Gianni's View

We enjoy freedoms that we often take for granted. This includes the freedom to express our views on social media without the fear of being persecuted, and it is largely due to the political system, legal system and cultures that govern our society. Though the same can’t be said for the people of China.

 They live under a strict censorship system where government departments monitor most social media and information is tailored to omit anything that may discredit or shame the government. In fact it is dubbed the Great Firewall of China, because their system is quite convoluted and so posts on social media are edited, deleted or replaced if deemed necessary (The Great Firewall of China 2013). The Chinese people as a consequence are banned from using western social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp, instead have to use their Chinese equivalents Sina Weibo, Renren and Wechat (DLDconference 2013).

(Business of Apps 2015)

Whilst they cannot connect to any IP address outside of China (The Great Firewall of China 2013), it does not mean the Chinese people are living under a cloud. They are leading countries like the United States and Japan in social media use (Chiu, Lin & Silverman 2012), with the youth making up 90% of the 500 million or so users, and 79% of them being under the age of 30 (DLDconference 2013).

 China’s youth are responsible for the change in attitude especially towards censorship. The ‘millennial’ generation finds that using social media allows them freedoms that aren’t conceded to them outside the virtual world. The growing use of the Internet is pushing societal change, and while it may not lead to a revolution, it is playing a role in the transformation of public debate (Watts 2008).

(Talk The Talk 2014)

 The Chinese youth have used that freedom in the virtual world to invent creative ways of communicating and expressing their points of view. They are using audio, visual and video messages rather than text to communicate on social media (DLDconference 2013).  Akin to having created another language, images like these are a novel way that they are escaping the censorship stranglehold because they are not understood by the government (DLDconference 2013).  

 It is clear to see that the ‘millennial’ generation in China wants to break down barriers that existed for generations that came before it. They are finding a voice in social media that is allowing them to express themselves in a way that was not previously possible, and they are challenging the censorship boundaries. The growth in social networking in China and the strength of the population under the age of 30 means that perhaps one day in the future the youth of China will enjoy the freedoms we currently have.

References

 Chiu, C, Lin, D & Silverman, A 2012, China's social-media boom, McKinsey & Company, viewed 5 February 2017, <http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/chinas_social-media_boom>.

 DLDconference 2013, DLD13 - How Social Media is changing China and Asia, 7 February, viewed 5 February 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG3z2ucaR6A>.

 ‘No Puns In China’ [image], in Talk The Talk 2014, Episode 186: No Puns in China, Talk The Talk, viewed 5 February 2017, <http://talkthetalkpodcast.com/186-no-puns-in-china/>.

 The Great Firewall of China 2013, Open Democracy, viewed 5 February 2017, <https://www.opendemocracy.net/china-correspondent/great-firewall-of-china>.

 Watts, J 2008, ‘Behind the Great Firewall’, The Guardian, 9 February, viewed 7 February 2017, <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/feb/09/internet.china>.

Since its release mid-2016, it is estimated that there have been 500 million downloads worldwide of the game Pokémon Go (Smith 2017). This gaming phenomenon has captured so much attention. I ask myself, what is all the fuss about? To me it’s just another fad and the novelty will ware off when the next ‘big thing’ comes along. Honestly, these kooky people running around staring at a map on their smartphones, hoping to hear that sweet computer-generated sound that alerts them to the nearby presence of a Pokémon to capture (Project For Public Spaces 2016), it sounds bizarre right?

(Life, Love and Video Games 2016)

Well what if its not? It would be remiss of me to think of Pokémon Go as just a game. Tim Le Tourneau is the Vice President at Zynga Games, creators of Farmville 2. He felt that what makes these types of online games stand apart from the others is their social component, and added that it’s their primary consideration when designing games (ZyngaNetwork 2012). The developers of Pokémon Go have taken the online experience one step further by literally forcing millions of gamers out of their armchairs and into the streets. It has brought these people together in pursuit of a common goal. The Autism Society of Minnesota credited the game with helping bridge the social gap for people afflicted with the autism spectrum (Autism Society Of Minnesota 2016). Through the game, new pathways have been opened up to them, and they have felt comfortable meeting like-minded people outside their social comfort zone (Autism Society Of Minnesota 2016).

