#2020-HS1-MDA20009-Digital Communities

[thomaspaneghel]

How does Tumblr function as a digital community?

Tumblr functions as a digital community through the way it is universal used and how it is considered as a part of social media and a way to connect with other people around the world. Tumblr has the ability for people to post their own opinions through digital applications associated with this platform including images, hashtags and GIFs so assist in the pushing and projection of their opinion. Tumblr wouldn’t be considered as a major social platform used on a daily basis compared to the likes of Facebook and Instagram, but Tumblr uses hashtags and blogs to which people find useful and can use to express their feelings.  

The public sphere is associated with Tumblr through “mass media seeing a transformation towards a universal, nationwide public sphere’ which indicates that many social media platforms are  As a way to promote products and businesses, Tumblr would not be the ideal place for promotion due to the competition with Facebook predominantly being more superior. Majority of people would use “social media in a professional capacity” and in which would make things difficult to promote products and business on a platform like this. However, Tumblr is a great source to express common interest with other people and became a place for pop culture and fandoms to then engage people and can form many digital communities which makes Tumblr a great source for a chance of worldwide comradery in conjunction with data publics.  

Tumblr is considered to be functioned as a digital community as this site can be used to spread awareness with current issues and what you are passionate about. People who have current political views may not necessarily use Instagram or Facebook to spread the message but use Tumblr to focus on pure release of opinion. An example is through feminism and the way young females use Tumblr to show their opinion and this is done because Tumblr is the “easiest digital space to practice feminism as a young person.” Tumble even though not considered as the most popular of social media platforms is can still be considered functional as a digital community. 

References

Bruns, A & Highfield, T 2016 Is Habermas on Twitter? Social media and the public sphere. In A Bruns, G Enli, E Skogerbø, AO Larsson, & Christensen, C (Eds.) The Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics. Routledge, New York, pp. 56-73 

Jessalynn Keller, “Oh, She’s a Tumblr Feminist”: Exploring the Platform Vernacular of Girls’ Social Media Feminisms, Social Media + Society Volume: 5 issue: 3, 2019.   

Leah Scolere, Urszula Pruchniewska and Brooke Erin Duffy, “Constructing the Platform-Specific Self-Brand: The Labor of Social Media Promotion”, (Links to an external site.) Social Media + Society July-September 2018: 1–11.

[ivyyychan]

Week 10 - Gaming Communities, Social Gaming and Live streaming

Gamers, in the traditional sense, have been labeled as young and predominantly male. In recent years, a variety of games have been launched to promote live streaming, and it is found that the participation of women in games has also been increasing.

Before the COVID-19 caused pandemic, I was rarely involved in games, much less addicted to them. Interestingly, during the lockdown in 2020, a game called Animal Crossing became extremely popular on Facebook and Instagram. The Animal Crossing series has always been a "life sim" with no exact storyline but rather using "virtual life" as its core competence. Having cute animation style as another selling point, players will become the mayor of a small town, and a large group of cute animals become good neighbors, good friends. At the beginning of the game, the activity scope of the player is small, just in a small town constantly picking fruit, fishing, collecting shells and selling them to make money, and then using the money to expand the town, so that the town becomes more prosperous. One of the features of Animal Crossing is that the game time is completely synchronized with real time, giving the player a sense of immersion, but without the usual tension of a game. Some people may not be used to playing "FPS (first person shooting)" or “ARPG (action role playing game)” games, but this is exactly the selling point of the game. Turning the intense "war" like setting to something much more relaxed like enjoying tranquil times at country home; preventing the physical and mental fatigue players have longed for in a "slow" paced game. Having no characters or other players pushing and urging you to finish a mission or a quest, even if you're asked to do something by an NPC (a non-player character), the game does not have a specific deadline, which ultimately means that players can take a break from the "deadlines" they’ve always faced in action packed games.

