#wk4post

Yum Cha and social media are alike experiences. Both entice with a promise of satisfaction but often leave you bloated; to which we vouch to never return! But soon later we're eager for another round.  Imagine the restaurant is the media-sphere. Each table represents a different social media site and each dish a unit of content. These dishes are determined and organised by the diners of the table, whose social conventions vary to other groups at their tables. This would determine the manner the food is consumed - a table of young friends gathered for lunch may be eager to share taste all the dishes offered, whereas traditional Chinese diners keep to their own meals, aware and enjoying thoroughly the meals they chose. Opinions within the academic communitiy of YumCha-ology are divided. Some embrace its concept, suggesting that the platform of gathering allows for conversation and sharing of meals one wouldn't usually try (Chicken Feet - its a lot yummier than it sounds!!). And other theorists believe that eating food together steals this opportunity for conversation and socialising, with our mouths too full to talk to one another; an unintentional consequence of delicious food.  But the core intention of each table is the same, to gather individuals to converse and associate through dumplings! - or information. Enough of the metaphor. It's too delicious!! What is interesting is the varied methods and modes of these social media platforms to create a network through sociality. But, hang on... Sociality? Network? Platforms?  OH THE AMBIGUITY!! 

It's like being asked if you'd like light soy sauce, dark soy sauce or Tamari soy sauce... They're the same sauce, aren't they?!?!?

Well let's get to know these ingredients. Sociality essentially refers the association's between individuals (Siapera 2012).  However the nature of sociality changes with changes in social structures, the varied means which it is mediated culturally and technologically. Ferdinand Tonnies iterated sociality to examine its shift during the social transition from the Agrarian Age to the Industrial Age. Basically he observed that communities (Agrarian) and societies (Industrial) were distinguished by the 'will' that associated individuals (Siapera 2012). In communities this will was considered 'natural', being based through instinctive needs (Eg. belonging and safety) whereas societies formed through a 'rational' will, in which individuals associate together to achieve an overall goal (Siapera 2012). A sound definition until societal structure shifted again with the introduction of the internet, the Information Age. Howard Rheingold popularised the term 'virtual communities', an extension of Tonnies 'traditional community', expressing that the sociality of 'natural will' transcends into the 'online' coding expression in text and computerised semiotics. Even today this has further expanded. Could we now consider social media to construct 'virtual societies' based on rational will. Perhaps also thought of as networks? This sociality of 'rational will' through online societies could be expressed through the term of social capital. Social capital is 'the sum of actual & virtual resources accessible to an individual through ties, forming a network of sociality' (Siapera 2012). Here is where networks come in, the structure and process in which the social capital is achieved and exchanged between individuals. 

I don't know about you, but I'm getting full!! I leave this post for now, so we can rest and eat more!! I'll continue this discussion of networks and platforms in later posts. These posts will consider networks and platforms in unique social media contexts, such as gaming and Instagram! 

Social media. It’s here, there and everywhere. It’s very rare to find someone who isn’t signed up to some type of site in one way or another. In fact, if you happen to be one of those people who don’t use Facebook or Twitter, I implore you to stop pretending. We’re only human and you’re not fooling anyone.

Danah Boyd worded it perfectly. The “always-on lifestyle”. We all rely on social media. We all get a kick out of refreshing that news feed and we all feel somewhat invigorated when we hit that post button because as human beings we’re all built to function in a certain way. It’s in our nature to care about what others think and how we are perceived.

I’m new to Tumblr. As for everything else, I’m pretty much a regular. This blog will be a chance for me to express myself through my words and thoughts and hope that somebody reads them. Like I’ve been saying, we all want someone to notice how good we are. I’ve enrolled in the subject, Digital Communities, which will hopefully give me some great insights into social publics, social media and how they impact society. With this wealth of knowledge I’m hoping I can then use it to triple the amount of Twitter followers I currently possess.

What I’ve taken out of the class so far is a clearer grasp on what exactly it is I’m doing when I’m checking my emails and mulling through my notifications. To put it simply, I’m connecting. I’m connecting with friends, family and at times even strangers. Why I do this over the net you ask? Under the assumption you’re curious because you want to know why you do it too, I’d say it’s because it’s easy. Advancements in technology has allowed for such a spectacular thing to happen. Long gone are the days of Morse and carrier pigeon. All hail the internet and the smart phone!

Rowan Wilken and Anthony McCosker stated in their article, Social Selves, that “social network sites enable constant communication and connection”. What’s not to like about that? However, with all jokes aside, this constant uploading of information that is happening 24/7 could be quite easily seen in a negative light. This is something I plan to delve into.

Ok so lets jump right into it shall we? I spend conservatively at least 2 to 3 hours on social media a day. Half an hour when I wake up (with the brightness on my phone turned down to one percent as to not aggravate my barely awake retinas) 15-30 minutes on public transport (depending if I miss my connecting train) 5-10 minutes when waiting for Adam at the coffee shop and then sporadically throughout my day when I am in lectures, tutorials and procrastinating. Oh and at least 30-45 minutes before I go to bed. But do I use Tumblr? Not until I had to for this assignment. So as I am being asked to write this blog it got me thinking why Tumblr?

