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How can the issue of what content is moderated show the politics of a platform? 

The content that is moderated can reveal what a platform values. This can be seen easily. If you compare a website like Archive of Our Own, or A03, which values creativity and a lack of censorship, relying on users to filter their own content, to a platform such as Instagram or TikTok, it is easy to see that these platforms are very different from each other. The more popular social media platforms tend to have more censorship for controversial topics, while ignoring racism or other forms of discrimination that also exist on the platform.

How are trolling and rage-baiting related, and when do they turn into bullying?

Bullying offers are related because they are both designed to get a reaction from somebody in a negative way. The point of many of their jokes is to cause harm and disruption among a group of people who usually just want to be left alone and aren't bothering anybody else. I think this turns into bullying when this harassment continues and it's repeated, and it's the same thing over and over again. You can see this online with girl gamers, and how they will experience harassment and bullying, which will be constantly repeated, and tricked into just getting some reaction from them just to prove that emotional women are emotional creatures that deserve to be in the kitchen. 

Why do women and other marginalized groups have such a bad time online?

Do the white supremacist pipelines cross an ethical line?

I'm unsure if this pipeline crosses ethical boundaries. Still, it is highly predatory how they go after and target young people who are very vulnerable, susceptible to Misinformation and being lied to, and believe it as fact. They also discredit the value of knowing how to. Find real information, and they make them dependent. Regardless of how they recruit more people, it is a myth that the views they spread are accurate. They are one of the biggest spreaders of misinformation and disinformation online. They often do real harm to communities, thinking that it is a joke or that there are no real-world consequences for their views or jokes, and that in itself. It's incredibly wrong and should not be allowed. 

What are some of the consequences of applying a Western view of gender to things?

The most significant consequence of applying a Western view to most things is that it ends up being very closed off and unopen to new things. There are many cultures where the idea of having multiple genders is not uncommon or as taboo as it is here. We examine the major, and we don't see much. Dissatisfaction or hatred towards people or animals that are intersex. There's also a lot of gay animals, so when we apply a Western view of gender, we end up with a very close-minded view of the world that isn't accurate. Do what we actually can observe. And how species interact with one another. And justice overall engages.

How can O’Riordan’s article from this week be applied to trends we see today?

This week's theme is Digital Identities. I wanted to share some of mine. I mainly go by Ribbon online, as noted here; I created the character in Final Fantasy 14. I transfer her everywhere I can because it's fun too. I wouldn't say they have a set race or gender, just that their main traits are blue hair with pink highlights, one purple eye, and one green eye. They like to bite people; it's amusing. Sometimes I do just run around in my online MMOs and bite people or annoy them. It's mostly for the beam. Because I mainly dress my character in feminine clothing, and if they are traditionally seen with longer hair. I am often perceived as feminine online. It is a lesser-known fact that my character doesn't have a gender. This gives me the treatment of any other cute Pearl in the species that I occupy. I don't really have to worry about harassment because I'm seen as just one of the guys, but also, you know, how much a boyfriend gets you. In all my trees, people leave you alone. Do you use different versions of Ribbon for various games that I play? I will go into any game creator that I can and make the four, or use the formula of Ribbon to make more ribbon. I technically made all of them canon because there's no fun in not having them all canon.

How does racism show up in online games with fictional races?

How can Ow’s Revenge of the Yellow-Faced Cyborg Terminator be analyzed with dialectical reasoning?

Use dialectical reasoning to describe or analyze the yellow-faced Cyborg Terminator. It is reasonable for both sides to be upset. The company can do better by not marketing to an audience that won't be able to think critically about their product or game in a way that goes beyond their limited views. I think the author also makes a point in mentioning Donna Haraway's work, which highlights how games should strive to be conscious and portray different stereotypes, as well as tackle significant issues like racism. Overall, there's a lot that can be done to change how we view and go about these issues. 

Who does racism online harm?

I think it is safe to say that racism does exist online. A notable example of this can be found on Twitter. The site is filled with lots of people with racist ideologies who are active and spread their views as far as they can get them. With that, the racism that exists online harms everyone. Racism online normalizes as well as allows for stereotypes that are just inaccurate to be a more widespread part of our culture. The Internet is a reflection of society as a whole. The more people in society actually believe in these views, and the more widespread they become, the more harm they cause to these communities, which don't deserve it. A significant portion of the information they disseminate is incorrect. By allowing these ideas to be normalized online, they also become normalized in person, and people start thinking, 'Oh, this is just how it is.' This leads to a significant amount of complicity within the system. 

What is some invisible labor that often goes unpaid?

This week's theme is meme culture and how the internet is not a neutral place. This meme highlights how the Internet is not a neutral platform and how it is susceptible to manipulation on both sides. The example I have above describes someone who identifies as an alpha male, claiming that Fortnite will eventually lead a person to become interested in gender pronouns and communism. The meme of this is commenting on. We can apply critical ethics here because this “alpha male” guy is clearly trying to spread misinformation that consists of the idea that Video games are bad, that being feminine is bad, when clearly we know that these things are perfectly fine. The person creating the meme is also commenting on a playful way of showing this person how outlandish they're actually being, because the diagram is just taking what he said and putting it on an actual diagram. For context, I just found this meme in the Discord server where I spend most of my time. So, yeah, this definitely shows how the Internet is not a neutral place and how it has bias. The algorithm will always favor people who share similar interests and active accounts. To say that the Internet is neutral is to say that everybody is neutral, and that's just simply not true. 

Is it one to exist without consistent access to the internet in today's era?

How does cyberfeminism use ethics to help determine what algorithms are reproducing?

