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How would your app handle user harassment? A lot of dating apps tend to be a harbinger for harassment, so how would yours help deter that from happening? 

Blog Post 11/18 week #13

Blog Post 11/18 week #13

What kind of social media site or digital platform are you creating?

The app that I will be creating is called pet date. It’s dating up like a hinge, bumble, or tinder, but instead of just uploading pictures of yourself, it will be mostly pictures of your animals. Once you think the person is cute, you can match with them and decide to go on dates while taking your pet with you. It’s an excellent conversation starter, and it helps find something in common with the other person easily.  Plus, you can meet some adorable pets while going on cute dates.

What will you measure?

What my app will measure is race, age, ethnicity.  It will also collect a person’s email; we could also gather personal information if they choose to or give us that information to better interact with the app. It will also collect your location so you can be able to match with people nearby you.  All these items will be used to give you a selection to your liking. 

How will you weigh these factors?

All these things will be weighted as they make their profiles. They will be asked for their names and age right when they download the app they will then be asked to answer the rest of the questions as long as they relate to them. They can add hobbies and things they like and dislikes. 

What factors will be measured? 

What will be measured is how good your pictures are, also how cute your pet is. Depending on your pet can determine how many swipes you have. The more swipes the more successful you are on the app. 

How will the model learn or adapt new information?

The app will update on its own very often so you can cointime using the app. On the app you can edit things whenever they change, for example if you got a new pet or a new picture you can upload it. 

What biases will be built into the model? How will this change the algorithm’s outcome?

Some biases it will include will be flagging people who use foul language towards others. They will be reported and their account will be suspended. Any pictures that are not appropriate will also be reported and will have their account suspended. The users them self will have the power to report things they believe is wrong and it will then be looked by people who run the app.

How will the model live out the (un)ethical practices we have discussed?

This app will live out the unethical practices that we have talked about by keeping people’s information private. Also, unlike other accounts, if people decide to delete the app that have that option, all of their information will be deleted. We will also make sure algorithms are not biased or racist towards any group.

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How does your model consider musical artists in this? Could this be used to help promote users own music or is this mainly for sharing widely distributed music?

Blog Post #11

Q1. What kind of social media platform are you creating? 

Music sharing platform – users will post/share what they listen to or their favorite songs/artists

       o Users can choose to share their top 100 played songs, favorite artists/songs, personally created playlists, and the associated feedback/comments to them

       o Can also introduce a live feed so users can see what you listen to in real-time (whatever is playing on your phone etc. [able to turn off feature])

Q2. What will you measure?

I will measure what music each listener focuses on to create a listener profile based on, genre, sub-genre, decade, content, beats per minute, and mood

Q3. How will you weigh these factors? 

 I will weigh the following categories from most important to least: 

     1.     Genre

     2.     Sub-genre

     3.     Mood

     4.     Content (message of the lyrics)

     5.     Decade

     6.     Beats per min

Q4. What factors will not be measured?

Not weighted: All personal characteristics to the user – this platform prides itself on user privacy

         o During account set up, it will not even require gender, age, location, or other possibly discriminatory demographic questions

         o Only the essentials:

                  1.     Over 13 years old  “yes or no?”

                  2.     Email

                  3.     Password

                  4.     Language

Q5. How will the model learn or adapt to new information? 

The model will adapt and learn by suggesting music based off preferences as well as similar users suggested to become online friends

         o Each time you play a song, it keeps a record and will suggest new music based off preferences

         o Each time you dislike a song it will ask why

                         o Dislike the artist, melody, speed, content of lyrics, or other?

Q6. What biases are built into the model? How does this affect the algorithm’s outcome? 

This platform will hopefully be created with almost no innate bias programmed into the software

         o The algorithm will be limited initially to US trending music but eventually can be updated to encompass a global population once the app has greater popularity

        o Bias of age will affect what type of music is suggested due to popular music of that time

Q7. How will the model live out the ethical practices we have discussed? 

This model can live out ethical practices as there is no biases of the algorithm specifically on race, gender, socioeconomic background, or any other defining demographic descriptor. 

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Creating an Ethical Model for an Algorithm

My idea for a social media site/platform would be one that would help counteract against the negative impacts on body image site’s such as Instagram and Facebook have had on people. These sites damage body image by giving people the perception that they should be always looking their best when compared to the many celebrities and influencers they follow on the sites. Sites like Instagram or TikTok strive now on their many influencers and celebrities that post how glamourous their life is or photos of themselves which gives others the false perception that this should be something to strive for, to always be this happy and good looking at these celebrities without thinking of how the few benefits of these sites is that you can keep track of your own friends and see how they are doing. So, my idea is to keep that as insular as possible. For my social media platform/app, you can bring together a small group of your friends into an exclusive circle to share photos with each other with the purpose of bringing up one another and then to gamify it in order to promote the body positivity of the app. My first thought of the usage of this app would be to maintain workout routines between friends and keep updated on how they are doing with their workouts. Personally, I have found it to be more helpful if I have a friend to talk about my exercise and progress without them also attending the same gym with me. I believe this experience would be extended to non-workout related and be as a way to promote body positivity between friends without the outside eyes or expectations of other people.

For the gamification element, to gain points within your group, you are required to post at certain intervals of time set by you and your friends, to check up with everyone. Points would be awarded for keeping within the time limit, as well as posting compliments to pictures posted. Once a friend has posted a picture, all other friends are given access to said photo and are able to edit the photos with cute frames or stickers akin to how a Cue machine works. This would be how we track whether people are keeping to commenting on each other’s photos. The pieces you would use to decorate each other’s photos are only referencing positive things, and only work to enhance the photo without body reshaping photos tools or other typical beauty photo manipulation. With the points earned by posting photos, commenting on your friends’ photos, and decorating your friends’ photos, you can spend the points to receive new stickers or objects that you can later add to more photos.

