Digital Communities

[the-digital-communique-blog]

Online gaming and the crossing of boundaries

Online gaming has become a massive part of modern youth culture. My particular poison has always been the PlayStation, starting out with a PS1 in 1998 and have been upgrading ever since. A lot has changed since renting games from the video store and furiously playing them with friends over a weekend! The online fantasy game World of Warcraft has over 10 million players, nearly half the population of Australia! (Constantiou, Legarth & Olsen 2011, p. 106).

Week 10’s focus has been around EVE Online, a type of game known as a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), encompassing over half a million players (De Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 78). The game is considered unique due to Council of Stellar Management (CSM), a body of players elected to directly negotiate with the creators and consequently allowing players a unique ability to influence the direction of the game which can be seen as a win for both parties (De Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 78).

Like many other modern games, EVE has introduced in-game micro-transactions involving real money. This has upset many players, both because of the cost and the ability for players to buy an advantageous position without needing to put in the time or have the requisite skill (De Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 86). These controlled online environments have evolved into fully fledged economies that allow real money trading (RMT), a market estimated to be around $USD 2 billion as far back as 2008 (Constantiou, Legarth & Olsen 2011, p. 105). In some instances, this has led to an online black market where “gold-farmers” secure valuable items, making it difficult to for players to secure these items through game play alone (Constantiou, Legarth & Olsen 2011, p. 106).

Online gaming stats (Limelight Networks 2018, n.p): - Gamers spend an average of 6 hours per week playing - Mobile phones are the primary device - More than a quarter of gamers play at work - One third of gamers want to turn pro

How people approach games, and what is deemed acceptable once ‘inside’ them, has long been a topic of debate. John Huizinga, a 1955 scholar, believed that games enable a separate reality governed primarily by their internal rules and regulations (Calleja 2015, p. 211). This interpretation, proposing a ‘magic circle’, has survived to this day but has been heavily criticised for its use in analysing modern digital games. Research into this theory has shown that both negative and positive emotions flow into and out of games (Woodford 2012, p. 5), and that real-life experiences will affect play (Calleja 2015, p. 215). Having played some games myself (mainly FIFA), I know that it can be frustrating and emotive to lose.

FIFA rage!

You can’t say after looking at this kind of video that people can remain emotionally disconnected from a game. I don’t have a headset to communicate with people while playing but I do remember somebody sending me threats after I beat them in a game of FIFA. This type of action has also raised questions regarding legal jurisdictions in the online gaming world. Determining which of these behaviours is actually illegal and which are simply somebody behaving badly can be difficult according to de Zwart & Humphreys (2014, p. 93). To further complicate matters, there are some who believe that the online cultural and community norms created in the game should also be considered when punishing unacceptable behaviour (Suzor & Woodford 2013, p. 1). As you can see, the complexities of the online gaming environment must be an absolute nightmare to control or regulate.

References

Calleja, G 2015, ‘Ludic identities and the magic circle’, in V Frissen, S Lammes, M de Lange, J de Mul & J Raessens (eds), Playful Identities: The Ludification of Digital Media Cultures, Amsterdam University Press, pp. 211-224.

Constantiou, I, Legarth, M, & Olsen, B 2011, ‘What are users' intentions towards real money trading in massively multiplayer online games?’, Electron Markets, vol. 22, pp. 105-115.

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.

Limelight Networks 2018, ‘The State of Online Gaming – 2018’, Limelight, viewed 15 January 2019, https://www.limelight.com/resources/white-paper/state-of-online-gaming-2018/

Suzor, N & Woodford, D 2013, ‘Evaluating Consent and Legitimacy amongst Shifting Community Norms: an EVE Online Case Study’, Journal of Visual Worlds Research: Legal and Governance Challenges, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 1-14.

[the-digital-communique-blog]

Hold on, I’m just taking a quick selfie....

The use of social media selfies and Snapchat has become the new norm for digital natives. A topic of ‘considerable debate’, the selfie dominates social media and sometimes considered narcissistic (Murray 2015, p. 490). Murray (2015, p. 490) believes that when studied collectively, the self-representations of young women feels like an aggressive and revolutionary reclamation of the female body. The selfie has further evolved on Facebook and Instagram to allow the same short videos made popular by Snapchat, and everyone is doing it. On Saturday night, I was heading into Brisbane CBD in an Uber and noticed a car driving pretty erratically in front of ours. When we pulled alongside at the lights, sure enough it was some young women taking a selfie. The popularity of Snapchat has led its creator, Evan Spiegel, to declare that profile based social media experiences are being phased out in favour of Snapchat’s more communicative features (cited in Herman 2014, n.p.). Snapchat’s goal is to communicate through photos not around them, with the primary tool being the selfie (Herman 2014, n.p).

