sianrhianydd-blog

[sianrhianydd-blog]

Personally I prefer to play board games with my friends over MMORPGs and games such as Farmville. I find them so boring and unrewarding. But I can definitely see the appeal. The internet has changed so much in such a short period of time it’s crazy! For me as a sufferer of Celiacs disease, it’s so easy for me to make sure my food is fine for me to eat by Googling those complicated ingredients that nobody really knows what they are. It’s also helped me find other people who are going through the same thing. I think the next thing to change however will be the workplace, we are going paperless and I can’t help but wonder how things are about to change. 

Social gaming - playing the crowd

Gaming has always been a social experience for players, dating back to board games played around a family’s dining room table right up until now when gamers play online with other people from around the world whom they may never have met before. One of the earliest forms of online gaming was the Bulletin Board System. Launched in 1978, Bulletin Board Systems, were accessed using a dial up line and modem, allowing users to log in and share software and data, exchange messages through chatrooms and play online games. Once the internet emerged in the 1990s the Bulletin Board System became obsolete (Edwards, 2016). The launch of the internet birthed the largest and most connected gaming community in the world. Massive Multiplayer Games such as World of Warcraft, Guild Wars and Eve online are some of the largest online multiplayer games in existence. The games allow millions of people to simultaneously exist in a digital world, creating massive online communities. This style of game is driven by the social elements of game play, allowing players to work together to complete each level. This form of social gaming then expanded to social media. In 2010, Facebook’s most popular social game, Farmville, had more than 80 million users (AdAge, 2016). The games run through Facebook increased the amount of time users were spending on Facebook, boost Facebook engagement rates and helping to increase Facebook’s revenue (AdAge, 2016).

With social media changing the way that individuals interact with another, the way politicians communicate with their constituents, the way that groups protest, and the way that individuals play games socially online, it hard to know what it will have an impact on next.

[sianrhianydd-blog]

I never thought of World of Warcraft as being a tool to help train people in the work place, but then again I’ve never really played it. I guess the closest thing I’ve played was Diablo III which while one of my favourite games has taught me some valuable skills like patience and not killing the person meant to be healing me! But I could really see how these skills could translate to the workplace. I think it’s interesting that simulators and such aren’t more commonly used in the workplace as a training tool. I know I would engage more so if they were. 

WoW in the Workplace? Maybe not yet. (BP8)

I joined my first raiding guild in World of Warcraft in 2005, and rose through the ranks of the guild from an initiate under probation, to a fully-fledged raiding member, to a guild officer. It was during my tenure as a guild officer where I really began to appreciate the pressure and responsibility of raid leadership.

Source: https://imgur.com/r/wow/B10py

I remember coming across a thread on reddit where people were discussing whether it was appropriate to put raid or guild leadership on a resume, with most of the responders saying that it was a bad idea. Learning guru John Seely Brown states that he would hire an expert WoW player over someone with an MBA (Seely Brown 2016), but not all employers will feel the same way. I believe that an employer would have to understand the complex role of a raid or guild leader before you can understand how the skills that they’ve gained in a game can be used in the workplace.

[Video link here - embedding didn’t work!]

It’s the raid leader’s job to organise the raid, from the initial scheduling, to making sure the group is balanced correctly, to setting the strategy for each fight, to doling out the loot after each successful kill. A lot of the raid boss encounters are quite unforgiving, meaning that if you have just one player who doesn’t do the right thing, it means certain death for the other players. While the group is learning a new fight, the raid leader has to be aware of what everyone is doing, adjust the strategy when needed, and be prepared to manage anyone who isn’t learning or adapting fast enough.

A lot of the skills required for a successful raid leader are equivalent to skills which a good manager needs to have in the workplace. Clear communication, setting guidelines for behaviour, delegating tasks, analysing the group’s performance, managing under-performing players, time management and scheduling are just some of the skills that raid leaders need (Luchelle 2016). The raid leader needs to inspire when times are tough, adhere to the guild’s rules, and make decisions for the betterment of the group. Basically, they need to be a leader!

Torres (2012) writes that while they agree that raid and guild leadership skills such as time management, leadership, and drama avoidance are translatable to valid workplace skills, they don’t believe that applicants should be listing in-game achievements on their resumes. People who don’t play games won’t understand how in-game skills are relevant to the workplace, and it might make a potential employee look bad if they admit just how much time they spend playing a video game. Even though video games are often used as education tools, especially for kids, they have yet to make it as an acceptable workplace training tool.

