branuworld-blog

[branuworld-blog]

I really like your point here about concerns around being ostracised by friends online for having opposing views. Social media is an echo chamber of the opinions, values and beliefs we hold, and so it is rare that we come up against many opposing views. I have an old acquaintance who I am friends with on Facebook. He recently became a born again Christian and so, me being agnostic, he has a lot of views which oppose my own. Whenever I post something which may not align with his views, he always feels compelled to post back and challenge me. Although I roll my eyes sometimes, it is refreshing to get another perspective, even if I don’t agree. Sadly though, there have been times where he’s been too afraid to reply to my posts - choosing to send me a PM for fear of reprisal from my other FB friends who don’t share his views. It is in these moments that I realise I need to expose myself to a wider range of opinions, even if I don’t like them. :)

Clicktivism: Lazy or life changing?

Source: Facebook filters, 2013.   From profile filters, trending hashtags and sharing articles, is social media fuelling change or enabling lazy activism?  Coined Digital activism, the internet and social media platforms have fast become a new channel where activist can digitally achieve mass mobilisation to call for social and political change (Fuentes 2014). Indeed, social media can be praised for its ability to rapidly reach a global audience and easy entry point for engagement. In fact, it is widely considered the success of Arab Spring, the Occupy Wall Street and UK Uncut movements are attributed to the power of social media. However, it cannot be ignored that slacktivism or clicktivism, a process where online participation is oversimplified into online petitions, liking and sharing content (Halupka 2014) can be criticised for not only being lazy but ineffective and destructive. What’s more, critics have also claimed that social media users are shifting their discourse to safer topics for fear of being ostracised by their friends.

Source: Click to save the world!, 2016. Undeniably clicktivism is a legitimate social and political act, although critics do argue that such participation alone is inadequate. In a recent study that observes this illusion of activism versus the facilitation of real change, it revealed that of the 1 million+ people who ‘liked’ the Save Darfur Facebook page - which rallies to end genocide in Sudan, less than 3000 of those people donated much-needed funds (Gray, Lewis & Meierhenrich 2014). While this important cause gained worldwide awareness, the lack of financial traction would suggest that it is just as easy to click ‘like’ on a social or political cause, as it is to feel as though one has done their part and disengage. To which, some have also claimed this behaviour can actually be harmful to ‘the social and political causes people are attempting to support by conferring a false sense of accomplishment that forestalls more effective engagement’ (Bell 2014, p. 282). Putting aside the theory that armchair activist is achieving very little more than moral point scoring, it is worth exploring the idea that perhaps this lack of useful participation beyond clicktivism is a result of peer pressure.

Source: I’m helping, 2017? According to Pew Research (Goulet et al 2011), most users overall social media networks contain a much larger number of weak ties with only a handful of close socials ties – such as family or close friends. In considering that weaker ties can be broken more easily (Dempster-McClain, Moen & Walker 1999), an opposing opinion can be silenced feared for public shame and ostracism. Conversely, there is also reason to believe social media users are pressured into participating in clicktivism for further fear of being judged for not exhibiting human empathy and taking action.

Source: Just pretend, 2017?

Certainly, the act of digital activism and clicktivism is indeed the precursor to social and political change, particularly in rapidly raising worldwide awareness. However, with the continuous compounding evidence, it is also difficult to deny that clicktivism alone, will never achieve social and political revolution.

References: Bell, C 2013, ‘Clicktivism’, in K Harvey (eds), The Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics, CQ Press, California, pp. 282.  ‘Click here to save the world’ [image], 2016, I’ve added the hashtag, now what?, viewed 26 January 2018 <http://wpmu.mah.se/nmict162group5/category/slacktivismclicktivism/>. Dempster-McClain, D, Moen, P & Walker, H 1999, A Nation Divided: Diversity, Inequality, and Community in American Society, Cornwell University Press, London. ‘Facebook Filters [image], 2017, Baby Steps, viewed 26 January 2018, <http://submergemag.com/opinion/baby-steps/8272/>.    Fuentes, M 2014, Digital Activism, Encyclopædia Britannica, viewed 25 January 2018, <https://www.britannica.com/topic/digital-activism>. Goulet, L, Hampton, K, Purcell, K & Raine, L 2011, Social networking site and our lives, Pew Research Centre, viewed 25 January 2018, <http://www.pewinternet.org/2011/06/16/part-3-social-networking-site-users-have-more-friends-and-more-close-friends/>.  Gray, K, Lewis, K & Meierhenrich, J 2014, ‘The Structure of Online Activism’, Sociological Science, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-9. Halupka, M 2014, ‘Clicktivism: A Systematic Heuristic’, Policy & Internet, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 115-132. ‘I’m helping [image], 2017?, Pray for Paris – Your Facebook feed right now, viewed 26 January 2018, <http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1044351-pray-for-paris>.   ‘Just pretend [image], 2017?, Meme Generator, viewed 26 January 2018, <https://memegenerator.net/instance/73347617>. 

