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[itsmedianuh]

WGST, Quiz #3: Short-Answer

1. Determine what kind of social media site you are creating. Then answer the following questions, explaining your decisions. (Remember the key here is to create an ethical algorithm model).

The social media site I will be creating is a mix between Twitter and Instagram. I will take a few very notable features from both platforms and create a safe space that will focus its basis on body positivity and self-love. This will be an all-inclusive platform for all genders and ages sixteen and older. The platform will have multiple subsections for different aspects such as body positivity for mothers, men, women, (including a very safe space and welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community), weight loss, outfit of the day, and overall an atmosphere that allows individuals to uplift, compliment and help one another through positivity. It will be called Beautiful People. It would be structured in the format of a photo blog.

2. What will you measure? (ex: likes, hashtags, how long someone stays on a page, etc).

I will be measuring through hashtags and the duration spent on a specific subsection. The amount of likes on a post will be left invisible, negative comments will be reviewed, deleted, flagged, and first given a warning followed by a suspended account— stressing the importance of spreading positivity and being kind especially on a platform where people are sharing some of their most vulnerable aspects of themselves. The rest of the comments will remain under the post as long as they are not negative, harassment, spam, threats, or mean. This will create a discussion flow and strengthen the communities online. If an individual spends a lot of time particularly on one subsection or a hashtag, this will most likely appear in their feed first. There will also be a page that has the hashtags that are trending and being used the most that day to bring awareness to an aspect or topic that can be relatable or to learn more about. Users will have to verify their email or phone number to avoid bots as well. This site will be accessible to anyone from ages sixteen and older. 

3. How will you weight these factors? (rank factors from most important to least important).

Comments on a post and hashtags would be the primary measurement. This is due to the fact that if a post receives a lot of comments and incites a conversation with a lot of engagement, it is creating a conversation within the community that is either needed, relatable, or overall helpful and educational. Hashtags will allow for organization within the platform and if a specific hashtag is being used by many users at a specific frame of time, it shows an importance to the relevance on a specific subject matter whether it be about stretch marks, postpartum bodies and/or experiences, breast cancer survivor body positivity, etc., this will allow for engagement and overall advice, motivation, tips, and overall learning from one another and ourselves. The least important would be likes and followers as this will not be displayed to the public, only for the original user to see as Beautiful People does not want to create a sense of ‘popularity’ or ‘reward feedback’ type aspect as its not a competition with one another, and the importance of likes and followers should not be stressed on this platform.

4. What factors will not be measured? (what will not be measured in your algorithm and why).

Factors that will not be measured is location or region of a user, religious affiliation, social class, and overall the number of likes on a post because there are many cases that a post receives an overwhelming amount of likes yet is not positive, helpful, informative, or overall welcoming— we see this with celebrities, hate speech, and politicians. The amount of followers will also not be visible to the public to avoid creating that popularity competition and comparison among the users and overall community. We want to avoid having any room for users to compare themselves to others, and focus on supporting and uplifting each other, spreading positive vibes, and growing confident, comfortable within their own bodies, and feeling like they have a safe space to vent, be themselves, seek advice and create positive communities.

5. How will the model learn or adapt to new information? (this can include changes in language, etc).

The model will learn to adapt to new information and conversations by fact-checking new content and providing accurate information resources, and by slowly filtering to a user's likes and engagement on specific posts, topics, subjects and categories. If a person spends a lot of time and likes specific posts with similarities, this will tailor their feed to this. There will be a lot of efforts from the Beautiful People Team in reviewing and monitoring posts, hashtags, and comments to avoid any harassment and hate speech. Users will also be allowed to report posts or comments if they feel uncomfortable, targeted or any form of bullying from it. 

6. What biases will be built into the model? How will this change the algorithm’s outcome?

The biases that will exist are the ability that users will have to mute/block and make certain topics or posts invisible for whichever reason they may feel is best for themselves and their own mental health. In order to keep users in full control of their content, they will have the ability to block users and have control of who can and can’t see their content. 

7. How will the model live out the (un)ethical practices we have discussed?

The model will live out the (un)ethical practices we have reviewed and discussed by taking that extra step in reviewing the content that is being discussed and shared on a social platform. Content will be reviewed immediately, comments, posts, hashtags, and trends to make sure it stays a positive and overall safe space for people of all sexualities, ages, gender, race, etc., users will have that access and ability to have full control of content/users they may not want to see, and users will not have the lingering anxiety or factor of followers and like count on their posts, made public, to avoid the overall stigma and judgment that comes from that—not only for the user but also for the community as a whole to avoid the aspect and possibility of comparing themselves and their content to others. 

[itsmedianuh]

Why are black women forced to change and filter their hair and identity and with what purpose/justification?

“A Missouri woman, Ashley Davis, was told that she either cut her locs or risked losing her job from a finance company. Davis, who has been growing her locs for the past ten years, was employed by the company for two months before she was informed of the new company guidelines banning ‘dreadlocks, braids, mohawks, and mullets’ (Byng 2013). The company stated, ‘a professional appearance is necessary for the success of the company’ (Logan 2013). In the same year, an elementary school in Oklahoma sent seven-year-old, Tiana Parker, home because her loc’d hair was deemed unacceptable by the administration. The school stated that her hairstyle could ‘distract from the respectful and serious atmosphere’ that the school strives to achieve” (Lee).

We still live in a country where rules, regulations, and comfort levels are built on the idea and lens of “white america”. For the longest time, black hair has been politicized and stigmatized, often with a negative connotation or message, forcing black communities to change an important aspect about themselves, their identity, history and culture in order to accommodate the “white america” that still feeds into that racism and oppression off people of color, especially the black community. Black women are asked to change their hair as it is labeled “a distraction” and “unprofessional” in school and workplace settings. It's unfortunate that we live in a society where under certain circumstances we believe it's okay to impose these regulations.

