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Week 11: Llamas vs The Chinese Government

If someone tried to tell me that China had one of the highest uses of social media in the world, I would have never believed them. Because, in my small mind, and im sure in the minds of many others, China seems like a far away and oppressed country when it comes to social media. I’d heard stories of people going on holiday there and not being able to post about it on social media until they got home. In my head it was strictly monitored and censored in all capacities.

So yes, I was shocked to find out that China has many successful social media platforms, none of which that we use in the Western world. The biggest network is QZone. As of 2014 the platform had. Around 645 million users (!!!). Although that isn’t huge when comparing to networks like Facebook, Facebook is used globally, whereas QZone is almost exclusively used in China. That’s a ridiculously large amount of people from one country.

But that’s because there is no Facebook in China. There’s no Instagram. No Twitter either. I wonder if they know what they’re missing, or if the networks they use are significantly better than ours. I might have to check that out later.

And even if they aren’t called the same names or do exactly the same things, China have an equivalent to each of the networks we have. Sina Weibo and Tencent tend to replace our idea of Twitter, and Facebook has a multitude of copycat versions.

Out of the 58% of Chinese internet users who use social media, a significant 37% are students. Now, it isn’t a completely new concept that youth have always pushed for change across the world throughout history, be it social, technological etc, but there is a massive difference in a country like China, where the government has a lot more power, and those who scream revolution have intense ramifications to answer to.

This is why the students of China have to be more resourceful and effective.

It is difficult for a social media user in China to express negative opinions on their platforms, and so young people have adapted and constructed an entire new language, constituting of symbols, images and sounds. This allows them to communicate with each other about things the government might not like to hear without being punished. Just like in many other countries around the world, the government cannot censor something if they don’t understand the language.

The language rapidly changes, so as soon as the government discover what one symbol may mean, it has been changed to something else. A now iconic meme named the Grass Mud Horse refers to images of llamas. People shared images of llamas as an act of defiance towards the government. Llama is extremely similar to the phrase for ‘fuck your mother,’ and so whenever someone. Wanted to protest against their government they shared an image of a llama.

Although the thought of having to create a whole new dialect to protest against what is happening around me terrifies me,  it seems like the youth in China are getting away with it just fine. Even thought they may use social media just us much as we do, the things they are using it to say are significantly more important.

References

‪DLD Conference 2013, DLD13 - How Social Media is changing China and Asia (Kevin Lee, Duncan Clark, Kitty Lun), 7 February, viewed 28 May 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG3z2ucaR6A>  

Kemp, S 2014, Internet users pass 3 billion mark, We Are Social, viewed 28 May 2019, <http://wearesocial.sg/blog/2014/11/internet-users-pass-3-billion/>

Social Networks in China - Statistics & Facts 2013, Satista, viewed 28 May 2019, <http://www.statista.com/topics/1170/social-networks-in-china/>  

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The Male Fantasy!

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Week 10: Everyone is a Gamer

Social gaming isn’t anything I ever thought I understood. For most of my life, I looked at my brother, who plays games like COD and Fortnite where he interacts with his friends, and I judged him and thought it was, for lack of a better word, lame.

However, this entire time I was taking part, and I didn’t even realise.

My friends and I are currently obsessed with the 8 Ball Pool app. It is completely, 100%, social gaming. We play pool against each other in the app and in the extension available in the Facebook Messenger app. If you scroll through my Messenger conversations there is barely any talking but oh so much 8 Ball.

This is my friend’s and my recent ‘conversation’ history on Messenger.

It is so addicting! I even branched out and started playing against strangers in the app, and I see now how communities are forged. You can interact with your opponent during the match, saying things like ‘nice shot!’ or ‘oops!’, and there are all sorts of leader boards and social challenges that honestly, I don’t really understand

But I do understand how a community can be forged out of social gaming. There have been many online communities I’ve been involved in over the years, all of which were forged out of a common interest. Social gaming communities are exactly the same, they are forged out of the common interest that is the game they are playing.

