Social Media & World Culture -- Thursday

Over the past week, I haven’t really talked much about politics on Facebook. The most political I can ever get is when I share photos about the presidential race and post statuses about issues that society has a problem recognizing. One of the statuses I posted was about the image of how a good man is portrayed. This status got about twenty five likes and 3 comments. Two comments agreed with what I stated and the other made an explaination for what I was talking about. I don’t often make many statements about politics unless it’s something that’s on my mind or if I want to get an opinion. I don’t mind when people make political viewpoints on social media because it gives me more of an idea of who this person is and their outlook on certain topics. I also think that when sharing political viewpoints, you can possibly connect with others who share similar views. Some people share the views I have and some don’t. But it doesn’t bother me because it gives me a better outlook on things and inspire me to look at things in a different perspective. 

The group I decided to follow was a Facebook group named Moms Against Hunger. Moms Against Hunger is a Facebook group aimed at ending hunger for children in poverty in their America, Europe and other countries. It was started by Dr. Gayla, a woman who suffered from hunger and poverty from a young age. She moved to the U.S. to finish her studies as a young adult, and along the way she tried her best to give less fortunate people blankets and other necessities. Due to her own personal experiences, she was inspired to create her own organization and help as many people in the world as she possibly could. It's a non-profit organization, and is quite successful as an activist group. It tries its best to give food to countries and places in crisis, and even received a Thousand Points of Light in America award by President George Bush. Some places that MAH has sent food to includes Fiji, Nicaragua, Granada, Central America and more. The most recently place the group traveled was to a church in Michigan. It seems as if the page isn't very popular, as it only has around 1,899 likes and an average of 5 - 10 likes. Although it doesn't have many followers, it is still a pretty active group. I believe that this Activist group should be more well known, as it has a great cause and is one of those organizations that seems to try its best to actually get out there and fight for their cause.

With this week being my turn as class discussant, I am choosing to talk about the social revolution known as the Arab Spring. The video we watched this week talks generally about the whole topic and focuses mainly on one man’s time visiting the activists and explaining what he saw. A lot of what was talked about is great information to share, but what I am interested in, especially considering how this assignment is for a class on Social Media, how the activist used and gained from their use of the internet. I looked into this and found multiple sights which all talk about a recent study done which looked into how exactly the Egyptian activists used social media to their advantage. Originally we only knew that the activists created Facebook groups where they would converse and plan their next protest. We now also know that Twitter was the largest help for them. Twitter was used differently than Facebook, whereas Facebook was used as a means of communications amongst the Egyptians, Twitter was used more like a megaphone. Egyptians on Twitter told the outside world what was happening to them. With the help of Twitter and the use of bit.ly links the entire world was able to have a front row seat on the struggles the country faced. This was important because they are the ones who needed help and without anyone else knowing of their situation, nothing was going to change. In this case not only was social media used to fight the powers that oppressed but also to show the world the process.

So the activist group I choose to look over is the Black Lives Matter Movement. Three community organizers Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi founded the Black Lives Matter movement. The activist group became a hashtag in 2013 when a labor organizer named Alicia Garza responded on her Facebook post to the judgement of George Zimmerman, who which is the man who shot and killed a young resident of Ferguson, Trayvon Martin. This movement was created due to amount of police brutality among and institutional racism against African American citizens. Since the summer of 2013, this movement has spread across the country with people protesting and using the hashtag on social media when showing and exposing the police brutality. This movement has used social media by posting videos of these incidents and they’ve become viral among the media. They ensure the news of people like Mike Brown being killed by the police went viral among networks. The movement used social media to plan and call strategy among communities. In 2014 coming from the source; Center for Media and Social Impact, during the Ferguson protests, “210,000 twitter users supporting Black Lives Matter had 5.4 million retweets.” Researchers have found more than 40 million tweets that used the phrase black lives matter, mentioned Ferguson, and the names of 20 African Americans killed by police in 2014 and 2015. Looking at the movement’s website, I’ve noticed that Black Lives Matters have set up events and they encourage people to make donations. They’ve also created three art projects. The first one is called Black Futures Month which has people display African art and this happened back in February. The second is the 24 Hour Project where they document every-day life in multiple cities during one single day. And the third is I Imagine which encourages people to help create a vision using audio responses to a saying, “In a world where Black lives matter, I imagine.” 

 For this weeks blog post about the ways people use social media for collective activism I chose the legalization of Marijuana. This has been something that people have been fighting for for quite some time. Now we are finally seeing the changes in our local a federal governments its clear to see we are making a real change towards this goal. The facebook page “legalize marijuana” and “marijuana prohibition is unconstitutional combined have over 1,000,000 likes. They share articles on developing medical researches and statistic to show people the benefits of cannabis. 