Cyberfeminism uses ethics to show that various algorithms are being fed unfairly and are biased towards reproducing systems that already exist in the digital world. Ethics become relevant because it is online communities that cyberfeminists use to create safer places to speak out against the inequality that women face every day, both in person and online. Furthermore, they examine what these algorithms are being fed and the effects they have had on people. 

How do these algorithms hurt people, assuming that bias is at play?

Furthermore, they examine what these algorithms are being fed and the effects they have had on people. I think a good example of this would be how AI that is used for checking resumes has been shown to have bias towards white sounding names (University of Washington, 2024). These algorithms have had a profound effect on people's lives and their well-being overall. While there has been some effort to take action on this, there isn’t much outside of California that is being done. Mind you, this is technology that has been around for a few months and is pretty widespread.

Who is benefiting from hierarchies that are being reproduced online?

Typically, it is heterosexual, white men who benefit from these reproduced hierarchies. This is because the systems being transferred online are already built with a bias towards this group from the outset. This can further be supported by how Eubanks spoke about how people in certain programs are tracked more due to their income or color of skin. When technology is built with bias, it will always benefit those whom the technology favors.

Who is being exploited when our data is taken?

I think it is we, the consumers, who are being exploited when our data is taken. It has gotten to a point where you can’t do anything without being expected to give at least some of your data away to do just about anything in today's age. We are expected to give these companies our data without the expectation of something of quality in return. They take our data to seemingly see how much they will get for as little as possible

Daniels, R. (n.d.). Rethinking cyberfeminisms [PDF]

Eubanks, V. (n.d.). Automating inequality: Introduction [PDF]

This first avatar is my gaming persona. Her name is Ribbon Mina and she originates from the game Final Fantasy 14. The username associated with her is ribbonisaraccoon. I was not interested in disguising my gender with this construction. She was also designed as a somewhat accurate representation of myself in the world of the game. I was scared of showing that I am mixed race when designing her because I have seen backlash that was directed at other black gamers in the recent past.

This next persona is the persona that I use with friends. It is just a self portrait in my own art style. I would say the design chooses I made included hiding my hair texture that I have in real life. Outside of that it is a realistic expression of who I am and all details were thought about when I was designing it. The username associated with this one is cactus_dinosaur. This is the persona I would use on a dating site.

This last persona of mine is the one I use around family on Facebook. It is used exclusively with family, and it is a toned-down version of myself because there are many things that my family does not know about me, and it will stay that way. I am wearing the most clothing in this persona to signify the closed-off nature of how much I share in a visual way.

How do we perpetuate racism online without realizing it?

According to Jessie Daniels, the internet has this base assumption that the people interacting on the sites are white (Daniels, 2009). A large amount of the content that is on the internet is not inclusive to anyone who isn't white. In my experience, this is shown in places such as video games that lack a diverse cast of characters, games that allow you to express yourself and decorate your space, either misrepresenting the culture they are taking inspiration from or games that are missing representation altogether. We've almost erased the idea that people of different cultures are nothing more than their stereotypes, which is what makes it so easy to perpetuate racism.

Does race exist in online spaces? Tying into my previous question. I think that race does exist online. This can tie into fandom spaces and how they will fight all day and all night about the race of the character versus what people can the race of a character day and night. With this, race also exists in online spaces because people of all kinds seek to be represented and to see themselves in the media they consume. We have been seeing a rise in inclusivity in media as of late, but a lot of movies, TV shows, and games have only recently started adding a wider variety of people. People often go back to older media to add the inclusivity that should have been there all along. People also make the most amazing media featuring things from their culture in their art, in their TV shows even when there are no humans involved. It just further shows how race shows itself all over the internet.

How do systems of power come into play when MMORPGs enter the equation?

In an online world we are introduced to a wide variety of new ways to be social online.  If we look to Christian Fuchs to understand how video games such as MMORPGS, massively multiplayer online role-playing games. such as Final Fantasy 14 fall into the category of social media. He allows us to break down the game and its systems of power by taking the lenses of community and collaboration and co-operative work. Final Fantasy 14 includes through out the years has lead to the game having an ever evolving fanbase that has developed a system of power that has been exasperated by the avatars that we can hide behind. This means that anyone can make a character that is far out from the person that they actually are in the offline world. This means that it is harder for repercussions for ones behavior are diminished and thus people feel like they are capable of having more control over people. The addition of clubs and a wide variety of hangout spots along with content that requires three or more other players. There is also an online venue culture where people have as much influence on the netizens of the game as a celebrity would to their audience on other platforms. The game also limits players to specific world servers which all have their own systems in place that were decided by the players. An example of this would be the datacenter known to the community as Dynamis. This datacenter is home to a variety of worlds that people can play and interact with other players on. Dynamis is known for having the most influencers from an app called TIkTok on it as it is quieter and better for getting content to post due to the lower levels of players that are active. This means that there are a lot of people that have influence on the other players of the community in a high volume, We rarely know who is the real person behind these players and these virtual influencers which almost gives them a free pass to sway the community in any way that they please where they also have the added benefit of anonymity which greatly increases the power that they hold. This also means that they can say pretty much say and do  whatever they please with little recourse for their actions. I personally have seen people get their lives destroyed by the netizens of the game just because one influencer decided to say things that were untrue and do to the nature of the game, there is no way to prove who is right and who is wrong. The power structures are then reinforced by the almost unlimited amount of characters one person can hold and play to become part of the community on. In conclusion, the added anonymity of social platforms and the fact that most platforms don't require use of your real name or even restrict it creates power systems that can easily be abused by all who use it.

Gonzalez, J., & Torres, J. (2021). News for all the people. Power and Inequality, 223–231. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315201511-28