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Image-ine no Pinterest, I wonder if you can

Majority of the time I spend online (when I’m not working) is divided between the wonderful world of Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Facebook keeps me informed about what is going on in the lives of my friends and family, including friends from high school that I never see or speak to and that I’m slowly culling from my friends list, as well as my daily dose of hilarious memes.

(Sizzle, 2016)

Instagram is my one-stop-shop for escaping my somewhat ordinary life and being transported away to a work of tropical islands, fresh faces of flawless makeup, foodie and style inspiration and celebrity updates.

(Style Magazines, 2017)

(Delicious, 2017)

(Foster Blake, 2017)

Lastly, Pinterest is a gem when it comes to inspiration of any sort, but at the moment, it’s assisting me in my quest to plan my perfect wedding.

(Authors own Pinterest board)

I can’t help it hey, I’m a Millennial baby and this digital world is my playground.

These social media platforms are referred to as visual communities, as images have become a crucial element to how we use social media and connect with other people digitally (Swinburne, 2017).

Do you remember the last time your family got rounded up and sent off to a Pixie Photo studio in your nearest Target store? Me either. I think it was in 1995. As technology and society as technology-loving idiots have evolved, the concept of personal photography has too. No longer is personal photography about collecting memories that represent togetherness or unity. The development of camera phones, social media and image-enhancing mobile applications have contributed to a new meaning of personal photography, one that places emphasis on self-expression, self-promotion and the creation of visible publics (Mizuko, 2008).

I remember my first camera phone, it was a Motorolla Razr (the ‘it’ phone back in the day for girls my age). I wanted a pink one but my friend already had one, so I stuck with a matte black. Stay classy. Many a’ selfie was taken let me assure you. But lordy, do you know how hard it was to fit everyone’s heads in front of that tiny lens?

Selfie culture has taken over the world now. Kim Kardashian published a book of selfies *sigh*.

Why do we love ourselves so much?

Now that we have the technology to do so, we use selfies and other forms of personal photography to construct and invent the identity we wish to be seen as (Wilken & McCosker, 2014, p.291 & 292). Visual communities, such as Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat etc. come into play because they provide us with the means of visually sharing ourselves and aspects of our lives with a range of publics who then gives us the social tick of approval by dropping a like, a comment, tag or share.

I recently wrote my essay on the topic of visual communities and I argued that they bring out narcissistic behaviour in those who use them. I argued this because I know people in real life who have ordinary jobs, live ordinary lives and are no modern day celebrity, yet one glance at their Instagram page and you’d think they’d won the lotto were living a life of leisure. In other words, their digital presence is bull@#$%. It’s so common now to build your visual online presence to accentuate the most glamorous or exciting parts of your life, while eliminate the perhaps negative or dull aspects. Vivienne & Burgess (2014, p. 283) explain this through the concept of digital storying-telling, using technology such as social media to write a parallel history of the experiences and events in one’s life. I’m not going to lie, I do this too. If something awesome happens, put it on Instagram. Visual communities have given us that right!

However I personally only post selfies in the following circumstances (pretty much because I feel like a right jerk outside of these circumstances):

1. Special occasions, i.e. favourite cousin’s wedding 2. When I’m all dressed up and feeling a bit fly 3. Rare opportunities, i.e. in New York and I see the N.Y.P.D riding around on their horsies. Snap that in the background. So United States. Very Law & Order.

(Authors own image)

I do love visual communities though, as mentioned before, I’d be so bored and uninspired without Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. I’m just more of a gawker than a sharer.

References

Delicious, 2017, Chocolate tart image, Instagram, viewed 12th February 2017, <https://www.instagram.com/p/BQFBSkQDBy3/?taken-by=deliciousaus>

Foster Blake, 2017, Zoe Foster Blake pregnancy announcement, Instagram, viewed 12th February 2017, < https://www.instagram.com/p/BQARb62guqb/?taken-by=zotheysay>

Mizuko, I 2008 ‘Introduction’, Networked Publics, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Sizzle, 2016, Destiny’s Child meme, Sizzle, viewed 12th February 2017, < https://onsizzle.com/i/kelly-can-you-handle-this-beyonc%C3%A9-canyou-handlethis-michelle-canyougrabustwoicedlattes-1142604>

Style Magazines, 2017, Flat lay image, Instagram, viewed 12th February 2017, <https://www.instagram.com/p/BQY5OQpD5C4/?taken-by=stylemagazines>

Swinburne, 2017, Week 9: visual communities and social imaging, Swinburne, viewed 12th February 2017, < https://ilearn.swin.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-5949029-dt-content-rid-31715128_2/courses/2016-SO3-MDA20009-217733/UnitLearningMaterials/week-09.html>

Vivienne S & Burgess J, 2013, ‘The Remediation of the Personal Photograph’, Journal of Material Culture, vol. 18, no. 3.

