#TopicOfTheWeek

[newrainy]

Week 6 Activism, Protest / Digital Citizenship

How do Art-forms and popular culture become symbols of a social movement?

Art Activism is a term derived from another form of expression of activism through an artistic medium and utilizes it. Because I’m not socially partaking in activism. Still, when I heard about the creative activism that challenges the creative way, I was instantly interested because, as a designer, I am a sucker for art expression and analyzing creative thinking.

By further investigation, Creative Activism stems down to the colonial rule of Britain during the 18th century that was evident in America, according to The Black Sheep Agency (2021). Some famous art activism pieces are the painting of ‘George Washington crossing the Delaware,’ which symbolizes the message of the Pro-American Revolution.

During the 20th century, it happened to occur a twist in the narratives of the art protests because this new era of creative activism addressed civil rights and the people’s dissatisfaction in society.

However, when we define art, it comes in different shapes, such as Murals, Drawings, paintings, et cetera.

One form of a progressive movement is the 20th-century protest art of feminism by the citizens who used their message through art by advocating FOR working women, femininity who were self-deprived from any sort of public political engagement such as voting. The infamous work of “Sash and strict Edwardian dress code” where a weapon and a symbol of feminism against their opposition. By any means, artworks like these have an extensive outreach today with their evolution.

(Three Suffragist, 1916 by Ed. Markel)

Another example of creative activism in the form of art is evident in Mainland China, where the voices of people are censored and silenced. The Guardian (2020) shows the way art speaks the minds of the citizens in China. One example of this phenomenon was the year 2020, with the Hongkong protest intending to fight for pro-democracy, which was shown as socially unacceptable by the law. The empty white paper sheets were the voice for the freedom of speech. And with the new protests in 2022, the white paper blanks came back with the same public message, and I’m sure statements like these become a symbol of bravery and fights for justice.

(White paper sheet activism, Anthony Kwan/ Getty Images)

Art speaks for itself and carries messages that cannot be directly criticized. The impactful messages become a powerful tool for people without freedom of speech and a threat to the higher-ups. The standard transmission in a large community creates a shield against the opposition. Art is in the eye of the beholder, as it is often said. It outlives the generic, standardized idea of society.

Reference

The Guardian 2020, Hongkongers find creative ways to voice dissent in pictures, The Guardian, viewed 4 December 2022, <https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2020/sep/29/hong-kong-people-find-creative-ways-to-voice-dissent-in-pictures>

The Black Sheep Agency 2021, A Short History of American Protest Art, The Black Sheep Agency, viewed 4 December 2022, < https://theblacksheepagency.com/blog/protest-art>

[certifiedslytherin]

China: Their own bubble.

How does Internet Censorship work in China and What is Social Credit System that is being implemented in the country?

Can you imagine if we are not able to access our global social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter?

These social media platforms have allowed us to express our thoughts and views and spread information, whether right or wrong, without the need for approval from authorities and being controlled by the government.

However, in China, it is the norm.

According to statistics, China has the highest number of internet users in the world compared to other countries, with a total of 1.5 billion users, thrice the number of users in the United States, which are only around 100 million users (Thomala, 2022).

source: (Thomala, 2022) https://www.statista.com/statistics/265140/number-of-internet-users-in-china/

Even though they have access to the internet, their government has restricted (blocked) them from accessing Instagram, Google, YouTube, or even WhatsApp due to Internet censorship.

The censorship is to combat potentially disruptive consequences of Western cultural globalization (Miller, 2020). In the case of VPNs, only the ones approved by the government can be used, and the ones that are not approved are banned. However, VPN access will expose our data, making it more unsecure for everyone to use (How to use a VPN for China? is it legal? 2022).

In that case, China has its own social media developed to replace the platforms we use. For instance, WhatsApp is replaced with 'WeChat' and 'Baidu' similar to Google. These platforms are approved by the Chinese Government and are strictly monitored by the officials (DeGennaro & DeGennaro, 2020).

The Great Firewall of China, also known as "China's Golden Shield," is a system of internet censorship. It was first initiated in 1998 and began to operate in 2008 (Chandel et al., 2019).

Image Source: https://www.china-briefing.com/news/chinas-great-firewall-implications-businesses/

This censorship started to get stricter when hundreds of people were killed in the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, when students fought for free speech and a free press in China. The information on the massacre is not available on the Chinese Internet because the Chinese Government is seeking to conceal it because they want people to avoid remembering their wrongdoings (Gilbert, 2019).

Basically this censorship made the people in China to not being able to spread their words freely without having to go through surveillance and filtration by the governemnt. Thus making it difficult to raise awareness in what is happening in their country to the people outside of China. As the title of this blog says "their own bubble". They are only able to share and receive opinion from their own people.

It is not easy to pass the firewall, although many attempts has been done.

Oh, K-pop is banned in China too! Most of us will not survive in that country-

Social Credit System

Figure below shows an example of 'Social Credit System' using AI.