[branuworld-blog]

Blog #8 Social gaming: playing the crowd

The appeal of online games

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) allow “many players to interact simultaneously in shared and relatively persistent virtual spaces.” (Lastowka 2009, p. 380). MMORPGs offer an always-on environment in which players from anywhere around the world can enter this simulated space 24hrs a day (Lastowka 2009, p. 380). MMORPGs are designed to encourage large-scale player collaboration, as well as conflict, and this is of significant appeal to players (Lastowka 2009, p. 380). Social organisation is required to overcome obstacles within the game and in this process, friendships are formed, and online and offline can become blurred (Lastowka 2009, p. 381). Players who complete quests together can chat within the game or, even offline if they choose (Lastowka 2009, p. 381).

In addition to the deeply social aspects of playing within MMORPG environments, they also afford players an intentionally different site within which players can immerse themselves (de Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 77) to be emancipated from the expectations and responsibilities of their real lives.

Online gaming etiquette

With most MMORPGs, there are established rules created by the developers, as well as social and cultural norms that emanate from the game and its players (de Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 77).

A relatively recent MMORPG known as ‘Ever, Jane’ prides itself on being different from others by swapping raids for grand balls and dungeons for dinner parties (Gera 2017). Ever, Jane is a virtual role-playing game which is set in the world of Jane Austen novels (Gera 2017).

The sole purpose of the game is to compete to protect one’s reputation, whilst also attempting to improve one’s social status, i.e. find a suitor (Gera 2017). Ever, Jane’s rules are based around maintaining status, happiness, kindness, duty and, most importantly, reputation (Ever Jane 2017). They stipulate that players must do their best to remain in character and adhere to the social and cultural norms that would have applied in the Regency era of strict morals and total abstinence outside wedlock (Ever, Jane 2017). However, as might be expected, MMORPG players have discovered their own affordances for Ever, Jane...achieving sexual gratification!  

“…sometimes players get wrapped up in this universe of exquisite gowns and forbidden desire, and they simply can't help themselves.” (Conditt 2016).

For this very reason, private chat was added into the Ever, Jane design and, soon, a penal colony known as Botany Bay will go live for those who defy the rules of the Regency era by flaunting their promiscuity (Conditt 2016)!

Considering the above, it appears that the genre of online multiplayer games is less relevant to players than are the social benefits gained by engaging in shared experiences within these simulated spaces.

References:

Conditt, J 2016, ‘Sex and sexuality: the Jane Austen game breaking the MMO rules’, Engadget, 14 September, viewed 1 February 2018, <https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/14/ever-jane-austen-mmo-rpg-regency/#/>

de Zwart, M & Humphreys, S 2014,' The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space: Code as Law in EVE Online', Cultural Studies Review, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 77-99.

Gera, E 2017, ‘Where’s the curtsy button? I test-drive the online Jane Austen role-playing game’, The Guardian, 28 September, viewed 1 February 2018, <https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/28/ever-jane-reader-i-clicked-on-him-i-test-drive-the-virtual-jane-austen-role-playing-game#img-3>

Ever, Jane, 2017, Helpful tips for authentic roleplay, viewed 1 February 2018, < http://www.everjane.com/rules>

Lastowka, G 2009, ‘Rules of play’, Games and Culture, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 379-395, retrieved from Sage Publications.

[branuworld-blog]

Blog #7 Visual communities and social imaging

Networked visuality

Following the explosion of smartphones and high quality built-in cameras, images and videos are not only being used increasingly in our communications, but in some instances, they are the sole vehicles of our communication (Hjorth & Gu 2012 p. 699). In other words, when it comes to how we express ourselves, increasingly it is through our photos and videos, as opposed to our written text. As the proverb goes, “a picture paints a thousand words”! Consider how much can be conveyed by an image. Often no words are needed. However, the visual can lead to interpretative ambiguity (Highfield & Lever 2016, p. 48), and yet it can be clarified with further images. Take, for example, the Instagram dad who trolled his daughter by replicating her Snapchat photos (Harrison 2016). In isolation, his photos are bizarre and make little sense. However, when coupled with the photos of his daughter which he attempts to replicate, we understand his intent - playful mockery in response to his unease at the racy selfies his daughter has posted (Gould-Bourn 2016). No words are necessary.

