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Blog #8 - When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.

China has the most active social-media population worldwide which may come as a surprise to those who know of the “Great Firewall of China”. 

Badiucao 2016

In a survey of 5,700 internet users it was found that 91 percent of respondents had visited a social media site within the previous six months compared to 67 percent in the United States (Chiu, Lin and Silverman, 2012). China has one of the most restricted internets in the world with social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube all being censored (Open Democracy, 2013). This blanket censoring has led to the rise of VPN use. 

One, 2016

VPN stands for “virtual private network” and it is a service that encrypts and redirects internet connections. This means that websites that you are visiting are hidden behind an encryption and therefore websites that are usually restricted are able to be accessed. Despite not being illegal China uses sophisticated technology to block the websites of most major VPNs and it can be difficult to find a VPN with adequate stealth to hide its traffic (One, 2016). Despite this many Chinese people, including companies that rely on connecting to officially banned websites, are actively using VPNs.

For those that do not wish to use VPN however the restrictions are not necessarily troublesome as someone living in Australia might suspect. China has multiple social networking platforms to satisfy web users with platforms such as “RenRen” and “Kaixingwang” as facebook substitutes and “Weibo” as a Twitter-like platform (Open Democracy, 2013). There are several factors that impact the high social-media usage in China such as the separation of families due to rural-to-urban migration, one-child generation loneliness, and a scepticism of formal institutions (Crampton, 2011).

My immediate assumption was that if Facebook and Twitter were available then the domestically developed sites would be far less popular and potential not exist as there would be no need for them. This was an incredibly Eurocentric view. 

Crampton (2011) points out that digital communities vary extensively between countries and are dependent on economic development, language, and culture. In Japan where Facebook and Twitter are accessible there is still a high demand for social media platforms such as GREE which is run by a Japanese Internet media company. It seems obvious to me now that other countries and cultures may have a preference for platforms that are specifically designed for, and marketed to, them. 

While the idea of such overwhelming censorship on behalf of the Chinese government trying to control what their citizens can read and discuss online may be arguably strange and potentially damaging it’s somewhat heartening to know that individuals are working within and around these restrictions to express themselves and connect with others in whatever way they can. It is clear that despite having such an authoritarian regime in charge of their internet many Chinese citizens are still able to enjoy the ability to send cute cat videos to each other via their own digital communities.

Animals Daily Life 2013

References

Animals Daily Life 2013, Cute Cats - Cuteset Kitten best Compilation Ever, viewed February 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-PBFMECvTE

Badiucao 2016, political cartoon, viewed February 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/china-cartoonist-badiucao-pushes-political-envelope-past/7193556

Chiu, C, Lin, D & Silverman, A 2012, China's social-media boom, McKinsey & Company, viewed 3 August 2016, <http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/chinas_social-media_boom>.

Crampton, T 2011, 'Social media in China: The same, but differen't, China Business Review, Vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 28-31, viewed 3 August 2016, <http://www.thomascrampton.com/china/social-media-china-business-review/>.

One G, 2016, ‘The Best VPN For China’, Greycoder, viewed Feruary 2017, <https://greycoder.com/best-vpn-china/>

The Great Firewall of China 2013, Open Democracy viewed 3 August 2016, <https://www.opendemocracy.net/china-correspondent/great-firewall-of-china>.

[jadedreamsindigital-blog]

Stop being such a slacktivist!

‘Slacktivism’ (activism for slackers) was one of the topics that stood out for me in this week’s readings.  In Paolo Gerbaudo’s work ‘Tweets and the Streets’, Evgenyi Morozov defined slacktivism as 'feel good activism that has zero political or social impact’.  It 'creates an illusion of having a meaningful impact on the world without demanding anything more than joining a Facebook group’.  I think it’d be safe to say that many, if not most of us are guilty of this.  Perhaps the best example of my slacktivist behaviour was my 'participation’ in KONY 2012.  You all remember it.  Here’s a funky gif just in case you need reminding.

