#mass4025

Written by: Jumana Alqasmi (110887), Issa Alsubhi (106250)

Date: November 4, 2018

About the article:

Name of the journal: new media & society.

Written by: “Ysabel Gerrard”.

Department of Sociological Studies, The University of Sheffield, Northumberland Road, Sheffield S10 2TU, UK.

First Published: May 28, 2018.

Introduction:

Social media companies encourage their users to share content about themselves. They moderate problematic posts when they face public pressures, like accusations that they host pro-eating disorder pro-ED content.

Pro-ED communities are a long-standing societal concern. Pro-ED is to promote an eating disorder “as a ‘lifestyle choice’ rather than as a ‘disease’, thus challenging medical and psychiatric conceptualizations which position the ‘sufferer’ as passive and helpless”.

The relationship between social media and eating disorders has become more important in recent years. For that, By 2012 Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr announced to minimize the spread of pro-ED content. These platforms enforce their rules in fairly similar ways, all three began to issue public service announcements (PSAs) when users search for troubling hashtags, like #proana (pro-anorexia) and #thinspiration, and Instagram began to block the results of certain hashtag searches.

This article explores how the circumvention of hashtag moderation in online pro-ED communities:

1- Privileging the hashtag in a pro-eating disorder problem.

2- Finding untagged pro-ED content on Instagram and Tumblr:

3- Hiding in plain sight: signaling the pro-ED user base.

4- Trending in anorexia this week: Platforms as recommendation systems.

Privileging the hashtag in a pro-eating disorder problem:

Platforms used hashtags as a mechanism through which to police problematic posts because:

1- Hashtags are perhaps the most visible form of social media communication.

2- Connecting content between users “who have no preexisting follower/followee relationship.

3- Hashtags’ visibility makes them distinct from other forms of social media engagement such as liking and commenting.

All of Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr’s user base is a difficult, perhaps impossible task for both human content moderators and platforms’ automated moderation mechanisms. However, there are tools to algorithmically tag visual imagery on social media, but these methods are notoriously unreliable.

For example, on its Community Guidelines Pinterest states that it will “remove anything that promotes self-harm”. It gives an example of an image that would be acceptable, claiming “It’s okay because the focus is on nutrition and fitness.” The image’s overlaid text “It’s not a diet, it’s a way of life. Therefore, by including hashtags in a post, users are telling platforms—intentionally or otherwise—what the post is about.

In the computer sciences, Chancellor et al. (2016) have identified a range of hashtags that Instagram users coined to work around the platform’s hashtag ban (e.g. #thighgap became #thyghgapp), and Moreno et al. (2016) have found a number of deliberately ambiguous non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) tags on Instagram, like #secretsociety123ness.

Finding untagged pro-ED content on Instagram and Tumblr:

There are two ways to find new content on Instagram and Tumblr (Hashtags and keywords) and this led to over reliance on tagged data. It is hard to find untagged pro-ED content because of ethical considerations for researching data and user’s desire to minimize their visibility in a given topic.

Using search engine on Instagram to search for top posts, people, tags, and places will give you four main ways:

1- Semi-permanent blocks (no tagged content).

2- New posts moderated (top posts).

3- No posts yet (error message).

4- Public Service Announcements (PSAs).

There are other routes to access to pro-ED content by innovative methodological approach.

Instagram does not block access to searches for top posts, it return search result for users whose accounts following pro-ED terms. Over 2 week’s period of manually coded 1612 public accounts, finding that 561 accounts include hashtags and 1051 without. From these result he found that hashtags are not an important communicative tool.

Tumblr is different in content moderation, it return content for all pro-ED searches. The user can scroll the PSA to view, but Tumblr does not issues PSA.

If you follow certain keywords the platform lets users follow certain topics, and it is similar to Instagram Explore Function. He identified and analyzed 1000 Tumblr post and he found that 218 posts include hashtags and 782 without. In addition, it is again the result shows that hashtags not important.

