mda20009

[mda20009]

Week 11: Digital Communities and Trolls: Understanding Social Media Conflict.

Coming Soon.

[mda20009]

Week 10: Gaming Communities, Social Gaming and Live Streaming.

Gaming can be seen as a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. But this week, I am going to focus more on the positive side of gaming, about how it has changed people’s lives with the good impact gaming can bring.

What Is Gaming Communities?

Just like what I have mentioned in my first blog, a community is a group of people who share a common interest (Dictionary.com). So, gaming communities are a group of people who share their interest in gaming. Gaming communities are not only about playing games but also people who like to watch people playing games as entertainment, they are the people who have a common interest in video games (Button 2019).

Artwork by Sandbox Studio, Chicago

What Is Social Gaming?

Social gaming is a game that allows social interaction between players (Gough 2019). They are not the type of game where people fight against the bots or AI, but instead, they fight against or play with other people (Dempsey 2017). For online social gaming, people not only able to play with other players around the world but also interact with each other through text chat, voice chat, or video chat that are available (Ricchetti 2012).

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

What Is Live Streaming?

Live streaming is watching, creating and sharing video in real-time, unlike pre-recorded videos that can be edited, live streaming is broadcasting anything that is happening at the time, so it is uncensored (Think U Know). In the gaming world, some people enjoy watching people playing games and vise versa. That is why live streaming platforms for gaming are so popular. The most popular game streaming platform is Twitch (Mohanty 2019).

How Does Gaming Bring Positive Impacts On People’s Lives?

First, online games can remove people’s identity, just like social media, people can play anonymously, everyone is seen as equal, it is a safe space where it is possible to role-play with gender and sexuality because no one knows you and people are accepting. Also, Gaming communities are empowering for lonely kids who are surrounded by bullies in school where it is hard for them to make friends. But thanks to social gaming and the gaming community, they can find and connect with people who have the same interest without being judged because they are all behind the computer. From there, people who originally feel like they don’t have any friends can find themselves a community where they support each other and have each other’s back (Stuart 2013). Lastly, game live streaming is helping people in some different ways. People earn money from live broadcasting on game streaming platforms like Twitch. Two of the most popular streamers on Twitch are Ninja and Shroud, which Ninja (aka Richard Tyler Belvins) earns over $5.5 million per year, while Shroud earns around $3.3 million per year (Consulting). Besides earning money by doing something they love, someone on Reddit shared their story about how they have found their happiness through Twitch.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Twitch/comments/84biu8/twitch_has_changed_my_life_for_the_better/

References

A short guide to live streaming, Think U Know, viewed 7 June 2020, <https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/what-is-live-streaming/>.

Button, C 2019, The Communities Working To Give Gamers A Good Name Again, viewed 7 June 2020, <https://junkee.com/building-communities-around-games-love/210839>.

Definition of community | Dictionary.com, viewed 26 April 2020, <https://www.dictionary.com/browse/community>.

Dempsey, J 2017, What is “Social Gaming”?, viewed 7 June 2020, <https://blog.playtable.com/what-is-social-gaming-911e6dd76cf>.

Gough, C 2019, Topic: Social gaming, viewed 7 June 2020, <https://www.statista.com/topics/2965/social-gaming/>.

How To Make Money On Twitch: Everything You Need To Know, Consulting, viewed 7 June, 2020, <https://www.consulting.com/how-to-make-money-on-twitch>.

Mohanty, S 2019, 10 Best Live Game Streaming Platforms for Online Gamers | Vidooly Blog, viewed 7 June 2020, <https://vidooly.com/blog/live-game-streaming-platforms/>.

Ricchetti, M 2012, Gamasutra - What Makes Social Games Social?, viewed 7 June 2020, <https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6735/what_makes_social_games_social.php?print=1>.

Stuart, K 2013, Gamer communities: the positive side, viewed 7 June 2020, <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2013/jul/31/gamer-communities-positive-side-twitter>.

[mda20009]

Week 9: Digital Communities, Political Engagement and Activism.

Coming Soon.