The algorithm used to maintain the website would be used to collect the data from users on how exactly they are using the app, if they are using it correctly, which objects/stickers/photo elements are being used the most, and how long people continue to use the app. Since it is a niche idea, the algorithm would be mainly used to understand when the dropping off point of this would be and help maintain user’s long-term usage. Things that would not be measured or collected would be the actual photos people are using, only the data about them would be kept. The photos themselves should not be accessible to anyone else but the people in their own groups and will not be kept for the use of the algorithm. Factors to be considered would be exactly who is using the app and what kind of groups emerge. Dependent on the types of users the app would bring in, the model may change to better suit the needs of those users. For example, if the majority of users lean towards the exercise maintaining idea or aspect, the model could evolve to include recording workout times, calorie burned counts, or help document workout types and how many reps done.  Based on how the user data, the app may be tweaked to be biased towards those who use the app for workout progress instead of casually sharing photos with friends and gravitate towards being more of a fitness app than a social media platform.  

In order to outlive the pitfalls of normal unethical algorithm processes, the data collection will be kept to a minimum. Data collected from users would be relegated to either pure data collection for statistical purposed or bug reporting. The data collected for statistical purposes would be kept to processes that involve what aspects of the app are being used to most to better understand what users want from their experience. Data collected of aspects of the app that are not being used will help to understand where to better focus our attention and to help make the experience better for the users. Images posted would not be collected and users would remain any of their photos or creations as their own, meaning posting on the app would not relinquish ownership of their photos. Since there is no data being collected on the photos themselves, it would help keep any racial bias that many facial recognition applications or beauty manipulation applications may already have. Since you create the groups and allow who comes into your group, any forms of harassment could be managed easily by the members of the group, meaning if one user begins to harass the others in the group, the group has means of banning or excommunicating them from their group and would have a strike when entering and others. To deter harassment by using other people’s photos, users will not have the opportunity to edit these photos with anything negative as all the options for editing only have positive connotations. A possible counter to avoid users using photos of people outside the group, the only photos that can be posted to one another are photos created within the camera application at the time, meaning they can not import any photos from their devices but must take the photo within the app. There would also be options made very apparent about the extent to which a user wants their photos manipulated. Users can opt in and out of the following to their photos: adding frames, adding stickers, adding comments, being able to save the photo or screenshot, or how long the photo remains visible.

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So do you consider privacy, and in term online privacy, a civil liberty?

Week 12 Blog Post #10 (due 11/11)

Is police arrest for association of participating in a protest justified?

In the Mother Jones reading, there was a protest being organized, and police were there to aggressively end the protesting. Two men were accused of conspiring with the protest groups, and were arrested after their homes were rushed into (Power, 2011). In this case, there were better ways to approach the situation than, essentially, a police raid into their homes. Typically, raids and arrests are used when the suspect is armed and dangerous. However, this tactic was used for men who were only engaged in passing around information about the protest. The best way to approach this situation was to monitor their actions on the internet to see if their actions constituted a danger to society. The raid seemed to be, for a lack of a better term, an “overkill,” especially since there were other sources that people were getting their information from for the protest.

At what level of escalation should protesting be stopped? In other words, is there a point in the midst of a protest where there needs to be prevention or intervention?

A protest is supposed to be nonviolent advocacy of an ideology or equality. A protest is legal by the United States Constitutional First Amendment by having the right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. The only reason law enforcement should be involved is if the protest turns violent and/or violates any laws. During the Black Lives Matter protest, there were “looters,” who were people who took advantage of the uproar by looting and trashing stores and businesses. This is when law enforcement should take action against these people because of the laws they were breaking: breaking and entering as well as stealing. What was wrong with law enforcement making an appearance during the Black Lives Matter protest was when they started aggressively restraining innocent people who were fighting for equality in legal ways. 

How has surveillance changed throughout the 21st century?

Nowadays, the FBI are resorting to getting additional information through schools that have plenty of information about their student base. The law states that universities have the freedom to share this information to law enforcement agencies without a court order as long as they have limits. Specifically, the Department of Education guidelines prohibits “name, address, e-mail address, telephone number, field of study, the weight and height of athletes, and the date and place of birth,” all without a court order (Parenti 2004). However, a subpoena is required in order to present ID numbers, Social Security numbers, and information about students’ ethnicity, race, citizenship, and gender. All of this information that schools and universities are able to keep on file allows law enforcement agencies to access information that they need from students with ease. This would make it much easier for law enforcement agencies to identify specific students or match certain information to a specific student’s information.

Should social media users be worried about how much information can be found through the Internet?

Social media users should be worried about how much information is out there on the Internet if they take part in posting about matters that would cause serious problems, specifically with the government. For example, people that are planning a protest may be investigated by the government in order to find out if the protest could be illegal or provoke violence and chaos. Users should be aware that their personal information is easily accessible through the Internet if law enforcement does have a reason to research and investigate their account. However, anybody that is cautious about what they post and stay from any suspicious activity should not be worried, but should be cautious about how much information they provide on these social media platforms. After all, any stalker or hacker could use this information against them to blackmail or partake in identity theft if users are not cautious about personal information they reveal online.

References:

Parenti, C. (2004). The Soft Cage: Surveillance in America from slavery to the War on Terror. Basic Books.

Power, M. (2010). How your Twitter account could land you in jail. Mother Jones. Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/police-twitter-riots-social-media-activists/.

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Blog Post #10 Due 11/12

How has the constant increase in surveillance harmed protestors?

The overreaching effect of the Patriot Act has continued 20 years later as it was the first attempt at chipping away the privacy of every day American denizen. What was the successful attempt at being able to tap phone lines, recover phone call history, and paper-thin warrants has evolved to include your personal internet history? We’ve seen the effects of how law enforcement can use the internet to harass protestors in person (Power, 2010), and how the flimsiest of reasons can be used as an excuse to harass the lives of people they believe to be harmful. In even more recent memory, there has been incidents where law enforcement has used social media and even a person’s personal shopping history to track down and punish protesters (Eadicicco, 2020). In these cases, with this much information taken from law enforcement, any odd end or find on the part of law enforcement can and will end up being used to criminalize any activity or rationalize the harassment officers do to those they deemed criminals.

 How has it harmed the common person?