Social media platforms such as Snapchat afford users the ability to nurture our social networks through visuality. Emphasis is put upon the image or video that is shared, rather than the text. As Spiegel stated, “The selfie makes sense as the fundamental unit of communication on Snapchat because it marks the transition between digital media as self-expression and digital media as communication.” (Herrman 2014).

The selfie phenomenon – is it harmful?

Jurgensen posits that "The tension between experience for its own sake and experience we pursue just to put on Facebook is reaching its breaking point. That breaking point is called Snapchat." (Herrman 2014).

With the increased use of photos and videos as a means of communicating on social media, selfies have also become hugely popular, especially among young people. But is selfie culture affecting their self-esteem? According to Capdevila and Lazard (2017), the research is mixed. Smartphones and digital cameras allow us to take multiple selfies until we find the image we like best to upload (Capdevila & Lazard 2017). This careful choreography in selfie selection makes it easy to assume self-esteem might be affected by seeing only the best images of friends on their social media pages. However, long before the internet, young women (especially) have always struggled with body dissatisfaction and an increased emphasis placed upon their appearance (Capdevila & Lazard 2017). Yet, young people report that, with the internet being less anonymous these days, it is not in their best interests to misrepresent themselves online, for fear of being labelled as ‘fake’ (Capdevila & Lazard 2017).

Capdevila and Lazard remind us that “… we currently live in a world that places great importance on physical beauty, self-improvement and the pressure to always look our best. This is the world in which selfie culture emerged – selfie culture did not create it.”

References:

Boredpanda n.d., Dad trolls his daughter by recreating her selfies, Boredpanda, viewed 31 January 2018, <https://www.boredpanda.com/dad-recreates-daughter-selfie-cassie-martin-chris-martin/>

Capdevila, R & Lazard, L 2017, ‘Selfie culture isn’t the root of all evil’, The Conversation, 12 April, viewed 01 February 2018, <https://theconversation.com/selfie-culture-isnt-the-root-of-all-evil-73581>

Harrison, S 2016, ‘Dad recreates daughter’s snapchat selfies’, Awesomeness TV, 29 June, viewed 31 January 2018, <https://awesomenesstv.com/lifestyle/dad-recreates-daughters-snapchat-selfies/?utm_term=.qdAfKvmSM#.s1KsYtV1b>

Herrman, J 2014, ‘Meet the man that got inside Snapchat’s head’, Buzzfeed News, 28 January, viewed 30 January 2018, <https://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/meet-the-unlikely-academic-behind-snapchats-new-pitch?utm_term=.jfNOeDlvXj#.wtje84o5mB>

Highfield, T & Lever, T 2016, ‘Instagrammatics and digital methods: studying visual social media, from selfies and GIFs to memes and emoji’, Communication Research and Practice, vol. 2 no. 1, pp. 47-62, viewed on 31 January 2018, via Routledge

Hjorth, L & Gu, K 2012, ‘The place of emplaced visualities: A case study of smartphone visuality and location-based social media in Shanghai, China’, Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 699-713, viewed 31 January 2018, via Routledge

Know your pose, 22 June., image, viewed 1 February 2018, <https://www.popsugar.com.au/fashion/How-Take-Mirror-Selfie-40554470?utm_medium=redirect&utm_campaign=US:AU&utm_source=www.google.com.au#photo-40554459>

Snapchat-cyreneq, n.d., image, viewed 1 February 2018, < https://hoodietshirt.com/2017/03/snapchat-selfie-cyreneq-ele-shirts-collection.html>

[branuworld-blog]

Blog #6 Crowdsourcing in times of crisis

When crowdsourcing works best

When regular communication systems such as radio or TV go down in crisis situations, mobile communication, social media and other innovative platforms often become the primary means of generating and obtaining real-time information (Burns et al. 2012; Ford 2012). These forms of media afford collaboration, whereby many people involved in a crisis can upload their version of events to create an evolving picture of the crisis from more than one perspective (Ford 2012). In the past, this has proved especially successful in situations where it is simply too dangerous to provide ‘on-the-ground’ journalistic broadcast, as was the case in the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.

