Digital Communities

February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month!

To raise awareness and funds for Ovarian Cancer Australia, this stunning creation has been donated to Casee's Afternoon Teal by Marlibug Cuppie - Home of the Mini Pony and will be given away to one lucky winner at the end of February.

Dear Followers,

FEBRUARY IS OVARIAN CANCER AWARENESS MONTH!

In the name of 'online activism', I am asking you to please have a look at the Ovarian Cancer Australia webpage, and familiarise yourself with the symptoms of Ovarian Cancer. There is no early detection test for Ovarian Cancer, so please, know your body, and know the signs.

I have signed up as an Afternoon Teal host to raise awareness, and raise funds for Ovarian Cancer Australia's great work. If you would like to support OCA, you can donate to them via my fundraising page, Casee's Afternoon Teal.

I don't mind if you don't donate, but it would mean a lot to me if you would read the symptoms information and just make yourself AWARE.

Yours sincerely,

This is what I knew about online gaming before researching it for this blog:

I’m really bad at all video games, except Mario Cart.

My 9 year old nephew can be bribed/threatened with Xbox time.

Once upon a sharehouse, I lived with a guy who would literally spend days immersed in Warcraft. He was also a serious stoner, and had 3 ‘real life’ girlfriends in 2 different towns at one point, but I digress….

My perception of online gaming changed when I learned of EVE Online – a massive multi online game, or “MMOG” (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014). It is set 23,000 years in the future (EVE Online, 2015), and the complexity of it blows my mind!

[image] (EVE Online, 2015)

There is much ado about online games like EVE being a lawless virtual life for its players; blurring the lines between “game” and “life”. The rules, or lack of, are outrageous compared to how we live in reality – violence and abuse is the EVE way of life (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014). For the most part, players agree on the “social norms” within the game and where life stops and the game begins (Suzor & Woodford, 2013). There are exceptions and extremes that cross the line, but do we not have prisons in our “real life” for the same reason? Some people just don’t respect law. The specific rules may vary, but game life and real life hold a major similarity…

There was furore over paid items offered within EVE that arguably were leading towards players investing money, instead of time into advancing their skills and success (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014). Players voted with their feet and left the game, forcing the programmers alter their terms of use policy (de Zwart & Humphreys, 2014; Suzor & Woodford, 2013). Similar pressures were put on Instagram policies when ownership of users photos was threatened (Suzor & Woodford, 2013). 'People power' in digital communities won out in both those situations. 

Maybe it’s the political events of this week taking over my thought processes here, but is that so different to the way Australian voters force our Government to overturn a controversial policy or overthrow a leader when they’ve done something we disapprove of? We voters create an uproar if suddenly we feel that the rules are unfair. Why would it be any different in an online game, managed by varied levels of council and governance, made up of players?! (de Zwart & Humpreys, 2014). 

Be it harmless or a risk to society, EVE and its anarchical governance is just art, imitating life.

REFERENCES de Zwart, M. and Humphreys, S., 2014, 'The lawless frontier of deep space: Code as law in EVE online', Cultural Studies Review, 1 March, Vol 20, No. 1, pp 77-99, viewed 5 February 2015, <http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/fullText;dn=225934593111540;res=IELAPA>

EVE Online, 2015, What is EVE Online?, viewed 6 February 2015, <http://www.eveonline.com/>

EVE Online, 2015, 'The Universe' [image'], viewed 6 February 2015, <http://www.eveonline.com/>

EVE Online is a massive multiplayer online game that offers limitless potential to discover, explore and conquer an amazing science fiction universe where you pilot spaceships, fight, trade, and form corporations and alliances with other players.

“we are irreversibly in a posthuman age” This is a quote from the blog of artist, Dylan Neuwirth (2014).

I’m not sure that I agree with the terminology he’s chosen here, but what I do appreciate, is the sentiment – mobile internet, social media and networked visuality is our current reality. The way forward is to find our place within it (Neuwirth, 2014).

To Instagram, or not to Instagram?

Studies suggest that checking Facebook has a negative effect on peoples mood (BBC, 2013) and that Twitter generally breeds negative content (Young, 2011) – right on cue, enter Instagram and Snapchat. These social media platforms focus on imagery as a method of communication and not just a conversation starter (Herrman, 2014). Snapchat started as a way to help people break through the fear of having their photos permanently embedded online (Swinburne Online, 2014). That’s social media promoting positive self-image and empowerment!

