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Week 10: Digital Citizenship and Conflict: Social Media Governance

Nowadays, social media is widely used all over the world, and almost everyone has at least one social media account. We can communicate, discuss, and post information about ourselves on social media, allowing our friends to come to know us better. However, in addition to the benefits of social networking sites, it also has drawbacks and obstacles. For example, obscene films, disinformation, and frauds are becoming more wide spread on social networking platforms.

In instance, cyberbullying has been a public concern in recent years, and a research by Haslop, O'Rourke, and Southern (2021) reveals that online harassment in the UK has grown frequent. The internet culture of students. And the intended audience is female. As a result, the most critical problem for the media is how to safeguard women from cyberbullies.

Aside from that, another issue that requires attention is the "manosphere," which is an online subculture that promotes a specific set of views about relationships and masculinity. Andrew Tate, a former boxing champion and social media influencer, is one of the celebrities involved in this. The manosphere, on the other hand, is connected with sexism, racism, and other types of hate speech, all of which may be destructive to individuals and society. As a result, social networking platforms must be rigorously regulated in order to promote the beneficial effects that they provide.

Overall, social networking sites must be maintained and appropriate content must be picked for each user in order to avoid misleading information affecting them. There is a distinct method for each issue that occurs online, particularly to minimise the harm that may be done to women and to detect and sternly manage wrongdoings on social media.

References:

Barlow, C. (2019). “I’m not a snowflake, I’m a human being”: Exploring the cultural phenomenon of ‘generation snowflake’. Journal of Political Marketing, 18(2), 214-231.

Haslop, C., O’Rourke, F., & Southern, R. (2021). #NoSnowflakes: The toleration of harassment and an emergent gender-related digital divide, in a UK student online culture. Convergence, 27(5), 1418–1438.

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Week 9: Gaming Communities, Social Gaming and Live Streaming

Social gaming culture refers to the social interactions and behaviors that take place within the context of video games and gaming communities. It encompasses a wide range of activities, from online multiplayer games to gaming conventions and events. Social gaming culture is often characterized by its inclusivity and sense of community. Players often form close relationships and support networks with one another, sharing tips and strategies, as well as personal stories and experiences.

Gaming communities can take many different forms, ranging from online forums and chat groups to social media platforms and in-game guilds or clans. These communities can provide a sense of belonging and camaraderie for gamers, as well as opportunities for collaboration and creativity. Social gaming culture also includes various rituals and traditions, such as cosplay (dressing up as game characters), LAN parties (gaming events where players bring their own computers to play together), and online streaming (live broadcasting of game play sessions).

Game livestreaming involves broadcasting gameplay live to an audience of viewers. (Brendan Keogh). Allow streamer to interactive with audiences. Live streaming offers professional esports players and teams opportunities to build their audience, brand, and incomes, while streaming their practice sessions—often straight out of their bedrooms. Streamer streaming several genres of games and content. Twitch and Youtube Live are two main platform of game streaming which attractive most audience and streamers.

The "Indie Developer" stand for Independent developer and the orginal Indie game is Minecraft However, the industry has changed since the days of Minecraft. Indie games aren’t just made by independent developers sitting in their mom’s basement. Every single game on this top developers list is created by a studio with a small team. 

In Melbourne, The community is supported by local organizations such as the Melbourne International Games Week and the Game Developers' Association of Australia. Melbourne has also hosted several gaming events and conferences, including the Freeplay Independent Games Festival, which celebrates and showcases independent game developers and their work. The city also has a vibrant gaming culture, with several gaming bars and cafes that cater to gamers and host gaming events. Some notable indie game developers and studios based in Melbourne include League of Geeks, the team behind the award-winning game Armello, and The Voxel Agents, the developers of The Gardens Between. Other notable Melbourne-based indie game developers include Samurai Punk, Tin Man Games, and The Opaque.

