is it healthy? Is the violence featured in World of Warcraft, Eve Online and other violent social games fueling the gamers for real life violence?

Eve Online, a violent massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), based upon spaceships, has been known to have players participating in scam or theft within the game (de Zwart & Humpreys 2014, p. 77; Drain 2010). This has been so severe, that in reality, the game should be banned (Drain 2010). There has been countless Eve online scams that have occurred, where some of the scams have been labelled as ‘The ISK Doubling Scam’ or the ‘Contract scam’ (Worldshatter 2015). These scams are based upon outsmarting the gamers, where their minds have been played (Worldshatter 2015). In addition, Eve Online has encountered fraud, corporate raiding and ponzi schemes as well (de Zwart & Humpreys 2014, p. 78). It sounds to me like the constant usage of this game is making people lose touch with reality, where they can break the rules in virtual world, with real world consequences.

Furthermore, should social violent games be banned altogether? The debate of violence in social games contributing to real life violence is very serious and should be taken under high consideration. Eve Online experiences 10 people blowing up a minute, which showcases the violence these gamers experience (de Zwart & Humpreys 2014, p. 77). World of Warcraft has been known to have effects of a drug addiction to the gamer, without the use of drugs, which leads the gamer at risk of being violent in real life (Independent 2008). Without these social violent games, gamers would not have the seed of violence planted into their minds, and therefore, violence in society would decrease. Sounds like a terrific idea, which unfortunately would be difficult to implement. However, the rate of hacking and scams amongst these games need to drastically drop. It’s a shame more people aren’t gravitated to innocent social games, such as Farmville.

References

de Zwart, M & Humphreys, S 2014,’ The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space: Code as Law in EVE Online’, Cultural Studies Review, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 77-78.

Drain, B 2012, EVE Evolved: Top ten ganks, scams, heists and events, Engadget, viewed 30 January 2016,

<http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/28/eve-evolved-top-ten-ganks-scams-heists-and-events/>.

Drain, B 2010, Eve Online player steals $45,000 worth of ISK in massive investment scam, Engadget, viewed 30 January 2016,

<http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/11/eve-online-player-steals-45-000-worth-of-isk-in-massive-investm/>.

Independent 2008, Is World of Warcraft just mindless violence?, Independent, viewed 30 January 2016,

<http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/is-world-of-warcraft-just-mindless-violence-1024311.html>.

Worldshatter 2015, A new player’s guide to Eve’s most common scams, The Mittani Dot Com, viewed 30 January 2016,

<https://www.themittani.com/features/new-players-guide-eves-most-common-scams?nopaging=1>.

suaybreeze-blog

When I read your comment on banning socially violent games, it immediately reminded me of when ‘Target” removed Grand Theft Auto V – Rated 18+ from their shelves. On the one hand there is merit in such an action, but according to social commentators their actions did little to address an underlying social issue of violence against women – one of the primary criticisms of the game. Another concern that was highlighted was the inability to stop children being exposed to adult material by their parents. I was surprised to read that gaming classifications, and adult content warnings do not influence some parent decisions when selecting games for their family. One researcher reviewing the ‘Target’ incident commented, “Gaming culture is a direct reflection of our society”. Thanks for the post ☺

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Social Gaming - Are rules meant to be broken?

Social gaming - I readily admit that I possess limited expertise when it comes to participating in online games, and understanding the complexities of digital gaming communities. Yet despite my lack of personal experience I appreciate that social media platforms such as Facebook has intensified the ‘pull’ of virtual world engagement by creating a digital environment for personal entertainment, camaraderie, connectedness, and escapism for multiplayer online gaming. These are all positive aspects of social media engagement, but as I’ve discovered during my research on digital communities there are also counterproductive activities, and behaviour that are associated with online networks and communities.

[Source: Pixabay.com, deep web, dark web, darkness]

An interesting observation by Banbridge (2010, p.6) is the realisation that “multiplayer online gaming produces new cultures, social norms, and communication mechanisms”. For instance, team formation in real world environments require elements of trust, cohesion, and collaboration to achieve common goals, notably in a framework that is governed by established rules and etiquette. In contrast, online gaming team formation, or recruiting may desire similar team characteristics, but the sociocultural framework is influenced, in part, by player demographics such as age, gender, geographic location, group hierarchy status, and the creation of rules that don’t always follow real world norms (Losup et al. 2014, p. 37).