In addition, the success of “Animal Crossing” is closely related to the fact that players had spontaneously and voluntarily built multiple digital communities on social media platforms to share and discuss their experiences in the game. In 2006, Jenkins discovered that “the new knowledge communities will be voluntary, temporary, and tactical affiliations… they are held together through the mutual production and reciprocal exchange of knowledge”. Gamers post strategies on how to make money, catch different kinds of fish or insects in different seasons. They also exchange ideas about clothing and house decor for their characters. You can even add some strangers’ game account and invite them to visit your island. All of a sudden, everyone was obsessed with the game and were frequently engaging in discussions on social media platforms. Despite the fact that I felt isolated during the lockdown period as I did not have a chance to meet my friends, I could still keep in touch with them through this game, share strategies with each other, have fun together and relieve myself from the pressure that the lockdown has brought. Thus, “online games that adapt your friendship ties for play purposes, while accommodating your daily routines.”(Järvinen, 2011).

Reference:

Järvinen, A 2011, Week 10 Social Gaming Guest Lecture: 2021-HS1-MDA20009-Digital Communities 2021, Instructure.com

Jenkins, H 2006. “Interactive audience? The collective intelligence of media fans”, pp.136

[digital-life]

Digital Citizenship and Slow Fashion

Slow fashion is “linked to sustainable consumption movement. It is built on the essential concepts of sustainability values, ethical working conditions and decreasing environmental contaminants,” (Canvas 2021). Slow fashion can include thrifting, op shopping, selling second hand items on shopping apps such as Depop, ThredUp and Poshmark and upcycling items. There are also stores that do slow fashion by doing small batches, carbon footprint, using fabrics that are sustainable such as bamboo, linen and hemp, pay fair work wages and are also transparent about their store and practices. 

In recent years, slow fashion is becoming more and more popular with people becoming more aware of the impact fast fashion has on people and the increase of climate change. It also become very popular due to a majority of influencers making it a trending fashion. This is happening more frequently with influencers such as Emma Chamberlain who is a popular YouTuber with 9.6 million subscribers and where “she goes through the items she recently thrifted and styles them on herself” and “in a large part responsible for showing young people that, unlike what their older family members or friends would have them believe, fast fashion isn’t the only way to find on-trending clothing at an affordable price” (Huber 2020). It was also found last year during lockdown on Tiktok that “#ThriftStore has 92.7 million views on the app, while #Secondhand has 90.8 million views,” (Huber 2020), showing that influencers have had an impact on people with thrifting. 

Now that sustainable fashion is becoming more popular, a lot of fast fashion stores are finding ways to make their brand sustainable. However, majority of the time it is greenwashing which is “designed to make people believe that your company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is,” (Acaroglu 2019). Most fast fashion companies provide insufficient information about sustainability of their brand and if they do it can be very minimal or do not give the right information such as instead of saying how much their factory workers get paid they say it’s a ‘liveable wage’ or ‘fair work wages’ which can be very misleading. Another tactic used is saying they pledge to be environmentally friendly or conscious by a specific period of time seeming like they are doing something good when in reality it is the opposite. One example is Zara and how in 2017, there were notes found from garment workers saying they didn’t get paid (Curry 2017) and they have 500 designs a week and 20,000 per year (Pitcher 2019) which shows that it isn’t sustainable or slow fashion even though Zara intends to be sustainable by the year 2025. 

Instead of greenwashing, fast fashion companies need to implement actual sustainable practices into the entirety of their company. 

References:

Canvas 2021, MDA 20009 Week Nine Digital Citizenship and Slow Fashion 2021.pptx: 2021-HS1-MDA20009-Digital Communities 2021, Instructure.com, viewed 18 May 2021, <https://swinburne.instructure.com/courses/33896/files/12923193?wrap=1>

Huber, E 2020, For Gen Z, Thrifting Isn’t Just A Way To Shop, It’s A Lifestyle, Refinery29.com, Refinery29, viewed 18 May 2021, <https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/10/10014753/thrifting-gen-z-thrift-shopping-trend>

Acaroglu, L 2019, What is Greenwashing? How to Spot It and Stop it - Disruptive Design - Medium, Medium, Disruptive Design, viewed 19 May 2021, <https://medium.com/disruptive-design/what-is-greenwashing-how-to-spot-it-and-stop-it-c44f3d130d5>

