The Digital Dweller

Social Media Governance

Digital citizenship is typically characterised by the ‘skill and knowledge to effectively use digital technology to facilitate membership and participation in society’ (Mossberger et al. 2008). However, we often forget ‘citizenship’ implies much about governance as it does about social responsibility. Not all online interactions are positive and a growing portion of users will experience digital harassment at some point (see figure 1).

Figure 1: The State of Online Harassment – Pew Research Center (2021)

This has prompted policy-makers, educators and platforms to address these issues by providing guidelines for online behaviour and safety. While these are relatively effective in guiding citizenry on a personal level, they fail to acknowledge the systemic and cultural factors that incite networked harassment.

#Gamergate

Early 2014, the hashtag #gamergate began trending, a movement which saw the collective harassment of women in the video gaming community, particularly game developer, Zoe Quinn and feminist content creator, Anita Sarkeesian. What started as a provocative exposé on an ex-girlfriend, became a hate-campaign against social justice warriors (SJWs), feminism, gaming journalism, censorship and political correctness. Members participated by sending hateful messages, revenge porn, publicly shaming, threatening violence and doxing users. As Marwick and Caplan (2018) point out, these networked harassment tactics utilised by men’s rights activists to moderate their community, would later become staples in alt-right political campaigns and terms of service on platforms which normalise the policing of users by the dominant coalition.

What is interesting about #gamergate, is both opposing sides of the movement felt exploited and threatened by censorship online. It brought to light how networked harassment cannot be reduced to isolated incidents, but part of a larger political and social structure (Ostini & Hopkins, 2015). By placing sole responsibility upon the individual, social media platforms remain perceivably ‘neutral’ whilst providing the tools needed for networked harassment to occur. Moreover, academics like McCosker (2016) and Heath (2018), suggest that the systemic injustices involved with digital citizenship are often neglected in educational programs and esafety campaigns. It becomes more about social norms and “appropriate use”, over providing invaluable skills for navigating the integration of identity, social relations and cultural context within online spaces.

References

‘Figure 1: The State of Online Harassment’ [graph], in E.A. Vogels 2021, The State of Online Harassment, Pew Research Center, viewed 10 May 2021, <https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/01/PI_2021.01.13_online-harrasment_0-01-1.png?w=640>.

‘Gamergate logo’ [image] 2014, in Anahita 2017, Gamergate, SJWiki, viewed 10 May 2021, <http://sjwiki.org/images/8/82/Gamergate_logo.jpg>.

Heath, M.K. 2018, ‘What kind of (digital) citizen? A between-studies analysis of research and teaching for democracy’, The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, vol. 35, no. 5, pp. 342-356.

Marwick, A.E., Caplan, R 2018, ‘Drinking male tears: language, the Mano sphere and networked harassment’, Feminist Media Studies, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 543-559.

McCosker, A 2016, ‘Managing Digital Citizenship: Cyber Safety as Three Layers of Control’, in A McCosker, S Vivienne & A Johns (eds), Negotiating Digital Citizenship: Control, Contest and Culture, Rowman & Littlefield International, London, pp. 1-15.

Mossberger, K, Tolbert, C.J., McNeal, R.S. 2008, ‘Defining digital citizenship’, in K Mossberger, CJ Tolbert & RS McNeal (eds), Digital citizenship: the internet, society, and participation, MIT Press, Cambridge, pp. 1-20.

Social Media Influencers and the Slow Fashion Movement

Recently, there has been growing public concern regarding fast fashion’s impact on the environment, along with the recurring exploitation of its workforce. In McKinsey & Company’s (2020) industry report, they found a rise in “anti-consumerism” and frugality coinciding with the pandemic, meaning consumers are becoming more conscious of their contribution to these issues and are actively seeking sustainable options (p. 18).

The slow fashion movement represents a global community which value and practice sustainable consumption, serving as the antithesis to fast fashion. This involves “acquiring, using and disposing of [clothes] that do not compromise the ecological and socio-economic conditions of all people (currently living or in the future) to satisfy their . . . needs” (Geiger & Keller 2018, p. 1124). The movement has gained a lot of traction on Instagram, where consumers seek out the community to answer their questions on what exactly constitutes sustainable fashion. Lai et al. (2017) reiterated this in their study, citing lack of transparency and greenwashing within the fashion industry as contributing factors to consumer’s misguidance. Instagram is becoming an important tool for sustainable brands to reach fashion-forward audiences and raise awareness.

Big Sister Swap

Big Sister Swap is a UK-based sustainable clothing site. Users send unwanted clothes and receive the same weighted amount of pre-loved clothing which have been selected to suit their personal style. Their mission is to encourage recycling and upcycling garments to lessen the amount of textile waste (Big Sister Swap, 2021).