(Inverse Entertainment 2016)

Pokémon Go is a good example of a Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG). It is played in real-time where the many players can interact with one another simultaneously. It can be played individually or players can join factions and attack other groups’ locations known as ‘Gyms’ (Pimentel 2016, p. 3). As a result, this game like others creates a social problem that gets lost between the virtual world and realities of life. EVE Online, another MMOG has established a different way of handling player issues (De Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 78). Its player forum, Council of Stellar Management (CSM) encourages players to engage with developers so that they can shape their rules and policies (De Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 78).

I would say social gaming is here in all its effects, and while I may not understand the ‘fuss’, there are millions that think otherwise. To them it’s a way of life.

References

Autism Society Of Minnesota 2016, ‘Pokemon Go: making the community and social interaction accessible’, Autism Society Of Minnesota, 1 September, viewed 4 February 2017, <https://www.ausm.org/1510-pokemon-go-making-the-community-and-social-interaction-accessible.html>.

 De Zwart, M & Humphreys, S 2014, ‘The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space: Code as Law in EVE Online’, Cultural Studies Review, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 77 - 99.

 ‘Everything We Know About Pokémon Go’ [image], in Inverse Entertainment 2016, How the Pokémon Go Plus Actually Works, Inverse Entertainment, viewed 4 February 2017, <https://www.inverse.com/article/19274-pokemon-go-plus-release-date-details-nintendo-niantic>.

 ‘It’s so much easier to complex the Pokédex as an adult’ [image], in Life, Love and Video Games 2016, Kotorcomics, Life, Love and Video Games, viewed 4 February 2017, <http://lifeloveandvideogames.com/post/140747110102/it-helps-that-living-in-a-town-with-a-really>.

 NBC News 2016, Why ‘Pokemon Go’ Is Taking Over the World, 11 July, viewed 4 February 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXs_Dp71zeQ>.

 Pimentel, D 2016, Effect of Player Sex and Group Size on Collaborative Gaming Behavior in Pokémon Go, Research Design, ANG5802.

 Project For Public Spaces 2016, ‘Go Pokémon Go! : The Social Life of Virtual Urban Spaces’, Project For Public Spaces, 27 July, viewed 4 February 2017, <https://www.pps.org/blog/go-pokemon-go-the-social-life-of-virtual-urban-spaces/>.

 Smith, C 2017, 75 Incredible Pokemon Go Statistics (December 2016), Expanded Ramblings, viewed 4 February 2017, <http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/pokemon-go-statistics/>.

Digital technology has made our lives easier in many ways. For instance, I can remember taking photos with my Fuji camera, bringing the film to the local pharmacy to get developed and sifting through the photos an hour later, chuckling over the ones you would dare not put in your photo album let alone share amongst friends. Although cumbersome in delivery by modern standards, this process was fundamentally private and you had control over your images.

(Old Film Processing 2006)

In stark difference, images today are taken and uploaded to social media in a few clicks. Mobile devices and software have become so advanced, making the capturing of images effortless. Photo sharing has become all the rage and commonplace amidst users of social networking sites. A Deloitte Global report in fact predicted that during 2016 about 2.5 trillion photos would be shared or stored online (Deloitte 2017).

 There is none more popular social networking site than Facebook for distributing and shaping digital images. It has become synonymous with mobile technology and seen as necessary as a smart phone or email (Hand 2012, p. 174). I admit to posting a photo or two on Facebook. It’s usually done with some degree of trepidation because it’s there for the whole world to see! Therefore, I can only control who sees my images to a certain point. Facebook is after all, is a public platform, and that allows other users to view your profile and images. What gets under my skin is tagging and being tagged on Facebook.

Does the world really need to know that I looked like Iva Davies back in 1986? Sure enough, it’s humorous and most of you will laugh just as I did, but to what at what point does tagging someone or being tagged stop being funny? I know that I am always self-conscious if I am out at a social gathering. I can’t control what images are taken let alone what is posted on social media.

 With the rapid spread of mobile devices there is always someone there to capture that embarrassing or unflattering image (Hand 2012, p. 176), and it is just as likely that they will post it and tag you on social media without considering your thoughts or feelings (Hand 2012, p. 177). Relatively speaking, it is safe to say we really don’t have any control of what goes onto social media,

References

‘35mm Colour Film Processing & Developing’ [image], in Old Film Processing 2006, Film Processing, Old Film Processing, viewed 2 February 2017, <http://www.oldfilmprocessing.com/35mm-bw-colour-Negative-Film-Processing.asp>.