Despite raising the question, myself, I must first clarify that there really isn’t much difference in someone who claims to be a protester and the common person. By definition, a protestor is the common man standing up for what they believe is unjust in a system that is supposed to represent them, but the media in its attempted to dehumanize protestors, has made the act of protesting seem inherently more substantial that in it, meaning that protesting is no longer standing up for what you believe in, but a cause where you must dedicate your life and soul into. To put it simply, the media’s creation of the protestor archetype in turn makes those that aren’t protestors believe that the act of protesting is more significant than it is. This creates the idea that a protestor is a separate person to the common man rather than the simple act that it can be. It’s as if the media hailed major athletes as so much different than the average person that people no longer see playing a sport as a recreational activity, but rather only something that is played by those at the professional level and left to the greats at sports.

 Okay? Again, how has constant surveillance of everyday citizens harmfully affected them?

So, my point in making the above difference known is because there is no real difference between a protestor and the common person, meaning that the effects of this surveillance state in the United States that harms protestors can and will harm the everyday person. The ability to protest is a civil liberty that is legal in the United States, and when the government punishes those for simply using their right to protest, it slowly chips away at what law enforcement can do to arrest you. There is always a difference between the act of protest and the declaration to harm someone else for their beliefs, to which law enforcement can and should arrest for the latter as it is protected those from public harm; but when it is simply protesting, the law should not be able to intervene. What constitutes as protesting can be changed so that simply being in the area can be considered protesting, which is happening more frequently (“Kettling” Protesters in the Bronx, 2020) (Queally & Welsh, 2020).  

  Do you really have nothing to fear if you aren’t doing anything illegal in a surveillance state?

The main problem with this is the line that differentiates between what is legal and illegal can be easily moved or stepped over for any reason. Once law enforcement believes themselves to be the right for any reason, time has showed they will step over any lines they create to get what they want. Whether it be creating warrants based on the smallest of evidence or obtaining private information and creating a reason, it has shown that they can create something out of nothing if they want to. Besides, in a country that praises itself on the freedoms they allow their citizens to have, it is living much free with the constant oversight of the government looming slightly overhead of you and all your actions.

 Eadicicco, L. (2020, June 18). FBI used Instagram, Etsy, and LinkedIn to track down, arrest protester. Business Insider; Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-uses-instagram-etsy-linkedin-to-find-george-floyd-protester-2020-6

“Kettling” Protesters in the Bronx. (2020, September 30). Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/09/30/kettling-protesters-bronx/systemic-police-brutality-and-its-costs-united-states

‌ Power, M. (2010, March 11). How Your Twitter Account Could Land You in Jail. Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/police-twitter-riots-social-media-activists/

Queally, J., & Welsh, B. (2020, June 2). Floyd protests: Arrests grow to 2,700 in L.A. County. Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-02/george-floyd-protests-los-angeles-arrests-locals

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How effective do you think online activism has become over regular activism? 

Blog Post: Due 11/04

How do activists utilize the internet to assist them?

Activists use the internet for various reasons, some include informing others, advocating, and action. The internet gives the ability to inform others of issues that are occurring around that certain area. Keeping people updated on what is being done as well as what needs to be done is very important. Activists utilize the internet to share what action will take place and how it will be executed. Activists can also form protests in order to address the message they want to share to society.

Have you ever participated in a protest? If so, how were you informed and what was it about?

I was part of protests early last year as well and this year. I was informed through social media posts when these issues were first occurring. For example, when the police officers murdered Geroge Floyd, the video that illustrated it happening went viral on the internet. People were furious and wanted something to be done about this. Activists turned to the media to gather people to protest the wrongdoing of the officers. I remember seeing Instagram posts sharing where certain protests were going to take place. I attended a few around my city and nearby cities which allowed me to meet all kinds of people who were fighting for something to be done about the situation. I feel that many people were informed through social media which is how they were able to come out and participate.

How has the internet taken a role in protests?

The internet is used in many various ways. People who take part in protests utilize the internet to communicate and share information. Some of this information may include locations where they will meet as well as times these events will take place. The internet has been a significant tool within protests because it allows various people to connect and come together as one. These people share similar beliefs and are there to make a change together. The internet has made it much easier to organize, inform, and take action.

How are hashtags effective when utilizing them as a tool to fight for a cause?

Hashtags are used on all types of social media platforms. These tags are useful because they allow people to be informed when clicking on the tags. It takes you to a page filled with all kinds of information and stories about people. These hashtags can sometimes be harmful because if people use them incorrectly misinformation can be shared or the important information is stuck below. Take for example “Blackout Tuesday”, when people took the day to recognize that something had to be done many were using the hashtag #blacklivesmatter. This was harmful because the people who posted information about the movement were being pushed down and no one was able to see it.

Work Cited:

Fuchs, C. (2018). Communication Power in the Arab Spring and Occupy Movement . In Social Media: A critical introduction (pp. 83–88). essay, SAGE.

Lee, L. (2017). Black twitter: A response to bias in mainstream media. Social Sciences, 6(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci6010026

Vegh, S. (2013). Classifying Forms of Online Activity . In Cyberactivism: Online activism in theory and Practice. essay, Routledge

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What do you think is a large pitfall that online activists need to avoid/be aware of? 

Blog Post #9

Q1. How does Black Twitter create a space for African-Americans to virtually protest prejudice in mainstream media?

          Twitter allows people from around the world to socially interact, share ideas, and create personal relationships with others on common interests that may not be possible in real life. The subculture of Black Twitter is a population on twitter representing African-Americans and allows them to share culturally specific content and address personally relevant issues. As we’ve discussed in previous weeks, social media and online interaction allows for ideas to spread more quickly and allows for more efficient organization of advocacy or protest. Having a culturally specific subset on social media allows people dealing with similar issues to communicate and support each other. Some minorities experiencing discrimination may feel like an outcast and misunderstood if they are not well connected, but with this established support system, Black Twitter lets people organize and advocate for equity.

Q2. How has the internet allowed for more efficient activism?

