linhswh01156

[linhswh01156]

Week 10 : Digital Citizenship and Conflict: Social Media Governance

Regarding the topic of week 10 - Digital Citizenship and Social Media conflict, this post will be focused on some key terms, including the concept of social media governance and regulation, online harassment, as well as the legal remedies, advice, and platform pressure.

When using the internet in general, or social media platforms in specific, regulations are set to ensure users the best experience. Although the regulations may be different from this country to another, in overall, they are all for these following purposes of data privacy, which are to prevent people from watching sensitive or harmful content, from getting access to copyrighted information, to monitor the vast number of people that are currently using the Internet, and to keep cybercrimes under control (www.easyllama.com, n.d.). 

The government is in charge of regulating the internet/social media, and each country has its own Internet laws. For example, in Australia, au Domain Administration (auDA) and Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts play crucial roles in regulating the internet and ensuring its safe and effective use (and, 2022). 

Moving on to the concept of online harassment, the term was defined as “threats or other offensive unwanted behaviors targeted directly at others through new technology channels (e.g. Internet, text messaging) or posted online for others to see that is likely to cause them harm, unintentionally or otherwise" by Jones et al (2013). According to Haslop, O’Rourke and Southern in 2021, “online harassment can take many forms, such as spreading malicious rumors, sending abusive direct messages and the non-consensual sharing of personal content, including sexual images.” The negative impacts of online harassment are evidently shown through recent research. In 2020, a report conducted by Plan International called “Free To Be Online” found that 59% of the surveyed 14,000 girls across 31 countries had been targeted with abusive and insulting language. Similarly, a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2021 claimed that more than a third of women worldwide have experienced abuse online, rising to almost half for younger women. 

In order to deal with such cyberbullying acts, several legal remedies were used, including the Criminal Code Act 1995 and Online Safety Act 2021. For advocacy and advice, in Australia, it is advisable to consider eSafety Commissioner. And lastly, it is essential for social media companies to address online harassment on their platforms. 

References:

and, C. (2022). Internet governance. [online] Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts. Available at: https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/media-technology-communications/internet/internet-governance.

‌www.easyllama.com. (n.d.). What Is Internet Regulation? Your Guide to the Internet and Its Rules. [online] Available at: https://www.easyllama.com/blog/what-is-internet-regulation/.

‌login.microsoftonline.com. (n.d.). Redirecting. [online] Available at: https://swinburne.instructure.com/courses/56619/pages/week-10-social-media-conflict-lecture?module_item_id=3811753 [Accessed 20 Mar. 2024].

[linhswh01156]

Week 9: Gaming Communities, Social Gaming and Live Streaming

Regarding the topic of week 9, this post will briefly go through the history and development of games, as well as the gaming communities. 

Firstly, it is necessary to determine the definition of “a game”, or “games'' in general. According to the proposal made by Clark C. Abt in 1968, games are “any contest (play) among adversaries (players) operating under constrains (rules) for an objective (winning, victory pay-off).” And to assist, “playing a game is the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.” (Suits 1978, p.41).

Secondly, the history of games is mentioned. The week 9 module had briefly gone through the history of games, starting from the “tricky” timeline. From the time of arcade games being popular among gamers to the rise of local multiplayer, and then to online multiplayer; it is evident that the development of gaming is becoming more distinctive and marvelous. Nevertheless, it is equally crucial to acknowledge that the development of games heavily relied on the hastened introduction of networked computing technologies.

When it comes to the subject of gaming communities, most people refer to it as "an online community that centres around interaction within a game." (Stanford.edu, 2019). Gaming communities are made up of gamers, stakeholders, developers, teams, tournaments, and the brands of certain games. (SGJ, 2021). Concerning the broad concept of gaming communities and their various practices, there are several points that I want to include in this post. One is the term competitive gaming, which is considered to be esports, and also, an enormous and lucrative industry, closely tied with online streaming platforms. Another honorable mention is game streaming, a platform-based activity. While there are some well-known social media platforms that allow millions of people to gather and watch video game livestreams, such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitch is known as the world's leading video game streaming platform (X.Y. Xu, X.R. Luo, K. Wu, W. Zhao, 2021). In late 2021, Twitch was reported to have  a daily average of 26.5 million viewers (Twitchtracker, 2021). Knowledge communities and modding are also prominent.

