#wgst320

[curlyhairqueen]

Blog Post: Week #2

How did Karl Marx predict such “capitalistic crisis” in our social media system today? 

Scary you might think how a person from the 19th century sought and predicted such unwanted outcome but folks it all came down to his analysis on and of communication.  Although social media nor the Internet were present during his lifetime, he managed to analyze government actions, interactions, trade, and even simple communication to which he determined would construct such future. He “analyzed how class, capitalism, and crisis / power work towards potential struggles”(Fuchs, 2017). In other word, Marx was able to devalue and deconstruct human interests in the aspect of the political spectrum and overall conclude how humans are capable of influencing and causing change either for the better or worse. He stressed the concept of “social” because it is the simple outcome of natural human interaction to which now takes place in different formats that would influence on a greater spectrum in comparison to before. I believe his analysis helps one understand what is so social about social media and how interaction creates different stigmas to which now contributes society to be on all over the place. 

Why is radical inequality so visible in social media today? 

The simple answer I can basically come up with is: identify politics and fear. From as far that one can remember, politics and social media were the root of democracy; a political spectrum devoted and consented by “white” men, the fathers of democracy. When one thinks government in the 19th century, no one thinks about a Latino man in office yet alone making a radical and democratic change in society. Which is why radical inequality towards minorities are so visibly present; power structures have a fear to have representation of or for minority media ownership or yet representation. Radical inequality is present as a boundary or reminder that media ownerships/ censorship falls back on the white man to which he will do whatever possible, even show inequality, to get the point through that there is no diversified representation in media whatsoever. 

How have power structures used minorities in media ?

Like the saying goes, if a white man walks passed an officer with a gun he does not get question but if a person of color does hell is raised and the story is somehow always twisted to the officer’s advantage. It is that simple; the “horrific measures of the white press in fomenting mob violence and massacres against non-white communities is one of the lurid scandals of American journalism” (Gonzales and Torres, 2011). In other words, power struggles take advantage of the disadvantaged minorities to paint a picture in society, a negative one, off basis of scenarios that white people deal and commit all the time. They use violence, revolts, to then massacres to paint a picture that minorities are only in the US to make society worse or to simply bring everything down towards corruption when in reality the American journalism is the foundation of it. This is how we see ideologies towards certain races be portrayed or even stigmas come to life; the American journalism and media fuels racial inequality through the now easy to access outlets of social media. 

How does social media affect my daily life? 

Social media is my remedy to stressful days or even a getaway but it is also a wake up call towards my knowledge and acknowledgment. It is where I seek to get information for my own personal knowledge or for, say in this case, my classes. It is a gateway that affects my life now since it helps me see the discrepancy, exploitation, and even inequality that is present all around me. In other words, it affects my daily life by making me more knowledgable towards censorship of the power structures that make me seek to more than what is presented. It makes me wonder and explore towards the root of what is actually being presented. It was not like before that I would believe the surface of what the media would present without any questions asked; my new version questions what is being portrayed and has me do the work to which should of been done “correctly” by the media outlet itself. Hence, the media affects my daily life immensely but it also helps me understand how easy it is to convey society when not everyone acknowledges the “root of evil” presented. 

  Fuchs, C. (2014).  Social Media: A Critical Introduction. SAGE Publications Ltd, https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781446270066 

  Gonzalez, J., & Torres, J. (2013). News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media. European Journal of Communication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323113476985c 

#WGST320 #CSUFWGST320BADDIES

[stephsblog320]

Blog Post: Week 1 Due 8/27

When has technology failed me?

I would like to think that overall I am a pretty techie person when it comes to my own technological devices. However, when working at my last retail job we had so many issues with our computers, devices and whole system crashing on us. Whether it was the scanners not scanning, our devices freezing on us for minutes on end, or our entire system not letting us check our guests...we had a fair few issues. At a big store you'd expect for the system and devices to be pretty smooth sailing but that was definitely not the case. Of course, those technological issues would always come at the worst times with the most impatient customers...typical! Not only did this affect the experience of our customers but also our sales for that day and the stress levels of the workers, including myself. We expect technology to always be on our side because of the advancements we’ve made in a decade. We don’t expect it to stop working and when it does, we become stuck like we are unable to function. In my example, the technology failing me really took me by surprise and we had no other way of doing our jobs.