Wilken, R & McCosker, A 2014, 'Social Selves', The Media & Communications in Australia, Allen and Unwin

#mda20009 #visualcommunities

Censorship abiding citizen

Every morning I wake up at 5:30am, make a coffee, sit for 10 minutes while I drink it and check my Facebook newsfeed like my dad would have checked the morning paper. This is a daily routine for me, followed by a train ride of checking my Instagram and Pinterest accounts for wedding inspiration.

If the Australian government turned around and said, “Soz mate, we’re concerned you might post sensitive information that will threaten our country or have an original thought, so we’re revoking your access to social media”, I’d go nuts.

So when I found out that China pretty much did just that, my face looked like this…

(Relatably, n.d)

The Chinese government has implemented what is referred to as the Great Firewall of China, a technologically advanced censorship system that restricts the population from accessing potentially ‘harmful’ websites, as well as created a human-powered task force that that monitors content, deletes controversial and political posts and ‘cleans’ content so that it is appropriate for the web (Open Democracy, 2013).

What this sounds like to me is no fun of any kind.

(Img Flip, n.d)

But apparently China somehow has the world’s most active social media population, with 24% more people having visited a social media website in the last six months than the United States of America (Chiu et. al., 2012). BUT HOW COULD THAT BE? THEY DON’T EVEN HAVE SOCIAL MEDIA!

Wrong, they do. But they have their own.

China has implemented Sina Weibo, a microblogging website that allows 140-character posts and allows users to follow other users and view their updates in a newsfeed (sound familiar?) (Crampton, 2011).

To fill the Facebook and LinkedIn voids, China have several different platforms that cater to several demographic groups, such as Douban for art and culture enthusiasts, Kaixin001 for young professionals and white collar workers, QZone for low-middle income teenagers and young adults and RenRen for university students (Crampton, 2011). All which are moderated on a 24 hour, 7 days a week basis.

There are two things that I guess might baffle (or bother) Western’s about this fact. Firstly, why would they not have the social media websites that we do? They are the best and keep us connected to the rest of the world. Secondly, the fact that the Chinese have created their own social media websites to respond to the rapid demand rather than allowing access to mainstream social media platforms is killing freedom of expression and silencing a nation.

But that is exactly the purpose. Kilne (2013) has explained China’s internet policies as being an “asymmetrical information flow” in which the government can control what information is released to the population as well as the information that flows back from the population.

Another leading website blocked by the Chinese government is Google, including Gmail, Google Maps, Google Drive, Google Cloud Google Plus and Google Photos (Carson & Giang, 2015). Google and China have always had a rocky relationship, one of those on-again, off-again couples. Analysts speculate that the pair first broke up in 2002, but after they rekindled their love back in 2006, the agreement between censorship laws caused some tension and the couple split once again… permanently (Carson & Giang, 2015). But China seems to have moved on and Google has just been playing the field.

I don’t know about anyone reading this, but I have the worst sense of direction. If I got told I couldn’t use Google Maps anymore, I’d have died years ago after taking the wrong exit on the Cahill Expressway in Sydney. I’ve still not quite recovered.

References

Carson B & Giang V, 2015, 9 incredibly popular websites that are still blocked in China, Business Insider Australia, viewed 11th February 2017, <http://www.businessinsider.com.au/websites-blocked-in-china-2015-7?r=US&IR=T#/#google-including-gmail-1>

Chiu C, Lin D & Silverman Ari, 2012, China’s social media boom, McKinsey & Company, viewed 11th February 2017, <http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/chinas-social-media-boom>

Crampton T, 2011, Social media in China: the same, but different, The China Online Business Review, viewed 11th February 2017, <http://thomascrampton.com/china/social-media-china-business-review/>

Img Flip, n.d, Adam Sandler image, Img Flip, viewed 11th February 2017, <https://imgflip.com/i/l3etk>

Kilne R, 2013, Why has China’s government banned Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc.?, Quora, viewed 11th February 2017, <https://www.quora.com/Why-has-China%E2%80%99s-government-banned-Facebook-Twitter-YouTube-etc>

Relatably, n.d, Jackie Chan meme, Relatably, viewed 11th February 2017, <http://www.relatably.com/m/confused-look-memes>

#mda20009

Welcome to the Hotel Habbofornia

Oh wow, this brings back some memories. I haven’t thought about Habbo Hotel for over 10 years but now that the content of this unit covers social gaming, it’s all come rushing back to me.

