Digital Communities MDA20009

The 56” TV screen is filled with a tank driving down the middle of a city street, pedestrians try to run away, others are crushed under its tracks.  Is this the latest news report from one of the war torn parts of the world?  No, it is my son playing Grand Theft Auto on PS3.  If you have played Grand Theft Auto, I am sure you would know that a Tank is not one of the normal vehicles you can drive.  It is in fact a cheat.  Today I wanted to look a little closer at this aspect of online gaming.

The Gaming Environment

Online and digital games are a billion dollar industry and an important part of growing up for 21st century digital natives.  Game playing is an important part of digital culture that is used in a school setting as well as for entertainment.  A study in America explored the use of computer programming by senior school students with regards to designing educational games to be incorporated in the Quest Atlantis multiplayer format used in schools around the world.  Senior school students designed games for elementary school children and received feedback.  The objective of the study was to see how 21st century skills can be taught or learned.  These skills involve:

·         Critical thinking and systems thinking.

·         Problem identification, formulation and solutions.

·         Creativity and intellectual curiosity (Thomas, Ge & Greene, 2011)

A finding of the study was the fact that students preferred to play games than design them especially if they felt that they did not have the appropriate skill.  Feedback from the younger children that games needed to be more challenging in some cases highlighted that just completing a task was not always enough, but rather there needs to be some challenge involved. 

Why cheat?

Cheating has always been looked upon as not following the rules and taking unfair advantage of other players.  But is this always the case in the digital world?  Cheats have been built in by designers as ways of checking game play, they are also used to optimize game play.  For solo players the use of cheats can change the way a game is played either making it easier or more challenging.  My son claims that the challenge of finding the cheats which are available on many websites is not about cheating he says “It’s not cheating, it’s modifying.”  It is about playing a game how you want to and finding different ways of doing the same thing.  In effect it is training all the 21st century skills highlighted in the American study.

References

Whether a Chinese proverb or an advertisers marketing ploy the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words” has been in use since the early 20th century.  It was altered with the advent of the digital age to “A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three thousand times the memory.”  Changes in bandwidth since web 2.0 and the use of cloud based storage means that memory size is no longer an issue and graphics is important ‘content’ on all internet mediums including twitter that limits text to 140 characters.

Digital Photography

Digital photography has changed how we take photos as well as what we use to take photos.  I actually will not go into the joys of selfies and the need for a selfie stick when using your phone to get a better picture.  Tablets also change perspective with regards to taking photos whether holding it up in front of you and looking at a more finished picture or using it to control a remote controlled quad copter to get an aerial view of a scene.  Instead I will look at the digital camera.  The quality of photos have changed as the resolution has improved, but also how many photos can be taken.  A roll of film was 24 photos.  Today a 2GB memory card holds 600 pictures.  The result is you take more photos and just delete the ones you don’t like and take another. 

What about composition?

Composition today has a lot more to do with reading your camera’s instructions.  Don’t like reading instructions, well leave the camera on automatic and point and shoot.  But if you do read the instructions you will find you can change the settings to fast action, facial recognition, landscape or close up, snow, sunrise, water shots or you can even put a frame around the subject before you take the photo.  Camera’s also have the ability to shoot video without the need to change cameras.  Choosing the right setting results in some very special photos even if you are an amateur.

Showcasing your photos

There are many different choices in where to show your photos from sharing with friends on social media including Instagram and Snapchat.  Or you could create your own website and share with family or friends or even go public.  You could even enter one of the many contests that are run for amateur photographers and possibly win some money or have your photo recognised globally.  Of course you could just keep it at home and display it as an original piece of artwork in your home.  That is another joy of the digital world, choice.

Digital community

As we look at different digital communities and platforms in this subject we must not forget that it is the technologies that have made the biggest difference and that we are living in a digital age.  The pictures have changed a lot since 1911, not so much in content but in production.

References

I know we have been studying crowd sourcing – the use of online communities to gather much needed information, services and ideas and looking at the national and global crisis like floods, bushfires and tsunamis.  But I thought I would look at it from a personal perspective.  I have 54 Friends on Facebook a low number especially compared to a niece and a granddaughter, both aged in the 18-25 range who have over a thousand each.  I would still consider 54 a crowd especially if I invited them to a party.  So how have things changed with regards to personal crisis in a current digital community compared to the previous non digital community.