Deloitte 2017, Photo sharing: trillions and rising, Deloitte, viewed 3 February 2017, <https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/tmt-pred16-telecomm-photo-sharing-trillions-and-rising.html>.

Hand, M 2012, Ubiquitous Photography, Polity Press, Cambridge.

The evolution of crowdsourcing as a tool for gathering information about events like crisis, civil unrest and natural disasters has been both swift and widespread. Its origins lie in the business world where crowdsourcing was used to harness ideas, pictures and videos from its customers via an open call (Petavy 2016).

Some of you may argue that elements of this type of information may be useless and misleading. There is no question that as the use of crowdsourcing platforms increase, so will the volumes of information and its validity should be questioned (Ford 2012, p. 34), but I think it’s a priceless source of intelligence that can help amongst many things police solve crimes as was evidenced during last months Bourke St massacre in Victoria where the public were asked to post videos of the tragedy on social media.

Crowdsourcing is a fast way of sharing information. The social media revolution has meant that its users are virtual news reporters. They are able to capture events as they happen, and their video footage is often broadcast during television news telecasts.

A successful and well-known example of this form of crowdsourcing was seen during the Queensland floods in 2011.The floods that besieged South-East Queensland in January of that year lasted for close to a week and caused significant damage and created a logistical nightmare for emergency services. They were helped however by the many thousands of people who were using social media platforms Facebook and Twitter to post and share messages, updates and tweets about the floods. In fact, the hashtag #gldfloods was tweeted about 35,000 times (Bruns et al. 2012, p. 7), and proved to be a valuable way of spreading information for the authorities.

(IRevolutions 2013)

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), successfully used social mapping to collect information during the Libyan civil war in 2011. It had set up a live crisis map and commissioned the Standby Task Force (SBTF) www.standbytaskforce.org to report events on the ground so the UN OCHA could use the data to better determine where to deploy their services (Standby Task Force 2011).

(Standby Task Force 2011)

In both these cases the use of crowdsourcing not only proved to be fruitful, but also showed how the power of information sharing can be instrumental for those authorities and institutions making life or death decisions. Despite the potential problems, without the power of the people so many things would go unreported!!

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

Bruns, A, Burgess, J, Crawford, K & Shaw, F 2012, ‘#qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods’, Arc Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, viewed 31 January 2017, <http://www.cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf>.

 ‘Libya Crisis Map’ [image], in Standby Task Force 2011, Libya Crisis Map Deployment 2011 Report, Standby Task Force, viewed 1 February 2017, <http://www.standbytaskforce.org/2011/09/01/libya-crisis-map-report/>.

 MyRealStuff 2011, Raw Footage. Grantham! Queensland Floods! Lockyer Valley Ground Zero, 14 January, viewed 31 January 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNGOd36qLfU>.

 Petavy, F 2016, ‘5 Ways to Crowdsource User Generated Content Right’, Wired Insights, 12 January, viewed 31 February 2017, <http://insights.wired.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=crowdsourcing>.

 ‘Social Media for Emergency Management: Question of Supply and Demand’ [image], in IRevolutions 2013, Humanitarian Crisis Computing 101, IRevolutions, viewed 1 February 2017, <https://irevolutions.org/2013/04/23/smem-supply-demand/>.

(Ms-Nayyars-Chemistry-Wiki 2011)

Cyber bullying: Some facts and arguments.

 The definition of bullying has changed because of networked technologies. Digital communication between teens is often played out in the public arena like Facebook, and when this becomes hateful it can open up a platform for others to participate in the abuse. This form of bullying can intrinsically be more destructive because of the public nature of the attacks (Boyd 2014, p. 133). Many parents and journalists believe that social media significantly increases bullying (Boyd 2014, p. 130).

 In 2012 42% of teens with access to networked technologies reported being cyber bullied (Laird 2012). Teens that were cyber bullied were twice as likely to commit suicide, in fact 1 in 5 thought about committing suicide and of those teens, 1 in 10 did commit suicide (Laird 2012). Every year around 750 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 commit suicide in Australia (Anatolia News Agency 2012). Most alarmingly, 81% of teens said that they could get away with cyber bullying (Laird 2012).