I’m showing my age here, but when I was 12 it was my entire life (probably because I was a nerd… see previous post for clarification). For those of you that aren’t in the know, Habbo Hotel is a vintage-pixel virtual world that revolves around a hotel in which the players ‘visit’ and interact with other ‘guests’ at the hotel (AKA, real people playing from their own homes). Players operate an avatar and can create and furnish their own rooms, hang out in public spaces such as the ‘café,’ ‘bar’ or ‘club’ or private rooms created by other avatars (Habbo, 2017). Catch 22 is that you needed to purchase ‘credits’ in order to buy furniture (known as furni in the Habbo world) for your rooms, a catch that got me into a lot of trouble when I stole my parent’s phones to buy them. A ballsy move when one text cost $4.00 and that one text only gets you 10 credits. At one point I had a few hundred credits saved up. #grounded

Why was I so addicted? Apparently the motivation to participate in online social gaming lies on 6 identity dimensions including:

- social interaction - self-presentation - role-playing and fantasy - escapism - entertainment - challenge and the competitive nature (Landers, 2012).

I actually logged back in (aka created a new account for experimental purposes…), jumped into a room, took a seat and observed.

There is definitely evidence to support these dimensions, as avatars appear to be viewing the virtual world around them as reality. Female avatars are introducing the avatar next to them as their ‘husbands’, others are complementing how attractive the other avatars are and role-playing scenarios that are completely fictional.

(authors own screenshots)

While it might sound like a bit of a free-for-all, Habbo has a pretty strict code of conduct known as the ‘Habbo way’, a binding contract between the player and platform that aims to control the behaviour of players and a contract players must adhere to if they want to remain in the game (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p. 79 & 80). Plays must not in any way troll, swear, scam, bully, bet or participate in any sexual conversation what so ever, and doing so may result in temporary or lifetime bans from the platform (Habbo, 2017). In order to ensure the laws of the platform are abided by, Habbo have become proactively involved in the chat by sending in moderators (differentiated from other users by a screw icon) to deal with player disputes and punish individual players who are voluntarily disobeying the code of conduct. According to Habbo Customer Support, “moderators are carefully selected, vetted and fully trained members of Habbo staff. They can send warnings to misbehaving Habbos, kick them out of rooms and even ban them from Habbo Hotel” (Habbo, 2017).

This code of conduct, or law, forms one of the four factors of online gaming regulation, along with norms, architecture and market (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p. 79). Norms play a large part in online social gaming culture, especially when players are operating in a world of fantasy and role-play. Players are often seen typing actions that they are insinuating their avatar is doing between two asterisks or hyphens, to play against the restrictions of the platform architecture (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p. 80). Other norms include the use of IM slang and referring to other players by their codenames rather than the name they go by outside of the game.

(authors own screenshot) Something I’ve never thought of before is the similarities between both the real and virtual social gaming worlds. In the real world, we have laws, social norms and frames of existence just as the social gaming world does. A player may move between the frame of being an avatar, to the navigation frame, and back into the frame of being an embodied person, just as I have while being present inside the game and writing this post simultaneously. In the real world I can go from being inside my own head, to being marketing coordinator, a daughter, a fiancé and a complete psycho when I’m hangry.

(Caitlin, 2013) The social gaming world is really just a digital extension of reality, created from but also limited by its own code. Trippy. 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.

Caitlin, 2013, Dog image, Fit and Feminist, viewed 11th February 2017, <https://fitandfeminist.com/2013/11/15/im-sorry-for-that-thing-i-said-when-i-was-hungry/>

Habbo, 2017, Habbo staff and moderators, Habbo, viewed 11th February 2017, <https://help.habbo.com/hc/en-us/articles/221643168-Habbo-Staff-and-Moderators>

Habbo, 2017, Habbo Way, Habbo, viewed 11th February 2017, <https://www.habbo.com/playing-habbo/habbo-way>

Habbo, 2017, What is Habbo?, Habbo, viewed 11th February 2017, <https://www.habbo.com/playing-habbo/what-is-habbo>

Landers R.N, 2012, Why do people play online social games?, Neo Academic, viewed 11th February 2017, <http://neoacademic.com/2012/10/10/why-do-people-play-online-social-games/>

#mda20009

The new sandwich board

(Funny Meme, 2017)

Now I don’t necessarily agree with the dude holding the sign above (pineapple on pizza, it’s a no from me…) but I’m all for standing up for what you believe in, especially when what you believe in is eating chocolate cake batter straight from the dish before you bake it. YES WE CAN!

