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bebx · 3 years ago

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Hi there, first of all: I love you and you are our light in this S*lki hell.

Now that being said, what do you think, how realistic is S*lki being endgame? Because I'd rather step away from S2 than watching this fucked up shit being fully romantic canon content. They already fucked up my love in season 1 so badly I'm absolutely TERRIFIED.

Okay so before I start, a disclaimer that everything I’m gonna say is just my theory/ what I believe is going to happen. So I could be wrong. Or I could be right. You can make the decision yourself whether or not you’re agreeing with my take.

That being said, I don’t think they’re going to be endgame. If I remember it correctly, Michael Waldron once said he wanted Loki’s first canon love interest to be with himself, the thing about this, is his choice of words; first love implies there’re going to be more people involved.

And I was debating with myself if I should bring this up, since it’s a rumor as of now, nothing has been confirmed. Some of you may have already heard it. But I guess it was worth bringing it up? Just take it with a grain of salt for now; a source calmed Loki is going to have two love interest in his series, one a female and the other a male. The article was released before the first season aired, at the time when Loki show was supposed to be 12-episode-long, before it got divided into two seasons, six episodes each. Now I’m not saying I 100% believe it, or that I think Mobius is going to be the male love interest the article talked about, that we’ll get in the second season. Because like I said; nothing has been confirmed. So you can decide for yourself how authentic it is.

Another reason why I don’t think Loki and himself are going to be endgame, is because of the strong backlash from the majority of the fans. I know there’re people who like them together, but the majority are against the pairing. And I also know Marvel is known for making dumb decisions and ignoring criticisms, but I still don’t think they’re gonna ignore criticisms this huge that could actually impact the $$$ they could earn. Even the media is roasting the romance between Loki and blonde Loki, I remember an article with the headline that goes along the line; ‘the Loki and Sylvie’s romance hint left fans terrified’ and something about the pairing makes fans want to physically gag. The director was also faced with major backlash and incest accusations, bad enough it got to the point she had to go public and defend herself. (To clarify, I am against bullying and harassment, however the criticisms and backlash =/= harassment, and those criticisms are valid)

I think they are also aware that the reason people are against the ship, is not about Lokius but about the fluidphobia and the harm it could inflict towards real people; the stereotype and the wrongful belief that genderfluid people can only ‘date the opposite gender of themself’ (and I’m willing to bet Loki and Sylvie would never have been a thing, if Sylvie weren’t feminine presenting)

Let’s not forget about the fact that, canonically, Loki and blonde Loki did break up. Their relationship lasted 5 seconds.

And one more thing, I believe there’s a reason why the actors never talk about the pairing in a romantic way anymore, precisely they stop talking about the characters being a couple after the backlash (Tom and Sophia did a penal together, and they did not talk about Syl*i once. Or, every time Tom was directly asked about Sylvie, he only talks about her character in general but nothing about the ship, nothing beyond that vague ‘yeah I think maybe Loki will search for her in season 2’ he said in an interview a while ago. And it’s kind of obvious how Tom always talks about Mobius and his relationship with Loki even when he wasn’t asked about Mobius, meanwhile he only talks about Sylvie when he was directly asked about her) …. Anyway the reason why I believe the actors no longer talk about Sy*ki is either because A.) they want to avoid giving out possible spoilers for season 2 or B.) Marvel is aware of the backlash and told their actors not to talk about it.

And the thing is, if A (their wanting to avoid giving away possibly spoilers) were to be the case, the actors would’ve still been able to talk about what’d already happened in season one. But they just… stop talking about it at all. So if you ask me, it looks like B is the actual case here.

My guess is that, they’re going to break them up for real in season 2, or they’re gonna pretend like Loki never kissed himself the way they pretended Steve Rogers never kissed his dead girlfriend’s niece right after her funeral, after they’d received major backlash that time, too.

I mean I understand being terrified about the second season, after the mess that is season one, I am too. If I were to be honest, I’m not excited for season two after seeing how badly they messed the first season up. And at this point I’m going to watch it only for Mobius, since he’s the only thing I’m looking forward to in season 2.

I have my hope that they’re going to fix their mistake in the second season, but I won’t keep my hopes up too high and my expectations are low.

Edit: I’ve been informed Loki’s originally having 1 season with 12 episodes may not be true, and that it’d meant to have 2 seasons with 6 episodes per each. But the rest of my point still stands. Thank you for reading ☺️

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chaoticfriendship · 4 years ago

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This is not hate but how can you support someone like pewdiepie after all hes done? I feel like it's wrong to put him with Jack because sometimes i feel like jacks his friend only because he feels he needs to because of the shoutout. Don't stan him with Jack or associate him with him please. Pewdiepie is a bad influence and a white supremacist

Ok. Let’s talk. I was going to ignore this but you’re really persistent. This is the fifth ask you have sent me telling me the same thing but in different ways. Sad thing is that I just started this blog, I can’t believe this keeps happening to me in every fandom I go to. Some of you need to understand something about Felix.

Yes, I’m aware he did a lot of questionable things. And no, he’s not a white supremacist. He’s not racist. And he’s not homophobic or whatever Twitter/the media is saying about him these days. I might not know him personally but I’ve been watching Felix since the very beginning and even with this little info about his life I can tell the difference between some things people choose to ignore about him. He’s a very honest person and he always tells everyone the information they need to know about him, whether it is about his personal life or his pewdiepie persona. His real actual friends (Jack, Ken, Mark -also good people, and whether you like it or not, Jack is one of them) held him accountable for the things he did and also made sure to assure everyone that the ‘Pewdiepie’ personality is totally different than his real-self. They confirmed he’s not any of his mistakes. Meaning the ‘Pewdiepie’ personality got too far and the facade/entertainment mask fell off of him when he made those mistakes. This was not only a lesson for him but it showed him places that needed real improvement in his life, something we all need sometimes. We all fall short in understanding the potential harm we can do to others and we easily face the temptation to define ourselves by ignoring those crucial parts. What Felix needed to learn was self-awareness. And he’s now constantly working on it so he can objectively evaluate himself when it comes to those things. Some people face this alone and privately but, him, as an internet sensation had to do it on camera.

Pay attention to what his actual friends say about him. Jack himself said it:

‘It is strange, all the stuff that gets said about him, it’s kind of weird to see that being said about a friend of yours. To hear his actual thoughts on it…people like to take things every which way and twist things all over the place. I don’t know how he does it, with that many people on you and that much scrutiny on you constantly. I think I would have lost my mind by now.’

I’m also aware he’s a white rich guy and that he’s a step up on the scale from me and other people but I’m sure that if I dig long enough, I’m going to find something about certain actors/actresses/musicians (that most likely you and other people love) as well. Meaning they’re human at the end of the day and they might make mistakes too. Felix is the same case here.

It was dumb to say certain things and do certain things? YES. I held him accountable when he did those things. He didn’t need to say or do the things he did. It was irresponsible, harmful and immature from his part. However, he’s willing to make a change and work on it so this is something I can appreciate.