#wgst320

[avaranda7]

Blog post: week 1 due 8/27

A time technology did not live up to its promises was in high school when the app ASKFM was created. This app was developed to create an anonymous virtual bulletin board with different schools' information about events and activities. Soon this app went viral throughout my high school campus but for all the wrong reseasons. People were posting anonymous gossip about their peers and, to make matters worst, a student's nudes got leaked on this app. Staff and faculty had no way to stop students from engaging in this app, and students were coming to school upset because their personal information was being published in a forum for the entire school to see. This app failed its purpose because rather than unite the campus, it tore it apart. The only reason why it stopped was that the app was deleted.

#WGST320

[valhart320]

Blog Post: Week 1 (8/27)

A time technology did not live up to the hype.

Although technology has improved over the years, there was a time my family put too much fate into our GPS. We were coming home from a road trip using our GPS that plugged into the cigarette lighter. Taking the quickest route home soon led to us spending a little more time on the road. After making a quick stop on the side of the road for some fresh fruit, we headed back on the road through the mountains. Fifteen minutes in, we realized that we would have some problems as the GPS kept losing the signal. Following the route as best as we could, primarily due to there being one main road for most of the ride back, we could make it back home. Due to the uncertainty of the GPS, my mom was concerned about how long it could take to get home. Although technology can be beneficial, there are times where it does fail. This was around ten years ago, but there are still times where I have no signal and wouldn't have known where to drive if it wasn't for a friend.

#WGST320

[mohindi12]

Blog post: Week 1 Blog 1 8/27  When technology failed me

Around two years ago, technology failed to live up to the hype and misled me. My buddies and I used to be gamers, and we still are, but not nearly as much as we used to be. We played a variety of games, ranging from NBA to FIFA, but our favorite was COD, or Call of Duty. We would occasionally go live on twitch, which is a service where gamers can live stream video games. One day, as we were playing, a handful of strangers joined our stream and began joking around in the comment section, which is common, but things started to get odd and these random people began to reveal personal information.At first, it was just our names, which we assumed was normal because anyone could know our names, but then they started putting our street addresses and other personal information out there as well. That is when we realized we are being doxxed. Doxxing is when hackers use the internet to gather personal information and documents. We thought it was all done once we finished the stream, but one of my friends had the cops called to his house because one of the hackers had made a bomb threat. Fortunately, no one was wounded, and the cops were understanding, but things could have gone far worse.This incident is been in my mind ever since. The internet is a terrific place to find friends and a fun way to communicate with others, but it can also be a hazardous place to visit if you are not careful. Ever since that day my friends and I have been very carful we still live stream to this day but we are much more careful.  We make sure we don't go around saying personal information that other people could end up using against us. 

#wgst320

[melirodriguez]

Blog #1 Tell us about a time when technology didn't live up (to the hype) to its promises

For this question I kind of have two answers but I'll just share one of them. A time technology didn't live up to its promises was when I was using snapchat to find the name of a song. Snapchat has a feature in which you can tap and hold on the screen like if you’re trying to focus the camera and it could read a song playing or a product. Well, when I was at the store a couple days ago, there was a certain song that came up that I used to listen to growing up, but I forgot the name of it. I remembered that snapchat had a feature that can discover any song, but once I gave it a shot, it didn't work. Even when I’m close to the music it can never detect the song, which is disappointing.

#WGST320

[itsmedianuh]

WGST, Quiz #3: Short-Answer

1. Determine what kind of social media site you are creating. Then answer the following questions, explaining your decisions. (Remember the key here is to create an ethical algorithm model).

The social media site I will be creating is a mix between Twitter and Instagram. I will take a few very notable features from both platforms and create a safe space that will focus its basis on body positivity and self-love. This will be an all-inclusive platform for all genders and ages sixteen and older. The platform will have multiple subsections for different aspects such as body positivity for mothers, men, women, (including a very safe space and welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community), weight loss, outfit of the day, and overall an atmosphere that allows individuals to uplift, compliment and help one another through positivity. It will be called Beautiful People. It would be structured in the format of a photo blog.