References:

Keogh, B 2021, 'The Melbourne indie game scenes: value regimes in localized game development' (Chapter 13), Download 'The Melbourne indie game scenes: value regimes in localized game development' (Chapter 13),in P Ruffino (ed), Independent Videogames: Cultures, Networks, Techniques and Politics, Routledge, pp.209-222.

Taylor, TL 2018, ‘Broadcasting ourselves’ (chapter 1), in Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming, Princeton University Press, pp.1-23 

Hjorth, L, Richardson, I, Davies, H & Balmford, W 2021, ‘Exploring play’ (chapter 2) Download ‘Exploring play’ (chapter 2), in Exploring Minecraft: Ethnographies of Play and Creativity, Palgrave Macmillan, pp.27-47

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Week 8: Digital Citizenship and Software literacy: Instagram Filters

Last week, we discussed the body issue on social media, but this week, another issue that is fairly frequent on social media is the usage of filters as picture editing tools. Filters are currently available in programmes such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Users will appreciate and employ easy filters such as rhinoplasty, skin whitening, and unique effects. Despite the fact that it is only on social networking platforms, young people will view it as the perfect standard and will alter their faces in real life to appear more flawless. 2023 (Pescott). This mistakenly damages your original image as well as the actual application of those filters.

Filters can make you look more attractive in photos, but they are unrealistic in comparison to reality. By changing a user's attributes to meet a conventional concept of beauty, Snapchat, for example, thins down the face, slims and shortens the nose, enlarges the eyes, plumps the lips, and evens out the skin (Baker 2020, p. 209). And those who use this filter will feel less beautiful and pushed, especially young people, and they will become more sensitive. According to certain data and study, young women use Snapchat filters and other photo editing tools in a particularly alarming way, altering their appearance in images to the point that their genuine selves are no longer acceptable (Habib, Ali, Nazir, & Mahfooz 2022, p. 1).

In general, utilising filters makes young people feel frightened and perfect, causing them to use the filter more frequently and overuse it. More severely, it can increase the psychological stress and strain associated with public appearances. Controlling when using filters is therefore a significant component in lowering the danger of young people's look in the future. Choose what is proper to prevent numerous undesirable things.

References:

Habib, A, Ali, T, Nazir, Z & Mahfooz, A 2022, "Snapchat filters changing young women’s attitudes", Annals of medicine and surgery, vol. 82, Elsevier Ltd, pp. 104668–104668.

Pescott, Claire 2023. ’How beauty filters like TikTok’s ‘bold glamour’ affect tweens using social media’, The Conversation, viewed 25th April 2023. <https://theconversation.com/how-beauty-filters-like-tiktoks-bold-glamour-affect-tweens-using-social-media-203383>​

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Week 7: Digital Citizenship and Health Education: Body Modification on Visual Social Media

Body modification is currently highly popular on social networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok for a variety of reasons such as advertising companies, clothes, or oneself. Celebrities may readily draw the engagement and interest of their followers, increasing their worth through advertising deals and being the face of the company. Furthermore, regular individuals who want to be renowned can modify their bodies in the most ideal way possible in order to become famous.

However, this has unintentionally put pressure on other types of content makers, such as cuisine, travel, and education. They are under pressure to modify their bodies because they would have low self-esteem if they did not have a body that their followers like. However, this is extremely detrimental to the future of clean content makers like them. According to Duffy & Meisner, in order to surrender to the platforms perceived expectations and desires, as imposed by algorithms and other visibility mechanisms, creators must orient themselves towards production and promotion tactics that will likely make them acceptable for mass consumption. As a result of public pressure, there have been examples of cosmetic surgery to attract attention and boost attractiveness to their content

Because it appears in  social media so it misleads individuals in the community, particularly girls and women. Because they want to be flawless themselves after seeing the perfect bodies presented by celebrity and influencer, thus they will try to look as same as them by poor weight loss or cosmetic surgery. However, they are unaware that it is damaging to their health, particularly for females, and that it may impact their capacity to have children later in life. According to Tiggernann, 2022, exposure to digitally changed photographs resulted to increased body dissatisfaction in adolescent females compared to the original photos in girls who have a strong predisposition to make social comparisons.