Given these facts, as a society what have we done about cyber bullying? What realistic measures have social media sites put in place to deal with these issues? Senator Nick Xenophon challenged political leaders to get tough with social media sites Facebook and Twitter, especially after a page dedicated to two Queensland murder victims was littered with pornography and crude messages (Xenophon 2013). In Victoria, Brodie’s Law was passed in June 2011 after the terrible suicide of Brodie Panlock who had fallen victim to relentless harassment and bullying in the workplace (Victoria State Government 2017). This gave victims a layer of protection from bullies and cyber bullies who could be severely punished if they committed these acts.

(Brodie’s Law Foundation 2017)

Both Facebook and Twitter have both put in place controls to monitor cyber bullying and stamp out bad behaviour on their sites. For instance, Facebook has set up their Bullying Prevention Hub to provide assistance to those dealing with cyber bullying (Facebook 2017).

In spite of the damning evidence against cyber bullying, there is the argument about people’s rights and freedom of speech for example. In 2014 the Federal Government planned to annul section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act (Griffiths 2014) that made it illegal to publicly “offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate a person or a group of people”. Attorney-General George Brandis defended the peoples right to be a bigot and liberty to express their point of view, further adding that laws regarding racial vilification were being dealt with in the wrong way (Griffiths 2014).

Agree or disagree with the Attorney-Generals views about freedom of speech, society must protect its citizens; especially those who are most vulnerable like our teens. Providers of social media and technology have a responsibility to safeguard its users from cyber bullying and harassment. I just wonder if humanity is capable of policing itself. Decide for yourself, take some time to watch this compelling video.

Al Jazeera English 2012, 101 East – Web of Hate: Cyberbullying in Australia, 13 April, viewed 24 January 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FfwqExSicg>.

Anatolia News Agency 2012, ‘Increased cyber bullying leads to teen suicides in Australia’, Hurri Yet Daily News,  29 February, viewed 25 January 2017, <http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/increased-cyber-bullying-leads-to-teen-suicides-in-australia.aspx?pageID=238&nid=14921>.

Boyd, D 2014, It’s complicated: the social lives of networked teens, Yale University Press, New Haven.

‘Cyberbullying’ [image], in Ms-Nayyars-Chemistry-Wiki 2011, Cyberbullying, Ms-Nayyars-Chemistry-Wiki, viewed 24 January 2017, <https://ms-nayyars-chemistry-wiki.wikispaces.com/Cyberbullying>.

Facebook 2017, Bullying, Facebook, viewed 25 January 2017, <https://www.facebook.com/help/420576171311103/>.

Griffiths, E 2014, ‘George Brandis defends ‘right to be a bigot’ amid Government plan to amend Racial Discrimination Act’, ABC News, 24 March, viewed 25 January 2017, < http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-24/brandis-defends-right-to-be-a-bigot/5341552>.

Laird, S 2012, Cyberbullying: Scourge of the Internet [Infographic], Mashable Australia, viewed 24 January 2017, <http://mashable.com/2012/07/08/cyberbullying-infographic/#zBAPIj1ldaqd>.

‘Take a Stand Against Bullying’ [image], in Brodie’s Law Foundation 2017, Campaigns, Brodie’s Law Foundation, viewed 24 January 2017, <http://www.brodieslaw.org/campaigns/>.

Victoria State Government 2017, Justice and Regulation, Victoria State Government, viewed 25 January 2017, <http://www.justice.vic.gov.au/home/safer+communities/crime+prevention/bullying+-+brodies+law>.

When students decided to hold a mass rally in Kiev’s Independence Square, it started a sequence of events that would see Ukraine plunge into chaos and civil war.

(Forbes 2013)

 It resulted in the emergence of a movement called EuroMaidan who set up a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/EuroMaydan) to help spread news and information about the protests. The page had attracted over 125,000 followers in just two weeks after its inception in November of 2013, and the numbers had increased to about 300,000 by early 2015 (Tucker et al. 2015). The use of Facebook was very effective here because the activist group was able to circulate information quickly, as well as coordinate mass rallies all over the Ukrainian territory (Onuch 2015, p. 176).