The kind of moderation on Instagram and Tumblr are trying to make such content unsearchable, but pro-ED users are able to navigate platforms on all sorts of ways and know how to break the rules.

Hiding in plain sight: signaling the pro-ED user base:

Users who are conscious about content moderation must go beyond the hashtag to find new ways of being visible to those who they wish to be seen by. Donath’s signaling theory which state that: “people often rely on signals rather than directly observable traits to learn about each other” is useful for exploring how users identify content, but it takes time to learn how it read these subtle signals.

Many users are aware that pro-ED content is a target for moderation, and one of the most obvious ways to deflect attention is using non-hashtags. Biographies, which disavow pro-ED identities to reassure moderators and non-in-group users that their accounts are unproblematic. Because pro-ED hashtags are scrutinized, many people have developed a set of non-tagged signals.

It is difficult to uncover the hidden meanings behind these signals in the absence of hashtags. Pro-ED users understand that this interpretive work takes time for those who are not knowledgeable, which might explain why they do not use hashtags.

Pro-ED users are unwelcome on this programs and society. Therefore, they use phrases such as my dataset was “not-pro-anything” or “not promoting anything,” which means that they do not affiliate with a pro-ED identity.

Trending in anorexia this week: Platforms as recommendation systems:

The hashtag moderation is an ineffective intervention into pro-ED communities, this is because social media users circumvent it and part of the work of platforms is to recommend content to their users. However, users can instead simply enact a pro-ED identity on social media to see this kind of content. While they are often aware of and are not wholly conditioned by algorithms. However, only by liking their posts platforms presented with pro-ED content through algorithmically organized in Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr feeds, and via email. All three platforms have recommendation algorithms, they encourage different forms of communication from their users, affecting how content is seen and experienced.

Pinterest:

When a user finds an image on the Pinterest app, they can scroll down the page to view other recommended content. The platform also suggests alternative yet related phrases that users might want to search for or ideas you might love. It is algorithmically aligning pro-ED imagery with discourses like death, suicide and self-harm. The claims to remove anything that promotes self-harm, this reveals an intimate connection between platforms’ public-facing policies and closed codes. In addition, it recommended content through email updates.

Instagram:

Allows users to save pro-ED content to her saved posts folder, without sending notifications to the poster. After began saving things, Instagram’s Explore tab flooded with other pro-ED content. This form of hashtag moderation appears to be designed to protect new users who are at risk of joining pro-ED and other such networks, rather than those who are already embedded within them. Instagram categorizes the ‘embrace of anorexia, bulimia, or other eating disorders’ as a form of self- harm.

Tumblr:

Aligns blogs that actively promote self-harm with blogs that glorify or promote anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders.

Concluding remarks:

Pro-ED users circumvent mediator in putting issues online by using non-hashtags to escape from restrictions. The results tell us that the members of the pro-ED community are savvy, and they have devised a set of signals to indicate their contents and identities without using hashtags.

Instagram put a logic to protect:

1- New users from joining pro-ED.

2- Users who are curious.

3- Users who still use search engines to find new contents.

The analysis reveals the complexities of the “pro-ED” identity who use a set of non-pro speeches and these circumvention techniques that define this community of users. Therefore, perhaps it is not possible to police ED-related content in a systematic way.

The hashtags become the way of seeing socio-technical phenomenon, but not it is the way that people interact with the topic.

Social media can provide us with a rich source of knowledge and it is include unaddressed issues:

1- Analyses of users’ comments on pro-ED posts.

2- A cross-platform analysis to understand any socio-technical variation between different pro-ED cultures.

3- Analyses of pro-ED users’ self-representations, which are often enacted pseudonymously.

Written by: Fatema Al-Hadabi

ID : u111243

Nov 27, 2018

Number of words : 383

There is a strong correlation between all the topics that we have written about, which is; each issue is a motive or reason for the appearance of the other issue (ie, impact and influence). For example, the lack of discussion of traditional media in some issues makes some influential people talk about them in the Social media and achieve more popular among the audience.

