hannah-the-digital-native-blog

[hannah-the-digital-native-blog]

The Great Firewall and the rise of WeChat

Jon Penney from Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Toronto's Citizen Lab stated for Open Democracy (2013) that “The scale and penetration of internet use among Chinese citizens is extraordinary, and there are only so many internet police and web commentators you can hire to contain ‘problematic’ internet content.  It also means that more Chinese citizens will gain the technical knowledge to find more means to circumvent filtering methods.  These are definitely interesting times.”
 While the government’s policing of internet content for Chinese people has definitely been a key driver in the evolution of the internet and new media communication platforms in China, other factors that have contributed to it’s uprising also include migration of people from rural-to-urban areas that has separated families thus driving a want for communication and connection with loved ones, the loneliness of the one-child generation and general a distrust of information from government-controlled media (Crampton, 2013). All of these have contributed to the progressive nature of the social media landscape that China have today.

Essentially, where there is a will, there is a way. 

Not only do the people of China have a very unique social media landscape, as a result of the Great Firewall and the constant monitoring and policing of their internet use by their own government, but they are also one of the most progressive users of social media in the world, with close to a 95% penetration of the population being registered on social media sites (Chiu et al. 2012). In China, new media platforms also have greater influence on purchasing decisions for consumers than for those anywhere else in the world (Chiu et al. 2012) and as a result the social media technologies have further ingrained themselves in the day-to-day life of it’s people. Is this the way of the future for western societies? Or are China just in their own little new media ecosystem because of the policing enforced by their government?  The NY times released a video last year which explains key Chinese social media platform WeChat, highlighting the powerful merging of social media and e-commerce functionality that the channel provides for the Chinese people as well as the disruptive and progressive nature of new technology. Strongly recommend a watch!! The power of the technology is incredible and the video feels futuristic, like something you would have seen in the Jetsons back in the 90s.  https://www.nytimes.com/video/technology/100000004574648/china-internet-wechat.html In Australia and other western countries, we’ve seen recent attempts employ technology similar to this through Facebook market place and Facebook Messenger with brands jumping on the bandwagon and using technology like chat bots to offer better customer service or product information but, overall, as a western society our current technology and new media platforms are nowhere near where the capabilities of WeChat. We’re not even on the same playing field. 

References Chiu, C, Lin, D & Silverman, A 2012, China's social-media boom, McKinsey & Company, viewed 3 August 2016, <http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/chinas_social-media_boom>. Crampton, T 2011, 'Social media in China: The same, but different, China Business Review, Vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 28-31, viewed 3 August 2016, <http://www.thomascrampton.com/china/social-media-china-business-review/>.

The Great Firewall of China 2013, Open Democracy viewed 3 August 2016, <https://www.opendemocracy.net/china-correspondent/great-firewall-of-china>.

#mda20009 #greatfirewallofchina #wechat #social media #china

[hannah-the-digital-native-blog]

Social gaming was (is) very foreign to me

The idea of social gaming is one that is very foreign to me. Gaming in general, really. I feel mildly fraudulent for writing about it, in a forum which appears as though I have some kind of credibility on the topic. I’m pointing out now that this is not the case. I’ve never been hugely interested in or caught up in the likes of Candy Crush or Farmville. Let alone what some would classify as “real” games. Those that transport you to another world and don’t include animated farm animals, dancing lollies or aggressive birds. 

The one thing I can confidently say about gaming is that I am fascinated by the social element of it and the fact that it is and always has been so progressive in nature. Gaming has a unique ability to bring people together, irrespective of geographical boundaries, educate, encourage participation and elicit communication. They have developed into social networks in and of themselves. Kroger et al. (2014) discussed the emergence of new media technologies (including gaming) and the development of new digital game types, such as social network games, serious games for (school) learning environments, or even digital games for health education, promote new ways for consumers to use digital games (Kroger et al. 2014). They also discussed the widespread dissemination of gaming into society and the fact that this no longer is only for the stereotypical young male, new user groups including seniors and women have been captured by the digital game industry. Go Nana!

