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Public Shaming: A Story of Digital Justice.

“Shame and humiliation in criminal justice have become increasingly commodified, enacted, and experienced through hybrid forms of mass media that blur the boundaries of reality and entertainment”  (Kohm, 2009). The concept of public shaming has been practiced through a variety of eras, and in a wide range of cultures. Practices may have included mob justice, verbal or physical abuse, or forcing the perpetrators to wear something that clearly identified their crime to the public. However in the digital age, public shaming has relocated and opened up shop in various social media platforms; transforming itself into a weapon of mass destruction for a selective amount of individuals.

One popular example of this type of social destruction is Justine Sacco, who famously tweeted, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” Sacco’s personal life blew up, she received death threats, and lost her job. However her story is not the only one, and the list of ‘victims’ is on the rise. This method of justice can seem terrifying and even lethal. With the case of Justine Sacco, she later apologized and tried to explain what she has meant by the tweet saying

“To me it was so insane of a comment for anyone to make. I thought there was no way that anyone could possibly think it was literal … Unfortunately, I am not a character on ‘South Park’ or a comedian, so I had no business commenting on the epidemic in such a politically incorrect manner on a public platform. To put it simply, I wasn’t trying to raise awareness of AIDS or piss off the world or ruin my life. Living in America puts us in a bit of a bubble when it comes to what is going on in the third world. I was making fun of that bubble.” (Waterflow, 2015).

While it may be easier to generalize and condemn public shaming all together, this is incorrect. Although digital shaming is sometimes abused; it can offer an ethically acceptable means of punishment (Kohm, 2009). Of course, this requires that it be used properly.

Let us consider the very recent online explosion of two University of Pretoria students who ‘accidentally’ sent a video of themselves, while intoxicated, expressing anger over a stolen phone. Bodene Benade and Catherine Reynders use the extremely derogatory K-word several times, and while giggling in between one shouts “I’m so fucking done with these blacks!” The video was received by the pair’s 4th year Physiotherapy Whatsapp group. Bad move.

http://perdeby.co.za/sections/news/5856-up-students-film-themselves-using-k-word

Bodene Benade immediately responded to her accidental Whatsapp slip with an instant apology – complete with a selection of emoji’s. she writes, “So sorry guys! Please ignore that” later continuing “Please forgive me, we are all human and have all made mistakes and this is an awful one on my part.” However in the video she cautions, “don’t play this in front of Zomani” meaning that she knew what she was saying was incorrect.

But no one was going to ‘ignore’ the blatantly racist comments. The damage was already done – with the video on its way to being viral on several social media platforms. It was interesting to watch the ‘drama’ unfold (as one student replied on the Whatsapp group), and there was great speculation about what legal action would be taken against the extremely racist pair.

One of the first posts which surfaced on social media was by a user, Miles Lovell. The post included the vile video, photos of the girls and screenshots of their respective Instagram pages, as well as copies of the aftermath that took place in the Physiotherapy Whatsapp group. Lovell started off by explaining the video and the two involved, and concluded his post by saying;

“Hate speech of this magnitude is a criminal offence.

Let us not forget this.

Let us ensure that they never will either.”

Ironically, Lovell’s post was removed later by Facebook for constituting as hate speech.

After this post started to spread rapidly throughout, and across other platforms, users started standing (virtually) in solidarity with the post’s ethos. The comments started flooding in, people were enraged, offended and embarrassed.

Objectively, it is rather fascinating to observe the ‘justice system’ that the internet functions as during certain situations. This post is an example of the power that social media has in acting as a space where justice can be sought, and where anyone is able to act as a judge or jury. The ‘social jury’ of Facebook started to pick up speed. Users saying that the girls should be expelled, that their parents should be held accountable for raising daughters who seemed so comfortable engaging in racism (on camera nonetheless!) Users wanted answers, wanted to see suitable punishment, and they started looking to larger institutions to take leadership on the matter.

Right on time, the University of Pretoria released a Facebook statement of their own;

By they were not the only ones to get involved as online ‘investigators’ began to uncover information about Bodene Benade and Catherine Reynders. Reynders was Miss Benoni, and a Blue Bulls cheerleader. shockingly she was also being funded by the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation. Due to the internet’s power of association both parties very quickly announced their disapproval of the events that had occurred. 

SARugbyMag.co.za (http://m.sarugbymag.co.za/?postslug=/blog/details/Bulls-give-cheerleader-the-boot#/Bulls-give-cheerleader-the-boot) published an article featuring an image of a perky looking Reynders in Blue, and made sure to add that the Blue Bulls did not hire her directly. Similarly, the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation withdrew the student’s bursary. A few wrong buttons pressed on an Iphone, and two lives destroyed.