           The creation of the internet has allowed groups to more actively collaborate, share ideas, organize, and develop actionable changes that was previously not possible unless in-person physically. Vegh attempts to classify all forms of online activism within 3 unique categories: Awareness/advocacy, Organization/mobilization, and action/reaction. The author explains that solely advocating and spreading awareness of social issues allows for more individuals to be informed and can support further representation for a cause. They use examples of having culturally specific news outlets thar are actually foreign in nature to provide uncensored information to countries such as China or Burma to spread awareness globally to hopefully insight change. The organization/mobilization stage allows for users from any background to congregate to enact change. Commonly online email campaign, coordinating physical-offline action, or coordinating online movements such as spam or hacking tactics. The internet allows for all of these tactics to occur more efficiently and allows for the natural spread of ideas in a safe way. Finally, the action/reaction category refers to feasible action done online such as hacking attempts to control biased sites or cause logistical issues to weaken a corporation of government.

Q3. How did racism toward African Americans and other racial minorities become ingrained and institutionalized in America?

         According to Lee, the construction of the black body as a criminal was the contributing force that preluded many other forms of institutionalized and  systemic racism. Obviously, issues began with the slave trade of Africans who were captured and brought around the world unwilfully in order to benefit White men. The concept that the black body was something to be controlled was a crucial source of power and control enacted on slaves in order to maintain power over them. Since its exposition here in the US, the Black body was seen as something to be vigilant over and to control, requiring “patrollers” to watch out for run-away slaves. This has continued to be pertinent in law enforcement as certain racially profiled areas are considered “bad areas” solely due to their high percentage of minorities destined to be stuck there, as they would never be accepted, financed, or capable to live in White dominated areas (Lee). Police “patrolled and surveilled” these racially dominated areas as the Black body was destined for criminal activity. This combined with pervasive anti-black racism such as blackface, and institutionalized racist thought, allowed for the naturalization of race and the operant violence against Black bodies.

Q4. Why in Wilson and Dunn’s case study, were Facebook and Twitter less important than other forms of media?

         According to Fuchs review of various online movements, the internet is responsible for the organization of social movements and allows for an easier spread of ideas, but how does it relate to actual change. Many movements while gaining popularity online, do not actually advanced their goal other than spreading awareness and sympathy from supporters. Wilson and Dunn’s case study on the Tahrir Data project surveyed Egyptians on their perception of which form of media was most important for the spread of information and support for protects. Most commonly people relied on face-to-face communication primarily, followed by television broadcast and phone calls, and much lesser extent for Facebook and Twitter. So why is this true? Many people relied on physical or reputable sources to gather information on the movement, where social media was more of a place to share feeling concerning the protest, rather than a place to organize. Would this still be true today, 10 years later, when considering the role twitter played in the organization of BLM protests this past year?

References:

Fuchs, C. (2018). Communication Power in the Arab Spring and Occupy Movement . In Social Media: A Critical Introduction

Lee, L. (2017). Black twitter: A Response to Bias in Mainstream Media.

Vegh, S. (2013). Classifying Forms of Online Activity . In Cyberactivism: Online Activism in Theory and Practice.

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Blog Post #9 Due 11/5

How does the internet help facilitate activism in today's world?

With the boom of protests and rallies in the year 2011, a spotlight has been placed on the question of how exactly these protests come about with movements that seemingly have no true leaders. In the past, we could always point at a figurehead as the driving force of the movement. These people would be seen as the leaders of the movement much like how Dr. Martin Luthor King Jr was seen as the leader of the civil rights movement in the ’50s and ’60s or Cesar Chavez as the front runner of the Latin American civil rights movement of the ’70s; but seemingly with the advent of the internet, the movements of today are not centered around the rally calls of one person but stem from somewhere else. This is one of the biggest pros of the internet when it comes to its involvement with activism. With the ability to draw in large crowds of people and help organize members of a cause, what was once the responsibility of a movement’s leader can now be diffused to select self-appointed members.

What are the cons of using the internet for activism?

With greater numbers comes a greater amount of people needing to be managed and handled. And with no real leader, anyone with a large enough following can easily divert a movement in directions that weren’t originally intended. Because of the vastness of the internet, this will be one of the hurdles that activists must face. Also, with the larger number of people, a message can be muddled down or misunderstood as it is passed from person to person, from email to email, like a game of technological telephone. Critics argue that this new breed of internet activism does not help movements, but rather the lack of humanity that comes from talking through screens creates participants to become antagonists of those against their ideals rather than proponents of what they themselves stand for. Fuchs counters that despite the internet’s lack of sociality, the overall good of bringing together like-minded people to further just causes overreached any negatives and has been shown to be effective in movements such as the ones that emerged in 2011 around the world.

What are the 3 categories of internet activism detailed by Vegh?

First, it’s best to first define what internet activism is and how it differs from regular activism. Vegh defines internet activism as political activism that consists of the use of the internet, whether that be the help of social media to organize rallies, a system of email newsletters to keep people informed, or for the internet help in the proliferation of helpful information to a possible less informed public. With this in mind, Vegh categorized the many forms that activists take on the internet into three categories: awareness/advocacy, organization/mobilization, and action/reaction.

Awareness/advocacy is the act of accessing relevant information to the movement and distributing it to others. Before the internet, this would have been done either door to door, through the distribution of newspapers or other literature, or even being told to people on the streets on soapboxes, but with the advances of the internet, this takes on a different but familiar form. Today this would include things such as creating email newsletters or posting about events or underreported news that would normally not be covered by the mainstream media.

Organization/mobilization is much the same as before the internet but is just as important now as ever. The familiar form this type of activism shares with its predecessor is the need to assemble your like-minded activists into areas where they are needed most, whether that means physically somewhere to protest or to direct members to where help for the movement is most needed. For internet activism this also includes assembling others to direct action to online places such as coordinating a mass of emails to legislators or, going into the hacktivist territories of actions, orchestrating its members to flooding an online service with spam so that the service is rendered useless.

Finally, there is action/reaction, which covers the more proactive actions members could take and may fall into the acts of what people referred to as, hacktivists, tend to do. This would include actions such as the aforementioned flooding of spam towards an online service. While the organization of the action is considered under the second category, the action itself would be more akin to fit this category.

Which version of Internet activism is considered the best?