“The selfie is both adored and reviled; yet it flourishes as one of the most effective outlets for self-definition” (Murray 2015, p. 490).

Prior to the readily accessible Snapchat selfies YouTube was the main form of video communication, bringing the potential for both fame and fortune for a successful user. Lange (2009, p. 70) believed that at the time of writing, YouTube videos were mainly evaluated by their value as a marketable product. While it is difficult to ascertain just how much YouTube makes as a part of Google, an estimated $5.6 billion in revenue was brought in during 2013 (Worstall 2013, n.p.). After a period in which YouTubers were really cashing in, several high-profile advertising scandals have seen a change in policy (Bishop 2018, n.p.). The change has been brought about due to concerns regarding YouTube’s inability to regulate its content, leading to big names such as Mars and Pepsi to leave the platform (Bishop 2018, n.p.).

YouTube’s most popular video is Despacito ft. Daddy Yankee which has made approximately $3.3 million dollars from advertising on the platform.

Like it was alluded to by the owner of Snapchat, people are now using videos and pictures to tell a story. I recently got back from Japan where every mechanism and selfie taking device was in play. People at the snow had GoPro’s either on a selfie stick or attacked to their helmets to record and publish their experiences. Elsewhere the increasingly popular selfie stick was visible around every major (or minor) Japanese landmark. This fits in neatly with the theory of an attention economy, proposing that a certain amount of effort and originality is required to gain and maintain somebody’s attention (Lange 2009, p. 72). Over the 10 years since Lange’s article was published, we have seen these changes from posting photos and status updates, to the micro videos that people now use to communicate. Murray (2015, p. 490) sees the selfie as a powerful modern tool for self-expression, encouraging users to share the most pronounced and intimate experiences of their lives. One thing is clear to me, these forms of new media communication form the connective tissue that binds the online generation together.

References

Bishop, S 2018, ‘Why it’s harder than ever to make money on YouTube’, The Conversation, 07 February, viewed 14 January 2019,

Herrman, J 2014, ‘Meet The Man Who Got Inside Snapchat’s Head’, Buzzfeednews, 27 January, viewed on 14 January 2019, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jwherrman/meet-the-unlikely-academic-behind-snapchats-new-pitch#3dlvjg2

Lange, P 2009, ‘Videos of affinity on Youtube’, in P Snickars (ed), The Youtube Reader, National Library of Sweden, Stockholm, pp. 70-88.

Mamiverse Team 2016, ‘In Defence of the Selfie Stick’, Mamiverse, 16 January, viewed 15 January 2019, http://053.f7d.mwp.accessdomain.com/defending-selfie-stick-91170/

[the-digital-communique-blog]

Saved by the Crowd

Social media has taken on a leading role in disaster relief and times of crisis. The ability to instantly publish minute by minute updates as a situation unfolds is akin to having reporters positioned everywhere. Social media analysis of the 2011 Queensland floods conducted by Bruns, Burgess, Crawford, and Shaw (2012, p. 7) shows that the Twitter hashtag of #qldfloods became the primary method of Twitter communication, with more than 35000 tweets occurring over 10-16 January 2011. While #qldfloods had the larger volume of tweets, @QPSMedia were able to effectively disseminate targeted messaging that provided situational awareness and advice to those in need (Bruns et al. 2012, p. 8). With the Black Saturday and Qld flood experiences as a reference point, the ABC have established multiple social media accounts to enable a scalable response (Posetti & Lo 2012, p. 35). The use of social media during times of crisis has also been important during my time in the military, and is one of the reasons I have chosen this subject as an elective. We are responsible (if called upon) to provide HADR (humanitarian assistance disaster relief) support to countries within Australia’s near region. Part of my role is to monitor social media to try and get an insight of what to expect when we arrive and also to assist in planning, including finding the trending hashtags and sites. I can only imagine what it would be like trying to find out that kind info prior to social media!

Sharks at the golf course after the floods

A major step forward in crisis induced crowd sourcing came in 2007 with the creation of a program called Ushahidi. Ushahidi is a ‘liberation’ platform that was created in 2007 to afford ordinary citizens a means to report human rights abuses during the Kenyan presidential elections (Ford 2012, p. 33). It enabled Kenyans to document via text message the abuses felt by over 45,000 people, giving a voice to those otherwise silenced by the government enforced media ban (Ford 2012, p. 35). Morrow, Mock, Papendieck and Kocmich (2011, p. 4) found the use of Ushahidi during the 2010 earthquate in Haiti provided an impressive proof of concept for what can be achieved through crowdsourcing in times of crisis. Platforms such as Ushahidi allow people to share views from disparate locations and can become an important tool for the dissemination of politically motivated content (Ford 2012, p. 33). They found crisis mapping in the aftermath of this natural disaster provided geographically precise and accurate information prior to the deployment of the UN and other organisations, especially in the early stages (Morrow et al. 2011, p. 4) The ABC trialled the platform after seeing its effectiveness during natural disasters in Pakistan and Haiti, but also struggled with how to ensure that information is verified (Posetti & Lo 2012, p. 3). The future for this kind of project involves ‘big data’ verification, which cross references key words and phrases to digitalise the verification process (Ford 2012, p. 39).