Given the above analysis, I have written a short listicle of the top 5 reasons that after a week of immersing myself in content related to online gaming, I now believe it is awesome and should be adopted by a much wider cross-section of people in society (including myself).  1.  Gaming is interactive, participatory and fun. You just need to find a game for you.  2.  Gaming can be educational. It can help to teach people of any age, in a way that is meaningful and entertaining, thus making the content stick 3.  Gaming allows communication with others from the safety and comfort of your lounge/ bed room 4. People have actually met/ started dating online (have you SEEN Paul and Vicky who featured in the Daily Mail after meeting online in a game and falling in love before they had even met?!) Couldn’t be cuter if they tried. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1329250/Couple-marry-falling-love-online-game-theyd-met.html 

5.  Finally, gaming breeds unique digital communities of like minded individuals, irrespective of geographical boundaries. These communities, much like social networks or networks of affinity which we observed in last week’s discussion of YouTube content are strong and should be seriously considered in any discussion of online forms of communication. 

References

Kröger, Sonja, Quandt & Thorsten 2014, The Social Aspects of Digital Gaming, Taylor and Francis, eBook, p. 271.  Squire, A 2010, Happily Ever Avatar: Couple marry after falling in love in online game before they’d even met, Daily Mail UK, viewed 6 February 2017, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1329250/Couple-marry-falling-love-online-game-theyd-met.html>.

#mda20009 #social media #gaming #gameon

[hannah-the-digital-native-blog]

The death of the family photo album but the rise of the family holiday vlog?

I didn’t actually go to my 5 year school reunion. I was on the tram that evening making my way from work to the groovy, hidden, underground bar that someone I had been to school with and probably hadn’t spoken to in 5 years had chosen and thought to myself “why would I want to miss out on dinner with my girlfriends to go to see what all of the people I went to school with are up to?” when, to be blunt, I already know. I had already seen that Frankie and Sammy were engaged, that Bella had, had a baby, Jake had started his own business and Gracie was living in India as a model. How? Because I am from a millennial generation where we share everything online. Every moment, big or small, from an Instagram picture of the lunch someone has had that day, to a drunken Snapchat of a gig, the announcement of a baby or the death of a close family member. We share it all. In some instances, this feels comforting, warm and fuzzy knowing that you can always see what your friends are up and that they’re doing well. At other times, it can start to feel a little pervasive. Vivienne & Burgess (2013) discussed the idea of what we dub ‘material culture’ and how now through user-created content networks and social networking sites, the everyday lives of individuals are being remediated into new contexts of social visibility and connection, more so than aiding memory or prompting nostalgia. We’re definitely moving beyond the point of sitting down with friends after a holiday and showing them a slide show of holiday snaps and memories.  Other school mates of mine are big vloggers. “It’s the way of the future” I’ve heard them say before, and they are probably right. I’ve recently really taken to YouTube myself, for of all things..Financial advice. I found a YouTube channel called ‘Sugar Mamma TV’ which has the owner of a boutique financial advisory firm creating YouTube videos, for females, to help them manage their money better.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4Apd1uiOZ368g9YEN4A1RQ/videos  In the last two weeks, I’ve learnt about what I need to be doing in my twenties to set myself up financially for my thirties and how to manage my own super fund. How handy! I’ve discovered too that there are names for this type of online interaction, particularly in the case of YouTube, which talks to membership of social networks or feelings of attraction to people, ideas and content. And it’s called affiliation. 

Think about it. There is a plethora of content available online, and on YouTube but we are segmented into digital communities based on the content we watch based on what we feel an affinity or level of affiliation towards. Broadly, people have affiliations to many types of things such as hobbies, institutions or ideologies that form the overt content of a video's subject matter. (Lange, 2009) 

I’m sure most of you, couldn’t relate to videos about financial planning in your twenties if your lives depended on it. And our recommended YouTube video viewing probably looks very different. 

References: 

Lange, P. (2009) ‘Videos of affinity on YouTube’ pp. 70-88.