Public shaming should only be used when the perpetrator has clearly done wrong. However, online jurisdiction is more complicated and differs from actual criminal law. There are no set rules from which to decide if this method of action is wrong or right. Within the digital realm, people are governed by societal norms, current traditions, and emotion (Ronson 2015). This means that the phenomenon of public shaming can manifest in a messy, chaotic, and incoherent manner. However, there are definitely positives to this method of punishment.

For example, it proves a point. The pair in the video is clearly wrong in what they have done and said, and the public scrutiny that they have received is deserved. Instances like these which have happened before and which will continue to occur, provide an example for the mass public on how not to behave, and provides an example of what will happen if one decides to continue being racist, sexist, or homophobic (Ronson 2015). 

Online cases like these are highly accessible to the public and are able to shape the ways in which people understand racism or other prejudices, and the ways they may behave moving forward.  The digital realm is harsh and cut-throat, but this is how we as a marvelous modern society are able to hold unjust parties accountable (without having to go through the legal system). It forces large institutions like the University of Pretoria, and the Blue blues, to answer up, to take action, to show that racism will not be tolerated under any circumstances.  

 Reference List:

Kohm, SA. (2009) Naming Shaming and criminal justice: Mass-mediated humiliation as entertainment and punishment. Crime Media Culture 5.2

Waterflow, L. (2015) I lost my job, my reputation and I'm not able to date anymore': Former PR worker reveals how she destroyed her life one year after sending 'racist' tweet before trip to Africa. Mail Online: Accessed 1/11/2017

Ronson, J. (2015)  So You've Been Publicly Shamed. London: Picador

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UNFAIR.

Social Lion (1954)

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Just how equal is the internet: a story of protest.

‘The Internet’ has often been referred to as the Great Democratizer; a instrument that gives everyone the chance to have their opinion heard and, a means of gaining access to the same wealth of information as everybody else;  a space where everyone is on equal footing. But do digital platforms really enhance equality, or do they just create yet another space for divide?

If one Googles ‘Fees Must Fall,’ the server will present 10 800 000 results (in 0,73 seconds) and most of the links will go something like this;

A succession of #FeesMustFall protests began in October 2015, a student led movement started by the University of Witwatersrand Student Reprehensive Counsel, and headed by Shaeera Kalla. The protests were a response to fee increases at South African Universities, and originated at Wits University before spreading to the University of Cape Town, Rhodes University and other South African Universities. The 2015 protests came to a close when the South African government announced that there would be no tuition fee increases for 2016. However, they picked up again in 2016 when the South African Minister of Higher Education announced that there would be fee increases of 8% for the 2017 academic year. By the October of 2016, it was estimated that the total cost in property damage due to the protest since 2015 had amounted to R600 million.

Other websites will speak about the injustices of the Governments spending habits, or how the media unfairly portrayed the student protesters, or the inequality which still stands in our post-colonial universities – all of which are important. However, the millions who engage with these texts are very rarely informed about the inequalities which existed within the movement itself.  Let us consider firstly, how digital media shapes the ways in which its audience understands a movement.

Student led protests have been prevalent over the last 21 years, and most definitely did not suddenly start with #FeesMustFall in 2015. In fact, Historically Black Universities, like Fort Hare University, Tshwane University of Technology and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology have been regularly protesting against the unattainable fees of higher education (Davids & Waghid 2016). However, the broader public was not made aware of these movements. Since 1994 their protest action has been disregarded and rarely made regional headlines, this is because these poorer establishments housed almost only Black Students, and the Media was disinterested (Davids & Waghid 2016). This shows how the media has chosen to assign value to historically white Universities over Historically Black ones; once a ‘white’ institution causes a ‘stir’ it is taken more seriously, and seen as more newsworthy. Through digital channels like television, radio, and online platforms, the media has the power to keep certain information quiet and publicize others; which seems to be racially influenced and fundamentally unequal (Davids & Waghid 2016).

The most recent #FeesMustFall protests have encompassed students from both disadvantaged and advantaged institutions. However it took a privileged establishment like Wits University to give the Universities, who had been fighting for years, a voice. This meant that the movement got nationwide coverage and even sparked solidarity protest action in New York and London. Let us take a look now that the power and responsibility which historically white institutions have in political movements.

These two very different outcomes; almost no media coverage assigned to earlier protests at historically black universities versus extensive coverage and worldwide solidarity for protests at historically white universities – this is a blatant reminder of the post-apartheid inequalities which are still prevalent and practiced around the world (Davids & Waghid 2016). It is then the responsibility of the privileged parties to be inclusive of less privileged members and to be reprehensive of all types of students. These Universities like Wits and UCT, must use their privilege and the attention that the media affords them so as to benefit the students as a whole.