In their 2014 book, Multiplayer: The Social Aspects of Digital Gaming, Quandt and Kröger say that ‘gamers share their thoughts and experiences with others, both in game-related communities (either off or online) and in their “other” every day communities’.

This supports what I believe, that social gaming create true communities, where people can find friends and confidantes who they can talk to about gaming, but also develop close friendships with and reach out in times of need.

Although I thought the concept of social gaming was a bit geeky a few years ago, I think that it would be difficult to find someone in 2019 who isn’t partaking, even unknowingly, in some form of social gaming.

Quandt, T & Kröger, S 2014, Multiplayer, Routledge, London, p. 5.

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BuzzFeed Community,

Suicide affects all of us, whether directly or indirectly, and its prevention remains a universal challenge. Suicide is regularly among the top 20 causes of death globally for people of all ages. Over 800,000 people die by suicide a year — which is roughly one suicide every 40 seconds — and for every suicide, 25 people make a suicide attempt. And that’s not even including countless people who deal with chronic or passive thoughts of suicide throughout their lives.

This World Suicide Prevention Day, we at BuzzFeed want to commit to supporting the effort of suicide prevention today, and every day. In order to do that, we can’t just talk about and acknowledge the risk of suicide when it’s timely, like when a beloved celebrity kills themselves or when there is a new report out about alarming statistics. We have to talk about suicide, and how to prevent it, in our everyday coverage.

Of course, preventing suicide isn’t easy or straightforward, and it’s definitely not something we can accomplish ourselves. It takes providing education and tools for improving mental health, increasing conversation, forging connections, supporting those who are struggling, and fighting stigma tied to mental illness and the many misconceptions people have about suicide. It takes family, friends, educators, healthcare professionals, political officials, governments, and all corners of the community. But the one thing that’s certain is that preventing suicide has to be an ongoing and collaborative effort.

Fittingly, this year’s WSPD theme is “Working Together To Prevent Suicide” and we would be remiss not to think critically about how we can use BuzzFeed’s platform to support that mission. Everyone has a role they can play in suicide prevention, and here’s what we hope BuzzFeed’s can be:

• We will continue to publish expert-backed mental health content that helps our readers develop coping mechanisms, gives them hope, and encourages them to seek the help and treatment they need.

• We will lift up stories both personal and newsworthy to encourage conversation, increase understanding, or to make people feel less alone.

• We will continue to adhere to the Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide to reduce potential harm.

• We will provide avenues for social connection — an important aspect of suicide prevention — between our readers, such as through our FaceBook groups Page Turners and Room of Requirement, our BuzzFeed Community, and forthcoming programs.

• And we will of course continue to supply you with feel-good content for the days when nothing else will make you smile, because sometimes, it’s the littlest things that help us get by.

Moving forward, you’ll be able to find this content all in one place when you need it under our Be More OK badge. We chose the name because we know that mental health and recovery are not linear or easy, and that for many, there are more bad days than good. The most we can hope for, sometimes, is to help our readers and each other be just a little bit more OK.

We hope you’ll join us in thinking about how you can contribute to suicide prevention, too — whether it’s finding ways to take care of yourself or others, sharing your story, or even simply familiarizing yourself with how to respond to the warning signs of suicide.

We will be here to support you however we can.

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Week 9: R U OK? is not okay

Are you okay?

In the world of social media, where each individual is trying to present the most perfect image of themselves they possibly can, there is one day a year that manufactures an irony that makes me laugh every time I think about it.

This day is R U OK Day. This is a national day of action held in September every year, started by the R U OK? suicide prevention charity in Australia. The charity says the day is about ‘inspiring people to start these conversations every day of the year,’ something I find very interesting as I only hear the question asked on that one day each year. And most of the time, even then, the question isn’t really being asked. Social media influencers and regular old users alike will post on their stories and feeds talking about how important mental health is and that they’re ‘always there for a chat,’ a very, very empty promise that they can almost guarantee they won’t have to deliver on.