References:

Speed, A., Burnett, A. and Robinson II, T. (2023). Beyond the Game: Understanding why people enjoy viewing Twitch. Entertainment Computing, 45, p.100545. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2022.100545.

‌Hohlfeld, L. (n.d.). Gaming Communities. [online] Available at: https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/781281/Hohlfeld_Lena.pdf?sequence=2 [Accessed 19 Mar. 2024].

‌Stenros, J. (2016). The Game Definition Game: A Review. Games and Culture, 12(6). doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412016655679.

‌login.microsoftonline.com. (n.d.). Redirecting. [online] Available at: https://swinburne.instructure.com/courses/56619/pages/week-9-social-gaming-guest-lecture?module_item_id=3811749 [Accessed 19 Mar. 2024].

‌

[linhswh01156]

Week 8: Digital Citizenship and Software literacy: Instagram Filters

Regarding the topic of week 8, the primary focus mentioned in the module including the concept of filters, genders and filters, and the future of filters will be analyzed in this post.

In the context of the week 8 module, the augmented reality filter is the main focus analyzed. Augmented reality (AR) filters are defined as a popular social media feature affording users a variety of visual effects. (Ana Javornik, Ben Marder, Jennifer Brannon Barhorst, Graeme McLean, Yvonne Rogers, Paul Marshall, Luk Warlop, 2022). They “allow the user to see the real world, with virtual objects superimposed upon or composited with the real world.” (Azuma 1997). The popularity of this technology has been growing constantly, apace with the increasing speed of the quality and accessibility to smartphones. According to Bhatt’s report in 2020, 600 million people use AR filters each month on Instagram or Facebook, and 76% of Snapchat users use them every day. Concerning the use of AR filters, beauty filters are claimed to be the most common among the users of Instagram and Snapchat (Miller & McIntyre 2022). Thus, a negative impact appeared, called the Snapchat dysmorphia. As in Elisabeth Staal's statement in 2015 about the influences of the widespread embrace of Snapchat’s filters – “society is teaching us to edit ourselves to be desirable”, which is certainly “damaging to our mental health", consequences of Snapchat dysmorphia are evident.

Moving on to the relation between genders and filters, there are several normalized assumptions of how different genders use filters. According to Pescott (2020), Ibanez-Sanchez, Orus & Flavian (2022), “Boys/ men generally use filters for humor and entertainment”, while “girls/women use them to look “prettier” and “flawless”. As a matter of fact, filters are commonly considered to be feminine, due to the majority of them featuring the beautification effect.

Lastly, when it comes to the future of filters, it is reasonable to claim that the technologies regarding filters are developing, as well as the increase in quality and realisticity of them. Alongside social media apps, filters are being integrated into many other areas, such as the banking app of AliPay which allows users to use beauty filters when verifying a payment with their faces (Peng, 2020).

References:

Javornik, A., Marder, B., Barhorst, J.B., McLean, G., Rogers, Y., Marshall, P. and Warlop, L. (2022). ‘What lies behind the filter?’ Uncovering the motivations for using augmented reality (AR) face filters on social media and their effect on well-being. Computers in Human Behavior, [online] 128(107126), p.107126. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.107126.

‌ login.microsoftonline.com. (n.d.). Redirecting. [online] Available at: https://swinburne.instructure.com/courses/56619/pages/week-8-face-filters-guest-lecture?module_item_id=3811746 [Accessed 16 Mar. 2024].

‌ Barker, J. (2020). Making-up on mobile: The pretty filters and ugly implications of Snapchat. Fashion, Style & Popular Culture, 7(2), pp.207–221. doi:https://doi.org/10.1386/fspc_00015_1.

[linhswh01156]

Week 7: Body Modification on Visual Social Media

In terms of the contents in week 7, the primary messages in the lecture are about microcelebrity cultures, aesthetic templates/labor, body dysmorphic disorder, and identity dissonance.

