Let's get digital

Meet your new favourite Agony Aunt, Therese McMahon! Here to help with your pertinent questions about love, life..... Ha jokes, none of that. Let's talk social media and digital communities!

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Dear Agony Aunt: China

Dear Agony Aunt, I’ve always wanted to walk the Great Firewall of China but I can’t seem to find it on google maps! Help?!

Love, I Finally Got Around to Writing My Bucket List

Dear Adventurous Spirit, Look at you go my little lamb, writing down your dreams and planning a trip to China! Yahooo! This. Is. So. Exciting.

Which is why I’m devastated to reveal that the Great Firewall of China is not what you think it is. But let’s face it, it’s best we resolve this now before you’re perched under the wings of an imposing papier mache dragon, sipping on a lychee flavoured cocktail in a merry state of international-travel-bliss. You see the thing is, China is complicated.

The Great Firewall of China is not a destination, as its cousin The Great Wall of China would suggest. Instead, it’s a combination of legislative actions and technologies enforced by the People’s Republic of China to regulate and control the internet domestically. 

The Firewall was established in attempt to block access to politically sensitive information, to neutralize critical online opinion and prevent its people from being corrupted by “evil” culture. While strict censorship is nothing new China, under the reign of President Xi Jinping online restraints have grown tighter. Over last few years, new legislation has marshalled the prohibition of most western social media sites, search engines, video sharing and streaming platforms. Even Winnie the Pooh was banned! To give you a sense of the extent of the bans, here’s a list of the most popular websites which, at the moment, are blocked in china: Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Snapchat, Picasa, WordPress.com, Blogspot, Blogger, Flickr, Soundcloud, Google+, Google Hangouts, Hootsuite. Search engines: Google (enough said). Video Sharing: YouTube, Vimeo. Media: The New York Times, Financial Times, The Economist, Wikipedia, Google News. Streaming Platforms: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify, Hulu and many more. 

‘WHAT IS THIS TYRANNY? Isn’t that almost all the websites on the internet?’ We cry. Well yes. Yes and no. There is an assumption made by the Western societies that China are missing out on the social media revolution, but in some ways, this could not be further from the truth. Instead, these social media platforms have been replaced by alternative ones, which the government can monitor. Two of the most popular being WeChat (China’s version of Facebook) and Sina Weibo (the twitter of China). 

According to statics released in Jan 2018, there was 911 million people using China’s equivalents of social media at the time. Which when you think about it is HUGE! And these platforms, even with the censorship, are heavily utilized for the same reasons western social media is: to stay in touch, to network, to meet new people, to share photos and videos and to find funny and entertaining content. Which makes the whole situation seem somewhat okay until you remember that, China, by imposing these restrictions on their citizens are seriously compromising the founding vision behind the internet – an unfettered global exchange of information.

As I said, it’s a complicated one. Enjoy your trip to China!

Love, Agony Aunt IMG’s from: China Briefing, Tanya Cooper, Goats On The Road

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Dear Agony Aunt: Gaming

Dear Agony Aunt, How do I tell my teenage brother politely that he is wasting his life playing video games? Love, Ultra-Concerned Sister

Dear Sis,

This is an urge I know all too well. I must say, I do not miss living with my brother. Or the incessant purr of gunshots and profanity that would echo out of his bedroom door. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it is to never tell someone that what they love to do is a waste of time. For that my friend, is a deed almost as ignorant and self-righteous as trumps twitter feed. The truth is, historically, most technologies have been greeted with an impending sense of doom. In the 18thand 19thcentury there were many folks that fretted novels would leave readers (especially women, it’s alwaaaaays the women) sexually inflamed, disconnected from reality and prone to immorality, and even suicide.  Then radio came along and a new generation of people kicked up a stink, fearing it as a distraction from wholesome reading time; in turn, movies and TV were decried as a distraction wholesome family radio listening. And so, the “everything rots your brain” mentality permeates. However, it does seem like video games, especially violent ones, have remained a persistent object of suspicion. There’s a large portion of people out there who believe video games create anti-social behaviour and lazy people who have no future/goals. But what if we looked at video games, as play, which is an intrinsic part of human development? 