[mda20009]

Week 8: Digital Health and Cosmetic Surgery on Visual Social Media.

Social Media has been a really big help for us because we can get access to so much information out there and connect with people. So, for this week, I am going to discuss the impact of social media on beauty standards.

How Does Social Media Affect Beauty Standards?

Social Media can be a good and bad influence on beauty standards. The good influence is how Social Media can be where people receive positive messages about self-love and body positivity (Mazu Family 2018). There are a lot of influencers who promotes body positivity by celebrating self-love in all shapes, sizes, body types, skin colours, and beyond. Those types of influencers are really working hard on motivating people and encourage self-acceptance. One of the influencers who promotes body positivity is Stephanie Yeboah.

https://www.instagram.com/stephanieyeboah/

Stephanie encourages her followers to respect their bodies and love themselves. Her feed on Instagram is filled with words of wisdom, motivation, confidence, encouragement, and positivity that can be a good impact on our lives (Grant 2019).

Sadly, there is also another side of Social Media where it gives a bad influence on people. The bad influence is how it makes people think that they have to look a certain way in order to be beautiful, in order to be valid (Obiora 2020). Most people want to show the best version of themselves on social media since they want to look good on their social media posts, a lot of people edit their image to fit into the beauty standards (Ottke 2015). Some people did cosmetic surgery too to fit into that beauty standards. There is no right or wrong about this since it is their choice and they have their right to do anything they want. But since a lot of famous people did that, it creates unrealistic beauty standards where society thinks that they have to look like that in order to be attractive (Obiora 2020). One of the famous people I want to discuss is Kim Kardashian since she is known as the beauty icon. Yes, I do agree that she looks gorgeous but there are some images that prove she has done several cosmetic surgeries (Rose 2014).

Image Source: https://celeblens.com/kim-kardashian-plastic-surgery-before-and-after-photos/

Even though she denies getting them, it is problematic how society sees her as the beauty standards (Barkho 2016). It influences how women look at themselves and feel like they are not enough if they don’t look like her.

I personally think that there is no standard in beauty. Everyone is beautiful in their own way. You do not have to be a certain way or look like someone to be attractive. Because all of us have a different face, body, skin colour, and more differences. Each of us is unique, so there is no way you are ugly since there is only one you in this world.

Image Source: https://maxinesarahart.tumblr.com/post/149940065308/always

References

Barkho, G 2016, The Problematic Reason Kim Kardashian Became a Beauty Icon, viewed 6 June 2020, <https://www.teenvogue.com/story/kim-kardashian-beauty-icon-problem>.

Grant, B 2019, New Body Positive Babes to Fill Your Instagram Feed With, viewed 6 June 2020, <https://www.popsugar.com.au/fitness/body-positive-influencers-instagram-46984148?stream_view=1#photo-46984171>.

Family, M 2018, Body Positivity — Using Social Media for Good, viewed 6 June 2020, <https://medium.com/@MazuFamily/body-positivity-using-social-media-for-good-9ab02692422c>.

Obiora, N 2020, The dark side of social media: How unrealistic beauty standards are causing identity issues, viewed 6 June 2020, <https://www.pulse.ng/lifestyle/beauty-health/the-dark-side-of-social-media-how-unrealistic-beauty-standards-are-causing-identity/hv4tffb>.

Ottke, A 2015, 68 Percent of Adults Edit Their Selfies Before Sharing Them With Anyone, viewed 6 June, 2020, <https://fstoppers.com/mobile/68-percent-adults-edit-their-selfies-sharing-them-anyone-95417>.

Rose 2014, Kim Kardashian Plastic Surgery Before And After Photos, viewed 6 June 2020, <https://celeblens.com/kim-kardashian-plastic-surgery-before-and-after-photos/>.

[mda20009]

Week 7: Digital citizenship: Instagram, influencers and the slow fashion movement.

What is slow fashion movement?