Ushahidi Mapping Example

This short video explain Ushahidi in 40 seconds

References

Bruns, A, Burgess, J, Crawford, K & Shaw, F 2012, ‘#qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods, Brisbane ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, viewed 11 January 2019, https://eprints.qut.edu.au/48241/1/floodsreport.pdf

Ford, H 2012, ‘Crowd Wisdom’, Digital Frontiers, viewed 11 January 2019, https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1177/0306422012465800

Morrow, N, Mock, N, Papendieck, A & Kocmich, N 2011, ‘Independent Evaluation of the Ushahidi Haiti Project’ Research Gate, viewed 12 January 2019, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nathan_Morrow/publication/265059793_Ushahidi_Haiti_Project_Evaluation_Independent_Evaluation_of_the_Ushahidi_Haiti_Project/links/5451ef8f0cf2bf864cbaaca9/Ushahidi-Haiti-Project-Evaluation-Independent-Evaluation-of-the-Ushahidi-Haiti-Project.pdf

Posetti, J & Lo, P, ‘The Twitterisation of ABC’s emergency and disaster communication’, Australian Journal of Emergency Management, The, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 34-39.

Images

Haiti Earthquake Mapping - Ushahidi 2010, retrieved from https://www.ushahidi.com/blog/2010/04/14/crisis-mapping-haiti-some-final-reflections

Now that’s what you call a water hazard! Flooding brings killer shark to golf course (2011), retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2047291/Killer-sharks-invade-golf-course-Australia-flooding.html

[the-digital-communique-blog]

Trolls under the bridge

The concept of trolling is an interesting one. I certainly would never condone the online bullying and belittling that happens over the internet but it must be hard to decipher sometimes. The banter that my friends and I use to communicate could easily be taken out of context by somebody who didn’t know we were friends. Olweus (cited in Boyd 2014, p. 131) defined bullying as an act requiring aggression, repetition, and an imbalance in power, and must contain all three of these factors. Trolling takes a similar mentality online by using controversial online messaging to creating discord and emotive responses (Urbandictionary 2019, n.p.). It is interesting to think about whether trolling meets all of Olweus’s criteria, and I would argue that in a lot of cases trolls are not acting aggressively. But does that mean that it is not bullying? To me bullying is more about how the other person feels, and whether the act continues after the victim has expressed a desire for it to stop.

McCosker (2014, p. 201) argues that acts of trolling should be examined through the correct cultural and geographical context to properly understand both the effect and meaning of act. This is an interesting point as cultural differences or even subtle differences in the use of language can change the meaning/interpretation of a message.

A case in point for me is Shannon Noll’s Facebook page. He gets an absolute barrage of comments and takes it all in good humour thankfully, I personally think they are hilarious but perhaps another viewer may not….

He was even good natured enough to make a sports bet add where he read out some of the comments.

According to Boyd (2014, p. 130) parents and journalists believe that social media significantly increases bullying, an assumption that is refuted by the data. This has led to a strong focus on teen suicide from the unquantified journalistic view that the majority of youths are bullied online (Boyd 2014, p. 131). McCosker (2014, p. 202) aligns social media conflict with agnostic pluralism, speaking to the necessity of having a contested space which allows for passionate debate and contested interactions. A study conducted on a short and highly provocative anti-Islam film found that interactions between the content creator, Dutch MP Geert Wilders, and those who commented was minimal (McCosker 2014, p. 206).

YouTube by numbers (Aslam 2019) link: 1.9 billion monthly active users 5+ billion videos shared to date 150 million hours of YouTube watched daily YouTube services 95% of all internet users

After conducting his analysis on YouTube commentary accrued on videos regarding the Christchurch earthquake and a flash haka, McCosker (2014, p. 213) describes YouTube as a “participatory space that incorporates and perhaps also accommodates conflict and cruelty”. The work of Thelwall and Sud (2012, p. 616) found that certain themes, such as religion, trigger lengthy discussion while other genres such as music and comedy were the least commented on. I think overall these works show that emotive subjects are far more likely to attract comment and debate, which also makes them a likely target for trolls who are able to find easy trigger points to gain a response.

