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China’s Watching You!

China is known for their strange media regulation techniques, particularly their modified social media platforms. That global social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are blocked by the Chinese government. I’m not saying that China doesn’t have any social media, but it is different and HEAVILY monitored by the government.

So, you’ve heard about the Great Wall of China, how about the Great Firewall of China?

According to the English Oxford Dictionary,

“1.1 Computing A part of a computer system or network which is designed to block unauthorized access while permitting outward communication.”

(image source)

The Great Firewall is China’s internet regulation system controlled by the government that aims to:

Neutralize critical online opinion

& prevent it’s people from the corrupted ‘evil’ cultures

And in return the Chinese government has shutdown websites and platforms that may cause social and political disharmony. This Firewall has been known to shutdown websites that violate the China’s constitution or if the website appears to be attacking state leaders.

Even poor Winnie the Pooh was banned in China because of memes that circulated around social media. These memes suggested that the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, looked like beloved children’s character Winnie the Pooh. If pooh knew he was banned he would probably be moping around as much as Eeyore does!

(image source)

China’s social media platforms consist of a few variations of the western social media we all know and love.

The top 3 Chinese social media, according to DeGennaro (2019) include:

1.       WeChat: is an “all-in-one messaging app”, which likened to be a combination of Facebook, Whatsapp, Google News, Tinder and Pinterest; with additional mini-programs.

2.       Sina Weibo: is a micro-blogging platform, with a combination of Facebook and Twitter.

3.       Tencent QQ: is an instant messaging app, that offers multiple services like games, music, shapping, blogging, movies, group and voice chats.

(image source)

The Chinese social media are very interesting as they have in a way duplicated or converged western social media platforms and altered it to be more personal and customisable to users. There’s this idea of duplicating and reformatting social media to suit the Chinese government and regulation system, for other words it is to make sure that “Big Brother’s watching you” and everything you post.

In 2014 China announced the implementation of a “social credit system” (Ma 2018) that reinforces the idea of moderating behaviour for more of a harmonious country. The program is expected to be fully operational by 2020. The social credit system is about people rating each other on a scale for good interactions and behaviours in the community.

Having a LOW social credit score in China may mean that (Ma 2018):

You could get banned from flying or getting the train

Throttling your internet speeds

Banning you (or your kids!) from the best schools

Stopping you from getting the best jobs

Keeping you out of the best hotels

Being publicly named as a bad citizen

Having a HIGH social credit score may mean that (Ma 2018):

More matches on dating sites

Discounts on energy bills, rent,

Better interest rates at banks

(image source)

Meanwhile, the British television series ‘Black Mirror’ aired an episode called ‘Nosedive’ as the first episode of third series back in 2016. Black Mirror’s episode are associated with the dark effects of technology, and how life can be affected by social media. The episode ‘Nosedive’ describes exactly what the social credit system is (in other words what China aims to implement to regulate people), and how social moderating can lead to obsessions of being perfect and almost fake; in the sense of needing to have a high social rating to have the best experiences possible.

(video source YOUTUBE)

As you would have seen in the short video, the woman takes a “perfect bite” out of the cookie, purely for a “perfect” photo. ‘Nosedive’ is a great example of how the social credit system and social media can affect people and have detrimental effects on society.

SPOILER! Because of the social credit system the woman starts to break from societal pressures and has a full mental breakdown, to the point where her credit score is so low that people won’t make eye contact with her.

It will be very interesting to see how the people of China will adapt to the social credit system, and how they behave as a result from government moderation.

References:

DeGennaro 2019, ’10 Most Popular Social Media Sites in China (2019 Updated)’, Dragon Social, viewed 30 May 2019, < https://www.dragonsocial.net/blog/social-media-in-china/>.

English Oxford Dictionary 2019, definition of firewall in English, English Oxford Dictionary, viewed 30 May 2019, < https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/firewall>.

Ma, A 2018, ‘China has started ranking citizens with a creepy ‘social credit’ system – do wrong, and the embarrassing, demeaning ways they can punish you’, Business Insider Australia, viewed 30 May 2019, < https://www.businessinsider.com.au/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4?r=US&IR=T>.