What is a ‘virtual homeplace’ and what impact might it have?

“Virtual homeplace is a (real or imagined) place that offers comfort and nurture, where one can seek safe harbor against the racial and sexual oppression they may face on a daily basis. In my research, I find that hair blogs operating as a virtual homeplace have become a site of affirmation, a space to discuss issues of concern, provide support, elevate spirits and also resist hatred; a site of networking, a space providing economic independency (and dependency); and as a site of recovery, a space of healing for Black women.” (Lee).

This is a community and overall safespace for individuals to uplift one another and be supportive and resist against the racial expectations imposed onto them and the sexual oppression. I think it's important for these safe places to exist, especially in regards to the subject matter because it creates a community of unity in a society that profits off of all of this, from black women’s hair, to their lack of healthcare attention, and their bodies. This creates a level of awareness that can translate to active change and resistance by positively supporting one another and being aware of capitalism and society and how often it may benefit off this.

How could the lack of resources and access to technology impact the lack of equality and representation of minorities as a whole?

“Most certainly, this lack of recognition—or even acknowledgment—of ethnic Web users has facilitated the infamous digital divide. Although other factors such as income and education also contribute, there is still a significant disadvantage in access to technology for African Americans and Hispanics attributed directly to race.” (McLaine).

A lot of what we do now relies on technology and having that access to the internet. Without it, there is a lack of voicing and representation occurring for those communities especially in places where decisions are being made that most likely directly impact their lives. I think it is now a necessity to have accessible internet and technology so that these communities are able to voice and contribute the change they want and need rather than having people, whose lives normally aren’t heavily impacted by these, decide for them.

How does the Internet and the lack of access to it reflect a bigger issue?

“A divide existed before the word “digital” was attached to it. The emphasis on technology has only served to reveal the many inequalities that exist in this country. No community that exists today is based purely on race or ethnicity. Class is a major factor. There are gated communities of color now, as well, and those gates are equal opportunity repellants.” (McLaine).

During this pandemic we saw how the black and latinx community were heavily impacted at a much higher rate. This has been a continuous pattern throughout numerous different issues that can be traced back over long periods of time. The lack of Internet and access of technology is only a reflection of these existing problems such as the division between classes and how the people in the bottom of this are struggling as things get worse for them and the rich get richer. If this problem and gap continue to grow it’ll continue to hurt the lower class.

Hathaway, J. (2014). What is gamergate and why? An explainer for non-geeks. Gawker.

Lee, L. (2015). Virtual homeplace: (re)constructing the body through social media. 91-111.

McLaine, S. (2003). Ethnic online communities: between profit and purpose. 233-254.

[itsmedianuh]

Week #11 Blog Post due 11/04/20:

What influence does the mainstream media play in how black victims of police brutality are depicted?

“Days following the deaths of Garner and Brown, news reports of the incidents characterized Brown as a thug, gang member, and lawbreaker. Garner was characterized as a repeat offender with news reports discussing his criminal history. News reports also made reference to the height and body size of both Brown and Garner, using fear-mongering labels such as ‘giant’ and ‘huge’ to make Brown and Garner seem superhuman, dangerous, and therefore needing to be tamed.” (Lee, 2017). Mainstream media takes an innocent black individual and draws them out as the enemy, the one to blame, dangerous and “needing to be tamed”, finding the smallest of details from their lives and amplifying it through a negative lens to justify the use of force and police brutality. Cops are put in place to deescalate situations. Even if an individual is found guilty, cops do not play the role of executioner, jury or judge. Mainstream media forgets that when it comes to black lives. They find any reason or image to justify the cops’ abuse of power towards the black community and paint the individual as a ‘thug’, threat, danger, and criminal. Mainstream media enables cops and the law to further feed into this idea that it’s okay to kill black people if cops feel threatened. Mainstream media enables our society to be okay with this behavior from cops who are meant to protect us— not create fear in communities and kill innocent lives through the use of force and illegal tactics. Mainstream media adds gasoline to the fire that already exists in the tension between cops and black communities.

What is ‘Black Twitter’ and ‘blacktags’ as described in the reading, “Black Twitter: A Response to Bias in Mainstream Media”?

The term ‘Black Twitter’ refers to the black community present on Twitter. Blacktags refers to: “Building on this concept, this article is interested in the textual poaching that occurs in social media, specifically black Twitter, for purposes of challenging and resisting dominant degrading narratives placed on black and brown bodies through mainstream news coverage...She argues that black Twitter’s power comes from its participatory democratic nature—the idea that users, through the creation of ironic, yet cutting-edge hashtags, create a space to address social issues of racial bias and discrimination. Indeed, this forum allows for textual poaching as resistance, where the user produces content that challenges dominant (oppressive) cultural ideologies and norms, including racial bias” (Lee, 2017). This is an act of demanding justice where justice is lacking or not present. This is an effective response through the use of hashtags to inform and expose the injustices that the black community is constantly facing socially, economically, politically, educationally, culturally, and overall any possible aspect. Through blacktags, Black Twitter draws out the oppression and racism that still exists against them and their entire community. This is a smart and strategic way in utilizing social media platforms to create conversation where progress and fixing is very much needed. Through the use of twitter, information and voices are amplified and spread at a significant speed, making action follow faster than it normally would.

How can one be an active ally to people of color, particularly the black community?