According to Marwick (2013) and Senft (2012), microcelebrity is about making and keeping a sustained online identity representing a branded good to achieve status through visibility online. Concerning self branding within microcelebrity culture, it relies on visibility tactics - on instagram, users engage in unpaid labor and personal marketing to enhance their brand and struggle for visibility (Marwick, 2013a).

In social media, aesthetic templates tend to focus on capturing poses and body work as well as online and offline editing. Drenten & Gurrieri (2019) suggested that selfies are commonly seen as sexualised labor for social media users. The heteronormative notions of attractiveness may affect how someone is presented in social media. There are certain features that are socially considered to be femininity such as lips, jaw, cheeks, waist and buttocks. Masculine aesthetic templates are a bit different as no clear body parts were accentuated in poses and they appear to be represented by the ideals of athleticism, strength and dominance. Some particular features enhanced in male influencers include a strong, well-defined jawline. It is also noted that marginalized communities like gay ones may have different poses that are more aligned with femininity. These poses may not be socially acceptable for traditional masculinity aesthetic templates and therefore, the popular templates marginalize any queer identities not following the traditional norms.

The dissonance between online aesthetic templates and what is achieved offline may cause some stress to individuals. Public ‘health campaigns’ may promote unrealistic body ideals based on aesthetic templates that can be harmful and unhealthy. This can be associated with body dysmorphic disorder as it explains how some teens have to deal with managing the dissonance between what aesthetic templates they encounter and what they want to achieve. Phillip (2009) suggested these distress about users’ bodies are able to interfere with any humans’ daily lives.

References:

Duffy, BE & Meisner, C 2022, ‘Platform governance at the margins: Social media creators’ experiences with algorithmic (in)visibility’, Media, Culture & Society, vol. 45, no. 2, p. 016344372211119.

‘Redirecting’ n.d., login.microsoftonline.com, viewed 15 March 2024, <https://swinburne.instructure.com/courses/56619/pages/week-7-body-modification-guest-lecture?module_item_id=3811744>.

Chan, C 2014, ‘The Perfect Male And Female Body According To Males And Females’, Gizmodo Australia, viewed 15 March 2024, <https://gizmodo.com.au/2014/04/here-is-the-perfect-male-and-female-body-according-to-male-and-females/>.

[linhswh01156]

Week 6: Digital citizenship and the slow fashion movement

Regarding the topic of week 6, the relationship between digital citizenship and slow fashion as well as the concept of slow fashion will be covered in this post.

According to the week 6 module, slow fashion can also be addressed as ‘eco fashion’, ‘sustainable fashion’, ‘ethical consumption’, ‘thrifting’, or ‘circular fashion’. The slow fashion movement is the movement that “encourages brands to embrace a quality-based rather than a time-based business philosophy based around slower production, ethical attitudes, and well-made and long-lasting products.” (Domingos et al 2022).

In terms of the relation between digital citizenship and the slow fashion movement, there are several factors considered to be closely associated with this concept. Digital ethics and respect for others online are one, and the matter of being a good digital citizen, or corporate citizen also requires one to act responsibly in the context of the slow fashion industry and its concept of sustainability, as well as the respect for factory workers.

As the fashion industry is recognized as one of the most polluting industries at all stages of its life cycle, a considerable amount of research and documents on the social and ecological impacts of this industry have been conducted (Mariana Domingos, Vera Teixeira Vale, and Silvia Faria, 2021). While the whole fashion industry in general is estimated to account for 10% of the world’s carbon emissions, the textile industry is recorded to contribute 17-20% of the global industrial water pollution. Moreover, recent findings of the US claimed that approximately 11.9 million tons of clothing and footwear are discarded annually, in which 8.2 million tons end up in landfills. Thus, the slow fashion movement appeared, with the main purposes are “to adopt sustainable performance and a change in core values in the fashion industry”, “to focus on more durable products and traditional production techniques or design concepts that have no season”, and to “emphasize quality to achieve sustainability”. To simplify, the movement was born to reduce the negative impacts of the current fashion industry while still maintaining the benefits for fashion consumers.