I was so enthusiastic about 'covering the night’…I even bought some posters (*cue collective gasp*).  However, like many other slacktivists, I didn’t end up participating in the 'cover the night’ antics even though I initially pledged my support.  Gerbaudo discusses sympathisers in his publication, stating that there are 'difficulties involved in turning sympathy into actual participation’.  I think this is essentially the reason why slacktivism exists.  We’re all happy to pledge our support, but to actually participate takes time and effort we’re generally not willing to give.  So we need to stop being such slacktivists guys! And yes, I do love using the word slacktivist. 

Lynch spoke about how social media contributes to collective action in four ways.  Of those four ways, no platform served all of those functions all the time.  Each platform provides a variety of affordances that are important at different times.  Jared Cohen provides the perfect way of looking at the affordances of social media platforms in activism efforts.  "Facebook [is] used to set the date, twitter [is] used to share logistics, youtube to show the world, all to connect people".  So, Facebook is used to form groups, Twitter is used for real-time organisation, and YouTube is used to provide instant evidence to the world.  

Social media platforms provide tools for organized protest, yet they can also restrict collective action.  Users’ actions are constrained by both company policies and user terms.  These policies can make it difficult for activists, with Youmans and York stating that “automated systems [thwart] attempts to reach as many people as possible - the very thing that activists want social media to do for them”.  I’ve always been a strong supporter of the 'underdog’ and activists are the underdogs to me.  I believe the negative connotations associated with 'clicktivism’ are unjustified.  Sure, there are going to be some negative actions and consequences when it comes to protests and activism, but that’s like anything.  I’m on Hillary Clinton’s side - Internet freedom wooo!  Let’s be naive Internet users while we can. 

In regards to how activists might use social media in the future, Youmans and York, in their piece 'Social Media and the Activist Toolkit’ discuss six strategies that activists could use to maintain or enhance social media as tools for collective action.  Two of these include: working to advance industry self-regulation by protecting and advancing the freedom of expression and privacy, and pressuring large social media companies -shifting the power toward users rather than the powerful private companies running the network.

And that, my friends, concludes tangent number three.

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Blog #7 - Eat. Sleep. Game. Repeat.

Online gaming is a phenomenon that blurs multiple lines between the real world we live in and the virtual world we interact in. There is an overlap of character persona vs real world identity, in-game time commitment vs real world commitments, and a variety of complex rules, laws, and customs.

In 2007 a US judge entered the virtual world of a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) to discuss how rules and customs in online games would evolve. He compared it to the law of the sea stating that “there will be an international law of virtual worlds” that would come with real world consequences (Fullerton, 2007). 

MonkeyDashUnderscore n.d

The rules in an online game that are originally created by the developers intersect and overlap with the rules created by players which emerge socially through the context of play (DeZwart & Humphreys). Online gaming environments are entered into via a one sided end user licence agreement (EULA) that an individual must agree to in order to play the game. The EULA however cannot cover the extensive and varied interactions that occur between players and thus when player-to-player issues are raised it often falls to players and in-game moderators to deal with the disputes (DeZwart & Humphreys, 2014). One way that this is achieved is through online gaming forums.

Steam Logo

Steam is a platform that provides users with the ability to install and play games as well as  chat with friends and groups in an extensive digital community. The online gaming forum is moderated by volunteers that aim to keep discussions “clean” as well as remove content that is reported by other players as being in violation of socially constructed rules. 75% of MMORPG players report becoming close friends with other players in the game. These relationships built through online communities often involve discussions of real-life issues as well as gaming conversation (Fremlin, 2012). The games bring people together that share similar interests and facilitate the growth of more intimate connections through gameplay and online discussion.

I have been playing games for as long as I can remember and I have been playing online games since I was a teenager which means that I have been involved in the digital community of gamers for roughly *mumble* years. 