            The site itself states it lets you share anything, and I think it means anything. I was speaking to my friend from Adelaide and he said he uses Facebook to keep in contact with family and friends, Twitter for gossip and occasionally news and Tumblr for porn. I didn’t even realise that it COULD be used for porn, but then that just could be my country girl naive-ness showing. Tumblr combines microblogging with social networking, I was reading up on ‘what is Tumblr’ and Doug Aamoth (2013) describes it like this:

  “If you want to write a several-thousand-word opus about something, Tumblr isn’t the place to do it. If you want to share a moving picture of a little kid acting like a detective as quickly and easily as possible, Tumblr is a good place to do it. That’s the microblogging aspect to Tumblr. Then, other Tumblr users who like moving pictures of little kids acting like detectives can follow you on Tumblr so they’re sure to see every moving little-kid-acting-like-a-detective picture you post. That’s the social networking aspect to Tumblr.”

  Yes before you ask I then proceeded to look up moving pictures of little kids acting like detectives. I think Tumblr is in some way unique as you can use it in anyway you please. You don’t have to post you can just consume or you can post about anything and everything you want. Like I said in my about section if there is a way I can incorporate my love of cheese and processed meat into digital communities, social networking and media platforms I’ll do it, even if I just explain that while writing my blog I am currently chowing down on salami and salad sandwich. So if you love social networking, microblogging, cheese and processed meat you’ve come to the right place!

My intentions for this blog are to discuss and understand how and why individuals, groups and corporations use social networking sites and digital media within networked publics. So why start a blog on Tumblr? Tumblr is the perfect place to create a blog centred on digital communities as it is a social network that encourages the formation of micropublics, through text, image and video. Other blogging sites like WordPress or Blogger are also environments in which micropublics can thrive, however, Tumblr’s native abilities allow for easier connectivity between other blogs and users.

What is digital media? Media is defined as the means by which information can be relayed. Conventionally media referred to print and broadcast. These are one-to-many style distribution channels that have a massive reach, but with distinct boundaries between who is a producer and who is a consumer. But with the emergence of digital technologies and continuous connectivity, the internet facilitates the means for many-to-many production; forever blurring the distinct boundary between producer and consumer. Chief among these new participatory digital media are social networking sites.

What are social networking sites? A social networking site is an internet-based digital space that facilitates the social interaction of individuals (and corporations) via largely public profile pages. When people are asked to name a social networking site, the first ones mentioned are inevitably Facebook and Twitter. These sites allow for social interaction with a large group through text status updates, links, images and videos, as well as the ability to list and view others’ profiles. Other social networks aim to specialise in a particular area of social interaction: visual based sites such as Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest; Video based sites such as YouTube; Text based blogging sites such as WordPress and Blogger; and Audio based sites such as SoundCloud.

Over the last four weeks we have been exploring the idea of social networking, communities and societies and how they interconnect with our everyday lives. Being someone who doesn’t often actively participate within online communities I wasn’t aware of all the possibilities different social networking sites offered and how diverse they were, importantly I wasn’t aware of the ability sites have to connect people, create conversations and expand our way of thinking. Social media sites have become platforms for expression, discussion and openness. In a technologically stimulated society how we socialize is forever evolving and connecting with people through the internet has become second nature.

  I think social media has become so prevalent these days as it is so readily available, it surrounds us and is forever altering the way we interact with each other as new media advancements increase the ease of digitally communicating. From the moment I wake up in the morning I have the option to check my Facebook, reply to emails or view Instagram photos and while most of the time I don’t, it is the knowledge that they’re there if I want, whether I’m on the train, at a café or at home that changes the way I choose to communicate. Through the past few lessons my view that social networking encourages anti sociable behaviours has altered, they are platforms for a whole new community of people, they give an outlet for users to be themselves, express their thoughts and have their views challenged and questioned.

  One of the most exiting things about being apart of the always on community is the ability to be an individual and still belong. It allows you to find friends beyond just your geographic location, but find those with common interest, societies that share the same values that you do. Sites like Twitter, Tumblr and Reddit allow for animosity, meaning user can be open without scrutiny and preconceived ideas, they can become who they want to be. It is this sense of belonging and being apart of a crowd that makes sights so appealing. Often strangers can become non bias supporters, animosity can allow people to open up and communicate in a way they are unable to in real life. Support communities like ‘mums with chronicle illnesses’  connect on forum boards and through threads use the sites as a platform to share experiences and support each other.