References

Luchelle 2016, Luchelle’s Raid Leadership Guide, World of Warcraft Forums, viewed 24 January 2018, <https://eu.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/17613201523>.

Seely Brown, J 2012, How World of Warcraft Could Save Your Business and The Economy, 7 August, viewed 24 January 2018, <http://bigthink.com/videos/how-world-of-warcraft-could-save-your-business-and-the-economy-2>.

Torres, R 2012, World of Warcraft skills in the workplace, Engadget, viewed 24 January 2018, <https://www.engadget.com/2012/07/07/world-of-warcraft-skills-in-the-workplace/>. 

[sianrhianydd-blog]

Social Gaming: Playing the Crowd

Games, for the most part, have always been a social experience for all those involved in playing them. However, with the popularity of the internet and new found ways of connecting with people we never would have connected to previously, social gaming is at an all time high. This could be through simplistic farming games like Farmville that use social media to connect users or even games like Diablo, World of Warcraft, and League of Legends which connects people on their own servers to play online. Games like World of Warcraft (WoW) and other Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game’s (MMORPG’s), allow for infinite users to connect online.

Even though MMORPG’s are incredibly popular, it’s more casual social gaming like Candy Crush that has seen a massive surge in popularity. It could be argued that when Facebook opened its platform to gaming in 2006 that the user base climbed to record highs. People what to play, they want to feel connected to people even though all they are doing is literally just feeding a cow through their computer screens.

It’s interesting to note that Farmville had a total of seventy million players, with twenty-six million daily players (Liskiewicz 2010). It’s pretty crazy numbers for a game where all you do is harvest and grow crops. Which is somehow less rewarding that games such as Stardew Valley which while not an online game follows the same concept but you get gratification without the microtransactions games like Farmville want to force you into.

It’s not just that we want to be connected with each other that drive us to be more social with our gaming. Within these games we are rewarded for having more friends. For example, in the game Disney Emoji Blitz, a match three game similar to Candy Crush, if you get 10 friends you receive the Doug Emoji from the film Up. You want that because there is no other way to get it, so suddenly we’re telling anyone who will listen that they must get this game because it’s so fun.

There is something fun about sitting around the table yelling that each other is cheating at Monopoly and to a degree that is a more worthwhile social interaction. Online gaming is great to point, but when do we take a step back from our computers and phones and take a moment to interact with the people we live with?

Eggerton, J 2017, ‘Public Knowledge to Copyright Office: Free “World Of Warcraft”’, Broadcasting Cable, viewed 4 February 2018, <http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/public-knowledge-copyright-office-free-world-warcraft/170789>.

Liszkiewicz, A.J.P 2010, ‘The Real Reason You Are Addicted To Farmville (And Zynga Is A $5 Billion Company)’, The Insider Australia, 27 April, viewed 4 February 2018, <https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-cleverest-explanation-as-to-why-zynga-is-a-multi-billion-company-you-will-ever-read-2010-4?r=US&IR=T>.

[sianrhianydd-blog]

Wow! That’s incredible! The Power of Social Media right there. Like you I don’t remember the last time I used Snapchat, in fact I ended up deleting it because I thought it was a waste of time. My cousin also uses social media to promote her beauty vlog which has led to her getting more work as a make up artist. Even though I’m guilty of it, I find the concept of the selfie to be rather empty and unfulfilling as I don’t feel it’s a good representation of what we are doing with our lives but rather a narcissistic tendency.

Visual Communities & Social Imaging.

This week has explored the idea of visual communities and the networks and groups that are created through the world of ‘visual’ social and digital media.

 I quite liked the quote from Snapchat creator Evan Speigel

“The selfie makes sense as the fundamental unit of communication on Snapchat because it marks the transition between digital media as self-expression and digital media as communication.” It explores the idea of the evolution of communication, what was once seen as visual documentation of where and what you’re up to – to now communicating through visual tools as opposed to calling/texting.

 Something that really resonated with me in this weeks readings / viewings was the YouTube interview of Nathan Jurgssan < Photography, Self Documentation, & Social Media: An Interview with Nathan Jurgenson (2014) https://youtu.be/MnPtZ5lKDHo > and the fact that the way in which we now think about activities we participate in or places we visit now has some thoughts as to ‘can this be shared on Social Media’ which I am absolutely a victim of. I think the idea that we consciously have to think about having a ‘digital detox’ or moments in which we escape our phones is a confronting but unavoidable truth in todays world.