However, it could also be argued that the recent rise in social media as helped to spread the movement and inform thousands of people of protest action instantaneously. Social media acts as a platform for freedom of speech, and can connect a person together in a manner that has never been done before (Ayers 2003). It allows users a space to voice their opinions and unite virtually. The Hashtag has widely contributed to the #FeesMustFall movement. The explosion of hashtags on digital platforms has become extremely popular, and has opened up a direct link to many discussions and trends on social media. The digital age provides many new opportunities for exposure, and allows individuals and groups to attract attention without having to go through more traditional media channels in order to do so (Ayers 2003).

It is no wonder that student led movements did not get enough attention in 1994; there was no Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp. There was no way to broadcast messages, opinions or arrange meetings other than through the radio – which would have defeated the point entirely. Social media has played a huge role in the momentum and attention which #FeesMustFall received. These platforms also aided in educating other members of society about the cause, heavy fee increments, and the decolonisation of education, in a quick and extremely accessible manner. It was not that the movement had superior leaders or more devoted followers, it was largely that there is new and instantaneous means of organising and regulating information amongst comrades and the media; something which was not possible before ‘the internet.’ Still, this does not mean that students in the digital age should claim the victories at have come across thus far, but rather acknowledge that the surroundings have offered an unmoveable platform from which to operate.

However, political reliance on new media means there is more room for inequality to arise. Since the recent #FeesMustFall protests used social media as a powerful tool in orchestrating mass meetings, through Whatsapp, Twitter, and Facebook, it created an opportunity for some to be left out. For example, students at Fort Hare University, Tshwane University of Technology and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology did not have regular access to free WiFi around campus. With data costs set so high, especially for thefinancially disadvantaged, there was no means of getting online; of getting in touch, of staying involved. This meant that there was an inevitable exclusion (yet again) of historically Black Universities who are now disadvantaged in both the physical and the virtual world. Thus it seemed that historically white Universities took the lead, however it was because their equally desperate comrades did not have the digital means to mobilise and organise action as their wealthier counterparts did.

This shows how access to the internet in this day and age can continue to perpetuate colonial narratives, and can continue to assign power unequally. The internet and its endless digital platforms have both positives and negatives. On one hand (for everyone who’s online), social media provides a space where quieted voices can finally be heard, where people can get together to promote a cause, and where incorrect behaviours and thoughts can slowly be rectified. However, the internet mimics a real life dynamic; one which cannot ever be truly equal or fair. If one is unable to access this ‘second’ world, their voices disappear altogether, recreating a form of virtual colonisation.

Reference List

Ayers, M. (2003) Cyberactivism: Online Activism in Theory and Practice. New York Routledge.

Davids,N. & Waghid, Y. (2016) #FeesMustFall: History of South African student protests reflects inequality’s grip. Published on Mail & Gaurdian. Accessed 31/10/2017

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STUDENT LIVES MATTER FEES MUST FALL !!!

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I don’t–

As opposed to what??

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Japan’s LovePlus Fans; a Digital Love Story?

Online dating seems to have lost its stigma, but digital love still has its skeptics. Let us take a look at the Japanese men who are head over heels for their virtual girlfriends, preferring digital intimacy over the flesh and blood caress of a real woman. 

Love Plus is a virtual ‘dating game,’ published by Konami to be played on the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. The game was released in Japan in 2009, with a couple of updates and sequel games which have followed in the years after. The game uses NPC’s –‘ Non playing characters’ who are not at all controlled by a player, in order to simulate and emotionally involved social connection and courtship (Isbister 2016). In LovePlus, the player works at winning over a typically female NPC to the point where the pair is ‘dating’. These players must improve their personal qualities in the game so as to have the best shot at attracting their perfect girlfriend. However, once the NPC has consented to the player, he must continue to uphold a high standard of interaction – saying and doing the right things in order to keep her love (Isbister 2016).

At the beginning of LovePlus’s game is set against the backdrop of a fictional Japanese city, where LovePlus players undertake the role of a teenage boy with the hopes of finding a girlfriend. The gamer finds himself in High School with the option of three girls to pursue; these being Nene, Manaka, and Rinko (Isbister 2016).  In the game, the player will encounter these three girls at different stages – Nene at the players part-time restaurant job, Manaka at a tennis club, and lastly Rinko at a library. The first stage of the game involves the player meeting and deciding on which girl to focus on.

The second begins when the pair starts courting, in this phase the player has one hundred days and 4 actions per day in order to win her over. The actions are centred on improving the players’ personal qualities of charm, health, awareness, and knowledge. As the one hundred days go by, the player is afforded a more rich and diverse means of communication and insight into their chosen sweetheart; they exchange mobile numbers, begin to text and hang out at school (Isbister 2016).  The game takes place in real time – if you set up a date with your lover at 4pm next Tuesday – you best turn on your Love Plus at 4pm next Tuesday; don’t be late, its rude!

