lifeofkasss

[lifeofkasss]

Blog Post 8

Is there a need for protection against online hate?

If we were to have more protection online, we would be able to create more regulations and standards to ensure victims of their safety. Our federal protection can sometimes struggle with the fast paced evolution of our online world. More protection would enhance accountability on our platforms leading to stronger actions against the hate a nd harassment spreading throughout the internet. Implementing these regulations would help adress the consequences of online hate and make for a more inclusive environment. 

What are the effects of online trolling?

There are many negative effects that trolling can cause to ones health. Online trolling can lead to many things such as isolation, lowered self-esteem, depression, anxiety, etc. When someone falls victim to this constant negative feedback and harassment, they begin to dount themselves and feel anxious and self concscious. Trolling can also lead to problems in their personal life that can lead them to mental illness, which can then lead to the need for counseling. 

What is offline trolling and how is it more harmful than online trolling?

Offline trolling can include things like stalking, vandalism, verbal abuse, etc. All these forms of harrasment can lead to emotional psychological ad even physical effects on the victim. Offline harrasment/trolling can be more dangerous than online trolling because it is more of an immediate threat. Unlike online, offline trolling can lead to immediate physical altercations and injuries. With offline harrasment it is also easier to identify the perpetrator which can lead to higher anxiety for the victim as they will find a harder time to escape the harasser. 

How has trolling evolved with the growth of our online environments?

Due to the growth of our social media platforms, trollers have been able to reach much further audiences creating more targets for perpetrators. With easy anonymity, many individuals are able to hide behind their screens without consequences to the hurtful actions. It is easy to access alter egos online in order to continue to troll others and create chaos online. Many groups of people online are often targeted based on their identities and beliefs they display on their profiles. As our internet develops further and further, so will trolls. 

Bergstrom, Kelly. “Don’t feed the troll”: Shutting down debate about community expectations on Reddit.com.

Citron, D. K. (2014). Hate crimes in cyberspace. Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England, Harvard University Press.

Silman, Anna. A Timeline of Leslie Jones’s Horrific Online Abuse.

[lifeofkasss]

This is my day-to-day bitmoji thats attached to my snapchat. My user name on there is kassie.red because Kassie is my nickname and my last name is Rojo, which is red in Spanish. I chose the clothing because I like watching F1 racing and I usually wear baggy jeans with my outfits. I wasn't interested in disguising myself when making my online persona because the bitmoji is supposed to represent me and I wanted to be able to express myself online.

This is the gaming avatar I created. The username I use when playing is J13Rojo. The username I use is actually my brothers because I started gaming on his console and would just stay on his profile to play with my friends. The outfit I chose for this was just kind of random. I tried to go for a bit of a comfy look with a bit of "edge" because that seems to be what most people assume gamers look like. I also included the headphones because when playing I almost always have a headset on for better sound and the ability to talk to my friends and teammates. I wasn't interested in disguising my sex/gender for this because not all gamers are men. People usually tend to assume gamers are guys but in recent times, a lot more girls have began to play video games and even stream their game play.

This is the dating site avatar I created. The username for this would just be my name Kassie. I decided to just keep my nickname as the username since I use it more than my full name Kassandra. For the clothing I didn't have many options with bitmoji, but I tried to chose something cute that would seem like something I would wear. I'm not a huge fan of dresses or skirts so I usually just throw on a cute top with some jeans and sneakers. I wasn't interested in in disguising myself for this one because in order for success to happen on a dating sight I have to be myself and show people who I am. If I were to disguise myself the people looking at my profile would be expecting somebody different than who I am.

[lifeofkasss]

Blog 5

How can video games create even more inequality in our world?

Although there are a variety of free video games on the internet, many of them can still require you to spend money. There are many games who produce packs, skins, emotes, and many other exciting additions to their games, that require their players to spend money. This can create inequality within the game as not every player has access to the amount needed. This can lead to disadvantages for some players as they aren't able to buy these special packs that can help them with the continuation of their game. With the disadvantage of not being able to purchase these extras, some people can feel excluded, or even begin to experience online trolling, because other players are able to. 

Should video games face stricter regulations?

As shared in “The Revenge of the Yellow Faced Cyborg Terminator” many video games hold and put out so much violence into the world we live in. Although shooting and violent games can be fun, is there a point where it is too much? In these violent games there are so many grotesque thoughts and ideas that can be put into peoples heads. Games can also create violence from player to player creating toxic gaming environments and experiences. We already see so much of the toxicity in the gaming community, so why aren't there more restrictions?

How does the racism experienced in gaming impact those players?

As stated in my previous paragraph, online gaming is not always so nice. Many people are trolled and harassed when playing these games. Online racism is unfortunately very common in the gaming world. In many games, especially COD, there are many ragers who throw out so many racist, homophobic, and other hurtful comments at any given moment. This can isolate the individuals who are being told these rude comments and affect their mental health. The targeted players can then become depressed and gain a lot of stress from these toxic environments.