One of the sites I remember coming across is a site named “Change.org.” If I recall properly, Change.org was the site used to make a petition to release Rayman Legends on schedule rather than waiting for the multiple console release. Other than that the site also seems to focus on topics such as whaling and global warming as well as environmental activism. The way the site handles money has been a source of criticism. It is commonly used as a “a network of blogs that discuss social issues.” hilariously, there have been a bunch of stupid petitions on this site, such as “Don’t let grown ups play Minecraft” or “Port Super Smash Bros 4 for the PS Vita. The site claims that it’s motivated by the successful petitions. They also accepted “Sponsered Campaigns from organizations fighting for the public good and values we hold dear.” That’s funny considering the amount of stupidity I’ve seen from several petitions. It should be noted that once you sign a petition, change.org keeps your information for good, which is very upsetting. Apparently the prices and what not vary with each petition and it confuses me that the moderators don’t pay more attention to the site and delete it’s stupid petitions.

For this week’s post, I chose to focus on the activist group Revolt Against Plutocracy. This group is an offshoot of Bernie Sanders supporters who believe that a Sanders presidency is mandatory for the country to get better, and openly refuse to vote for Clinton if she is to get the Democratic Presidential nomination (which is sadly becoming more and more of an inevitability). That isn’t the most interesting thing about this group, however. What I find interesting is that they plan to get 1 million signatures to get Sanders the nomination, or to write Sanders or the Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the general election. This group uses the mobile site Facebook as well as their website to spread their mantra, as well as share the link to the 1 million signature petition. The Facebook group seems reasonably sized group page, with over 10 thousand likes. Could be better, but not too shabby either. Unfortunately, looking at the group’s official website (which is a Wordpress blog), it seems that this group needs some streamlining. On their share page, instead of your average “like us on (insert mobile site here)”, they have a laundry list of links that send you to different sites pertaining to their cause. Not the most modern way to get your point across. As a disgruntled socialist, naturally I would jump to support this group, but Revolt Against Plutocracy needs to get it’s stuff together, at least digitally, if it wants to succeed against the DNC.

I chose an obscure activist group that I just stumbled across on the interwebs called the Backcountry Hunters & Anglers which are an outdoor activism group that believe in all things nature. This group was founded on the belief that technology is taking over our world and a significant portion of our lives and we should support the wilderness so that man can still experience the joys of the beauty of the outdoors. I went on their twitter page for the group and honestly this activist group doesn’t seem to be very aggressive in getting supporters and is more concerned with showing people alternatives to technology in the way of nature and how to love the outdoors. Most of the posts on the twitter page are picture that display people having fun outdoors catching fish, hiking, and cooking outdoors and beauty shots. That is most of what they have displayed on there page and I actually found it humorous that a group kind’ve against technology has a social media site. I had never heard of this group until I found it this week so I don’t know how effective their activism has been to their cause but they definitely don’t seem very aggressive and have a more laid back seeming approach.

Theres one group that I know of, who go on a social media site. That being the US Navy Salty Dogs. It's where a bunch of sailors from the Navy (retired or still active) go on to talk with one another about Navy stuff. Thats about it. Anything from the different kinds of ships, what interior looks like, to what a fellow Salty Dog is doing. The group was started by a guy by the name of James Spears and has been going on since April of 2015. I know about this group, because my Dad is a retired chief petty officer and likes all things Navy. So he often chats with them and uploads his own stuff on there. In fact I am currently in the possess on making a T-shirt design for them. I've come up with a couple of idea's for them, just not so sure if any of them are good or what the pay is going to be, but we'll have to see. Though they are a group, I think they do share some kind of similarity like what they were talking about on the video. After all this is a group of people who are or were apart of the US military. So it would still involve a people who are making a difference. It's just that they more like a group of Navy buddies chatting.

Since I am now the “resident 4channer” of the class I feel that it is appropriate to do my blog post about 4chan and how it is both its own kind of social revolution, as well as being almost in direct connection with Anonymous. I have been lurking the site since my senior year of high school, 4-5 years ago. In that time, I feel like I can say I have comfortably witnessed a lot of trends, traditions, and outlooks of the community. A lot (or most) of the culture on the website stems from the fact that everyone is anonymous, and can post anonymously. I’m sure with enough work, however that anyone could track your IP or find out your identity all the same, that amount of effort is reserved for the crazy good computer whizzes, still providing a free and somewhat reliable wall between you, the poster, and them, the audience. There is such a thing as creating a tripcode, or providing your email among other information in order to be a “member” and possess your own username on the website. This is very frowned upon, as it gives people a name to associate you with, and therefore losing the title “anonymous”. Although they may not act like it, the community on 4chan values this sacred anonymity, and uses it to there advantage when they collectively come together to make changes in the real world, whether they be good, bad, or stupid but fun. In example, I have seen 4chan users make fake usernames on sites like tumblr and deviantart to troll peoples pages and bully them until the victim would feel actual fear of being hacked, or worse. The social activist group “Anonymous” also apparently birthed itself from this imageboard, or at least its influence, but today 4chan seems a lot more tame in relation to half a decade ago.