Not long after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, an internet entrepreneur Saun Bonner, and his colleagues established Safecast, a non-profit organisation which taught people how to make DIY Geiger counters to measure radiation levels (Cruz 2014). Unsatisfied with the government’s broadcasting of average Geiger levels for an entire city, Safecast aimed to provide reassurance through more accurate measures of radiation across a greater number of geographical areas (Cruz 2014). Individuals were encouraged to use their DIY counters to measure radiation levels in their areas and record the data onto Safecast’s open map (Cruz 2014).

Safecast’s Facebook page is testament to the initiative’s continued success and popularity. As recently as just over a week ago, Safecast real-time sensors were installed close to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, demonstrating that, seven years on, people are still invested in making this platform, and the valuable information and reassurance it provides, work.

Limitless possibilities

Demonstrating the broad utility of crowdsourcing, in 2013 a Texas organisation volunteered its services to assist in locating a missing sailboat, Nina, in the Tasman Sea (Chiaramonte 2013). The company Texas Equusearch (TES) “is an all-volunteer organization which assists law enforcement and U.S. federal agencies in the search for missing people.” (Paynter 2013). TES’s Tomnod website enabled volunteers to sign up and scour over satellite images of the waters in which the Nina was last geolocated (Paynter 2013). “Under crowd sourcing theory, when many untrained observers pick the same target, they are usually as accurate as an expert.” (Paynter 2013). Many volunteers using the site brought to attention an image of what may have been the Nina, but the request to search for it off the back of this data alone was rejected, and sadly the Nina is still missing today (Paynter 2013).

Click here to view the Tomnod Nina Rescue web page

Viewing Tomnod today, the Nina search campaign has finished, but other crowdsourcing initiatives continue, such as distinguishing Antarctic seals from snow piles via satellite images for research purposes (Tomnod 2017).

Considering the above examples, it would appear that the sky really is the limit with respect to the ways in which crowdsourcing can achieve extraordinary things in times of crisis.

References:

Bruns, A, Burgess, J, Crawford, K & Shaw, F 2012, #qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods, Arc Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, pp. 7-10, viewed 3 August 2016, <http://www.cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf>.

Chiaramonte, P 2013, ‘Strangers log on to help satellite search for missing schooner’, Fox News, 25 November, viewed 28 January 2018, <http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/11/25/search-for-missing-schooner-being-crowdsourced-under-new-sat-technology.html>

Cruz, L 2014, ‘After Fukushima: crowd-sourcing initiative sets radiation data free’, The Network Cisco, 4 March, viewed 28 January 2018, <https://newsroom.cisco.com/feature-content?articleId=1360403>

Ford, H 2012, 'Crowd Wisdom', Index on Censorship, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 33-39.

Paynter, T 2013, Is satellite imagery the future of search-and-rescue operations?, weblog, 23 November 2013, viewed 28 January 2018, <http://gcaptain.com/satellite-imagery-future-search-and-rescue/>

‘@safecast's realtime sensor closest to Fukushima Daiichi is up and running! […]’, Facebook post, 19 January, <https://www.facebook.com/pg/safecast/posts/?ref=page_internal>

Tomnod 2017, Rescue the Nina, viewed 28 January 2018, <http://www.tomnod.com/campaign/ninarescue2/map/1efx9y25>

[branuworld-blog]

Blog #5 Trolling and Social Media Conflict

Defining trolling

The participatory experience of online environments make for dynamic places in which people can explore and be affected by exciting new forms of media (McCosker 2014, p. 201). However, people also have the power to affect others in these spaces (McCosker 2014, p. 201) and, in some instances, the effects can be destructive. Just as it occurs in real life, in their exchanges with each other online, people have the capacity to tease, harass and bully. Some have questioned whether social media increases this harassment and bullying, or whether it is merely more visible (Boyd 2014, p. 130).

Today, digital citizens have become vigilant about online bullying and its effects upon those who are targeted. But what is bullying precisely? Psychologist Dan Olweus defined bullying as aggressive, repetitive harassment by someone in a position of greater power than the individual to whom this behaviour is directed towards (Olweus 1994, p. 97). In the online environment, this bullying is referred to as ‘trolling’.

When reports about trolling make the headlines, they are typically the most extreme cases in which the troll has significantly affected the victim (in some instances the victim has sadly taken their own life) and has done so with ruthless intent. However, in the majority of cases, trolling is conducted in the name of humour and amusement rather than in malice. In other instances, trolling aims to challenge global media norms (McCosker 2014, p. 205).