 I classify myself in the non you-tuber catergory, and rarely check my snapchat – so for me the idea of communicating through visual is mainly through the use of my Instagram (mainly business/branding) and Facebook, which I primararily use to keep updated/update friends and family I am less connected with on a regular basis. On the flipside – this idea of affinity / belonging / community, I can recognise through my brother and his social media following. My brother (@domtomato) is a Parkour athlete with a large social media following. He utilises his Instagram to ‘talk’ to his followers and communicate where he is and what he is up to. From there, he promotes his YouTube channel, in which his aim is to generate more subscribers to his channel and inturn, build his community. Tying back into the YouTube video interview by Nathan Jurgssan, my brothers world (to a degree) revolves around creating content for his social media and documenting his parkour adventures as well as some day to day activities that he can continue to share with his followers.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3jXR-xcjcf9UTkL-tcg3xw

And for a little laugh – a friend sent me this video yesterday which I feel ties well into this weeks theme, Enjoy!

[sianrhianydd-blog]

Businesses who do this seem, to me atleast, to be the most in touch with their consumers. Do you find that as well? Companies like Lego have entire websites dedicated to user interaction and publishing what people have made. It’s really inspiring!

Social media’s impact on business marketing

Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms have not revolutionised the way that individuals communicate within society but have also changed the way that businesses interact and market to their consumers. With more than 59 per cent of people accessing social media every day (Sensis 2017), it is no wonder why many businesses are now integrating social media as a core part of their digital marketing strategy. In Australia, 47 per cent of small to medium businesses have a social media presence, while 60 per cent of large businesses have social media and 90 per cent of those large business have a social media strategy in place (Sensis 2017). While many businesses started off with a business page on Facebook, they are now branching out into other platforms to raise brand awareness and connect with their consumers. For example, Instagram, a picture and video sharing application, has become one of the top social media platforms for business to advertise their products, interact with their customers and drive visitors to their website (Johnson, 2013). Many companies on social media use influencers to help promote or sell their products. An example of this was Adidas 2017 campaign in which they used well known hip-hop artists such as Snoop Dogg and Stormzy to promote their products. Adidas used the video campaign on social media to raise awareness of their ‘Originals’ line and to promote it as a part of hip-hop culture.

Businesses aren’t just using social media to push their products themselves. Businesses are tapping into ‘User-Generated Content’, which allows consumers to share their experience of a particular product with others – helping to create a more trusted brand (Hubspot 2017). User-generated content is any form of content created by users about a brand or product. User-generated content usually creates more engagement on social media, meaning it receives more likes and comments, which is great for businesses as it means more consumers are seeing their product (Hubspot, 2017). A great example of a company making the most of their user generated content is Mayfair, a furniture brand in the US. Wayfair encourages their customers to share the results of their creations by using the hashtag #WayfairAtHome. The Wayfair account then reposts these images with tags and links to the products featured, a great strategy that combines customer testimonials and design inspiration (Hubspot 2017).

More and more business are now seeing the importance of social media and how it can help them to increase brand recognition and sell more products.

References

Hubspot 2017 Best user generated content campaigns viewed online 4 February 2018 <https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-user-generated-content-campaigns>

Feb 2013, Johnson, T. The Instagram advantage: promote your business by sharing photos via this Facebook app

Sensis 2017 Sensis social media report viewed online 4 February 2018 <https://www.sensis.com.au/about/our-reports/sensis-social-media-report>

[sianrhianydd-blog]

Ubiquitous Photography

In 2013, Oxford Dictionaries announced that the word of the year was “selfie”, which they defined as “A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media” (Oxford Dictionary 2018). Even though the word selfie is distinctly 21st Century, the phenomenon itself is much older. In fact, a photo taken in 1839 by a man named Robert Cornelius is largely regarded as being the first selfie ever taken.

Personal photography was once centred purely around sharing and distributing photos to a close circle of friends and family. Personal photography has now moved away from being a tool that brings people together and now are a form of personal communication. Martin Hand (2012, p.5) says that person photography now “includes those photographic practices and images that are inextricably part of personal life – whether the individual taking pictures, the images we use to represent ourselves, the pictures we collect or display for ourselves, or the sharing of pictures with others as part of personal communication”.

Photography is no longer about preserving memories and display, it’s now about getting the most likes or comments. It all about presentation and how we are perceived.