Source: (Campbell, 2019) on https://time.com/collection/davos-2019/5502592/china-social-credit-score

Well, it gets more complicated here.

China has a social credit system being implemented. According to Liang (2018), China's intention of implementing the social credit system is to "compute a credit score for every individual and organizational actor based on previous and continuing social and economic activity, and these credit ratings will govern whether an actor can get advantages of sanctions." Big Data and Artificial Intelligence is used widely in the process.

The credit scores are divided into two, good and bad. The examples of good actions are donating blood and involving in charities, while bad actions are stealing and cheating. Obtaining good social credit points will be given tax breaks or even cheaper public transportation fares, while the bad social credit points will be penalized and restricted from traveling (Velocityglobal, 2022).

According to Liang (2018), "the data collected are used and organized by the government to monitor and administer China's political, social, and commercial dominions." Behaviors are monitored to remain "trustworthy" through positive actions with this implementation of social credit.

Figure above shows how the social credit system works in China.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/merics_eu/status/898220464090341377

What about privacy?

It is something that invades someone's privacy. The Government has every data of ours organized. Alongside, we are under surveillance for EACH and every hour of the day. With one wrongdoing from an individual in the society, the person will probably go through some hardship to clear out that bad social credit(s).

The question is, will we survive such a controlled movement being implemented on us in Malaysia?

Probably not. Malaysians are highly vocal and our movements are compelling. Therefore, this topic is eye-opening, and we should be grateful that we are privileged enough to have freedom and peace. Although China's movements seems culture shock on our side, they're probably used to it by now as they cannot really voice out openly even if they are suffering.

References

Chandel, S., Jingji, Z., Yunnan, Y., Jingyao, S. and Zhipeng, Z., 2019, October. The golden shield project of china: A decade later—an in-depth study of the great firewall. In 2019 International Conference on Cyber-Enabled Distributed Computing and Knowledge Discovery (CyberC) (pp. 111-119). IEEE.

DeGennaro, T. and DeGennaro, T. (2020) The 10 most popular social media sites in China (2019), Dragon Social. Available at: https://www.dragonsocial.net/blog/social-media-in-china/ (Accessed: December 1, 2022).

Gilbert, D. (2019) How China is wiping memories of Tiananmen Square off the internet, VICE. Available at: https://www.vice.com/en/article/7xge3b/chinese-dissidents-are-running-out-of-ways-to-remember-tiananmen-square (Accessed: December 1, 2022).

How to use a VPN for China? is it legal? (2022) NordVPN. Available at: https://nordvpn.com/blog/vpn-for-china/#:~:text=Officially%2C%20the%20Chinese%20government%20has,and%20corporations%20rather%20than%20individuals. (Accessed: December 1, 2022).

Miller, J.S., 2020. China‘s Censorship and Cultural Power--Necessarily at Odds?.

Thomala, L.L. (2022) Internet users by country 2022, Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/262966/number-of-internet-users-in-selected-countries/ (Accessed: December 1, 2022).

Velocityglobal (2022) The Chinese Social Credit System: What to know as a business owner, Velocity Global. Available at: https://velocityglobal.com/blog/chinese-social-credit-system/ (Accessed: December 1, 2022).

[chantalllll]

Week 4:Is Tumblr a blog or a social network site?

Hello! Welcome to my first ever post on Tumblr ( Although I had Tumblr few years back, it was a little too complicated for me too handle, probably cause I wasn’t a social media addict yet!) Let’s jump straight to the main point of this post!

First of all, in order for us to know whether tumblr is a blog or a social network website, we need to understand what is this platform called Tumblr. Based on my research on this website (Thank you Mr.Google), Tumblr (Pronounced “tumbler”) is an American owned website that was created in 2007. The founder and former CEO, David Karp had an interest in tumblelogs which are short-form blogs. He had this idea of creating Tumblr, a blogging platform because no one else had the idea of creating a tumblelogging platform. As of today, there are over 400 million users on Tumblr. 

For those who are lazy to read, check out the video attached below on “What is Tumblr?”;

I guess i kind of answered the “is tumblr a blog?” part right? If not, let me clarify, YES tumblr is a blog! A blog is normally written in an informal or conversational style. Tumblr lets you create your own original content, post up photographs, video clips, links, voice out opinions and also reblog someone else’s content. You can even customise your tumblr page like any other blogging website. 

But is it a social networking site? Although Tumblr is not established as social network site, it does have strong social component. What actually defines “a social network”? Let me give you an easy comparison, between a well-known social networking website, Facebook.

Facebook 

You write posts

You communicate with friends

You read posts

You view images, videos and links

Tumblr

You ALSO write posts

You ALSO communicate with friends and even strangers (Isn’t that creating a social networking space?)

You ALSO read posts

You ALSO view images, videos, links

Comparing both, they are very much alike. So, how is it not a social network?