He did the fivver video. This is his statement:

‘I make videos for my audience. I think of the content that I create as entertainment, and not a place for any serious political commentary. I know my audience understand that and that is why they come to my channel. Though this was not my intention, I understand that these jokes were ultimately offensive. I think it’s important to say something and I want to make one thing clear: I am in no way supporting any kind of hateful attitudes.’

his response.

He said the ‘n’ word. He sincerely apologized. This is his statement:

‘I hate how I personally fed into that part of gaming. It was something that was said in the heat of the moment. I said the worst word I could possibly think of and it slipped out. I’m not going to make excuses to why I did it because there are not excuses for it. I’m dissappointed in myself because it seems like I learned nothing from controversies. And it’s not like I think I can do or say whatever I want and get away with it. I’m just an idiot but that doesn’t make what I said or how I said it okay. It was not okay. I’m really sorry If I offended, hurt or disappointed anyone with all of this. Being in the position I am, I should know better. I know I can’t keep messing up like this and I owe it to my audience and to myself to do better than this. I really want to improve and better myself, not just for me but for anyone that looks up to me or anyone that is influenced by me and that’s how I wanna move forward. Away from this.’

source: my response.

He:

Held himself accountable.

Made no excuses for his behaviour.

Recognized he did something wrong and stupid.

Sincerely apologized for it without making a fake act or fake crying for sympathy.

Never asked for sympathy or support because he's willing to make a real change in behavior.

Realized some people are influenced by him and worked to be better for them and himself.

Chose to be himself and stand his ground on an important matter to make his audience understand he was taking this as serious as it is.

Understood he gave ammunition that feeds some people the wrong idea and didn’t try to rationalize it because he knows he should take accountability for it.

Saw that he had no need for jokes or words like that in his vocabulary in the first place and worked on self-control.

Rightfully feels ashamed for his actions.

Here you can see Felix takes this seriously. He’s not messing around with what happened. He takes it with the responsibility it should be taken.

And this is enough for me. I’m sorry if you think Felix needs to do a blood sacrifice to prove himself but that’s just not how it works.

We all have said or done things we are not proud of. He did many of them and trust me, he was held accountable for them. How? Here’s a list of the consequences:

He was part of the original content network YouTube Red, and was affiliated with Disney’s MakerStudios brand where he had his own network. Disney cut all ties with him.

They cancelled his YouTube Red show, where a lot of people put big effort (not only the participants but the crew members). You can see that this was important for him. It was not just some random ass show.

Was held accountable for his actions and it was made known every mistake he did. Every single one.

Received the proper criticism from the media, his fans and his own friends.

He also received harsh backlash and hate from the situation.

Lost support from followers, celebrities, friends and companies.

He’s constantly attacked by people and media outlets on a daily basis. Some people even fabricate false stories about him.

He faced the proper consequences for those actions. Let him move on already.

You also listed a bunch of stuff in one of your asks, things he’s NEVER done. Those are things the media has made you and everyone else believe he did but he didn’t. This is why you should never believe any random media headline, you need to actually do your own research to see if that’s true or not. Here are the things you said he did (none of these are true):

No, he hasn’t hired people to say the ‘n’ word. This is not true at all.

No, he doesn’t promote Adolf Hitler speeches and anti-semitic cartoons. Disney did once tho.

No, he’s not homophobic. At all. He was actually evicted from his own flat because his previous landlord is an actual homophobic person and called him and his crew the ‘f’ word. He decided to move far away from the guy.

No, he didn’t perform the Nazi heil. Never.

No, he didn’t pay the ‘Jesus’ guy to hold a sign that says ‘Hitler did nothing wrong’ this is a lie. Someone else did it and the media said it was him to cause more controversy. He paid him to say ‘Subscribe to Jacksepticeye’.

No, he’s not racist. For this, his content would’ve to be filled with racial jokes and actual intentional attacks daily. His content is not like that, trust me, the most he does is play with some tambourine all the time. He’s said the ‘n’ word (something he admitted was terrible, apologized for it and took responsibility for his words), yes but someone that feels as bad and ashamed as he does, does not equal to what an actual racist is and how they act.

No, he didn’t dress up in a Klansman robe. He never did that. This is also false information about him.

No, he doesn’t bully his friends or enables bullying. I don’t know where the media got that one but I can assure you they’ve got no friends if they think his interactions with his own friends are ‘bullying’.

No, he doesn’t joke about crises happening around the world. AT ALL. He constantly raises money for them (and gives his own money as well) to different causes such as the Wildfires Emergency Appeal, Team Trees (to plant 20 million trees), St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (for kids with diseases such as cancer), Crisis Text Line, National Alliance on Mental Illness (a group that helps those suffering from mental illness), CRY (a GoFundMe campaign to help Indian children living in poverty), World Wildlife Fund (dedicated to the reduction of mankind’s environmental impact), RED (did a whole 7 hour livestream with friends to help people fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa), Charity: Water (a non-profit that provides drinking water to developing nations), Save the Children (for underprivileged kids to give them better education, healthcare, better economic opportunities), he recently raised $106,000 for the BLM movement donating the contributions to the family of George Floyd and other victims of police violence, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Hope for Holt, Malaria No More, Oceana, SpecialEffect, War Child, etc. Does this sound like someone who makes fun of real problems happening around the globe? No. And no, he hasn’t made fun of those causes either.

No, he doesn’t make fun of mental illnesses. He talks about it with the proper respect and delicacy it deserves. He constantly adresses mental health, shares resources for viewers who may be struggling and talks about the importance of being aware and getting legitimate help. Where are you taking these facts from?

No, he doesn’t support China’s police brutality. He was BANNED from China for critizing the president and the country’s treatment of Hong Kong’s anti-government protests. How hard is it to watch the real video instead of trusting some Susan from Twitter?

No, he has NEVER disrespected Japanese culture. Felix loves Japan and respects their culture. He always treats the people and the place with utter respect.

He’s not a white supremacist or a secret Nazi. Are you insane? He’s said it himself ‘f*** anyone who is racist and anyone who is a white nationalist. That’s not what I’m about. And that’s not what my channel has been about either.’ Maybe if you think about it, the media painted him that way and people decided to go with it because they don’t actually watch his videos. The number of accusations and stories are insane and ridiculous. Have you ever watched one of his videos? Ever? Because if you would’ve, you would know none of these things are true.

No, he doesn’t encourage kids/teens to see and follow Nazi ethics. He recommended a channel that does anime reviews (he didn’t know the channel had pro white-supremacy videos). You’re accusing him of that for not checking the thousand-something videos said channel has because he liked one anime review? This is reaching to a whole new degree. You could’ve randomly watched the same anime review vid, does that make you a Nazi as well? And NO, he didn’t wear an Iron Cross, he was wearing a Georgian Bolnisi cross. The shirt is by the Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia. Use Google please.

I don’t think you’re a real Jacksepticeye fan if you think he’s sticking up for him only because of a shout-out that happened years ago. Extend your perspective in this. He knows him in real-life. He’s his best friend. He can tell he’s not a bad person. This is not a hard thing to figure out.