Nowadays, social networks are expanding, making it easier to acquire beauty content, so an increasing number of individuals aspire to become beautiful and ideal in everyone's eyes by undergoing cosmetic surgery and changing his physique. However, because they might have unexpected repercussions, families and schools should offer the required knowledge to enhance body modification awareness. Young people, in particular, must be aware of what is true and what is fake in order to promote positive and oppose harmful things on social media.

References:

Burnette, C Blair, Melissa A Kwitowski and Suzanne E Mazzeo, ‘“I Don’t Need People to Tell Me I’m Pretty on Social Media:” A Qualitative Study of Social Media and Body Image in Early Adolescent Girls’ (2017) 23 Body image 114

Duffy, BE & Meisner, C 2022, "Platform governance at the margins: Social media creators" experiences with algorithmic (in)visibility’, Media, culture & society, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 1-17.

Tiggemann, M 2022, "Digital modification and body image on social media: Disclaimer labels, captions, hashtags, and comments", Body image, vol. 41, Elsevier Ltd, Netherlands, pp. 172–180.

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Week 6: Digital Citizenship Case Study: Social Media Influencers and the Slow Fashion MovementSlow Fashion Movement

The popularity of fast fashion trends is now expanding quickly. Shein, a website dedicated to selling fast fashion, is one illustration of this. It addresses the creation of durable apparel independent of fashion cycles and manufacturing pace (Domingos, Mariana, Vera Teixeira Vale, and Silvia Faria, 2022). The growth of clothing stores with superior quality and durability, it is the resulted from customers' understanding and awareness of the negative impacts of fast fashion on the environment and society after they use it, a style known as slow fashion.

Customers are urged by the slow fashion movement to purchase fewer, higher-quality, more durable items of clothing. Rather than spending money on quick fashion. The aim of slow fashion is not to "not buy," but rather to "reduce the speed and amount of consumption" and choose for premium items that are created responsibly and are meant to last (Chi, Gerard, Yu & Wang 2021). On the other hand, it also contributes to the preservation of the environment for current generations as well as for future generations. The use of organic materials, recycled items, and a reduction in polluting waste throughout the production process are ways to inform and inspire the fashion industry's future workers to decrease waste in the environment.

Furthermore, some of the issues that are occurring in the slow fashion business concern workers' labour rights and the unequal remuneration of manufacturing firms. Overall, the slow fashion movement should be fostered, supported, and given greater attention as a way to improve consumers' fashion habits in order to safeguard the environment and other relevant difficulties, on the other hand, must be addressed convincingly and methodically.

References:

Chi, T, Gerard, J, Yu, Y & Wang, Y 2021, "A study of U.S. consumers" intention to purchase slow fashion apparel: understanding the key determinants’, International journal of fashion design, technology and education, vol. 14, no. 1, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, pp. 101–112.

Domingos, Mariana, Vera Teixeira Vale, and Silvia Faria. (2022). “Slow Fashion Consumer Behavior: A Literature Review” Sustainability, pp. 1-2

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Week 5 - Hashtag Publics, Political engagement and Activism

Users will gain a better understanding of social networking culture and how hashtags can influence young people's opinions on current issues from today's article.

The most widely used platform for people to band together and demand social and political change in contemporary society is social media. Due to social media's ability to use hashtags to connect with billions of people worldwide, movements like #BlackLivesMatter (#BLM) and #ShoutYourAbortion have gained momentum and more supporters.

The #shoutyourabortion movement wants to end abortion among women and young people, and it also wants to educate women about the procedure. Additionally, there is discussion about how the forum encourages people to voice their opinions in order to better comprehend and normalise abortion in women and bring about positive social change.