Slow fashion is part of the “slow movement” which is an awareness and approach to fashion, considering the materials that are used and the time it takes to make (Hill 2018). Slow fashion is about quality over quantity, about ethical fashion and eco/sustainable fashion. Ethical fashion relates to human and animal rights, so ethical fashion applies to work conditions, no child labor, fair wages, and treatment (Kowalski 2019). While sustainable Fashion is often concerned with the environmental impact, so it is about choosing low-impact options by using organic, repurposed, and recycled materials, reducing energy or water usage and waste, limiting harmful chemicals/dyes (Kowalski 2019).

Here are some characteristics of a Slow Fashion brand:

·       They are often available in smaller stores instead of huge fashion chain companies

·       Made from high-quality eco-friendly materials

·       Only a few pieces per collection, with specific styles, and they are released only a few times per year (Hill 2018).

How to get started with Slow Fashion movement?

1.    Shop Less. It is not anti-consumption, but it is alternative consumption while also considering second-hand and vintage items.

2.    Avoid fast fashion brands, do research about greenwashing brands who claim to be slow/sustainable/ethical in their marketing while they are not.

3.    Look for brands that give you all the honest information about their raw materials, manufacturing, supply chain, etc.

4.    Buy higher quality things with sustainable material and timeless designs that will last longer.

5.    Consider small local brands.

6.    Instead of throwing away the products you own, consider donating, reselling, or repairing (Kowalski 2019).

Slow Fashion and Instagram Influencers.

There are a lot of influencers on Instagram, and more influencers are starting to promote slow fashion which encourages people to start getting into the slow fashion movement. Instagram influencers vary from Mega-influencers, Macro-influencers, Micro-influencers to Nano-influencers (Ismail 2018).

Image source: https://open2digital.com/en/is-influencer-marketing-still-a-trend/

Here are some of the influencers on Instagram who promotes slow fashion:

1.     Jessica Stein @tuulavintage (Mega-influencer) 

https://www.instagram.com/tuulavintage/

Jessica Stein actively supports sustainable brands on Instagram that are plant-dyed and ethically dyed labels like Auguste The Label and Yöli&Otis while taking pictures of them in exotic locations (Garnsworthy 2018).

2.     Annika Victoria @littlepineneedle (Macro-influencer) 

https://www.instagram.com/littlepineneedle/

Annika Victoria makes handmade DIY clothes from second materials, recycle her old clothing by donating them. She always tried to make good use of all the clothes to reduce waste (Girlfriend).

3.     Big Sister Swap @bigsisterswap (Micro-influencer)

https://www.instagram.com/bigsisterswap/

Big Sister Swap is an Instagram page that allows people to swap their outfits. So, it is basically a trading community where people can trade their clothing with someone else to get new styles without having to buy a new one.

References

Annika Victoria Interview, Girlfriend, viewed 6 June, 2020, <https://www.girlfriend.com.au/annika-victoria-interview>.

Garnsworthy, J 2018, Meet the Influencers Leading the Slow Fashion Movement, viewed 6 June 2020, <https://stylecaster.com/slow-fashion-influencers/>.

Hill, M 2018, What Is Slow Fashion?, viewed 6 June 2020, <https://goodonyou.eco/what-is-slow-fashion/>.

Ismail, K 2018, Social Media Influencers: Mega, Macro, Micro or Nano, viewed 6 June 2020, <https://www.cmswire.com/digital-marketing/social-media-influencers-mega-macro-micro-or-nano/>.

Kowalski, K 2019, What is Slow Fashion (vs Ethical & Sustainable Fashion)?, viewed 6 June, 2020, <https://www.sloww.co/slow-fashion-101/>.

[mda20009]

Week 6: What is Digital Citizenship? How social media is changing the election process.

What is Digital Citizenship?

A digital citizenship is a person who has the skills and knowledge to effectively use the internet regularly and effectively (Mossberger, Tolbert & McNeal 2010). Being a digital citizenship can be as simple as learning computer skills such as typing, using a mouse, and other skills (Water Ford 2019). Not only that, being a digital citizenship means you have to be a good one or you’ll receive some consequences.

How to be a good digital citizenship?