20 years ago, it wasn’t possible to share ourselves in such a widely public way. It seems as the world shifts and technology moves on, people are no longer interested in reading about other people’s lives, there needs to be “proof” that it occurred in the first place. There is a certain narcissism that comes with selfies, that drive to be seen as nothing less than perfect and we as a community are more than happy to encourage this sort of behaviour by commenting and liking.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and that may be true in some respects, but how much a selfie telling us? Other than so and so has done their hair, not a whole lot. It’s strange that apps such as Snapchat and Instagram, on which people interact with video and photographs, are so popular. It comes down to personal preference but there are people out there who would rather do anything than stare at selfies all day. There is nothing be learned or gained from these photographs and it leaves you feeling empty.

We’re all guilty of taking a selfie, it’s the easiest way to show others you’ve been somewhere. But how much time are we spending behind our phones compared to how much time we’re spending actually living?

Hand, M 2012, Ubiquitous Photography, Polity Press, Cambridge.

Oxford Dictionaries 2018, ‘Selfie’, Oxford Dictionaries, viewed 4 February 2018, <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/selfie>.

The Public Domain Review 2018, ‘Robert Cornelius’ Self-Portrait: The First Ever “Selfie” (1839), The Public Domain Review, viewed 4 February 2018, <https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/robert-cornelius-self-portrait-the-first-ever-selfie-1839/>.

[sianrhianydd-blog]

It’s interesting that you note just how unreliable crowdsourced information can be and I think that’s why its not being used to it’s full potential. What do you think we, as a society, could do to change this?

Crisis Crowdsourcing

Emergency management around the world is changing rapidly with ‘first informers’ and ‘digital citizens’. There will never be a shortage of disasters around the globe or a shortage of ordinary citizens willing to help. In recent years crowdsourcing has significantly changed emergency operations at all levels.

Crowdsourcing improves disaster and crisis management either man-made (terrorist attack) or natural (flooding). It has been hugely useful in helping casualties to locate a safe place. Crowdsourcing is an easy and fast method to draw in the group in crisis and to accumulate precise ongoing data about the emergency.

The use of crowdsourcing not only makes it possible to have valuable information in one place accessible to everyone, but it also can prepare communities for disaster recovery. For example, global natural disasters that happen the countries less fortunate have the potential for viral outbreaks. In some cases, unofficial discussions on social media platforms reveal viral epidemics in the communities before official health reports are released.

Crowdsourcing instigators can connect officials to communities to the worst hit areas to carry out, for example, makeshift emergency medical zones. Crowdsourcing allows ordinary citizens to become part of the emergency response team. They can also communicate with official emergency services via unofficial sources. 

Although crowdsourcing can be an excellent tool for gathering data, there still can be some problems with the source being accurate and trustworthy. A journalist also needs to be careful with the information they receive to minimise the risk of publishing sensitive information. People can judge if someone is trustworthy via a face to face interview but to judge trustworthiness via a text message can be difficult.

It won’t be long until crowdmapping and crowdsourcing when all is said in done turns into a more acknowledged detailing instrument in global reporting. While there are some shallow contrasts, she says the difficulties of verifications by crowdmappers aren’t that dissimilar as the difficulties most journalists confront.

Crowdsourcing Crisis Information

CBSNews.com’s Shira Lazar talks to Patrick Meier, founder of Ushahidi about the future of crowdsourcing crisis information.

Reference List

CBS 2010, Crowdsourcing crisis information, Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8SNmum1oe4

[sianrhianydd-blog]

Isn’t it amazing that social media is able to do so much good in the world? How do you feel about groups such as Anonymous who use crowdsourcing as a way to bring down websites? I for one don’t think crowdsourcing is being used as effectively as it could be. 

crowdsourcing in times of crisis

The definition of crowdsourcing can be looked at as the stream of information that comes from the online community surrounding particular events, commonly crisis’s revolving around natural disaster. Crowd sourcing relies on the collective intelligence of the public for a common goal and purpose. Crowd sourcing in a time of crisis is useful for helping gather data, solve problems and is often utilised by emergency services and news outlets to gain information from the public who are first hand experiencing a disaster. In 2009, the fires that burned across Victoria on Saturday 7th of Feb, known as Black Saturday, were the worst bush fires Australia ever witnessed. Crisis communication was significant in social media platforms, such as Facebook and twitter, allowing the CFA and news outlets to give updates. Additionally, by using social media, members of the community, emergency services, organisations and the government were all able to gain and spread important messages quickly and cost efficiently.

https://www.google.com.au/search? q=crowd+sourcing&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiggL_arYHZAhVIi7wKHXNNBmEQ_AUICigB&biw=1333&bih=699#imgrc=IxaqkKySZGZAcM:

[sianrhianydd-blog]

Crowdsourcing

A New Center for Crisis Response on Facebook The internet is arguably the most powerful tool when it comes to engaging with a crowd. In an age where we’re all connected and always on, we are now consumers of more information than ever before. Now information we never would have dreamed about knowing is now easily accessible. And while this can be a positive tool, sometimes it can become a grey area.