[Source: Google Images, gamingrule.tumblr.com]

Of course, there are formal codes of play, and engagement rules outlined by game developers and publishers, in player licence agreements where harassment, vilification, and offensive behaviour can evoke bans, but as stated by de Zwart & Humphreys (2014, p 80) “some players expect such laws to be suspended within the game space”. Perhaps this player expectation is not unreasonable given the aggressive, belligerent, and antagonistic nature of some massively multiple online role playing games (MMORPG). For example, EVE Online is as much about exploring a science fiction universe, and engaging in combat manoeuvres, as it is about exploiting the perceived psychological weaknesses of your adversary (Suzor & Woodford 2013, p. 5). I don’t condone detrimental forms of online behaviour in social gaming but enforcing strict codes of conduct remains problematic.

[Source: Google Images, Eveonline.com]

Reference List

Bainbridge, W 2010, Online Multiplayer Games, Morgan & Claypool Publishers, EBL ebook library.

de Zwart, M, Humphreys, S 2014, ‘Week 10’, The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space, Learning Material on Blackboard, Swinburne University of Technology, 10 December, viewed 27 January 2016.

Eveonline.com, Google Images [Image], viewed 26 January 2015, <<https://www.googleimages.com/search/eveonline>

Gamingrule.tumblr.com.au, Google Images [Image], viewed 27 January 2015, <<https://www.googleimages.com/search/gaming_rules>

Losup, A, de Bovenkamp, R, Shen, S, Jia, A, Kuipers, F 2014, analysing Implicit Social Networks in Multiplayer Online Games, IEEE Internet Computing, EBSCOhost

Pixabay.com, digital image, viewed 27 January 2016, <https://pixabay.com/en/deep web, dark web, darkness>

Suzor, N, Woodford, D 2013, Evaluating Consent and Legitimacy amongst Shifting Community Norms: an EVE Online Case Study, Learning Material on Blackboard, Swinburne University of Technology, 10 December, viewed 27 January 2016.

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http://www.healthandsuperfoods.com/ Jane McGonigal: WARCRAFT:Gaming can make a better world: TED TALKS: documentary,lecture,talk Games like World of Warcraft...

How to solve the world’s problems by playing online games - humorous, but a thought provoking argument!

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SO MANY PEOPLE PLAY GAMES! But who deserves to call themselves a gamer? I go through some stats on who exactly plays games. Thank you to LG for sponsoring th...

The video busts a few myths about the ‘stereotypical’ gamer

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comm-online-blog

Blog post #7: Visual storytelling

According to Evan Spiegel, founder of Snapchat, ‘traditional social media required that we live experiences in the offline world, recording experiences, and then posting them online to recreate the experience and talk about it’ (Herrman, 2014). However, technology today allows us to capture experiences live and share these moments through photos and videos - visual communication and social imaging. Siegel (cited in Herrman, 2014) states that the selfie has become a ‘fundamental unit of communication’, with digital technology transitioning from a tool for self-expression, to communication. Do selfies represent a narcissistic generation or does social imaging and live streaming represent a shift; communicating the same language differently?

People who take selfies regularly are often accused of being self-obsessed and having low self-esteem. Psychologist Pamela Rutledge recognises that ‘selfies frequently trigger perceptions of self-indulgence or attention-seeking social dependence’ (Magnuson, n.d). However, theorists argue that there is lacking evidence to indicate that today’s generation of selfie lovers are more narcissistic and isolated from society than prior (Cannold, 2016). Rather, we have adapted our tools of communication from words to visuals.

We share our experiences online, building connections and a network of visual publics through tagging. These collections of photos on our Facebook profile and blogs, work similarly to keeping a photo album. Recently my work mate and her boyfriend went to America over the Christmas holidays. Every couple of days an album of 30+ photos were uploaded to Facebook - keeping her friends and family up-to-date. It was like we were on the trip with them; seeing what they were seeing, going where they were going. They spent New Year’s Eve in New York, where Stephen proposed to Alicia; capturing the moment on camera and sharing it on Facebook. The next day her notifications skyrocketed with 55 likes and dozens of comments congratulating them (Murray, 2016).