“Ross shared his own story of ‘criming while white’ to mark the racialized double-standard of our criminal justice system, and encouraged other white folks to share their stories...this hashtag, which was named one of the most trending hashtags for 2014, demonstrated an unequal justice system and a racial double standard…[An example provided being:] When I was 20, I stole a pack of cigs, cop prayed with me and made me promise I wouldn’t do it again. #CrimingWhileWhite..” (Lee, 2017). People get uncomfortable when it's time to talk about racism and white privilege, but the time to talk about it is now, even when we don’t know how to get started. Getting the conversation going is the first step to creating a voice, community, and action in fighting for true justice for all. One can not say they are not racist and stay silent about the issues that black communities are currently facing. It is especially our responsibility to dismantle the structure and systems we currently have in place that strive off the oppression of the black community. The incarceration of the black community is a huge example of modern day slavery, the acts of inhumanity and violence towards them is an example of racism, hate, white supremacy and oppression that is still very much alive in our country and all over the world. To be an ally, we must use our privilege to speak and amplify what it is they are demanding, equality and humanization, equal opportunities, equity, and overall respect of their entire existence and identity, to acknowledge their suffering and to most importantly, listen. It is not our place to speak for them, but rather to share their stories, hear them out, and fight against injustices happening every single day.

What are some positive benefits that can be obtained through internet activism?

“Public awareness is achieved by accessing information that is relevant to the cause. Naturally there is often difficulty involved. Since the traditional information channels may well be controlled by those whose interest is counter to that of the activists, the Internet may serve as an alternative news and information source. The news and information are provided by individuals and independent organizations, largely focusing on events and issues not reported, underreported, or misreported in the mainstream mass media. The forms of obtaining information include visiting relevant Web sites or participating in different types of email distribution lists.” (Veghs, 2003). Through internet activism, as I stated earlier, information travels at a significant speed, making it faster and easier for information to travel across the world and form communities that share the same goal and values. This creates a sense of unity for some communities where it may be harder to find that overall safe space offline. The internet allows for many opportunities to arise with the use of forming and planning events such as protests, creating and participating in signing petitions, creating groups, sharing stories and overall posts with a message and purpose. Internet activism, if done right and being aware of falling into slacktivism, it can create widespread and rapid change if enough people are able to amplify the message, and with the internet, it is much faster and easier to bring this level of awareness to issues and problems that our country is currently facing— whether it be a hashtag, a headline, a post, or group messages. All of these are a few examples of the benefits that internet activism could provide for some communities in getting stuff done at a faster and widespread rate.

Fuchs, C. (2004). Social media and communication power. In social media: A critical introduction (pp. 69-94). London: Sage Publications Ltd. doi:10.4135/9781446270066.n4

Lee, L. (2017). Black Twitter: A Response to Bias in Mainstream Media. Social Sciences, 6(1), 26. doi:103390/socsci6010026

Vegh, S. (2003). Classifying Forms of Online Activism: The Case of Cyberprotests against the World Bank.

[itsmedianuh]

Week #10 Blog Post due 10/28:

 Why and how do trolls strive off of anonymity?                                                   

“The final marker of trolling is the trolls’ insistence on and celebration of anonymity. The ability to obscure one’s offline identity has a number of immediate behavioral implications. Most obviously, anonymity allows trolls to engage in behaviors they would never replicate in professional or otherwise public settings, either because this specific behaviors would be considered socially unacceptable, or because the trolls’ online persona would clash with their offline circumstances” (Defining Terms: The Origins and Evolution of Subcultural Trolling) Anonymity allows for people to openly share opinions, information, and things they normally wouldn’t share otherwise offline, this amplifies— usually the perspective or opinion that is considered controversial, rude, racist, xenophobic, sexist, or not socially accepted by the majority population. This anonymity provides a protection to trolls in general because they are not being held accountable for, because the internet is almost always hard to control or police given the protection of free speech and how big the internet is in general.

What effects and influences do trolls have on online communities?                                                  

(“Don’t feed the troll”: Shutting down debate about community expectations on Reddit.com) “A troll can disrupt the discussion on a newsgroup, disseminate bad advice, and damage the feeling of trust in the newsgroup community. Furthermore, in a group that has become sensitized to trolling — where the rate of deception is high — many honestly naïve questions may be quickly rejected as trollings ... Even if the accusation is unfounded, being branded a troll is quite damaging to one’s online reputation”. Trolls could easily create a hostile environment and amplify negativity on posts, online communities and online media. This could negatively reflect on the content, its creators and either stir up on controversy or feed into negative messages and maybe even take away from the seriousness of the issue being discussed. If a community is gravitating on positivity, trolls could create a breaking point in these environments.                            

How do trolls contribute to harassment and online bullying, should they be taken seriously?

(A Timeline of Leslie Jones’s Horrific Online Abuse) Leslie Jones goes to Twitter to state: “I leave Twitter tonight with tears and a very sad heart. All this cause I did a movie. You can hate the movie but the shit I got today...wrong”. After having been a part of a film, Leslie Jones received a lot of hate for her part to the extent of being threatened and overall had racist and hateful messages, memes, and remarks made. It got to the point that she had to remove herself from media for her safety and mental health. The hate she received was extreme and in waves for simply playing a part in a movie. It is impossible to 100% ignore trolls, especially if they are given a platform and their voices are amplified by many other users, we are human. However, I do think what Leslie did was right, although unfortunate. If we could remove ourselves from that exposure or try our best to keep its effects minimal, it is best because trolls feed off of that reaction and strive. Trolls contribute to online bullying and harassment because of the anonymity and platform they are given, it gives them a confidence and power to share and gather people in numbers in order to troll and express their points or whichever disruptive goal they may have in mind.

What are the dangers that exist with trolls and what can be done to stop them? 

“Today in awful news, Leslie Jones’s personal website has been taken down after being targeted by a vicious hack. Hackers infiltrated the site with what appeared to be naked photos of the comedian, as well as images of her passport and driver’s license, private photos of her with various celebrities, and a photo of dead gorilla (and meme that refuses to die) Harambe.” (A Timeline of Leslie Jones’s Horrific Online Abuse).  Unfortunately I don’t think there is much that could be done to completely stop trolls, however, I did see that with Leslie Jones and various other media outlets, these platforms create guidelines for users to follow in order to create a safe environment, removing inappropriate posts. Although there are loopholes, I think its important for these platforms to create guidelines and create boundaries in terms of violence, hate speech, and racism. There are many dangers that exists with trolls because a younger and more naive audience may not have the mental ability to remove themselves from that situation, further impacting their mental health and I think that goes with all of social media as a whole.