However, all these topics revolve around one axis, which is the contribution of social media in highlighting the issue in terms of its impact and its causes..ie.

In This blog I will evaluate the working mechanism and content strategy that I followed when I am writing:

-          At the beginning, I always support my ideas and thought with evidence from the internet. There was a lack of statistical evidence to support my point of view although there are many shared evidences and facts from life. Then I followed another method to prove and analyzed the topic from a personal perspective and evidence of real life. Therefore, I become able to express my idea in a better way. For example, how social media contribute to social support

 -          I usually wrote my points of view at the conclusion, but I noticed the difference when I put them in the introduction. This difference has influenced the quality of the topic and writing. Writing the point of view in the introduction gives more strength and meaning to the topic, gives smooth and clear evidence and understanding and direction of topic.

-          As for the content of the writing, I dealt with topics in general, there were no specific angles but after that I changed the mechanism and style of my writing. I have followed one strategy to address the subject from one angle so that it is easier for me to talk about the issue and its research in depth.

-          In regard to the different points, I discussed them in the subject and found that they were complementary to the series of subjects and compatible and non-contradictory among them.

-          There are some topics I have discussed well and appropriately and some topics I could discuss better, such as the use of personal data.

Name: Muhallab Juma Alamri

ID: 106697

Date: 13 of NOV 2018

Number of words : 289

There is no society without problems that may increase or diminish according to their nature. Some may think that it is immune to social problems as long as it is safe, but social problems are intertwined and sequenced and must reach every individual in a picture if these problems are not addressed from the moment of their inception without negligence or negligence.

Media awareness, when dealing with an issue, must believe intentions without exaggerating or exaggerating or trying to stir in the wrong place, the owner of the problem in itself does not seek excitement but seeks to solve the problem.

But there are also issues that are not addressed by the media and are addressed only when these issues occur

Example: drainage of water during the rain .. This is a very big problem, especially in the Arab world, but the media does not address it, but the circulation between people and talk about when it actually occurs

Perhaps because there is little rain in the Arab world and people forget this problem.

There are also political issues and corruption issues, but the media does not address them or even talk about them.

For political reasons related to the State's own policy to ensure that the country is not intimidated and seditious.

It is certain that there is no media without a media policy that guides, leads and reaches the safety of the media experts in each country in order to prevent media diversions

The basic social responsibility of the media is to maintain the security and social peace of the society and its members, and to keep away from all the thorny issues and uncertainties that can cause confusion in the street and among the members of society.

Done by: Khafam Almamari

Amjad Alshukaili

Nov 4, 2018

The Glam Life

A separate yet related way that fashion bloggers unsettle the binary between labor and leisure is through their staging of “the glam life,” characterized by global travel, invitations to exclusive events, and access to luxury goods and swag.

By taking a photos and videos for the lifestyle on their Instagram accounts, the bloggers in our sample engaged in what Marwick has described as, an attention-seeking practice whereby an individual presents herself in a high status social position .

Promotion to the brands

In many cases, these products were famous from designers and publicists as part of a mutual incentive structure that mobilizes the activities of social influencers .” The practice of “tagging,” or linking to a branded product in one’s blog or Instagram feed, stands as public recognition of a commercial.

It is perhaps not surprising that designer goods are also central to bloggers’ staging of “the glam life”, the blogs and Instagram feeds we analyzed displayed a compendium of Valentino pumps, luxury goods offset by the occasional thrift store purchase or product identified with a discount retailer.

The gendered nature of this intimate social sharing must be historically contextualized, as Victorian era demarcations between public and private were guided by assumptions about masculine and feminine realms, respectively.

Sometimes bloggers frequently shared personal details by, for example, acknowledging the support of parents or partners, Because they want to show social responsibility, thus increasing the number of followers, and increase the impact. So, that back positively for them.