While Vegh goes to categorize internet activism into three different categories, they and I agree that there is no true best form of internet activism. A social movement or activism, in general, is a sum of all it’s parts. Vegh describes that internet activism can fall into 3 categories: awareness/advocacy, organization/mobilization, action/reaction. For a social movement to succeed, either internet activism or in-person activism, it must succeed in to doing all 3 categories. Focus on only one or two of these categories and the movement would not be able to stand without its third leg.  

Fuchs, C. (2018). Communication Power in the Arab Spring and Occupy Movement . In Social Media: A critical introduction (pp. 83–88). essay, SAGE.

Lee, L. (2017). Black twitter: A response to bias in mainstream media. Social Sciences, 6(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci6010026

Vegh, S. (2013). Classifying Forms of Online Activity . In Cyberactivism: Online activism in theory and Practice. essay, Routledge

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Do you think that maybe algorithms can sometimes be used to protect trolls of at the very least trolls can take advantage of certain algorithms?

Blog Post #8

Q1. What is an example of trolling and its negative effects?

            Trolling is the intentional misleading of a population through lies or deceit in order to personally benefit the troll. There are many examples of trolling that are innately harmful, but others that are created for comical gain. One example, explained by Bergstrom, is the profile Grandpa Wiggly from Reddit. This was a supposed 80-year-old man who actively contributed in online circles of Reddit, but in fact was a much younger user impersonating an elder character to tell a story. This fictional persona was not created intentionally to hurt others, but as a joke centering around the common pitfalls of seniors and technology. Many people believed they were receiving advice from a wise older gentleman, but when in reality it was a user perpetuating this persona for personal enjoyment. Trolling can negatively impact others as this lie could have caused harm to others, lead to stress from newly learned false information, and cause perpetuate hateful or even dangerous social behaviors.

Q2. How do hate crimes online disproportionately affect minorities.

          Similarly to physical hate crimes, minority groups are discriminated against so the in group can categorize and compare themselves to a standard, in aims to inflate one’s self-concept. Trolls and online stalkers target and harass certain groups of people, generally women, racial minorities, or other social minorities due to their innate differences from common societal norms. People with dissatisfied lives seek out others to cause harm and gain pleasure from that action. Citron argues that women specifically are more targeted online as many of the advances and attempts could never be made in person, or the ambiguity of an online presence allows the individual to act covertly. Many groups have developed to pursue these vicious attacks to certain groups as there is limited regulation for online harassment and allows the individual to remain anonymous, while intentionally harming and exposing the private lives of others.

Q3. What are some creative ways to combat trolls and trolling? What role do witnesses play?

           Trolling is the action of posting content with the intention of negatively targeting certain groups to spread false information or criticize other’s ideas. Trolling occurs in various ways such as hateful comments, misleading posts, and purposely abrasive behavior online. A mechanism to combat trolls is similar to dealing with a physical bully; the least responsive people become the least likely targets. Many people troll in order to gain pleasure through the misfortunes of others, and by ignoring hateful comments and posts intended to spark controversy, the troller will receive less enjoyment and can choose other avenues to pursue. Limiting responses to trolling posts makes the troller feel unheard, deflates their sense of importance, and can limit future attempts since there was no reaction.  

Q4. How can algorithms prevent trolling?

          Trolling is such a broad topic that many platforms cannot fully control it, much less understand and identify it. Many sites such as twitter or Instagram have developed software to block and mute bot-created accounts, hateful speech, and threatening behavior from certain users, but is there a way to regulate lies posted on their sites. This is an ongoing challenge for many programs with active advancements occurring constantly. User cans finds ways around the regulations, by rephrasing unacceptable content (with numbers or asterisks) and using more symbolic language to perpetuate hateful speech, and by creating multiple fake malicious accounts. In the case of Leslie Jones, platforms were unable to help her and relied on vigilant users to report and patrol for these trolling accounts.

References:

Bergstrom, K. (2011). “Don’t feed the troll”: Shutting down debate about community expectations on Reddit.com. First Monday. https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v16i8.3498

Citron, D. K. (2014). Introduction. Hate Crimes in Cyberspace, 1–32. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674735613.intro

Phillips, W. (2015). Defining terms: The origins and evolution of subcultural trolling. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, 55–87. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10288.003.0004

Silman, A. (2016). A Timeline of Leslie Jones’s Horrific Online Abuse. The Cut. Retrieved October 27, 2021, https://www.thecut.com/2016/08/a-timeline-of-leslie-joness-horrific-online-abuse.html.

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Do you think there's ever a moment in which you should interact with a troll?

Blog Post #8 Due 10/28

Q1: What are trolls and why are they common today?

The word “troll” is derived from the mythical creature. It also takes the characteristics of the being into play, such as being in someone way or just disrupting other people in their actions. Troll in today society are people who go out of their way to either disturb people intentionally with unwanted actions while some may just be doing it to  Trolls are common today because it is attached to social media and that same media base is what everyone uses so many become trolls whether intentionally or unintentionally. 

Q2: What are some creative ways to combat trolls and trolling? What role do witnesses play?

Some creative ways to combat trolls are ignoring their actions or attempts to get a reactions out of you. Most trolls seek attention or loved to see the reactions of their targets while they are trolling. If you cannot ignore their actions you can also make sure to block or report the person immediately. Witnesses play a big role in trolls and trolling online. Whether the trolling is unwanted or playful, just being there in that moment means you acknowledge what happened during that incident and if the incident was unwanted, now you are at fault since you you did not take any sort of action to stop or report it while it was happening almost as if you supported the action of trolling from the troll.

Q3:  Why is cyber harassment and stalking worse than trolling in the cyberspace? 

Cyber harassment and stalking are worse than that of trolling because harassment and stalking intentions are harmful and unwanted while trolling may be unwanted depending on trolls and their audience. Troll go out of their way to disturb the peace for their target while having a limit to their action, while cyber harasser and stalkers almost stop at nothing to go out of their way to cause issues of unwanted slander or in the name of “stalker” stalk their targets. These actions can go day by day and lead into months or even longer depending or the cyber harassers and stalkers. Citron quotes “ Marianna Taschinger, a twenty- two-year-old, said that she did not feel safe leaving her home after someone posted her nude photograph, home address, and Facebook profile on a porn site. “I don’t want to go out alone,” she explained, “because I don’t know what  might happen.”. These differences are very noticeable trolling can make you annoyed and mad but it does not get to the point of where you do not feel unsafe like in the provided quote. 