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Somebody save the Nintendogs!

I’m just going to be really honest with all of you right now, I haven’t properly played a game since Nintendog’s were the popular trend in 2005. That’s right 14 years later and my beautiful golden Labrador named Bella, must be soo damn hungry right now!

(Image source from Amazon)

(image sourced from: GIPHY)

Let’s just have a quick flashback of the cringy games I used to play as a seven year old, just for laughs. There was:

DS: Nintendogs & an Ice Age Game; which name escapes my mind.

PSP: Shrek & a unicorn/ horse riding game!?!?

PC: Zoo Tycoon (which was the best!)

You could really tell what the trends were for seven year old girls at the time, couldn’t you? *insert embarrassed/ nervous laughing here*

Anyways, back to games, more specifically people who game, and why they bother?

(Image sourced from GIPHY)

Personally, I am a movies, tv, and music type of humanoid; and you might say that gaming is foreign territory for me, except for Games of Thrones of course *wink wink*. Did you see what I did there? I’m hilarious! Get a stage ready for me at the Melbourne Comedy Festival!

Games come in many forms… video games (PC, DS, PSP,PS, Wii), mobile apps, board games and even social games such as Tiggy and Cops and Robbers. Oh the primary school flashbacks are starting to hit me.

According to Caillois (Many, Play and Games 1961), Games are appealing to people because they are:

Free: playing is not obligatory

Separate: circumscribed within limits of space and time

Uncertain: about the journey, it is not predetermined

Unproductive: creating neither good nor wealth, only an exchange is the exception

Governed by rules: suspends ordinary laws and establishes momentary new laws

Make believe: second reality or unreality against real life

So in summary, I can play Grand Theft Auto by choice, when I want, not knowing what I will do in the game session, for an exchange of enjoyment and escape from real life, and run over as many ladies of the night and pimps as I wish without consequences, such as jail time for murder. 

(Image sourced from GIPHY)

When in reality, Law and Order CI/SVU like detectives would probably be knocking on my door within 24 hours with a pair of handcuffs and a jail cell with my name on it, for murdering civilians.

I understand why people would play games, to escape the boring constructs of the ordinary life. But some people get obsessive over games, take ‘Sims’ for example.

(image source: Wikipedia)

The Sims, according to the ever so trustworthy Wikipedia (I won’t tell that is was used, If you don’t), ‘is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts’, players can create and design their own homes and avatars. When this game was released I remember my older brother being obsessed with it! I mean spending hours and hours in The Sims, as soon as he got home from school.

Caillois would describe this type of gaming community as ‘Mimicry (simulation) players’. The Sims and other simulation games allows the players to escape from reality and become illusionary characters.

I think that games like this do have a God-complex, that people play it because they like the power. If you’ve had a shitty day at real life work, you could kill your sim. The God-complex can be really scary, as some sims can be really dark. For example putting a baby on a BBQ. Yikes!

(Image sourced from GIPHY)

(Image sourced from GIPHY)

But, I think that’s why people like games, they play for entertainment, pleasure, power, anger and procrastination.

Even though my heart lies with movies, tv and music, I might have to crack out the DS and show my Nintendog Bella love much needed love.

References

Caillios, R 1961, Man, Play & Games, New York: Free Pr, New York.

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Chicago Med Vs. New Amsterdam: the battle of the Psychiatrists

The other day, while watching an episode from Dick Wolf’s ‘Chicago Med (2015-present)’, a medical television drama, I was thinking to myself when character Dr. Daniel Charles, played by Oliver Platt (IMDb 2019), appeared on screen…

(Image Source: Chicago Med cast) Oliver Platt is pictured at the back, second from the right in a suit

“I not sure which psychiatrist I like better, the one from Chicago Med or the one from New Amsterdam”

And then, there was a light bulb moment!

Chicago Med (2015) and New Amsterdam (2018) are both current medical television dramas. Each episode always makes an efforts to include Dr. Charles (Chicago Med) and Dr. Iggy Fromes (New Amsterdam), played by Tyler Labine (IMDb 2019), in every single episode. This reinforces the concept of mental health into living rooms as a discussion point.

