The world of Digital Communities

Although theGreat Firewall of China (GFC) is not something that you can see, there is no denying that it’s there, and it affects millions of people in China. The great firewall of China restricts the internet access so the people of China aren’t able to access sites such as; Facebook, Twitter, and even Wikipedia (Learning materials, 2015). Although China may not have access to a number of websites loved by the Western world, China has the world’s most active social media users (Chiu, Lin, & Silverman, 2012). A study has found that 95% of Chinese people, who live in a major city, were connected to a social media site (Chiu, Lin, & Silverman, 2012). Although China has the most active internet users in the world, it has the most restricted internet access in the world. China has a host of measures that are employed to make sure that ‘netizens’ cannot read about sensitive issues or post sensitive information that the government might deem threatening (Chinese Correspondent, 2013).



(The Great Fire Wall of China, n.d)

Although YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are blocked in China, they have developed their own versions of these platforms, such as Qzone and Youku (Julie, 2012) which are not known to the Western world are growing in popularity in China. In fact, according to a Boston consulting group (as cited in Crampton, 2011) the average Chinese internet user spends 2.7 hours a day on the internet. Crampton (2011) explains that the reason that Chinese people spend do much time on the internet is a results of migration from rural to urban areas separating families, and the loneliness of being a product if the one child generation. Crampton (2011) also believes that a distrust of information from government controlled media, is also a key reason that Chinese people spend so much of their time on the internet.

(Brick by brick, the great firewall extends, 2012)

According to OgilvyOne (Crampton, 2011) 55% of China’s ‘netizens’ had initiated or participated in online discussions about companies, meaning that over half of the country are engaging in discussions online. In fact, according to Chiu et al (2012) Chinese consumers say they are more likely to consider purchasing a product if they see it discussed positively on a social-media site, and more likely to actually purchase a product or service if a friend recommends it on social media. Does the social media really poise that much of a threat? The Chinese government seems to think so. They have one of the most complex multi-layered censorship systems in the world. According to Chinese Correspondent (2013), the censorship system is made up of three layers; First is the technical, the Great Firewall; Second is human-powered (a workforce that deletes posts and another that adds posts to spin the debate); Third and self-censorship (from Netizens and online companies themselves).

Why do you believe the Chinese government so heavily censors their people?



Images

Sun, A, 2012, Brick by brick the great firewall extends [Image], in, Over the Great Firewall: Using Pinterest to Connect with Chinese Applicants, Vericant, 20 August, viewed 8 February 2015, http://www.vericant.com/over-the-great-firewall-using-pinterest/

Snipview, n.d, The Great Firewall [Image], snipview, viewed 8 February, http://www.snipview.com/q/The%20Great%20Firewall

References

Chinese Correspondent, 2013, The Great Firewall of China, Open democracy, 15 March, viewed 8 February 2015, https://www.opendemocracy.net/china-correspondent/great-firewall-of-china

Chiu, C, Lin, D & Silverman, A 2012, China's social-media boom, McKinsey & Company, May, viewed 8 February, 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 8 February, http://www.thomascrampton.com/china/social-media-china-business-review/

Julie, 2013, 10 Chinese Social Media Sites You Should Be Following, Synthesio, 27 March, viewed 8 February 2015, http://synthesio.com/corporate/en/2013/uncategorized/10-chinese-social-media-sites-you-should-be-following/#

The term social games has come to refer to games, specifically made for, and profiting from social network sites such as Facebook (Learning materials, 2015). However, social games don’t just begin and end with games on social networking sites. For years, people have been coming together online to live out a fantasy and co6mplete quests together, in games such as; world of war craft (IDG staff, 2008) ad EVE online, which is a spaced themed massively multiplayer online game (Zwart & Humphreys, 2014, p.77). However social that these games claim to be, one has to wonder how they can affect people in their real life social interactions?