Bergstrom, K. (2011). “Don’t feed the troll”: Shutting down debate about community expectations on Reddit.com. First Monday

Duggan, M. (2014), “Online Harassment” Pew Research Center, pp. 1-11.

Phillips, W. (2015), "Defining Terms: The Origins and Evolution of Subcultural Trolling”. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture.

Silman, A. (2016). A Timeline of Leslie Jones's Horrific Online Abuse.

[itsmedianuh]

Week 8: 10/14

What arguments are made by white supremacists in terms of abortions and how does their argument differ between races? 

White supremacists see this topic of pro-life and abortions through the lens of selfishness, superiority and overall inhumane. They see and interpret the life of a white individual more valuable and worthy of space over the life of a black baby. Within the reading, Gender, White Supremacy, and the Internet. Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights, Daniels mentions a point-of-view and argument that they presented, “Abortion should be legal in nonwhite countries who are populating the Earth so fast and at unsustainable numbers. They are crushing us in every which way. It is different with the white race, however. I am firmly pro-life. For those people justifying abortion in America because black women get them too, what you are saying is that abortions should stay legal because black females get them too but at the expense of unborn white children? No young white life is worth one hundred black abortions; am I wrong?” (Daniels). This argument presents the strong idea of what white supremacists see and how they feel that their position in being pro-life only applies to the lives that they see as “worthy and valuable” and this highlights their strong views of how “black babies don’t apply to their pro-life” point-of-view, ironically. It is overall dismissive and inhumane to only fight for the lives that they feel have the right to be here and how “no young white life is worth one hundred black abortions”. Even with the word choice, ‘white life’ ‘black abortions’ it portrays their lack of care for black babies in comparison to white babies as they feel threatened and say ‘it is different with the white race’. I feel that with their argument of ‘pro-life’, they aren’t truly pro-life, they are racist and white supremacists who fear “nonwhite countries who are populating the Earth so fast”. 

         2. In what forms is technology and media “gendered”? 

“Many of the virtual personae that have emerged on the market to date are simulations of young , attractive females. These personae are clearly being constructed through a heteronormative paradigm...There has been speculation that the prevalence of female fantasy figures is related to the dominance of men in software engineering and programming” (O’Riordan). Technology and media is gendered due to the dominant presence of men in software engineering and programming, creating a limited lens, perspective and input. The images and females that may exist in games and technology may be skewed due to the lack of female accuracy and representation in their development. It's ironic how society frowns upon a woman using photoshop to blur out a pimple or fix a few of their insecurities, yet upholds unrealistic and inaccurate images of women with wide hips, small waists, no blemishes, no stretch marks and overall very build-a-bear approach. 

        3. How might the “gendered technology” play an effect between the male and female relationship? 

It is to no surprise that a lot of technology is gendered, heterosexual, and caters to men, this could be seen a lot in how breast-feeding images are censored and ‘controversial’ but a woman half naked and topless isn’t. This is seen in how video games sexualize the female characters and avatars with nudity, bigger breasts and tiny waists. In the reading, Gender, Technology, and Visual Cyberculture. Critical Cyberculture Studies it is stated “A game hero catalogue...provides a classification, ‘sexy heroes’, that conveys an image of the feminine body that is hyper sexualizas in that it’s femininity is predicated on the gender/ sex conflation. The bodies connote ‘female’ through the morphology of having no penis (lack) and through having breasts (excess). They have a Victorian aesthetic of tiny waists and large breasts, but without the excessive fabric” (O’Riordan). This could create an unrealistic expectation and sexualization of females and feed into the tension that exists in what is okay and what is deemed unacceptable. For example, once on a Facebook post about a woman who was breastfeeding, some men and even women were outraged, disgusted, and shaming the mother for feeding her child and showing some skin-- despite the breast biologically performing its scientific function in feeding the baby, people were threatening the mother to cover up. These are the same people who are okay and happy to see any woman topless in magazines or in bikinis. People are uncomfortable with the idea of a woman’s body carrying out its biological function, showing some skin on their own terms, and women having that control of their own body, but people are okay with the idea of a female body serving their pleasure and desired purposes. This feeds into tensions that already exist between men and women and the man’s desire to control a woman’s body and individuality.

        4. What are the conflicts that exist with cyborgs and technology? 

When it comes to technology and bettering the future and knowing when too much interference is too much, a debate is presented with ambition and what is considered too far. “The stakes in the border war have been the territories of production, reproduction, and imagination. The cyborg is resolutely committed to partiality, irony, intimacy, and perversity. It is oppositional, utopian, and completely without innocence...The ubiquity and invisibility of cyborgs is precisely why these sunshine-belt machines are so deadly” (Haraway). Although technology has improved the lives of many and continues to, too much interference and developing human-like robots and the line between what is okay and what is considered playing with fire, becomes too thin to realize. Some are in favor of this rapid progression and see it as necessary, others find it disturbing and unnecessary.  Where do we draw the line in what role technology should play in our society and our lives? I think this is a constant debate between people as people fear their replacement in the workfield and many other aspects where technology is now becoming more prominent. 

Daniels, J. (2009). Gender, White Supremacy, and the Internet. Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights (pp. 61-86). Rowman & Littlefield.

Haraway, D. (1991). A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (pp. 149-181). Routledge.