C‌urry, C 2017, Zara Customers Find Notes from Unpaid Workers Hidden in Clothes, Global Citizen, viewed 19 May 2021, <https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/zara-clothes-come-with-hidden-notes-from-unpaid-wo/>

Pitcher, L 2019, What Zara’s Sustainability Efforts Could Mean for the Fashion Industry, Teen Vogue, Teen Vogue, viewed 19 May 2021, <https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-zaras-sustainability-efforts-could-mean-for-the-fashion-industry>

[kieramda20009digitalcommunities]

Week 5: Hashtag Publics, Political Engagement and Activism

What does the term “digital citizenship” mean? Digital citizenship refers to the responsible use of technology and the internet, as well as the ability to navigate and participate in online communities in an ethical and respectful manner. Digital citizenship encompasses a wide range of topics, including internet safety, privacy and literacy, and online communication. The unidimensional approach focuses solely on the technical skills required for using digital technologies, offered and taught specially to a certain discipline. This approach neglects other important aspects of digital citizenship, such as digital literacy, critical thinking, and responsible online behavior. It does not fully address the complex social and ethical issues in online spaces, such as cyberbullying, harassment, fake news and digital privacy. In terms of a multidimensional approach, a multidimensional approach to digital citizenship is a perspective that recognizes the complex and interconnected nature of the digital world and emphasizes the need for a holistic understanding of digital citizenship. This approach considers multiple dimensions of digital citizenship including technological, social, political, economic, and cultural. Besides, it also has potential drawbacks. For example, complexity and imbalance between dimensions. Intersectionality is a concept that describes the interaction between the system of oppression. The concept grew out of efforts to specify how race and gender relations shaped social and political life.  Intersectionality and digital citizenship education go hand in hand - both are aiming for social justice, equality and diversity. Teaching intersectionality alongside digital citizenship would allow for a deeper understanding of inequalities faced by members of online communities and lead to the amount and lead to reduce discrimination towards marginalized groups. 

Political: Moving from traditional media to social media. 

Social media is a largely ungoverned space, it allows for unbiased and unrestricted access to all political campaigns. The more “progressive' parties seem to be marking a smoother and more effective move to social media. This may be due to the fact that they were largely disadvantaged in traditional media. 

Digital Citizenship and the Election Process 

Platformed interactions provide a useful platform for political ideas and information sharing, voter engagement, and conversations with constituents. The effectiveness of campaigning can be increased by using social media platforms to raise money, which has a direct impact on election outcomes.

Digital Citizenship and Political 

Engagement In developed democracies, political participation has evolved. Numerous conventional, groups focused on collective action have seen a fall in membership in recent years, including political parties and labor unions. A change in citizens' attitudes toward long-term allegiances and membership is evident from the rise in their sporadic involvement with local community, environmental, and human rights organizations, causes, and online social movements.

Preference:

Week 5: Readings: 2023-HS1-MDA20009-Digital Communities 2022, Instructure.com, viewed 31 March 2023, .

2. Zook, C & Zook, C 2022, What Is Digital Citizenship & How Do You Teach It?, Aeseducation.com, viewed 31 March 2023, <https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/what-is-digital-citizenship#:~:text=Digital%20citizenship%20refers%20to%20the,with%20society%20on%20any%20level.>.

3. Kolina Koltai 2020, How to Be a Good Digital Citizen during the Election – and Its Aftermath, Government Executive, Government Executive, viewed 31 March 2023, <https://www.govexec.com/technology/2020/11/how-be-good-digital-citizen-during-election-and-its-aftermath/169714/>.

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[ellahouse]

Week 10: Gaming Communities, Social Gaming and Live Streaming

Platformisation refers to “the growing integration of digital platforms’ business models, infrastructures, algorithms, and the practices around them into every facet of society” (Chia, Keogh, Leorke & Nicoll 2020, p. 4). Platformisation encompasses economic and governmental frameworks and occurs as a process of changing societal practices surrounding digital platforms (Chia et. al. 2020, p. 4). The video game industry has undergone long-term platformisation, (Chia et. al. 2020, pp. 7-10); the emergence of streaming platforms and digital gaming communities can be considered a result of this process. 