Similarly, YouTube vloggers such as Sam and Nia Rader, upload videos of affinity, sharing their lives online daily and building a rapport with their audience, developing a loyal following. One such post that went viral was Sam announcing Nia was pregnant with their third child, reaching approximately 11 million hits (Jones, 2015). We shared in their excitement, viewing the announcement as it happened. However, days later, we were faced with an emotional collapse. Speaking directly to the camera, they shared their grief after revealing Nia’s miscarriage, sharing the loss with their followers. Traditionally, proposals and miscarriages, were considered to be private, whereas today such events are shared online, whether with friends and family, or a following of strangers. What happened to the barriers between public and private; online and offline?

We have watched technology evolve with the introduction of the PC, mobile phones, internet and more recently social media, allowing us to join the digital community. Now we have become visual storytellers using selfies, live streaming and videos of affinity for self-expression and to communicate. Has live streaming and ephemeral Snapchat messages brought us closer to real-time and the real-life or have we fallen deeper into the digital world?

Cannold , L 2016, ’Ugly selfies are all about girls trusting other girls’, The Age, 19 January, viewed 20/01/2016 <http://www.theage.com.au/comment/ugly-selfies-are-all-about-girls-trusting-other-girls-20160118-gm80vs.html#ixzz3yAAwHfXv>

Herrman, J 2014, ‘Meet the Man Who Got Inside Snapchat’s Head’, BuzzFeed, 28 January, viewed 19/01/2016 <http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/meet-the-unlikely-academic-behind-snapchats-new-pitch#3dlvjg2>

Jones, A 2015, ‘Vlogger Couple Grieves Miscarriage Three Days After Announcing Pregnancy in Viral Video’, Gawker, 8 October, viewed 25/01/2016 <http://gawker.com/vlogger-couple-grieves-miscarriage-three-days-after-ann-1723078900>

Lange, P 2009, ‘Videos of Affinity on YouTube’, in P, Snickars & P, Vonderau (eds), The YouTube Reader, National Library of Sweden, Stockholm, pp 70-88.

Magnuson, L n.d., ‘Selfies Linked to Narcissism, Addiction and Mental Illness’, Disclose.tv, viewed 23/01/2016 <http://www.disclose.tv/news/Selfies_Linked_to_Narcissism_Addiction_and_Mental_Illness/101410>

Murray, A 2016, Stephen’s New York proposal to Alicia, 2 Jan, viewed 2/01/2016 <https://www.facebook.com/alicia.murray.524?fref=ts>

suaybreeze-blog

Great example of how personal image-sharing (vlogging) created a specific networked public for Sam & Nia to share their personal family joy and tragedy in the public sphere. Online visualisation depicting a ‘story’ of someone’s life has been described as conversational style photo/video taking because the social media engagement is considered to encourage a richer, and more meaningful conversation. In the context of online connection, the use of visual representation provides a partial explanation for the rising popularity of social media platforms with visual storytelling capabilities. I enjoyed reading your post :-)

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hannahyoungblog

The selfie phenomenon, a new form of communication

The selfie has taken over the 21st century, and now I struggle to remember a time when it didn’t exist. It has taken over all forms of social media, where it is now highly common to find a selfie as a profile picture. The selfie was also the foundation for the app, Snapchat, which is based upon sending a photo with a caption, which can only be viewed for a certain amount of time. Selfies have turned into an everyday phenomenon, which has set the atmosphere for the digital communities.

Selfies have turned into a worldwide sensation, where everyone from politicians, to celebrities, to astronauts are getting involved in the craze. Kim Kardashian, known for uploading her fair share of selfies to social media, released a book dedicated to selfies, named Selfish (Stern 2015). Is this really all just an action of feeling vain? I have been face to face with hundreds of selfies on social media, where it was obvious some males and females just like the way they look. However, as the selfie has evolved, it has become so much more then showing off good looks, but a way to communicate feelings, an activity or a place. Hence why this phenomenon has been a global success, where a large part of society is getting involved. Moreover, selfies have created imaging communities, which is the communication we have through images on our media devices (Hjorth 2011, p. 51). It is clear to me that selfies have had an enormous impact on society.