Social media in particular is very important in maintaining community spirit and helping the spread of information in a crisis. Events such as the NSW fires which saw information shared and spread across a nation instead of these stories staying localised. It also saw the creation of an alert app that lets people in affected areas gain the vital information they need (Flew & Bruns 2015). Facebook, for example, has an alert feature on the app that allows users to let their family and friends they are okay in the wake of a disaster in their general area. With the Manchester Bombings, we saw victims tweeting and posting what was happening in real time and whether they were affected or not. With that came a great outpouring from the community who came to assist in the wake of the crisis. It’s such a fundamental tool now that we wonder how we ever did without these platforms to begin with. Even emergency services are beginning to utilise social media to get emergency out into the public as seen in 2011 Queensland floods.

Crowdsourcing is not only used to assist in disasters and crisis. It also has more controversial uses such as the online hacktivist group Anonymous. Anonymous is a loosely connected international network of activists and hacktivists. The group is known for keeping the anonymity through wearing Guy Fawkes masks and are known for a series of DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks on government, religion, and corporate websites. The information the use to launch these cyber-attacks are sourced from the online community in what can be considered internet vigilantism. In 2012, Time Magazine named Anonymous as one of the world’s most influential people (Time Magazine 2018). Though there are critics out there who consider Anonymous to essentially be a cyber lynch mob, their supporters consider them to be freedom fighters.  There is the fear the DDoS attacks and this level of hacking could have a knock on effect and be a very real threat to national security.

The problem is, however, that we have yet to develop real strategies for drawing on the power and potential for crowdsourcing in social networks.

Brands of the World 2018, ‘Anonymous Logo’, Brands of The World, viewed 4 February 2018, <https://www.brandsoftheworld.com/logo/anonymous-0>.

Bruns, A & Flew, T 2015, ‘Crisis communication: saving time and lives in disasters through smarter social media’, The Conversation, viewed on 10 January 2018, <http://theconversation.com/crisis-communication-saving-time-and-lives-in-disasters-through-smarter-social-media-50403>.

Facebook Newsroom 2017, ‘ A New Center for Crisis Response on Facebook ‘, Facebook Newsroom, viewed 4 February 2018, <https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/09/a-new-center-for-crisis-response-on-facebook/>.

Time Magazine 2018, ‘The World’s Most Influential People: 2012’, Time Magazine, viewed 4 February 2018, <http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2111975,00.html>.

[sianrhianydd-blog]

Wow that was such an interesting read, thank you. I think the inclusion of the office of eSafety is so important in bringing about change. Do you think we’ll ever get to a point where the internet will become a safe zone?

Self-Harm in a Digital Age (BP5)

As more and more people embrace the “always on” lifestyle, it is inevitable that many of us will experience some form of conflict in our social media channels. This conflict may come in the form of heated debate, as the more people in a single conversation, the more likely it is that two people will disagree on something, to online “trolls”, users who post content with the sole purpose of provoking others (McCosker 2014).

The term “cyberbullying” is quite often associated with teenagers, but it can be applicable to any age group. An interesting twist on cyberbullying is “digital self-harm”, which was uncovered by an investigation into the website Formspring (now rebranded as Spring.me) where users can post questions and answers anonymously (boyd 2014). This investigation found that in some cases, the inflammatory question had been posted from the same IP address as the answer, indicating that the same person was posting both.

Social media expert danah boyd believes that there are three main reasons why people engage in digital self-harming activities – as a cry for help, to look cool or tough, and to seek compliments from their peers (boyd 2010). While these reasons do make sense (as least to the teenaged mind!), it’s also possible that these activities could misfire if the outcome is not what the poster was hoping for.

The phenomenon of digital self-harm was the topic of a study conducted in 2011 and 2012 on over 600 teenagers in the US, and this study found that 17% of males and 8% of females surveyed had engaged in self-bullying behaviours over social media (Englander 2012). The below graph displays what the study found in terms of the reason given for the self-bullying behaviour.

