Things I learned for WRI227 cont.- Lecture 6
Hello lovely people of Tumblr, this is my last post of the âThings I learned for WRI227â series.
Here is a question I pose: Have you ever felt gaslit by a social media platform but couldnât quite tangibly understand why you feel that way? Have you suddenly started seeing less and less LGBTQ+ related media? Have you ever had your Facebook account suspended because of your name? What was up with the Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light controversy? Do you ever wonder who monitors the millions and millions of content on social media platforms?
The Concept of âBlack-Box Gaslightingâ
Iâll be honest and say that I have never heard of this term ever used until this class. This term is for when someone intentionally utilizes the complexity of a situation in order to manipulate and deceive a person is called âblack-box gaslightingâ (Trusolino,2023). This can be prominent with the lack of transparency around algorithms, this can undermine the perceptions of reality for people and in turn question their own ability to perceive such reality clearly. This can be difficult for when you want to hold social media platforms accountable
2. TikTokâs shadow-banning of LGBTQ+ influencers might be a response to the increasing far right movement.
According to Pink News and article by Emma Maurice states that TikTok admitted to restricting LGBTQ related contents in different languages after the crackdown by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). Especially restricting the terms âgayâ, âlesbianâ, and âtransgenderâ. Shadow bans are a form of stealthy bans that donât outwardly tell the user they are banned and some users may not been aware that they are being censored. TikTok has stated this was more a localized issue and such geo-blocking has been due pleasing more conservative governments.
3. Facebookâs Real name Policy affects people of non-normative identities.
During the Fall of 2014 and Summer of 2015, people of the LGBTQ+ community, Indigenous peoples, and sex workers banded together to go against Facebookâs real name policy cited a case study journal by Maggie MacAulay and Marcos Moldes. Their identities were not considered ârealâ. Whilst media depicted this protest as a problem as an inclusion problem, it goes deeper than that. This policy creates the a culture of policing people of non-normative identities and the consequences of disruption against the norm is erasure and isolation. Facebook often justifies itâs enforcement of policies as a safety issue and actually do little prevent the abuse that it perpetuates. This also allows Facebook to wield power of the state as they enforce personal information and ID documents to be submitted.
4. The idea of the Influencer economy and how the LGBTQ+ community and brand safety are tied into it
Since the advent of social media, influencers are a marketable and profitable industry for many advertisers. However, not all influencers are equal . Queer and non-gender conformative influencers are unsafe for market branding. A clear example was the Bud Light brand deal that Dylan Mulvaney had that resulted in backlash from the conservative customers of the brand with many refusing to buy Bud Light products which resulted in a 28% drop in sales in June of 2023. Now you might wonder why? Dylan Mulvaney is a trans influencer and the conservative right did not find it appealing to have someone like Mulvaney as the face of Budlight (Trusolino,2023). Sadly, this is where trans visibility stands in the US today. Dylan was ridiculed and reported feeling dissociative during the whole uproar. Dylan later added that BudLight did not even reach out to her during the whole fiasco and stated that âit was even is worse in my opinion than not hiring a trans person at all.â
5. People working as content reviewers are at a high risk of getting PTSD.
Content reviewers have arguably one of the hardest and emotionally draining work in the world. This is a topic that is overlooked as many content reviewers are under NDA and their works are often receive a lack of recognition (Trusolino,2023). The constant exposure to disturbing content including violence, hate speech, and self harm can lead to emotional distress. The emotional turmoil they experience is often overlooked as there is not a lot of proper support for counselling for the people in this field, and seeking emotional support is limited. This and other factors can amplify the feelings of anxiety and depression and hence repeatedly viewing distressing content can contribute to the development of PTSD.
Sources:
Trusolino, M (2023). Lecture 6: Social Media Policy and Community Standards(Class Slides)
MacAulay, M., & Moldes, M. D. (2016). Queen donât compute: reading and casting shade on Facebookâs real names policy. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 33(1), 6â22.
Maurice, E. P. (2020, September 12). TikTok admits it enacted a âshadow-banâ censoring several LGBT+ hashtags, including #I am a gay/lesbian. PinkNews | Latest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans News | LGBTQ+ News.
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