#digitialcommunities

Blogs in general are formulated to allow users to reflect on their self expression through their content, and is lengthy when compared to other social networking sites. Blogs at current have revolved and expanded into various different themes such as news and entertainment blogs, food and beauty blogs which are the most trending. Blogging also allows users to be emotionally vulnerable by articulating and conveying an illness they maybe having, something they are trying to overcome or is currently going though such as depression, suicidal thoughts, or even abuse. since the majority of users in Tumblr are of the young generation it is more likely to highlight teenage issues, controversial topics and also taboo topic which will be brought up that may or may not be sensitive. 

Reading about trolling and social media this week got me thinking about the hopeless nature of preventing cyberbullying. It seems that as time goes on and technology progresses, society is trying to adapt to the ethic and regulations of online communities. “New crimes develop as new technologies provide new capabilities and new means of exploitation,” (Applin, S & Fischer, M 2015) such as Youtube expanding on it’s means as “a high-volume website, a broadcast platform, a media archive and a social network.” (Burgess & Green 2009, p.5) Though the site is an awesome, easy-to-use platform for sharing video content with the world, it also means the world can respond…and yeah, the world isn’t always super nice. 

I suppose the problem with such a dynamic, critical site such as Youtube is what is considered as cyberbullying? Can a person be judgemental without being a bully? A comment like the one below for instance is one I got off a Youtube video for a camera review. (Rossi, E 2017) Would you consider that as cyberbullying? And if so, what can authorities actually do about it?

The fact of the matter here is that “laws [are] struggling to keep up with technology.” (Gallagher-Watson, A 2014) It’s so difficult to determine the severity of a comment when “both bullying and drama have imprecise definitions.” (Boyd, D 2014, p. 130) For instance, I remember a number of years ago, a girl I knew unfortunately happened to be part of the “40% of…internet users [who] report[ed] experiencing at least one form of online harassment.” (Pew Research Centre 2014, p. 3) She uploaded a photo to Facebook, which prompted some boys in her year level to make comments relating her weight; comparing her to Jabba the Hutt. Yeah, nasty, A+ definition of cyberbullying. They removed the comments quickly when they realised the severity of their ‘joke’ but she still felt action needed to be implemented. Though the school could take action against the boys, the police said there wasn’t much they could do about the situation. Their comments had been removed, the school suspended the boys and were told to write an apology letter to the girl, but with the vague nature of cyberbullying laws at the time, the police told the girl that there was limited evidence against the boys, and even if there was more, there was no definitive law to prosecute them.    

Though “in recent years, cyberbullying, online abuse and harassment and related aberrant uses of social media have brought into being new laws along with platform controls and a wide array of cyber safety educational programs,” (McCosker, A 2016, p. 1) is there really going to be a point in which cyberbullying can be completely preventable and very much illegal? Or will the vague, circumstantial nature of interpretation be a dominant means of determining the severity of a troll comment?  

References

Applin, S & Fischer, M 2015, ‘New technologies and mixed-use convergence: How humans and algorithms are adapting to each other’, Technology and Society (ISTAS), 2014 IEEE International Symposium, IEEE, Dublin, pp. 1-6. 

Boyd, D 2018, ‘Bullying: Is the Media Amplifying Meanness and Cruelty?’, It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, pp. 128-152. 

Gallagher-Watson, A 2014, Cyberbullying – Laws Struggling To Keep Up With Technology, Colin Biggers & Paisley Lawyers, viewed 17 April 2018, <https://www.cbp.com.au/insights/insights/2014/june/cyberbullying-laws-struggling-to-keep-up-with-te>.

McCosker, A 2016, ‘Managing Digital Citizenship: Cyber Safety as Three Layers of Control’, Chapter 1, Negotiating Digital Citizenship: Control, Content and Culture, Rowman & Littlefield, London. 

Being new to Tumblr, and with little experience writing blogs, I would consider this new social media site as Switzerland. It plays an equal role as both a blogging site and a social networking site through it’s fantastic ability to connect people through an unconventional and digital way. A new age digital dairy. Social media has changed the way we view others and ourselves. It’s adapted over various platforms of posting photos and commenting on friends walls, to documenting our every move, thought and feeling in our day to day lives, as well as being constantly checking our devices to see what the latest news is or who accepted your friend request. it’s unstoppable. 

Take Tumblr, a site not only for blogging but for sharing affordances with like minded people. Blogging has not only now becoming a career, along with Youtube sensations, and Instagram businesses. Tumblr can be seen as a platform to unite our social selves. In essence, have redefined the way we communicate as a society. Large and influential platforms such as Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin and Youtube exploded in terms of users and monetising potential all through various ways of digital communication, alongside many smaller business and non profit business. Each in their own way connecting us through the world wide social media web.   

Walker Rettberg identifies Blogs as “unequivocally the product of the web, and their history can be said to have begun at the same time the Web was born.” The old me would have written a diary and kept my deepest thoughts and opinions, however the new social-media obsessed me now feels the need to document my breakfast, my day to day activities for those who “follow” me. Tumblr allows people to interact and connect on a different level, an interpersonal level, by allowing other like-minded individuals to comment on your posts, follow you and reading other peoples digital diaries all in a strange new form of communication. 

Social media sites have unquestionably altered the nature of private and public communication. Boyd.D argues, “The publicness of social media becomes privacy in new ways.” Suggesting we chose the publics to share our content with. Although on the opposing suggestion that nothing is private on the internet based on our digital footprint never being erased.  These digital discourses have completely changed the way in which the media is used. Instant, twenty-four hour access seven days a week has us switched on. 

At times, being “on” twenty four seven can be exhausting, especially when “turning off” can be just as exhausting. Having a constant niggle in the back of your mind, wondering if people are trying to contact you or you have missed an event on Facebook are just some of the struggles it takes to turn off. In Boyd. D’s article, ‘Participating In the Always On Lifestyle’ looks at the triumphs and tribulations of constantly being connected. “I am perpetually connected to people and information through a series of devices and social media channels.” 

At what point do we switch off?