Anonymous relates to multiple themes that we have discussed this semester. Most particularly with privacy and public shaming. In the beginning, Anonymous was best known for its unforgiving public shaming tactics. If any of the members caught wind of your information, and one of the members were cross with you, most likely you would be publicly humiliated both on the internet as well as in person. Anonymous has ways of picking apart both your life and privacy in less than 24 hours. All because they either A.) wanted revenge, or B.) just did it for the sole reason of entertainment.

I think that the original anonymous was a force of good. They did things that were funny that actually ended up helping for a good cause. When they started gaining more members and the lulzsec division started, that was when their cause started spreading out into destruction. The whole playstation hack could have been done without them releasing user information. the principle that they support wikileaks really reinforces the fact that the internet is not a private place. It made me think that if their lives and the lives of the public can’t be kept private, than neither should the affairs of corporate companies or high leading officials. I think that it’s nice that they let anyone become a member, but it’s also a bad thing because there are many lunatics that are involved. They also brought a new form of protest to the world through the internet. before, protest was always done in person with picketers or sit ins or what have you. Their method of protest against the church of scientology was with the ddos attacks. The ddos attacks was a form of an online sit in. The prosecution that was given to one of the members that did this was one year in jail and one year not using a computer. I don’t think that this is fair because in comparison if 800,000 people sat in in front of the church of scientology they would not get arrested. They are like our modern day robin hoods in a technological era.

Powers week 14 Anonymous, the “group” of activists known for their Guy Fawkes masks and their penchant for anonymity, in my opinion are a largely a force of good in the world. I say “group” because there is no central structure to the group, they are a loosely structured and decentralized collection of individuals who operate on ideas rather than directives. As with any group, there are members who engage in questionable or less than legal activities, many people claim Anonymous is only a group for hackers, but for the most part they do strive to do good in world, exposing corruption, championing freedom, presenting the truth regardless of consequences, and generally trying to make the world a less shitty place one “operation” at a time. One of the things that makes Anonymous so difficult suppress or destroy, as many an official has tried, is that in order to be part of Anonymous you simply need to want to make a difference. While there are some members that are higher up in the community and engage in the actual acquisition and distribution of information, the setting up of protests, computer attacks, or making of videos for the public, there are no regular meetings of the group. There are no fees one must pay join, and there is no expectation to assist in any of the behind the scenes activities, some people may show up at the protests, some may give financial support, some may simply agree with the idea that we deserve the right of privacy in our lives without the ever present surveillance our government has so kindly employed in the last fifteen years. The only thing asked of a potential supporter is to stay vigilant and strive to never give up your freedom of privacy, your freedom of self. The fact there are countries like China or Russia where people's lives are so heavily controlled by their governments that you can be jailed for simply speaking harshly about it is just one of the many reasons Anonymous, who actively works against these forces, is an entity of good in the world. And should you view their actions as evil, they are still a necessary evil to combat the omnipresent threat of the censor. We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.

It’s been a while since I’ve watched the film adaptation of V for Vendetta. But since the comic and film came out, it inspired groups of people to use the famous Guy Fawkes mask to use in protest and as a symbol for a group called Anonymous. I feel as if Anonymous is the one person that just wants to tell the deep, sad, and coldhearted truth. I believe they’re good for society because they could be the ones that will help stop the madness that occurs within our world today but the problem with them is that people will use their brand to abuse and do terrible things. Anonymous relates to many topics we’ve talked about it in class. They do a lot their work using the internet, exposing secrets and issues. This would be considered digital activism. In terms of public shaming and invading privacy, Anonymous recently had threatened to expose Donald Trump, and has supposedly revealed that many people within in Congress and the Supreme Court are KKK members. In terms of mob mentality, Anonymous have carried out cyberattacks on government agencies, media, and more. There was also a Million Mask March in November of 2013. However, this type of mentality is usually used to create issues but Anonymous tries to make a change for the better.  Anonymous has also used livestreaming to make criticisms and speak on issues. One thing I find interesting and very positive about Anonymous is that it can be an inspiring aspect when talking about people uniting to make a difference.