Furthermore, I often consider selfies the glue that keeps social media together. Without selfies, Snapchat might not exist, and Instagram, Facebook and Twitter would be lacking in personalised content. Snapchat has become successful from their image messaging idea, which lead the app to drastically grow from 10 million in 2012, to 100 million in 2015 (Piwek & Joinson 2016, p. 358). Perhaps the selfie is gaining these apps further financial income. Selfies showcase your identity on social media, and has been a vital contribution to the social networks since the start. Snapchat has even included selfie lenses to their app, where certain animation filters appear, but only when you are taking a selfie (Constine 2015). In my opinion, it sounds like Snapchat is using the phenomenon of selfies and letting it shape their app, which is most likely the main reason why Snapchat has become so successful.

References

Constine, J 2015, ‘Snapchat Starts Charging $0.99 For 3 Replays, Adds Face effect “Lenses”’, TechCrunch.

Hjorth, L 2011, ‘Mobile spectres of intimacy: the gendered role of mobile technologies in love – past, present and future’, in R, Ling & S, Campbell (eds) The Mobile Communication Research Series: Volume II, Mobile Communication: Bringing Us Together or Tearing Us Apart? Transaction Books Edison, NJ, pp. 51.

Piwek, L & Joinaon, A 2016, ‘What do they snapchat about?” Patterns of use in time-limited instant messaging service’, Computers in Human Behaviour, vol. 54, no. 10, p. 358.

Stern, C 2015, Keep them to yourselfie! Kim Kardashian’s selfie book, Selfish, sells just 32,000 copies in three months, Daily Mail Australia, viewed 24 January 2016,

< http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3185027/Keep-yourselfie-Kim-Kardashian-s-selfie-book-Selfish-sells-just-32-000-copies-three-months-despite-reality-star-boasting-41-4-million-Instagram-followers.html>.

suaybreeze-blog

It never ceases to amaze me, the creative ways individuals find to share, and distribute visual images, and the appeal of the technology that allows use to do so. I generalise but it seems many personal selfie images are about self-promotion, other selfies tell a story, and ignore superficial appearance, some selfies are spontaneous, and others are well staged. I agree with you that the selfie is evolving; there is definitely a conversational function suggesting the selfie is an important, and meaningful visual experience for many social networks. Thanks for sharing your views, Hannah :-)

#mda20009

Visual Communities and Social Imaging

Youtube, Instagram, and Snapchat are all well known visual social media channels where online communities form, and connect by using a visual photo, or video. With video, the purpose for the creator, and their audience is usually fun, entertaining, and engaging but I wonder, if the reason visual representation is so popular, is more complex than a simple spontaneous action of capturing, and sharing an experienced moment.

[Source: Pixabay.com, YouTube-laptop-notebook-online-1158693]

I was interested in several observations put forward by Lange (2009, p. 73) when she discussed the concept of ‘videos of affiliation’ - a category of YouTube video that conjures up feelings of connection, bonding, and interaction between people, but challenges the traditional notion of personal video. Her point is that no longer are videos created for a particular target audience, that is, people you have a personal connection with such as family, or close friends. Rather, the creator shares the video with vast unknown social networks, the viewers may or may not be interested in the video material, yet a high percentage of the audience, will share the content. Interestingly, Lange (2009, p. 72-73) offers two possible reasons for this behaviour: 1) to remain socially connected, and 2) negotiate attention. Coincidently, despite the visual imagery theme, the reasons offer insight that continuously re-emerge as we contextualise the concepts of digital communities.

Ubiquitous photography has the potential to validate self, while accumulating social capital (Ibrahim 2015, p. 51). Visual representation is typically shared on social networks using Instagram, or Snapchat. My personal preference is Snapchat, which is more ephemeral. Snapchat doesn’t support curated photos, nor provide upload functionality of stored photos from your phone, making content a real-time reality. Also, content once viewed by the recipient is deleted from Snapchat servers, effectively eliminating many privacy concerns between private and public content commonly associated with photo-sharing practices, and tagging functionality (Vivienne & Burgess 2013, p. 282). Despite the risks, contemporary culture is reinventing visual communication, and social imaging to create new, and exciting visual social networks.