References

Aslam, S 2019, ‘YouTube by the Numbers: Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts’, Omnicore, viewed 11 January 2019, https://www.omnicoreagency.com/youtube-statistics/

Boyd, D 2014, It’s complicated: the social lives of networked teens, Yale University Press, New Haven.

McCosker, A 2014, ‘Trolling as provocation: YouTube’s agonistic publics’, Journal of Research into New Mdia Technologies, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 201-217.

Thelwall, M & Sud, P 2012, ‘Commenting on YouTube Videos: From Guatemalan Rock to El Big Bang’, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, vol. 63, no. 3, pp. 616-629.

Urban Dictionary 2019, ‘Trolling’, Urban Dictionary, viewed 11 January 2019, https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Trolling

[the-digital-communique-blog]

Digital Activism

This week’s material focused on grass roots activism and how these movements have been enhanced by social media. A primary example of this can be seen during the Arab Spring, a series of street protests that began in Tunisia in 2010. These protests were sparked by the death of Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi who, set himself on fire to protest police brutality (History 2019). This truly was the pebble that started the avalanche as authoritarian leaders in Tunisa, Egypt and Libya were overthrown causing civil war throughout the region (History 2019). According to Gerbaudo (2012, p. 48) the revolution in Egypt was driven by tech savvy but politically inexperienced youth who extensively used social media to form a revolutionary nucleus. While this has been prolifically known as the ‘Facebook Revolution”, the number of locals using social media was actually relatively low and its effect mas more of a news outlet than a tool for mobilisation (Gerbaudo 2012, p. 49). The internet was used extensively for protest and activism due to strict government control over the freedom of assembly, but the main mobilisation in these instances came from traditional media and word of mouth (Gerbaudo 2012, p. 50). While the role of social media in this instance should not be overstated, it still provided an important platform to garner national media interest which in turn provided a mobilising effect.

A brief history of the Arab Spring can be seen here

A recent article by Kaarina Nikunen (2018) explores the power of digital activism when addressing the role of social media in political debates, in particular the refugee crisis in Europe. She also makes a very valid point regarding social media movements:

“Even if people can voice their views in public, there is no guarantee that anyone is listening” (Nikunen 2018, p. 10).

To me this raises questions regarding social media activism. Like with news in general, it really has to be a juicy topic for people to get involved. Nikunen (2018, p. 11) studies the use of social media in terms of its ‘affect’, which she defines as its ability to elicit emotions such as sadness, joy or hope. I think this is an interesting way to view social media as statistically speaking there can be a lot of noise without any tangible results. The most successful social media campaigns appeal to emotions such as fear, disgust or shame with different emotions carrying a particular kind of ‘moral force’ (Nikunen 2018, p. 12).

To completely reverse the coin, the government in China has sought to stamp out grass roots dissent or political objections by creating a social credit system. According to the video (link below) China plans to score the actions of all it’s citizens by 2020, making every action count towards your credit score (VICE News 2018). Each citizen starts off with 1000 credit points with positive deeds gaining you points, while negative deeds such as defaulting on a loan loses points. If the credit score is below 1000 citizens can be refused tickets to high speed rail and flights among other things (VICE News 2019). Who would want to start a grass roots movement in that environment?

China’s Social Credit System Explained

References

History 2019, The Arab Spring, viewed 10 January 2019, https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/arab-spring#section_5

Nikunen, K 2018, ‘From Irony to Solidarity: Affective Practice and Social Media Activism’, Studies of Transition States and Societies, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 10-22.

Paolo, G 2012, Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism, Pluto Press, London.

VICE News 2018, ‘China’s “Social Credit System” Has Caused More Than Just Public Shaming’, HBO, 12 December, viewed 10 January 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkw15LkZ_Kw

[the-digital-communique-blog]

Politicians on Social Media: Savvy or Suicide?

Week 5 focused heavily on how politicians use (or fail to use) social media as part of their campaigns. The first thing that comes to mind when I think politics and social media is the difficulties that digital natives will face due to a lifetime online. After the well-worn path has been trod, politicians tend to be 40-50 years old before they gain prominence. When I think back to what I was like as a teenager (thankfully just before the social media whirlwind, MySpace was mildly popular but I didn’t have an account) I couldn’t imagine trying to explain the photos and videos that would’ve been taken during that time if people had smart phones. These dangers were recognised by President Obama who advised extreme caution when posting on social media (Jericho 2013, p. 254). It can be difficult to escape the follies of youth as 19-year-old ALP candidate Peter Watson discovered when homophobic comments he made as a 15-year-old were unearthed (Jericho 2013, p. 254). These comments included naming homosexuals as “social degenerates” and also linked homosexuality to paedophilia (Wordsworth, Binnie, Burgess & Barry 2012, n.p.). The full extent of Mr Watson’s foolish comments can be seen in this article.