Streaming, live streaming and broadcasting sites can be considered forms of gaming platforms (Hardwick 2022). Despite many of these sites not being originally designed as gaming platforms, this consideration is due to the large community of gamers dominating such sites, with endless hours of digital gaming content being produced and consumed daily (Taylor 2018, pp. 3-4). Twitch is a streaming and broadcasting platform particularly popular for gaming content, with over 8 million users creating streams and receiving nearly 3 million viewers each month (Twitch Tracker 2022). Online streaming platforms such as Twitch allow players to earn income, grow their brand, and reach audiences, as well as allow fans to easily engage with gaming content. This subsequently facilitates the forming of digital gaming communities and networks (Taylor 2018, pp. 4-12).

Digital gaming communities, a form of social communities, form around streamers and their gaming content occurring on platforms such as Twitch (Hardwick 2022). Online multi-player games saw the first forms of digital gaming communities and networks, allowing for knowledge regarding online communication, self-expression, identities, and the blurring boundaries between friends and strangers digitally (Taylor 2018, p. 12). Online gaming platforms and the inclusion they can foster for sustained digital communities of like-minded people reflect the changes in game culture and the platformisation of the game industry (Taylor 2018, pp. 4-12). 

References: 

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

Chia, A, Keogh, B, Leorke, D & Nicoll, B 2020, ‘Platformisation in game development’, Internet Policy Review, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 1-28.

Hardwick, T 2022, ‘Week 10 Social Gaming Guest Lecture’, HS1 MDA20009 Digital Communities, Swinburne University of Technology, viewed 11 May 2022.

Twitch Tracker 2022, Twitch Statistics & Charts, Twitch Tracker, viewed 20 May 2022, <https://twitchtracker.com/statistics>.

[ellahouse]

Week 9: Digital Citizenship and Software Literacy: Filters on Social Media

When we think of heavily filtered photos, we typically may think of images of celebrities or models, however, visual social media platforms are challenging this notion. The use of augmented reality and the new technology available to modify one’s images are growing as a result of the digitisation of beauty (Coy-Dibley 2016, p. 2). This is resulting in seeing heavily filtered images of both oneself and others as a part of everyday life (Barker 2020, p. 217). 

In 2015, the popular social media platform, Snapchat, introduced ‘lenses’, an update for the app incorporating face filters into everyday practice. These filters, which apply accessories, edit features, warp or distort the face, and place images in any situation, were positioned as a ‘fun and playful’ way for users to engage with the platform and switch up their communication and expressions (Barker 2020, pp. 207-209). These filters have however had negative effects on users and projected exclusive beauty ideals. Almost every filter, whether designed to ‘beautify’ or not, emphasises the whiteness and femininity of users. Snapchat lenses slim the jaw and nose, widen the eyes, enlarge lips, smooth blemishes, and lighten the complexion (Barker 2020, pp. 207-217), as demonstrated by the below images. This is portraying a sociocultural stereotype of beauty and pushes these ideals onto users, changing the ways individuals view themselves and leading to dysmorphic effects (Barker 2020, pp. 209-217). 

Before and after using Snapchat filters (Hunt 2019)

With filters warping the way we view ourselves, the dissonance between these expectations versus the reality of our appearance can lead to body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) (Mavroudis 2022). Coy-Dibley (2016, p. 2), posits this dysmorphia as the result of digitally edited images as ‘digitised dysmorphia’. The practice of modifying an individual’s self-images projects socially conditioned dysmorphia and societal constructs of body standards. This has led to societal standards and perceptions of how women’s bodies should look being based on edited and modified images (Coy-Dibley 2016, p. 2). While individuals once would compare themselves to models and celebrities, they are now competing with their own digitalised image and perception of themselves based on impossible standards (Haines 2021).