Sugar Mamma TV, Videos, viewed 6 February 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4Apd1uiOZ368g9YEN4A1RQ/videos>.

Vivienne, S., & Burgess, J. (2013) ‘The remediation of the personal photograph’, Journal of Material Culture, pp. 279-98.

#mda20009 #socials #social media #selfie

[hannah-the-digital-native-blog]

New media in times of crisis

Historically, news of natural disasters or crises were first amplified to the public as a front page headline or “breaking” news item on the nightly news (Chao-Chen 2013). However, in the last 5 years we’ve seen social media emerge as a critical tool in times of crisis because of it’s ability to distribute real-time updates, alerts and related advancements in any given crisis situation (Travis & Sykes, 2012). 

Theorist Barry Wellman defined networks as “groups of interpersonal ties that provide sociability, support, information, a sense of belonging and social identity” (Siapera, 2012). The traditional definition of a network explained networks as being groups of people tied together because of their proximity to one another, defined by geographical boundaries. However, the rise of the internet has managed to break down these geographical barriers and has enabled communities to develop around the world, based on shared interest and knowledge, completely irrelevant of geographic location. This shift, however, is particularly interesting in the context of natural disaster or crisis as detailed and critical information relating to disasters is generally the most relevant for networks of people from one defined geographical area. While people around the world wanted information and updates on the infamous Boston Bombings or the Haiti Earthquake after they happened, the group of people who were really in need of real-time, detailed information, directions and updates were those in amongst it, in the areas surrounding the incident or natural disaster. This begs the questions, if the Internet and social media has paved the way for new networks of people who were not tied together because of their proximity to one another then why is social media still such a relevant tool in crisis situations and natural disasters?

One of social media’s downfall’s in this context is the lack of verification and authentication that it sacrifices for it’s instantaneous nature and real-time availability of information. This is heavily debated by many- some who argue that without this verification of the content on the platforms, the content cannot be trusted, while others argue that if the verification process were to be included then does this not just become another news media outlet? and what separates it from traditional news platforms? 

Last year, one of my best friends was back home visiting her family during the 2016 Kaikoura Earthquake in New Zealand. Given the first earthquake happened overnight I knew nothing about it and it wasn’t until I woke up the next morning and saw a Facebook push notification telling me that she had been ‘marked as safe’ that I instantly felt a sense of relief. The tool not only informed me that the disaster had occured but my most pressing and personal question about my friend who I would have been so concerned about was instantly answered. This is granualr- level functionality that traditional news outlets would never be able to satisfy. 

The above video explains Facebook’s safety check feature and the capabilities of the tool in crisis situations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B48zRqcHiBk 

So I pose the question.. Is there value in social media and crowdsourcing as effective tools of communication in times of crisis? And is the issue of validity and verification of content strong enough to stop it in its tracks? 

References Chao-Chen, L 2013 ‘Convergence of new and old media: new media representation in traditional news’ Chinese Journal of Communication, 6(2), pp.183-201. viewed online 22 December, 2016 <http://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/17544750.2013.785667?scroll=top&needAccess=true>. 

Siapera, E 2012, ‘Socialities and Social Media’, Introduction to New Media, Sage, London, pp. 191-208.

Travis, E, & Sykes, T 2012 ‘Social Media And Disasters : Uses, Options, Considerations’ New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc, eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost, viewed 21 December 2016. http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzU3MTYxNV9fQU41?sid=4df29573-4ec6-4210-8085-9563d0f4fb5c@sessionmgr120&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1

#mda20009 #social media #newmedia #crowdsourcing #natural disaster #crisis

[hannah-the-digital-native-blog]

How can people care so much about the outcome of The Bachelor that they actually tell Richie Strahan that his life has no value?