O’Riordan, K. (2006). Gender, Technology, and Visual Cyberculture. Critical Cyberculture Studies (pp. 243-252). New York University

[itsmedianuh]

Week #7 Blog Post due 10/07

1. Is humor a good way to tackle racism? 

I think humor is a perfect mask to poke at racism and try to get away with it. I may be wrong because comedy is different for everyone and maybe there are really good ways to strategically tackle racism appropriately and respectively through humor such as satire, but other than that I find it a little harder to really see anything other than hiding behind comedy to state something passive-aggressively racist and say “Oh its a joke”, “it’s a meme” or “lighten up”. This is feeding into racism and a form of gaslighting. In the reading, “Race and Social Media”, Noble quotes how people “use humor to say something smart and discomforting about race”. I think it’s a lot like saying “No offense” and proceeding with something very offensive and then getting angry at the person for getting offended or upset because saying “No offense” takes away the full responsibility magically. I think this applies a lot to the controversial humor that exists and feeds into the racism because simply labeling it as ‘funny’ or a ‘joke’ takes away the right of the individual being targeted to feel angry because then they are labeled as ‘sensitive’ when in reality the joke is probably racist and hurtful. 

2. What is white victimization and what are it’s affects on racism?

Lately society has been trying to bring awareness to the flaws that exist in our systems, society, politics, and economics. Although it is not always done correctly, people are being more open to this idea of fully giving others the opportunity. I see this with Etsy promoting black-owned shops, films and studios providing more diversity for people of color actors and actresses such as the big ‘controversy’ that existed when the new Little Mermaid live action announced that Ariel will be played by a woman of color and similar situations like these. Although people feel that these matters are controversial, they really are not. White people have been given the narrative for years, and still do, whether its the main character and protagonist of a novel, movie, getting the job because of their ‘nice’ sounding name, or overall their safety with cops in comparison to a person of color. What society is moving towards isn’t a “Black are superior to White people” like the all live matter people may argue, but this is doing the bare minimum and barely a start for the people who have had such a disadvantage with everything whether it’s in movies, jobs, politics, policing, or education. As mentioned in the article, “Race After Technology” by Benjamin, “this is newly cloaked in the language of White victimization and false equivalency. What about White history month? White studies programs? White student unions? No longer content with the power of invisibility, a vocal subset of the population wants to be recognized and celebrated as White- a backlash against the civil rights gains”. This creates a blindness and dismissal to accept that everything brought upon and presented before all this awareness and change has begun to arise, has catered to White people. This, giving other people the chance and same opportunity, isn’t giving them more than what others already had, it is barely beginning to give them what everyone else has had for the longest time in history which is justice and equality and protection of the law.

3. What are the negative effects of ‘celebrating diversity’?

When it comes to celebrating diversity, society has gone about this in many different ways. Growing up, in elementary school I remember we had a week where we celebrated different cultures and I always thought it was cool to be able to eat different foods and learn about some cultures I knew very little about. Looking back, I actually realized how stereotypical these cultural weeks were. The good thing was that we did in fact actually learn about the different cultures, however, the food, the music, and the outfits were very stereotypical. For example, hispanic/latinx culture was solely focusing on Mexican culture which is such a huge generalization to every other culture that exists in those two different categories. And in celebrating this “Mexican culture” we ate tacos, listened to mariachi, and talked about the typical festive outfits, when I know that is far from the truth, being a Latina, myself, with Mexican parents. As mentioned in the reading, “Race After Technology”, Benjamin states, “cosmetic diversity too easily stands in for substantive change, with a focus on feel-good differences like food, language, and dress, not systematic disadvantages associated with employment, educating, and policing”. I think it’s so much easier to celebrate the good, have fun, and pat ourselves on the back to being such great people for ‘accepting’ the bare minimum and settling with that being enough. But it does more harm than good to celebrate in this manner and ignore the conversations that need to take place because dismissing the real issues and only giving attention to the stereotypical information leads to bigger problems and passive aggressive approaches to the real issues and it leads to ignorance with ‘small’ things we see today such as cultural halloween costumes, speaking a language other than english and being crucified for it in the United States with no official language, and other similar issues that may be easily dismissed as minimal to people who avoid addressing the real problems. 

4. Who should be held responsible for ‘fixing’ the racism that exists?

When it comes to racism people tend to look at one another to fix the problem, but in reality we have to look at ourselves and within to see what can we do as individuals to stop feeding into this? Why is it that as a society and individuals that we turn to people of color to fix the problem that we made? It is the responsibility of us, white people and people of privilege, to fix it because we created this problem. As mentioned in the reading, “Race and Social Media”, Noble mentions, “Rather than asking non-white people how it feels to be a problem...it is long past time for white people to ask ourselves: How does it feel to be a problem? What will we do about it?”. I think these questions are crucial to even get started on addressing and tackling the issue at its root. The problem isn’t non-white people, that is placing the burden onto the victims and holding them responsible for a problem they didn’t create or ask for. 

Benjamin, R. (2019). Race after technology: Abolitionist tools for the new Jim Code. Cambridge: Polity, 41-88

Senft, T. Noble, U.N. (2014). Race and Social Media, The Social Media Handbook, 107-125.

[itsmedianuh]

Week #6 Blog. Due 09/30

1. What role does white supremacy play through social media and the internet and how does that carry over from virtual platforms onto reality? 

In the reading, “White Supremacy in the Digital Era”, by Daniels, it is stated “White supremacy online sometimes leads to violence, harassment, intimidation, and racial terror, transcending the virtual world to damage real, live human beings” and “a majority of all websites on the Internet originate in the United States. Not surprisingly, then,  according to the Council of Europe the majority of hate websites are U.S. based, with 2,500 out of 4,00 racist sites originating in the United States”. The online world allows for anyone to remain anonymous, including hate groups. This allows for hate groups to easily target groups of individuals and most of this hate and aggression online is carried over from real emotions and beliefs. As we see in some of the examples online, some of this hate can be seen in violent crimes carried out in-person that are often expressed online without a filter-- we could see this with a lot of mass shootings such as the Orlando nightclub shooting. What is said online is often a megaphone for what is felt in reality as people are often comforted by the idea of anonymity.