What is a personal crisis? 

Running out of milk when you want cereal for breakfast? 

Finding a tear in a favourite dress just before you are going for an interview? 

Stepping on the scales and finding the weight is going up not down? 

Being told that a member of your family has a terminal illness? 

Battling depression and feeling alone? 

All of these can be viewed as a crisis or as problem to be overcome dependent on your attitude and the support you have.

2001

My husband is recognised as the minister in Kalgoorlie in a service on Sunday.  On Wednesday he returns from a specialist appointment about his back pain with the information that he has bone cancer and a year to live.  His decision was to continue in ministry.  If you are not part of a church you do not realise just how extensive the Christian community can be.  Or how similar it is to a digital community.  There was practical support offered from those close by but there was also prayer support from those in different towns, states and countries.  My husband died in 2003 having survived 2 years.

Today

I spend too much time on Facebook.  I don’t consider my battle with depression as a crisis but rather a way of life.  As a friend once said “Are you depressed or does life just suck at the moment?”  This is what can be found on Facebook and in digital communities.  Sometimes a cute cat video is all you need to make you laugh or an inspired quote that just touches the right spot to re-energise you for what you are facing.  Social media lets people share on a more intimate level and I have come to realise that I am not the only one who is a functional depressed person, but some of my high achieving friends share the battle, but it is not a battle that is shared in a face to face situation as when we meet we are busy talking of other things. 

The Right Crowd

A digital community can sometimes be seen as separating individuals from personal contact, however it can also provide just the right support when it is needed, for example when you cannot sleep at 2am and find a friend in the same situation.  So whether the crisis you are facing is small or large you just need to look at the community you are in for the support you need especially when you have the right mix of friends to crowd source from. 

References

I know I am a mischief maker, a stirrer and a wind up merchant.  I do not believe I have ever been a heckler, but I am not sure about being a troll.  Trolling is the name given on social media of trying to disrupt, cause anger or embarrassment for amusement or possibly other motivations for example political (McCosker, 2014).  So I thought I would explore this concept through Durkheim’s Functional Perspective, Cohen’s Moral Panics and Becker’s Labeling Theory.

 Durkheim’s Functional Perspective

According to Durkheim crime and deviance are the building blocks of society.  When people come together in shared indignation at those perceived to be breaking society norms and values then a greater cohesion and solidarity is created within that society (Roach-Anleu, 2006).  This solidarity can be seen when groups form in defense of an individual or idea on different social media forums.

Cohen’s Moral Panics

In 1972 Cohen wrote a book Folk Devils and Moral Panics in which he described the formation of a moral panic:

a condition, episode, person or group is seen as a threat to societal values and interests

it is then presented in the media in a stylised and stereotypical way

the moral barricades are then manned

socially accredited experts offer diagnoses and solutions  

ways of coping are evolved or resorted to  

the condition can then disappear, submerge or deteriorate or can also become more visible (Zajdow, 2008)

Does this sound familiar?

Becker’s Labeling Theory

Labeling theory or symbolic interactionism is based on Becker’s study of how we label ourselves with regards to how we then interact with other members of society, this is further expanded to include how others label us (Roach-Anleu, 2006).  My own choice of labels at the start signify my personal understanding that all points of view have an opposite and as such depending on the situation I will choose the opposite just to have a debate.  When making a judgement call it is sometimes hard to choose the right label dependent on motivation.  Other labels that are given to internet trolls are flamers, haters and cyber bullies.

Conclusion

There have always been people who deviate from what is considered the norm and this deviation has been used to strengthen society.  People will form groups to protect themselves from what they are told are threats to their societal values or interests.  In order to meet these threats entrepreneurs  need to apply labels to specific individuals or groups.  I do not believe that I have ever been a troll, but I will answer back.

References

McCosker, A., 2014. Trolling as provocation; YouTube’s agonistic publics. Convergence, 20(2), pp. 201-217.

Roach-Anleu, S. L., 2006. Deviance, Conformity and Control. 4th ed. Frenchs Forrest: Pearson Education Australia.