As for Instagram, when you analyse the content and how it’s used, it’s all about positive affinity. Instagram profiles generally portray an image or brand personality for followers to relate too, and aspire towards (Munro, Lizza, Goninon & Mizzi, 2015).  

So what is there to dislike about the visual, photo-based social media platforms?

There is some theory that amateur photography is now all about immediacy, all for the purpose of sharing in the moment, rather than archiving memories (Swinburne Online, 2014). Apparently we should be enjoying life’s moments and not photographing them (Williams, 2014). But aside from my own argument that I love to look back on photos from yesterday, last week, last year and well before; there is a sociological perspective that the real value of what we are creating now will not be fully realised for perhaps 100 years. Future generations will look back and be able to understand what our lives were really like, because we captured it all (Saltz, 2014).

To ‘selfie’, or not to ‘selfie’?

Building ones social media profile is about creating a visual avatar (Saltz, 2014). Projecting a certain incarnation, manifestation or representation of yourself – no different to how we live “real life”, if you ask me. I said earlier that the trend towards to visually driven social media platforms is driving positive experiences for users in the digital community space. That being the case, I say: Take selfies, don’t take selfies - just ensure the choice is a reflection of who you really are, and want to be.

As a social media user, a selfie-taker and a human, I believe these are wise words to live by:

(Pioneer Square, 2014)

    REFERENCES

BBC, 2013, 'Facebook use makes people feel worse about themselves', NEWS Technology, 15 August, viewed 2 February 2015, <http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-23709009>

Herrman, J., 2014, 'Meet The Man Who Got Inside Snapchat’s Head', BuzzFeedNEWS, 28 January, viewed 3 January 2015, <http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/meet-the-unlikely-academic-behind-snapchats-new-pitch#.fqLewp3XN>

Munro, A., Lizza, C., Goninon, K., Mizzi, K., 2015, Instagram, 18 January, viewed 3 February 2015, <https://prezi.com/7sa1llk5ydom/instagram/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy>

Neuwirth, D., 2015, JUST BE YOUR SELFIE: STATUS UPDATE, 25 June 2014, viewed 3 February 2015, <http://www.dylanneuwirth.com/blog/2014/6/22/just-be-your-selfie-status-update>

Pioneer Square, 2014, Just Be Your Selfie [image], 4 June, viewed 3 February 2015, <https://twitter.com/pioneersquare/status/474299399611244544>

Saltz, J., 2014, 'Art at Arm’s Length: A History of the Selfie', 26 January, Vulture, viewed 21 January 2015, <http://www.vulture.com/2014/01/history-of-the-selfie.html>

Swinburne Online, 2014, 'Week 9: Visual communities and social imaging', Concepts, viewed 3 January 2015, <https://ilearn.swin.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-4566090-dt-content-rid-23613289_2/courses/2014-SO3-MDA20009-200988/UnitLearningMaterials/Week_09.html>

Williams, A., 2014, 'A Defining Question in an iPhone Age: Live for the Moment or Record It?', The New York Times, 26 September, viewed 31 January 2015, <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/28/fashion/a-defining-question-in-an-iphone-age-live-for-the-moment-or-record-it.html?_r=1>

(Schreiber, 2012)

Crowdsourcing: the practice of combining the knowledge and experiences from a large group of people (Swinburne Online, 2015). There is no doubt that it’s a useful practice, particularly in a disaster situation (Posetti & Lo, 2012). The downfall is the logistics of verifying the information for publication through official channels (Posetti & Lo, 2012; Swinburne Online, 2015). 

Something that interests me is that the public generally seem to embrace crowdsourcing only when the perceived threat is high – as if it were a tool only for monitoring, and not for evaluating. For example, the #qldfloods were a fantastic case study showing the success of crowdsourcing (Posetti & Lo, 2012). But my experience around the Melbourne Earthquakes in recent years, is a vastly different story…

(Dowling, 2012)

(mUmBRELLA, 2012)

Discussion turns quickly to mockery – not just of the event, but of those who chose to post about it. The damage was virtually non-existent, but in the moment, it’s scary. For all we know at the time, we’re in the peripheral of something major. We post our own experience on social media to scope out the breadth of the event. We’re crowdsourcing – and offering up data for authorities to crowdsource!

Beyond natural disasters… In a discussion online about ‘selfie’ culture, one of my peers highlighted this image of a mid-air emergency, saying it left him “gobsmacked” (Maiuolo, 2015):

(Williams, 2014).