Q4: Who is Grampa Wiggly and how does it seem contribute to the trolls of society?

Grandpa Wiggly was a fake account made by a person who goes by another account called “Wordsauce”. Wordsauce would come up with a fake life for this Grandpa account gaining much popularity. However this popularity was undone by himself/herself when he/she came out as his/her original account stating he/she did not know his/her grandpa was a redditor, leading many to deep dive through the Grandpa account finding out that the account was a fake person. In the end as Bergstrom quotes “Wordsauce”, (the real owner of Grandpa Wiggly) “All I was trying to do was tell a story, to entertain, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. It was interactive fiction, plain and simple, kind of like a choose–your–own–adventure. There was no sinister motive behind all of this. I had no end game.” This internet troll would lose his/her popularity and would still be active although he/she has not posted anything since. To this day many seem to have followed in Grandpa Wiggly in making accounts for the same purpose, only these accounts would be more on the aggressive side trolling people whether with harmful or playful intentions. 

Citron, D. K. (2014). Introduction. Hate Crimes in Cyberspace, 1–32. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674735613.intro

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Blog Post #8 Due 10/28

What fuels trolls to do what they do?

There could be a variety of things that motivate a troll to do what they do, but what seems to be the common catalyst that creates the fire is the perception of anonymity. Surely harassment and stalking occur in the real world, but why is it so prevalent in the digital world? Now all introductions to online communities must come with a warning that there may be those around for the purposes of trolling. What makes trolling so prevalent is the anonymity that comes with using the internet. Much like mob mentality, the allure of anonymity causes people to adopt behaviors they normally wouldn’t do, emboldened by the lack of consequences is a part of the fuel that fires the metaphorical flaming these trolls cause.

Is trolling inherently always bad?

With any question asking whether something is black or white comes the reality of the gray, and trolling is no different. On one hand, it is very easy to say that harassment of any kind on any person is bad, but on the other hand, for some people, it depends on who is being harassed that it may be perfectly fine to troll. We can see this occurring in the real-world counterparts with harassing the harassment of certain militant protest groups such as Westboro Baptist Church, or white supremacist organizations; where people will show up to harass these protesters by either playing music over their chants or plainly screaming back at them that their hateful like should go away. So, in the digital world, we can see how this trolling for good can play out where harmful websites spouting hate and calling for violence can be trolled, for example, by overloading their servers with useless spam.

How is digital harassment differ from regular harassment?

It’s important to distinguish the differences because both manifest in different ways. Firstly, the ways in which one can cause digital harassment are normally different from their real-life counterparts. Secondly, the consequences or results of digital harassment are slightly different. And thirdly, the ways to counterattack real-life harassment may not work for cyber harassment. Both ways of harassment are rooted in the same goal, causing someone or someone’s mental harm and abuse; but the way they are achieved is very different. Also, the magnitude of what can be done to a person is far greater through easier means with cyber harassment than regular harassment, of course not counting physical harm which would be outside of simple harassment and enter the realm of assault. What I mean by it being easier with larger magnitudes is that cyber harassment can be done from anywhere now and in the comfort of your own home with usually no real consequences as cyber harassment is hard to track.

How are ways that cyber harassment can transcend into the real world?

With technology being more and more integrated into daily life, now online trolls have been given more trolls to use for their harassment. For example with the more innocent, gone are the days you would need to call a pizza place or food establishment to make a fake order to someone’s home as now you can simply use the internet to send however many things to a person’s home at once. A more nefarious example is the trend of “SWATing”, where a person can contact law enforcement with fake information that a particular person’s home is being used for illegal purposes. This is mainly used for live bloggers or streamers, as trolls will do this while they are live in hopes that they can see a live S.W.A.T. team arrest the person on camera

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Do you think the use of the internet to further white supremacy is something that has only been possible because of the advancements in technology or do you think there are other reasons? 

Blog Post #7 Due 10/14

Q1: Are there any similarities in the way society views women and the way they are represented in games?

Unfortunately the ways society view women, is a very grim topic. From the past women were mainly seen as working bodies, not at workspaces but at homes or if they were in jobs, these jobs would be those that were classified for women to work in. In modern times while some of these still hold true, women have made it in workspaces never though true in the past and were given opportunities. In general, women are seen as different from man both body and actions. Because of this view, in games females are based off the women of today. Both in society and in game share similarities on how they view females. In society, it is standard and ingrained in our minds that females do not have penises and have breast at least that, larger than a male. In games it is very similar in the way the female is depicted, as Riordan explains “The femininity is symbolic, coded and read as expression, language, hair, actions, costumes, and colors…they are gendered through morphology. They are sexed, and then gendered in conflation, precisely through the shape of the pelvis, the lack of the penis ,and the excess of breasts”. Another similarity would be that just like in the past viewpoints of society, many games have usually created main protagonist as males. Times are changing and while this view is still ongoing, society and game developers have been added LGBTQIA genders in their span of genders. 

Q2: Was white supremacy online superior than that of it through print?

Yes I would say so, not only could online reach on a global scale, it was much faster than the print. The print took much more time to write out and be sent to be publish then sent out to the public eye to see. However for the time difference I would not necessarily fully support that it was truly superior, while online it was quicker and efficient, print would technically be the version of online at the time just incorporated with the modern technology advantages. The print still got the message across and even today the white supremist still communicate and exist today thanks to the print. 

Q3: Are humans becoming slowly becoming cyborgs?

I do not think so, while we do use technology in our everyday lives, in the past, through the start of humanity we slowly became what today’s society is now. Whether or not having the technology to survive in the past, humans always adapt to survive. Technology does aid in our survival but it is more as a means to make our life easier, not necessarily needed to live, Although many lives would be lost today for not having these advances in technology such as medicine or hospital equipment once again humans always overcome obstacles it is in our nature.

Q4: What are the differences between how white males and females handle white supremacy?