2. In what aspects is racism perpetuated through video games and its development in characters and their story lines? 

When discussion the creation of a character from the game of Shadow Warrior, it is discussed by Ow, that “t..he malleability of Asian ethnicity surrounding the main character in Shadow Warrior allows the video gamer added comfort within a digital body...the digital body with which one can interface and become is that of Lo Wang, a racist and misogynist Yellowfaced Cyborg Terminator, on his solitary quest to rape, pillage, and claim the Asian continent, leaving nothing but carnage. Or, as the Yellowfaced Cyborg Terminator prefers to read himself, as a ‘wacky blend of all things Asian’”. Although the creator/designer of the game claimed this character to be the way he is to allow ‘flexibility’ it holds a lack of respect for the culture and communities being portrayed-- making it seem like they are interchangeable. By not creating fine lines among communities, races, cultures, traditions, in video games, it creates a blur and ‘okay’ for the audience to interchangeably accept these virtual traits and realities as truth and applicable in the real world, when it is actually far from that. It is important to recognize and be able to see, learn, and respect the differences that exist between different communities and races whether it's online, in games or in real life.

3. In what ways does cyberspace affect non-white users? 

As discussed by Daniels in “White Supremacy in the Digital Era”, “the fact that this communication can be encrypted and anonymous is appealing for a portion of white supremacists although certainly not all...more sinister than possible recruitment is the internet’s capacity to globally link white supremacists, regardless of national boundaries, thus affirming translocal white identity”. It is easy for anyone to get online and type away hateful posts, comments, sites, and tags that are driven with hate targeting a specific group of people-- connecting these people like white supremacists from all different areas, enhancing this hate on display in higher and louder volumes. I think this could easily create a sense of fear in minorities to avoid specific areas in real life if these groups of people plan to threaten and harass others as a ‘gathering’ or ‘event’ to them. I think this could also create a sense of us vs them mentality online and further isolate groups and create generalizations of races or communities for the actions of a few.

4. Why is race often difficult to discuss and why is it often interpreted as being political? 

Discussing racism and race, especially in today’s time is often spoken about in whispers or silenced because it is deemed ‘political’ or ‘sensitive’-- it is a conversation that is often hushed away or deemed as ‘not appropriate’. However, in reality, race and racism should not be perceived as political conversations that should be hushed away. That right there is privilege that we as a society are failing to recognize because for some, the color of their skin is an automatic target to the weapon of violence, injustice, oppression and abuse. It isn’t a choice to just silence the conversation-- it is a matter of life or death and the more that we push to filter out these conversations, the more that racism is allowed to exist. In the reading, “Race in Cyberspace” by Kolko, Nakamura, and Rodman, it is mentioned that in Cyberspace there is “No in-between. No halfway. No shades of gray. All too often, when it comes to virtual culture, the subject of race seems to be one of those binary switches: either it's completely "off" (i.e., race is an invisible concept because it's simultaneously unmarked and undiscussed), or it's completely "on" (i.e., it's a controversial flashpoint for angry debate and overheated rhetoric)”. This could be seen almost on any platform of media such as twitter, instagram, or facebook. There is either silence or angry debates, nothing in between. I think race and racism is so difficult for people to discuss because first, we are filtering the conversations that need to be taking place. Second, we need to create conversations where we listen to hear people out, not just listen in order to respond. It is a conversation that is long overdue but it's a matter of stepping out of that bubble and creating that conversation in order to help one another and truly obtain justice for all.

 Daniels, J. (2009). White Supremacy in the Digital Era. Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights (pp. 3-16). Rowman & Littlefield.

Kolko, B. E., Nakamura, L., & Rodman, G. B. (2000). Race in Cyberspace: An Introduction. Race in Cyberspace (pp. 1-13). Routledge.

Ow, J. A. (2000). The Revenge of the Yellowfaced Cyborg Terminator: The Rape of Digital Geishas and the Colonization of Cyber-Coolies in 3D Realms’ Shadow Warrior. Race in Cyberspace (pp. 51-68). Routledge.

[itsmedianuh]

Week 4: 09/16/20;

1. In what ways do algorithms contribute to racism towards marginalized groups?

When we stop to think about technology, we expect things to be unbiased, neutral, and overall ‘fair game’, however, when we think about the human bias involved in creating and contributing towards these platforms, it is far from neutral or just. In the reading, “Algorithms of Oppression: How search engines reinforce racism”, Noble discusses an example of how these algorithms contribute towards these biased structures that further drive a specific narrative that promotes these racist approaches towards marginalized groups. “While Googling things on the Internet that might be interesting to my stepdaughter and nieces, I was overtaken by the results. My search on the keywords “black girls” yielded HotBlackPussy.com as the first hit.” Experiences like these are what constantly feeds into the sexualization, degradation, and objectification of women of color. Humans are far from ever being objective as everyone carries their own biases, whether we are aware of them or not, but it is up to us to not let these biases get in the way of creating a safe environment for everyone from different backgrounds to feel like they belong and are getting equal representation.

2. How must we approach in dismantling and addressing the racism that exists on the internet and media? 

In reading, “Algorithms of Oppression: How search engines reinforce racism”, Noble presents the type of mindset that one should have when approaching the internet and media; “At the very least, we must ask when we find these kinds of results, Is this the best information? For whom? We must ask ourselves who the intended audience is for a variety of things we find, and question the legitimacy of being in a “filter bubble”, when we do not want racism and sexism”. It is important first to realize that the internet and technology carries its own biases, especially companies that might have underlying purposes for how certain algorithms are presented, for example the example of Google in the previous response. This applies to anything on the internet because as unbiased as platforms may claim to be, human involvement in any of this will almost always make it biased. The main thing to realize in these situations is to ask ourselves these questions that Noble stated, and be critical and aware of the purpose, intended audience and what underlying message may be lingering on these platforms and its given information.