(McMenomy, 2012)

Gaming addiction and their social consequences

Gaming addiction can affect anyone, at any time. People who become addicted to the games that they play will often chooses those games over interacting with the people in their lives, which can have serious consequences. For example, videogameaddiction.org (n.d) explains that lack of social interaction that results from online gaming can hinder people developing essential social skills, often more time than not with a 21 year old adult, with the social skills of a 15 year old teenager who struggles to make friends and real connection with other people. Not only are there social consequences to these games, but financial ones as well. According to think gaming (as cited in Fosterm 2013) candy crush make an estimated 400,000 pounds (approximately $776, 000) a day from their players. In the video titled ‘fat guy spends $380 on CANDY CRUSH’(boogie2988, 2013) an overweight guy is approached by his sister after she discovers that he was spending too much time on candy crush, the video ends with the man throwing a tantrum. Although the vide is apparently fabricated (Francis is a YouTube sensation, who does many videos) the issue that it represents is real, there is no doubt many people in the world, who would live like that, with their entire lives on the computer, in their gaming worlds. (Link to the video is in the reference list).

(Tassimmet, 2014)

Is it all that bad?

All though they are negatives to spending so much time on online games, there are benefits too. Many believe that online games can actually improve social interactions, increase reflexes and improve learning. Bowen (2014), explains that a study found that playing simple games can improve a players' mood, promote relaxation and ward off anxiety. Bowen (2014) also noted that multiplayer games become social communities, where decisions need to be made quickly about whom to trust or reject and how to lead a group. The games that these people play with others, encourage cooperation are and means the person is more likely to be helpful to others. McMahon (as cited in ecu, 2013) also praises the social aspect of gaming. He states that “Gamers are reaping the social benefits when their friends come over and they play computer games together. They’re often strategising, managing complex tasks and forming and managing teams,” (as cited in ecu, 2013).

What are your thoughts on social gaming?

Images

McMenomy, R, 2012, Episode 54-Social media gamers [Image], game on girl,18 March, viewed 1 February 2015, http://www.gameongirl.com/podcast-posts/tag/social-gaming

Tassimmet, 2014, IMO: Video Game Addiction is a Complicated Issue [Image], Tech raptor, 3 October, viewed, 1 February 2015, http://techraptor.net/content/imo-video-game-addiction-complicated-issue

References

Boogie2988, 2013, Fat guy spends 380 on CANDY CRUSH [Video], youtube,9 July, viewed 1 February 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYRcAKYYEG4

Bowen, L, 2014, Video game play may provide learning, health, social benefits, review finds, American Psychological Foundation, Vol 45, No. 2, February, viewed 1 February 2015, http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/02/video-game.aspx

Ecu, 2014, Hidden benefits of computer gaming, Edith Cowan University, 11 December, viewed 1 February 2015, http://www.ecu.edu.au/news/latest-news/2013/12/hidden-benefits-of-computer-games

Foster, J, 2013, How women blow £400,000 a day playing Candy Crush, the most addictive online game ever, daily mail, 17 October, viewed, 1 February 2015, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2463636/How-women-blow-400-000-day-playing-Candy-Crush-addictive-online-game-ever.html

IDG Staff, 2008, The 26 best role playing games ever, tech advisor, 22 November, viewed 1 February, 2015, http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/game/107327/the-26-best-role-playing-games-ever/?pn=8

Swinburne Online, 2015, Week 10: Social Gaming: Playing the Crowd , MDA20009, Digital Communities, learning material on Blackboard Swinburne Online, viewed 1 February, 2015

Video game addiction, n.d, Social Consequences of Gaming Addiction, viewed 1 February 2015, http://www.video-game-addiction.org/social-consequences.html

The term networked visuality has been used to understand the way imaging has become an integral part of the formation and maintenance of social networks (Learning materials, 2010). Instead of just posting updates and statuses about what we are up to, social networks, such as Facebook and Instagram have evolved to allow us to share videos and pictures as well. This change works well because social media promises us an audience, an audience that might actually enjoy seeing your photos (Jurgeson, as cited in Farman 2014). The biggest advancement of visual media in the last decade would have to be, what is now termed the ‘selfie’.

                                              Ahmad (2013)

But First, Let me take a Selfie!

In 2013, The Oxford Dictionaries announced that selfie was the word of the year (Public Domain Review, 2013). The selfie is defined as a photograph taken of oneself, usually with a smart phone or webcam and uploaded to a social media site (Tifentale, 2014, p.5). Selfies provide an opportunity to position ourselves to gain recognition, support and ultimately interaction from a targeted circle.