Why Were You Cruel Online Towards Yourself? (Englander 2012)

The most popular reason chosen was “to get another kid’s attention”, which makes me question why teenagers feel that they need to put themselves down in order to get attention. boyd (2014) writes that humans learn the value of attention from a very young age, from seeing their parents, peers, and popular media fawn over the lives of celebrities. Attention is a valuable commodity, and sometimes it doesn’t matter whether it’s positive or negative attention.

A lot can change in five years, especially in the social media space, but sadly the trend of digital self-harm remains. Another study into digital self-harm was conducted in 2017, and it found that 6.2% of the over 6000 middle and high school aged respondents reported that they had anonymously posted something negative about themselves online (Patchin & Hinduja 2017).

In Australia, the government’s weapon against online bullying and other vicious online activities is the Office of the eSafety Commissioner. In their 2016-2017 annual report, the Office states that they received 305 complaints about serious cyberbullying targeting Australian children (up 63% from the previous year, which was their first year in operation) (Office of the eSafety Commissioner 2016). Other statistics published in the Office’s annual report show that the agency is playing an important role in educating school students and their teachers and parents about positive social media use, but the true measure of the Office’s success will be whether or not they are able to change the culture of Australia’s youth which has always tolerated and sometimes even celebrated bullying long before social media’s existence.

References 

boyd, d 2010, Digital Self-Harm and Other Acts of Self-Harassment, danah boyd | apophenia, viewed 8 January 2018, <http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2010/12/07/digital-self-harm-and-other-acts-of-self-harassment.html>.

boyd, d 2014, It’s complicated: the social lives of networked teens, Yale University Press, New Haven.

Englander, E 2012. Digital Self-Harm: Frequency, Type, Motivations, and Outcomes, Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, viewed 8 January 2018, <http://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=marc_reports>.

McCosker, A 2014, ‘Trolling as provocation: YouTube’s agonistic publics’, Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 201-217.

Office of the eSafety Commissioner 2016, Australian Communications and Media Authority and Office of the eSafety Commissioner annual reports 2016–17, Office of the eSafety Commissioner, viewed 8 January 2018, <https://www.esafety.gov.au/-/media/cesc/documents/corporate-reporting/acma_oesc_annual_report_2016-17.pdf>.

Patchin, J, Hinduja, S 2017, ‘Digital Self-Harm Among Adolescents’, Journal of Adolescent Health, vol. 61, no. 6, pp. 761–766.

[sianrhianydd-blog]

It makes me so mad when I see people using the internet to bring down other people. I wonder what really drives people to do this. Is it jealousy? Notoriety? Are you just an awful person? I definitely agree with you when you say we need to develop proper means of helping kids grow up in the digital age, but there is a distinct gap between the generations that need to be address before these techniques can be put in place. 

The digital bully.

As we speak of digital citizenship we have to begin to understand how this affects all citizens, namely our younger citizens. Young people are growing up to be immersed in digital technology and social media. As our networks broaden, as does the potential for harm. Trolling, hating and flaming are ever-increasing terms that are being thrown around popular medias to loosely describe “cyber-bullying”. The assumption among many parents and journalists is that social media radically increases bullying; however, most adults and news media are using bullying as an umbrella term that covers, teasing, aggressive acts, harassment and abuse, when it should not (Boyd, 2014). Rather than increasing bullying, social media has merely become a new platform or avenue for such behaviour; this does not necessarily translate to more opportunity for bullying, it simply comes in conjunction with the shift in the way we communicate. Boyd (2014) agrees, stating that “although new forms of drama find a home through social media, teens’ behaviours have not significantly changed” (p.152). She continues to suggest that social media has made these dynamics more visible to more people. Therefore, in digital citizenship, these issues have not been exaggerated they have simply become more apparent and observable; thus, to blame technology would be naïve, social media is a shift in the way we communicate, and hence the ways bullies operate. Essentially, we have become more aware of the issue of bullying or trolling, as it has now been brought into view.

As we continue to develop into a digital society, our citizens are learning to communicate and represent themselves on this platform. Young people are now constantly on show, so they have no sense of privacy, and hence, no opportunity or time for self-development. Young people are continuously under pressure to be online and available at all times… and the social pressures that go along with that are relentless (Ramsey, 2014). Perhaps this is the answer to why there has been an increase in youth suicide, it is not “cyber-bullying”, but yet the constant pressures of online communication and digital citizenships. The continuous upkeep of presenting your ideal self is tedious, and taxing on youth, with little time left for actual meaningful relationships and self-development. So thus, in an online world the youth is learning self-value based on the number of likes they get or the amount of comments they receive (Ramsey, 2014). Thus, if we are theming bullying under the same umbrella as news medias, then neglect, and not liking posts can also fall under this umbrella. Could then also, a lack of presence or active participation on social media also lead to exclusion under this umbrella.