Qld Labor candidate expelled after homophobic rant

There is also the question of how well current politicians, who for the most part are at a generational disadvantage when it comes to social media, use these platforms to communicate with their voter base. According to Jericho (2013, p. 260), savvy political parties should harness and direct public emotion rather than simply using social media as a platform for political messaging. It seems that Australian politicians tend to do the latter, with Young (2010, p. 204) viewing internet campaigning or even general news as simply different mechanism to access the same information. It is also difficult to prove what, if any, correlation exists between social media followers and measurable results. Tudehope (cited in Jericho 2013, p. 273) for example argues that having a large number of Twitter followers can be misleading, and has no genuine effect as there are limited tangible interactions between the politician and their followers. Cultivating and maintaining a multi-platform social media presence can be hugely beneficial but ultimately requires a commitment by the politician who needs to be engaging and real rather than trumpeting policies at the public (Jericho 2013, p. 266).

The long running twitter handle, #auspol, has allowed every day Australian’s to discuss the trials and tribulations of Australian politics. This generic hashtag has allowed members of the public to debate issues but as with all online interactions can lead to abuse (Bogle 2016, n.p.).

The most recent use of the hashtag discusses Fraser Anning’s attendance at the St. Kilda Rally, a far right rally that he billed the tax payer $2800 to attend.

Between February 21 and March 21 there were 760,000 tweets using #auspol

While these numbers certainly show an interest by the Australian public in couch based political commentary, I tend to agree with Jericho (2013, p. 263) who believes that political use of social media remains a largely untapped resource, indicating that it hasn’t yet reached a stage that would be influential in the elections. When this will change I’m not sure, especially as the consequences of making a mistake online can be rather grim.

References

Bogle, A 2016, ‘#auspol: The Twitter hastag Australia can’t live without’, Mashable, March 21, viewed 09 January 2019, https://mashable.com/2016/03/21/twitter-australia-auspol/#EhsPu_.OMEqg

Highfield, T & Bruns, A 2016, Compulsory Voting, Encouraged Tweeting? Australian Elections and Social Media, viewed 07 January 2019, http://snurb.info/files/2016/Compulsory%20Voting,%20Encouraged%20Tweeting.pdf

Jericho, G 2013, ‘Rise of the Fifth Estate: Social Media and Blogging in Australian Politics, Scribe Publications Pty Ltd., Carlton North.

Wordsworth, M, Binnie, K, Burgess, S & Barry, S 2012, ‘Qld Labor candidate expelled after homophobic’, ABC News, 21 February, viewed 09 January 2019, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-20/queensland-labor-candidate-peter-watson-quits/3841192

Young, S 2010, How Australia Decides: Election Reporting and the Media, Cambridge University Press.

[kastojan-blog]

Blog 1A Part 2

Faceless Bodies: Negotiating Technological and Cultural Codes on Reddit Gonewild

Hiding behind a computer screen encourages people to speak and do things they wouldn’t do in person (Guardian 2018). ‘Faceless Bodies’ by Emily Van Der Nagel discusses the impacts of anonymity on social media and the technological and cultural codes it crosses.

Van Der Nagel highlights two conflicting points:

1)    That anonymity makes us hard to trust as we are all stranger online, this creates negative Impacts such as abuse bully and harassment (Van Der Nagel 2013).

2)    That anonymity is valuable even when negative rudeness occurs. Anonymity gives people freedom of being judged, freedom of speech (Van Der Nagel 2013).

I have personally experienced the negative impacts of anonymity through online bullying and harassment as a teenager and a adult.

When I was in my early teens I received anonymous abusive comments about the way I looked on a website I created. I was a manager of social media and marketing at last job at Paloma retail store. Throughout this time I received offensive anonymous reviews on Yelp and Google. These negative comments were hurtful and unnecessary and most of the time described untrue events. I believe these people would not have made these comments if they were held accountable by stating their real names.  

I decided to read ‘Faceless Bodies’ for the second time. Which made me curious about other peoples opinions of social media anonymity.

A Guardian reporter asks: what about the undercover journalist who joins social media platforms to expose wrongdoing? And the children in a self-help chatroom, or a religious gay person that needs to talk to someone but fears their community will find out? (Guardian 2018).

This made me think of other cultures and sub cultures of people. Cultures that I don’t understand but rely on anonymity to speak to others without the fear of being judged.  

Anonymity has its pros and cons. After reading ‘Faceless Bodies’ for the second time and reading the article by the Guardian, I believe the pros out way the cons.

Without the freedom to discuss matters openly and confidently, our social and technological politics will become even more stilted, this is something our world does not need (Guardian 2018).