Historically, the first self-portrait was taken by Robert Cornelius in 1839 where he took the image by removing the lens cap and then running into frame where he sat for a minute before covering up the lens again. On the back of the image he wrote “the first light picture ever taken. 1893” (Public Domain Review, 2013). More recently however, a photo posted to the ABC online forum in 2002 has been called the first ever selfie. On September 13, 2002, a student from the University of New England in Armidale NSW posted a photo to an online forum of his busted lip (Liddy, 2013). The boy asked whether licking his lips would dissolve his stitches faster, and proceeded to ask whether anyone would like to see it (Liddy, 2013). And thus, the selfie was born.

                                      Simpson Selfie (2013)

Selfies have been called a symptom of social media-driven narcissism, with Instagram being described as a breeding ground for many people’s narcissistic tendencies (Titlow, 2013). However, not everyone believes that this is the case. Pamela (2013) points out that selfies facilitate the self and helps with self-exploration, by viewing yourself as how other view you and by also offering the ability to create a life narrative through the images that we share

What are your thoughts on the Selfie? A way of personal exploration or just a tool used to gain attention and validation? Or neither, or both?

Images

Ahmad, 1, 2013, The Rise Of Selfies [Image], digitalinformationworld, 20 October, viewed 25 January 2015, http://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2013/10/the-rise-of-selfies-infographic.html

Stewart, R, 2014, Oscars Selfie: Simpsons Parady [Image], telegraph, 5 March, viewed 25 January 2015, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/oscars/10677641/The-Simpsons-parody-Ellen-Degeneress-Oscars-selfie.html

References

Farman, J, 2014, Photography, Self Documentation, & Social Media: An Interview with Nathan Jurgenson, 16 June, viewed 25 January 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnPtZ5lKDHo

.Liddy, M, 2013, This photo, posted on ABC Online, is the world's first known 'selfie', abc, 21 November, viewed 25 January 2015, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-19/this-photo-is-worlds-first-selfie/5102568

Pamela, B, 2013, #Selfies: Narcissism or Self-Exploration?, psychology today, 18 April, viewed 25 January 2015, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively-media/201304/selfies-narcissism-or-self-exploration

Public Domain Review, 2013, Robert Cornelius’ Self-Portrait: The First Ever “Selfie” (1839), publicdomainreview, viewed 25 January 2015 http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/robert-cornelius-self-portrait-the-first-ever-selfie-1839/

Swinburne Online, 2015, Week : Visual communities and social imaging, MDA20009, Digital Communities, learning material on Blackboard Swinburne Online, January, viewed 25 January 2015

Tifentale, A, 2014, The selfie: Making sense of the “Masturbation of Self-image” and the “Virtual Mini-me”, February, viewed January 13 2015 http://d25rsf93iwlmgu.cloudfront.net/downloads/Tifentale_Alise_Selfiecity.pdf

In many situations of crisis and disaster, visual access to events is often vital form emergency services. The immediacy of amateur visual coverage of the details of disaster has become crucial to public knowledge, response, and recovery (Learning materials, 2015).

Embry, 2012

According to Merriam Webster Online (2014, as cited in the learning materials, 2015) Crowdsourcing is the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than employees.

Crowdsourcing, According to the Learning materials (2015) is an idea that formed out of commercial interests and software production. Many platforms have emerged due to the need for crowdsourcing. One such platform is the Ushahidi platform. Ushahidi, meaning ‘witness’ or ‘testimony’, emerged giving ordinary citizens the chance to report human rights violations, such as incidents of death, rape, and looting to over 45,000 Kenyans (Ford, 2012). Reports on the platform were able to reach local television and radio stations. However, the platform has some problems, the biggest being the validity of some reports that emerged on it. As it grew, more and more people would report human right violations, and checking the validity of many of them has proven to be a problem (Ford, 2012).

Social media also played an important role during the Queensland floods. As Bruns, Burgess, Crawford and Shaw (2012, p.7) explain that social media played an important role in crisis communication at the height of the 2011 Queensland floods. Between the 10th and the 16th of January, 35,000 tweets were posted with the hashtag #qldfloods (Bruns, Burgess, Crawford & Shaw, 2014, p.9).