Luckily, for all of us world-changing activists out there who are voicing their concerns over the injustice that is putting fruit on the gift that the Italian gods have given us, a new forum for protest has surfaced which offers a space for shared expression, the sharing of information and collective action (Youmans and York, 2012, p. 315). I am referring to social media activism, the process of using social networking platforms for intense campaigning to evoke political and social change (Khan-Ibarra, 2015). It has been said that all social movements, regardless of size, are shaped by the technology and media of its time (Stephen, 2015).

For example, let’s look into the Black Lives Matter campaign that has been brought to life over the last few years. The campaign sparked much discussion and debate over social media and many rallies and protests have taken place to support its cause. Even Beyoncè supported the movement with her controversial lyrics to Formation (if you haven’t heard it yet, 1. Where have you been living? 2. Get on it, it’s great! – “I got hot sauce in my bag, swag”).

(ASK FM, 2016)

After four separate events that occurred in the United States between 2014 and 2015 in which several members of the African-American community were killed by police or in police custody, the social media world exploded with rage, sadness and unity to protest that #blacklivesmatter.

(Mac, 2016)

After the death of African-American man Michael Brown in 2014, members of the community began voicing their opinions, feelings and outrage on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in order to, according to activist Ashley Yates, “contrast the stark mainstream media blackout that was occurring” (Parker & Mcilwain, 2016). A statement made by another Black Lives Matter activist, DeRay Mckesson, explains that social media has provided the means to tell a story that has always been told by someone else, giving the African-American community the power to shed real light on issues that might have been hidden by mainstream media (Parker & Mcilwain, 2016).

(Hudson, 2017)

Of course, there are always sceptics. Social media activism has been criticised by some, being referred to as ‘slackivism’, a superficial effort to support causes (Youmans & York, 2012, p. 316). Who can blame the critics though when your newsfeed is now clogged with fake activism like this…

(Pinterest, n.d)

Even the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge received criticism although it was created to raise awareness and attention for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, ya know, the disease that Steven Hawking has. Many of us watched a 30 second video of our friends dumping icy water on their faces and laughed as they screamed like they were being murdered, some of us even participated. However many sceptics commented that the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was being used for personal gain, for attention and to be seen as standing up for change and raising funds, while not actually doing so. They were quick to point out that while you can dump that icy water on your head, the money you spend on that bag of ice could have been donated to ALS research (Surowiecki, 2016) and that doing the Ice Bucket Challenge doesn’t actually count as raising awareness if you forget to tag your post with #ALS (Davidson, 2014). Oops.

But I am not a sceptic and I believe social media activism is a great thing to happen, giving the power back to the people and the right to stand up for what’s good and pure.

But how does social media contribute to collective action?

1. By providing the means for dissatisfied members of a community to publically act in coordination

2. By facilitating the sharing of information, strengthening the notion amongst participants that success is likely

3. By increasing the costs of repression

4. By significantly increasing awareness throughout global and regional publics (Youmans &York, 2012, p. 317).

Social media again is changing the landscape in which the world is solving its problems, in this case, through freedom of speech and the promotion of social change.

So the next time I watch someone go to order or eat a Hawaiian pizza, I’m going to start a revolution and fight for what I feel is right.

#ditchthepineapple #itspizzanotacocktail #nomeansno

References

ASK FM, 2016, Beyoncè fan art, ASK FM, viewed 8th February 2017, <https://ask.fm/fcbeyhive>

David J, 2014, We need to do better than the ice bucket challenge, Time, viewed 8th February 2017, <http://time.com/3107510/ice-bucket-challenge-als-we-need-to-do-better/>

Funny Meme, 2017, Pineapple does go on pizza image, Funny Meme, viewed 7th February 2017, <http://www.funnymeme.com/2016/09/17/funny-memes-pineapple-does-go-on-pizza/>

Hudson D, 2016, Twitter account, viewed 8th February 2017, Twitter, <https://twitter.com/David_L_Hudson>

Khan-Ibarra S, 2015, The case for social media and hashtag activism, The Huffington Post, viewed 8th February 2017, <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sabina-khanibarra/the-case-for-social-media_b_6149974.html>

Mac K, 2016, Facebook image, Facebook, viewed 8th February 2017, <https://www.facebook.com/zeeno.mac?hc_ref=SEARCH>