You could quite correctly assume from the tone and language used in previous posts in this blog that I am in fact a very big advocate of social media. I believe it is a technology which has effectively ingrained itself in our daily lives to the point where we act so natively on the platforms that we actually don’t know how to survive without them. It has become an extension of ourselves, a form of individual representation and expression as well as a place which enables communication. It’s awesome. But it’s also not all rainbows and daises. Social media trolls or those who intentionally initiate conflict on the platforms do exist. And they are brutal. Some people feel that the anonymity of the platforms gives them a sense of confidence and security which makes them feel as though they have the right to make comments toward others online that is malicious, offensive, racist, feminist, bigoted or just plain mean. It’s not something that they would ever say to a person if they were to meet them face-to-face and usually comes from a place of deep insecurity. Trolling has been previously defined as the posting of provocative content, often deliberately misleading, malicious or pointless, with the intention to provoke and initial conflict for the purpose of entertainment or to express a differing opinion (McCosker, 2014). 

Exploration of the Australian Government’s eSafety website (esatefy.gov.au) is an exercise I would recommend to everyone. It is a site filled with incredible resources, advice, guidance and information about appropriate online behaviour and the appropriate response when you come across someone online who does not adhere to this acceptable standard. This incredible site is also not one that I ever knew existed until this week. As a milennial myself, I was born into a generation of digital natives who grew up with access to technology and social media from a very young age and use of the platforms feel instinctive. I have also always been horrified by the ways in which some people choose to use it. danah boyd’s position on the topic is particularly important, where she discusses the notion that social media has not changed the way in which teenagers interact with each other, rather it has just provided a very public forum for them to do so with her proposed solution to the problem being to use the publicness of the forums to gather learnings as to why teens engage in these acts of hate and vilification to inform large-scale interventions as solutions to the issue (2014, p. 152). 

One recent(ish) example of horrific trolling was the night that the 2016 finale of The Bachelor Australia aired. While I personally, felt Richie was portrayed on the show in a way that made him seem about as interesting as a wet towel, I never felt as personally invested in the show as many of the trolls whose hateful comments, towards both Richie and the woman of his choosing, Alex, surfaced at the end of the series. I spent the hour after the show aired in bed refreshing page after page of disgusting comments on Richie and Alex’s personal Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages. People were actually telling this man, who had just professed his love for a woman on national television, that because of his decision, his life had no value. I was absolutely horrified and disappointed in humanity at that point in time, it blew my mind that people could actually be filled with that much hatred toward people they did not know. 

I think this type of online behaviour is so unacceptable, that employment of an ombudsman body could do no harm. I think that what would be significantly more beneficial would be a nation-wide education program integrated into the national primary and secondary school curriculum, about appropriate online behaviour and language including explanation of the effects that this can have on others. I think education is critical in this war and analysis of the behaviour of milenials and digital natives online is the prime place to start hunting for solutions. 

References Boyd, D 2014, 'Bullying: Is the Media Amplifying Meanness and Cruelty?', in It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, Yale University Press, New Haven, USA, p. 152. 

McCosker, A 2014, YouTrolling as provocation: Tube's agonistics publics, Convergence, vol. 20, no. 2, p. 204. 

#mda20009 #trolls #trolling #social media #keyboard warriors #anonymous

[hannah-the-digital-native-blog]

Does the anonymity of social media give you the right to be a bigot?

#mda20009 #trolling #social media #cyberbullies #trolls

[hannah-the-digital-native-blog]

Social Media Slacktivism. Do we need to be worried?