To conclude, Tumblr is very much a blog at the same time a social networking site. Kind of like Facebook and Twitter put together. You know, write rants or voice out opinions simultaneously we communicate with friends and strangers alike. At least on Tumblr, you don’t get tweet limits or random Aunties/Uncles judging your posts!

[yiaun97]

Protest 101: Social Media

The Early Days...

Life was tough during 14th century England. Workers were forced to work with a minimum wage while some had to work without pay due to the feudalism. Adding insult to injury, taxes were raised in order to fund the war with France. Subsequently, people were starting to realise the importance of freedom; they want equal rights. It escalated to an open rebellion when the people of Essex refused to pay their taxes. Local leaders contacted countryside communities through letters, they rallied and marched to London (Bbc.com 2019). The revolution was ultimately a failure; however, The Peasant’s Revolt was an early example of an organised protest among the common folk.

21st Century

Centuries later, London was occupied by protestors yet again. During the 2011 London Riots, the city was in flames, buildings looted and destroyed. It was the largest post-world-war era disorder in UK’s history (Vice 2016). The protest was triggered by the shooting of Mark Duggan, disadvantaged communities took this opportunity to protest the unequal treatment of the police specifically over the excessive use of stop and search (Vice 2016). Unlike in ancient times, the method of communication had significantly evolved with the aid of technology. Nowadays, protestors and activists seek technology solutions that are straightforward and reachable (Sigal and Biddle 2015). As social media has become a crucial part of life, it was used as the medium to organise the London Riots. 

According to Sigal and Biddle (2015), story-elements bring people to protest or start a movement together. The movement started when netizens gathered on a Facebook page to mourn the death of Duggan (Halliday 2011). The initial sadness subsequently transforms into anger, thus triggering the riots. To prevent more chaos, Facebook and Twitter were closely monitored by the authorities, they were ready to react. As the main social media platforms were under governance, protestors pivoted to another platform (Youmans and York 2012). BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) became the designated platform for protestors to deploy or rally people. It was a better alternative as BlackBerry phones were common among teens, it’s a free text messenger and most importantly it is UNTRACEABLE. BlackBerry refused to shut down its services (MailOnline 2011); but agreed to enable police to track and arrest users who spread ‘fake news’ (Halliday 2011). Law enforcement was heavy and they ultimately put an end to the riots.

Double-Edged Sword

Without a doubt, social media is important if one is to become an activist. The power of social media as a tool to rally the people can no longer be denied. Nonetheless, it is unsafe. Fundamentally, a social media platform is not designed as a tool to organise movements and protests. Social media’s core purpose is to connect people and gain revenue, it is a business-oriented service (Youmans and York 2012). Hence, they comply with government requests in order to keep their services intact. Moreover, there is no solid proof that social media companies will not ‘sell-out’ to tyrants or despotic regimes to undermine their consumer base. Therefore, activists have to proceed with caution when wielding the influence of social media.

References:

Bbc.com. (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/z2c2pv4/revision/1 [Accessed 28 Apr. 2019].

Halliday, J. (2011). London riots: BlackBerry to help police probe Messenger looting 'role'. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/aug/08/london-riots-blackberry-messenger-looting [Accessed 28 Apr. 2019].

Halliday, J. (2011). London riots: how BlackBerry Messenger played a key role. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/aug/08/london-riots-facebook-twitter-blackberry [Accessed 28 Apr. 2019].

Mail Online. (2011). 'It's unbelievable BlackBerry Messenger hasn't been shut down': Mayor's aide calls for ban on riot 'tool'. [online] Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023924/London-riots-2011-BlackBerry-Messenger-shut-unbelievable.html [Accessed 28 Apr. 2019].

Sigal, I. and Biddle, E. (2015). FCJMESH-007 Our Enduring Confusion About the Power of Digital Tools in Protest. The Fibreculture Journal, (26), pp.290-296.

Vice. (2016). What the 2011 Summer Riots Were Really About. [online] Available at: https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/kwkbde/england-riots-2011-five-years-later-analysis [Accessed 28 Apr. 2019].

Youmans, W. and York, J. (2012). Social Media and the Activist Toolkit: User Agreements, Corporate Interests, and the Information Infrastructure of Modern Social Movements. Journal of Communication, 62(2), pp.315-329.

[brainblogshelp]

How has Malaysian been engaging with politics trough social media?

It can be said that majority of malaysian are engaged when it comes to politics on social media. But study also shows that younger generation are more disconnected when it comes to politics in the country.

When we think of the word politics, the first thing that comes to mind is the drama and competition of one political party going against the another. Leaving behind a picture of how chaotic and ugly it looks.

Part of this is true but another part of it is also of how that politics is a position where activities of governance and law making are given. When come to think of it, everything of where our country is today comes from the decision and choices that has been made by those who are in leadership.

Social media on the other hand, had played this important role in providing information for people to be updated in what's going on in their favourite party and also ongoing interaction between the politician and follower giving a sense of community.