Also, you forgot to put the anon option in one of your asks, so I know who you are. Weren’t you joking about WW3, using the ‘r’ word to fight with your followers and making fun of the BLM movement a few months ago on your twitter account? It might not look like it’s possible but we’ve also made and are capable of making some of the same mistakes too. The difference is that some of you hide behind the ‘it’s just humor to cope with life’ gen z card. Joking about a serious important movement is harmful as well, hope you can learn that.

I can’t tell you how to emotionally react to his content, however I can advise that if it bothers you that much you should remove yourself from the environment that revolves around him (if you even watch his videos which I highly doubt) if you’re not willing to give him a chance. You also need to remember that forgiveness is private and personal, just because you don't see his content and can't see that change doesn't mean it's not happening. There’s power in understanding.

#pewdiepie #felix kjellberg #jacksepticeye #sean mcloughlin #youtube #youtubers

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lizzybeth1986 · 6 years ago

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Sorry for this XD, but 1, 4, 9, 11, 26 and 27 for the salty ask? If it's not too much, of course

Don't say sorry! 😁 Thanks for the ask Nonny and apologies for the delay.

I must caution you, the post is going to be long and and there's too much salt in my responses for even me to handle.

1. OTP in fandom that you just do not get.

IDK I most don't give much of a thought to OTPs that I don't get. Like that is the nature of any fandom, that you can see potential for ships even without a say-so from canon.

What I really don't get is the absurd double standards that I see sometimes - how some fans will pull down other LIs/characters to make a favourite look good, how some LIs will be nitpicked to high hell while others can say the grossest things and not be judged. How one character can be judged for the same thing we will admire in another (I'll get to this later).

It's weird, considering the app literally allows you to choose who you will fall for (unless you're wlw or like a character that's a person of colour in a majority-white cast, in which case they will dangle scraps in front of you once every ten chapters, I suppose). You don't need to trash one LI to justify your choice of another. They're there. Stop tearing down an LI while deliberately tagging the character's tag and ship tags for your notes. Go generate (and promote) content for your own ships and characters instead.

4. A personal NOTP? Are they considered an OTP in the fandom?

Hana x Madeleine. Fortunately, lots of people had plenty of problems with this pair and the way it was written in Book 3. The narrative was subtly pushing that ship over the course of Book 3, but the backlash was strong enough that they got Madeleine to issue an apology for her bullying in the epilogue instead (I doubt they even remember the chocolate allergy scene, given that the MC acts like this information is brand new).

It still left a bad taste in my mouth, because it showed me how little the writers cared for Hana as a character, but at least the fandom made sure it didn't become a ship.

9. Most Disliked Character(s):

Hoo boy. I have a freaking list. Besides the really really obvious ones:

• Drake Walker: has way more privilege than he knows what to do with. Narrative acts like he is the Voice of the Commoner...well. I feel sorry for the commoners that don't get to practically live in court without having to change their attire or yap all day about steak, burgers and whiskey. And whose sisters don't have friends that will fleece their entire ancestral house's already-plummeting finances to keep her house running while her brother trash-talks the same friend in Book 1.

• Damien Nazario: is a hypocrite. That is all.

• Constantine: Almost every apology of his has to come punctuated with an excuse. Even if it involves orchestrating sexual assault.

• Madeleine (TRR) and Mallory (RoE): The demonic duo of People PB Wants So Desperately For Me To Forgive™. Without them even having to earn that forgiveness, too (Nana deserves to be on this list too, except the question of forgiveness doesn't even arise when it comes to her. She is worshipped in this series!). I see a small step towards change in D&D Book 2 with Lady Grandmother, but only time will tell if they will actually execute the "will never forgive you" route properly.

• Penelope: is so, so fucking entitled I just can't. I understood how her condition, and manipulation from people like Constantine and Bastien, got her to the point where she would be ready to harm someone. But I can't for the life of me understand how she can forget this so easily after the tea party.

I was hoping for a redemption arc where Penelope recognizes what she's done and unconditionally tries to make amends in Book 3, but that never happened. There was not a single reference in Book 3 to the harm she did you in Book 1. We had to do an immense amount of coddling to convince her to come for the wedding, and there were consequences if you didn't call her your "best friend" or support her demands. The narrative has Drake Walker...Drake "Ambassadors Go To Dangerous Areas, Lady Kiara (So Get Over It)" Freaking Walker...reassure Penelope in a way that Kiara never gets from anyone in the group, and she suffered a knife attack. Ezekiel is literally created out of thin air as a reward for her.

Why does she need a reward again? Who knows.

• Ajay: Didn't apologize.

11. Unpopular Character that You Like that Fandom Doesn't.

(This is going to be loooong. I'm not sorry. This rant has been really, really building up. It's like a dam).

Kiara. It's popular to sorta kinda like her now, but back when she started showing feelings for Drake she got a lot of hate...hate that I feel bled into the treatment she got in the third book.

It took me a while to warm up to Kiara, but I think what did it for me was her friendship with Penelope. She was protective and supportive, even though she lacked an understanding of what Penelope was going through. I was even more pleasantly surprised when she spoke about her bond with Savannah. There was a warmth and a sweetness about Kiara in Book 2 that we didn't see much of in Book 1 and she slowly won me over. When they spoke about her injuries in Book 3, I was looking forward to seeing that story explored.

I will always maintain that Kiara in Book 3 is what happens when both the writing team and the louder, more vocal portion of the fandom are heartless towards a particular character. Heartless is a heavy word, and a word I don't want to be using willy-nilly, but I've seen enough to come to that conclusion in this case.

Kiara was often called an opportunist and a host of other names in the fandom for not supporting the MC through the scandal. Except that we all forget she never promised anything beyond supporting your claim to being picked as future Queen. She tells you straight off the bat in Book 1 that she is looking for allies and not friends (guess who is often admired for that mindset? Madeleine...well, until she harms Hana for flimsy reasons). Meanwhile we have Penelope being all adorable and happy and congratulating you knowing that you're going to be slut-shamed, humiliated and dragged out of court for a scandal she helped generate. Kiara on the other hand was honest. She wanted a job in the ministry and a bomb married life while she was at it. I'd rather have an ambitious (but won't abuse her power like Madeleine does) Kiara in my corner than a person who lies to my face about supporting me, does little more to help than just tell me who her boss was, then expects me to call her my best friend later.

Kiara had to only look at and flirt with Drake for people to hate on her. Meanwhile Olivia could spring an unwanted kiss on Liam in public, and the fandom would still be blaming Liam for not loving her back. In regular fandom content Kiara was mocked and sometimes suspected of having an illicit affair with Drake, in fanfic that featured her she was often either villainized, or written as the "other woman". Which is okay - fanfic is your own personal sandbox, after all - but it does highlight a pattern.

In canon...Kiara was made a survivor of a terrorist attack and nobody cared. Not the MC, not the country's king, not her closest friends, not the man who got injured at the same ball. It was bad enough that her parents were considering leaving the goddamn country (they should have). She was ignored in her own estate. The MC speaks to her not with sympathy and reassurances, but instead reminds her of her 'duty' and pressurizes her. (@callmetippytumbles illustrates this amazingly in her ask here, having Liam say "have a apple and buck up for Cordonia". No lie there. No lie there at all). All the 'sympathy' goes to a brother who has absolutely nothing to do with court.

