Madeleines Musings

References: 

Images:

Plasticity Labs, (2014), Crowdsourcing Tap [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.plasticitylabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/crowdsourcing-tap.jpg [Accessed 30 January 15].

 Throughout history there has always been a bully or a bad guy, these ‘characters’ have always had a purpose to hurt other people physically, emotionally and or mentally and of course they have often succeeded. Today these bad guys are referred to as ‘trolls’ and their trolling takes place online through social media platforms and their increasing ability to remain ‘anonymous’. ‘There’s a saying in social media that goes something like this “You know you’ve “arrived” when you’ve got trolls commenting on your work’(Fouts, 2011). For a social media troll to commence trolling, there is usually a motive for either being noticed or humiliating their victim. This is not dissimilar to a high school bully victimising an individual in front of their peers to appear ‘cool’ or to gauge a laugh from the audience; the difference with trolling is that it is public for entire networks to view and it can be done more frequently and in anonymity.

Many are quick to assume that it is the development of social media that has increased the opportunity for people to find themselves victims of online bullying and trolling. These views and opinions are failing to see the simple fact that these behaviours have always been present and it is the behaviours of the individuals behind the bullying that need to be condemned and not the social media platforms they hide behind.

 In Australia the issue of social media trolling has become so serious that Governments are now discussing the potential need for a ‘Social Media Ombudsman’ where they ‘would operate through the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) under an amendment to the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act (2005)’ (Xenophon, 2013). I feel that in a day and age where we are fighting for equality across all walks of life, the safety of women and children and freedom of speech we need to incorporate an equal need for our safety online! I feel it is only right for us to allow the Government a say in the way they protect us in online environments just as they should offline. I also believe their needs to be equal interest into ways to prevent these issues happening in the first place and that is only going to take place by recognising that the issues begin offline first, this is supported by Dana Boyd who stated ‘Blaming technology or assuming that conflict will disappear if technology usage is minimized is naive. Recognizing where teens are at and why they engage in particular acts of meanness and cruelty is important to creating interventions that work.’ (Boyd, 2014).

References

Boyd, D 2014, 'Bullying: Is the Media Amplifying Meanness and Cruelty?', in It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, Yale University Press, New Haven, USA, pp 128-52.

Fouts, J. (2011). Never Feed The Trolls. Available: http://janetfouts.com/never-feed-the-trolls/#axzz3Qm1fYMyJ. Last accessed January 31 2015

Week 5: Digital Citizenship: Activism and Protest

With the ability to publish information and messages to entire networks and audiences it is no surprise that social media and the Internet have progressed to now act as a platform for ‘Digital Activism’. For those unfamiliar with the term it is quite simply ‘the practice of using digital technology to increase the

effectiveness of a social or political change campaign’. (Joyce, 2010). The benefit of digital activism is most obviously it’s ability to reach audiences instantly at the click of a button and to have these messages circulating around multiple networks. Using social media as a form of activism however has its limitations, for it segregates potential supporters who fail to connect through social media and therefore the strength of the overall impact of digital activism can be debated.

 It also raises the issue of ‘Slacktivism’, and Clicktivism’ both of which referring to the plain fact that whilst Digital Activism can raise awareness and interest into an issue, the efforts of online campaigning do not necessarily reach the desired change. Anyone can click share, like a page or voice an opinion in relation to a campaign but for change to occur it evidently takes more. An excellent example of Slacktivism is the activist campaign Kony 2012, a campaign that aimed to capture Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony. The campaign caused uproar on social media and achieved heightened awareness surrounding the issue but it failed to reach its main aim of arresting Kony. However ‘this does not mean there is anything wrong with digital tactics. It just means that change is difficult, the powers that be are arrayed against it’ (Joyce, 2012). Local Digital Activism has seen organisations such as change.org encourage to petition for change online. The website has seen over ‘87,000,000’ (Change, 2014) petitioners participate for multiple causes worldwide.

 The term Digital Citizenship refers to the benefits of social media and digital technology for all of society and raises the question of how connected we need to be in order to be apart of this Digital Citizenship. The introduction of social media into society has ensured we are so easily connected as an entire planet. To think that I can frequently communicate so freely with friends and family on other continents so easily and compare it to 50 years ago where I would have written a letter is somewhat astonishing. It makes me wonder where we as a society will be in another 50 years time. I am interested to see where it will take us!

 References

Change.org 2014, ,viewed January 2015 https://www.change.org/en-AU

Joyce, M. (2010). Glossary. In: Joyce, M Digital Activism Decoded: The New Mechanics of Change. New York: International Debate Education Association . 218.

Joyce, M. (2012). Slacktivism is Like a First Kiss . Available: http://www.meta-activism.org/2012/11/slacktivism-is-like-a-first-kiss/. Last accessed January 31 2015.

Australian Politics over the recent years has in my opinion been somewhat of a shambles, and I feel that social media has played a great part in influencing this personal view. Social Media has enabled society instant access to the thoughts and opinions of others; a majority of my newsfeed often fills itself with political conversations and points of view. As a result I’m able to access information regarding political situations taking place in Australia that I perhaps wouldn’t have paid much attention to if a friend or colleague hadn’t gone on a rant about it. ‘The difficulty for Political Parties and individual politicians that those who seek to lobby governments are better positioned to use the centrifugal forces of social media advocacy than are those in power’ (Jericho, 2012). When it comes to Politicians using Social Media as a way of gaining approval from the public I’m quite conflicted. I can see the benefits and why it is necessary in order to keep up with the Digital Age and benefits of getting messages across quickly and efficiently but I really have to question whether or not it’s ethical. I say ethical because online personas aren’t always genuine, I think they leave a lot of room open for important information to be misinterpreted and followed for the wrong reasons.

Did Kevin Rudd gain public approval from a younger audience because of his ‘cool’ Instagram persona and witty tweets? Possibly! Does this mean they understood his motives and plans for the future of Australia? Unlikely! On top of this, I feel that social media becomes used to maintain popularity, and we follow irrelevant information from people in power, completely missing the point of their role in our society. Politicians should stick to campaigning through traditional platforms such as print and broadcast media, where ‘the news cycle is determined by the “professional content” that they produce, which is communicated as an event – the headlines, the breaking news’ (Holmes, 2013).

  Holmes, D. (2013). Can social media swing votes in this election campaign?. Available: http://theconversation.com/can-social-media-swing-votes-in-this-election-campaign-17679. Last accessed 3rd December 2014.