Being a good digital citizenship means that you have to be responsible, respectful, and use technology in a positive way like creating and consuming digital content and use digital technologies to communicate with others positively (Lecian 2014). Being a good digital citizenship is also by following the law and avoid cyberbullying, plagiarizing, hacking, and other inappropriate behavior on the internet (Be A Better Citizen).

Illustration by Monica Siguenza

How does social media change the election process?

Many candidates created accounts on several social media platforms for their campaigns because social media has some benefits and it can influence the election process. First, candidates can engage with their potential voters. Not only that, but they can also even reach the younger generation of voters who previously might not know them because the majority who use social media are younger people (Sensis 2015). It feels more personal as if the candidates are speaking directly to the people, and when the candidate leaves positive impressions, people will start supporting and considering voting them. Furthermore, the candidates can make their own polling on social media and receive feedback from their supporters. Candidates can adjust their messages, banner, images, and videos based on the individual’s age to get their attention. Lastly, social media is a good way to advertise without paying, since the candidates will most probably to gain followers and will keep on gaining. They can promote anything there and it can reach more and more people because their profile will be set to public where anyone can view it (Maslow 2019).

original tweet: https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1210313993677606913?s=20

In conclusion, social media has changed the election process. Social media help the candidates to run their campaign and gain more support from people which influences them to vote for the candidates. I personally think this is true too because I don’t usually watch the news on television nor read the newspapers. But I am active on social media, and ever since the candidates are on social media, I actually go and check out their social media posts and how they engage with their supporters. Some candidates who give out positive impressions usually gain my interest and support.

References

Good and Bad digital Citizenship, Be A Better Citizen, viewed 17 May 2020, <https://beabettercitizen.weebly.com/good-and-bad-digital-citizenship.html>.

How to Teach Your Students the 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship | Waterford.org, Water Ford, viewed 17 May 2020, <https://www.waterford.org/education/digital-citizenship-activities-and-tips/>.

Lecian, K 2014, What does being a good digital citizen mean?, viewed 17 May 2020, <https://prezi.com/8hf8atoc6opx/what-does-being-a-good-digital-citizen-mean/>.

Maslow, J 2019, How is Social Media Influencing Elections?, viewed 17 May, 2020, <https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/how-is-social-media-influencing-elections/>.

Mossberger, K, Tolbert, C & McNeal, R 2010, Digital citizenship, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.

Sensis 2018, The must-know stats from the 2018 Yellow Social Media Report, viewed 17 May, 2020, <https://www.sensis.com.au/about/our-reports/sensis-social-media-report>.

[mda20009]

You have made some interesting points about how Tumblr functions as a digital community and it is nice how you write it in a way where people can easily read and understand it. I agree with how you mentioned that Tumblr is a virtual location that brings together people from around the world, whether based on interest, culture, or values.

How does Tumblr function as a digital community?

Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It’s where your interests connect you with other people. (source: tumblr.com meta-description)

 image source: http://www.dottanimation.in/latest-update/social-living-organ/76

Tumblr is a microblogging and social networking site designed to allow users to share their views, art, interests and lives with others in the form of short blog posts. It is a highly visual platform, with support for GIFs, images, videos and audio clips along with text posts. Interaction between users is facilitated through ‘following’ other users, reblogging or liking posts (these are called ‘notes’), as well as through messaging and chat features.

When one considers a community, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is their local community or a group of people in a shared location, bound by time and space. Another image could be, as expressed by the Cambridge Dictionary “people who are considered a unit because of their common interests, social group, or nationality” (Cambridge University Press 2020).

Based on these definitions, Tumblr could be called a digital community in light of the idea that its users do share a common location for their expression and connection – this space is simply not a physical time-bound location but a virtual one, able to bring together people from around the world.

image source: https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/what-is-social-media-management/

It may also be argued that interactions between many Tumblr users are based on a shared goal or common interest, whether this be travel, Italian cuisine, One Piece or LGBTIQ support.

The important point to make here is that while Tumblr is one single application, there are arguably many ‘mini-communities’.