Maiuolo (2015) also said this:

“I am sorry but I cannot get past the idea that selfies are the domain of narcissists.”

BUT, what if that airplane selfie/video had been taken on flight MH370? Would we call it ‘narcissism’ if the selfie held clues to one of the greatest aviation mysteries in history? (Grabowiecki, 2015)

As crowdsourcing becomes a more and more sophisticated practice, the key to its success is the culture of sharing (Ford, 2012). In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the lack of sharing hindered the richness of the crowdsourcing exercise (Ford, 2012). And yet, in our privileged Western lives, the culture of sharing on social media is so often referred to as a narcissistic habit – if we share our crisis moments, we’re attention seeking.

Tools like Ushahidi are fast becoming the norm in crisis and disaster management (Ford, 2012), and although its kept quiet and still being tested by authorities (Posetti & Lo, 2012), in future it will no doubt play a major role. Perhaps it’s time to let the public know, so that we can all begin to learn the social media etiquette that surrounds it.

REFERENCES Dowling, J., 2012, 'The 2014 Melbourne Earthquake' [image], Herald Sun, viewed 31 January 2015, <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/small-tremor-felt-in-melbournes-east/story-fni0fit3-1226800819311>

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

Grabowiecki, E., 2015, 'MH370 accident announcement allows for compensation but still no closure for victim’s families as the long search for answers continues', Nine News, viewed 31 January 2015, <http://www.9news.com.au/mh370>

mUmBRELLA, 2012, 'Your story about today's earthquake' [image], Après moi, le déluge, viewed 31 January 2015, '<http://mumbrella.com.au/apres-le-deluge-98192>

Maiuolo, F. 2015, 'RE: My experience with "selfies"', My experience with "selfies", 24 January, viewed 31 January 2015, <https://ilearn.swin.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&forum_id=_527908_1&group_id=_171022_1&nav=group_forum&conf_id=_235060_1&course_id=_157089_1&message_id=_6281344_1#msg__6281344_1Id>

Posetti, J. and Lo, P., 2012, The Twitterisation of ABC's emergency and disaster communication, Australian Journal of Emergency Management, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp34-39, viewed 31 January 2015, <http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=046926063833158;res=IELAPA>

Schreiber, A., 2012, 'Crowdsourcing mergers and acquisitions: a distruption whose time has come' [image], crowdsourcing.org, viewed 31 January 2015, <http://www.crowdsourcing.org/editorial/crowdsourcing-mergers-and-acquisitions-a-disruption-whose-time-has-come/15645>

Swinburne Online, 2015, 'Week 8: Crowdsourcing in times of crisis', Concepts, viewed 31 January 2015, <https://ilearn.swin.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-4565104-dt-content-rid-23595135_2/courses/2014-SO3-MDA20009-200988/UnitLearningMaterials/Week_08.html>

Williams, A., 2014, 'A Defining Question in an iPhone Age: Live for the Moment or Record It?' [image], The New York Times, 26 September, viewed 31 January 2015, <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/28/fashion/a-defining-question-in-an-iphone-age-live-for-the-moment-or-record-it.html?_r=1>

I recently had a wake-up call when it comes to conflict on social media. I follow Dick Smith Foods on Facebook and I find myself completely appalled by the racist/anti-religious posts on the page by some “supporters”.  All stemming from a public statement that the company would not be going through Halal certification (Dick Smith Foods, 2014); there are many anti-Islamic comments on various posts on the page.

As an outraged and concerned citizen of the internet, I got up on my high horse and wrote to Dick Smith Foods. I urged the company to correct those who were misinterpreting the original statement and suggested that comments of a racist/anti-religious nature should be deleted.

(Missop, 2014)

This was part of the response I received from Stuart Paine (2014), General Manager of Dick Smith Foods:

“We do not moderate any comments on our [Facebook page] because social media whether good or bad is about people being able to have their opinion heard.”

Even a company that’s falling victim to misquoting and misrepresentation as a result of the freedom of speech afforded to social media users, is defending their right to speak. So who am I to demand that comments be deleted?

In that case, I wanted censorship. But then when social media users defy authorities in Iran, I agree with it. A recent campaign that can be found on social media under the hashtag #teammelli allowed the Iranian people in Australia and around the world to celebrate female fans attending a soccer match in Sydney – a privilege currently denied to them in Iran, and hidden in the media (Sedghi, 2015).