I often play games through Steam and I remember after being stuck on a particularly hard puzzle in one game I jumped onto the community for the first time and was thrilled to be able to connect with so many people who were not only playing the game I was but stuck on the exact same spot. It was wonderful to be able to discuss gameplay and the conversations would often lead to real life topics about work, study, and other hobbies. I have been very grateful to online moderators at times as player interactions can become heated to say the least, and I’m glad that real world laws and consequences are being put into place to help contextualise virtual behaviour in game. I’m lucky that my experience of online gaming has been mostly positive and I like that, thanks to the US Judge previously mentioned, I now see player disputes as being akin to pirates battling on the high seas trying to establish what laws will stay and what laws will be thrown overboard.

References

De Zwart, M & Humphreys, S 2014,' The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space: Code as Law in EVE Online', Cultural Studies Review, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 77-99.

Fremlin J, 2012, ‘Sense of Community: across online and offline communities’, Lambert academic Publishing, Saarbrucken, Germany.

Fullerton T, 2007, ‘Virtual Rules – Real life Lawyers & Second life Avatars’, Four Corners, viewed February 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2007/s1876068.htm

MonkeyDashUnderscore n.d, screen capture, viewed February 2017, http://monkeyisland.wikia.com/wiki/Insult_Sword_Fighting 

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Blog #6 - A picture is worth a thousand texts.

I was part of a group that produced a presentation on Visual communities which gave me a new insight into Instagram – a social media platform that previously I was completely clueless about. 

What I originally thought of as a “twitter but with pictures I guess” turned out to be a dynamic and captivating photo-sharing tool that was simplistic in its concept yet complex in its evolution. Instagram provides a photo-sharing platform where users can upload, edit, and post photos and has grown to appeal to millions of people who use it both personally and professionally.

Rehman 2012

Instagram is an example of a networked public – a space constructed through networked technologies that is built upon the intersection of people, technology, and practice (Boyd, 2010). There are a variety of reasons people are drawn to social networking sites; sharing information, to see and be seen, push brands, increase brand visibility, flirt, laugh, and obsess. 

Visual communities especially provide an extraordinarily engaging format for people to become enmeshed with in order to connect with others. Research has shown that coloured visuals increase people’s desire to read content by 80% and that content with images increase a view rate by 94% (Layola College, 2014). Humans are social creatures that are stimulated by bright colours, it’s hardly a curiosity that visual communities such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Youtube are so popular.

Loli, 2015

Visual chitchat is now a common part of communication as smartphones have enabled the use of snapshots of different situations to be used in messaging. ‘Pictorial conversations’ is a dialogue of photographs and is a new phenomenon in which photographs are used as a means of responding to other photographs (Villi 2012). Communication can be a form of producing and maintaining ones place in a community and Villi (2012) puts forth the idea that visual interpersonal communication creates visual communities for which a sense of connection and belonging can exist.

My primary form of communication is texting, and calling as an absolute last resort, I don’t engage in visual chitchat. After reading about visual communities I decided to attempt it though and downloaded snapchat. I sent a photo (with minimal text) to my partner to let him know I missed him. 

I wasn’t sure what his response would be as I’d never sent him a photo instead of a message but he responded in kind within a few moments. 

I’ll admit that it made me smile and I liked sending him an image as well as receiving such a great photo of him. I think that I’m going to be more inclined towards pictorial conversations after this experience.

References

Boyd, d 2010, ‘Social Network Sites as Networked Publics’, in Papacharissi, Z, A Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Network Sites, Routledge, Hoboken, pp. 39-58.

Loli E, 2015, Digital Image, viewed February 2017, http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/02/what-like-see-a-hundred-million-colors.html

Loyola College, 2014, Case & Company, Management Consultants. Bureau of Advertising, Color in Newspaper Advertising. Maritz Motivation, Inc., Southern Illinois

Rehman A, 2012, Instagram collage, viewed February 2017, http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/honeygram-for-android-instagram-browser-with-collage-creator/

Villi M, 2012, ‘Visual chitchat: The use of camera phones in visual interpersonal communication’, Interactions: Studies in Communication & Culture, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 39-54.