The uprising in Ukraine is a perfect illustration of how influential social media has become to activists and protestors. It is almost inconceivable to imagine social media not being at the heart of any political protest, rally or movement.

 Some of the main reasons why I believe the use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have become so influential include firstly, a protest or activist movement can be built rather quickly, as evidenced in the EuroMaidan case. Secondly, once set up, the movement can enlist new members and inspire them to support their cause. Change.org is one popular example that offers a medium for people to launch campaigns about global or local issues in an effort to attract support from the public and hopefully effect change (Change.org 2016). Although it must be said, that this form of campaigning can attract some questionable interest groups!

(Daily Mail 2015)

Thirdly, social media provokes interest in the protest or movement by news media. Lastly it unifies people and encourages them to participate in the activities that may help to find a solution to their cause.

There are, however protestors who choose not to actively participate in any communal demonstration. That is, they would rather support their cause from behind a desk or keyboard. This type of activist or protestor is only interested in a cause to a certain point. In reality, they don’t actually care about making a difference. Social media has seen the rise in this form of activism better known as ‘slacktivism’. This term refers to people who only show concern for issues that are trending at the time, only going as far as posting on social media (Kudiwu 2014).

Essentially social media has given a new voice to many and shed light on issues that otherwise remained hidden to the world. While personally I maintain a positive view on its benefits, at times I question its use. Take for instance these two examples. Russian backed soldiers ran a scare campaign diffusing the following video in an effort to discredit the EuroMaidan campaign during the Ukrainian uprisings.

(Truth News From Ukraine 2014)

And the Occupy Wall Street movement (http://occupywallst.org) ran an effective campaign, but one that resulted in disruptive and sometimes violent behavior by protestors. These examples leave me wondering, despite its benefits, whether social media will always be seen as a positive?

References

‘An Australian man and The Simpsons’ fan has launched a petition to change Australian dollar to Dollarydoos’ [image], in Daily Mail 2015, Should Australia’s switch to Dollarydoes? Tens of thousands sign petition to change the Australian currency to ‘stimulate the economy’, Daily Mail, viewed 17 December 2016,<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3277617/Should-switch-Dollarydoos-Tens-thousands-sign-petition-change-Australian-currency-Simpsons-joke.html>

‘Can Ukraine’s Uprising Remain Peaceful?’ [image], in Forbes 2013, Ukraine Protests, Forbes, viewed 16 December 2016,<http://b-i.forbesimg.com/katyasoldak/files/2013/12/Ukraine_protests_PhotoRadioSvoboda.jpg>

Change.org 2016, About Us, Change.org, viewed 17 December 2016, <https://www.change.org/about>

Kudiwu, T 2014, ‘#Slacktivism?’, University Wire, 13 November

Onuch, O 2015, ‘Facebook Helped Me Do It: Understanding the EuroMaidan Protestor Tool-Kit’, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 170-184

Truth News From Ukraine 2014, Attention, Ukraine! Provocation On EuroMaidan, 20 February, viewed 17 December 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w4n5vb5_is>

( Arcturus aReaganDesignee 2010)

On January 20th 1961, John F. Kennedy, former President of The United States, made one of the most famous political speeches in modern history.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I have seen it either in some comical parody or heard about it in any number of documentaries. His inaugural address that year was the first to be televised in colour and reached a television audience of millions. British political journalist Henry Fairlie described it as “JFK’s Television Presidency”, and quoted a USA Today headline calling it a “media extravaganza” (Fairlie 2013).

Imagine for a minute that speech was made today and not in 1961! Think of the billions of tweets, re-tweets, hashtags and Facebook posts about the speech that would be plastered all over the Internet. The context of the speech itself remains in political folklore as the best ever, but modern technology and social media now offers politicians a much easier and quicker way to deliver their message (IAMCR 2013).

In 2016, political parties, politicians, members and supporters of political parties are not restricted to print media, radio and television broadcasts for the purpose of campaigning and communicating. Instead they are using the social media tools to drive their discourse into the minds of the voting public (IAMCR 2013), thus invoking a greater participation in the democratic process.