 References: 

Barker, J 2020, ‘Making-up on mobile: The pretty filters and ugly implications of snapchat’, Fashion, Style & Popular Culture, vol. 7, nos. 2 & 3, pp. 207-221. 

Coy-Dibley, I 2016, ‘“Digitized Dysmorphia” of the female body: the re/disfigurement of the image’, Palgrave Communications, vol. 2, no. 16040, pp. 1-9. 

Haines, A 2021, From ‘Instagram Face’ To ‘Snapchat Dysmorphia’: How Beauty Filters Are Changing The Way We See Ourselves, Forbes, viewed 16 May 2022, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/annahaines/2021/04/27/from-instagram-face-to-snapchat-dysmorphia-how-beauty-filters-are-changing-the-way-we-see-ourselves/?sh=78ceedc24eff>.

Hunt, E 2019, Faking it: how selfie dysmorphia is driving people to seek surgery, The Guardian, viewed 16 May 2022, <https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jan/23/faking-it-how-selfie-dysmorphia-is-driving-people-to-seek-surgery>.

Mavroudis, J 2022, ‘Week 8 Body Modification Guest Lecture’, HS1 MDA20009 Digital Communities, Swinburne University of Technology, viewed 27 April 2022.

[digital-life]

Social Gaming

Gaming has become big over the past decades and now there are games where people connect with others all over the world. Social games are “online games that adapt your friendship ties for play purposes, while accommodating your daily routines” (Järvinen 2011). Gaming platforms that gamers use are discord, twitch, steam, epic games and Nintendo switch which have different uses for all the gamers needs. 

In recent years, gaming sports has become a big deal in the gaming community with gamers being able to compete against each other to win a huge amount of prize money. Johan “N0tail” Sundstein became the top earner of all in Esports in 2019, who won $6.9 million dollars playing a game called Dota 2 (Heath 2021). A lot of top gamers stream their games on Twitch or Youtube which they then can make money from by fans or followers. This shows others that they can make money and have a job in playing games compared to years ago when it was just for fun with friends. 

In the United States it was recorded that 46% gamers were women in 2019 but it in 2020 dropped by 5% to now 41% female gamers (Statista 2020). This shows that gaming is still a male dominated area as the stereotypical gamer is white or east asian, young, middle class man. In 2020 it was found that “more than 70 people in the gaming industry, most of them women, have come forward with allegations of gender-based discrimination, harassment and sexual assault” (Lorenz & Browning 2020). These statements from the female gamers shows that women even in gaming still experience harassment and sexism. It is shown that in Esports that even though physical attributes are not mandatory, it is still divided by gender (Se 2017). It also goes deeper with how female characters are represented in games with over-sexualisation and being more naked with minimal clothing than the male characters. This representation of female characters in games shows how male gamers perceive women and then can proceed to being sexist and harassing female players. 

Social gaming is a great opportunity for gamers to make money however male gamers need to respect female gamers so they can feel safe in the gaming community. 

References:

Järvinen, A 2011, Week 8 Social Gaming Guest Lecture: 2021-HS1-MDA20009-Digital Communities 2021, Instructure.com, viewed 6 May 2021, <https://swinburne.instructure.com/courses/33896/pages/week-8-social-gaming-guest-lecture?module_item_id=2145732>

Heath, J 2021, The 10 Highest Earning Esports Players in the World, Dot Esports, Dot Esports, viewed 6 May 2021, <https://dotesports.com/general/news/top-earning-esports-players-21870>

U.S. video gamer gender statistics 2019 | Statista 2019, Statista, Statista, viewed 6 May 2021, <https://www.statista.com/statistics/232383/gender-split-of-us-computer-and-video-gamers/>

Lorenz, T, Browning, K 2020, ‘Dozens of Women in Gaming Speak Out About Sexism and Harassment’, The New York Times, viewed 6 May 2021, <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/style/women-gaming-streaming-harassment-sexism-twitch.html>

Se, K 2017, ‘Gender inequality in eSports participation : examining League of Legends’, Utexas.edu, viewed 6 May 2021, <https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/62914>