She was suspected and interrogated at Lythikos. The MC has the option to be dismissive and to minimize - by labelling her "not as driven" - as Kiara literally pours her heart out about her trauma. Sample this:

(Ngl folks. Reading this was really, really triggering for me. I know exactly what it feels like to have my trauma dismissed like this. It doesn't feel great. Fuck you MC. Fuck you Drake. Fuck you TRR writers)

There are no consequences for doing this to her, btw. She still returns and she still fights at the boutique and she'll still speak very positively about you to her mother. I imagine if Joelle found out the truth of how the group really treated her daughter, she'd verbally destroy them and never support the kingdom again. And she'd be right not to.

On its own that scenario looks bad enough already, but when you hold it up next to how we treat the other ladies? Pure, stinking trash:

Madeleine: A diamond scene to console and encourage her, and all the right options are meant to support her to her parents. If you don't succeed in making her parents understand what she wants, you lose out on their support. There are consequences.

Penelope: A diamond scene to comfort and reassure her that they will not be like Madeleine. Immense coddling from the group. If you don't call her your best friend or altogether be nice and supportive to her, that negatively impacts the way Landon responds to you. AND I have heard that if her parents don't believe Penelope is safe with you, she doesn't even join the tour. There are consequences.

Kiara: No diamond scenes to even figure out how she is or what she thinks. A one-minute scene to convince (emotionally blackmail, actually) her to "do your duty", which will happen no matter which option, then a diamond option for her brother...who exists only because they want to give Penelope a reward for something I still cannot fathom. Her brother's response depends on his own issues and the presence of Penelope, and Hakim and Joelle's depend on what you do at the Festival. Kiara's situation of being an attack victim should have warranted the kind of coddling Penelope felt entitled to, yet when it comes right down to it her plight matters to literally no one.

In Lythikos no special diamond scenes for her either, just an interrogation. While we can choose to view Kiara as innocent in Chapter 11, her leaving is branded "suspicious" by both Drake and the MC by default the next chapter, and Maxwell literally says (disappointment writ large on his face) "jeez, that's one suspect off our list" after we're done. We go to her pretending to be her well-wishers, but in reality we're interrogating a traumatized woman, and not even ashamed when she trusts our untrustworthy asses with her secret.

You get the option to forget what happened to her (for which she rightfully slams you). You get the option to be a trauma-minimizing pile of steaming fecal matter (for which she doesn't slam you, even though she should). No matter what, Drake is your puppet and will agree with you, and you get away with all this. Drake stands there and minimizes her experiences with you, and shows zero remorse for putting an attack victim in that situation.

Like, it's actually quite shameful the more you think about it. Kiara was interrogated. After two traumatic experiences that at the very least should have her questioning whether we are worth her support at all. In a scenario that any fool would realise was at least scary to her if not altogether traumatizing. Madeleine and Penelope feel entitled to good treatment, Kiara has to make do with the crumbs we throw at her. She is never given a chance to speak of this as problematic, and the group never gets truly called out on their bullshit.

Even if you do pick the absolute nicest options...the fact remains that the MC, Duchess of Valtoria (and possible future Queen) and her group of influential friends, ignored the concerns a person who was badly injured at their event, pressurized her into showing support for them, didn't do jackshit to ensure her safety, suspected and questioned her when she rightfully withdrew public support, and dishonestly interrogated this traumatized woman, while still keeping the expectation that she support them. All without earning a shred of that support. They felt zero remorse, every last one of them, for putting her in that position.

Kiara not getting much attention isn't exactly a surprise. She has always been given the least focus among the ladies of the court and Book 3 wouldn't have been an exception...if they hadn't made her a victim of a terrorist attack!! Once they placed Kiara in that position, she deserved to have her concerns addressed, and addressed properly. What happened to her was a highlight of the failure of the security system at the palace and Royal Court, and to have that ignored while we had all the time in the world to address Madeleine's parents' petty family squabbles was disgusting. That there are absolutely no consequences for doing this to Kiara, while there are for not attending to Penelope or Madeleine's concerns, and it all ends with Kiara praising us to her mother, is disgusting. That the writers were more busy trying to backtrack on Driara and make the ship impossible to happen in canon, than on focusing on Kiara's own story in her own estate, is disgusting. And I cannot ignore that the latter decision sprung in a large part from the hate the fandom was spewing on Kiara for most of Book 2. The writers wouldn't have dared to do such a thing to Penelope, and it was clearly because there would be a backlash. They knew they could get away with insensitive writing for Kiara easier than they would with Penelope - and they did.

The other thing is this. Back in Books 2 and 3, loads of people in the fandom used to aggressively ship Liam and Olivia (to the point where he would be blamed for not returning her affections). Loads of people would also find excuses to hate on Kiara once she began to show she liked Drake. Nowadays, it's popular to state that "Olivia deserves better" (I'd be inclined to agree if it weren't for the way that argument is often framed. She deserves a man who loves her completely) - again, in a way that blames Liam for not returning her affections.

Yet, when people speak of Kiara's feelings being one-sided? Little to no blame for Drake there, even though he was rude or dismissive to her more than once (for me, personally, Lythikos was the last straw). Hardly a handful would say "Kiara deserves better than Drake". I can bet if Liam treated Olivia even half as poorly as Drake behaved with Kiara, we'd be bashing that man to the high heavens. I guess it's because it's Kiara who is the recipient of this kind of treatment that it matters to so few. I shouldn't be surprised.

26. Most shippable character?

Hayden xD Mostly because they're so much fun to customize, yet there's a very strong inner core there that does not change and that grounds the character.

27. Least shippable character?

I don't know. Nana?

#salty asks #ask me #trr kiara #anti drake walker #anti damien nazario #anti trr #anti the royal romance #anti trr penelope #anti trr madeleine #long post

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riichardwilson · 5 years ago

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Meet “Click!”: Encourage Clicks Without Shady Tricks

About The Author

Vitaly Friedman loves beautiful content and doesn’t like to give in easily. When he is not writing or speaking at a conference, he’s most probably running … More about Vitaly Friedman …

The web has become a noisy place with millions of companies trying to get users’ attention. No wonder many of them apply increasingly desperate techniques to encourage users to act on their websites. We’ve seen an explosion of dark patterns attempting to manipulate users into handing over personal data or make a purchase.

However, these manipulative techniques come with hidden costs in customer service, maintenance, support, return processing fees, and social media backlash. They cost a fortune and hurt business irrevocably.

How, then, do we encourage users to act? How do we increase clicks without shady techniques? By establishing trust with small commitments, at the right time, and in the right order. Click! explains how to do just that. Jump to table of contents and download a free PDF excerpt (1 MB).

Print + eBook

$ 29.00 $ 39.00 Get Print + eBook

Quality hardcover. Free worldwide shipping, starting early June. 100 days money-back-guarantee.

eBook

$ 14.90 $ 19.00

Free! Get the eBook

DRM-free, of course. ePUB, Kindle, PDF. Included with Smashing Membership.