(Image source: New Amsterdam Cast) Tyler Labine is pictured fourth from the Left

This is an incredible change in medical dramas and current society to have mental health being a very real and influential factor that affects health. I’m not going to lie I am a former and current fan of watching other medical dramas such as House (2004), Grey’s Anatomy (2005) and The Resident (2018). House and Grey’s Anatomy are probably more of the outdated medical dramas because they have been on television for years and rarely discuss the importance of mental health. The Resident is a more current, however, mostly discusses alcohol and drug addiction, not such much as issues relating to mental health, stemming from social media.

(image source GIPHY)

By shows such as Chicago Med and New Amsterdam dealing with mental health issues including, bullying, suicide, depression, anxiety and social media affecting self confidence, leading to self judgement. All of these topics surrounding mental health has opened the door for people to discuss these types of issue in their own homes, via online forums, or even with Twitter hashtags during the shows air time.

(image source GIPHY)

Anthony McCosker, an Associate Professor who works closely with mental health organisations such as Beyond Blue in Australia. Delivered a seminar about ‘Champions, influencers & mentors in online forums’, McCosker (McCosker 2019) pointed out that people are

 “more likely than ever to engage with health services and organisations ‘online’” and that “Health and illness are becoming increasingly connected through social media, and are ‘public’ in new ways”. 

That people are turning to social media more and more for health and illness support and advice; this could include Facebook Groups for specific mental health conditions.

McCosker also outlined the idea of social media connecting people who need “safe zones for talking about suicide thoughts” (McCosker 2019), and that technology helps breaks down barriers for people who are seeking support. Social media and online platforms allow people to confide in others for support and advice, anonymously, this aspect is especially important. According to the World Health Organisation, “one in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders… but nearly two- thirds of people with a known mental disorder never seek help from a health professional” (WHO 2001), due to the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health.

Society has started to breakdown the stigma surrounding mental health, by introducing these topics of anxiety, depression and suicide via social media, new movies, new television shows, and even with new music; Imagine Dragons song “Demons” was about lead singer, Dan Reynold’s struggle with depression (Sciarretto 2014).

References:

IMDb 2019, Chicago Med (2015-) Full Cast & Crew, IMDb, viewed 14 May 2019, < https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4655480/fullcredits>.

IMDb 2019, New Amsterdam (2018-) Full Cast & Crew, IMDb, viewed 14 May 2019, < https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7817340/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1>.

McCosker, A 2019, ‘Champions, influencers & mentors in online forums’, MDA20009 Digital Communities, CANVAS, Swinburne University, 7 May, viewed 7 May 2019.

Sciarretto, A 2014, Imagine dragons, ‘Demons’ – Song Meaning, Pop Crush, 15 January, viewed on 14 May 2019, < http://popcrush.com/imagine-dragons-demons-song-meaning/>.

WHO 2001, ‘Mental disorders affects one in four people’, World Health Organisation, viewed 14 May 2019, < https://www.who.int/whr/2001/media_centre/press_release/en/>.

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Crowdsourcing in the Boston Marathon Bombings

As much as I do enjoy Mark Wahlberg being occasionally type-casted as a cop (Mile 22, Lone Survivor, 2 Guns, Broken City, Max Payne, We Own the Night & The Other Guys… just to name a few). His role of Tommy Saunders in Patriot’s Day is an absolute nail biter.

The film Patriot’s Day (2016) tells the TRUE tale of the terrorist investigation of the Boston Marathon Bombers on Monday the 15th of April 2013, and how the FBI and Boston Police Department used crowdsourcing to find the bombers. Ooh don’t you just get chills when they say “Based on true events” at the start of movies!

Before we look at how crowdsourcing was used during the Boston Bombers investigation, we need to know what crowdsourcing exactly is:

“Crowdsourcing is the practice of engaging a ‘crowd’ or group for a common goal… It is powered by new technologies, social media and the web” (Crowdsourcing Week 2019).

Here’s little bit of background about the Boston Marathon Bombings Investigations:

The marathon was on Patriot’s Day, means that everyone was off work and school to watch the marathon and celebrate Patriots Day.