Although we are able to communicate and share things like never before, new, controlled ways of doing so should be examined. As Bruns, Burgess, Crawford and Shaw (2012, p.9) explain; social media can play an important role in crisis communication and emergency management. However, the use of social media platforms in specific crisis situations needs to be further evaluated as they all have their strengths and weaknesses. This is true, because what might work against the grain of Facebook, may not work well with Twitter.

Jkrieger, 2012

Crowdsourcing doesn’t only help emergency services and the media during times of crisis; it can also provide organizations with access to new ideas, deeper consumer engagement, opportunities for co-creation, optimization of tasks, and reduction of costs (Crowdsourcingweek, 2014). But with every pro that comes with crowdsourcing, there is also cons. For example, with the reduction of costs, also comes the risk of a less credible product. As Stevens (2014) explains that cheap labor results in a less credible product, compared to what you would get if you left the job up to professionals. Crowdsourcing also risks loss of employment for some people. When it comes to companies, you pay professionals for their expertise, when you decide to use crowdsourcing for a product (or even use amateur footage of a crisis or event) a professional may lose a paycheck.

Is Crowdsourcing the future? Or do you think that it should be left up to professionals in some cases?

Images

Embry, D, 2012, Crowdsourcing [Image], smarterer, 15 August, viewed 18 January, 2015, http://smarterer.com/blog/2012/08/15/crowdsourcing-education/

Jkrieger, 2012, Crowdsourcing [Image], blog, 29 February, viewed 18 January 2015, http://blog.hbs.edu/hbsinov8/?p=1652

References

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, pp 7-10, viewed 18 January 18, 2015, http://www.cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf

CrowdSourcingWeek, 2014, What is Crowdsourcing? CrowdSourcingweek, viewed 18 January 2015, http://crowdsourcingweek.com/what-is-crowdsourcing/

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

Stevens, D, 2014, Crowdsourcing: Pros, Cons, And More, hongkiat.com, viewed 18 January 2015, http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/what-is-crowdsourcing/

If you are a member of at least one social media site, than more than likely you have witnessed, if not experienced trolling in its most horrible form. Whether someone is making a nasty comment on a you tube video, or a friend posted something that another person doesn’t agree with and insults their views (and most probably who they are as a person) without making a valid argument, then you have experienced trolling.

Adriane, 2014

Bergstorm (2011, as cited in McCosker, 2014, p.2050 defines trolling in relation to the anger, harm, or discomfort resulting from the transgressions of particular community norms. Basically, to be trolled is to become a victim, the butt of another-persons joke.  

McCosker (2014) discusses trolling by using two you tube videos from New Zealand as examples. The first video was of the Christchurch earthquakes, and the second was of a Haiki. Although the videos weren’t derogatory at anyone in particular, they demonstrate just how easy it can be to voice an opinion on the internet, without thinking of any potential consequences. One interesting thing that McCosker point out is that the vitriolic comments, are displayed when something goes against the grain of what the video is about. For example, at about 20 seconds into the video, there is a shot of a woman who is smiling. Most people jumped on to that with comments such as ‘why is that b**ch smiling at 0:24!!!!’ (wyattcostello, August, as cited in McCosker, 2014, p.209); ‘0:24 WHY THE F**K WOULD SHE BE SMILING?????’ (KillerDbz45, August, as cited in McCosker, 2014, p.209). why do you think the woman was smiling?(Link in the reference list).

Bennett, 2011

In actually viewing the video, you are able to see even more disturbing comments, people who are trolling just for the sake of it. Many have no empathy, or respect for the victims of the earthquake. For example, one such person was a user called Jack Gold (August, 2014) who wrote: “I just had to watch this again - ha ha ha. poetic justice to a pathetic cuntry and its people”. Many other users essentially ‘have a go’ at jack for the comments that he makes, one user in particular, Andrei Kardos (September, 2014) points out that Jack is only a kid, because he checked him out. Now if this is the case, why would a child write such a horrible thing in reference to such a devastating event?

According to Boyd (2014, p.305) Bullies are not evil people who decide to torment for fun; those are sociopaths. Most bullies react aggressively because they're struggling with serious issues of their own. She makes a valid point, many online bullies are troubled teens with too much time on their hands, but sometimes they are adults, who seem to lash out at other adults for no reason. According to Rothkopf (2014) there has been an association found between ‘trolling’ and sadism. Rothkopf (2014) reports that two studies found that trolls had personality traits that were linked with what is known as the “Dark Tetrad” of personality traits: sadism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism, a psychological term used to describe those who manipulate and trick others for personal gain.