Parker E & Mcilwain C, 2016, #blacklivematter and the power and limits of social media, Medium, viewed 8th February 2017, <https://medium.com/@emilydparker/how-blacklivesmatter-resembles-activism-in-the-authoritarian-world-24d1200864f6#.satf96ru4>

Pinterest, n.d, sick baby image, Pinterest, viewed 8th February 2017, <https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f5/6e/a3/f56ea3ac833d1ec19565524685ae3115.jpg>

Stephen B, 2016, Get up, stand up, Wired, viewed 8th February 2017, <https://www.wired.com/2015/10/how-black-lives-matter-uses-social-media-to-fight-the-power/>

Surowiecki J, 2016, What happened to the ice bucket challenge?, The New Yorker, viewed 8th February 2017, <http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/als-and-the-ice-bucket-challenge>

Youmans W & York J, 2012, 'Social Media and the Activist Toolkit: User Agreements, Corporate Interests, and the Information Infrastructure of Modern Social Movements', Journal of Communication, vol. 62, no. 2., Wiley Blackwell

#mda20009

Wearing my scars on my sleeve and my ugly swimmers with pride

Now I don’t want to shock anyone, but when I was in school (both primary and high school) I wasn’t the coolest kid in the playground. I was what the popular kids would call, a nerd. I didn’t like getting in trouble, I would always do my classwork and homework, I got A’s and teachers loved me #soznotsoz. Of course, this earned me my fair share of being picked on by the ‘cooler’ kids, but you know, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

(Do it for the Disney Fan Art, 2014)

But there is one particular experience I recall that occurred when I was in grade 8. I had been swimming at our local pool with a group of friends during a regular Wednesday afternoon sport session. Being 12 years old at the time I was underdeveloped and of course self-conscious about my body, but that didn’t stop me from putting on a swimsuit and getting in the water.

Shortly after this day is when I read it on whatever social media platform was popular at the time, “WHAT YOU WORE IN THE POOL WAS GROSS AND YOU LOOKED DISGUSTING, GET A NEW WARDROBE AND A NOOSE TO HANG YOURSELF WHILE YOU’RE AT IT”. No author, no sign off.

I had been the victim of cyber bullying, or what is now currently known as, ‘trolling’. And it didn’t stop there. Trolling is pretty sick behaviour. It refers to the phenomenon that now plagues social media in which individuals intentionally create conflict online by posting comments, messages and updates that are derogatory in nature with the intention to emotionally harm others (Bourque, 2015), normally for the entertainment of the deranged person who posted it. The worst part of my experience was that whomever was trolling my account and leaving me digital punches to the gut was someone who was with me at the pool with me that day, someone who saw me swimming and thought the world, and I, needed to know how ‘retarded’ I was.

Why do they do it? Apparently those who troll feel confident enough to do so through their anonymity, their self-awareness is lost and they begin to ‘act up’ against socially acceptable forms of communication (McCosker, 2013, p. 201; Klyueva , 2013, p. 933). I guess an easy fix would be to ban online anonymity, but then users who wish to remain anonymous for the purpose of posting sensitive information would suffer a loss of privacy. Many trolls choose an online forum as their outlet due to the public nature of the internet. The internet is the digital playground, a public space where those who observe can still point and laugh, but there is no teacher on duty to send them off or make them pick up 20 pieces of rubbish.

After grade 8 these online attacks did finally stop. In hindsight, I can see that there was nothing wrong with me. I was a normal and happy girl but I’d gotten within the sights of someone who had demons of their own. As Dana Boyd put it so well (2014, p. 135), “bullies are not evil people who torment for fun; those are sociopaths… Bullies react aggressively because they’re struggling with serious issues of their own… Teens lash out when they are trying to negotiate serious identity or mental health issues”.

I just wish I knew what was eating them up inside.

References

Bourque A, 2015, Answering a social troll – what you need to know, The Huffington Post, viewed 5th February 2017, < http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andre-bourque/answering-a-social-troll_b_6625654.html>

Boyd D, 2014, ‘Bullying: is social media amplifying meanness and cruelty?’, It’s complicated: the social lives of networked teens, Yale University Press, New Haven, USA

Do it for the Disney Fan Art, 2014, Frozen image, Tumblr, viewed 6th February 2017, <http://doitforthedisneyfanart.tumblr.com/post/97041513905/when-its-sunny-outside-if-there-is-a>

Klyueva A, 2013, ‘Trolling’, Encyclopedia of Public Relations, SAGE Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks

McCosker, A 2014, ‘YouTrolling as provocation: Tube's agonistics publics’, Convergence, vol. 20, no. 2, SAGE Journals