They use their Instagram page to promote local sustainable brands and influencers, showcasing their pieces and tagging creators who contribute their designs. Hashtags and tagging helps facilitate networks across the sustainable fashion community. Big Sister Swap markets their pieces as trendy and timeless. This is essential, as many fashion brands creating ‘eco-friendly’ clothing lines, are only partially sustainable and are marketed separately from their trending collections. However, in order for consumers to shop sustainably, it is still fundamental for the fashion industry at large to adopt these practices, rather than catering to demand by greenwashing fast fashion.

References

Big Sister Swap 2021, About Us, viewed 3 May 2021, <https://bigsisterswap.co.uk/pages/about-us>.

Big Sister Swap 2019, Big Sister Swap Reviews, 15 October, viewed 3 May 2021, <https://youtu.be/cuxo2oKZfWk>.

‘Big Sister Swap Instagram content’ [image], in Big Sister Swap 2021, Homepage, bigsisterswap.co.uk, viewed 9 May 2021, <https://bigsisterswap.co.uk/>.

Geiger, SM, Keller, J 2018, ‘Shopping for Clothes and Sensitivity to Suffering of Others: The Role of Compassion and Values in Sustainable Fashion Consumption’, Environment and Behavior, vol. 50, no. 10, pp. 1119-1144.

Lai, Z, Henninger, CE, Alevizou, PJ 2017, ‘An Exploration of Consumers’ Perception Towards Sustainable Fashion – A Qualitative Study in the UK’, in CE Henninger, P Alevizou, H Goworek & D Ryding (eds), Sustainability in Fashion, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 81-101.

McKinsey & Company 2020, The State of Fashion 2020 Coronavirus Update, The Business of Fashion.

‘Slow Fashion Movement logo’ [image], in Slow Fashion Movement 2021, Slow Fashion Movement, The Green Wave, viewed 3 May 2021, <https://www.jointhegreenwave.org/fashion>.

Instagram Filters

With the rise of visual social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, we have seen the normalisation of filtered faces. What began as playful entertainment in the form of photo effects, has evolved into seamless forms of augmented reality which allow everyday users to morph their image into the ideal beauty. Filters have not only impacted self-perception on a large scale, but the ways in which we interact with each other due to their ubiquity in everyday life.

Isabelle Coy-Dibley (2016) conceptualised ‘digital dysmorphia’ to describe the expectation placed upon women to digitally enhance their image. She notes, ‘the level of digitised dysmorphia depends upon the intentions of the individual in performing alterations of self-image’ (p. 8, 2016). Digital dysmorphia may manifest into positive self-perception in that filters offer a fun, non-permanent way to perform different versions of our identity, especially when we are unable to in real life. This can be a liberating experience, when the intentions are to defy beauty conventions or used lightheartedly.

However, what often occurs is a dissonance between the digitised image and real life. Filters often carry a cultural bias within them, shaping faces they detect into the often feminised, heterosexy ideal. As Barker (2020, p. 209) mentions, this may include thinning the face, shortening and pinching the nose, lightening the skin, plumping cheeks, smoothing skin, and either enlarging the eyes or making them appear more feline (see video below). By ‘perfecting’ faces indiscriminately, filters create a standardised form of beauty which appears to be an amalgamation of attractive features from each culture, birthing an ideal which is unattainable offline without cosmetic enhancement. When everyday users see their own digitally altered image, and those of influencers and celebrities popularised on Instagram, there is an increase in pressure to keep up with this superficial image offline (Trembley et al. 2021, p. 46).

References

Barker, J 2020, ‘Making-up on mobile: The pretty filters and ugly implications of Snapchat’, Fashion, Style & Pop Culture, vol. 7, no. 2-3, pp. 207-222.

Coy-Dibley, I 2016, ‘“Digitized Dysmorphia” of the female body: the re/disfigurement of the image’, Palgrave Communications, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 1-9.

Facebook/Spark AR Creators, 'Facebook AR Filters' [image], in Sodhi, T 2020, Facebook Messenger, Portal Getting Third-Party AR Effects Starting Early 2021, Gadgets 360, viewed 19 April 2021, <https://i.gadgets360cdn.com/large/sparkar_facebook_1600334385788.jpg?downsize=950:*&output-quality=80&output-format=webp>.

Monalisa 2020, Aesthetic instagram filters, 15 December, viewed 19 April 2021, <https://youtu.be/0jXkDQfiuN0>.

'Stylish Instagram Filters' [image], in Dooley, T 2019, How to Unlock The Most Stylish Filters On Instagram Stories, Teen Vogue, viewed 19 April 2021, <https://assets.teenvogue.com/photos/5d1142dde410379a35994e16/16:9/w_2560%2Cc_limit/Insta%252520Filters_Story.jpg>.