[Source: Google Images, Snapchat]

References

Ibrahim, Y 2015, Instagramming life; banal imaging and the poetics of the everyday, Journal of Media Practice, Elsevier

Itunes.apple.com, Google Images. [image], viewed 24 January 2016, < https://www.google.com.au/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1023&bih=674&q=snapchat&oq=snapchat&gs_l=img.3..0l10.2554.5287.0.5553.10.8.1.1.1.0.451.1365.2-1j2j1.4.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..4.6.1372.ckn1QFOweDA

Lange, P 2009, Videos of affinity on Youtube, National Library of Sweden,

Pixabay.com, digital image, viewed 24 January 2016, <https://pixabay.com/en/youtube-laptop-notebook-online-1158693/>

Shutterstock.com, digital image, viewed 24 January 2016, <http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=193613897&src=id>

Vivienne, S, Burgess, J 2013, The remediation of the personal photograph and the politics of self-representation in digital storytelling, Journal of Material Culture, SAGE

#mda20009 #visual communication

ADD ME ON SNAPCHAT - CASEYNEISTAT check out music by - http://youtube.com/jpandjayce on http://instagram.com/caseyneistat on https://www.facebook.com/cneista...

Predicted to out-trend rivals in 2016

Cell phone cameras have democratized self-portraiture—voilà selfies

”Self-Exploration” - the technology is new, but not the concept.

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comm-online-blog

Blog Post #6: In Times of Crisis

Social media platforms allow sharing of information, collaborative preparation during natural disasters, an avenue for seeking and offering support to those in need, as well as being an important tool during the recovery process. Social media is growing in popularity. Therefore, when the traditional communication services are compromised in times of crisis, people turn to Twitter and Facebook for information - crowdsourcing. Do social media platforms really help?

Services must now also keep an eye out on social media for distress calls. For example, during the 2012 floods in Manila in the Philippines, stranded individuals sought help via Twitter using the hashtag #rescueph. Survivor, Kassy Pajarillo, described how she used Twitter to seek help, informing fellow tweeters about her mother and grandmothers’ whereabouts, who were also caught in the floods. Emergency services responded quickly, monitoring the site (BBC, 2012).

Similarly in Australia, State/Territory Emergency Services communicate Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) campaigns during natural disasters. In addition to this, government and non-government organisations including Get Ready Queensland, FloodSafe, StormSafe and HardenUp make use of social media (Dufty, 2015 p.14). In Victoria, the Government implemented a Summer Fire Safety Campaign, using online mediums including the VicEmergency website, FireReady app, social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as traditional news sources to inform the public and warn people against threatening fires. According to the Australian Journal of Emergency Management, approximately 367,000 CFA Facebook and Twitter followers receive warning messages (Dufty, 2015 p. 14).

Heather Ford states, ‘crowdsourcing has the opportunity to lower the barriers to expression and ultimately help and support ordinary people in times of crisis’ (2012 p.39). However, social media crowdsourcing comes not without its limitations.

Fake accounts, Photoshop and video editing applications allow users to post inaccurate information, troll and spread rumours, as with the Boston bombings, April 15, 2013. According to researchers Gupta, Lamba and Kumaraguru, ‘nearly 8 million relevant tweets were sent by 3.7 million people’, with only 20% being accurate facts, 29% rumours and incorrect information, with almost half being opinions of the users. A large proportion was identified as fake accounts (Schultz, 2013). There is no gatekeeper on social media to distinguish between the truth and the lies, so how do we know?

Platforms such as Twitter and Facebook allow individuals to share knowledge and contribute to help those in need and during times of crisis, but at what cost?

BBC, 2012, ‘Floods paralyse Philippine capital Manila’, BBC News Asia, 7 August, viewed 11/01/2016 <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-19159509>

Bishop, R 2015, ‘Week 8: Crowdsourcing in times of crisis’, MDA20009 Digital Communities, Learning Materials on Blackboard, Swinburne University of Technology, 11 January, viewed 11/01/2016

Dufty, N 2015, ‘The use of social media in countrywide disaster risk reduction public awareness strategies’, Australian Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 30, no. 1, p. 12-16, viewed 13/01/2016 <https://ajem.infoservices.com.au/items/AJEM-30-01-06>

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

Jastrow, S 2013, The Use of Social Media During Natural Disasters and Emergencies, 11 December, viewed 10/01/2016 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-7i5KAYcYs>

Schultz, C 2013, ‘In the Wake of the Boston Marathon Bombing, Twitter Was Full of Lies’, Smithsonian.com, 24 October, viewed 11/01/2016 <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-the-wake-of-the-boston-marathon-bombing-twitter-was-full-of-lies-5294419/>

suaybreeze-blog

I liked your overall discussion. It highlights the wide-range of implications for crowdsourcing in a crisis. The emergencies you outlined confirm many of the benefits of crowdsourcing, but you have also raised a contrasting issue – verification. As you stated, individuals use social media to share information, and public participation increases during a crisis. How to control the data seems to be a pressing question. I suspect it will be a combination of innovative verification technology, identifying authentic publics to act as gatekeepers, and ‘the crowd’ challenging inaccurate posts. Thanks for an interesting post.