There’s a troll lurking in all of us

A recent study has suggested that, given the right set of circumstances, ordinary people can be driven to engage in trolling behaviour (Cheng et al. 2017). This challenges our perception of trolls as being sociopathic individuals who were born to engage in this behaviour (Cheng et al. 2017). And what are those circumstances, I hear you ask? Well, according to Cheng et al. (2017) mood, day of the week (Mondays are troll days – moods are lower at the beginning of the work week) and time of day (late nights) are all factors that increase trolling behaviour. Furthermore, the more trolling comments (particularly if they are the first comments) in a thread, the more likely others who contribute will troll too (Cheng et al. 2017).

Considering the above study, it is easy to see how ordinary individuals who intend only to stir the pot online, may be accused of serious trolling. Take, for example, online teen prankster Tristan Barker. In 2012, he uploaded a video to YouTube to talk about a recent teenage suicide victim and his distaste for the outpouring of grief generated by it online (Tristan Barker 2012). Whilst his comments may have been meant as a critique of the “tragedy-obsessed global media” (McCosker 2014, p. 205), they were met with disgust by the media, who labelled him a troll (Marshall 2013). Interestingly, whilst he is lambasted by the media, Barker has a significant online following among young people who view his videos as simply telling hard truths (Baker 2013).

The discrepancy between what the media and what teens think of Barker, aligns with Danah Boyd’s opinion. Boyd argues that we need to better understand the online habits of teens and the reasons why they engage in certain acts of cruelty and meanness in order to provide interventions for those who truly need them (Boyd 2014, p. 152).

References:

Baker, R 2013, ‘We’re punks of our generation, say teen ‘trolls’ behind Facebeef’, The Sydney Morning Herald’, 11 March, viewed 17 December 2017, <http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/were-punks-of-our-generation-say-teen-trolls-behind-facebeef-20130311-2fv9h.html>

Boyd, D 2014, 'Bullying: Is the Media Amplifying Meanness and Cruelty?', in It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, Yale University Press, New Haven, USA, pp. 128-52.

Internet troll by Woody Hearn, n.d., image, viewed 26 January 2018, <http://www.bitrebels.com/lifestyle/what-internet-troll-looks-like/>

Marshall, J 2013, Unmasked: Tristan Barker, Australia’s worst internet troll, being investigated by police, viewed 17 December 2017, <http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/1307_news1.pdf>

McCosker, A 2014, YouTrolling as provocation: Tube's agonistics publics, Convergence, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 201-217.

Olweus, D 1994, ‘Bullying at school: long term outcomes for the victims and an effective school-based intervention program’, in Huesmann, L (eds), Aggressive Behaviour: Current Perspectives, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 97-98.

YouTube. (2012). Tristan Barker's Thoughts on Sad Stories, Bandwagon Grief-Leeching, and Bullying. [Online Video]. 14 October 2012. Available from: https://youtu.be/1YSsJ2DakQg. [Accessed: 26 January 2018].

Ugh, n.d., image, viewed 26 January 2018, <https://mashable.com/2017/03/06/internet-trolls-average-people/#Rm4uYPMklaqd>

[branuworld-blog]

Blog #4

Activism and protest

Throughout history, activism has been a tool used by the public to collectively voice its opposition of government policies or laws. Traditionally, activism has involved people coming together in public places to be heard, and the methods used to mobilise these people have typically evolved with technology. For example, before the days of the internet, mobilising groups of people for protest involved distributing leaflets, putting up posters and, communicating details face-to-face (Gerbaudo 2012, p. 4).

Today, with the use of mobile phones, internet and social media, activists’ causes can gain much wider coverage and therefore have more chance of being supported (Gerbaudo 2012, p. 7). Furthermore, in volatile situations like the Arab Spring, where governments impose blocks on certain news sites, these modern forms of media can be used to quickly share knowledge or debunk misinformation (Gerbaudo 2012, p. 7).

At the time of the Arab Spring, many espoused the value of social media for its role in igniting the revolution. Whilst social media may certainly have helped to mobilise great numbers of people to protest, is it fair to credit social media entirely? It would be foolish to assume that the people of Egypt were not already agitated and willing to take to the streets, independent of the digital call to arms. Social media was merely a tool used to organise it (Gerbaudo 2012, p. 8).

Social media’s contribution to successful activism

Collective action at its finest was evident here in Australia in 2017 with the successful TV series, podcast and social media campaign, War on Waste.

The premise of the War on Waste TV series was to reveal to Australian audiences the extent of waste in modern society by highlighting our penchant for perfect looking food, fast fashion and disposable coffee cups.  