Due to this real time element, the players begin to feel a sense of reality; they begin to recognize a past with their NPC, and plan a future. This element contributes highly to the ‘realness’ factor. As the player spends more time in the game, it becomes a more intricate virtual world. One is able to find interesting places for ‘dates;’ Karaoke, clubs, and restaurants. During this phase there is more game play. The Nintendo DS has a touch screen, stylus, and microphone allowing the user to engage in vocal exchange, caressing and kissing (Isbister 2016). In this virtual world, players get to experience and participate in a ‘teenage romance.’ The game simulates the typical and mundane everyday activities and interactions between a couple – so much so that the human player might react as if he or she is really experiencing intimacy.

These computer-generated relationships can feel so organic that players begin to prefer their virtual counterparts to a real-life girlfriend. Nene, Manaka, and Rinko are always sweet, gentle, and they can’t break up with you. The NPC’s on LovePlus can be programmed, with their attitudes and personalities adjusted to suit the desires of the player (Bosker 2014). It is interesting that these gamers prefer the simplicity, this one dimensional, non-physical interaction, rather than the complex and ever changing personality of a real woman. Perhaps it is because these players enjoy the control they have over their virtual relationships, the security, the support and the ‘companionship’ they are able to possess. One player says “When I feel down or I have a bad day, I always come home and turn on the game and play with Manaka, I know she always has something to make me feel better.” (Bosker 2014). Players take their LovePlus partners on real-life dates, bake them birthday cakes, and one user even went as far as marrying his ‘partner’ Nene.

The LovePlus community has grown so big that it hosts a range of fan groups on Facebook, twitter and various online web pages. The culture of fandom has grown with the digital age, making it easier for groups of people to connect and share their interests. Fans are people who identify with an enthusiastic engagement with a certain text (Duffett 2013). These ‘texts’ could include TV shows, film franchises, book series, fashion concepts or sports teams, and in this case digital games. Becoming a ‘fan’ means that a person has opted identify with the ideas around a certain text, and it is becomes a shared identity performance (Duffett 2013). 

LovePlus fans have followed the same theory of fandom accordingly. In an article found in The Japan Times Francesco Fondi attends a day trip with 40 dedicated LovePlus fans. The men had been communicating over Twitter before meeting in person (Fondi 2014). The fans visited sites which resembled places in the game and were dressed as Japanese school boys as they took their LovePlus girlfriends on group dates. These fans have face social ridicule for engaging so seriously with the game, and are deemed ‘creepy’ and anti-social for their online choices. Perhaps this one of the reasons these fan groups were created; a safe space for users to discuss, enact, and share their love of (virtual) love! (Duffett 2013).

Fandom communities are usually made up of ‘active fans.’ This means that they actively create, ‘remix,’ and exchange content, and interact with one another.  They become consumers of the text and producers of new texts, making them ‘prosumers’ (Duffett). LovePlus fanatics are no different.  A LovePlus Magazine has been published by users, Rinko, Nene, and Manaka card games have been produced. Similarly, collectible figurines have been created for and bought by thousands of fans, as well as pillows with the digital girls printed on them – for some ‘physical’ cuddling.

The Makers of LovePlus noticed their growing fan base and capitalized on the phenomenon. Partnering with a Beach resort in Atami (also featured in the game), fans were offered a vacation away ‘for two’ with the opportunity for photographs with life-sized LovePlus characters (Isbister 2016).  It is incredible to observe the lengths to which a dedicated fan will go (and pay) in order to feel most connected to their ‘loved ones.’

The Digital age has provided a platform where users have the opportunity to live out almost any scenario that they may please. LovePlus has created a world free from daily stresses of real life, one where users are youthful high schoolers again, where there is the guaranteed possibility of a moderate, tender, and sweet love – far from the complexity of volatile real world relationships. The digital realm acts in today’s world as a form of escapism. Are these men falling into antisocial, non-beneficial relationship with a bot, or have the stumbled upon a new kind of love – one that is everlasting and hassle-free? You decide.  

   Reference list:

Bosker, B. (2014) Meet The World’s Most Loving Girlfriends — Who Also Happen To Be Video Games. Huffington Post: accessed 31/10/2017

Duffett, M. (2013) Understanding Fandom: An Introduction to the Study of Media Fan Culture. New York: Bloomsbury

Fondi, F. (2014) A day-trip date with the virtual romantics of ‘New LovePlus+. Special Edition: The Japanese Times. Accessed 31/10/2017

Isbister, K. (2016) How Games Move Us: Emotion by Design. Cambridge: The MIT Press

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Yes, i love these Girls (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

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Rinko Figurine