Quick Meme, n.d., Toy Story image, Quick Meme, viewed 6th February 2017, <http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/35xy37>

#mda20009 #stopcyberbullying #trollingsucks

I need a dollar dollar, dollar is what I need, hey hey - the nature of crowdsourcing

The other day I came home from work, poured a glass of wine, curled up on my couch and watched The Project on Channel 10. I never used to be one for watching the news on account of the negativity, war and famine that dribbles out of the mouths of news anchors, but there is something about this show that I just love. Maybe it’s my love for Peter Helliar and the way he says, “Christopher Pyyyyyyyne!”, or maybe it’s just the perfect balance of light-hearted banter and serious events from around the world. Either way, count me in!

(Beers et. al., 2015)

I happened to see a story about a budding, young singer named Matt Hirst who received a life changing brain cancer diagnosis and was given a three month expiry date. The story highlighted Matt’s singing career and his dream of his album making it to number 1 on the iTunes charts, before encouraging viewers to get behind Matt by jumping online to purchase his album, Mighty Steps, from the iTunes store in which proceeds will contribute to brain cancer research (Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, 2017).

The rapid growth in technology development and adoption has provided society with bold new ways of solving problems. What Matt is doing with this story is crowdsourcing; an activity in which an individual, a non-for-profit group, company or organisation pitch a task for voluntary contribution to a group of individuals with varying knowledge, skills and resources (Brabham, 2013). There are many forms of crowdsourcing, including rallying or ideas, funding, services and information.

While unconventional, there are many advantages to crowdsourcing.

Firstly, crowdsourcing creates unlimited opportunities. As stated by Brabham (2013), “it is a new arrangement for work, but it is also a phenomenon where, when the conditions are right, groups of people can outperform individual experts, outsiders can bring fresh insights to internal problems, and geographically dispersed people can work together to produce policies and designs that are agreeable to most”. Crowdsourcing provides unlimited possibilities at a minimum cost, and while crowdsourcing technology continues to advance, such as the websites Go Fund Me, Freelancer and 99Designs, enlisting the help of complete strangers has never been easier.

But where there is success, there are also challenges. As the concept relies on the generosity, resources, time and motivation of strangers, crowdsourcing can be unreliable. Not only can a steady flow of contributions be unreliable, but with the increase in user-generated content and the volume of data that comes in, information sought from crowdsourcing methods must be verified prior to being relied on as facts. In particular, in instances where members of the community are relied on to report crime or misconduct such Ford’s recount of the Ushahidi platform which was developed in 2007 to map reports of violence and crime occurring in Kenya (Ford, 2012). Ford explains that with the flood of information that was entering through the platform, deployers had to act as gatekeepers to separate the real information from false claims.

Regardless of the challenges that arise from crowdsourcing, there is no denying that this phenomenon has changed the nature of problem solving in the best possible way. With the potential to transform the nature of global, social and political events that occur, crowdsourcing has the capacity to unite individuals who share the same views, regardless of geographic location, to collect and organise information and resources to produce powerful results.

References

Beers LM, Thackray L & Croffey A, 2015, Christopher Pyne image, The Daily Mail, viewed 5th February 2017, < http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3067231/I-thought-crowning-TV-golden-girl-Carrie-Bickmore-reveals-thought-Christopher-PYNE-needed-distraction-giving-birth-s-fixer.html> Bradham D.C, 2013, ‘Concepts, theories and cases of crowdsourcing’, Crowdsourcing, MIT Press

Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, 2017, Get Matt Hirst No. 1, Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, viewed 2nd February 2017, <https://www.curebraincancer.org.au/page/234/help-support-our-research-funding>

Ford H, 2012, 'Crowd Wisdom', Index on Censorship, vol. 41, no. 4, SAGE Journals

Meme generator, 2017, Archer image, Meme Generator, viewed 5th February 2017, <https://memegenerator.net/instance/51086610>

#crowdsourcing #mda20009

Saturday Night Live took on Donald Trump yet again, this time focusing on how the mogul can’t help but tweet random people when he has bigger things to be do...

#mda20009 #snl 2016 #trump

What do you meme Trump is the next president?!

(Holter, 2015)

Politicians have quickly learnt that social media is a great place to start a revolution, however they are also quickly discovering that social media platforms are a completely different playing field to the traditional forms of media and communication that they are used to in the political world.