There is no way that anonymous social media could be monitored at all times. To deal with the negatives, I believe children should be educated about trolling and dealing with online abuse at school. It is important that adults can educate children to deal with bullies in person and online. It is more likely if children are educated about online safety from a young age that they will continue to be respectful of others throughout their adult life.

References:

The Guardian. 2018. Should anonymous social media accounts be banned?. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/sep/30/social-media-anonymity-ban-debate-trolls-abuse–jess-phillips-jamie-bartlett. [Accessed 2 December 2018].

Van der Negal 2013, ‘Faceless Bodies: Negotiating Technological and Cultural Codes on reddit gonewild’, Scan Journal of Media Arts Culture, vol. 10, no. 2, Macquarie University.

Image 1: 

Make use of, (2018), Anonymous [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/2-anonymous-web-browsers-completely-private-secure/ [Accessed 2 December 2018].

[the-digital-communique-blog]

Great post Kristina,

I find the topic of anonymity quite intriguing as I think most people don’t realise that true online anonymity is very difficult to achieve. I haven’t explored blogs too much but it is actually quite difficult to create and anonymous Facebook or Twitter posts. They generally require an active phone number to be sent a confirmation text so the site itself holds data that can be linked back to a person. As part of my work we have conducted some training in social media exploitation which really highlighted the fact that being truly anonymous online is very difficult to achieve. While your ordinary person may not know how to exploit these sites to gain information, the ability to do so is not difficult to learn and can easily be researched. An example of how a bit of online fun can turn into a big deal is shown below.

“On July 2, President Trump tweeted a video of himself fighting Vince McMahon in a WWE match with a CNN logo superimposed over McMahon’s head” (McEwan 2017).

It only took 3 days for CNN political reporter Andrew Kaczynski to track down the Reddit user who created the video, HanAssholeSolo, who begged for his identity not to be revealed. “CNN reserves the right to publish his identity” which could be construed as online blackmail according to McEwan (2017).

McEwan (2017) sums it up brilliantly I think, “The threat is that political or satirical messages will have consequences. They may not mean going to jail, but repercussions like losing one’s job can be devastating. Do we protect anonymous speech, no matter the topic? Should we regulate online speech? Can we determine the differences between hate, “trolling” and satire? Is “just kidding” an acceptable defence for hateful speech?”

References

McEwan, B 2017, ‘CNN-Reddit saga exposes tension between the internet, anonymity and power’, The Conversation, 11 July, viewed 09 December 2018, https://theconversation.com/cnn-reddit-saga-exposes-tension-between-the-internet-anonymity-and-power-80662

[the-digital-communique-blog]

Joe Bloggs Bloggs

Hello again to our digital community! I’m not really sure when the term Joe Bloggs came about but its use as a place holder name seems very relevant in an time when your average Joe Bloggs might well be a blogger!

This week I will be examining the effects and impacts of blogging, while sharing a few instances that it has personally affected my life. McCosker and Darcy (2013, p. 1267) see blogs as a kind of public diary, which can provide a therapeutic effect for those suffering from severe illnesses. In this instance, a blog allows the person to post intimate and personal experiences which can take the edge off potentially awkward social situations, giving friends the ability to follow their journey online. Unfortunately, this also allows the possibility for fraudulent behaviour.

Woman 'faked' ovarian cancer to collect $55,000 in online donations, court told

This woman, Lucy Wieland, faked having ovarian cancer and raised money by blogging her experiences along the fictitious journey of ovarian cancer (Rafferty 2018). The reason this is so personal to me is that her boyfriend was a member of the army who I met a few years ago at mates a funeral. He would share her ‘experiences’ on Facebook so I was following the story quite closely (thankfully not donating!) although it is unsure whether he knew about the fraudulence, although my gut tells me he didn’t.

But what draws people to blogs or to be bloggers? According to Cross (2011, p. 38) it is the chance to share personal experiences with interested audiences, allowing some to become powerful social influencers. These influencers are able to use their mass followings to increase traffic on certain posts or items simply through their own endorsement (Cross 2011, p. 38). I have recently experienced the power of social influence in a very unexpected way. This came in the form of social influencer in chief Kim Kardashian’s endorsement of the buy-now-pay-later group AfterPay Touch Group Ltd (Mosaleva 2018). Kardashian has a staggering online following of 59 million Twitter followers and 120 million Instagram followers who are largely in Afterpay’s target market (18-34 year olds) according to Mosaleva (2018). Why does this matter to me you ask? I hold shares in AfterPay and Kardashian’s endorsement caused the share price to spike by 10-15% in 24 hours which is quite incredible.

Sukhraj (2017) outlines some key blogging statistics and considerations for 2018.