According to child psychology play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social and emotional wellbeing of a child. But what about adult play? Why does society foster this idea that the only correct way to live adult life is through endlessly fulfilling lists of tasks? I’m not saying Grand Theft Auto is any way for someone to spend the entirety of their adult life but perhaps we could be less judgemental. Let the adults out, I say! Whether they want to play candy crush, something in the park or Simms, they’ll get to the bins and washing up later. It’s about time adults got to do something that is purely for enjoyment and entertainment. So, I would urge you, sis, to hold back on the ‘video games are dumb’ sermon. At best, all its going to achieve is him being annoyed with you for a bit. We’re well into gaming’s fifth decade and the sky doesn’t appear to have caved in, just as TV’s haven’t given us square eyes. It’s probably just time for you and I to lighten up really.

Love, Agony Aunt IMG’s from: Science Mag, Virgin

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Dear Agony Aunt: Health and Wellness

Dear Agony Aunt, How can I tell what is good and true online? There’s so many useful information groups and blogs on health and wellness groups out there but I can’t keep up. Who can I believe? From, Ruth Seeking Truth Dear Truth Seeker, Ruth, the truth is, finding authenticity online may be one of the biggest challenges facing our generation.

Our obsession with money and a susceptibility to charisma, status and the Kardashians has propelled us into an age where sham, spin, trickery and twaddle have all become new norms. And this completely sucks, as it means every time we open our phones, scroll our down feeds and read a news headline we must navigate this thorny terrain, with one eye open and a very large lie detector hoisted our left hand. While our culture fosters this environment, I would argue deep down, nobody likes a fake. I learnt this early on, when I told my entire friendship group in grade one that I was a professional Irish dancer on the Wiggles. My friends soon found out this was patently untrue and I was held accountable for days on end with that shameful, patronising tune, “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire.” This, I will never forget. While my actions were arguably not sinister (I was 7 for heaven’s sake), they are a good example of a lot of the codswallop plaguing the internet. People pretending to be something they are not. And sadly, this often applies most frequently to the health and wellness industry. Belle Gibson for example, a young Australian food blogger who claimed she cured her own cancer with her diet, is perhaps the most famous Insta-con artist. She secured a book deal with Penguin and a near half a million in advance, before her ‘truth’ – that she had never really been sick – came crashing down around her.

With more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, Gibson’s message had the Instagram tick of legitimacy (a strong crowd), influence and global reach – until she did not. But how were we to know? Kendall Jenner is another internet sensation regularly lambasted for thoughtless behaviour. This mostly recently included an advert, for Proactiv, where Jenner credited the skin brand for curing her acne, rather than the top-tier beautician known to titivate, at great expense her skin. This carefully omitted detail is a great example of the current state of the internet’s health and wellness sphere - a place of relentless falsehoods selling us lifestyles pinned up on tummy tea and self-love, meanwhile in truth, there is so much else at play here. So, who can you trust? Ruth seeking truth, in the incredibly murky waters of internet land? Sadly, my answer is, probably nobody. Health and wellness has always been any area of fads and trends and the internet has only exacerbated it. My advice to you is be as discerning as a Russian spy: read books, try things and have conversations online about ideas, foods and synchronised swimming routines but take nothing, I MEAN NOTHING, as gospel.

Love, Agony Aunt

IMG’s from: Tanya Cooper, The Australian, Noello Designs 

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Dear Agony Aunt: Crowdsourcing

Dear Agony Aunt, What exactly is crowdsourcing? And can I crowdsource people to take care of my laundry/missing hair ties/taxes? Love, Can’t Keep Up With My Responsibilities Dear Lazy, Something tells me you’re the kind of person that likes being so late to the party its practically over. Here, let me introduce you: Lazy, meet apps. Apps, meet lazy. All you have to do is download the apps onto your phone and rinse yourself of responsibility! It’s fantastic. Crowdsourcing, by definition, is the practice of engaging a ‘crowd’ or group in a common goal. It is fuelled by people with a variety of different skills and put into practice by new technologies, social media and the web. 