The internet has opened Pandora’s Box when it comes to the volume of political information that is now available at just the click of a few buttons, as political parties launch campaign web pages, crowd-sourcing for content becomes more popular, political blogs, such as Crikey and The Monthly, are sprouting up out of nowhere and social media is a common forum for political discussion (Young, 2010, p. 205). This means, just like journalists have had to accept the rapidly expanding phenomenon that is blogging, politicians can “no longer afford to ignore the electoral leverage of the Twittersphere” (Jericho, 2013, p. 263), a platform many politicians around the world have, or at least attempted, to embrace.

It is within the best interest of every politician to be re-elected, and when used correctly, Twitter and other social media platforms can be great aids in bringing politicians closer to potential voters (Tenhunen & Karvelyte, 2015). It is important for every politician on Twitter to remember that social media is not the forum for formal communication. Twitter is hardly an appropriate channel to push out a 140-character press release nor should it be used to broadcast political propaganda or blast criticism on an opposing party or candidate.

Take a look at President-elect (still can’t believe it…) Donald Trump for example.

While Trump does not fault on his commitment to Twitter, an aspect of social media use that is necessary to achieve true engagement (Jericho, 2013, p. 266), his constant blows at fellow politicians, passive aggressive tweets and constant tweeting in general provide members of the public with ammunition to make him the butt of the joke. For example, take a look at Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of Trump in the below Saturday Night Live skit (warning: hilarious).

(Realmen World, 2016)

Cue Trump’s prompt response…

(@realDonaldTrump, 2016)

While Saturday Night Live aimed to belittle him during their skit, Trump instantly got on the defence, slamming Baldwin’s portrayal as bias and horrid. A lesson Trump may learn in time is that the Twittersphere, the informal whirlpool of criticism and trolling that it is, “loves someone who is willing to laugh at themselves” (Jericho, 2013, 264). Trump may have been able to regain the upper hand if he tried to relate to what the public are interested in. As someone who has always been in the public eye, Trump could have related to those who found the skit funny by acknowledging the parody with a light hearted tweet rather than attempt to stay in control of the content and the discussion surrounding it.

Unfortunately for politicians, control is lost on social media due to the open and fast paced nature of the discussion. This is predominantly why social media engagement is much more important than the quantity of followers one has, and more valuable than simply broadcasting a message.

Unfortunately, our Australian politicians (Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as the exception) are not as active or familiar with the concept of using social media as a valuable campaign tool. But as the world begins to embrace all social platforms, Australian politicians will have no choice but to acknowledge the presence of the population discussing politics on social media. The question is, will our pollies be ready to join the discussion?

References

@realDonaldTrump, 2016, tweet screenshot, Twitter, viewed 7th December 2016, <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor>

Holter L, 2015, 16 Donald Trump hair memes so funny you’ll actually be grateful he’s running for president, Bustle, viewed 6th December 2016, <https://www.bustle.com/articles/91073-16-donald-trump-hair-memes-so-funny-youll-actually-be-grateful-hes-running-for-president>

Jericho G, 2012, 'How many votes are there on Twitter?', in The Rise of the Fifth Estate, Scribe, Victoria, Australia

Realmen World, 2016, SNL – Classroom cold open – inside president-elect Donald Trump’s Twitter strategy – SNL sketch, Youtube, viewed 6th December 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNvJ0GIIF8g>

Tenhunen S & Karvelyte V, 2015, The role played by social media in political participation and electoral campaigns, European Parliamentary Research Service Blog, viewed 7th December 2016, <https://epthinktank.eu/2014/02/12/the-role-played-by-social-media-in-political-participation-and-electoral-campaigns/>

Young, S 2010, 'News, political reporting and the internet', in How Australia Decides, Cambridge University Press, Victoria, Australia

#mda20009 #trump #politics #socialmedia #digitalcommunities

When I first enrolled into MDA20009 – Digital Communities I thought to myself, ‘cool! I get to spend time on social media!’, which of course was very appealing to me as an unhealthy portion of my spare time is spent delving deep into the heavenly pits of Instagram, frantically ‘hearting’ all of the beautiful and sparkly items that I am too middle-class to ever afford…

While my irrational thoughts were technically true, I’ve come to learn so far that this world of ‘social’ media as I know it is far more complex than just following your favourite brands, immersing yourself deep into the glamorous, albeit staged, world of your celebrity crush, and sharing only the most exciting parts of your life with the public.

Allow me to explain.

The rise of the digital community

Communities have come a long way since the days in which proximity dictated who belongs to the community and who doesn’t.

While communities were once defined as instinctive bonds formed on the basis of organic human will and density (Siapera, 2012, p. 193), the modern world and the addition of new media has seen the term take on a new meaning in which technology is at the forefront and proximity has no say in the matter.