2 Backpack bombs exploded, 12 seconds apart, near the finish line

3 people were killed, including an eight year old boy

Over 170 people injured

And 17 people became amputees

This horror caused a five day man-hunt for the bomber (initially the FBI and Boston PD thought they were looking for one bomber, not two).

One day into the investigation, the Boston PD and FBI still couldn’t identify the suspect from a street camera, they enlisted help from the public. Boston Police Commissioner, Ed Davis, took to twitter and television to make a statement for the public to hand over any photos or videos taken from the race to help in the investigation.

It didn’t take long before the public took to Twitter and Reddit to help find justice for their community and catch the guys who caused the bombings.

A photographer who was taking photos of his friend, sent this into the FBI and Boston PD. This photo was the starting point for finding the bombers as the Police and FBI identified the second bomber as the man in the “White Cap”, who carried a backpack into the race and left without it.

With numerous images from the race flooding in, the Boston PD and FBI were able to track where ‘White cap’ came from and found the second bomber.

Both bombers turned out to be brothers who were involved in terrorist groups. With both bombers now identified with help from the public, it was a matter of time before the police and FBI caught the suspects. The eldest brother/ bomber #1 was killed during the final shoot out, and the youngest brother/ bomber #2 was found injured in a boat and brought into custody for questioning and sentencing.  

The Boston Bombings met the four crowdsourcing criteria, as Brabham (2013, pp. 3) described it as “ingredients”,

An organisation with a task- The FBI and Boston PD needing more visual evidence

A crowd willing the volunteer to perform the task- The public participating in giving evidence.

An online world- such as Twitter and Reddit, to communicate in, using #FindBostonBombers

A “Mutual benefit for the organization and community”- Justice

Even though crowdsourcing was effective in finding the bombers, it did not come with a cost. People online became “Digilantes”, cyber vigilantes, who were “pooling information and resources to assist in a criminal investigation” (Nhan, Huey & Broll 2017), but in turn pointing the finger at innocent people, just because they ‘look suspicious’. This also caused speculation and circulation of rumours. At one point someone said online that the police had the suspects in custody, when they didn’t, and FBI and Police investigators thought that their job was done, when in fact the suspects where still out there; this cause miscommunication in the investigation. Forensic Video Analyst, Grant Frederick said during the investigation that “we don’t want vigilantes deciding who’s guilty or not”(Glynn 2013).

The devastating events of the Boston Bombings were told through two movies that were produced a few years after the tragedy. This includes the FBI and Police Department’s perspective told through Mark Wahlberg’s character in Patriots Day (2016). And story of the survivor’s after effects mentally and physically through the movie Stronger (2017), which casted Jake Gyllenhaal as a marathon bomber victim who lost both of his legs as a result of the bombings.

References:

AFP 2015, ‘Timeline: How police caught the Boston bombers’, the journal.ie, 15 May 2015, viewed 23 April 2019, < https://www.thejournal.ie/timeline-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-boston-bombing-2106664-May2015/>.

Brabham, D 2013, Crowdsourcing, MIT Press, Ebook Central (Proquest)

Glynn, C 2013, ‘Boston Marathon Bombing “Crowdsourcing:” How citizens are using the Internet to help solve crimes’, CBS NEWS, 18 April 2013, viewed on 22 April 2019, < https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boston-marathon-bombing-crowdsourcing-how-citizens-are-using-the-internet-to-help-solve-crimes/>.

Nhan, J, Huey, L & Broll, R 2017, Digilantism: An Analysis of Crowdsourcing and the Boston Marathon Bombings, Oxford University Press, vol. 57, iss. 2, The British Journal of Criminology, Ebook (Oxford Academic)

Sheets, M 2018, ‘The incredible medical advances inspired by the Boston Marathon bombing survivors- letting these 17 victims run, bike, and rock-climb just five years on from the horrific attacks’, The Daily Mail Australia, 12 April 2018, viewed 23 April 2019, < https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5603399/Boston-Marathon-bombing-amputee-survivors-inspire-remarkable-improvements-prosthetic-technology.html>.