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Blog #5 - If you tweet it they will come.

Crowd sourcing is the practice of sourcing contributions from a large group of people (especially the online community) to obtain needed services, ideas or content (Merriam Webster Online 2014).

Borno 2012

Ushahidi was a crowd-sourcing platform developed to map reports of violence in Kenya during the aftermath of the 2007 post-election violence and was termed a catalyst for social movements (Ford, 2012). Using these platforms people are able to work together to produce powerful sources of information during times of crisis. In 2011 South East Queensland experienced a flood crisis and social media such as Facebook and Twitter played a crucial role in crisis communication during this time. The hashtag #qldfloods became a central coordinating tag for flood-related posts on Twitter and more than 35,000 tweets containing this hashtag were sent during a 6 day period (Bruns et. Al, 2012). 

Zarrella 2014

It is important for an established online presence to be crafted prior to a crisis to ensure that access, monitoring, accountability and a wide audience is available. The ABC state that having an extensive social media accounts offers opportunities to increase both coverage and support of crisis events (Posettie and Ping, 2012).

As the accessibility to various crowdsourcing platforms increases there are several issues that need to be addressed. The ability to be able to verify information as it's being shared and identifying what information is useful during a crisis are two challenges of crowdsourcing during a crisis.

Verified n.d

Ushahidi has faced difficulty with verification in the past, during critical times in Kenya people would send text messages to start rumours which could have serious negative consequences so information had to be vetted with mainstream media which led to fewer and fewer reports being posted (Ford 2012). Teams are now involved in a variety of verification techniques such as being trained to assess report accuracy, calling people who are near reported incidences, and checking into the identities of individuals making reports.

The ABC found that a lot of updates would occur that were not conveying important information and were instead just creating unnecessary noise (Posettie and Ping, 2012). They suggest that during critical times it is helpful to designate certain accounts to cover certain aspects of an event and avoid having the same repeated messages being posted to all accounts at once.

Facebook has created a safety check feature so that in the wake of terror attacks users are able to check in as “safe” and reassure people who can see their profile that they are unharmed.

Safety Check, n.d

After hearing of the Berlin terrorist attack in 2016 I jumped onto Facebook to message my German friend who lived in Berlin. Facebook had activated the safety check feature moments after the incident and I could see that she had checked in as being safe and unharmed. It was a relief to know that she was ok and I was grateful that Facebook had created such a feature. Despite it being a popular addition to the social media platform it has also received criticism. Some believe that it is just another way to incite fear and panic, especially in the confusing aftermath of an event where the word “terrorist” can be thrown around with minimal information behind it. In response to some of these concerns Facebook changed the wording asking users to check in after a “violent incident” rather than “attack” (Shammas, 2016).

The ability to verify information to avoid inciting mass hysteria and panic as well as avoid dangerous consequences for those relying on safe, reliable information and the ability to ensure information is concise and pertinent to critical situations are both challenges that future crowd-sourcing platforms are going to have to tackle. It is not a perfect system but it is a growing source of support and information during disaster situations that aims to help the public band together and care for one another during these critical times.

References Borno S, 2012, Crowdsourcing, viewed January 2017 http://www.socialbrite.org/tag/crowdsourcing/ 

Bruns, A, Burgess, J, Crawford, K & Shaw, F 2012, #qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods, Arc Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, pp. 7-10, viewed 3 August 2016, <http://www.cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf>. 

Ford, H 2012, 'Crowd Wisdom', Index on Censorship, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 33-39. Postetti, J & Lo, P 2012, The Twitterisation of ABCs Emergency & Disaster Communication, Australian Journal of Emergency Management, Vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 34-39. 