Social media has copped a lot of attention in relation to the role it plays in facilitating grass-roots activism and it’s place in times of protest, movements and even social revolution. Increasingly, it has cemented itself as a valuable tool of communication, with an unrivalled ability to unify communities and groups in times of protest or political unrest. Many, however, argue that the platforms lack verification and reliability, or that messages can be distorted, and as a result can drive collective action of causes and issues with misplaced intentions. This was the certainly case of Kony 2012. A global movement that I personally remember being swept up in, in 2012 which resulted in widespread campaign awareness, however, never actually resulted in a persecution of the infamous Joseph Kony, as was the campaigns core intention, due to funds raised supposedly being spent trying to drive awareness rather than being used to hunt down the man that the organisation so desperately wanted arrested. The campaign made individuals feel as though by clicking ‘like’ on the page or sharing the YouTube video, they were part of something much greater than themselves and that they were contributing to a movement which would change the course of history. Sadly, the kind of campaign engagement and online activism that #Kony2012 drew is common and referred to as ‘slacktivism’ or ‘clicktivism’, which is passive activism that really has no active effect on the world or the cause (Bakardjieva, 2009, p. 103). The attention that the Kony campaign drew was fleeting, however, it cannot be disputed that it was extremely powerful. Levels of awareness driven by the campaign were extremely high. Despite examples like Kony 2012, social media platforms; Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and the like have proven themselves as tools with the ability to educate and drive awareness of injustice, that can ultimately drive collective action. In 2013, when Turkey was in a state of particularly difficult political unrest, social media was used in an active, meaningful and very powerful way. As reported by the BBC (Hutchinson, 2013) information about how to survive the protests was shared on local Facebook pages as well as news updates on protest activities. Photographs and live video were shared on sites like Flickr and Tumblr when news sites were blocked out by the government and unable to be accessed by residents. This went as far as individuals tweeting their home wifi passwords so that protestors and those with information were always able to be ‘always on’, connected and online. The countries’ Prime Minister at the time even recognised and blamed social media platforms for the problems, calling Twitter a “menace” (Hutchinson, 2013). So what are the real benefits and draw backs of use of social media in times of protest, the context of activism or in driving social movement? We know that these platforms are extremely powerful, but are they really helping?

References: 

Bakardjieva, M 2009, 'Subactivism: Lifeworld and Politics in the Age of the Internet', Information Society, vol. 25, no. 2, p 103. 

Hutchinson, 2013 ‘Social Media plays major role in Turkey protests’ BBC World News, viewed February 3rd 2017 <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-22772352>

#kony2012 #socialmedia #activism #slacktivism #mda20009

[hannah-the-digital-native-blog]

Will our pollies ever get the hang of Twitter?

Increased uptake of social media of late has paved the way for increased participation in politics, both at home and abroad. Much like the large corporates and advertisers of today, our politicians are leveraging the widespread reach and cost efficiency that social platforms present to connect and engage with voters and get their message heard, with varying results. The flip side of this is that social media platforms have also allowed the public to have a voice. Particularly younger voters, who have previously been put aside into the secondary or tertiary bucket of focus for our politicians. Anyone with access to a computer now has the tools to curate their own political content- whether they are properly informed on the topic or not. Jodie Dean discussed the potentially damaging effects of social media on democracy and civil society in her 2013 speech at an IAMCR conference in Dublin. She discussed the notion of a term she coins “communicative capitalism” which is the convergence of new media and the opportunities for curation of content, marketing ones self and sharing of third-party content with democracy. She states that “in communicative capitalism, the values heralded central to democracy take material form in networked communications technology” (Dean, 2013). Many others have shown further support for Dean’s claims and are also skeptical of the influence of social media on the future relationship of democracy and social media. International Political Writer Malcolm Gladwell stated “The revolution will not be tweeted... real activism requires real connections, connections that need to be offline” (Jericho, 2013). 

In speaking of the opportunities and the newfound voice of the younger generation that new media provides, it is hard to avoid discussion of the recent US election where we saw the controversial man himself, Donald Trump, become the 45th president of the United States of America. A man who has a notorious relationship with Twitter and in the final days of his campaign had to have his Twitter account taken off him. 

http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/entertainment/people/donald-trump-quotes-57213 30 of Donald Trump’s most controversial tweets of all time. Source: Marie Claire UK

How does a man who has made insidious comments about every minority race come to be the leader of the free world? Particularly when these comments have been broadcast and will be forever stored on the world wide web. 