Simperl, E 2015, How to Use Crowdsourcing Effectively: Guidelines and Examples, LIBER Quartley, vol. 25, no. 1, Ebook (Liber Quartley)

Wadhwa, T 2013, ‘Lessons From Crowdsourcing The Boston Bombing Investigation’, Forbes, 22 April, viewed 23 April 2019, < https://www.forbes.com/sites/tarunwadhwa/2013/04/22/lessons-from-crowdsourcing-the-boston-marathon-bombings-investigation/#3edc90e14424>.

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Trolling ‘The Walking Dead’ Cast

Even though The Walking Dead is a show about surviving the zombie apocalypse, during season 7 in 2017, some cast members were fighting off trolls online. But who had to battle those nasty trolls? Keep reading and find out who fought them off.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a troll on the computer is “someone who leaves an intentionally annoying message on the internet, in order to get attention or cause trouble”, trolling can include cyberbullying, fat shaming or mean and hurtful comments directed to people online.

During season 7 of The Walking Dead, two of the regular cast members were trolled by people and fans online.

The actress Alanna Masterson, who plays Tara Chambler, received body shaming comments from Instagram Trolls. Alanna’s weight gain was from the fact that she was pregnant and breastfeeding in real life while filming episodes during the season. The mother received hurtful comments on her body by trolls.

(Image source: Alanna Masterson) 

In true Tara fighting style, Alanna fought back online while posting a photo of her daughter to Instagram with this strong message.

Alanna Masterson wasn’t the only victim of trolling during season 7, actor Josh McDermitt, who plays character Eugene Porter received death threats online. Season 7 saw the character Eugene be recruited by Negan and his gang as a prisoner at the Sanctuary. Eugene appeared to change his allegiance from Rick’s group (“the good guys”), to Negan’s (“the bad guys”) during this season. Fans did not react well to Eugene ‘joining the dark side’, and took to social media to express their hatred for the character.

(Image Source: characters Eugene (left) talking to Negan (right))

Some of the nicer-hate comments include “@JoshMcDermitt I hate you more than I hate Joffery from game of thrones- @LiannaHanke April 3, 2017” on twitter.

Other fans were quick to defend the actor saying that “People are literally sending death threats to @JoshMcDermitt for what Eugene did… do they not know that Eugene is a cHARACTER IN A SHOW???- @clarity_paris April 5, 2017”, and “@JoshMcDermitt please respect this man… josh sorry for the stupid people The walking dead is a movie not reality- @ULobuono1 May 1, 2017”.

As a response to death threats, Josh shut off all of his social media.

However, of the night of the season 7 finale, Josh posted this live Facebook video, reposted on Twitter by fan @neganwtf.

(Image source: Josh McDermitt quits social media)

In the video, Josh fights back against the trolls, calling them out for sending death threats to the actor on social media. He said 

“Don’t send me death threats, because I will report all that shit to the cops… I’m just sick of it… You can hate Eugene, I don’t care. You can think whatever you want. But when you start saying you hope I die, I don’t know if you’re talking about Josh or Eugene”, Josh also finished off by saying “just don’t be an asshole” to the trolls.

The fact that some trolling fans were unable to distinguish the fictious character Eugene Porter from actor Josh McDermitt is interesting. During a TEDx Talk about “Identity in a digital world”, presented by Alec Couros, Alec references a paper by Jason Ohler, where he states that “Should we teach our children as though they have two lives, or one?” online. The idea of digital citizenship, “is the ability to participate in society online (Mossberger, Tolbert & McNeal 2008, pp. 1), trolling is a form of this. Even though these hateful comments are not happening in real life, or face to face, these are comment are seen, and do hurt people’s feelings. The idea of having whether people should have two personalities, one for real and one for online use, really shows a difference in behaviour and how people react in different situations.

(Image Source: Josh McDermitt (Left) and Alana Masterson (right) on set of TWD)

Trolls online have so much power, because they think there is not consequences, they are seeking a response from the person or people they are trolling. The way that Alanna Masterson and Josh McDermittt diffused their trolling situations publicly, for which Alanna defended herself from body shamers as a proud mother, and of Josh bringing the attention of depicting characters from reality and fiction. Both Alanna and Josh made the point of respecting people online, despite the shape of their body, or how their character is scripted to act; the act of trolling is unnecessary and hurtful.