Safety Check, n.d, digital gif, viewed January 2017 http://cestjustedelatv.artv.ca/actualites/504-le-safety-check-quand-facebook-se-revele-vraiment-utile

Shammas J, ‘ Horror in Germany: Facebook Safety Check activated following Berlin Christmas market terror truck smash attack’, The Sun, viewed January 2017 https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2438526/facebook-safety-check-activated-following-berlin-christmas-market-terror-truck-smash-attack/. 

Varified, n.d, digital image, viewed January 2017 https://dhrm.utah.gov/employment/verification-of-employment

Zarella D, 2014, Hashtag graph, viewed January 2017 https://blog.bufferapp.com/a-scientific-guide-to-hashtags-which-ones-work-when-and-how-many

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Blog #4 - Don’t feed the trolls.

In my last blog post I mentioned “digital citizenship” which referred to the digital connection of individuals within a society and the potential societal benefit that could arise from digital and social media tools. 

Liptak 2012

Within these digital communities each “digital citizen” is responsible for the ethical nature of their behaviour and sadly participation in online communities can often be devolve into aberrant, problematic behaviour that is labelled as “trolling” or “hating” McCosker 2013). 

Erikson 2015

Trolling refers to behaviour that is deliberately inflammatory and antagonistic with the intended purpose of provoking arguments or emotional distress (Collins English Dictionary Online 2009). McCosker (2013) raises the point that trolling is a more complicated term however and should be taken as just a starting point for understanding provocation in its numerous, highly contextualised, varying forms.

Networked public spaces are highly visible and therefore add a new dimension to how bullying is constructed and understood (Boyd 2014). While not all trolling falls under the category of bullying if we agree with the most commonly accepted definition of bullying trolling can become bullying when it involves three components: aggression, repetition, and imbalance in power. Interestingly “intent” is not mentioned, whilst an individual may think that their trolling is harmless as they are only doing it for mild amusement (trolling for the lulz) this does not mean that their behaviour is not bullying and consequently damaging.

The Australian eSafety Commissioner believes that core principles of digital citizenship is about confident and positive engagement and has set up multiple resources for individuals that have experienced cyberbullying (Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner n.d). Victims of cyberbullying are encouraged to contact the social media services of the platform they were bullied on, make a formal complain to the commissioner, and to contact a helpline that provides free and confidential counselling.

Slapdashmom 2012

Additionally there are classroom resources for teachers to access in order to provide students with the knowledge of online privacy as well as the value of taking responsibility for their actions and behaving with an appropriate standard of behaviour.

McCosker (2013) suggests that one aspect of online provocation is that it tends to drive a large number of people to band together in a protective and positive responses. I feel that this is a rather tarnished silver lining on the dark cloud of internet trolling and harassment. Any outpouring of community support is uplifting but I feel this can be achieved in ways that don’t involve the antagonism of a 22 year old calling themselves 2cool4ya69 spewing their bigoted vitriol in public online spaces.

References

Boyd, D 2014, 'Bullying: Is the Media Amplifying Meanness and Cruelty?', in It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, Yale University Press, New Haven, USA, pp. 128-52.

Erikson C, 2015, viewed January 2017 http://wpmu.mah.se/nmict151group2/2015/03/13/new-media-activism-and-racist-internet-trolls/

Liptak S, 2012, Poster, viewed January 2017 http://lessonsbysandy.com/2012/10/digital-citizenship.html

McCosker, A 2014, YouTrolling as provocation: Tube's agonistics publics, Convergence, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 201-217.

Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner n.d, Australian Government, accessed January 2017 from https://www.esafety.gov.au/education-resources/classroom-resources/digital-citizenship.

Slapdashmom, 2012, viewed January 2017 http://slapdashmom.com/what-do-you-do-when-your-child-is-bullied-and-the-school-ignores-it/ 

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Blog #3 - You gotta fight! For your right! To... topple a fascist regime via Facebook!