I believe in the end of the day it is part of our responsibility as citizen to uphold the leaders we are rooting for and be part of sharing information on social media platforms, either through memes or gifs that every each of our voice does matter and how we can make Malaysia a better place.

[highlydissfunctional]

Is Tumblr a blog or social network site?

When asked about blogs, millennials would say Blogger, Wix or Wordpress; Generation z may go on forever about Tumblr and its latest memes. We get it, today’s generation knows a lot about blogs. So, what are they? Geert Lovink (2011) considers blogs as the epitome of “productive contradiction between public and private” as they exist as “public journals”. Blogging 101 would have you know that blogs at their outset, involved individuals logging journals onto their personal “web logs” which coined the term “blog” (Duermyer 2018). Blogs could be explained as a personalized self-expression; an accessible technological extension for the personal home page; asynchronous; mainly public; have entries that are time-stamped and appear in reverse chronological order (Week 4, slide 8) and are predominantly used for ‘citizen journalism’ as they:

Generally focus on specific subject matters,

has an area for readers to comment or respond to posts,

an archive of previous blog posts,

allows visitor subscription and can be managed by software where many features are automatically created (Saddington 2010).

In another light, social network sites (SNS) are comprehended as web-based services allowing individuals to create a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system; articulate a list of other users who they share a connection with; and view and cross their list of connections and those made by others within the system (boyd & Ellison 2007). Majority of SNS participants primarily seek to communicate with people they have pre-existing social ties with rather than to network or befriend strangers (boyd & Ellison 2007). If one were to ask a teenager – the SNS-addicts of our generation – on what to expect when joining an SNS, they would tell you to start by setting up a public or private profile and working on your home feed,

From there, you acquire friends or followers, 

receive likes and comments from other users, 

and participate in groups and tags (Nations 2018). 

But what exactly differs blogs from SNS?

Their central but sometimes interrelated differences are that blogging generates content to be kept on the blog itself while SNS enables users’ engagement about content (Gussif 2014). SNS traffic also typically comes from user-to-user interaction while blog’s traffic mainly occurs from searches done by potential first-time readers (Collier 2016). Additionally, while SNS posts tend to be shallow in media richness, short in length and are less descriptive, blogs are generally flexible with word count and media content format though it is still not the best medium to host 10-paged articles (Scheidies 2013).

And so, we arrive at the climax of the discourse – is Tumblr a blog or SNS? 

I say both. Maybe a little more blog than SNS, but ultimately both.

Tumblr, as I understand it, is a hub for pictures of someone’s daily lives; amusing memes and gifs; art in the forms of drawings and writings; and porn. All of which, I believe, are personalized self-expressions. At Tumblr-signups, we set up a profile (both blogs and SNS require the creation a public or semi-public profile) then gain access to our dashboard (an accessible technological extension for the personal home page), customize our blog theme (similar to working on our home feed on SNS) and explore Tumblr to find blogs to follow (Moreau 2018). 

Once familiarized with the Tumblr mechanics, we start liking or re-blogging followed blogs’ asynchronous content that are time-stamped and appear in reverse chronological order (both blogs and SNS are asynchronous and have posts that are time-stamped and appear in that order), maybe even start posting our own blog content to receive likes, re-blogs, comments (an SNS activity), to gain “mutuals” or followers (similar to SNS’ articulation of a list of users to share a connection with; acquiring friends or followers), and interact with other users (blogs have ribbons for users to send messages, comment or respond to entries which have also been adopted by recent SNS). And like SNS, Tumblr incorporates tags/hashtags. 

Moreover, microblogging – a combination of blogging and instant messaging enabling users to generate short messages to be posted and shared with publics popularized by Twitter, a SNS (Nations 2018), have been adopted by Tumblr users, further blurring the lines between blog and SNS. Thus, it is safe to say that Tumblr of 2018 is part blog, part SNS. 

Be that as it may, Tumblr’s blogging origins remain indisputable as it fundamentally focuses on specific subject matters, has a properly organized archive of previous blog posts and can be managed by software that automatically creates blog features. It also emphasizes on content generation rather than the enablement of user engagements about content, has the most traffic from searches than user-to-user interaction and are flexible with entry length and content format.

References

boyd, dm & Ellison, NB 2007, ‘Social network sites: definition, history and scholarship’, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, vol. 13, issue. 1.

Collier, M 2016, ‘The key difference between your blog and other social media channels that most companies miss’, MarkCollier.com, viewed 27 September 2018, <http://www.mackcollier.com/difference-your-blog-social-media-company/>.

Duermyer, R 2018, ‘What is blogging and why is it popular’?’, The Balance, viewed 27 September 2018, <https://www.thebalancesmb.com/blogging-what-is-it-1794405>.

Gussif, A 2014, ‘Blogging vs. social media: here’s the difference’, Gussif Marketing Group, viewed 27 September 2018, <http://www.gusiff.com/marketing-posts/blogging-vs-social-media-heres-difference/>.