As Josh McDermitt said it best, “just don’t be an asshole”.

References:

Cambridge Dictionary 2019, Meaning of Troll in English, Cambridge Dictionary, viewed 19 April 2019, < https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/troll>.

Davis, B 2017, The Walking Dead Star Quits Social Media Following Harassment And Death Threats, comicbook, viewed 18 April 2019, < https://comicbook.com/thewalkingdead/2017/05/02/the-walking-dead-josh-mcdermitt-quits-social-media-/#5>.

Houghton, R 2017, The Walking Dead’s Eugene speaks out after quitting social media: ‘The internet is a dark and negative place’, Digital Spy, viewed 18 April 2019, < https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a830601/the-walking-dead-eugene-speaks-out-after-quitting-social-media/>.

Mossberger, K, Tolbert, C & McNeal, R 2008, Digital citizenship : the internet, society, and participation,Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, ProQuest Ebook Central

TEDx Talks 2015, Identify in a digital world | Alec Couros | TEDxLangleyED, 17 March 2015, viewed 19 April 2019, < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAlIBTgYfDo>.

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Family Guy VS. The FCC

Don’t you just love it when someone sticks it to the man? Just slaps authority in the face… with a chair… made of steel. Well, tell the rebels and anarchists to go grab the pitch forks and torches and meet out back, ‘cause this one’s gonna be a treat.

Culture jamming, sounds like a cool T-shirt label, but it’s so much more than that. According to Christine Harold’s essay, ‘Pranking Rhetoric: “Culture Jamming” as Media Activism’, she describes culture jamming as being “based on the CB Slang word “jamming” in which one disrupts existing transmissions. It usually implies an interruption, a sabotage, hoax, prank, banditry, or blockage of” (Harold 2004, pp. 192) a power structure or “governing cultural life” (Harold 2004, pp. 192).

Culture jamming mostly about making political statements against an organisation, government or group. Culture jamming is more popular than pop culture, it is everywhere! Movies, television shows, music and advertising.

Today, we are talking about the beloved, little bit naughty, television show ‘Family Guy’ versus the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC is an independent American “government agency overseen by Congress” (FCC 2019), they are in charge of regulating “interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories” (FCC 2019). So, the FCC is kind of like Orson Welles’ novel ‘1984’, you know “Big Brother’s watching you”, or like that 80s song by The Police, “Every move you make, every breathe you take… I’ll be watching you”. It’s the media’s worst fear; paranoia, regulation and censorship.

In true culture jamming style Family Guy, took on the FCC and made them a mockery in the episode titled “PTV”. Peter Griffin, the father of the family, attempts to start his own television station called PTV (Peter TV), when his wife, Lois, calls the FCC on him for showing inappropriate content; for this instance, Peter making a show called “the side boob hour”, quite classy isn’t?. The FCC then start to censor the family in real life, for example using black block to censor nudity.

This is an example of culture jamming because it is taking the power away from the FCC and twisting it. As the FCC is about media regulation, Peter Griffin makes that point that the most human things such as swearing, violence, nudity and sex have been stripped from the view of the media, that people aren’t watching real behaviours of characters on television. It suggests that the FCC is only showing “ideal” humans or characters on television.

Family Guy are not the only rebels promoting the culture jamming cause, The Simpsons are another television culture jamming pioneer. The Simpsons regularly take on large companies in protest and humour, for example the “Sprawl Mart” which was symbolic of large shopping centres controlling consumers with sales and products. Jenkins writes that “There is this one episode where the show depicts a “Sprawl Mart” store to satirize the consumer culture and labor conditions disseminated by big box stores such as WallMart” (Jenkins 2017).

(Sprawl Mart image source)

Culture jamming takes the power away from political and social government groups, political leaders or just large companies by showing viewers what those power absorbed people value most, and twisting it into mockery; such as Family Guy taking on the FCC.