There are ample things that crowdsourcing can involve such as obtaining work and information, to dolling out the mediocre tasks you can’t be bothered to deal with to far more tolerant, motivated people. There are apps which crowdsource people to drop off your preferred Pad Thai from the dingy joint down the road to your door (Uber Eats) and others that allow you to book a jack-of-all-trades handy man with one gentle tap (Airtasker). But to limit crowdsourcing to the aid of your general laziness would be a disservice to its proficiency. Crowdsourcing is much greater than that. Take the Panama papers for example. That was a COLOSSAL crowdsourcing effort! The Panama Papers was an unprecedented leak of millions of files from the database of the world’s biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. 

As it turns out, Monssack Fonseca was a key player in a sprawling secretive industry that the worlds rich and powerful used to hide assets and skirt rules. They did this by setting up front companies in far flung jurisdictions. But the revealing information was buried in 11.5 million files! Eeeek! The stuff of movies, right? These juicy, exposing files and records were obtained by the German newspaper, Suddeustche Seitung, from an anonymous source. The German newspaper then shared them with the ICIJ, otherwise known as the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The ICIJ then harnessed the power of the big-wide-web, by crowdsourcing the documents with a large network of international journalists. For two years, the 400 journalists from more than 100 media organizations in over 80 countries took part in researching these documents and somehow, managed to keep it on the DL. The journalists sorted through invoices, emails and paper trails. Each of them with different levels of expertise, understanding and skills. By crowd-sourcing this information to a wider group of journalists scattered around the world, they were able to comb through this large body information much quicker and far more thoroughly than if the ICIJ had taken it all upon themselves. And by connecting all the info, together, they created usable knowledge. They were able to compile lists of important politicians, international criminals and well-known professional athletes, among others, who were apart of the scandal. Think shmucks like Malcom Turnbull, Jackie Chan and Petro Proshenko, just to name a few. They were also able to reveal an inside view of the world of the shadowy realm of offshore finance for the first time, which is all too frequently used to stash ill-gotten proceeds of lousy-behaviour, criminal activity and fraudulent tax avoidance. This colossal uncovering of information and corruption would not have been possible without a crowdsourcing effort. So while your laundry, missing hair ties and taxes are all crowdsource-able, its be worth remembering that there are bigger things at play here. Crowdsourcing is huge and multifaceted realm. Now you may go forth and single-handedly colonise the app store. Love, Agony Aunt 

IMG’s from: Leuing, New Yorker, World Wide Web Association 

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Dear Agony Aunt: Cancel Culture

Dear Agony Aunt, Why are people so nasty to celebrities online? And what is ‘cancel’ culture? Love, Thinking of Cancelling My Instagram Account Dear Dismayed, Oh darling. I hear you. ‘Tis the age of internet uproar, trolling and clapback. The sad truth is, within mere seconds a Popular Internet Personality can find themselves consumed by a slew of vicious hot-takes. And oftentimes, debate is reasonable: one could argue that those who make money from the internet, should be held accountable by the internet. But debate is not the same as decimate. Recently, the internet has seen a worrying trend. When someone screws up, their error is used as a calling card for their total erasure. Their mistake is no offence; it is proof of their triviality and worthlessness. In internet speak, this has become known as ‘cancelling’ or ‘deleting’ – for eg: ‘let’s cancel them’ – and in the last few weeks, I’ve seen this trend unfurling and growing, like a furious, angry, thing.   Cancel culture, otherwise known as call-out culture or outrage culture (or my preferred term, i’ve-nothing-better-to-do-with-my-life culture) is a set of behaviours, usually displayed on social media, that aim to hold individuals and groups accountable for political and social transgressions through public shaming. 

But what does this cancelation actually look like? Well, one recent recipient of social media capital punishment is James Charles, a 19-year-old internet sensation in the beauty world.