Based on those two examples as “affirmative” and “negative” in this debate, I unconditionally vote negative. Let social media be global, and open.

(QuoteSlides.com, n.d.)

It seems “we” want the internet censored when we are outraged by what we see, and the Government is happy to oblige (Australian Government Department of Communications, n.d.). But at the same time, we love the freedom of speech and justify all that it represents (van der Negal 2013). Even defining “trolling” becomes a subjective debate (Wilson, Fuller & McCrea, n.d.). The reality is that we can’t police social media content and protect the integrity of it being “the people’s media” at the same time.

(iz quotes, n.d.)

So how do we solve this problem? We as users need to embrace our own personal censorship powers. We need to take advantage of the fact that we can block content and contacts that offend us - it is our right, and our free privilege.

  REFERENCES

Australian Government Department of Communications, n.d., Online content regulation, viewed 26 January 2015, <http://www.communications.gov.au/online_safety_and_security/online_content_regulation>

Australian Government Department of Communications, n.d., Online Safety, viewed 26 January 2015, <http://www.communications.gov.au/online_safety_and_security/online_safety>

Dick Smith Foods, 2014, Halal Certification on Our Food, Updated 18 December, viewed 26 January 2015, <http://www.dicksmithfoods.com.au/media/news/halal-certification-our-food>

iz quotes, n.d., 'You can't have your cake and eat it too' [image], Proverbs Quote, viewed 26 January 2015, <http://izquotes.com/quote/309459>

Missop, M., 2014, 'You want me to get down off my what?' [image], 29 July, Just those typical rants you may have heard before, viewed 26 January 2015, <http://mikkaylamossop.tumblr.com/>

Paine, S., 2014, 4 November

QuoteSlides.com, n.d., 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.' [image], viewed 26 January 2015, <http://www.quoteslides.com/large/Slide047.JPG>

Sedghi, S., 2015, #teammelli: Social media helps Iranian fans defy censorship of images from Asian Cup matches in Australia, ABC, 24 January, viewed 26 January 2015, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-23/iran-censors-images-of--inappropriate-female-soccer-fans/6043600>

van der Negal, E., 2013, 'Faceless Bodies: Negotiating Technological and Cultural Codes on reddit gonewild', Scan Journal of Media Arts Culture, vol. 10, no. 2, Macquarie University.

(Nguyen, 2013)

The idea of “slacktivism” infuriates me! The notion that appearing to support a cause with a gesture isn’t actually helping – it’s offensive and naive. It’s based on the idea that ‘talk is cheap’, and if you want to support a cause, you need to donate lots of money (Kosinski, 2014).

Referring specifically to the #icebucketchallenge, Kosinski (2014) played down the exponential increase in donations towards ALS and MND organisations, stating that far more value would have come from all those who participated donating the cost of the ice (Kosinski, 2014). The reality is that without the challenge element, there was no strong platform for raising awareness. Awareness and understanding comes before donations. The value of which was not lost on the National Director of Motor Neurone Disease Australia, who said this:

"... this challenge has given us the opportunity to talk about MND ALS and to explain to people that they are one and the same disease."

And this…

“…it was important for people participating to learn about the disease.”

(Florance, 2014)

  (Les Misérables Australia, 2014)

    Bakardjieva (2009) talks of “subactivism” as the insignificant actions and choices of an individual in their everyday life – to ‘like’ or ‘share’ a charity page then walk away is the online equivalent.

  Let’s remember what activism is, and why we do it.

It’s about the collective forming a movement, not the individual making a difference on their own.

Activism is about campaigning for social change (Oxford Dictionaries, 2015). Social change will only be created with persistent, significant support for a cause or movement (Lemonik, 2012). That support takes many different forms, and to say that ‘shares’ and ‘likes’ on social media don’t count is like saying that only activists that launch disruptive campaigns can make an impact. Not all tactics in a campaign for social change are like that – thankfully! Assimilative tactics such as petitions are just as valid and effective, sometimes even more so (Lemonik, 2012). We have the tools to send out petitions online with websites like change.org, so why wouldn’t we use that for all its reach benefits?

(genUN, n.d.)

  I am a big believer in the power of AWARENESS. Spread the awareness, get the messages out and help people to UNDERSTAND. The more organised and cohesive we are as an activist group/social movement, the closer we move to real social change.