#mda20009

bevsblog-world-blog

Blog # 6 – Crowdsourcing in times of crisis

Crowdsourcing platform Ushahidi – was created in 2007 for the Kenyan presidential elections allowing citizens to report human rights abuses (Ford 2012). As the years have gone by, the website has grown to the point of the public being able to report on incidents around them. This is another example of a social media platform enabling people with like-minded information to share the information they have gathered and help others at the same time.

I was reading the report on the South East Queensland floods of 2011 and found that Twitter was used quite regularly to update the general public on what was happening. Both Emergency and media organisations used this service to distribute updated regular reports. The # or @ symbol before significant words relating to the disaster were used frequently to reach a wider audience with updates.

One of the recent significant disasters was the cyclones in the Far North Queensland. Emma Potter has reported on her time inside the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services headquarters to observe how timely information was relayed through social media in times of crisis. During this time, not only were the emergency services and news crews updating social media, the public was encouraged, when safe to do so, to upload pictures of the damage (The Conversation 2015)

Crowdsourcing is an important part of social media these days. Social media allows the general public to post pictures and videos of a disaster in their area. Although social media can also be a devil in disguise, not all information is accurate.

Again this week while writing my blog post, I have had a personal experience with this weeks’ topic. My suburb experienced a freak storm one afternoon. My husband was home at the time the storm hit and I was ready to leave work to go home. Luckily we didn’t have too much damage, however, my street and surrounding streets had trees fallen down on the road and onto powerlines. I used Facebook to as a tool to find information about the damage to the surrounding area.

References

Bruns, A, Burgess, J, Crawford, K & Shaw, F 2012, #qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods, Arc Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, pp 7-10, viewed 17 September 2015, <http://www.cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf>

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

The Conversation, 2015, “The role of social media as cyclones batter Australia”. Viewed 17 January, 2016, <http://theconversation.com/the-role-of-social-media-as-cyclones-batter-australia-37835>

suaybreeze-blog

I was interested to read about the collaborative approach adopted by the emergency services team during the Queensland cyclone. I read that the act of citizen responders, uploading pictures of damage is a very useful process for gathering information that allows emergency services to prioritise recovery work. Great practical example of your personal experience using Facebook in an emergency…..whatever did we do before social media ☺ Thanks for your post.

How Mayor Bloomberg and NYC citizens mobilized through social media in the wake of Sandy. www.waywire.com Download the #waywire iPhone App from iTunes -- htt...

The power of Twitter in a crisis with a cautionary note at the end.

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Crowdsourcing & Crisis Communication on Social Media

In a crisis situation a multitude of people are bound by an event that link them together because of their involvement or interaction with a crisis. This can be due to personal circumstance, jointly experiencing the crisis, or interdependent connection through emergency relief responders, journalists, volunteer support, or social media engagement. According to Dailey & Starbird (2014, p. 445) one common denominator that is “transforming the ecosystem of emergency response” is the advancement of information communication technology, in particular the use of social media to collaborate, and exchange information in real time. It’s therefore not surprising that crisis management strategists are embracing “the crowd” on social media platforms. Crowdsourcing, the united collaborative online global audience, is playing an influential role in the dissemination of information, collection of data, spreading awareness, and solving problematic issues.

To understand how communities are mobilised by social media in response to a crisis consider the effects of Hurricane Sandy in New York City, in 2012. The storm released high winds, and widespread flooding causing unimaginable damage, leaving some neighbourhoods completely demolished without water or electricity. As news of the devastation spread through traditional media channels, people in New York used social media to mobilise services, and support. Tierney (2014) used the term “citizen journalists” to describe the actions of a community using digital technology to capture, document and spread vital information about the extent of destruction, who was in need of help, and the type of services required. For example, images posted on Instagram were credited with bonding people collectively into networked publics, Twitter assisted with the coordination of food and shelter, Micro-blogging was used by food truck drivers to announce their locations, and distribute emergency supplies, and an interactive crisis map was established connecting people in need with aid agencies using Facebook, Twitter, Email, and SMS texting.