  So what do I belong to? A community? A society? A network? It is hard to wrap your head around what digital communities are, especially when how we interact with sites, their purpose and how we use them differs greatly. A community is a wider society, a collective of people while, a society is a smaller group who have shared interests and a network is described a group of users that have a list of others which they connect with. These concepts are often blurred, Facebook is accessible by everyone but groups allow societies to form around common interest. Online society’s have their own languages, they’ve shifted the way we talk from hashtags on twitter and Tumblr to likes on Facebook, new languages are created and maintained.

This blog is an exploration of the online world in the way we connect with one another through various social media platforms. In particular, tumblr.

The lines between online and offline are blurred more than ever when we use the internet for so many different reasons in everyday life. Email, google searches and connecting with others via various social networking sites are used during work time and down time. So this raises the question, are we ever really offline when our phones are (almost) always right there, enabling connectedness with the swipe of a finger or the push of a button? Many of us sleep with our phones next to us almost in fear of not being able to connect. It almost seems impossible to resist when notifications pop up reminding and enticing us to check Facebook or Twitter etc. As expert in the field, Dana Boyd puts it, “I may not be always-on the Internet… but I am always connected to the network. And that’s what it means to be always-on.”

Social psychologist, Kendra Cherry, says "that the need to belong is an intrinsic motivation to affiliate with others and be socially accepted". A popular way of doing this is through a blog by being part of the public sphere.

Bloggers say that it’s the freedom of personal expression and having a potential audience. However, the number of blogs out there far outweighs the number of readers. But this doesn’t deter the number of users starting up blogs every single day all over the world in hopes of connecting and sharing their thoughts with others.

Tumblr differs from other types of blogs in that it allows users to follow multiple blogs which appear through a feed – much like a social networking site rather than a generic blogging site. Tumblr markets themselves as a mix between Facebook and Twitter - a place for short posts and image sharing. Although, like other blogging sites, the chance of attracting and obtaining a large following is slim.

As the first post, I will create a general overview of the important theory behind digital communities and social media covered from weeks one to three whilst looking at tumblr it self.

It was an interesting fact stated in the lecture slides of week one that Tumblr has 111.7 million blogs and approximately 13 billion monthly page views. For someone who is new to this social media platform it astounds me of how many people actually use this form of media. Sherry Turkles - speaker of TED (Link at bottom of blog) has such an interesting view on social media and so is the rest of the TED speaker videos. I do recommend you watch them all, as it makes this subject feel easier.

The first three weeks of this unit we explored the nature media platforms, social theory and media and then looked into reddit and reddit gonewild. So what is a social network? Boyd & Ellison (2008, pp. 216) define social networks as ‘web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system’. Growing up in the digital age has given the advantage to all of those who have access to this technology to stay in contact with friends and keep a tab on everyone we wish to. The social theory of social ties, networked and individualism are key concepts which pretty much mean that people with less connections miss out on information that others have access to. Wellman (2002, pp. 10) states perfectly that ‘people remain connected but as individuals […] Each person seperately operates his network to obtain information, collaboration, orders, support, sociability and a sense of belonging’. To validate Wellman’s point personally I only use social media platforms to obtain random information about health and to save me money from seeing the doctor, to even looking up world news because I like to feel connected to the world to understand how to live in it as I finish university in June. It goes to show that the other week at my job I was approached by my old teacher whom added me on LinkedIn, and offered me a work experience role in Human Resources, which is my major. The point of this is that if it wasn’t for the social media network of LinkedIn, this old high school teacher of mine would never of known what I was studying, what I have been doing in my life and my professional experience thus far.

With looking at the age groups that currently use social networking between the year of 2005-2012 (which was shown in the lecture, week 1) it gives an interesting view point of how over the years the trending popularity of social networking has dramatically increased (See the link below the blog to see the graph). From personal experience when I was first introduced to myspace it was originally to stay in contact with friends and share photos. It was primarly for music goers to share and express their music to everyone openly. Then facebook came and changed the nature of the whole world in this ‘always on’ aspect (Boyd & Ellison, 2008).

We looked at platform politics which was broken down into computational, architectual, figurative and political. Finally we looked at reddit and the popular trends of an online community. Whether it was actually an online community or is it just a forum of people posting anything. I argue it is a digital community and people are coming together to address ideas together and help one another. Yes, people do troll other people for fun but thats what people do, I will admit, I have done it once or twice but never to hurt or harm someone. Moving on, Tumblr is a new form of social media in my world and I am experiencing a new way of social networking. None of my friends use it, or haven’t admitted to using it but it is an interesting read and I am actually enjoying reading some of the blogs people have posted on the pages I have liked.

Overall this is my first blog post and hope it was some what kind of insightful for others. Unfortunately the first blog had to be able digital communities and social media theory from the first few weeks of the unit. Next week I will talk about why and how blogging is so successful and addictive for people.

Suggested Links:

http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together http://pewinternet.org/Commentary/2012/March/Pew-Internet-Social-Networking-full-detail.aspx

Reference List:

Boyd & Ellison, 2008, ‘Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship’, Journal of Computer Mediated Communication 13 pp. 210‐230.