Ultimately, social media is not the cause of further bullying and trolling, rather it is our inability to develop proper means for teaching our youth how to grow up in a digital era, that is causing the most harm.

References:

Boyd, D 2014, ‘Bullying : is social media amplifying meanness and cruelty?’ in It’s complicated : the social lives of networked teens, Yale University Press, New Haven, pp. 128-152.

Ramsey, M (2014) Why thinking you’re ugly is bad for you, TedTalks, September, viewed 30 December 2017, <https://www.ted.com/talks/meaghan_ramsey_why_thinking_you_re_ugly_is_bad_for_you#t-347726>

[sianrhianydd-blog]

Trolling & Provocation

With the increase in popularity of social media platforms, the ability to publically contribute and communicate has also shift exponentially. Which for the most part seems good, until we realise that with this new form of mass communication comes new rules and responsibilities.

For those who misuse the internet, there is the term “trolling” which is associated with peer to peer abuse, bulling, harassment, and stalking. Trolls aim to create discord online, often being derogatory and making inflammatory remarks. A troll doesn’t engage in meaningful discourse, instead they chose to post a series of comments, photos, and GIFs in order to incite a slinging match (Smith et. al. 2018).

Trolling is not just harmless fun, it’s a form of cyberbullying, something at effects 1 in 3 young people (Bullying Statistics 2018). It’s a new form of bullying that occurs online (Boyd 2014) and therefore it’s harder to punish those who are committing it.

Cyberbullying can take many forms including:

Sending mean messages or threats to a person’s email account or mobile phone

Spreading rumours online or through text

Posting hurtful or threatening messages on social media or web pages

Stealing a person’s account information to break into their account and send damaging messages

Pretending to be someone else online to hurt another person

Taking unflattering pictures of a person and spreading them through mobile phones or the internet

Sexting, or circulating sexually suggestive pictures or messages about a person

It’s hard to differentiate between trolling and someone’s opinion. Especially when things are posted on such large public forums such as Facebook. Whether something is considered trolling in entirely depended on how the receiver views it, not the sender’s intent.

That’s when we have the assess the sender’s intent when we can’t properly asses their thought process. When we speak face to face it’s easier to understand intent through vocal inflictions and context, but online we don’t get that luxury. Those seen as being trolls may simply just be offering an alternate viewpoint on the argument.

Bullying Statistics 2018, ‘Cyberbullying Statistics’, Bullying Statistics, viewed 4 February 2018, < http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html>.

Boyd, D 2014, “Bullying: is social media amplifying meanness and cruelty”, Yale University Press, pp 128-152.

Grffiths, J 2017, ‘Taking Its Troll’, The Sun, viewed 4 February 2018, <https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/3169348/internet-troll-twitter-online-celebrities-uk/>.

Smith, P, Mahdavi, J, Carvalho, M, Fisher, S, Russell, S & Tippett, N 2008, "Cyberbullying: its nature and impact in secondary school pupils”, The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 49, no. 4, pp. 376–385, doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01846.x.

[sianrhianydd-blog]

Very good! Do you feel like digital activism is the future or do you think we should revert to what was done 20 years ago? I feel it’s a very important social shift that needs to be refined in order to be the most effective. 

Digital Activism

Digital Citizenship Political activism has gained a lot of momentum with the advent of social media. Groups can now collate their efforts with other like-minded individuals through digital citizenship. Digital citizenship pertains to theses potential benefits for society’s use of digital and social media platforms. These social media tools allow us to build and sustain these communities without the bounds of geography, and can help to make their voice louder.

In the past, the only way for these voices could be heard were through radical means, but now these arguments can be presented in a much more professional and legitimate manner. Now any individual can present their ideas to governing officials with ease. It has allowed for much DIY activism; where someone with little to no funding can now play on the same field as someone with large corporate lobby groups.

Culture Jamming Culture jamming is a form of guerrilla communication based on a resistance to popular culture. It usually takes form through performance art, graffiti art, hacktivism or adbusting. Abusters is a popular organisation that often uses the very medium of media that they wish to protest. Many of their campaigns are aimed at anti-capitalist and anti-consumerism ideals (Swinburne 2018)

Slacktivism One drawback to the ease of protest is slacktivism. Many people will feel like posting on social media, or signing an online petition is an adequate form of protest. This can be because each cause has a stronger voice, and there can be too many issues for each person to support properly.