Lovink, G 2011, ‘Networks without a cause: a critique of social media’, viewed 27 September 2018, <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254810120_Networks_Without_a_Cause_A_Critique_of_Social_Media>.

Moreau, E 2018, ‘How to use Tumblr for blogging and social networking’, Lifewire, viewed 28 September 2018, <https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-tumblr-4049305>.

Nations, D 2018, ‘What is microblogging?’, Lifewire, viewed 28 September 2018, <https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-microblogging-3486200>.

Nations, D 2018, ‘What is social networking?’, Lifewire, viewed 27 September 2018, <https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-social-networking-3486513>.

Saddington, J 2010, ‘What is a blog? What is a blogger? What is blogging?’, viewed 27 September 2018, <https://john.do/blog-blogger-blogging/>.

Scheidies, N 2013, ‘The 20 biggest benefits of blogging’, Income Diary, viewed 27 September 2018, <https://www.incomediary.com/biggest-blogging-benefits>.

‘Week 4: blogging practices’ n.d, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak, Digital Communities.

[cccarmenthian]

The Rise of Social Media In the World of Activism & Protest

The ascension of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag – and the others like #MeToo and #MAGA (Make America Great Again) – has spurred an active discussion about how effective and viable social media is for web-fueled activism and protest. It is believed that social media has become an important tool for users to express their political views, or to participate in activities that are important to them (Anderson et al. 2018).

Given that social media has become the source of news and information, it has also emerged as a key platform for people to debate and engage in civic-related activities. Although social media does give a voice to the underrepresented groups, there is a considerably large group of people agree that social media also distracts people from “real” issues. Instead of focusing on the real issue, it sometimes ends up being a “trend” (Cohen 2018).

Social media is also where subactivism rises. Subactivism, defined as small-scale, decisions and actions that are often made by individuals that could have either political or ethical reference, and it easily submerges in our everyday life. Although subactivism often remains insulated in a private realm, it can sometimes leak out and become publicly visible. As social media is now the major facilitator of exchange of information, it gives rise to transforming them into over public activism (Bakardjieva 2009, p. 96). People can take part in a group, encourage one another to take action on issues that are important to them. Some even changed their profile picture or use hashtags in their posts to exhibit support for a cause. In fact, most people believe that social media engagement is one way to get the officials’ attention or to initiate a social movement (Anderson et al. 2018).

Yet, despite the wide network social media possesses, it is hard for a leader, a charismatic leader, to emerge in the midst of progressive web-fueled protests. A leaderless movement could spread really quickly; however, there is an inability to make functional or complex decisions without the rise of a powerful leader. Although having a leader may seem pretty insignificant in the case of thousands or even millions of people who stand together, leaders are the ones who shape the message to be delivered (Cohen 2018).

With that said, millions of voices do make an echo. Even if there was no leader who raises to speak or to lead the movements, the movements did not come out of nowhere and somehow happen themselves. Names or faces may not be remembered, but the movements pushed by the people who stand in the same belief through social media, will be remembered in the times to come.

References

Anderson, M, Toor, S, Rainie, L & Smith, A 2018, ‘Activism in the social media age’, Pewinternet, 11 June, viewed 11 October 2018, <https://wtop.com/social-media/2018/06/todays-protests-many-voices-social-media-not-1-leader/>.

Bakardjieva, M 2009, ‘Subactivism: lifeworld and politics in the age of the internet’, The Information Society, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 91-104.

Cohen, S 2018, ‘Social is the new heart of political protests’, The Associated Press, 22 June, viewed 11 Oct 2018, <https://wtop.com/social-media/2018/06/todays-protests-many-voices-social-media-not-1-leader/>.

[cookingwithpositivity]

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Have you set forth goals for the new year? #topictuesday #topicoftheweek #cwp #cookingwithpositivity https://www.instagram.com/p/CYnLIGTBP4u/?utm_medium=tumblr

[latifaartofficial]

As this week is the last week regarding the Colours in our Lives, I wanted to end it in Black and White colours for their importance in mixing the colours... Hopefully you will like it 😉☺️... Once again, I would like you to share with me your comments and opinions...🤔🤔 If you have any idea or topic you would like to read about, please share it with me, as next weekend, I'm starting a new one, it will be my pleasure to write about something you like 💜🧡❤️🤎 . . #topicoftheweek #blackandwhite #acrylicpaintings #contemporaryartcollectors #contemporaryarts #contemporarypainting #abstractart #abstractpainting #abstract_gallery #paintings #l_for_latifa #latifaart #latifaartlebanon #latifaartsouvenirs #latifaart_official #latifaartofficial #artcurators #artcollectors #visualarts #visualartworks #f4follow #artgalleryofnsw #artgallerylondon #artgalleries #artgallerynyc #artgalleryparis #curatorsoftheextraordinary #stay_at_home #stay_safe #saatchiart https://www.instagram.com/p/CU2CUstPK40/?utm_medium=tumblr

[newrainy]

Week 11 Global Social Media: China

Is the Social Credit System a way to instil good behaviour and provide safety to citizens? At what cost?