3. What influence does an individual’s name carry? 

A name holds a lot of power and information about an individual and their identity: their culture, their history, their language, and so much more. In Benjamin's “Race after technology: Abolitionist tools for the New Jim Code”, Benjamin explores how a person’s name could easily be used against them and possible opportunities even with technology as “they found that the algorithm associated White-sounding names with “pleasant” words and Black-sounding names with “unpleasant”...researchers show that, all other things being equal, job seekers with White-sounding first names received 50 percent more call backs from employers than job seekers with Black-sounding names”. In this reading, we see how much a name could easily be used as a factor to determine how specific individuals may benefit from their name and how others may face that descrimination even with the advancement of technology. This carries out for more than just the working field and could be seen in other platforms like society, criminalizing individuals, profiling, politics, education, and outing others based on just these small differences. 

4. In what ways have these platforms, both digital and print, allowed for black communities to fight against systematic oppression? 

In the reading, “The Revolution Will Be Digitized: Afrocentricity and the Digital Public Sphere”, Everett explores the different manners in which a digitized revolution is expected to take place and will take place and its examples of how it is happening right now. I come to very much agree with Everett as the internet is a place that allows for anyone to log on and express themselves and for individuals to create and form communities who share the same views, drive, and experiences, leading into the active act of a revolution and reform towards matters that are important to them. “The earliest black political pamphlets, newspapers, magazines, and other forms of black writing established a tradition of protest literature that has been a prominent feature throughout the history of the press’s “uplift” mission, or journalistic freedom fighting. Equally important as its struggles for racial justice, particularly during heightened moments of political and economic crises, was the press’s role as cultural arbiter and promoter”. This approach has always been present and could be seen how these platforms whether it's the press, writing, journalism, or now: technology, these methods of communication bring awareness from communities to better obtain equal opportunities and change. It happened before, and this digitized revolution is expanding because the internet allows for a global reach to come together through these quick and fast methods of communication, bringing on change at a faster and more present rate and manner.

Benjamin, R. (2019). Race after technology: Abolitionist tools for the New Jim Code. Cambridge: Polity.

Everett, A. (2002). The Revolution Will Be Digitized: Afrocentricity and the Digital Public Sphere. Social Text, 125-146.

Noble, S. (2018). Algorithms of oppression: How search engines reinforce racism. New York University Press.

[itsmedianuh]

Week 09/09/20

1. What role does the internet and media play in feminism?

According to the reading, “Rethinking Cyberfeminism: Race, Gender, and Embodiment”, by Jessie Daniels, it is stated that “Many women outside any formal political organization experience the internet as a ‘safe space’ for resisting the gender oppression they encounter in their day-to-day lives offline”. A lot of women find the internet as an escape and outlet to freely express themselves, empower others, and overall break free from the societal expectations on the role of what a woman should be because although as a society we are moving towards a direction of equality, the sexism is still living in our workplaces, relationships, economy and our politics. Personally, I think the internet is a great outlet that allows women to draw attention to the issues that we face in regards to society, body image, and expected gender roles.

2. What are the negative effects that social media has on feminism and females?

The internet is a broad spectrum that has no filter and almost anyone can post just about anything with only a few exceptions. Although the media does create supportive communities for women to uplift one another and to have a safe space for anything to be shared, it also creates a sense of isolation for others. This could be seen in many different forms. In the reading of Jessie Daniels, stresses “the ways women engage with Internet technologies in order to create meaning for themselves to improve, or at least change, the material conditions of their lives and bodies”. Although it is great that women have that control and access to filter out which aspects of their life to show or hide, it could also create a community of false image and perfection that could sometimes be far from reality or further from the truth such as photoshop or posting excessively happy photos when no one is ever really that happy, however, I do think at that point it is up to the users to realize that and be able to identify that social media only shows half of the reality that exists.

3. How does technology create a bigger division amongst the working class and the middle class?

According to the reading from Virginia Eubanks, “Automating Inequality Introduction”, it states that “earlier technological innovations in poverty management, digital tracking, and automated decision-making hide poverty from the professional middle-class public and give the nation the ethical distance it needs to make inhuman choices: who gets food and who starves…”. Technology creates a sense of distance and disassociation between classes and who has access to the internet and who doesn’t, creating an entire platform and outlet that limits who is able to get certain information, this creates an upper hand for those who have the access to this. This then leads into the effect of how the working-class is unable to fully voice themselves, voice their concerns and share the realities that they face in a society that is constantly taking from them. Because of this distance between classes, it is easier for the classes to act against the working class and their lack of resources to fully fight back or correctly portray specific information.

4. How does technology negatively impact the working class?

As stated in the previous question, it is easier to create a sense of division amongst classes when one class has access to this extra huge unlimited source for internet, communication and knowledge and one class doesn’t, and as stated by Eubanks, “the systems are being integrated into human and social services across the country at a breathtaking, with little or no political discussion about their impacts”. This automatic sense of generalizing the classes in regards to who gets a say and who gets involved and who doesn’t, is automatically and very much excluding the working class and their inability to fully get a grasp about what it is that society is demanding from them and they aren’t being involved or included in the decision making process that goes on around them when in reality, a lot of the decisions being made, are being made without taking into account the effect it will have on the working class and their day-to-day lives socially, economically and technologically. For example, we see this a lot with zoom and online learning and the effects this has been having on the working class and the lack of access to tools, internet and overall the workspace to fully get that same equal opportunity and decision making when they have parents working, and multiple siblings attending online learning.