When I was in high school, the day was a special event at my school, but instead of sparking the wonderful change that the charity wanted to, it was turned into a gag between friends, walking up to each other and asking ‘are you okay?’ with fake tears and laughter.

This is the problem I see with social media health campaigns. I love the foundational message of the R U OK? foundation, that everyone should be connected and protected from suicide, however it is one of those instances where it’s great in theory, not so great in practice.

Targeting social media influencers is mind blowing to me. They ask the question on their story, yet they have privacy controls that make it impossible for anyone struggling with mental health issues to respond.

The day has turned from a powerful message into a narcissistic show, with people on social media competing for who can say the nicest things about mental health or who can write the longest paragraph about their struggles.

I honestly believe the day is doing more harm than good. The lack of genuine care, (or people genuinely asking if and wishing that their friends are actually okay), has unfortunately stigmatised mental health issues into the butt of the joke.

References Anon 2019, Who We Are, viewed 30 May, 2019, <https://www.ruok.org.au/what-were-about>.

Thelwall, M & Stuart, D 2007, "RUOK? Blogging Communication Technologies During Crises", Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 523-548.

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Week 8: Crowdsourcing: Nothing too big, nothing too small

It’s easy to forget how long social media has been sparking change. I mean, I’m only 19 years old and even I still think the concept that 10 years ago social media was being used to solve problems.

But it was.

In 2010, 9 years ago this past January, the Caribbean country of Haiti was rocked by a catastrophic magnitude (7.0 Mw) earthquake. It occurred only 25 kilometres away from the nations capitol. The government’s official death count reaches over 300,000. At the time, that was equivalent to 3 in every 100 people.

As is procedure when something as terrible as this happens, disaster relief officials get involved and immediately try to help. However, what shocked the US disaster relief officials after the Haitian earthquake was how significantly social media helped aid them.

Many of those need helped turned to Ushahidi, a crowd sourcing online crisis network that is designed specifically for situations such as these. According to the American Red Cross, 1 in 5 respondents used social media to seek help if they were not able to make a phone call.

Jack Holt, who was the chief of new media operations at the Department of Defence at the time, said that ‘the thing about social media is that wherever that crisis happens, it is now local for us,’ explaining that ‘we’re all neighbours now’.

It is not only crisis on this larger scale that is being assisted by social media.

GoFundMe is a for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses.

A GoFundMe. In 2018 raised $36,705 for a mother of an adopted boy with disabilities who was struggling to get by. $18,223 was raised to bring vegetable gardens to schools in an area known for gang violence and lack of proper nutrition.

Crowdsourcing is important for internationally broadcast natural disasters, and for more small scale, but extremely personal crisis’. It is a wonderful thing that through social media we are able to see the kindness people show to others in need.

References Anon 2019, GoFundMe: #1 In Free Fundraising & Crowdfunding Online, viewed 29 May, 2019, <https://www.gofundme.com/>.

Asia News Monitor 2010, "United States: US Disaster Relief Officials Look to Harness Power of Social Media",.

Gao, H, Barbier, G & Goolsby, R 2011, "Harnessing the Crowdsourcing Power of Social Media for Disaster Relief", IEEE Intelligent Systems, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 10-14.

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When you read a post you don't like or agree with

Others: I'm gonna reblog this and comment on why they are wrong and what is wrong with them. These people need to know how dumb they are.

Me: Scroll down and never think about it again.

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I saw this and i had to snap a photo of it because #life advice😂😂

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Week 7: Don’t feed the trolls

I highly doubt that ‘internet trolling’ is a phrase that any of us need to be explained. Ever since the dawn of the age of the internet we live in, trolling has been around. Although in the real world, we may laugh at these trolls who have nothing better to do than sit behind a phone or computer and try to make people upset all day, online it is a different story.