Let me tell you; China has a history of breaking its beautiful cultures and ancient history. The Chinese authorities and the government break their society for their own good and are not in it for the people. I'm aware of the wrongdoings of the CCP and that citizens fight for justice and freedom. Still, it gets silenced immediately in a censored country like China.

Firstly, let's talk about what the Social Credit System is proclaiming to be according to CCP; the system intends to monitor, put ratings, and regulate the different socioeconomic aspects such as financials, political, morals, and social behaviors of Chinese citizens in China. The Company also has a system, either settling for punishments or rewards based on your rates. According to CCP, they claim this will improve the social issues they have in their society. We praise the ones loyal and trustworthy to the government and bash the opposite through disciplinary actions. The Social Credit System also claimed to raise the economy of the country. (Cho 2020)

How does it work?

Every individual is constantly providing data for the government. Based on human tracking, a given social credit score will either increase or decrease if you follow the credit system's rules. The data collected comes from various sources such as your financials, interactions online, official records, search history, et cetera. The system is heavily relied on video monitoring and tracking your location as well as you in an aesthetic form via your facial recognition.

Many empty promises are there if you get rated as a high-scored citizen. The scores give you many privileges, which is absurd because these things mentioned are unsustainable and would not work in their society when there is no freedom of movement due to their Zero-Covid scheme. According to this Infographic by Bertelsmann Stiftung, once you have a high score, you will be rewarded with priorities in work and school admissions as well as public housing, taking tax breaks, free access to gym facilities and activities, and so forth.

On the contrary, if you are labeled as untrustworthy (low scores) by the government, you get suspended licenses and admissions, no freedom to travel by any means, public shaming on broadcasting TV and the net, and no right to government jobs and private schools. Your life gets tarnished if you are not an "Ideal" citizen. That does not promote good behavior, like controlling a population to satisfy the government's evil laws.

It's a way for CCP to control the citizens by restricting every right one could have. Imagine continuously being monitored for everything you do; if it is against the government, there is a punishment. That is not disciplining citizens; it is taking their freedom as a way of living in peace with their own choices and passions. We cannot compare their system to our social justice systems; we live by laws, but our rules, the severity of punishments they have for doing things that would be legal here; that's the volume we are speaking.

Reference

Bertrlsmann Stiftung, ‘China’s Social Credit System’, viewed 10 December 2022, <https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/fileadmin/files/aam/Asia-Book_A_03_China_Social_Credit_System.pdf>

Cho, E 2020, ‘The Social Credit System: Not Just Another Chinese Idiosyncrasy’ Journal of Public & International Affairs JPIA, viewed 10 December 2022, <https://jpia.princeton.edu/news/social-credit-system-not-just-another-chinese-idiosyncrasy>

[certifiedslytherin]

Online gaming and its impact on society.

The gaming industry has been growing over the past years. It is portrayed as an evolution of digitized third places, further confusing boundaries among social media platforms and social networking sites (Burroughs, 2014). There are several concepts introduced in types and forms of play.

Firstly, Caillois (1961) introduced the concept of Ludus & paidia, which translates to 'rules' and 'freedom,' respectively. Huizinga (1938), on the other hand, introduced the concepts Agon, Alea, Mimicry, and Ilinx.

Those concepts translate to 'Competition,' 'Chance,' 'Simulation,' and 'Vertigo,' respectively.

The concept of 'Agon' is applied to games that require training, techniques, and discipline. For instance, games such as Dota and Plant VS Zombies requires the Agon concept of play.

'Alea,' on the other hand, is where the effort, ability, and expertise are dismissed, and the 'victory is an outcome of fate instead of triumph over an opponent. For instance, simple games such as poker and football fit Alea's description.

'Mimicry' is where players escape themselves and transforms into 'illusory characters.' Games such as World of Warcraft and The Sims must fit into the description.

Finally, 'Ilinx' is a play formed by the production of vertigo or disorientation. Games such as Angry Birds and Stormland with Occulus Rift are examples of the Ilinx form of play.

Online gaming is often looked down upon and is considered 'useless,' 'a waste of time', and not beneficial to society. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought many people together to play games, especially online games.

For instance, games such as Among Us and Animal Crossing were famous during the pandemic's lockdown. The game Among Us had 100 million downloads by people, and it still holds the record as the most downloaded game. On the other hand, the game Animal Crossing rose in popularity and secured Nintendo Switch revenues (Lufkin, 2020).

This pandemic caused the World Health Organization (WHO) to shift its perspective on online gaming; on which at first, they considered online gaming as harmful and addictive, and changed their stance by praising online gaming as beneficial and having a positive impact on stress management (Kriz, 2020, p. 405).

Although online gaming has pros in forming communities, building relationships, and helping stress management, it has cons too.