Have you experienced a troll or any form of cyber bullying?

Images

Adriane, 2014, Intentional Feeders: What goes through their minds [Image], 2p, 1 December, viewed 18 January 2015, http://2p.com/12669728_1/Intentional-Feeders-What-goes-through-their-minds-by-adriane.htm

Bennett, S, 2011, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube – How To Identify (And Fight) Internet Trolls, [Image], adweek, 9 August, viewed 18 January 2015, http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/do-not-feed-the-trolls/453906

Media (Uploaded in next blog post)

The Lip TV, 2014, Internet Trolls, Illegal threats and Misogyny Online, you tube, 5 September, viewed 18 January 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr_Tc3RWEBc

References

Boyd, D., 2014, Bullying: Is the Media Amplifying Meanness and Cruelty?, It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, Yale University Press, New Haven, USA, pp 128-52.

McCosker, A 2014, YouTrolling as provocation: Tube's agonistics publics, Convergence, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 201-217.

Rothkopf, J, 2014, Why do internet trolls troll? They might be Sadists, Salon, 4 October, viewed 18 January 2015, http://www.salon.com/2014/10/03/why_do_internet_trolls_troll_they_might_be_sadists/

Swinburne online, 2015, week 7: Digital Citizenship: Trolling social media conflict, MDA20009, Digital Communities, learning material on Blackboard Swinburne Online, January, viewed 18 January 2015

Activism or Slaktivism? Are we really making a difference?

When it comes to current events happening around the world, we are in an era where we see it all. With the advancement of the internet and 24 hour news stations running seven days a week, we are always made aware of the injustices and tragedies that are taking place. There once was a time where we didn’t know about the horrors of war, and to protest an injustice meant to actually physically attend an agreed on spot with other protesters. Today, we can just click our share button on our phones, or post a status with a hashtag, and consider ourselves activists. But, are we really making a difference?

#imhelping

Slaktivism, is defined as superficial, minimal effort in support of causes (Gladwell, 2010, as cited in Youmans and York, 2012, p.316) and has been linked to what some call ‘negative consequences’, by placing too much emphasis on the social media, and taking focus off of the real problems. For example, the “I’ll ride with you” hashtag emerged in response to fears of backlash against Muslims after the Martin Place siege. The hash tag amassed over 120,000 tweets after news of the siege broke (Rupert, 2014). Some describe it as inspiring, while others have criticised it. For example, North Queensland MP George Christensen believed the hashtag portrays Australians as racists who will endanger Muslims and that it also created a false set of victims, taking the focus from the two deceased victims (Hair, 2014). Many citizens criticised the hashtag by coming up with another one called ‘I will not ride with you” (Milman, 2014). Both of the hashtags and the people using them took away from the news of the siege and the victims involved in it. Personally, I have friends on Facebook use both hashtags. I found it funny how when something controversial happens, you really start to see the true sides of people and how they think and feel, especially when it comes to Muslim culture! Did a friend of yours post something that shocked you during the siege? Did any of you participate in the #illridewithyou?

Does using our phones make a difference?

A study from the University of British Columbia found that when people participate in a form of public support (liking protest pages, using hashtags) they aren't any more likely to participate in a form of more meaningful support in the future (Essig, 2014). Furthermore, they also found that people who participate in slaktivism were about as likely to make meaningful contributions to causes (donations, attending protests) as people who did not participate in slaktivism. This statement can be seen as both true and false. For example, I live in the area where the little boy, William Tyrell went missing, almost everybody that I am friends with on Facebook, changed their profile picture to a picture if his, and all though there were a lot of people in the community who went looking for him, there were a fair few who didn’t. However, it is not fair to describe all people who use social media in protests as slaktivists, because there are still people who are active on social media, and active in many other ways in the real world (Essig, 2014). It is important to remember however, that social media isn’t a fundraising tool; it’s a relationship building tool. Social causes are helped by social media when you see what your friends care about you can decide whether to care about it, too (Essig, 2014).

Are slaktivists activists? Have any of you been a slaktivist?

Here is a link to a story on William Tyrell, in case you haven’t heard of him- http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/01/04/03/14/missing-boy-william-tyrell-may-have-been-victim-of-targeted-abduction

References.