It’s even gotten to a point where individuals may protest for personal gain. These personal gains could be the enjoyment received from attending an event, or virtue signalling; a concept that an individual may protest purely to fit in, or to feel superior amongst an activist group. This leads to individuals protesting without asking questions about themselves, or the issues that they are protesting (Funnell 2017)

References

Funnell, A 2017, “From slacktivism to ‘feel-good’ protests, activism is broken: Here’s how to fix it”, ABC News, viewed 25 January 2018, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-25/activism-is-broken-heres-how-we-fix-it/9077372>. Swinburne 2018, “6.2 Local digital activism”, viewed 25 January 2018.

[sianrhianydd-blog]

It’s really interesting that you seem firmly in the “no slacktivism” camp. It’s such a new concept and I think it has a lot of potential. Look at the #Me Too movement that has now become a global phenomenon and is actually bringing about real change. I think it will take a while for online activism to really truly start making massive global change but Rome also wasn’t built in a day. Revolutionary France had coffee shops, we have social media. I think the fact we are now connected in such a global way that even if these campaigns change nothing, having awareness of the situation is always important. It also makes me think of the bystander effect, we’re all so happy to sit back and watch when something happens we’ll even judge those who don’t actively get involved. But at the end of the day how many people will really act if the situation called for it? We maybe sitting behind our keyboards, but people are also acting no matter what little effect it has. 

The Slack Activist - Don’t cut them some slack!

SLACKTIVIST – probably the best word ever to have been created for the online vocabulary.

The term “slacktivist” roughly refers to a person who has the best intentions and suggestions towards supporting a cause or maintain a protest but does not take any physical action. The internet has bred the largest forum and community of slacktivists this world has probably seen but will more than likely continue to grow (Dewey 2014).

Previously, people would only hear about great tragedies on the news in their own homes, would feel remorse, and then move on with their lives knowing that whilst a tragedy there was nothing they could do at that very moment in time. Perhaps a few people would get off their butts and do something but this post does not refer to those people.

Nowadays, when people see or hear about a tragedy it is not only reported on the news but also on a million website and social media channels. So now these same people are hearing this news from multiple sources and being hammered by how guilty they should feel about this tragedy, but again these same people feel they can do nothing BUT now they have an opportunity to “appear” as if they are doing something via an online activist protest. So now they feel a little less guilt, joining a whole crowd of guilt-ridden people trying to feel better about themselves but not actually achieving anything.

Most commonly known representations of these “protests” are the hundreds of hashtag movements seen almost now on a weekly basis. #prayforparis is a perfect of example of where a tragedy sparked an online slacktivist support movement which had absolutely no power or influence. No arrests were made as a result, no families of those killed or injured received extra care of support from this hashtag community. It was simply a way for those on the other side of the world, living in peaceful happy homes to show their empathy for the situation (Garber 2015). #Bringbackourgirls was another great hashtag protest that failed to have any real impact or resolution with the majority of the 276 kidnapped Nigerian girls still missing despite even highly influential people such as Michelle Obama and popstar Rhianna jumping on this slactivist tag (France-Presse 2016).

This online artificial world we interact with it seems has confused people into believing that you can solves the world’s problems from your living rooms or offices when in reality the only way things will change is if people turn of their computers and get out there and make a real difference.

Dewey, C 2014, “#Bringbackourgirls, #Kony2012, and the complete, divisive history of ‘hashtag activism’”, The Washington Post, viewed 26 January 2018, <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/05/08/bringbackourgirls-kony2012-and-the-complete-divisive-history-of-hashtag-activism/?utm_term=.d3e79be1603a>.

France-Presse, A 2016, “Hashtag fail? Two years after the first #BringBackOurGirls tweet not much has changed”, Public Radio International, viewed 26 January 2018, <https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-04-13/hashtag-fail-two-years-after-first-bringbackourgirls-tweet-not-much-has-changed>.

Garber, M 2015, “#PrayForParis: When Empathy Becomes a Meme”, The Atlantic, viewed 26 January 2018, < https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/11/pray-for-paris-empathy-facebook/416196/>.

Check out the video  “ Your ‘Like’ Doesn’t Help Charities, It’s Just Slacktivism”