Off the back of the TV series, the #WarOnWasteAU hashtag featured prominently on social media, as members of the public tweeted chain supermarkets to criticise their use of unnecessary packaging. Social media users were seeking accountability and publicity (Youmans & York 2012, p. 317) in the name of the environment, and it appeared to hasten real change.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if garlic came in some kind of easy to store, protective covering so we didn’t have to use plastic? @woolworths @craigreucassel #WarOnWasteAU pic.twitter.com/l3UarS80VY

— Zinnia Pea (@zinniapea) January 19, 2018

War on Waste Facebook community groups sprung up to disseminate information pertinent to local council guidelines on recycling. The show even led to a spike in the sale of KeepCups (reusable coffee cups) after the show revealed the number of disposable coffee cups that go into Australian landfill each year (Caterall 2017). If you must know, that number is over 1 billion (Caterall 2017).    

The ABC declared War on Waste to be its most successful social media campaign, claiming to have recorded “an astonishing 15 million views of the banana clip posted by ABC TV on Facebook (ABC Backstory 2017).

What is evident from the success of the War on Waste campaign, is that Australians were willing to make environmentally friendly changes to their consumer habits, but lacked the knowledge and inspiration to put these changes into action. In this instance, social media truly did provide the catalyst for change.

References:

ABC Backstory: How collaboration made war on waste a multiplatform winner 2017, viewed 23 January 2018, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/about/backstory/television/2017-07-03/backstory-war-on-waste/8664874>

ABC TV. "It breaks our hearts to throw this much food away". Craig Reucassel visits a Banana Farm and discovers how much fruit is thrown away before it even hits the supermarkets. #WarOnWasteAU” 17 May 17. Facebook.

Caterall, E 2017, ABC's War on Waste creates unprecedented demand for sustainable coffee cups, viewed 23 January 2018, <http://recyclingnearyou.com.au/news/display/1299>

Gerbaudo, P 2012, Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism, Pluto, London.

Pea, Zinnia (@zinniapea). “Wouldn’t it be lovely if garlic came in some kind of easy to store, protective covering so we didn’t have to use plastic? @woolworths @craigreucassel #WarOnWasteAU” 18 January 2018, 5:45pm. Tweet.

Youmans, W, & York, J 2012, 'Social Media and the Activist Toolkit: User Agreements, Corporate Interests, and the Information Infrastructure of Modern Social Movements', Journal of Communication, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 315-329.

[branuworld-blog]

Blog #3 Politics and civic cultures

Social media, politics and the young

A Youth Electoral Study conducted in 2011 by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) showed that parents were the greatest source of information for youth with respect to voting in elections (Australian Electoral Commission, Youth Electoral Study 2011). However, in the space of only a few years, it appears that other sources have captured the attention of politically inclined youth.

A 2014 study of youth from Australia, the US and the UK suggests a strong link between social media use and political engagement (Xenos et al. 2014, p. 155). Today’s youth engage less in traditional types of citizen participation, and engage more in volunteering, digital networking, and consumer activism (Xenos et al. 2014, p. 155). Through these modern types of citizen participation, today’s young people appear to be more politically astute (Xenos et al. 2014, p. 155). Consider the 2017 same sex postal survey, and the surprisingly high percentage of young people aged 18-19 and 20-24 who participated in the vote (81 percent and 76 percent respectively) (Sisson & Baker 2017). These results show a level of political engagement that has not been seen amongst this demographic in the past (Packham 2017).

Whilst it may simply reflect young people’s passion for equality, it cannot be denied that it also reflects the extent to which young people were targeted by and engaged in this voting campaign, for which social media has surely played a significant part.

The emergence of social media has provided politicians with an opportunity to talk directly to their constituents and, in particular, young people who have in the past been somewhat politically indifferent (Packham 2017).

Are politicians exploiting their social media reach?

Social media presents an opportunity for politicians to engage with the public without having to campaign on foot or kiss babies.

Constituents can contact any willing politician with a social media account and ask them all manner of questions regarding their political campaigns, or spark debate over certain policies and decisions. However, it appears few politicians utilise social media in this way, instead they simply broadcast, and this does little to engage people or change their votes (Jericho 2012, p. 262-263).

One politician who has taken full advantage of social media in engaging with the public is New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. On the eve of the New Zealand election, Twitter users were afforded the opportunity to ask questions directly to Jacinda live on Twitter, using the #AskJacinda hashtag. Jacinda responded by tweeting back and, in some cases, by video. What differed in this scenario was that the conversations on Twitter were guided not by Jacinda, but by the people themselves. It showed a willingness on Jacinda’s part to listen to the public rather than to simply promote the talents of her political party (Jericho 2012, p. 264). If anything is likely to strengthen young people’s political engagement, it is the heady mix of modern citizen participation via social media and politicians with communication skills to match Jacinda Ardern’s.