              (Donald J Trump 2016)

Donald Trump President Elect of The United States and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have used social media to great extent. Not only have they used Twitter for example to incite discussion and gather support on policy, but have used it to comment on everyday issues.

(Malcolm Turnbull 2016)

Social media, I believe has created a platform where politicians are more accessible, almost if you will closingg the divide between politics and everyday life. It has given constituents the opportunity to question and criticise their elected officials.

Going forward, social media and technology will continue to be developed. Politicians and political parties will have to increase its use to influence voters and gage the sentiment of the public when deciding on policy. This is even more important in the future because the voters of tomorrow would most likely spend a large part of their free time and working life on the Internet. Therefore politicians and political parties will have to adapt and find new ways of making history, much like Kennedy did in 1961.

Arcturus aReaganDesignee 2010, JFK – Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You, 25 June, viewed 11 December 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRg--jhO8g>

Donald J Trump 2016, We Will Make America Great Again, 9 December, Twitter post, viewed 12 December 2016, <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/807427326522884096>

Fairlie, H 2013, ‘Television’s Love Affair With John F. Kennedy’, The New Republic, November 22, viewed 12 December 2016, <https://newrepublic.com/article/115247/john-f-kennedy-television-presidency>

IAMCR 2013, Plenary No. 3 – Jodi Dean, 3 July, viewed 12 December 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5ABPuNQ6IU>

Having grown up in the 1980’s, my idea of digital communication was something I saw in a science-fiction movie or superhero cartoon like Batman. The closest I came to technology was my Commodore 64 console or the Space Invaders machine down at the local fish and chip shop. Who knew that thirty-odd years later I would be walking down the street reading text messages and making phone calls off my wrist watch! It is amazing how technology has developed in leaps and bounds, connecting the world through social media applications like Facebook and Twitter.  Communication as we knew it has been revolutionised. The question I pose to you however is, have we gone too far?

I think Sherry Turkle was right in making a claim that technology was attempting to change the way we connect forever (TED-ed 2013). Just look at modern society for instance, and how remarkably different our behaviour, relationships, thoughts, emotions and culture in general are today. We have become dependant on communicating with our smartphones, brushing away traditional forms of human interaction. In a nutshell, the Internet and social media increasingly dictate the way we associate with each other.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wncZPE7NMVI)

Social media and technology have however strengthened our capabilities to create networks and online communities, reaching all corners of the globe. Robert Putnam, political scientist and Harvard University professor, talked about social networking in his book, Bowling Alone. He used the term ‘social capital’, arguing its positive influences on society (C-SPAN 2000). Facebook I believe is a perfect example of this. A 21st Century social networking tool that has captivated the earth. In my case, the use of this platform has been beneficial. While at times I must confess to being spellbound by its many features like friends’ status updates and instant news-feeds, it has allowed to me nourish once distant connections with family overseas and participate in online study groups making collaboration on university projects that much easier.

(Memes.com 2016)

In hindsight, we can’t really answer the question ‘have we gone too far?’ without contradicting ourselves. On the one hand it feels like life, as we know it has transposed to another dimension, maybe a little too quickly. We don’t engage with others in the same way, sometimes even willing to forego the most basic forms of human interaction. Nonetheless, we are obsessed with technology and social media. Our lives events, manufactured, are there for everyone to see. We pour over billions of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts everyday looking to stay up to date with the latest gossip. Therefore the question will remain, perhaps time will provide the answer!!

 References

 C-SPAN 2000, Robert Putnam - Bowling Alone, 19 December, viewed 3 August 2016, < https://www.c-span.org/video/?159499-1/bowling-alone>.

 TED-Ed 2013, Connected, but alone? - Sherry Turkle, 19 April, viewed 4 December 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv0g8TsnA6c>

 ‘You were addicted to Facebook’ [image], in Memes.com 2016, Facebook Memes, Memes.com, viewed 4 December 2016, <http://www.memes.com/img/410200>

Do you believe that after years of using social media like Facebook and Twitter I have never used any type of blogging app before? Well its true, and in an effort to successfully complete my elective unit Digital Communities, I have been asked to set up and maintain a blog. So here begins my foray into this new world of communication!!

I thought I would post this video to demonstrate the lighter side of social media,  and its place in society, even on the soccer pitch haha