About The Book

There is no shortage in books on marketing agency and user experience. But when it comes to bridging the gap between the two, many of us struggle to find the right balance. As businesses, we need to meet out targets — be it with install app prompts, newsletter overlays or infamous chat widgets. But as designers, we don’t want to end up with a frustrating user experience. We really need both, and we need a strategy to get there.

That’s why we’ve written Click! — a guide with practical strategies for improving conversion and retention while building user’s loyalty and trust. The book explores how to effectively address user concerns, overcome scepticism and encourage users to act — helping you meet your business targets and KPIs along the way. Whether you are a designer, marketer, entrepreneur or product owner, this book will surely help you avoid hidden costs and drive sales.

[embedded content]

What’s the book about? A short video message from Paul Boag, the author of “Click!”.

By reading this book, you will learn to:

Measure and boost business KPIs effectively,

Build a user-centric sales funnel,

Reduce risks and address objections,

Build trust and overcome skepticism,

Persuade people without alienating them,

Establish a strategy for higher conversion.

Psst! A little surprise shipped with the first 500 books.

Download a free PDF sample (23.7 MB) and get the book right away.

The book features interface design examples that take ethical design principles into the account. Large preview.

The cover and chapter illustrations carefully designed by Veerle Pieters. (Large preview)

Table Of Contents

The book is split into 11 chapters. We’ll start by exploring the psychology of decision making and how to measure conversion. Then we’ll build a user-centric sales funnel and address user concerns effectively. Finally, we’ll explore how to encourage users to act without alienating them.

1. Avoid the Dangers of Persuasion

Paul begins your journey with a rock-solid business case you can take to management or clients to avoid the more manipulative techniques you see online.

You will learn:

How online choice has empowered the consumer.

The hidden marketing agency costs of manipulation.

The dangers of buyers remorse.

2. Measure Conversion Effectively

You cannot improve what you are not measuring. That is why, in Paul’s second chapter, he explores how to measure your conversion rate effectively. Only then can you start to improve it.

You will learn:

The dangers of having no metrics or bad ones.

How to establish your key performance indicators.

What to track and how to track it.

3. Get to Know Your Users

If you want to persuade people to act, you need to understand how they think and what they want. To do that you need to carry out at least some user research. In this chapter, Paul introduces you to easy to use techniques that will get the job done with the minimum of investment.

You will learn:

What exactly you need to understand about your audience.

How to consolidate all you know about your users.

How to carry out lightweight user research.

4. Build a User-Centric Sales Funnel

The decision to act doesn’t take place in isolation and is part of the broader user journey. In this chapter, Paul explains how to understand that journey and build a sales funnel that supports the user’s experience, rather than seeking to interrupt it.

You will learn:

What a sales funnel is and how it helps.

How to map your customer’s journey.

How to build a sales funnel around the user’s journey.

5. Address Objections and Reduce Risks

This chapter explores one of the most important aspects of encouraging users to act — addressing their concerns. We’ll see how to identify user’s objections and then overcome them, so reducing the risk of taking action in the minds of users.

You will learn:

How to identify the concerns your audience has about taking action.

How to address common concerns.

A process for handling any objection users might have.

6. Establish Trust and Overcome Scepticism

People will not hand over money or personal information if they do not trust you. To make matters worse users have learned to be sceptical online. In this chapter, you will learn how to build a connection with your audience and help them learn to trust you.

You will learn:

Why trust is essential for improving conversion.

How to build trust through openness and empathy.

The role of social proof and connecting consumers in building trust.

7. Defeat Cognitive Overload

In this chapter, you will discover how to reach an audience that is distracted and time-poor. You will learn the importance of not making users think and learn valuable techniques for making acting with you an effortless experience.

You will learn:

What cognitive load is and why it is so dangerous for your conversion rate.

Methods for reducing the cognitive load of your websites.

Techniques for keeping any interface simple.

8. Overcoming the Problem With Perception

Are your users taking away the right message from your website? Do they understand what you offer or that it is relevant to them? It is easy to leave a website without acting because you had the wrong impression. This chapter shows you how to address this genuine danger.

You will learn:

How to position our products and services in a positive light.

The role that mental models play in conversion.

Techniques for ensuring your content reflects the user’s mindset.

9. Never Stop Testing and Iterating

While Click! is packed with great tips and techniques, the real key to success is a programme of ongoing testing and iteration. In this chapter, Paul shows you how to put in place a methodology that will keep your conversion rate growing for years to come.

You will learn:

Techniques for ensuring you are working on the right projects to improve conversion.

Ways to test how compelling a design concept is.

How to integrate testing into every aspect of your development cycle.

10. Address the Whole Experience

While marketers and UX designers have an enormous impact on conversion, they are only a part of the story. That is why in this chapter, we explore how to address the whole user experience and start encouraging colleagues to help improve the conversion rate too.

You will learn:

The role of your developer in improving your conversion rate.

How to use other digital channels to improve your website conversion rate.

How broader organisational changes can help boost revenue and online leads.

11. Where to Go From Here

With a book packed with advice, it can be overwhelming. The book concludes with some practical next steps that you can take, wherever you are on your journey to improve conversion.

You will learn:

Quick wins that can get you started today.

Budget testing techniques you can implement immediately.

A more ambitious and ongoing approach to optimisation.

“This is a great book on how to practically, and ethically, optimise website conversion rates. Before, I was roughly aware of what CRO was, but now I feel confident to start implementing these techniques in projects. As you would expect, Paul explains all of the concepts in an easy-to-follow and friendly manner.”

— Dave Smyth, Agency Owner

“I picked up a super simple testing idea, and saw a 42% lift in conversion rate. It was surprising to me, so I ran it again to significance with the same result. That equates to about 2.5 million USD/year in revenue at no additional cost. So I’d say I got my money’s worth!”

— Brandon Austin Kinney, Director of Lead Generation

368 pages. The eBook is already available (PDF, ePUB, Amazon Kindle). We’ll ship printed copies early June 2020. For designers, marketers, entrepreneurs and product owners. Written by Paul Boag. Designed by Veerle Pieters.

Print + eBook

$ 29.00 $ 39.00 Get Print + eBook

Quality hardcover. Free worldwide shipping, starting early June. 100 days money-back-guarantee.

eBook

$ 14.90 $ 19.00

Free! Get the eBook

DRM-free, of course. ePUB, Kindle, PDF. Included with Smashing Membership.

About the Author

Paul Boag is a leader in conversion rate optimisation and user experience design thinking. He has over 25 years experience working with clients such as Doctors Without Borders and PUMA. He is the author of six books and a well respected presenter.

Technical Details

Community Matters

With Click!, we’ve tried to create a very focused handbook with pragmatic solutions to help everyone create a better digital product that doesn’t get abandoned due to sheer number of pop-ups, install prompt and newsletter box overlays.

There is quite a bit of work to do on the web, but our hope is that with this book, you will be equipped with enough techniques to increase conversion and the number of happy customers.