We have the ability to highlight societal inequality issues through this responsible use of technology and to ignite positive social change through awareness and education. This was made clear during the COVID-19 pandemic and the BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement. Based on their intersectional social identity attributes, they "[demonstrated] the need to recognise how people experience social inequities (such as racism and health disparities) differently" (Choi & Cristol, 2021). As a result, the readings this week emphasise how responsible social media use can effect change in the real world and eliminate social inequalities.

The social media hashtags #ShoutYourAbortion and #BlackLivesMatter both encourage young people and women to adopt a more optimistic perspective on the issues that face our society and the world. Additionally, these aid users in altering their social media usage behaviours for a better future and world.

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Week 4 - Digital Community and Fandom: Reality TV Case Study

We looked at Reality TV in an Age of Social Media in this week's reading. In the reading, it was demonstrated to us how social media lessons and guidance were provided to reality television stars. The majority of these celebrities had stated that social media had helped them build a sizable fan base and that they frequently got emails and messages from viewers about their time on TV. The use of "live" tweeting with the show was also explained during the reading. While watching a show in real time, viewers can actively participate and communicate with the show and other viewers thanks to social media and hashtags. As a result, like-minded viewers can connect on a common subject from anywhere in the world, creating a sense of shared social experience. The type of humour used on social media is also influenced by reality television. The internet can then make use of amusing television moments as memes and gifs. Even people who haven't watched the shows or even know the context of some of the memes are constantly sharing these gifs and memes online. It clearly demonstrates the influence reality television has on online public spaces and demonstrates how it can be used to forge connections between various social groups.

Because of this, online communities have sprung up around the contentious genre, with reality TV being one of the most talked-about topics on the social media site Twitter (Deller, 2019).

This online interaction goes beyond just watching videos after shows. By including polls and voting that directly affect the show's outcome, many reality television shows have started using their online discussion to foster a sense of involvement for these online communities. This sense of "liveness," according to Deller (2019), "guarantees a potential connection to our shared social realities as they are happening," producing a shared social experience and community event.

Reference:

Deller, R A 2019, Reality TV: the TV phenomenon that changed the world: reality TV in the world of social media, Emerald Publishing, Ebook Central, pp. 153-175

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Week Three: Digital Communities Tumblr Case Study

Even though Tumblr has been around since 2007, there are many social networking sites that have emerged in the modern technological era. Individuals can freely express themselves on Tumblr. Without the worry of being hacked like Facebook or Twitter, express your thoughts or upload photos of yourself. As a result, the hashtag #bodypositive gained popularity on the platform in 2013 and was accepted by all users; as of today, it has amassed thousands of social media posts.

Tumblr is one example of a social media platform that isn't widely used but has recently provided a safe space for the #bodypositive movement to flourish. However, these websites are accused of stifling the movement's actual inception by encouraging users to give and receive only positive feedback without regard for anyone who may be "different." Although on the surface this appears to be a positive development, it can also be seen as almost hypocritical and false that a user had to change social media platforms in order to feel "body positive" about their own body.

The websites that have done this almost feel artificial in a way that makes the comments that have been revived on selfies seem robotic and implausible (Sastre 2014). Users who post these selfies may feel good at first, but they eventually notice that the comments they receive are fabricated for community acceptance on the social media site.

In addition, Tumblr is also a place for feminism with its distinct features and platform vernacular influencing how teenage girls and women engage with feminist politics. As we learn more about the impact of platforms like Tumblr on feminist activism, we can encourage critical thinking about how these strategic decisions affect the types of feminist issues and politics made possible or limited by specific platforms (Keller, 2019; Reif, Miller, & Taddicken, 2022).

Reference:

How Tumblr Became Popular for being Obsolete, Kyle Chayka, 2022 Available at:

Sastre, A 2014, ‘Towards a Radical Body Positive: Reading the online “body positive movement”’, Feminist media studies, vol. 14, no. 6, Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 900–950.

Keller, J. 2019. “Oh, She’s a Tumblr Feminist”: Exploring the Platform Vernacular of Girls’ Social Media Feminisms. Social Media + Society, July-September 2019, 1-11.