Reference list

Domingos, M, Vale, VT & Faria, S 2022, ‘Slow Fashion Consumer Behavior: a Literature Review’, Sustainability, vol. 14, no. 5, p. 2860.

‘Redirecting’ n.d., login.microsoftonline.com, viewed 15 March 2024, <https://swinburne.instructure.com/courses/56619/pages/week-6-slow-fashion-lecture?module_item_id=3811742>.

stephanieatha n.d., ‘Digital Communities’, Hey, I’m Steph! I am a Media and Communications student at Swinburne University of Technology. Content here is created for participation in unit of study MDA20009 Digital Communities., Hey, I’m Steph! I am a Media and Communications student at Swinburne University of Technology. Content here is created for participation in unit of study MDA20009 Digital Communities., viewed 15 March 2024, <https://stephanieatha.tumblr.com/#:~:text=Digital%20Citizenship%20and%20the%20Slow%20Fashion%20Movement&text=The%20slow%20fashion%20movement%20relates>.

AdornThemes 2021, ‘What is the Slow Fashion Movement?’, Semiology.gr International Fashion House, viewed 15 March 2024, <https://semiology.gr/en/pages/%CF%84%CE%AF-%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%BD%CE%B1%CE%B9-%CF%84%CE%BF-slow-fashion-movement>.

‌

‌

[linhswh01156]

Week 4: Reality TV

Regarding the topic of week 4, contents related to Reality TV, which are the definitions and its relations with Social Media are the main points.

According to Murray and Ouellette, Reality TV is a “broad genre that includes game docs, dating programs, makeover/lifestyle, docusoaps, talent contests, court programs, Reality sitcoms, and celebrity based programs”. Additionally, the term can also be defined as “ordinary people engaged in unscripted action and interaction” (Nabi 2007), “hypervisibility, coalescing over-the-top emotions with behavioural transgressions that promise the thrill of unpredictability within the security of televisual contrivance” (Kavka 2019), or “docusoap” (Dovey 2000).

Moving on, Reality TV and the involvement of Social Media is the next part included in the module lecture of week 4. Two areas were covered, which were the engagement of Social Media multiplatform and the digital publics created by Reality TV. While Social Media engagement increases chances for Reality stars and fans to interact across various social media platforms (podcasts, recaps, conventions, cameo), which assists in the diversification of markets and audience participation, the establishment and development of digital publics from Reality TV shows creates everyday political talk; performs valuable (yet often dismissed) social function. For instance, the two Reality shows Big Brother and Wifeswap were found to have fan forums that discussed a number of significant political and social topics, including immigration, racism, gender, sexuality, and discrimination.

In the module lecture of week 4, several paradoxical facts about Reality TV are stated. According to Statista, “the only TV genre that people say there’s too much. 61 percent of respondents in this same study said they wish there was less Reality TV”. Moreover, Reality TV was claimed by surveyed people to be their least favorite entertainment genre despite consistently winning ratings.

To conclude, the main points covered in week 4 have been mentioned above.

References:

Sign in to your account��n.d., login.microsoftonline.com, viewed 3 February 2024, <https://swinburne.instructure.com/courses/56619/pages/week-4-reality-tv-case-study-lecture?module_item_id=3811738>.

[linhswh01156]

Week 3

Regarding the topic of week 3, the content related to public sphere, blogging, and the Tumblr case study will be covered in this post.

As included in the module lecture of week 3, public sphere is “a place where private people come together as a public for the purpose of using reason to further critical knowledge which, in turn, leads to political change…” (Kruse, 2018). In order to be qualified as a ‘public sphere’, the term must satisfy three conditions, which are the provision of “full access to information for everyone and equal participation”, “an environment that is free from institutional influence, coercion, or surveillance. People must feel safe to contribute (politically, economically, or socially)”, and finally, “barriers to participation in digital community could be social media competency, some groups excluded by economics or race, surveillance may also constrain how safe people feel to contribute and algorithms can skew or bias what people get to see.”

The next term included is the concept of blog and blogging. The first blog created was by Justin Hall in 1994, which was referred to as his personal homepage, and later shortened to ‘blog’ by Peter Merholz in 1999.