Producing a book takes quite a bit of time, and we couldn’t pull it off without the support of our wonderful community. A huge shout-out to Smashing Members for their ongoing support in our adventures. As a result, the eBook is and always will be free for Smashing Members. Plus, Members get a friendly discount when purchasing their printed copy.

Stay smashing, and thank you for your ongoing support, everyone!

Print + eBook

$ 29.00 $ 39.00 Get Print + eBook

Quality hardcover. Free worldwide shipping, starting early June. 100 days money-back-guarantee.

eBook

$ 14.90 $ 19.00

Free! Get the eBook

DRM-free, of course. ePUB, Kindle, PDF. Included with Smashing Membership.

More Smashing Books

Promoting best practices and providing you with practical tips to master your daily coding and design challenges has always been (and will be) at the core of everything we do at Smashing.

In the past few years, we were very lucky to have worked together with some talented, caring people from the web community to publish their wealth of experience as printed books that stand the test of time. Trine, Alla and Adam are some of these people. Have you checked out their books already?

Ethical Design Handbook

A practical guide on ethical design for digital products.

Add to cart $39

Design Systems

A practical guide to creating design languages for digital products.

Add to cart $39

Form Design Patterns

A practical guide to designing and coding simple and inclusive forms.

Add to cart $39

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/meet-click-encourage-clicks-without-shady-tricks/ source https://scpie.tumblr.com/post/618038190117404672

0 notes

scpie · 5 years ago

Text

Meet “Click!”: Encourage Clicks Without Shady Tricks

About The Author

Vitaly Friedman loves beautiful content and doesn’t like to give in easily. When he is not writing or speaking at a conference, he’s most probably running … More about Vitaly Friedman …

Print + eBook

$ 29.00 $ 39.00 Get Print + eBook

Quality hardcover. Free worldwide shipping, starting early June. 100 days money-back-guarantee.

eBook

$ 14.90 $ 19.00

Free! Get the eBook

DRM-free, of course. ePUB, Kindle, PDF. Included with Smashing Membership.

About The Book

[embedded content]

What’s the book about? A short video message from Paul Boag, the author of “Click!”.

By reading this book, you will learn to:

Measure and boost business KPIs effectively,

Build a user-centric sales funnel,

Reduce risks and address objections,

Build trust and overcome skepticism,

Persuade people without alienating them,

Establish a strategy for higher conversion.

Psst! A little surprise shipped with the first 500 books.

Download a free PDF sample (23.7 MB) and get the book right away.

The book features interface design examples that take ethical design principles into the account. Large preview.

The cover and chapter illustrations carefully designed by Veerle Pieters. (Large preview)

Table Of Contents

1. Avoid the Dangers of Persuasion

Paul begins your journey with a rock-solid business case you can take to management or clients to avoid the more manipulative techniques you see online.

You will learn:

How online choice has empowered the consumer.

The hidden marketing agency costs of manipulation.

The dangers of buyers remorse.

2. Measure Conversion Effectively

You cannot improve what you are not measuring. That is why, in Paul’s second chapter, he explores how to measure your conversion rate effectively. Only then can you start to improve it.

You will learn:

The dangers of having no metrics or bad ones.

How to establish your key performance indicators.

What to track and how to track it.

3. Get to Know Your Users

You will learn:

What exactly you need to understand about your audience.

How to consolidate all you know about your users.

How to carry out lightweight user research.

4. Build a User-Centric Sales Funnel

You will learn:

What a sales funnel is and how it helps.

How to map your customer’s journey.

How to build a sales funnel around the user’s journey.

5. Address Objections and Reduce Risks

You will learn:

How to identify the concerns your audience has about taking action.

How to address common concerns.

A process for handling any objection users might have.

6. Establish Trust and Overcome Scepticism

You will learn:

Why trust is essential for improving conversion.

How to build trust through openness and empathy.

The role of social proof and connecting consumers in building trust.

7. Defeat Cognitive Overload

You will learn:

What cognitive load is and why it is so dangerous for your conversion rate.

Methods for reducing the cognitive load of your websites.

Techniques for keeping any interface simple.

8. Overcoming the Problem With Perception

You will learn:

How to position our products and services in a positive light.

The role that mental models play in conversion.

Techniques for ensuring your content reflects the user’s mindset.

9. Never Stop Testing and Iterating

You will learn:

Techniques for ensuring you are working on the right projects to improve conversion.

Ways to test how compelling a design concept is.

How to integrate testing into every aspect of your development cycle.

10. Address the Whole Experience

You will learn:

The role of your developer in improving your conversion rate.

How to use other digital channels to improve your website conversion rate.

How broader organisational changes can help boost revenue and online leads.

11. Where to Go From Here

With a book packed with advice, it can be overwhelming. The book concludes with some practical next steps that you can take, wherever you are on your journey to improve conversion.

You will learn:

Quick wins that can get you started today.

Budget testing techniques you can implement immediately.

A more ambitious and ongoing approach to optimisation.

— Dave Smyth, Agency Owner

— Brandon Austin Kinney, Director of Lead Generation

Print + eBook

$ 29.00 $ 39.00 Get Print + eBook

Quality hardcover. Free worldwide shipping, starting early June. 100 days money-back-guarantee.

eBook

$ 14.90 $ 19.00

Free! Get the eBook

DRM-free, of course. ePUB, Kindle, PDF. Included with Smashing Membership.

About the Author

Technical Details

Community Matters

There is quite a bit of work to do on the web, but our hope is that with this book, you will be equipped with enough techniques to increase conversion and the number of happy customers.

Stay smashing, and thank you for your ongoing support, everyone!

Print + eBook

$ 29.00 $ 39.00 Get Print + eBook

Quality hardcover. Free worldwide shipping, starting early June. 100 days money-back-guarantee.

eBook

$ 14.90 $ 19.00

Free! Get the eBook

DRM-free, of course. ePUB, Kindle, PDF. Included with Smashing Membership.

More Smashing Books

Promoting best practices and providing you with practical tips to master your daily coding and design challenges has always been (and will be) at the core of everything we do at Smashing.

Ethical Design Handbook

A practical guide on ethical design for digital products.

Add to cart $39

Design Systems

A practical guide to creating design languages for digital products.

Add to cart $39

Form Design Patterns

A practical guide to designing and coding simple and inclusive forms.

Add to cart $39

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/meet-click-encourage-clicks-without-shady-tricks/

0 notes

laurelkrugerr · 5 years ago

Text

Meet “Click!”: Encourage Clicks Without Shady Tricks

About The Author

Vitaly Friedman loves beautiful content and doesn’t like to give in easily. When he is not writing or speaking at a conference, he’s most probably running … More about Vitaly Friedman …

Print + eBook

$ 29.00 $ 39.00 Get Print + eBook

Quality hardcover. Free worldwide shipping, starting early June. 100 days money-back-guarantee.

eBook

$ 14.90 $ 19.00

Free! Get the eBook

DRM-free, of course. ePUB, Kindle, PDF. Included with Smashing Membership.

About The Book

[embedded content]

What’s the book about? A short video message from Paul Boag, the author of “Click!”.