First off I think that Anonymous is a split group. At first I was actually shocked at how no one in the group decided to use their status to go out and attack anyone they wanted or go on some personal attack. I agree that some of what they do is impressive but not all of Anonymous is on board with the decisions made. We saw in the film that half of the group wanted to continue using their power to torment online groups of children while a majority of the group saw how powerful they really are and wanted to use that power for good. One thing I thought was impressive was how they proved themselves to society by eliminating that “virgin who lives in his mom’s basement” stereotypes by actually forming public protests. This separates them from online forums and sites where people just complain about their dislikes. The second instance of this reminds me of the Social Network, where the group much like Zuckerberg began as a trolling or “just for fun” kind of hacking and evolved into something so much more respectable. For the most part I think they are an admirable cause, assuming that those in the group who do not wish to use their powers for the less fortunate can be tamed. Also, someone to take notice on is how powerful they are, they really are a group that understands how to play around the rules of the legal system and fight a majority if not all of their battle completely on the right side of the law. The only time we hear about them actually breaking the law for their cause is when they used the Low Orbit system, and passed it around to anyone willing to fight with them. Lastly, there is one problem with all rebel groups that even occurs with Anonymous, that is the after effects. First, those who helped take down scientology, some of the helpers in this attack were threatened and served jail time. Second, was when they helped bring internet to the Middle East, this was definitely helpful, but what happened after? They helped in getting Mubark to step down but the tension between religions still existed.

I think Anonymous meant to be a form of good and fun in the beginning but eventually things got out of control. I believe anything that’s meant to be used for good, can get taken out of hand. There is always someone who is going to take things too far and cause more trouble for someone else. People need to know when to stop before they do something they regret. People should be allowed to speak their minds freely, however not everyone will agree with one another and that is fine. I do however think there should be respect towards each other. It is ok to disagree and argue but it should never be taken out of hand. For example, Anonymous did something good with the Scientology situation but in the beginning where they joined together on a children’s site and form a swastika, that was uncalled for. The one member of Anonymous also stated later that some of the methods used in their tactics like when the took over the Epilepsy support pages was taken to far. It is one thing to be a good cause but some of the people in the group are not able to control how much power they have and they want to flaunt it. This leads to the situation only worsening or neither side of the battle gaining any leverage. The enemy is taken down, but at the cost of the people they were trying to help in the first place. I feel that Anonymous is split in good and bad, some want to fight for a noble cause while another half wants to spend its time “trolling” people on the internet.

Regarding Anonymous (after watching We Are Legion), I feel that they are somewhere in between when it comes to good vs. evil. However as an idea, I feel that Anonymous is more so good. But perhaps the rhetoric was delivered very well in this film that it makes me feel this way. The good aspects of Anonymous seem to be political. Regardless of viewpoints,  it seemed that this group alone wanted to be able to allow the collective to share their viewpoints. To an extent, yes, they were biased. But of the morals I’ve been taught and the example of how they got a Neo-Nazi promoter off the air seemed well intentioned. In that respect, it showed they were against ‘hate’. Once more, the morals I was raised on totally coincide with that. Therefore, I feel its been a good movement. Also the way they helped Egypt! I honestly remember feeling in the dark when all that was occurring. Its amazing that they helped the Egyptian people be able to broadcast this crazy and horrific event. There just seems to be this common want for giving the masses a voice. But this is also somewhat evil, too. At this point, I have to chuck my morals out the window. They were a little bit hypocritical. The way Scientology tried to censor them... they attempted to do the same. For good reasons, it seems. However, not allowing their members or inquirers access to their website or being able to get through to their hotline... well thats suppressing voices. Even with the Neo-Nazi incident. No, I don’t agree with that mans view and I don’t subscribe to hate groups nor feel them to be proper in our society. But if Anonymous wants to give everyone a voice then the last thing is to take a man with viewpoints and opinions off of the air. Theres also the ‘lulz/lolz’ part of the group. That seems to be neutral but more negative. Evil almost. Leaking peoples data just for the fun of it isn’t right. It doesn’t accomplish anything. Its just to be a troll. Yet, compromising the privacy of others just to have a good laugh, I don’t know. That just seems evil. Lastly, Anonymous relates to a lot of themes we spoke of this semester. I want to go back to the above about privacy. That aspect of the group in which wants to compromise and leak private data is adding to this idea that nothing is private anymore. Facebook wants us to verify our identity and have real accounts. We’ve been losing our privacy through those social media platforms and their terms of service. Now we lose even more and crucial privacy, just for the *fun* of it. -- Kelsey Kauffman