Firstly, online gaming is prone to create an environment for harassment. This is due to online gaming is often preferred by males. According to a report, 93% of women had to hide their gender identity as they experienced sexual harassment online (Sacco, 2022). This issue, therefore, causes online gaming to be known as a toxic place.

Next, online gaming can lead to addiction. This addiction can affect one's health too—for instance, tiredness and sleep deprivation. According to a report, about 60 million people suffer from game addiction (Hopkins, 2022). This reflects what WHO said before they changed their perspective on gaming.

Gaming is fun if your circle if you have the right circle. 

Conclusion

To conclude, many types and forms of play are produced due to different gaming content. Pros and cons should also be highlighted when it comes to social gaming. Hence, one should be careful when indulging in social gaming as it is not everyone's cup of tea.

References

Burroughs, B., 2014. Facebook and FarmVille: A digital ritual analysis of social gaming. Games and Culture, 9(3), pp.151-166.

Caillois, R (1961) Man, Play and Games Chicago: University of Illinois Press

Dom Sacco (2022) Three quarters of women disguise their gender to avoid sexual ... Available at: https://esports-news.co.uk/2022/03/08/three-quarters-women-disguise-gender-gaming-online-abuse/ (Accessed: November 25, 2022).

Hopkins, S. (2022) Gaming addiction report 2022, Delamere. Available at: https://delamere.com/blog/gaming-addiction-report-2022 (Accessed: November 25, 2022).

Huizinga, J (1938) Homo Ludens, London: Random House

Kriz, W. C. (2020) ‘Gaming in the Time of COVID-19’, Simulation & Gaming, 51(4),pp. 403–410. doi: 10.1177/1046878120931602.

Lufkin, B., 2020. How online gaming has become a social lifeline. [online] BBC Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201215-how-online-gaming-hasbecome-a-social-lifeline> [Accessed 25 November 2022].

[jingqinontheroad]

Task One: Tumblr a blogs or social networking sites?

Blogs known as a major phenomenon of digital culture which written by a person or a group of people and regularly published on the Internet however social networking sites defined as a web-based service that creates public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, clarify a list of other users with who they share a connection with, view their list of connection and those made by others within the system (boyd and Ellision,2007). So, Tumblr consider a blog or social networking sites

In my opinion, I considered Tumblr as social networking and microblogging platform. Tumblr not only a place to share daily lifestyle, pop culture memes and GIFs, it allows the user to write long blog posts, share photo and video to all the users. Tumblr allows the user to re-blogging and comments on other users post with shared interest which similar like retweeting on Twitter. Besides that, Tumblr allows crazy customization by providing hundreds of free themes and HTML of the users also can be fully customized.  According to Jen Refat, founder of Craftic, Tumblr allow the user to customize their profile. It is easy to develop and public within a week, built-in social media features have proved helpful in sharing content. Jen Refat also stated Tumblr has DIY and craft community which allows interest-based communities to have a look at it (Driver S,2018). 

Furthermore, we always wanted to search for current trends on social media sites such as Facebook or Instagram. Tumblr also can be used to search for popular posts, trending topics and blogs. Tumblr considered as social network sites it is because of popular Tumblr users able to get lots of engagement from their followers. Examples, if a popular artist makes a post on their profile, it could attract a lot of visitors to comment and repost the content. This is how they interact and communicate with each other through Tumblr. Lastly, there are fandoms everywhere on the Tumblr. Fandoms defined as a huge group of people share the same interests. These interests can include movies, music, video games, comic books and more.

In a nutshell, Tumblr also can be knowns as Facebook 2.0. It says so because Facebook is a social network platform which allows parents, friends, co-workers to communicate and keep in touch with each other’s, Tumblr is a place where younger people express themselves to the social network sites. In common sense, Tumblr and Facebook associated with social networking sites because it is related to have a connection with other people who have similar interest, activities and much more.

Reference

Boyn d, Ellision N 2017, “Social Network Sites “Definition, History, and Scholarship’, Wiley Online Library, Viewed 22 March 2018, < https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x >

Driver S 2018, “Tumblr or Business: Everything You Need to Know”, Business News Daily, viewed 22 March 2018, < https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7455-tumblr-for-business.html>

[yiaun97]

Do Not Feed Da Trolls

Being a Prick Just Because You Can

Trolling is a huge part of modern digital citizenship. It’s a deliberate behaviour that attempts to torment digital citizens in a provocative and insulting manner (Nicol 2012). According to Coles and West (2016), trolling could manifest as a subtle or unsubtle offensive message directed to offend, start an argument or lure people to pointless debates. Its core purpose is to garner strong and emotional reactions. Emotionally trigger those who are unable to resist this provocative behaviour.

Have you ever wondered why do people troll? The answer: anonymity. Anonymity facilitates the condition for trolling. When people hide behind their computers, they assume that they are invisible and they are under minimal authority. Therefore, it motivates them to do things that they wouldn’t dare do in daily life (Nicol 2012). Essentially, they are ‘keyboard warriors’, through the power of the internet, they do unthinkable things under their virtual disguise.