By reading this book, you will learn to:

Measure and boost business KPIs effectively,

Build a user-centric sales funnel,

Reduce risks and address objections,

Build trust and overcome skepticism,

Persuade people without alienating them,

Establish a strategy for higher conversion.

Psst! A little surprise shipped with the first 500 books.

Download a free PDF sample (23.7 MB) and get the book right away.

The book features interface design examples that take ethical design principles into the account. Large preview.

The cover and chapter illustrations carefully designed by Veerle Pieters. (Large preview)

Table Of Contents

1. Avoid the Dangers of Persuasion

Paul begins your journey with a rock-solid business case you can take to management or clients to avoid the more manipulative techniques you see online.

You will learn:

How online choice has empowered the consumer.

The hidden marketing agency costs of manipulation.

The dangers of buyers remorse.

2. Measure Conversion Effectively

You cannot improve what you are not measuring. That is why, in Paul’s second chapter, he explores how to measure your conversion rate effectively. Only then can you start to improve it.

You will learn:

The dangers of having no metrics or bad ones.

How to establish your key performance indicators.

What to track and how to track it.

3. Get to Know Your Users

You will learn:

What exactly you need to understand about your audience.

How to consolidate all you know about your users.

How to carry out lightweight user research.

4. Build a User-Centric Sales Funnel

You will learn:

What a sales funnel is and how it helps.

How to map your customer’s journey.

How to build a sales funnel around the user’s journey.

5. Address Objections and Reduce Risks

You will learn:

How to identify the concerns your audience has about taking action.

How to address common concerns.

A process for handling any objection users might have.

6. Establish Trust and Overcome Scepticism

You will learn:

Why trust is essential for improving conversion.

How to build trust through openness and empathy.

The role of social proof and connecting consumers in building trust.

7. Defeat Cognitive Overload

You will learn:

What cognitive load is and why it is so dangerous for your conversion rate.

Methods for reducing the cognitive load of your websites.

Techniques for keeping any interface simple.

8. Overcoming the Problem With Perception

You will learn:

How to position our products and services in a positive light.

The role that mental models play in conversion.

Techniques for ensuring your content reflects the user’s mindset.

9. Never Stop Testing and Iterating

You will learn:

Techniques for ensuring you are working on the right projects to improve conversion.

Ways to test how compelling a design concept is.

How to integrate testing into every aspect of your development cycle.

10. Address the Whole Experience

You will learn:

The role of your developer in improving your conversion rate.

How to use other digital channels to improve your website conversion rate.

How broader organisational changes can help boost revenue and online leads.

11. Where to Go From Here

With a book packed with advice, it can be overwhelming. The book concludes with some practical next steps that you can take, wherever you are on your journey to improve conversion.

You will learn:

Quick wins that can get you started today.

Budget testing techniques you can implement immediately.

A more ambitious and ongoing approach to optimisation.

— Dave Smyth, Agency Owner

— Brandon Austin Kinney, Director of Lead Generation

Print + eBook

$ 29.00 $ 39.00 Get Print + eBook

Quality hardcover. Free worldwide shipping, starting early June. 100 days money-back-guarantee.

eBook

$ 14.90 $ 19.00

Free! Get the eBook

DRM-free, of course. ePUB, Kindle, PDF. Included with Smashing Membership.

About the Author

Technical Details

Community Matters

There is quite a bit of work to do on the web, but our hope is that with this book, you will be equipped with enough techniques to increase conversion and the number of happy customers.

Stay smashing, and thank you for your ongoing support, everyone!

Print + eBook

$ 29.00 $ 39.00 Get Print + eBook

Quality hardcover. Free worldwide shipping, starting early June. 100 days money-back-guarantee.

eBook

$ 14.90 $ 19.00

Free! Get the eBook

DRM-free, of course. ePUB, Kindle, PDF. Included with Smashing Membership.

More Smashing Books

Promoting best practices and providing you with practical tips to master your daily coding and design challenges has always been (and will be) at the core of everything we do at Smashing.

Ethical Design Handbook

A practical guide on ethical design for digital products.

Add to cart $39

Design Systems

A practical guide to creating design languages for digital products.

Add to cart $39

Form Design Patterns

A practical guide to designing and coding simple and inclusive forms.

Add to cart $39

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/meet-click-encourage-clicks-without-shady-tricks/ source https://scpie1.blogspot.com/2020/05/meet-click-encourage-clicks-without.html

0 notes

camsblog331-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Hactivism and design critical writing

Idealists, anarchists and extremists are transforming activism in the digital age for the greater good and impacting current and future design practices.

The ever-broadening spectrum of technology is engulfing us into an entirely digital age of living. Expressing your opinion online is fulfilled by the click of a button exposing your thoughts to your friends and family. People reflect a mirror of themselves on social media building an online profile with every detail of their life. “More than 90% of Americans who own a cell phone keep on their person a digital record of nearly every aspect of their lives – from the mundane to the intimate”. (Scheer, 2016, p. 95) This personal information that we freely surrender online is mostly done just out of convenience, whether it be to create friendships or to enhance a shopping experience. This data is all collected, exploited, profited from and surveilled. Hacktivists are using their voice to stand up for the people when it comes to issues like privacy and now with new technologies they are challenging international affairs (Lohrmann, 2017). They are now given convenient and powerful means to spread their messages and act globally on issues. These extremists are transforming activism for the greater good, and impacting current and future design practices with such ways as collaborating, sharing work and copyright.

“The Internet is our shared space. It helps us connect. It spreads opportunity. It enables us to learn. It gives us a voice. It makes us stronger and safer together. To keep the internet strong, we need to keep it secure. “- Mark Zuckerberg (Scheer, 2016)

The Internet has revolutionised connection and communication, creating a borderless virtual world where almost anything is possible. How do people retain copyright on their work once it is shared on the internet? Hacktivists have sparked a major distrust in people’s opinion of staying safe online “Groups such as Anonymous, WikiLeaks and DC Leaks shaping the news and impacting global dialogue, while undermining trust in digitally stored information.” (Lohrmann, 2017). With each new hack, out to expose someone or some corporation people are ever losing faith in privacy on the internet. Just recently French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron’s (now elected) campaign was subjected to a massive computer hack that dumped its emails online, just over 24 hours before voters went to the polls to choose between the centrist and his far-right rival Marine Le Pen (Jazeera, 2017). This type of hacktivism is becoming ever present right before a big public decision is about to happen "Hack into their email, release the contents, and if there is embarrassing information there, it may very well cause a swing in the election." (Al Jazeera, 2017). As you can see the main point of focus was to disrupt the voting process by someone or some organisation who was clearly in favour of the other candidate. In my standpoint, I believe this type of intrusion can be detrimental to both sides. People would have been scouring through the emails for some incriminating evidence or even something just said out of line to abuse and belittle him for it. However, it also reveals more about the people in favour of the other candidate. They show no remorse for the highly illegal activity they took part in, why should people take their opinion into consideration for the ruler of a country? Are these anarchists that cause this damage normalising hacking and illegal activity? Research by Xiao Wang was done into the immorality of illegal downloading and how people reacted emotionally to illegally downloading. The study showed that “college students generally felt a low level of anticipated guilt toward illegal downloading” (Wang & McClung, 2012). With digital design becoming wide spread choice for design because of efficiency and speed, students will generally illegally download required software’s for free use instead of paying for them. The low level of anticipated guilt reveals that the “social condemnation of digital piracy is not strongly felt” (Wang & McClung, 2012). Because the act of torrenting has become so widespread throughout the world it has almost normalised it and made people believe that it is not a very big issue. Digital privacy is a difficult issue in which designers need to take caution with. In older times if a designer was to hand craft a chair, it would be very hard to replicate this chair with exact precision. There would be differences. This issue is not the case anymore with technology. Digital designs can very easily be replicated, copied and shared around the world. The question arises of how does a designer keep ownership and copyright of a certain digital design in the current age? When people read and hear about how the French presidential candidate’s emails were hacked and leaked, how secure does that make them feel about sharing their work online?