Digital citizenship refers to the potential societal benefit that comes from the ability of new digital and social medial tools to assist the connection and involvement of individuals within society (Mossberger et al., 2008, p.1). Social media presents new opportunities for activists to forge social change through varied means of expression, interaction, and organisation (Gerbaudo 2012, 3).

Social Media Activism, 2014

In the Middle East where certain individuals are subjected to the tyranny of despotic governments social media acts as a tool for users to reach beyond their immediate surrounds to transnational advocates (Youmans & York 2012, 316). Throughout the Arab Spring protests the use of social media in the Middle East more than doubled and a significant amount of Egyptian and Tunisian protesters reported that they had used Facebook for spreading awareness and organising groups during this time (Huang 2011).

A negative consequence of focusing on the impact that social media had on the Arab Spring protests is to ignore the history of rebellion in the pre-internet era and provide encouragement for a superficial online activism presence that has been labelled as “slacktivism” (Youmans & York 2012, 316).

Moore 2015

Slacktivism allows people to share a message or show support for a cause without any long term thought, action, or commitment. A momentary “like” on a topical Facebook status can convince a person that they have done their part in supporting social and political change without actually making an impact at all. The popular hashtag #BringBackOurGirls was coined in response to 300 Nigerian schoolgirls who were kidnaped by an Islamist militant group. This hashtag gained immense internet support for several weeks and then was largely forgotten as the internet masses moved on to the next popular news story (Robertson 2014). It is questionable whether this fleeting global awareness had any significant bearing on the outcome of these schoolgirls.

Alternatively the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is an example of an internet-based social awareness campaign that received the title “slactivism” which resulted in an ALS breakthrough discovery. 

Tolba 2014

More than $100m was raised in less than a month which was able to fund the discovery of a new gene that will help researchers better understand ALS (Woolf, 2016). Online activism is not black and white, it is not merely a slack alternative to real world action nor is it the sole answer to social and political turmoil.

Culture jamming gained popularity in the 90s and is aimed to disrupt consumer culture by altering corporate advertising with subversive messages (Madrigal 2012). Adbusters, a Candian anti-consumerist activist magazine, is famous for its culture jamming campaigns and often credited with helping jumpstart the Occupy Wall Street movement (Madrigal 2012).

Nike fights back, n.d

Social and political activism has been present throughout history and as they always have done activists will continue to find new ways to spread their messages. Growing digital communities allow for activism to expand, explore, and grow in new ways and it’s exciting to think of where the digital revolution will continue to take us.

References

Gerbaud, P 2012, Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism, Pluto, London.

Huang, C 2011, ‘Facebook and Twitter key to Arab Spring uprisings: report’, The National, 6 June, accessed January 2017 from http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/facebook-and-twitter-key-to-arab-spring-uprisings-report.

Madrigal, A. C 2012, ‘The New Culture Jamming: How Activists will Respond to Online Advertising’, The Atlantic, 15 May, accessed January 2017 from http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/05/the-new-culture-jamming-how-activists-will-respond-to-online-advertising/257176/

Moore S, 2015, digital image, viewed January 2017 http://tigernewspaper.com/wordpress/advocacy-the-hottest-summer-trend/

Mossberger, K., Tolbert, C., & McNeal, R 2008, Digital Citizenship: The Internet, Society, and Particpation, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.

Nike fights back, n.d, bilboard, viewed January 2017 http://www.tacticalmediafiles.net/articles/3378/Notes-on-Culture-Jamming;jsessionid=4CF4DAC0CA909A88B302DCEF152A6D0D

Robertson, C 2014, ‘Slactivism: The Downfall of Millennials’, The Huffington Post, 14 December, accessed January 2017 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charlotte-robertson/slacktivism-the-downfall-_b_5984336.html.