Just a Prank?

It’s just a prank! Or is it? Trolling can have serious consequences online and in daily life. It results in harsher opinions or judgements being formed, acting as a mechanism for prejudice behaviour (Coles and West 2016). If an individual troll decided to spread false news, he might just receive verbal backlash. However, when a collective group of trolls decided to spread false news, the impact of their behaviour might be dire than you think. People who are unaware of the legitimacy of the news might assume it to be true as it is constantly spread. Besides, trolling has other severe consequences such as the increase of suicidal thoughts and self-harm (Coles and West 2016). Hence, we could conclude that trolling is more than unpleasant; it is, in fact, unethical in some cases.

Trolling ≠ Bad

There is another concept of trolling called ‘kudos trolling’, where users will post irrelevant information in good faith (Coles and West 2016). Hence, the disruption caused by the interactions here is considered as an unfortunate or unintended consequence.

Some brands use trolling as a strategy for marketing. It gives the brand a chance to go viral without spending a lot of cash (Vox 2019). Besides, it humanizes the brand, proving to customers they can be funny (Vox 2019). Spotify celebrated the end of 2017 by sharing reflection videos and statistics to their users. They took the information they had and turned it into an ad campaign, poking fun of their user’s habits (Adweek 2017). The campaign was very successful, garnering huge attention from consumers.

Grey Area

Now that we’ve covered both sides of trolling, is there a way to limit negative trolling? When it comes to online content, digital media companies are the governing authority. They have the power to control who they want on their platform. Recently, Facebook and Instagram banned controversial right-wing figures that include Alex Jones and Milo Yiannopoulos due to their policies on hate speech and promoting violence (Bloomberg 2019). While some applaud Facebook’s decision, critics might say that Facebook is suppressing conservative voices and violating freedom of speech. In my opinion, trolls can never die off, it’s a part of internet culture. Therefore, banning trolls from digital platforms might not be the best solution. However, I do agree that trolls have to be liable to their online behaviours. They have to be identified and face legal consequences if they broke the law.

 References

Adweek. (2017). Spotify Unearths More Hilarious User Habits in Global Outdoor Ads for the Holidays. [online] Adweek.com. Available at: https://www.adweek.com/creativity/spotify-unearths-more-hilarious-user-habits-in-global-outdoor-ads-for-the-holidays/ [Accessed 6 May 2019].

Bloomberg.com. (2019). Facebook Bans Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Other Far-Right Figures. [online] Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-02/facebook-bans-alex-jones-yiannopoulos-other-far-right-figures [Accessed 6 May 2019].

Coles, B.A. & West, M. 2016, "Trolling the trolls: Online forum users constructions of the nature and properties of trolling", Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 60, pp. 233-244.

Nicol, S. 2012, "Cyber-bullying and trolling", Youth Studies Australia, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 3-4.

Vox. (2019). Why do brands attempt April Fools’ Day pranks?. [online] Available at: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/4/1/18290776/april-fools-day-brand-worst-pranks-history-google [Accessed 6 May 2019].

[aparnakher]

How to create a good daily routine: 1. Make time for things that help your growth. 2. Try to find balance in your day. What does your daily routine include? Let me know in the comments below. Check out my new YouTube video and blog on 'How to create a good daily routine'. Links in bio! #saveourselves #saveourselvesblog #weeklyvideo #topicoftheweek #themeoftheweek #goodday #dailyroutine #dailyroutines #createaroutine #formaroutine #howtoplan #howtocreate #routines #myroutinelife #selfcareroutine #planyourday #selfgrowth #selfdevelopment #takecontrol #fridaymotivation #fridaythoughts #fridaypost https://www.instagram.com/p/CEbhAmJDoTO/?igshid=3qqs7pvow3ir

[misslolz-blog1]

When you clock the game 😎 #TopicOfTheWeek #Gaming Follow us on: Facebook: https://t.co/ii2TNi6XZO Twitter: https://t.co/dtfexR6Vwp Instagram: https://t.co/ZJkWjcsFM1

[latifaartofficial]

This week topic is Pink in our lives... The pink is a secondary colour, we have it when mixing red and white... 💞💞 I hope you are enjoying this topic that I upload each week where we have a new colour...💓💓 . . #topicoftheweek #topicoftheday #pinkpinkpink #acrylicpaintings #colourpalette #paintings #abstractpainting #abstractart #abstract_gallery #l_for_latifa #latifaart #latifaartlebanon #latifaartsouvenirs #latifaart_official #latifaartofficial #artgalleries #artcurators #artcollectors #artgalleryofnsw #artgallerylondon #artgallerylondon #curators #visualarts #collectors #f4follow #contemporaryartcollectors #contemporaryarts #contemporarypainting #saatchiart #bluethumb https://www.instagram.com/p/CT9aTnQvMEh/?utm_medium=tumblr