With 16 million YouTube subscribers (and nearly the same number on Instagram), his own merchandise line and make up partnerships, one could deduce that he had a devoted following. But in a matter of days, everything changed. Mr. Charles is now at the centre of an ongoing debate about betrayal among a passionate group of beauty vloggers and bona fide celebrities. He has lost around three million followers on YouTube and Miley Cyrus, Shawn Mendes and Kylie Jenner have all unfollowed him on Instagram. This is all in response to a video posted by Tati Westbrook, a YouTube vlogger and a former mentor to Mr. Charles, in which she told her millions of subscribers she no longer wants anything to do with Charles. Ms. Westbrook, who owns a vitamin company, described in detail how an Instagram ad that Mr. Charles posted on behalf of a rival supplement’s company was a betrayal of their friendship. She also cited a number of other transgressions committed by Mr Charles. In the days since Ms. Westbrook posted her video, he has also seen a rapid drop in his YouTube subscriber count, from about 16.5 million to 13.5 million, according to Social Blade, which compiles social media data. People have left horrible comments beneath his posts and former fans have gone as far as to set their James Charles eyeshadow pallets on fire.

This is what cancel culture looks like. It has become cultural normalcy to simply delete things that we don’t like, from existence: an ill-thought out social media post; a hurried voice note; a friendship. So, isn’t deleting a person from popular culture just a logical segue? I’d argue not. I think this a prime example of the internet’s empathy deficit. If social media and the events concerning Tati Westbrook and James Charles have reveal anything important, it is that we love to kick a dog when its down: sheltered, like cowards, behind our keyboards; snuggled under the blankets on the sofa. I’m pretty pissed about this one. Over and out, Agony Aunt

IMG’s from: The Concordation, Buzzfeed, Vice

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Dear Agony Aunt: Activism

Dear Agony Aunt, I’ve been noticing a lot more people wearing the same old outfits on Instagram. Is everyone suddenly very poor? Or am I missing something? From,

@sexygirlatinstagram

Dear sexy girl? Umm hi, You know when your mum use to tell you that nobody would notice if you wore that pink dress to the school disco two years in a row? Well she was lying, because people like you would.

However, I may think we may have confused you. I think you’ll find that this said poverty you are referring to is actually just a new mood in the air. Mindless consumerism is out and conscious consumption is in – as we are all making huge effort to go eco! Join us, if you like. As a part of your initiation we’ll make you swear off plastic straws and swap your steak for tofu, and THEN we’ll turn our attention to your wardrobe.

You’re right though, people are wearing the same old outfits on Instagram and it’s because they are participating in a form of activism. Digital activism! The textile industry is one of the planet’s biggest poulterers, emitting 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gass every year – and our appetite for bargain garms and one-post-wonders isn’t helping. Fortunately for us, social media is a powerhouse in terms of sustainability activism. And I would even go as far to that say that it is at the helm of a sustainable fashion revolution. Social media is teaching us that op-shops are no longer dark repositories for dusty knick-knacks, that instead they are bustling with second-hand clothes that can look good and do good!

For example, Australian Instagram Influencer Iona McLean, has been promoting sustainable fashion to her fifteen-thousand followers through an online vintage store. She sources the clothes from charity stores and second-hand vintage markets, saving her favourite finds from landfill. By doing this, she is providing an alternative to the cheap fast fashion that is detrimental to the environment and creating an awareness.

Another instance of sustainability activism is Greenpeace’s fashion detox campaign, which was primarily promoted through Instagram and has now attracted over 400,000 supporters. The campaign was hugely successful, with a number of fashion retailers agreeing to clean up their supply chain including the world’s largest fashion retailer, Zara and the world’s largest jean manufacturer, Levi’s.

These are just two examples of how activism on social media can promote a sustainable lifestyle and consumption.

But do you want to know the most powerful thing of all? The more conversations we have about it on social media the more people we educate and engage. And when more people care and get angry, the big companies and polluters must change. And that my friend, is the power of your same old outfit.

Love, Agony Aunt

IMG’s from: Mari Andrew, Greenpeace USA & Columbia University. 