Social Media Activism, 2014, digital image, viewed January 2017 https://www.dreamgrow.com/does-social-media-enhance-activism/

Tolba E, 2014, Benedict Cumberbatch's Ice Bucket Challenge for #MND, viewed January 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0gUDYRJkPY

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Blog #2 - Don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos.

The use of social media in politics feels like a double edged sword. On the one hand it’s brilliant to see younger generations becoming more involved in decisions that influence their country and to have politicians reaching out to the communities that they are serving. On the other hand it is such a limited medium that misinformation is rife and ignorance can be cultivated through echo chambers and avoidance.

Echo Chamber n.d

Research indicates that the desire to have one’s opinion reinforced play’s a bigger role in how individual’s expose themselves to political information (Garrett 2009, 266). People are less likely to examine political information that challenges their point of view. The amount of exposure to political information in general is increased however and there is hope that this bodes well for the gradual increase of well-informed political awareness.

In the same vein politicians engaging with the public via social media platforms such as twitter and facebook can be incredibly advantageous for their image and for the benefit of informing the public of attitudes and policies however it can just as easily lead to cringe worth exchanges and very public faux pas.

Obama was the first American president with a twitter account, it has been said that when social media was utilised by the Obama team it was the significant turning point in the campaign (Rice 2013).

Yes, We can twitter n.d.

Since then politicians worldwide have acknowledge the importance of social media in gaining support and votes from the public. Tony Burke, member of the Australian parliament, showed that he was able to use social media with a balance of self disclosure and personal connection. When his use of twitter resulted in being mocked with the hashtag #tweetliketonyburke he retweeted it with a tongue in cheek attitude that endeared him to social media users (Jericho 2013, p. 264). An example of an Australian politic using social media for cringeworth purposes is Liberal MP Andrew Laming. He recently decided to engage in an 11 hour back and forth with a facebook page titled “The Simpsons against the Liberals”. During this time he highlighted his ignorance of pop culture, social media uses and the English language.

The Simpsons Against The Liberals Facebook 2016

It is clear that while politicians should not ignore the vital role that social media can play in their careers it is essential that they take the time to educate themselves regarding appropriate usage. Until this happens there are plenty of memes to handle the fallout.

Politician Meme n.d.

References

‘Echo Chamber’ n.d., [image], Echo Chambers on Social media, viewed 7 December, <https://isys6621.com/2016/03/25/echo-chambers-on-social-media/>.

Garrett, R.K 2009, ‘Echo chambers online?: Politically motivated selective exposure among internet news users’, Journal of computer-mediated communication, vol. 14, pp. 265 – 285.

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

Pianin, E 2001, 'As coal's fortunes climb, mountains tremble in W.Va; energy policy is transforming lives', The Washington Post,  25 February, p. A03, accessed March 2001 from Electric Library Australasia.

‘Politician Meme’ n.d. [image]. Quick Meme, Viewed 7 December 2016, <http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3qkb41>

Rice, D 2013, ‘Australia’s politicians look to master social media strategies in time for federal election’, ABC News, 24 May, accessed December 2016 from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-24/aussie-politicians-seek-inspiration-in-obama's-digital-success/4711926

‘THE SIMPSONS AGAINST THE LIBERALS/FACEBOOK’ 2016, Facebook, viewed 7 December, <http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/12/04/queensland-mp-andrew-laming-spent-the-weekend-at-war-with-a-simp/>

‘Yes, We can twitter’’ n.d. [image], Twitter is Mobilizing Politics, viewed 7 December, <https://talkingpoliticsjomc.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/social-media-mobilizing-politics/>.

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Thought this would be a great video to try out the “reblog” feature

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HffWFd_6bJ0)

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Blog #1 - Do you even tweet?

Social network sites provide web services that provide users a public (or semi-public) platform through which they can publish and access information and interact with other users (Murthy 2012, p. 7). In 2014 there were 1.91 billion social media users globally and it’s estimated that by 2018 that number will be around 2.6 billion (Statista 2016).