The human response to Hurricane Sandy demonstrated an increased reliance on technology and networked communities by people disrupted by crisis. As discussed by Bruns et al. (2012, p. 16) “collaborative resilience” is an emerging behaviour whereby, in a crisis, the process of collective online engagement intensifies. It's true that the influx of information creates logistical benefit, however the sheer volume of information being disseminated can be problematic for first responders, and future crisis management policymakers, if the information is inaccurate.

Bruns et al. (2012, p. 16) raised the idea of “rumour management” meaning that for information to be trusted it must come from a reliable source, or be verifiable to avoid uncertainty. The point is made, that social media respondents can, and do call out rumours and errors, however designing innovative technology to control big data integrity is necessary. Interestingly, Ford (2012) has a similar viewpoint when she recommends “verification of user-contributed data”.

[Source: Google Images, Image by Slideshare.net]

References

Bruns, A, Burgess, J, Crawford, K, Shaw, F 2012, ‘Week 8’, Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods, Learning Material on Blackboard, Swinburne University of Technology, 10 November, viewed 13 January 2016.

Dailey, D, Starbird, K 2014, Journalists as Crowdsourcerers: Responding to Crisis by Reporting with a Crowd, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Springer

Ford, H 2012, Crowd Wisdom, Index of Censorship, Sage Publications

Slideshare.net, Google Images, [image], viewed 14 January 2016, <https://www.googleimages.com/search/rumour_management>

Stock photo breezy point ny November burned houses in the aftermath of hurricane sandy. Pixabay, [Image], viewed 13 January 2016, <https://pixabay.com/en/photos/?q=Hurricane+Sandy%2C+New+York&image_type=&cat=&min_width=&min_height=>

Tierney, T 2014, ‘Crowdsourcing Disaster Response: Mobilising Social Media for Urban Resilience, The European Business Review, viewed 16 January 2015, < http://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/?p=4911>

#mda20009 #crowdsourcing

hannahyoungblog

Why is trolling so evident amongst the social media age?

Trolling, the art of bulling on social media to people you may or may not know. It is the absolute demon of social media, which keeps persisting and persisting. Even though I’m not personally subject to trolling in my social media life, I have noticed that anyone who might post something a little bit wacky or someone with a huge fan base (such a celebrity) is subject to the painful sting of trolling. It does make me think however, why is this so apparent in social media? Why do people put their time and effort into posting nasty comments at the cost of someone else’s emotional wellbeing?

As social media has taken over our lives, trolling has also been created within the process. This negative term that keeps popping up in the media, can also be known as cyber bullying (Bishop 2013, p. 301). Furthermore, the person behind the trolling often has noticeable differences to the victim, which can create a desire to harm the individual (Law et al 2012, p. 227). Due to our society being made up of different races, religions, beliefs and interests, internet trolling has become unavoidable. People like to feel superior over others, where they enjoy the power feeling over an individual, which leads to the harm of trolling (Law et al 2012, p. 227). I call this pathetic and damaging to society, especially the younger generation. The younger generation are going to grow up with baggage they received from online trolling. The baggage will become evident in the way they view themselves as a person and their relationships. Trolling is harmful and damaging, and unfortunately the internet is an unavoidable ground to allow this to happen.

How can we stop internet trolling affecting the masses? The internet is a large platform, with very little supervision. Perhaps the awareness needs to be raised over trolling. This could be accomplished through the implementation of education on trolling in schools and the damaging effects this can have on someone’s life. Ultimately, trolls and bullies need to be stopped before they even become one. Young people also need to learn valuable tactics to reduce trolling, such as not replying to internet conflict that may come their way (Wilson et al (Eds) 2013). I believe that with awareness and tactics on reducing trolling, this issue can be reduced.

References

Bishop, J 2013, ‘The art of trolling law enforcement: a review and model for implementing ‘flame trolling’ legislation enacted in Great Britain (1981-2012)’, International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, vol. 27, no. pp. 301.

Law, D, Shapka, J, Hymel, S, Olson, B & Waterhouse, T 2012, ‘The changing face of bullying: An empirical comparison between traditional and internet bullying and victimization’, Computers In Human Behaviour, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 227.