Communities are now known to the wider world as social networks of loosely tied relationships which provide sociability, support and a sense of belonging, as well as an outlet for expressing social identity and the sharing of information (Siapera, 2012, p. 197). These networks operate like any other with nodes, ties and flows, representing the people within the connections (nodes), how they are connected (ties) and the content that moves within that connection (flows).

Digital communities (also referred to as virtual communities) are those social networks which form through the use of new media, either as mass communication media (e.g. public forums) or personal communication media (e.g. email, Facebook or instant messaging) (Siapera, 2012, p.199).

Advances in new media and other web-based technologies, such as the rise of Web 2.0, have seen digital communities spread around the world like wildfire. Global connectivity has never been more alive as no ‘central node’ exists anymore, connections are placed around the globe and flows move back and forth with minimal effort or consequence (Siapera, 2012, p. 199).

When I think about the types of digital communities I am a part of, this complex definition begins to make sense. There is my personal Facebook page used to stay in contact with both my close and distant friends as well as my immediate and extended families, my public Instagram account which I use purely for keeping tabs on and engaging with my favourite designers, brands and celebrities, and my work email which keeps me connected to a firm of over 1000 staff members, just to name a few.

In fact, both you and I are members of the same digital community (#mda20009 represent!) in which sharing and communicating through web-based technologies allow us to gain a tertiary education.

Fantastic social beasts and where to find them

Have you ever experienced a moment in time when you just thought, ‘hold up, I need to take a picture of this for my <insert social media platform name here>’?

I know I have. But why did I feel the need to do that?

Probably because, as individuals, we use new media and digital technologies, with a different degrees of public access, to construct and produce our identities so that we are interpreted as the person we want to be seen as (Wilken & McCosker, p. 191).

Social media platforms are great examples of ways in which we, as individuals, build our identities. As we share intimate details about ourselves on our profiles, post content, engage directly with our connections and their content, we are constantly writing narratives that reinforce our social identities and allow us to be associated with certain social groups (Wilken & McCosker, p. 192).

However Boyd (2012. p. 73) suggests that this ‘always on’ lifestyle is not always about the production of content and social narratives, as human beings we want information and need interaction to understand the world around us, and that is why we are so passionate about technology because technology supports the flow of information and we are now living in a world where knowing how to retrieve information is far more important than memorising it (Boyd, 2012, p. 75).

The ‘always on’ lifestyle is so much more than being active on social media, it is about embracing the digital world into your life. This concept doesn’t particularly mean being active on the internet 24/7, but it does mean being constantly connected to some aspect of digital technology. While many sceptics may criticise the need to be always online may incur consequences, they fail to realise that being always on doesn’t always mean being always accessible. The always on individual decides in which contexts they will be ‘online’, rather than becoming bogged down in the clutter of every email they are sent, every message they receive or every post they scroll past.

It’s all fun and games until someone gets abused – the risks of online anonymity

Like all things, being online does incur some risks, in particular, the risks associated with online anonymity.

Van der Nagel (2013, p. 2) has explored the concept of online anonymity and found that the ability to remain anonymous while engaging in a whirlpool of online social activities can facilitate harmful consequences such as bullying and harassment, fraud and illegal activities, as well as reducing the user’s accountability for these actions.

I know what you’re thinking though, why wouldn’t there be some form of regulation that stops users from appearing anonymous?

Well because despite the negative consequences associated with anonymity, it has also been found valuable, so valuable in fact that the United States have failed to pass legislation prohibiting all anonymous communication (van der Nagel, 2013, p. 3). Online anonymity encourages freedom of speech, the freedom to not be judged by personal characteristics such as age, gender, sexuality, appearance etc. (Donath, 1999) and the freedom to avoid being data profiled (van der Nagel, 2013, p.4), benefits that many social media users find valuable.

As online anonymity is known for both its constructive and destructive sides, it is important to understand the risks associated, especially in the context of the social media platform you are engaging within.

References

Boyd D, 2012, “Participating in the Always On Lifestyle”, in Mandiberg (ed), The Social Media Reader, NYU Press, pp. 71-76

Donath J.S, 1999, “Identity and deception in the virtual community”, Communities in Cyberspace (Smith M & Kollock P, eds), Routledge, London, p. 29-59

Siapera, E 2012, “Socialities and social media”, in Introduction to New Media, p. 191-208

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

Wilken, R & McCosker, A 2014, 'Social Selves', in Cunningham & Turnbull (eds), The Media & Communications in Australia, Allen and Unwin, p. 291-295

#mda20009

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