 References:

FCC 2019, What we do, Federal Communications Commission, viewed 15 April 2019, <https://www.fcc.gov/about-fcc/what-we-do>.

Harold, C 2004, Pranking Rhetoric: “culture jamming” as media activism, Vol. 21, no. 3, Routledge, EBSCOhost.

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How did ‘Pepe the Frog’ influence the 2016 US election?

(Pepe the Frog “Feels good man” image source)

Pepe the frog first started out as human-like frog character in Matt Furie’s indie cartoon ‘Boys Club’ in 2005. Pepe had never been innocent, no, no, Pepe was known for its stoner crude behaviour in the cartoon, but only went viral after Furie depicted Pepe as peeing with his pants down to his ankles. When one of the other characters in Boys Club asked Pepe about his actions, he was quoted as saying “feels good man”, from this, Pepe became a viral meme.

But what does this have to do with politics (yuck!)?

Well, sweet (not so sweet) Pepe, with the help of participatory culture was consumed by various parodies of the meme. Pepe became the ‘feels good frog, ‘feels bad frog, ‘Happy Pepe’, ‘Sad Pepe’, ‘Angry Pepe’, and ‘Smug Pepe’ these are just the most popular Pepe memes used as reactions on social media.

Unfortunately, Pepe took a dark turn, when original fans of the indie Boys Club cartoon, wanted to reclaim Pepe from it’s internet fame. Pepe was transformed into an alt-right, racist, hate symbol. People would change and photoshop the image of Pepe as a racist meme, being depicted as a Nazi, Hilter and Klu Klux Klan member. Pepe became a symbol of hate, even though original cartoonist Matt Furie first created the character as a stoner frog with no right wing political intentions.

(Pepe image sourced)

During the 2016 US election, Trumpy Vs. Clinton, social media played a huge part in both candidate’s campaigns, as did the numerous Saturday Night Live (SNL) skits. The SNL political skit ‘Hilary Clinton/ Donald Trump Cold Open’ (skip to 5:19 in video) that aired on 6 November 2016, shows Alec Baldwin’s impersonation of Trump being connected to the Klu Klux Klan, as pointed out by Kate McKinnon’s impersonation of Hilary Clinton. This skit aired after Donald Trump tweeted a Pepe the Frog meme in 2015. This was after the online Pepe the Frog meme had been declared a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

This was trump’s tweet:

(Trump Pepe the Frog Image source)

By Trump tweeting out this now racist Pepe the Frog Trump meme, Trump was publicly identifying himself as a white supremacist, when he was most likely tweeting out Pepe the Frog to appeal to a younger audience and to meme culture. Hilary, of course, loved this slip by Donald Trump, as it hindered his campaign and Clinton could call Trump out as a racist to gain more voters in her favour.

Not long after the Pepe Trump saga, Hilary said that Trump’s supporters belonged in a “Basket of Deplorables”, this is a term used to describe something really bad or unfortunate.

However, Donald wasn’t the only Trump who posted a Trump Pepe the Frog meme during the presidential campaign to their social media account. Donald Trump Jr reposted an altered version of the movie poster for ‘The Expendables’, but instead is said “The Deplorables”, another Pepe the Frog Trump meme, which showed Pepe, his father and other conservatives.

(’The Deplorables’ image source)

Believe it or not Pepe the Frog had a huge impact on politics during the 2016 US election, it labelled Donald trump as a white supremist, because of the negative relationship that this poor stoner frog was now a hate symbol.

Pepe the Frog’s creator Matt Furie was just so disappointed that his little frog cartoon sparked so much outrage and hatred, in politics and online. As an attempt to put Pepe out of it’s misery, Furie released a cartoon of Pepe in an open casket, as to symbolise Pepe’s death, and end his rein of racism and hatred in the online world.

(Pepe death image source)

Research Resources:

ABC 2017, ‘Pepe the Frog cartoonist resurrecting character to prove he is still a 'positive' symbol’, ABC, 27 June 2017, viewed 8 April 2019, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-27/pepe-the-frog-rises-from-the-dead,-creator-says/8654568>. 