Wilson, J, Fuller, G & McCrea, C (eds) 2013, Trolls and the negative space of the internet, Fibreculture Journal, Issue 22, viewed 10 January 2016, <http://twentytwo.fibreculturejournal.org>.

suaybreeze-blog

Totally agree with your views on social media trolling, and you raise the obvious question “how can we stop internet trolls”. I think you have hit the nail on the head with your education discussion. Culture differences, and social norms influence behaviour, so by engaging the younger generations through school education in support of ethical and constructive online behaviour is a good start. If this creates an early mindset for positive community interaction when using social media platforms, where any form of bullying is deemed unacceptable, than long-term change is achievable to reduce cyberbullying. I enjoyed reading your post. Thanks

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pleasantlycrookedstrawberry-blog

Trolling

We’ve discussed previously my belief that the social media and digital community revolution worked and grew because it so perfectly mirrored society in every facet. We’ve touched on the good in that concept, the togetherness, the ability to connect to new people of similar thought patterns or beliefs, and the idea that participation in the digital community, digital citizenship gives the common man or woman the chance to grow as a functioning, active and understandable member of a solid, tangible (in mind, if not always in physical construct) society.

This mirroring effect, for all it’s positives and meaningful contributions to the digital media experience, does mean that the negatives parts of a natural human experience also have a platform to be mirrored, showcased and, unfortunately, given the room to expand and grow into new and varied ways of being published.

Bullying has always been a part of human behavior. Often thought of as schoolyard antics or childish behavior designed to belittle or ostracize other children, bullying is not restricted to this idea and, as such, plays a huge role in human interaction in an adult setting as well.

It is, of course, easy to see how quickly the idea of being able to live a life of duality and consequence free actions online would be tantalizingly attractive to a person who felt the need to act out or defame, belittle or criticize someone in an online space.

This concept is not new, nor is it likely to eradicated in a meaningful way in the short term, or at all without understanding what bullying, or as it has come to be known in the digital age as trolling, is and how it’s appropriators benefit from the idea that conducting themselves in this way is a meaningful and rewarding course of action.

Unfortunately, that is something that greater minds than I have puzzled with for a long time, long before the digital age and the advent of social digital communities were even mere concepts.

We can, however, scratch the surface.

The liberation and freedom afforded by anonymity would seem a perfectly reasonable and ideal place to start. A popular tool for obtaining online videos, sharing them and providing comment is the social platform YouTube.

As Anthony McCosker describes it (McCosker 2013, p.203) “most observers and commentators note that YouTube is a highly unstable and dynamic entity evolving constantly through iterations of interface, structures, rules, norms and cultures of use, and in terms of the millions of hours of video content that constitutes one key part of its raison detre.”

YouTube is just one such iteration of social media platform, and already we can begin to grasp the enormity of the social network that has developed around the world-wide digital community and how dynamic and changeable it really is. Throw in Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and even your average message board or forum and we can almost see an unfathomable torrent of people, millions and millions of social network users connected to each other by the use of a simple, digital platform.

The thought that someone could use the anonymity of such a vast space to personally attack or vilify someone, whether known to them or not, is not a far-fetched or unbelievable idea at all.

danah Boyd, a leading thinker on the subject, ponders “in light of highly publicized-but often inaccurately portrayed-cases of teen suicide seemingly driven by peer cruelty, combating bullying has become a national obsession.” (Boyd, 2014, p. 130).

Within this obsession, the lawmakers and politicians of the modern world can be seen clearly scrambling to catch up to the digital community and to enact meaningful and tangible ways to control the spread of cyberbullying and mark down it’s growth.

It will be interesting to see how a world that has grown and prospered with so few boundaries or consequences will react to the implication of restrictions. Only time will tell, however, whether border-restricted laws and policies will be effective, if at all.

In the meantime, with each and every login, you may just be one click away from exposing yourself to the world of cyberbulling, or ‘trolling’.

Bibliography

McCosker, A 2013, ‘Trolling as provocation: YouTube’s agonistic publics’, Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies

Boyd, d 2014, It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens

suaybreeze-blog

“The liberation and freedom afforded by anonymity” – this statement raises so many questions about human nature, and sums up the attractiveness of social media for those individuals focused on intentional and disruptive behaviour through the use of malevolent material. I agree with your sentiment that bullying is part of human behaviour, and predates the Internet. Websites such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook simply provide digital platforms that amplify the problem. Great insight, Thanks

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