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Dear Agony Aunt: Political Engagement

Dear Agony Aunt, Why does my boyfriend keep on using the #Auspol on twitter and how do I make him stop? From, Concerned Girlfriend Who is Hashtag Illiterate 

Dear Concerned,

While I’ll be the first to admit that there is an entire galaxy of absurd, off-piste hashtags out there that belong to the promoters and boasters of the universe, I must assure you #Auspol is nothing to worry about. Truth is, your boyfriend is using the hashtag #Auspol because it has a purpose: to join in a discussion or find information about Australian Politics. 

Now while almost all hashtags on twitter are unnecessary; not to mention annoying and loaded with subtext. (Some of the worst being #blessed, #ad and #malemodellife. Gross). #Auspol is kind of like the Bahama’s for the politically engaged and enraged Australians of Twitter, who often tweet their thoughts on Aussie politics in 140 characters or less. And its quite popular, ranking highly globally in the most used twitter hashtags.

But what really goes on, in this archipelago, with its shouty dialect that embraces words like #Scomo, #Eggboy and #Federalbudget in informed debate?

#Auspol in its essence a public sphere where its publics (or users) can broadcast their own opinions and engage in robust discussions about Australian politics. It also helps people understand alternative viewpoints and keep up to date with political happenings in Australia. Today, your boyfriend probably on their tapping his thumbs, discussing how Josh Frydenburg is cooked and how Peter Dutton’s been having ridiculous lobster dates with Chinese billionaire’s seeking Australian Citizenships, #pleasexplain. 

So, there’s really no reason for you to make him stop, it’s harmless. He’s not cheating. He still loves you. We’re ok. He’s just adding to the big, wonderful conversation about Australia politics just like thousands of other Australians do every day!

But I will say, beware of the echo chambers. These can be dangerous. While #auspol can be a mind-expanding utopia, where we can freely exchange ideas and contemplate - we humans have knack for screening out material that doesn’t conform to our existing preferences. This may decrease your boyfriend’s ability to consider both sides of the debate and think critically about each issue.

Maybe Fraser Anning does have a point? HAHAHA, DEFINITELY NOT. As you were.

Love, Agony Aunt IMG’s from: Pesdestrain TV & Tumblr.

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Dear Agony Aunt: Tumblr

Dear Agony Aunt, Is Tumblr a blog or a social network site? Describe some of its cultures of use. From, Highly Confused Caveman Who Is New to The Internet

Dear Confused, Once upon a time, at a high school sleepover, my friend’s older sister convinced me that Tumblr, a platform previously unbeknownst to me, was a blogging site solely dedicated to people filming themselves tumbling down hills and sharing it online. AH-A! How utterly brilliant, I thought.

Alas, it turns out I’VE BEEN LIED TO FOR THE LAST TEN YEARS and that is not quuuuite its function at all. Tumblr, is in fact a far more nuanced platform. Surprise! Tumblr can best be described as a cross between a blog and a twitter feed. It’s a streaming scrapbook of text, photos, videos and GIFS, that are posted and re-posted, by its users. Like twitter, you can connect/follow those who have similar interests to you, making it an outlet to share and discover on. In terms of its blogging function, while blogging tends to traditionally tends to involve lots of writing, Tumblr is a pretty visual place and is more about publishing shorter blog posts that include photos.   Tumblr also facilitates social networking with forms of engagement such the ability to like, share, comment and follow others. However, majority of these interactions are done through content rather that thoughts or personalized messages, making it a comparatively less imitate to other social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, that primarily foster connection. Yet, on the flip side, Tumblr has been known for being a place where publics - a group that come together about an issue they have a vested interest in -  can offer opinions, information and in some cases empathy, in a virtual community. We can see this in Tumblr’s high numbers of food blogs, fashion blogs, illness blogs and all the other wacky-highly-specific blogs that exist on the internet (God bless them and their deep comprehension of things we haven’t thought twice about!). So, to answer your question, I would say that Tumblr is the perfect cocktail of both a blogging and social network site - and that it cannot be classified as one alone, as both functions are integral to it how it is used and structured as a platform. Thanks for writing in! Yours, Agony Aunt