Essig, K, 2014, Activism or Slaktivism? How social media hurts and helps students activism, St. Louis public radio, January 2, viewed January 4 2015, http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/activism-or-slacktivism-how-social-media-hurts-and-helps-student-activism

Hair, J, 2014, Queensland MP criticises ‘Pathetic’ #illridewithoyu campaign, Australia news, December 17, viewed January 4 2015, http://australia.news.net/article/2500821/queensland-mp-criticises-pathetic-illridewithyou-campaign

Milman, O, 2014, Islamic leaders: Australians rise above fear after Sydney siege, The Irish times, December 16, viewed January 4 2015, http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/asia-pacific/islamic-leaders-australians-rise-above-fear-after-sydney-siege-1.2039976

Ruppert, B, 2014, Martin Siege: #illridewithyou hashtag goes viral, smh, 14 December, viewed, January 4 2015, http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/martin-place-siege-illridewithyou-hashtag-goes-viral-20141216-127rm1.html

  Politicians and social media, are they using it towards their advantage?

(Harrison, 2014)

Social media has definitely changed the way we communicate. Those people who were once untouchable, unattainable are now easily accessible through the little devices that we hold in our hands. Political voters are now tweeting, politicians are now blogging, and thanks to social media a new dialogue is emerging, where barriers are being torn down between the kings and the commoners (tvochannel, 2010). How big of an impact has this had on the way we view politics and the politicians though?

(Visco, 2013)

Jericho (2012) discusses the pros and cons of politicians using social media. He explains that the majority are utilizing the platforms the wrong way, by just simply posting favourable posts of themselves, without actually engaging in real-time conversations with the people. For example, Tony Abbott has not been an engager on twitter and when he does, he simply answers questions that are favourable to him (Jericho, 2012, p.269). When people use social media, they want to engage with whoever it is they are talking to, they don’t want to be fed generic information just to make the politician look good. The key to using social media is to be a ‘real person’ and that is how you get your messages out, because no one wants to engage with a robot (abc, 2013). Abbott’s use of twitter is a stark contrast to those of Tony Burke and Malcolm Turnbull who are both extremely popular on twitter and are in the top 10list of most frequent repliers in the federal parliament (Jericho, 2013, p.265).

(Bendalls, 2013)

Social media has also been used to make change. For example, in January 17 2010, during the trial of Philippine President Joseph Estrada a protest was arranged to have him step down. The protest was arranged by forwarded text messages reading, "Go 2 EDSA. Wear blk." The crowd grew and in the next few days, over a million people arrived (Shirky, 2011). This is just one example of a social media revolution. Over the last few years, social media has been used to create awareness and to make a difference. The only thing that is needed for a revolution to begin is the spark that sets things off, it can come from anywhere, the evolutionary fire is now likely to be spread quickly through social media (Jericho, 2012, p.257).

Gladwell once believed that social media wouldn’t change anything if it couldn’t relate to the world offline (Jericho, 2012, p.256). I do believe what he is saying. You can post all the things that you want, post a picture of yourself at an event, post updates of your policies and procedures, post about what you believe in, what changes you want made. But if you are not engaging with people, getting your hands dirty, nobody is going to want to listen to what you have to say, and I think that goes for everyone on this planet.

Perhaps the current generation of politicians just don’t get it, and maybe the never will, maybe it is up to the next generation of politicians to successfully use social media in their campaigns. Jericho’s (2012, p.278) concluding remarks made me realise that within the next 20-40 years or so there will be people in the workforce, running our country who didn’t know a world without the internet, I don’t know whether that is a good thing, or a sad thing.

“In a decade’s time, among those aiming for a life in politics, there will be people who not only cannot recall a time before the Internet, but will not be able to recall a time when they could not access it via a phone. This new generation will have lived their social life on the winds of the centrifugal force of social media — they will be adept at filtering the Internet’s ‘gems’ from the noise; they will understand shifts in attitude, and will ride such waves as were seen during the live-cattle-trade debate. Indeed, they will be anticipating such waves occurring”.

What do you think: Should social media have a place in politics? Have any of you used social media to create awareness or change around particular issues?