References:

Australian Electoral Commission, Youth Electoral Study (YES) 2011, Report 1: Enrolment and voting, Figure 5 <http://www.aec.gov.au/About_AEC/Publications/youth_study/youth_study_1/page03.htm>

Jericho, G 2012, 'How many votes are there on Twitter?', in The Rise of the Fifth Estate, Scribe, Victoria, Australia.

Packham, C 2017, ‘Stirred by same-sex marriage vote, Australia’s youth gets serious’, Reuters, 6 October, viewed 22 January 2018, <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-politics-youthquake/stirred-by-same-sex-marriage-vote-australias-youth-gets-serious-idUSKBN1CB07D>

Politicians kissing babies, n.d., image, viewed 22 January 2018, <http://swartdonkey.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/kissing-babies.html>

Sisson, S & Baker, P 2017, ‘What the numbers say (and don’t say) in the same-sex marriage survey’, The Conversation, 15 November, viewed 22 January 2018, < https://theconversation.com/what-the-numbers-say-and-dont-say-in-the-same-sex-marriage-survey-87096>

Twitter, n.d., image, viewed 22 January 2018, <https://twitter.com/jacindaardern?lang=en>

Xenos, M, Vromen, A & Loader, B 2014, ‘The great equalizer? Patterns of social media use and youth political engagement in three advanced democracies’, Information, Communication & Society, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 151-167, viewed 22 January 2018, via Routledge.

Yes equality, n.d., image, viewed 22 January 2018, < http://www.equalitycampaign.org.au/home>

[branuworld-blog]

Blog #2

Our social experiences are bound up with social media platforms and their affordances

Affordances by design

Back in 1966, ecological psychologist James Gibson first coined the term ‘affordance’ to describe what an object or the environment might offer, provide or furnish us with (2015, p. 119). For example, a chair affords us the opportunity to sit on it and rest, stand on it to reach a high shelf, or hang a jacket on the back of it. It offers (at least) three ‘affordances’.

Just as physical objects can have affordances, so too can intangible ones such as technology. As Gaver (1996 p. 114) states, “Affordances exist not just for individual action, but for social interaction as well…”. Let’s examine Facebook for a moment. Its most prominent affordance is to provide users with the option of selecting whom will become their ‘friends’ and gain access to their personal profile page. Most often these ‘friends’ are already known to the user offline, and so it is typically viewed as affording one a platform upon which to advertise one’s activities. However, Facebook affords far more than this. I, for example, am a member of several niche Facebook groups which each afford me wildly different social experiences. My university group pages afford me the opportunity to discuss and collaborate with fellow students. My local buy, swap, sell group affords me the convenience of being able to expeditiously sell unwanted items from the comfort of my own home. And then there is my children’s primary school group, which affords me with knowledge of school events, as well as opportunities to seek and provide support from other parents.

What about Twitter? Unlike Facebook, Twitter affords users access to literally anyone who allows themselves to be ‘followed’ (Groshek & Tandoc 2017, p. 203). This affords the average citizen a voice; the opportunity to pose a question to a world leader, or even tweet a message of adoration to their favourite celebrity.

User driven affordances

Social media platforms are designed with very specific affordances in mind, but things get interesting when the users themselves dictate the affordances that a specific platform should provide.

Consider the violent protests that erupted in Ferguson, Missouri upon news of the acquittal of Darren Wilson in the murder of unarmed teen Michael Brown (Groshek & Tandoc 2017, p. 201). Twitter experienced what is referred to as ‘reciprocal journalism’, where the usual imbalance of power tipped in favour of journalists was flattened by citizen journalists flooding the platform with their own interpretation of events (Groshek & Tandoc 2017, p. 203). It afforded users the opportunity to partake in the discourse surrounding this high-profile event as the usual journalistic gatekeeping was eroded (Groshek & Tandoc 2017, p. 203).

Visit #BlackTwitter after #Ferguson to learn more

On Facebook, user driven affordances have also arisen. Triggered by complaints that Facebook was suggesting users ‘reconnect’ with deceased ‘friends’, in 2009 the social networking site introduced a new affordance, allowing deceased people’s Facebook pages to be converted into commemorative pages (Moore 2009). In this instance, user distress motivated change for this affordance.