Bloggers and leisure time

Some people work for some production companies, advertising and global promotion. These people may not have time to enjoy their time, and do not have the leisure time to enjoy with family and friends because they are constantly working for the company that offers them money,

While some bloggers enjoy their time through their work, they spend time with family and friends and do not have pressure through work.

While there are self-employed bloggers who are not affiliated with an organization, they enjoy their time and organize their time as they wish

self branding

Social media has contributed to the making of a personal brand. There are many persons who have benefited by getting a large number of followers, so they have become famous and influential in a certain category, thus creating a personal identity for themselves on social networks. They subsequently benefited from the commercialization of production companies. The bloggers translated their voices and into lucrative and seemingly fulfilling careers.

The Author: Brooke Erin Duffy & Emily Hund

July-December 2015: 1–11

ID number: 111359

Written by: Kaltham Al Darmaki

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

One of the biggest issues the marketing industry has faced since its early days has been misleading ads which means hiding transparency or using false information of products to buy customers and increase companies’ income. According to a statistic in 2016, the size of misleading ads in whole world was about $800 billion while its size in Arab countries was about $60 billion, surly these numbers have increased because of multimedia specialty.

Misleading ads has many forms such as: cheating consumers using celebrities and influencers on social media to let them speak about the product or posting their images, Imitation of Website functionality, comparative information, lying with statistics by info graphs -in fact stats are easy to distort because most people don’t understand it even experts!

In 2009,  Dr Fanelli’s study showed that 33.7% of data scientists use questionable research practice. It can result in modifying results and biased interpreting of data that help companies to create a good mislead advertisement.

The most popular issue was when Colgate claimed that 80% of dentists recommended the brand! Consumers believed that 80% of dentists recommended Colgate while 20% recommended other brands. It turns out that when dentists were surveyed, they could choose several brands not just one. According to The Telegraph newspaper, this completely misleading statistic was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority, but nowadays many brands of toothpaste promote their products using Brilliant words!

Photo taken by: Kaltham Al.Darmaki

As well as Reebok did with its shoes when they announced: Lab tests “proved” that the shoes work “your hamstrings and calves up to 11% harder and tone your butt up to 28% more than regular sneakers  just by walking!”. The FTC stated that Reebok paid $25 million for this deceptive advertising.

So, we all have to use critical thinking and being aware of these kinds of advertisements especially what affect on our health or skin.

 https://www.minerra.net/misuse-misleading-statistics/

Written by: Khaled Al Mashaykhi

ID:105401

Date: October 23-2018

Number of words:289

Ali Najem (born March 25, 1989) is a Kuwaiti radio personality who is producer and director of FM Radio station in Kuwait.

Ali Najm is one of the most influential Kuwaiti media figures who has earned a good reputation. He is a radio announcer for Marina Radio for a long time and provides joyful and colorful content in the Instagram (alinajem) application. It has 2.5m on Instagram.

Now, Marina Radio is one of the best radio stations in Al-Hweet and the Arabian Gulf in the content industry and offers messages to the public in an innovative way. The radio presents the social or cultural issues that the community or people are interested in and connects to their personal lives, clear language and music, motivational voice.

His style in the modern is not manufactured, but be thoughtful and easy to reach up to all segments of society and in his way and friendly to everyone.

Always use his account in Instagram in the issues of community and important tasks and solutions that make most people love it for easy language and good vocabulary that enter the heart quickly.

People's reactions to comments are evidence that what they share has to do with their mentality and age.

Salah Al-Shuraiqi 113050 September 25,2018 First! What Misleading or false advertisements are? False / Misleading advertising is the use of false, misleading, or unproven information to advertise products to consumers or advertising that does not disclose its source. One form of false advertising is to claim that a product has a health benefit or contains vitamins or minerals that it in fact does not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_advertising Therefore, the advertising who pretend that do not they are, and told the people about something but they are something else, which is the Misleading advertising.