Design activism vs Hacktivism

Traditionally design activism uses design thinking to create products, environments, solutions or services that enhance quality or to show awareness of an ongoing issue throughout the world. Now with digital design becoming a big player in design, it has evolved some of the methods of getting the message across to the people of the world. No longer does a physical piece of artwork or a vandalised billboard pack the biggest punch for activists to spread a politically motivated message to society. Technology has enabled convenience in communication and with the majority of people these days being connected to the internet, it has become the most efficient way to gather the most attention. “Hacking for a cause is set to explode into a complex set of state and local government challenges.” (Lohrmann, 2017). The dramatic rise in hacktivism over the past few years is shaping way for a future where hackers are shaping the “global dialog” in the same way protesters have done in the past. Banksy once stated how he started using stencils for his graffiti work because it cut down the time produce his artwork and therefore he could get away without being caught. This relates well to the idea of hacktivism on the internet, a big factor is anonymity. People and groups orchestrating hacktivism online are mostly always subject to anonymity. It protects them and gives them an invisible shield to do and say what they want with little fear of backlash against them. My belief is that people feel they can be truthful when they are wearing a mask. “Anonymity lifts inhibitions and can lead to unusual acts of kindness or generosity, or it can lead to misbehaviour, such as harsh or rude language and acts that are illegal or harmful.” (Kang, Brown, & Kiesler). It is this anonymity that is at stake for the public however. At this moment, the government is unlawfully collecting data on everyone with a device connected to the internet. This is destroying privacy and is no longer making people anonymous. Hacktivism is helping to create more awareness to people throughout the world who may not know this or know the full extent of the issue. With the internet connecting everyone it proves to be the fastest way for people to find out new information in such topics and therefore vital for such people like design activists to spread their artwork/ politically motivated thoughts. How will this affect future design practices in terms of activism?

Designing technologies to fight back

A big issue with designing means to create freedom is that people are going up against their own government. Edward Snowden said himself during an interview growing up he thought everything the government said must be true because “Why would they possibly lie to us?” (Scheer, 2016). These hacks and leaks such as Snowden revealed are paving way for a differently designed future, with hacktivists at the forefront of this change. Currently there is several organisations out there already taking a stand for privacy, designing new technologies to combat tracking and enforcing digital privacy. An example is the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a leading non-profit organisation that helps defend privacy in the digital realm. The EFF had a victory against the secret service establishing that “it is illegal for law enforcement to access and read private electronic mail without a warrant”. Even though the EFF has been around since the early internet days, stepping up into the private sector against privacy has only recently come about. (Scheer, 2016).

The Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), another organisation which supports free speech against government secrecy, boasts members such as Daniel Ellsberg and Edward Snowden. The FPF have developed encryption tech such as SecureDrop which is an open source platform that allows whistle-blowers and journalists to securely transmit documents (Scheer, 2016). These platforms are helping to make government snooping on data increasingly more difficult and more expensive.

These current platforms boast way for a more a collaborative outlook when designing new technologies in the future. The foundations mentioned above took a collaborative effort for them to take off and develop technology. Current designers need to take points from how the efforts of many combine for a solution. It is my standpoint to believe we are living at a technological crossroads, with the internet being the defining factor of how the future is being shaped. To collaborate is to stand together and push forward with an idea or ideas.

Hacktivism is an expression of art

Social justice in the past has been expressed through many different mediums to orchestrate their points. A common and bold way to do this was with spray-paint. Graffiti artists would spray a wall with their message pertaining to certain crisis that was currently happening at the time. This blatant form of activism is a visual art based way of voicing their opinion. These days hacktivism is showing clear links to the graffiti artists way of talking about injustice. “GlobalHell, a group of hackers from the 1990s, hacked the websites of the White House and the US Post, they were in a way working as graffiti artists. Sprawling “Global hell will not die” on the American army website invited comparisons to spray paint.” (Is hacktivism art?, 2016). Can we call hacktivism a form of art altering our current perceptions of how messages are spread and recognised? “Prior to Snowden and the other leaks, a fiction had developed that only bad guys and bad governments abuse the freedom of the internet to invade the privacy, and hence the freedom, of its citizens”. (Scheer, 2016, p. 193). What we are seeing now is average people take a stand to deliver their voice through the most dominant way of purveying news, the internet. This in turn is social justice impacting current and future methods of conveying art and messages, breaking virtual barriers to do so. The visual element of anything conveyed to an audience has to be clear and bold to attract attention. People will not be interested in reading a long article but rather a short concise sentence which sums up the message that is being addressed. This is why hacktivism takes characteristics from art and design, and to impact the most people they must draw the people in first.

“Even if you trust the government today, what happens when you get an individual who says: you know what, lets flip that switch” – Edward Snowden

To conclude the idealists, anarchists and extremists are clearly promoting change throughout the world. History often tells people to cast aside the outliers and the radical thinkers but these Hacktivists are the ones people should listen to and learn from. To promote change often it needs something extraordinary done, like a whistle-blower leaking private information. Current design practices are directly impacted by the ricochets of hacking because design is currently being consumed by technology and the tools the internet provides. Designers keeping authenticity of their own work without fear of it being fabricated and copied online need to learn from failed mistakes in the past. Future design practices will be an evolution of today’s cracks in the system, designers taking note of the steps to increase privacy will be creating methods to obtain the complete right to anonymity.

2017 words.

Bibliography

Greenberg, A. (2013). This machine kills secrets: Julian Assange, the cypherpunks, and their fight to empower whistleblowers. New York: Plume.

Is hacktivism art? (2016, August 24). The Economist.

Al Jazeera. (2017, May 6). #MacronLeaks: Macron's campaign hit by hacking attack. Al Jazeera.

Kang, R., Brown, S., & Kiesler, S. (n.d.). Why Do People Seek Anonymity on the Internet? Informing Policy and Design.

Lohrmann, D. (2017, February 22). The dramatic rise in hacktivism. Techcrunch.

Scheer, R. (2016). They know everything about you: how data -collecting corporations and snooping … government agencies are destroying democracy. Nation books.

Wang, X., & McClung, S. R. (2012). The immorality of illegal downloading: The role of anticipated guilt and general emotions. Computers in Human Behavior, 153–159.

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