-Mav

Images

Bendalls, 2013, Social media changing the way politicians campaign, [image], bendalls viewed 5 December 2014, http://www.bendalls.com.au/social-media-changing-the-way-politicians-campaign/

Harrison, J.J, 204, Parliament House, Canberra, [image], Wikipedia, viewed 5 December 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Australia

Visco, C, 213, How social media is playing a political role, [image], pjs and coffee, viewed 5 December 2014, http://pjsandcoffee.net/social-politics/

References

Abc, 2013, Is social media changing the way politics works? Abc, posted 30 Juky, viewed 7 December 2014, http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2013/07/30/3814292.htm

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

Shirky, C, 2011, The political power of social media: technology, the public sphere, and political change, posted January, viewed 7 December, 2014, http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67038/clay-shirky/the-political-power-of-social-media

“The internet, where 15 year old girls are 15 year old girls and 41 year old men are also 15 year old girls.”

(Staff Reporter, 2011)

More than likely, most of you have your birthdays displayed on your Facebook, have checked into your favourite restaurant more than once, tagged your friends and family in multiple photos, and have had photos tagged of you, have the city in which you lived and are living displayed, and have accepted requests from people that you don’t remember even meeting. Congratulations, you have just given someone enough information to steal your identity! Okay, maybe that is being a little over dramatic, but the issue is still the same. Is the things you post about yourself online really safe? Is setting your multiple accounts to private really keeping your information private? Wilken and McCosker (2014, p.294) discuss how we manage those aspects of ourselves we make accessible to others via mobile technologies. Castells et al (2007, p.112, as cited in Wilken & McCosker, 2014, p.294) explains that mobile phones are understood as crucial devices in the construction of our sense of self-identity. However, when using many types of social networks, mobiles have location-based abilities which can sync with the social networking apps the user is using (Wilken & McCosker, 2014, p.294). If you are a common user of social networking sites, you will more than likely have been asked “enable location” multiple times, or asked whether or not to tag your location in photos or posts. Although it all seems relatively harmless, what a lot of users don’t know is that what is private to your friends on one site might not be on others. In fact, Wilken and McCosker explains that in 2010 a Dutch website called ‘please don’t rob me’ (<http://pleaserobme.com>) created controversy by posting updates from social media users when they checked in to locations other than their homes. Although it seems scary, they did it to raise awareness about the risks of over-sharing on social media.

“Surely it can’t be all that bad?”

(Happatte, n.d)

According to the office of the Privacy Commission (2007) Posting user content to any part of a site, you automatically grant the company irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, and distribute such content. Have you ever looked at the adds that pop up on your news feed and thought “Oooh, I would really like that!” Yeah? Well Facebook did to. There are a number of ways that you can ensure what you post stays private. First, by setting all of your accounts to private, so only those who you know can see it. Second, by being careful of who you add as friend, as Collins (2008) states there is simply no way of verifying a user's actual identity online. Third, just be mindful of the things you post, Collins (2008) explains that you shouldn't post anything you wouldn't mind telling a complete stranger, because in reality that's the potential for access.

(Donkey Hotey, 2013)

The anonymity of the online world makes sharing much easier, we get so caught up in trying to express ourselves and who we are (or at least who we want to be) that we sometimes forget that although we are essentially alone, there could be potentially millions of people looking at what you are sharing. Collins (2008) explains that at the end of the day, the only solution to social network privacy issues is to limit your presence all together.

Images

Happatte, C., n.d, Int’l Herald Tribune [image], vpn detective, viewed 1 December 2014, http://www.vpndetective.com/role-vpn-online-privacy/

Staff Reporter, 2011, Tech titans grilled by US lawmakers on online privacy, [image]memeburn, viewed 1 December 2014, http://memeburn.com/2011/05/tech-titans-grilled-by-us-lawmakers-on-online-privacy/

Hotey, D, 2013, social scavengers- Your data, social media-style, [image], advocates studio, viewed 1 December 2014, http://advocatesstudio.com/tag/privacy/

References

Collins, B, 2008, Privacy and Security issues in social networking, fast company, viewed 1 December 2014, http://www.fastcompany.com/1030397/privacy-and-security-issues-social-networking

Office of the Privacy Commission, 2007, Privacy and Social networks, 7 November, viewed 1 December 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7gWEgHeXcA