White males were are the forefront of white supremacy and were the most influential in public place and the online space. Women primarily aided in spreading the word in their workspaces and played little of a role in the whole picture of white supremacy. As Daniels states “ While the men in white supremacist groups tend to emphasize a cult of heroes and martyrs,15Blee found that the women in  the  movement  she  interviewed  express  comparatively  little  interest  in identifying with heroic figures; instead they report finding more satisfaction in  feeling  selflessly  engaged  in  a  struggle  for  what  they  see  as  right.”

O’Riordan, K. (2006). Gender, Technology, and Visual Cyberculture. Critical Cyberculture Studies (pp. 243-252). New York University Press.

Haraway, D. (1991). A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century. (354-359).

Daniels, J. (2009). Gender, White Supremacy, and the Internet. Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights (pp. 61-86). Rowman & Littlefield

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The differences that men and woman have in expressing their white supremacy online, do you believe that those differences also manifest themselves the same way in real life?

Week 8: Blog Post #7 (due 10/14/21)

Should society be afraid  of the level that people are turning into “cyborgs”?

The way people are turning into “cyborgs”, the combination of animal and machine, is by attaching technology to themselves to make everyday tasks more convenient. For example, having portable smart phones on the wrists (that can make calls, pay for groceries, play music, etc.), playing video games through virtual reality headsets, and plugging in headphones to other technology (i.e. smartphones, computers, and consoles) are the ways technology has made humans into cyborg. From one perspective, yes, society should be concerned about the elevation of technology being one with humans only if it weakens human’s ability to be self-sufficient on their own. From another perspective, it is not a concern that society should be afraid of. One point that was made in the “Cyborg Manifesto” reading is that “we can be responsible for machines; they do not dominate or threaten us” (Haraway, 1991). Although the half of technology has slowly taken over the human, animalistic half, humans do not need to be afraid of technology dominating. It is important to remember that humans have the majority of the control in how much technology is integrated in their lives and what it assists them in doing.

What are the implications of portraying female characters and male characters in video games in a definitive way?

As the “Gender, Technology, and Visual Cyberculture” reading has pointed out, “sexy heroes” are sometimes conveyed through feminine bodies with a tiny waist and excessive breasts (Riordan, 2006). It is common in video games or online stories to portray genders in certain ways. For instance, women are often portrayed as sexy or cute, with the healing or assisting roles, while men are portrayed as more masculine, aggressive brute fighters that do more damage. It becomes a problem when these portals are reflected into reality. The implications that these roles and characteristics have is that it becomes expectations. Women are expected to dress or act “sexy” or “cute” because it has been unintentionally ingrained in society to associate women in this manner. When women dress more “masculine” or with baggy clothing, it is recognized as “abnormal” or “uncharacteristics”. Modern society has become more open to the variety of styles and roles women and men wear, but it could still use fixing.

Are there differences in when women and men participate in white supremacy online?

There are some differences in the content that women and men spread when participating in white supremacy. In the “Gender, White Supremacy, and the Internet” reading, more ladies speak out about women’s roles as wives and mothers, health, and beauty (Daniels, 2009). From experience, women are more likely to post their opinions on how women should act and look,  and input their opinions, even when not asked. Men are more likely to be assertive with their opinions, whether he/they display who he/they are inspired by in their screen name or by blunting stating how certain ideals should be. It is more often that men are more close-minded about how he/they address the situation.

How has the idea of (hetereonormative) masculinity and femininity changed throughout time?

Masculinity has been associated with males, and femininity with females. Whenever a male exerted, or were in touch with, femininity, he/they were referred to as “girly” or even “gay”. Females that showed masculinity were referred to as “tomboys”. These “abnormalities” were often belittled or criticized because it did not fit the societal standards of being a woman and man. Nowadays, more people are more open to the fact that men are able to be in touch with femininity and women showing off more masculine traits. It isn’t seen as a bad trait to have, but have been encouraged to embrace. For example, men are able to wear skirts, an item of clothing women wear more of than men, without being accused of being “gay” or criticized for being “girly”. Although hypermasculinity (toxic masculinity) and hyperfemininity (toxic femininity) still exist, the steps towards open-mindedness and breaking down those barriers that have prevented women and men from truly expressing themselves, whether it’s through clothing or personality, (due to fear of being outcasted or judged) are becoming more prevalent in society now. 

Daniels, J. (2009). Gender, White Supremacy, and the Internet. Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights. Rowman & Littlefield.

Haraway, D. (1991). A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century.

O’Riordan, K. (2006). Gender, Technology, and Visual Cyberculture. Critical Cyberculture Studies. New York University Press.

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Blog Post Week #8 Due 10/14

Is there a difference between how men and woman express their white supremacy online?

When it comes to expressing and advocacy of white supremacy online, yes, we can see a distinct difference in the way men and woman express their opinions. When looking at Daniels research on the users of the Stormfront forums, despite female users of the forum being in the small minority, we can still see a distinction between their interactions. Users that identified as male, identified as such by what they assigning their gender to be on their profile, were bigger proponents of the website, beings the ones that contributed most to discussions and were the largest makeup of posts on the site.

How does it manifest in men?

An example we can look at to closely identify this is how users who were listed as men and how they came to choose their usernames. For men, the choosing of their usernames would normally bring up either a prominent figure or hero in the community, a way of honoring a personal hero they believe champions their white supremist ideology. Another commonality is the between male usernames where they tended to use words or phrases in their usernames that denoted direct action or showcased fervent radicalizing.  

How does it manifest in woman?

Looking at the previous example, we can see a trend in how woman choose their usernames and what that means to how they perceive themselves in the white supremacy. For example, woman do not follow the same trends in how they choose their usernames as men. While men tended to choose usernames that idolized figures in the white supremist community, woman choose usernames that better reflected parts of themselves. It could also be that because there aren’t a substantial amount, or any, female figures in the white supremacy that they choose not to identify themselves like men in the community did. 

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Internet Sock Puppets

In our previous class, we talked about the internet sockpuppet, a sockpuppet being a fake online persona created to push a normally false agenda. To further continue what I personally was referencing, here are articles about how the Amazon company was creating sockpuppets of fake amazon workers who espoused that their conditions were humane and that they were perfectly happy with their work environments.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56581266 

https://www.geekwire.com/2021/amazon-employees-bots-trolls-new-twitter-bios-emerge-speak-mostly-union-effort/

https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/23/what-is-this-weird-twitter-army-of-amazon-drones-cheerfully-defending-warehouse-work/

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Do you think without the ‘filter bubble’ people would be less obsessed with social media, tech, and their phones? 