In 2019, it is now common practice to be as unkind as possible on social media. Looking back at my last post about social media and feminism, I can’t help but think about the side of digital feminism that really makes me angry; the trolls. I know this is exactly what trolls go after, they say outrageous things to try and get a reaction out of users who are extremely passionate about the topic they are degrading, but the things they say are so outrageous and often completely untrue that my fingers itch to send a nasty reply.

I never ‘feed the trolls’, a popular phrase used often in response to these nasty comments. However, many do react, and as much as I wish the trolls stayed starved, I can’t act like I didn’t want to react in the same way.

As I mentioned, it is the trolls hiding in the comment section of feminist posts that I see most often. One of my favourite Instagram accounts is the account @feminist, which is exactly the page you expect it to be. Lots of inspiring and motivating content, some funny, some heart-warming, some upsetting, that is posted for feminist like myself.

I decided to post some of the comments featured on the account below.

These comments are from a range of posts, from happy dog videos to serious essays about abortion. What I find interesting is that most of these comments have more replies to them, with people getting angry about what they’ve said, than likes showing support for the actual message.

I believe in the idea that ‘feminist online forums are especially vulnerable, in that they must balance inclusive ideals against the need for protection and safety, a tension that can be exploited by disruptive elements to generate intragroup conflict’ (Barab, Herring, Scheckler & Job-Sluder, 2011).

Trolls target activism pages because they know that the people who follow them are extremely passionate and concerned about the issue the page is dedicated to. They also know that when it comes to movements such as feminism, there are many different branches and it’s a very difficult topic to navigate without hurting someone’s feelings.

Unfortunately, these comments aren’t just out of the blue. In the world, there are people who genuinely agree with what these trolls have to say, and that is what makes trolls so dangerous. Although social media can be used for incredible good, it’s worrying that young kids are on social media seeing people spreading hate and thinking that it’s alright to do the same.

References Herring, S, Job-Sluder, K, Scheckler, R & Barab, S 2011, "Searching for Safety Online: Managing "Trolling" in a Feminist Forum", The Information Society, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 371-384.

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#SHE DID THAT

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Janelle Monae says #TimesUp!

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Week 6: Time’s Up.

When I was in high school, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I had lots of great friends, I had amazing teachers and interesting subjects that inspired me to apply myself and do well. And, for the most part, there was a sense of community amongst me and my peers. As we got older and more involved in social issues, however, I felt that my voice had no weight.

Many of the boys at my school criticised my views on feminism and rape culture, and I was snickered at when I engaged in debate with them. This is not an uncommon experience for young girls, in fact in 2018, Kaitlynn Mendes, Jessica Ringrose and Jessalynn Keller found that teenagers found that practising feminism offline at school was extremely difficult to navigate.

Online however, change was coming. In October of 2017, the hashtag #MeToo was trending after actress Alyssa Milano used it on Twitter in response to allegations of sexual assault against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Since then, the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have taken off, with social media playing a huge role in their success.

At the 2018 Golden Globes, many celebrities wore black to show solidarity with the movements and ending sexual assault against women and a focus on women in power was a large theme of the night. Social media analytics platform Talkwalker found that the hashtag #TimesUp was used roughly 473,000 times, #MeToo 174,300 times and #WhyIWearBlack 178,500 times.

Women across the world and across all industries began sharing their stories using the hashtag, and countless celebrities with clear social media influence were constantly posting about it. These online platforms were a ‘safer and easier space for engaging in feminist activism’ (Mendes, Ringrose, Keller 2018) than other offline spaces. As put by Mendes, Ringrose and Keller once again in their incredible piece #MeToo and the promise and pitfalls of challenging rape culture through digital feminist activism, ‘digital feminism can be experienced as extremely positive in generating community, connection and support for feminist views, and solidarity in calling out rape culture.’

I know that for me, personally, after these movements began, I was no longer feeling voiceless. I was posting, loud and proud, showing support for these incredible women and these incredible movements. Social media is the tool that I used in order to discover a social issue that I’m truly passionate about, and I still use it today to share my views, no matter what anyone thinks.

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