The case study of Tumblr is briefly mentioned in the module lecture of week 3, and approached more precisely in the week’s essential reading. As provided in the module lecture, Tumblr was established in 2007 and had 3.7 million users in 2023 (Civic and Social Media News). In the specific case study about body positivity, Tumblr was chosen as the focus for various reasons. First was its origin as a mixture between traditional weblogs and social networking sites, which assisted in the setting of the pre-conditions for a diverse and empowering feminist community. Second was its impression of being known as a site of “emotional authenticity” (Hart, 2015, p. 201) used to form counterpublic spaces for marginalized and progressive communities (Cavalcante, 2018; Mccracken, 2017). Until its change in policy in 2018, Tumblr was recognized as standing out from Instagram and Facebook due to its openness toward NSFW content (Renninger, 2015; Tiidenberg & Cruz, 2015), which caused a drop in the usage figures in the younger demographics since the NSFW was no longer accepted.

To sum up, the main points covered in week 3 have been mentioned above.

References:

Reif, A, Miller, I & Taddicken, M 2022, ‘“Love the Skin You‘re In”: An Analysis of Women’s Self-Presentation and User Reactions to Selfies Using the Tumblr Hashtag #bodypositive’, Mass Communication and Society.

Ron Lieback (2020). 7 Ways Businesses Benefit from Blogging. [online] Search Engine Journal. Available at: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/business-benefits-of-blogging/377747/.

login.microsoftonline.com. (n.d.). Sign in to your account. [online] Available at: https://swinburne.instructure.com/courses/56619/pages/week-3-tumblr-case-study-lecture?module_item_id=3811736 [Accessed 1 Feb. 2024].

[linhswh01156]

Week 5: Digital Citizenship

Week 5: Digital Citizenship

Regarding the topic of week 5, the concept of digital citizenship and the related terms will be covered in this post.

As included in the module lecture of week 5, there are several definitions of digital citizenship, one of them is “The digital citizen ... is a subject of power and constraints wielded by states and institutions or even platform registration.” (McCosker; Vivienne; Johns Negotiating digital citizenship: control, contest and culture Littlefield: 2016). Following are the studies of platform and platformization, in which three specific ways were stated to define the meaning of platform: computational, political, and architectural. Meanwhile, according to Chia et al (2020), platformization is a concept to describe the growing integration of digital platforms’ business models, infrastructures, algorithms, and the practices around them into every facet of society.

The next term included is the role of hashtag public and activism. For example, hashtag public and activism aid the formation and coordination of ‘ad hoc issue publics’, or ‘hashtag publics’ (Bruns & Burgess; Rambukkana). According to Zappavigina, they are also ‘linguistic markers’ that facilitate search, generate ‘ambient affiliation’.

Digital citizenship also plays a significant role in the political engagement of citizens. In the recent decades of advanced democracies, there have been changes, especially the decline in the participation in traditional, collective action-oriented organisations such as political parties and trade unions, as well as the increase in the involvement of residents with the local community, environmental and human rights organisations, causes and online social movements (Vromen, 2017). Therefore, it can be stated that social media shapes the political engagement of citizens.

In addition to the concept of digital citizenship, a deeper understanding of the term can be analyzed through an intersectional lens, with three different approaches including the Unidimensional approach, the Multidimensional approach, and the critical and radical approach (Moonsun Choi & Dean Cristol, 2021).

To sum up, the main points covered in week 5 have been mentioned above.

References:

Hashtag Images – Browse 61,260 Stock Photos, Vectors, and Video n.d., Adobe Stock, viewed 30 January 2024, https://stock.adobe.com/vn/search?k=hashtag. Sign in to your account n.d., login.microsoftonline.com, viewed 30 January 2024, https://swinburne.instructure.com/courses/56619/files/27920516?wrap=1. Choi, M. and Cristol, D. (2021). Digital Citizenship with Intersectionality Lens: Towards Participatory Democracy Driven Digital Citizenship Education. Theory Into Practice, 60(4). doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2021.1987094.