53% of marketers are making blogging their top marketing priority when it comes to content

blogs that stand out are more likely to be read as 43% admit to skimming posts

the number of bloggers in 2020 is expected to reach 31.7 million

blog articles with images get 94% more views

the average word count of top-ranking content (in Google) is between 1,140-1,285 words

blogs have been rated the 5th most trusted source of information

Nearly a decade ago public relations expert Mark Penn (cited in Cross 2011, p. 37) saw ‘Bloggers’ as the Fifth Estate in the US, providing significant competition to the press. It certainly seems like he was right as both blogging and microblogging continue to expand and gain legitimacy.

References

Cross, M 2011, Bloggerati, Twitterati: How Blogs and Twitter Are Transforming Popular Culture, ABC-CLIO, LLC.

McCosker, A & Darcy, R 2013, ‘Living with Cancer’, Information, Communication & Society, vol. 26, no. 8, pp. 1266-1285.

Mosaleva 2018, ‘Even Kim Kardashian is ramping AfterPay Touch Group Ltd shares’, The Motley Fool, 29 November, viewed 05 December 2018, https://www.fool.com.au/2018/11/29/even-kim-kardashian-is-ramping-afterpay-touch-group-ltd-shares/

Rafferty, S 2018, ‘Woman ‘faked’ ovarian cancer to collect $55,000 in online donations, court told’, ABC News, 18 October, viewed 05 December 2018, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-18/lu-wieland-accused-of-faking-stage-five-ovarian-cancer/10391034

Sukhraj, R 2017, ’28 Little-Known Blogging Statistics to Help Shape Your Strategy in 2018’, iMPACT, 24 January, viewed 05 December 2018, https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/blogging-statistics-to-boost-your-strategy

[maverickdiculous-blog]

Weeks 1 & 2

Weeks 1 & 2 introduced us to digital communities through social media and the internet- what’s good about it all and what’s not.

As I sit here writing this blog, I’m currently connected to the internet on 3 devices at my desk. Although I’m only paying attention to my laptop, my phone and tablet have already lit up with a notification or two from online apps.

The thought of realising that I have 3 connected devices with me at one time brings up danah boyd’s point of becoming part of an ‘always-on’ lifestyle.

Once I leave my laptop to go and get a drink, make some dinner or go have a shower, I’m still technically connected. I haven’t turned any of my devices off whilst doing these other activities. As boyd (2012, p. 71) puts it, these activities are not necessarily “online”, but online is always close by… so technically… by having at least one device connected to the internet at all times makes me a part of the “always on” lifestyle (boyd 2012, p. 72). 

“What separates those who are part of the always-on lifestyle from those who aren’t is not often the use of specific tools, it’s mostly a matter of approach” 

(boyd 2012, p. 72). 

While I do utilise the internet and social media and for my personal life, I have also chosen to use it as part of my university studies as well. I chose to conduct my degree via correspondence, therefore, I am always online in a sense that I have to be online to be successful in my studies. Being ‘always-on’ isn’t necessarily about being addicted to the new technologies that have arisen over the decades, it’s about having a passion for interacting with people and sourcing information in technological ways that we never thought were possible (boyd 2012, p. 73). I never thought it would be possible for me to obtain a university degree quickly and still work at the same time… but technology has allowed me to do this, and so here I am 🤘😎

Which brings me to another point covered in week 2- virtual communities. 

As you all know, we’re in our own little virtual community for MDA20009. We all have several ways in which we can interact with one another about our studies or any other cool info to get to know each other, yet none of us have met in person. We’re all connected through a virtual community simply due to our subject interests and not our geographical location (Siapera 2012, p. 194). As Siapera (2012, pp. 200-201) questions- “Does networked individualism increase or decrease social bonds and social capital?”. Has technology hindered our way of communicating because we’re not sharing our interests in physical proximity?

I believe that networked individualism increases social capital because I really don’t think I would’ve chosen a university degree at all if it wasn’t for technology… I would not have signed up to attend physical uni which would’ve potentially replaced the networked individualism that I have with all you guys, as well as my other units I have currently or completed throughout my degree previously.

References

boyd, d 2012, ‘Participating in the always on lifestyle’, in M Mandiberg (ed), The social media reader, New York University Press, ProQuest Ebook Central, pp. 71-76.

Siapera, E 2012, Understanding new media, Sage, London, Swinburne Commons, viewed 27 November 2018.