WGST Blog Post #7 (due 10/07)

Why is racism present in technology?

Racism is present in technology because programmers who design websites and technology are often colorblind and associate "their racial identity with neutrality" (Senft & Nobel, 2015, pg. 113). This is critical to understand because it explains why terms such as "master and slave disk exist without protest" (Senft & Nobel, 2015, pg. 113). Racism is also present in technology because technology is usually created and catered towards white users. Although people of color have contributed to the tech world, their contribution is frequently not talked about and erased.

Is Black visibility helpful or harmful to the Black community?

I believe that Black visibility in media and popular culture can be both helpful and harmful to the Black community. If media accurately portrays Black people and does not play into stereotypes, then Black visibility is beneficial towards the Black community. Yet, there is a thin line between visibility and hypervisibility. When media tokenizes Black celebrities, this can be controversial because they are using their image to promote and sell products that at times have "the potential to deepen racial inequalities" (Senft & Noble, 2015, pg 55). Similarly, Benjamin (2019) echos this notion and states that "Visibility of successful non-white individuals in almost every social arena can obscure the reality of systemic bias that still affects many people" (pg.66). Arguably, the hypervisibility of celebrities, athletes, and politicians, makes it seem as if society has progressed, yet many people are still disenfranchised and discriminated against in today's society.

Is Twitter Good or Bad?

Twitter is a controversial platform; while it allows people to connect to one and another, many have argued that "Not only does the design of such platforms enable the individuals users to report harasser; twitter's relatively hands-off approach when it comes to often violent, and hate-filled content of white supremacist actually benefit the company's bottom line" (Benjamin, 2019, pg.49). It is the idea that hateful content gathers views and engagement, thus creating more profit for the company. We also can deny the fact that Twitter connects communities and, as a matter of fact, "millions of Black users on Twitter networking, connecting and engaging with others who have similar concerns, experiences, tastes and cultural practices (Senft & Noble, 2015, pg.114). Yet, White supremacists can say the same thing as they can also connect via the application and spread their message online. The bottom line is that Twitter is not bad or good, but it is also not neutral; it is a grey space in which people can say what they want regardless of the implication of their words.

What does autonomy and free will mean in a world full of algorithms?

We currently live in a filter bubble where all the content we are viewing is curated for us. It increases our addiction to technology and social media as every time we log into apps; we see content that interest and entices us. Free will and autonomy in a world full of algorithms mean that individuals are able to have privacy when they browse the internet. It means no filter bubble, curated content, and target ads; it means that technology is no longer tracking and data mining our information.

References

Daniels, J. (2009). Cyber racism: White supremacy online and the new attack on Civil Rights. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Benjamin, R. (2020). Race after technology abolitionist tools for the new jim code. Polity.

Hunsinger, J., & Senft, T. M. (2015). The Social Media Handbook. Routledge.

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What do you think is it exactly about technology that allows for the indoctrination of new people into white supremacists' ideologies? 

Week 7 Blog Post #6 Due 10/7

What are some examples of the internet not being a neutral space?

One very common example that I can recall from my childhood of the internet being a racist place is when gaming. Around sixth grade and middle school, I used to experience lots of people yelling racial slurs, especially the N-word online while gaming online. It was hard for me to understand why people kept using racist slurs at the time, but if I had to guess it was probably because they got mad when they get killed in Call of Duty and then attempt to try to upset their killer. Although it unquestionably still exists, the number of racist slurs being thrown around while gaming has gradually declined overtime. The author writes, “racism is part of life on the internet” (Hunsinger, 2015). I agree with the author as we see examples of this everyday.

What are examples of white privilege when it comes to professional careers?

An example that comes to my mind when it comes to white privilege when it comes to careers is possibly law enforcement. I truly believe that law enforcement in the United States is one of the best modern examples of institutionalized white privilege. This is built into hiring decisions as an overwhelming majority of any law enforcement agency in any United States at any given time will be predominantly white and male. This might be due to historical development of the criminal justice system in the US. An example of racism within our CJ system throughout history is explained by the author. “When Davis sued the officers, the judge tossed out the case, saying ‘a reasonable officer could have believed that beating a subdued and compliant Mr Davis while causing a concussion..no permanent damage did not violate the Constitution’” (Benjamin, 2020). Perhaps there is more perceived trust in hiring a white officer versus one from a minority such as African American or Muslim, etc. 

In what ways can privilege benefit a person’s life?

As mentioned before, privilege can benefit a person’s employment and therefore income. Since money = power, privilege can have a huge life changing impact on someone. They can live life comfortably without working as generational wealth could be built from privilege. In addition to financial benefits, they could also benefit from not being profiled or profiled disproportionately less by the police through privilege. Whether it be for narcotics, paraphernalia, firearms violations, driving under the influence, etc., it’s undeniable that the less interaction or interest a person draws from law enforcement means they are less likely to be charged and then convicted of crimes. Because privilege can aid in deterring additional law enforcement attention, it’s a luxury that all individuals have.

How easy is it to access, communicate, or participate in supremacist or extremist groups today?

In my opinion, it’s very easy to reach out to these groups. There is virtually nothing to stop someone from contacting supremacist/ extremist groups today since nearly everyone has access to the internet. The author would agree as they write, “supremacist discourse is certainly more accessible today, thanks to the Internet” (Daniels, J. (2009). Not only is it easier to obtain radical ideology from these groups through the internet, it’s just as easy to contact them and then participate in such activities. Mobile phones allow someone to do this anywhere and at the palm of their hands as these supremacist groups are simply a text, search, or call away.

References

Benjamin, R. (2020). Race after technology abolitionist tools for the new jim code. Polity.

Daniels, J. (2009). Cyber racism: White supremacy online and the new attack on Civil Rights. 

Hunsinger, J., & Senft (2015). The Social Media Handbook.