ADL 2019, ‘Pepe the Frog’, Anti-Defamation League, viewed 8 April 2019, <https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/pepe-the-frog>.

BBC 2016, ‘Pepe the Frog meme branded a ‘hate symbol’’, BBC, 28 September 2016, viewed 8 April 2019, <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37493165>.

 BBC 2017, ‘Pepe the Frog ‘is killed off to avoid being a hate symbol’’, BBC, 8 May 2017, viewed 8 April 2019, <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39843468>.

Behind the Meme 2016,  Who Is Pepe The Frog? The Creation And Origin Of A Classic Meme, 25 August 2016, viewed 8 April 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvgkGewzUq4>.

CBC News 2016, Is Pepe the Frog a hate symbol?, 5 October 2016, viewed on 8 April 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg1Hoii-g6Y>.

Di Placido, D 2017, ‘How ‘Pepe the Frog’ Became A Symbol Of Hatred’, Forbes, 9 May 2017, viewed 8 April 2019, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2017/05/09/how-pepe-the-frog-became-a-symbol-of-hatred/#3a991761426b>.

[jessicaj27-blog]

Is Tumblr a Blog or Social Network?

For us to understand this question, one must tear it apart.

First of all, we are currently living in the digital technology age. Even though ‘Back to the Future’ did predict hover boards by now (science, can you keep up please), technology has advanced significantly over the past fifty years. So what we don’t have hover boards… yet. We do have things like laptops, mobile phones, smart watches and the internet, Halleluiah!

So, when did we start being social, and I’m not talking about in person (no, no that would be silly!), I’m talking about people being social online. The internet is an example of an affordance in media theory. Affordances are when something is used in a way which it wasn’t intended for. For example, the internet was created as a source of knowledge, then over time people adapted this knowledge into producing their own content for distribution via the internet, such as blogs and social networking posts.

Participatory culture plays a huge role in social media, as people like to create their own content and online identity, whether that is posting a picture of every single meal they eat, they create a persona of a foodie. The online world allows people to create their own identity that may or may not be applicable to their own real lives.

People are social creatures who endures sociality, that they like to be connected to people who have similar interests to them. Howard Rheingold describes this online connect as a ‘Virtual community’, which are “social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on […] public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace” (Rheingold 1995). Rheingold continues to describe online communities as decentralised, autonomous in rule, diverse, based on shared social interests, and connectivity of coming together to share information such as ideas, feelings, desires, expertise and resources.

Blogs and social networks can both be seen as virtual communities, they are online platforms that like minded people come together and discuss issues and ideas of interests to both parties.

Blogging is more personal that social networks. Blogs are based on small but strong communities. For tv show example, look at Alpha and her people from ‘The Walking Dead’. They are all like minded in camoflaguing themselves amongst the walkers and there’s no other challenge of ideas or opinions to Aplha’s leadership style. 

(Image Source ‘The Walking Dead Alpha)

On the other hand social networks resonates more with ‘The Walking Dead’ alligned communities, Hilltop, Alexandria, Oceanside and Kingdom. These groups, just like social networks, are large and information can be missed or interpreted wrong, because of the multiple leaders having varying ideas and issues of importance to deal with. There’s a lack of communication, everyone has a rough idea on what’s going on, but aren’t physically there for every conversation. 

(Image Source ‘The Walking Dead’ season 9 promotional poster, of communities: Hilltop, Alexandria and Kingdom, excludes Oceanside)

Where as in a blog, everyone has access to the exact same communication post, that hasn’t been lost in a thread or just overlooked.

Tumblr can be both a blog and a social network. It has the potential for the curator to create any content that they are interested in and produce it for like minded people in their online social group. Blogs are considered to be more personal, in terms of an online identity, while social networks are viewed as more ‘business structured’. However, Tumblr can be used just like any other social media networking site such as Facebook and Twitter; this includes the use of shares, posts, comments and hashtags.  Social networks are notable for connecting people through links of interests, or through friends and family, or friends of friends; this has a wider influence of ideas and opinions available to people in their bubble. If used correctly, the features of Tumblr can be utilised in a way that it is both a creative blog outlet and connective social network.