Daniels, Jessie. (2009). Rethinking Cyberfeminism: Race, Gender, and Embodiment. Women’s Studies Quarterly.

Eubanks, Virginia. (2018). Automating Inequality Introduction.

[itsmedianuh]

Blog Post due 09/02

1. Do social media and news outlets portray an accurate representation about what is going on in the world around us and how does this impact our relationships with those within our communities? 

> Every social media platform and news outlet carries its own biases, we see this with Fox News leaning towards conservative politics and CNN leaning more democratic, however, as we read in the article of “Gonzalez and Torres, News for all the People”, “how federal policy often aided the major press in perpetuating the white racial narrative...ignor[ing] the white supremacist views”. This creates a problem in how minorities and their voices are often silenced, ignored, or viewed as ‘inaccurate’ due to the lack of care for the media to hear or accurately portray their specific side of the story and how certain events particularly hurt these communities. This creates division amongst groups and a sense of false heroism. This could be seen in the example that we are all experiencing today with the Black Lives Matter movement. It is very clear that the media has a way of providing a safety net for certain groups of people and for others, it creates a target in order to evoke a lack of sympathy for them. This is seen in how social media was quick to phrase Kyle Rittenhouse as a 17 year-old “boy” and Tamir Rice, who was 12 years old, was first quickly labeled as a “man” by the media. Small things like that create tension, divides among communities, and portrays to the communities of minorities the side in which the media and news outlets stand by and which groups of people are often disregarded. The truth of what is going on can be seen in the middle of everything that is being reported, it is up to us to critically analyze and question which point of view is this coming from, does this report or post have an objective and if so what, and what is not being included? 

2. How does social media feed into the concept of ‘slacktivism’ and how can one avoid feeding into this practice?

> The idea of social media creates an illusion that people are actually making a positive impact on a cause or movement, as stated in the reading “Social Media a Critical Introduction”, “an illusion of having a meaningful impact on the world without demanding anything more than joining a Facebook group”. Although this does create a sense of awareness among groups and communities, it does nothing else for that cause directly and this feeds into this concept of slacktivism and how easy it is to get away with thinking that simply joining a group or sharing a post is enough to end the cause of concern-- and when I say this I’m not bashing on the idea of joining a group or sharing a post, however, what I am saying is that to avoid being a slacktivist, it is our responsibility to further our actions and find ways to approach the issue more directly and to not let that be just the end of what we do in terms of a cause and movement.

3. What impact does social media have on how we communicate with those around us? Does it improve and enhance our communication or does it further divide us?

As mentioned in the reading, “Social Media a Critical Introduction”, communication through these platforms begin to form communities among groups of people who might share the same interests or passions for a cause and so forth. The impact that social media has in regards to how we communicate with others vary from person to person. As an individual who is more shy, social media has allowed me to gain more confidence in my voice and has allowed me to connect with others in ways I haven’t in-person. However, I do realize the negative impact that social media has on communication such as further isolating us from one another and portraying only the best of ourselves on social media, sometimes creating a false reality. Whether social media is for the better or worse in our individualized lives, depends on the user and the awareness that an individual possesses while going into it and its involvement. As a whole, I think it varies from situation to situation but I could definitely take note of the best and worst aspects of it.

4. What are the positive effects and influences that social media may have on various social justice movements? 

> The positive effects and influences that social media may have on various social justice movements is that we are becoming more and more aware of these problems that as stated by “Gonzalez and Torres” in “News for All the People”, that people are urged to take “immediate steps to increase the presence of minorities in the newspaper and broadcast industries”. And although that doesn’t fully solve the issue, it is a step in the right direction to become more inclusive of the voices that are often not included in these outlets. This creates a more defined perspective of the movements and issues that need attention and action, further empowering the various social justice movements if done and approached correctly while avoiding slacktivism.

Fuchs, Christian. 2017. Social Media: A Critical Introduction. 2nd Edition. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Gonzalez, J., & Torres, J. 2012. News for all the people: the epic story of race and the American media. Verso.

[itsmedianuh]

Okay so! This story time still leaves me laughing at myself, embarrassed, for having overseen a “minor” detail. So before this pandemic, I was working as a dishwasher at a cake boutique on weekends. Weekends were by far the busiest of days and I normally didn’t mind working, however, after having a perfect attendance, no call-outs or anything for a year and half, when my family chose to surprise and visit from Oklahoma, I thought to myself, “One day of calling out won’t hurt now would it? Besides I’m always picking up extra shifts and arrive early and haven’t missed a single day, so whats the worst that could happen? Either way, my family is only here for the weekend, so might as well”. 

I’m normally the person who feels incredibly guilty calling out of work, I would have to prepare and wake up early to make a simple phone call that had me mentally preparing the conversation over and over until I got it over with. But I managed, called, and got someone to cover. I enjoyed the day with my family getting some lunch, dessert and showing them around the cities and beach. 

Later that night, my aunt decided to post and share the pictures on her Facebook, tagging me, to share our little adventures and moments with my other family members from Mexico and Chicago. 

Fast forward to next weekend. My manager calls me into his office. He said he doesn’t like policing social media however, he had to point out that the store supervisor was upset to find out that I was not really sick the past weekend.

I felt my entire soul leave my body, totally forgetting that I had my supervisor and coworkers on social media. Super embarrassing and awkward, however, my manager was super nice about it and said we’ve all done it before, hes not upset, and that next time just try to be aware of who is seeing what on my social media, but that he just wanted to give me a heads up because if he didn’t say anything to me, he knows the rest of my coworkers would be upset if he let it slide. I explained to him the situation with my family and he was really understanding and believed me, given I always had perfect attendance and would consistently pick up shifts whenever I was able to.

Anytime after that, calling out, had me feeling even worse, but as I continued working there for two more years, I realized ALL of my coworkers were caught doing the exact same at some point. Oops! 😅🤐