    REFERENCES

Bakardjieva, M. 2009, 'Subactivism: Lifeworld and Politics in the Age of the Internet', Information Society, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 91-104.

Florance, L., 2014, ‘Ice bucket challenge raises millions for motor neurone disease research, US ALS Association says’, ABC News, 17 September, viewed 23 January 2015, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-27/ice-bucket-challenge-raises-millions-of-dollars-for-mnd/5700716>

genUN, n.d., 'Worrying about a problem is not a strategy for change' [image], Activism vs. Slacktivism, United Nations Associate of the United States of America, viewed 23 January 2015, <http://genun.unausa.org/activism_vs_slacktivism>

Kosinski, B. 2014, '#IceBucketChallenge: Why You're Not Really Helping', HuffPost, 10 July, viewed 23 January 2015, <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-kosinski/icebucketchallenge-why-yo_b_5656649.html>

Lemonik, A., 2012, Social Change, Infobase Publishing, EBL Ebook Library

Nguyen, C., 2013, 'Slacktivism' [image], Social Media: Change for better or change for worse, 27 May, viewed 23 January 2015, <https://blogs.monash.edu/presto/tag/slacktivism/>

One of the criticisms of political discussion occurring on social media is that it’s too full of negativity, trolling and general nastiness (Jericho, 2012; Young 2011). I question the validity of that argument specific to social media, because satire and comical analysis is not new to politics.

Our newspapers in every state employ cartoonists for their political commentary. There is even an exhibition in Canberra currently, celebrating the art of political cartooning (ABC News, 2014).

Image source: (Herald Sun, 2014)

All my early political knowledge came from a comedic radio skit show called ‘How Green Was My Cactus’ as they ripped through ‘Little Johnny [Howard]’ in the 90’s.

I find satire a very relatable tone when it comes to political discussion, so be it good or bad on an academic level, I appreciate How Green Was My Cactus, political cartoons in the newspaper and Dr Seuss spoofs on Facebook about Tony Abbott. It’s all part of politics as we know it in Australia. If cartoons are being celebrated as a political art form, then condemning social media for the same reason, is a double standard.

Image source:  @gingerandhoney on Twitter (Convery, 2013)

I shared this image on Facebook  when I saw it after the 2013 federal election because I felt that anybody who knew less than I did about Abbott could benefit from reading it. Maybe I’m not the best person to be teaching people about politics, which is a danger that social media presents (Jericho, 2012), but democracy is about public opinion – I am part of the public, and this is my opinion.

Politicians and voters alike just need to take it with good humour. Malcolm Turnbull admits that you have to approach social media with the ability laugh at yourself and those who talk about you (Jericho, 2012). Personally, I think that is savvy advise for life, and politics in general.

The fact is, in Australia voting is compulsory (AEC, 2014). That is a good thing, as non-compulsory voting in this country would skew the results in favour of the affluent male population skew that typically dominates political debate (Young, 2011). According to the AEC, compulsory voting “teaches the benefits of political participation” (AEC, 2011), so I ask you this…

Why is social media and the idea that it involves more people into political discussion, a bad thing?

I say, it’s not a bad thing and I will continue to share on social media the political messages that strike a chord with me as a member of the voting public.

  REFERENCES

ABC News, 2014, Behind the Lines: 2014's best political cartoons go on show in Canberra, 7 December, viewed 2 January 2014, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-07/best-political-cartoons-go-on-show-in-canberra/5948592>

AEC, 2011, Compulsory Voting, Australian Electoral Commission, <http://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/Compulsory_Voting.htm>

AEC, 2014, Voting within Australia – Frequently Asked Questions, Australian Electoral Commission, viewed 20 December 2014, <http://www.aec.gov.au/FAQs/Voting_Australia.htm#compulsory>

Convery, S. 2013, ‘I do not like this Abbott twit’, viewed 2 January 2015, <http://twitpic.com/dcgma1>

Herald Sun, 2014, 'Mark Knight cartoon - 18/07/2014', Galleries: Mark Knight 2014 - July, 18 July, viewed 2 January 2015,  <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/photos-fni0fit3-1226972547024?page=14>

Jericho, G. 2012, 'Chapter Nine: How Many Votes Are There on Twitter?', The Rise of the Fifth Estate, Scribe Publications Pty Ltd, Brunswick.

0aX7FQf47eRid1C, 2013, How Green Was My Cactus 02 March 2007, 4 September, viewed 2 January 2015, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJvLW5unWuY>