The dynamic nature of social media and the ingenuity of its users, will no doubt identify many more affordances in future.

References:

#BlackTwitter after #Ferguson, 2015, video recording, Brent McDonald and John Woo, New York Times, USA

Gaver, W 1996, ‘Situating action II: Affordances for interaction: The social is material for design’, Ecological Psychology, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 111-129, viewed 9 December 2017, via EBSCO host database

Gibson, J 2015, The ecological approach to visual perception: Classic edition, Taylor and Francis

Groshek, J & Tandoc, E 2017, ‘The affordance effect: Gatekeeping and the (non)reciprocal journalism on Twitter’, Computers in Human Behaviour, vol. 66, pp. 201-210, viewed 9 December 2017, via Elsevier database

Moore, M 2009, ‘Facebook introduces memorial pages to prevent alerts about dead members’, The Telegraph UK, 27 October, viewed 8 December 2017, <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/6445152/Facebook-introduces-memorial-pages-to-prevent-alerts-about-dead-members.html>.

Standing on a chair, n.d., image, viewed 10 December 2017, <https://dkevinbrowndailydevotions.wordpress.com/2015/10/25/believing-in-jesus-is-like-standing-on-a-chair/>

2013_02_15_2e_facebookdea.9d201, n.d. image, viewed 10 December 2017, <http://mashable.com/2013/02/13/facebook-after-death/#99gI4G19V8qi>

[branuworld-blog]

How rare is it to meet a young person who is not on social media these days? Anyone know somebody who is NOT on social media? And if so, what are there reasons?

[branuworld-blog]

Blog #1

From community to society

The German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies was struck by the dramatic changes that occurred to communities during the industrial revolution (Siapera 2012, p. 192). Leading up to the revolution, communities consisted of people who lived near to each other and knew much about each other’s lives, because of a natural will or desire to maintain close connection (Siapera 2012, p. 193). Tönnies referred to this as ‘Gemeinschaft’ (Siapera 2012, p. 193). However, the emergence of the industrial revolution drew people away from their communities and towards the opportunities offered by big towns and cities, where natural will gave way to a rational will to associate with strangers for the purpose of obtaining one’s goals (Siapera 2012, p. 193). Tönnies described this as ‘Gesellschaft’ and viewed this shift as a breaking down of community (Siapera 2012, p. 193).

Weak ties

So what does the industrial revolution have to do with our social media usage today? Well, some argue that new media is contributing to a further weakening of community. But not everyone agrees. Take for example, the theory of ‘weak ties’ proffered by Sociologist Mark Granovetter (1983, p. 202).

Granovetter suggests that everyone has a network of very close friends whom all know each other – they are called strong ties (Granovetter 1983, p. 202). Similarly, everyone also has acquaintances with whom they associate, and these acquaintances will not know each other – they are called weak ties (Granovetter 1983, p. 202). Our weak ties allow us to form connections with other networks, because these acquaintances have their own strong ties. What becomes apparent is the value of weak ties in providing gateways to other social networks that would otherwise be unobtainable. Nowhere is this more evident than on social media.

Networked sociality

Networked sociality is “the practices of creating interpersonal ties built on mobile communication.” (Liu 2015, p. 336). Social media allows us to connect with others that we may otherwise never encounter in our daily lives, because it is unbounded by geographical location and, to some extent, even socioeconomic status. Take Twitter for example. Anyone who has an account, regardless of where they are in the world, can tweet a message straight to their favourite celebrity. Something that would be impossible to do in their offline lives. Our horizons can be broadened by social media, as we use weak ties to access, for example, Facebook communities that we could not otherwise infiltrate in our offline lives. Through this networked sociality, community does still exist. The question is, would Tönnies approve of this new form of ‘community’?

References:

DSN strong weak cliques bridges, n.d., image, viewed 7 December 2017, < http://www.nils-diewald.de/images/dsn/dsn-strong-weak-cliques-bridges.png>

Granovetter, M 1983, ‘The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited’, Sociological Theory, vol. 1, pp. 201-233, viewed 3 December 2017, via JSTOR database

Liu, T 2015, ‘Minority youth, mobile phones and language use: Wa migrant workers’ engagements with networked sociality and mobile communication in urban China’, Asian Ethnicity, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 334-352, viewed 7 December 2017, via EBSCO Host database

Siapera, E 2012, Understanding new media, Sage London.

Social networks and getting a job: Mark Granovetter 2016, video recording, Stanford Centre on Poverty and Inequality, California