(Social-Media-Confusion n.d)

Facebook, twitter, reddit, and tumblr are a few popular platforms that are being used by millions today. “Tweet me” is now part of everyday vocabulary when a decade ago it would have merely aroused confusion. This ever advancing technology is changing the way we speak, the way we interact, and some believe it is even changing who we are as people (Turkle 2013).

The industrial revolution saw a huge shift in how people came together, people moved en masse from villages to cities and instead of being surrounded by a community of recognisable faces people now lived in a society of strangers (Siapera 2012, p. 192). 

(Pinn 2010)

As the digital revolution has progressed the changes that it has brought with it are undeniable. As phone calls replaced face to face communication, e-mails replaced phone calls, and now instant messaging is replacing e-mails. Family dinners occur over skype, first dates are arranged through websites, blockbuster movie premieres occur on individual computers in the comfort of people’s homes. It’s not surprising that these changes have been of significant interest to sociologists who recognise that new media has radicalised the way people experience each other and prompted necessary theorising an investigating of the new relationships and new socialities that have occurred (Siapera 2012, p. 191).

(Cyber couple 2014)

Virtual communities provide a form of sociality that combines elements of individualism with the intrinsic human desire of connecting with others and has been described as “networked individualism” (Siapera 2012, p. 205). Globalisation has prompted a surge of emphasis on individualism and self-identity is being formed, reformed, and performed in direct relation to social networks. Virtual communities encourage increasing levels of self-disclosure or exposure and the lines between public and private are constantly being blurred (Wilken & McCosker 2014, p. 291). We are so eager to define ourselves as individuals and this wilful uniqueness is both what sets us apart from and paradoxically links us with others in our online lives. Perhaps it is necessary to step back and ask ourselves if this is leading to individual and social growth or the distortion and stagnation of intimacy of self and others. 

(Cyberpunk Girl 2016)

Turkle (2015) believes that constant availability via social media and other methods of technological communication is a symptom of loneliness, not a solution. While there is a real societal issue of loneliness social scientists have found that there’s no meaningful trend between loneliness and technology (Fischer 2012). Fischer (2012) identifies that the change in social relationships is just change – not bad but different. Siapera (2012, p. 205) states that not enough evidence has been accumulated to make a definitive comment on whether or not this is a positive development or an ultimately limiting and problematic form of association.

I’m not convinced one way or the other yet, but it’s undeniable that the impact social media is having on our lives as individuals, partners, family members, and as a society is both significant and worthy of further investigation. In the meantime, tweet me!

(Michaelson 2009)

References

Cyber Couple 2014, digital image, viewed 23 November, https://www.walldevil.com/539331-cyber-couple-wallpaper.html

Cyberpunk Girl 2016, digital image, viewed 23 November, http://wallpapercave.com/cyberpunk-wallpapers

Fischer, CS 2012, ‘The loneliness scare: Isolation isn’t a growing problem’, Boston Review, 23 April, viewed 23 November 2016, http://bostonreview.net/archives/BR37.3/claude_s_fischer_loneliness_facebook.php

Michaelson, I 2009, Twitter Song, viewed 23 November 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgfOk8ma4bM&feature=youtu.be

Pinn, I 2010, Untitled, drawing, viewed November 2016 http://www.karlmarx.net/china-1/chinasinternalmigrationandplanningsystemft

Siapera, E 2012, 'Socialities and Social Media', in Introduction to New Media, pp. 191-208.

Statista 2016, ‘Number of social media users worldwide 2010-2020’, Statista, viewed 23 November 2016, https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users.

Social-media-confusion, n.d photograph, viewed November 23 2016, https://leonidesignoryblog.com/2014/03/28/the-social-media-manager-is-almost-dead-5-tips-on-how-to-evolve-as-a-marketer-myindustry/

TED-Ed 2013, Connected, but alone?- Sherry Turkle, 19 April, viewed 23 November 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv0g8TsnA6c>.