How are parents and their children affected by video games?

A lot of parents nowadays no longer closely monitor their child's screen time. Children are sometimes just handed a phone, tablet, or game console without regulations. This allows the child to have free access to what is on the internet, which can lead to them playing violent games or going into websites they shouldn't be allowed into. This then puts these violent and mature contents into the child's head which can create a harmful mindset for the child to grow up with. They will grow up thinking these violences are okay in the real world as their parents aren't telling them anything to prevent them from these types of contents.

Kolko, B. E., Nakamura, L., & Rodman, G. B. (2000). Race in cyberspace. Routledge.

Ow, Jeffrey A. “The Revenge of the Yellowfaced Cyborg Terminator: The Rape of Digital Geishas and the Colonization of Cyber-Coolies in 3D Realms’ Shadow Warrior.” Asian America.Net: Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Cyberspace.

Brooker, C. (Writer), Wright, J. (Director). (2016, October 21). Nosedive (Season 3, Episode 1) [TV series episode]. In A. Jones, C. Brooker (Executive Producers), Black Mirror. Zepportron.

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Blog #3

How is cyberfeminism important in our society? 

As explained in “Rethinking Cyberfeminism”, cyberfeminism focuses on gender equality and inclusivity in terms of how gnder and technology tie into eachother. With the use of technology, women are able to experiment with these new technologies that come into the world. Many people, like ourselves, use social media on a day to day basis. With the use of social media people are able to express themselves in many ways and share their thoughts with the world. Although social media can be a scary place, people find a way to create a positive environment where they can advocate for gender rights. There are many individuals and even company pages that use social media as a space to promote gender rights and make sure everyone feels welcomed and included. With these technological advancements our world has made, we are able to promote equality and inclusivity whether it be the people around us or people across the globe. The power of social media and the internet has made it possible to bring together many different people and communities, and allows them to communicate and express themselves to people who can relate and help them.

How can technology be anti-black?

Just as Nicole Brown mentioned, many technologies and algorithms tend to oppress many people of color. She mentioned how predictive policing had targeted black communities as “violent” since they had been scored on how likely they were to be connected to gun violence in their area. She had also mentioned that most of the people being targeted had never committed crimes, and some targets were even children. There are many other ways technology opresses not only blacks but all people of color. Tecnologies such as social media harrasment, digital divides, historical exclusions, etc. There are so many imperfections with our technology that target and exclude people of color. Many colored individuals are so often targeted online, such as trolling, that lead to mental health and safety problems. Digital divide are also mostly in black/colored communities meaning they dont have the same access to technology as other communities. 

Brown, N (2020). Race and Technology.

Daniels, J (2009). Rethinking Cyberfeminism(s): Race, Gender, and Embodiment. The Feminist Press

Eubanks, Automating Inequality. Pdf

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Blog Post #2 9/6

Is minority or ethnic media still being marginalized today?

Throughout time minorities have always faced persistent silencing and suppression. Peoples voices are being amplified simply because they are "others". The issue in the media, which has been persisting over the years, is that because they are seen as "others", the media they display is being ignored. At times some were even archived in order for the published work to get no attention. I now sit here wondering how often this is still happening today.

If AI is to remain legal, how should it be regulated?

Our government should have transparency and clear accessibility so that they are able to monitor any activities created by AI. With the ability to monitor these activities and creations, they would be able to put a halt to any type of misuse in the AI world. As we've all seen, there have been so many horrible things surfacing that have been produced with AI. Other things such as data protection and adaptability should also be involved in the regulation of AI. Data protection laws ensure any personal information should be safeguarded. Adaptability is also very important as our government needs to be able to keep up with the rapid advancements of our technology.

Is media social?

Fuchs gives us different perspectives on the concept of social media. An example of his that stood out to me was how he stated that sitting in front of a computer would be considered social as your computer was created by other people. Although we are not able to see the exact work that was put into making it, we know that other have worked on it and are now “collabing” by putting the computer to use. He also counters his point by saying that because you are alone, you are not being social. To be social is to have direct interactions and communication with people around you. 

References:

Fuchs, C. (2014). Social media : A critical introduction (3rd ed.). Sage.

Gonzalez, Torres. News For All The People.pdf

[lifeofkasss]

One time the internet has failed me was during covid. We had to change all our schedules and move to online classes. As I had just started to take my exam, my internet decided to crash. I was left with a blank screen showing "no internet connection". All my answers were gone and I was losing time to complete my exam. I had to frantically try and get a hole of my teacher to communicate my distress to them. Thank god my teacher was able to give me more time to complete my assignment due to this disaster. This went on to happen a couple more times throughout year and made it harder to complete assignmnents and finish class zoom calls.