[the-digital-communique-blog]

Thanks for a great blog post Katrina,

I am much the same when I am at home, the phone is pretty much with me at all times and fills in any white space. I would say that I am also part of the ‘always on’ crowd described by boyd but my work often requires me to be away from technology for extended periods. I just returned from 4 weeks overseas where I was unable to have a sim card in my phone or access social media, communicating outwards only via email! While it you feel disconnected to begin with, reading books and listening to pod casts filled up the time I would normally spend online which does feel very constructive. I had somewhere in the region of 150 Facebook notifications when I got back, the vast majority of which were pretty useless to be honest. Have you ever been off Facebook for a month or more? They start sending you notifications about things that you aren’t directly involved with to try and entice you back online, such as “Friend X commented on Friend Y’s post” or “Friend Z recently uploaded a photo”. It seems like a ploy to make you feel more connected to the network and remind you of the online community that has been inexplicably ignored.

I agree that networked individualism increases social capital but I don’t think it really expands how many good friends you are able to maintain. I’ll add in something that I wrote on my own blog that I found interesting.

Research has shown that people are only able to maintain a certain number of stable social relationships, and while social media platforms may increase this number, people will almost certainly accumulate more “friends” than they can maintain meaningful relationships with (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe 2010, p. 878).

I think that while having digital communities such as those found through university are important for achieving goals, ie. Learning and getting your degree, it is also important to work even harder to maintain the meaningful relationships outlined by Ellison, Steinfield and Lampe. Being able to study online is an amazing opportunity, there aren’t many mature aged students (I’m 29) who would be able to drop everything and go back to an on-campus environment. I’ll end with a question. What do you think about Sunstein’s (2007 cited in Siapera 2012, p. 196) assertion that the internet limits by creating ‘information cocoons’ or ‘echo chambers’ where the same viewpoints or arguments are continually recycled?

References

Ellison, N, Steinfield, C & Lampe, C 2010, ‘Connection strategies: Social capital implications of Facebook-enabled communication practices’, New Media & Society, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 873-892.

Siapera, E 2012, Understanding New Media, Sage, London.

[the-digital-communique-blog]

Hi fellow bloggers, I have decided to relate weeks 1&2 to my experiences in the Military.

I am currently employed by the Australian army, and will use this perspective to examine how social media is used to convert latent ties to weak ties, and in some instances strong friendships. New media has profoundly changed the way that people interact, which has led to new theories regarding relationships and socialisation (Siapera 2012, p. 192). Social network sites encourage users to display increasing amounts of personal data while providing a platform of digital connectivity that allows users to remain peripherally connected to one another (McCosker & Wilken 2014, p. 292). Schmidt, Lelchook and Martin (2016, p. 440) describe two types of social capital gained through social media use. The first is from relationships with close connections such as family and friends while the second is comes from bridging social capital which is gained from weaker ties to work colleagues or acquaintances. These weaker ties between work colleagues or acquaintances are particularly important in military life as a person’s work location is likely to move between states every 2-3 years. Research conducted by Schmidt, Lelchook and Martin (2016, p. 439) found that Facebook and Twitter usage is no longer confined to personal life and acquaintances, with studies showing that around 60% of people report having at least one work colleague as a Facebook “friend”. I would say in the military the number would be closer to 100%. From my observations, this is due to shared hardships, being in a new location with few established friends, and the likelihood of working with people from a shared background and demographic.

The importance of social media to a military member can be viewed in two ways. Firstly, the conversion of latent ties to weak ties creates social capital and allows a greater support network to be established (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2010, p. 873). By “Friending” colleagues on Facebook, a person is able to share readily accessible information about their lives (be it holidays, illnesses, breakups etc) which can then be used to reduce social tensions (Boyd 2012, p. 75). This is essential when moving to a new workplace/location as it enables you to find people with shared interests and experiences. Secondly, social media allows strong friendships to move back the other way to former weaker ties. Research has shown that people are only able to maintain a certain number of stable social relationships, and while social media platforms may increase this number, people will almost certainly accumulate more “friends” than they can maintain meaningful relationships with (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe 2010, p. 878). I can certainly relate to this. Since joining the army over 10 years ago, I have had some of my closest friends move to the other side of Australia and there may be some of them that I never see again. Social media allows me to remain connected to them, holding the potential to re-establish a strong relationship if location permits.

Thanks for reading!

References 

Boyd, D 2012, ‘Participating in the Always-On Lifestyle’, in M Madiberg (ed), The Social Media Reader, New York University Press, New York, pp. 71-76.

 Ellison, N, Steinfield, C & Lampe, C 2010, ‘Connection strategies: Social capital implications of Facebook-enabled communication practices’, New Media & Society, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 873-892. 

McCosker, A & Wilken, R 2014, ‘Social Selves’, in S Cunningham and S Turnbull (eds), The media & communications in Australia, 4th edn, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, pp. 291-295. 

Schmidt, G, Lelchook, A & Martin, J 2016, ‘The relationship between social media co-worker connections and work-related attitudes’, Computers in Human Behaviour, vol. 55, pp. 439-445. 

Siapera, E 2012, Understanding New Media, Sage, London.