It is hard to talk of the US election without also speaking of the celebrities and social media influencers who weighed in on the topic. Donald Trump is not the only man with a voice in that country. Many celebrities used the power of their own social media platforms to amplify messages of hate or discouragement towards a candidate or to push voters in another direction. Hollywood star Robert De Niro posted a video to YouTube a month prior to the US election where he spoke to camera for 2 minutes in a plea to Americans not to vote for controversial powerhouse Donald Trump. The plea went viral almost instantly with over 1.3M viral social impressions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFpFDyKeqyA  Source: YouTube, accessed 10 December 

So what does the future of politics and it’s relationship with social media entail? How will these two seemingly unrelated concepts continue to converge? Could future elections be held on Facebook? And is it possible for future politicians to do an entire campaign trail without ever leaving their office? It’s unlikely, and the odds are against us. But so was Donald Trump becoming the 45th President of the United States. 

References: 

Author Unknown, ‘Donald Trump Quotes: The Man Behind the Mouth’ Marie Claire UK, 9 November, viewed 10 December 2016, <http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/entertainment/people/donald-trump-quotes-57213>.

DCU School of Communication 2013, IAMCR 2013 Plenary No. 3 - Jodi Dean, 3 July, viewed 10 December 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5ABPuNQ6IU>. 

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

#mda20009 #social media #donald trump

[hannah-the-digital-native-blog]

An introduction to the current social climate

In November 2016 there were 15,000,000 active monthly Facebook users in Australia. That is 61% penetration of the total Australian population (Social Media News, 2016). The rise of the internet and advancements in technology have paved the way for the exponential growth of Social Media. In turn, social media networks have become an integral part of our daily interactions. No longer do we go out with friends without the term ‘Google it’ or ‘look it up’ occurring naturally in the conversation. Whether it be to check our favourite blog for a list of the best cheap eats in Melbourne, checking Broadsheet’s Instagram page or searching the hashtag #froze to find out where everyone is getting that bloody delicious, candy coloured, slurpee-looking drink with the purple flowers which gives you the uber cool insta-snap. 

We now live in a time where our smart phones have become an extension of ourselves, our online hours outweigh out offline hours each day and the people we are interacting with, our communities, are no longer those in physical proximity to us; the traditional barriers to communication no longer exist. 

danah boyd discusses the idea of being ‘always on’. She talks about the behaviour of our generation and the constant need to be connected. “I may not be always on the Internet as we think of it colloquially, but I am always connected to the network. And that is what it means to be always-on.” This idea of connectedness is further discussed by SherryTurkle (2013) who stated in a TED talk that “devices are so powerful that they don’t only change what we do, but they change who we are”, the changing nature of technology and our dependence on devices is not only changing the relationships we have with those around us but also the relationship we have with ourselves and our inability to be alone. 

Ferdinand Tonnies was a key theorist who explored the impacts of the industrial revolution on society and communities. Many have since drawn parallels between his study of societies and networks and the development of these as a result of new media. The same foundation applies whereby “societies can only exist because people want to associate with them” (Siapera, 2012 p.192). This has paved the way for the modern communities which are interest-based connections, made with those from all around the world, rather than communities based on proximity. But this in itself raises questions worth pondering, what holds a society together when most of us are strangers to each other? And is this technology a detriment to the relationships we, as humans, need to build with real people? 

References:  Boyd, D 2012, Participating in the Always On Lifestyle, in Mandiberg (ed) The Social Media Reader, NYU Press, pp. 71-76.

Cowling, D 2016 Social Media Statistics Australia- November 2016, Social Media News viewed 8 December 2016, <https://www.socialmedianews.com.au/social-media-statistics-australia-november-2016/>. 

Siapera, E 2012 ‘Socialities and Social Media’, in Introduction to New Media, Sage, London, pp. 191-208. 

TED-Ed 2013, Connected, but alone? Sherry Turkl, 19 April, viewed 10 December 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv0g8TsnA6c>. 

Tully Smith (@tee_smyth) 2016, Froze at Mister Miyagi, Melbourne from Instagram, viewed 10 December 2016 <https://www.instagram.com/p/BKsN5yhDBwL/?taken-by=tee_smyth>. 

#mda20009 #socialmedia

[hannah-the-digital-native-blog]

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#giphy #transparent #season 3 #amazon original #social media #amazon video #judith light #shelly pfefferman #who here is on social #mda20009