As Bruns and Highfield (2015) describe it, the public sphere envisioned by Habermas, a single place where everyone can voice their opinion and engage in discussion equally irrespective of rank or status, is not only an ideal but also very unrepresentative of today’s world of social media and fragmented publics.

Rather, what we have is a “series of public sphericules and micro-publics, none of which are mutually exclusive but which co-exist” (Bruns & Highfield 2015, p. 70). This applies to not only the wide variety of platforms, which each have their own platform vernacular (language particular to the platform; Sheehan 2019) and affordances (methods of interacting with/using the platform), but also the groups within those platforms.

Thus, while Tumblr itself is a community of users who share an interest in blogging and a common vernacular, it is also a gathering place for many smaller and overlapping communities, whether based on interest, culture or values.

References

  Bruns, A & Highfield, T 2015, ‘Is Habermas on Twitter? Social Media and the Public Sphere’, in A Bruns, G Enli, E Skogerbo, AO Larsson & C Christensen (eds), The Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics, Taylor and Francis Group, Ebook Central (ProQuest), pp. 56 - 73

  Keller, J 2019, ‘“Oh, She’s a Tumblr Feminist”: Exploring the Platform Vernacular of Girls’ Social Media Feminisms’, Social Media + Society, pp. 1 - 11

  Cambridge University Press 2020, Community, Cambridge Dictionary, viewed 12 April 2020, <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/community>

[mda20009]

How does Tumblr function as a digital community?

Tumblr is a microblogging and social media platform that allows users to express themselves in a short-form blog. Not having much difference, Tumblr has similar features with other social media platforms like posting images, gifs, text posts, private messages, and more. But what makes Tumblr different from other platforms is that its users are able to post anonymously and choose their own layout designs for their blog.

A community is a group of people who share a common interest (Dictionary.com). The other word for Digital Community is The Public Sphere which means “a place where private people come together in public” (Kruse, Norris & Flinchum 2017). So, the function of Tumblr as a digital community is to connect people from around the world to share their common thoughts virtually. With the option of anonymity on Tumblr, people feel safe to share their views and opinion especially when it comes to the topic which is “quite controversial” such as personal experiences with sexism, LGBTQ+ rights, and the prevalence of rape culture (Keller 2019).

In 2016, a survey conducted by 1,300 Australians aged 16-35 who identified as LGBTQIA+ shows that young LGBTQIA+ people are using Tumblr much more frequently because Tumblr provides them a platform that supports safe explorations of identity and a sense of self. Tumblr is a safe space where LGBTQIA+ people make internet friends by sharing the same experiences and supporting each other virtually as a community which makes them feel more accepted (Byron & Robards 2017).

Besides discussing serious topics on Tumblr, there are so many fun fandoms in Tumblr where their users can connect with each other various from Superhero like Marvel and DC, Harry Potter, popular ships where fans ship two characters, art, to music. Users can simply search what they are interested in the search bar.

I also personally think that Tumblr is such a fun platform where I can bond with other people over the same interest. Every time when I am on Tumblr, I feel like I am entering a whole different and safe virtual world where all the people I know share the same interest, we find joy together over the same things.

References

Byron, P & Robards, B 2017, There's something queer about Tumblr, viewed 26 April 2020, <https://theconversation.com/theres-something-queer-about-tumblr-73520>.

Definition of community | Dictionary.com, viewed 26 April 2020, <https://www.dictionary.com/browse/community>.

Keller, J 2019, "“Oh, She’s a Tumblr Feminist”: Exploring the Platform Vernacular of Girls’ Social Media Feminisms", Social Media + Society, vol. 5, no. 3, p. 8.

Kruse, L, Norris, D & Flinchum, J 2017, "Social Media as a Public Sphere? Politics on Social Media", The Sociological Quarterly, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 62-84.

[mda20009]

About

Portions of this site and the works within it are being produced with the  intention of critique and/or educational use under Australia's 'fair dealing' exceptions to copyright (Section 40 & 41). However, if you feel your IP is being infringed, please contact my service provider (tumblr) with the appropriate DMCA requests, as I, the single author take full responsibility for the content of this site.