#dontkilllivemusic

So recently a petition has arisen to save the live music industry in Sydney, Australia. Basically what he happened is the government has decided the best way to combat drug and alcohol abuse is to impose ridiculous price increases on festival holders and live music events to increase safety

This won’t work

Because according to statistics, fivepeople have died over the last six months due to drug abuse in Sydney, which has caused the government to decide on this price hike. Unfortunately, the increase in cost for live music events is driving festivals and the like out of Sydney altogether, reducing opportunity for the residents in and around NSW to enjoy their live music.

This won’t work

Because if we look at statistics from other Australian states we see something interesting. The same festivals with the same music and the same rules being held (particularly in Melbourne) without the same problems. The fault is not with the festival, but with the existing laws in place in the NSW state.

This won’t work

Because the festivals aren’t the problem. What the government is doing is alienating its people by increasing the cost of attending the live music events they love, whilst other events boycott the state together. A poor solution to an unrelated problem is not the answer

This whole situation is described better in the change.org petition that’s going around, and even if you aren’t from Australia, it would really help if you guys signed it and shared it around. You don’t even have to use your real names if you don’t want to, just showing anonymous support helps too.

Live music is under threat in NSW due to nonsensical legislations being introduced, and if you could take the time to sign this change.org petition and share one of these posts with the link, it would help immensely.

Thank you all so much ♥️♥️♥️

Politics

When I think about how social media and the internet in general have impacted politics, my mind instantly thinks of the NSW State government. To be specific, Gladys Berejiklian and the Don’t Kill Live Music movement that has been a contentious talking point recently for Australian music lovers (myself most definitely included). It seems the NSW government have been quite successful in destroying Sydney’s raging nightlife culture and live music (which I would be happy to use this post to bitch and moan about, but that’s not this is about). Well, it seems they are now taking aim at music festivals and the safety of people that attend festivals, with Gladys Berejikilian heading the charge. I won’t go into the saga in depth. You can read about that here:

https://www.change.org/p/don-t-kill-live-music-41f9c8a6-9910-4df8-b2d1-a750e41ff877?use_react=false

https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/dont-kill-live-music-rally-announced-in-the-wake-of-nsw-governments-harsh-festival-laws/

https://www.facebook.com/DKLMAustralia/

Please sign the petition and show some support!

Basically, in the wake of some drug related (some not even drug related) deaths at music festvals in the last 12 months, shocking new festival regulations have been implemented that has resulted in the death of many music festivals. The liberal party has stuck its head in the sand in regards to harm minimisation strategies that have been backed by experts and have been proven to work outside Australia. In response to this an online petition attached with an open letter to “music and culture lovers of Australia” was started accompanied by an online social media campaign called Don’t Kill Live Music Australia which was followed by a rally in Sydney.

What is Tumblr?

Memes, GIFs, porn (though not as of the 17th of December last year) , bit of art and a whole lot of ramblings from random ‘nuffies’. As far as I can tell, that’s all Tumblr is right? Maybe a better way of putting it is that Tumblr is an online scrapbook of text, photos, videos and GIFs. A cross between a blog and a Facebook/Twitter feed.

Forgive the overly simplified explanation (as if it was aimed at your grandmother), decent introduction though:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z5CgSt_tc8

So, is it a social network site or blog?

I s’pose I’ll compare Tumblr to the very well-known social network site, Facebook, mainly because I’m very familiar with it having grown up in Australia where it seems to have been the site of choice since Myspace and MSN.

Tumblr does offer social engagement through features like reposts, inbox messaging and of course you’re able to follow other people pages (speaking of this, I’ll throw a cheeky shameless plug in right here… Go follow RAGE AGAINST THE MEMES). In other words, unlike what you might call a traditional blog, Tumblr allows users to interact with each other. These interactions are inherently social connections.

Much like Facebook activist groups or pages such as  the Don’t Kill Live Music Facebook page that was created in the wake of what has been dubbed as the “War on Festivals” in New South Wales this year.

 https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/dont-kill-live-music-rally-announced-in-the-wake-of-nsw-governments-harsh-festival-laws/

The page allowed like-minded people to discuss voice opinions and come together regardless of their geographical location. Tumblr also is a great platform for creating similar online communities. The beauty of Tumblr is that due to the nature and freedom of content on the site, it allows niche publics to form which otherwise would not have been able to thrive. This can also be a negative – see following article to see why these publics can be dangerous:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/justinesharrock/meet-the-girl-behind-one-of-tumblrs-biggest-cutting-suicide

It would seem as though Tumblr is simply a Social Network site. I think what sets Tumblr apart from other social networks and perhaps reinforces it’s status to a degree as a blog site is the dramaturgy of its users or how they present themselves online. Facebook doesn’t really afford much creativity when creating a profile. Your online identity on Facebook usually closer to an extension of your physical, real life self. On Tumblr however there are few rules on how your page functions; be that a regular blog, a place to look at funny shit, a place to promote your business, etc. Users often incorporate a loose theme regardless of what they want to get from the platform to create their Tumblr or online identity.

So is Tumblr simply an amalgamation of a social network and blog?

definitely, maybe.