2. What will you measure? (ex: likes, hashtags, how long someone stays on a page, etc).

I will be measuring through hashtags and the duration spent on a specific subsection. The amount of likes on a post will be left invisible, negative comments will be reviewed, deleted, flagged, and first given a warning followed by a suspended account— stressing the importance of spreading positivity and being kind especially on a platform where people are sharing some of their most vulnerable aspects of themselves. The rest of the comments will remain under the post as long as they are not negative, harassment, spam, threats, or mean. This will create a discussion flow and strengthen the communities online. If an individual spends a lot of time particularly on one subsection or a hashtag, this will most likely appear in their feed first. There will also be a page that has the hashtags that are trending and being used the most that day to bring awareness to an aspect or topic that can be relatable or to learn more about. Users will have to verify their email or phone number to avoid bots as well. This site will be accessible to anyone from ages sixteen and older. 

3. How will you weight these factors? (rank factors from most important to least important).

Comments on a post and hashtags would be the primary measurement. This is due to the fact that if a post receives a lot of comments and incites a conversation with a lot of engagement, it is creating a conversation within the community that is either needed, relatable, or overall helpful and educational. Hashtags will allow for organization within the platform and if a specific hashtag is being used by many users at a specific frame of time, it shows an importance to the relevance on a specific subject matter whether it be about stretch marks, postpartum bodies and/or experiences, breast cancer survivor body positivity, etc., this will allow for engagement and overall advice, motivation, tips, and overall learning from one another and ourselves. The least important would be likes and followers as this will not be displayed to the public, only for the original user to see as Beautiful People does not want to create a sense of ‘popularity’ or ‘reward feedback’ type aspect as its not a competition with one another, and the importance of likes and followers should not be stressed on this platform.

4. What factors will not be measured? (what will not be measured in your algorithm and why).

Factors that will not be measured is location or region of a user, religious affiliation, social class, and overall the number of likes on a post because there are many cases that a post receives an overwhelming amount of likes yet is not positive, helpful, informative, or overall welcoming— we see this with celebrities, hate speech, and politicians. The amount of followers will also not be visible to the public to avoid creating that popularity competition and comparison among the users and overall community. We want to avoid having any room for users to compare themselves to others, and focus on supporting and uplifting each other, spreading positive vibes, and growing confident, comfortable within their own bodies, and feeling like they have a safe space to vent, be themselves, seek advice and create positive communities.

5. How will the model learn or adapt to new information? (this can include changes in language, etc).

The model will learn to adapt to new information and conversations by fact-checking new content and providing accurate information resources, and by slowly filtering to a user's likes and engagement on specific posts, topics, subjects and categories. If a person spends a lot of time and likes specific posts with similarities, this will tailor their feed to this. There will be a lot of efforts from the Beautiful People Team in reviewing and monitoring posts, hashtags, and comments to avoid any harassment and hate speech. Users will also be allowed to report posts or comments if they feel uncomfortable, targeted or any form of bullying from it. 

6. What biases will be built into the model? How will this change the algorithm’s outcome?

The biases that will exist are the ability that users will have to mute/block and make certain topics or posts invisible for whichever reason they may feel is best for themselves and their own mental health. In order to keep users in full control of their content, they will have the ability to block users and have control of who can and can’t see their content. 

7. How will the model live out the (un)ethical practices we have discussed?

The model will live out the (un)ethical practices we have reviewed and discussed by taking that extra step in reviewing the content that is being discussed and shared on a social platform. Content will be reviewed immediately, comments, posts, hashtags, and trends to make sure it stays a positive and overall safe space for people of all sexualities, ages, gender, race, etc., users will have that access and ability to have full control of content/users they may not want to see, and users will not have the lingering anxiety or factor of followers and like count on their posts, made public, to avoid the overall stigma and judgment that comes from that—not only for the user but also for the community as a whole to avoid the aspect and possibility of comparing themselves and their content to others. 

#WGST320

[christinexx]

Week 11: Blog Post Due 11/04

1. How effective is Black Twitter?

     “Black Twitter, a subculture within the Twitter platform, materializes through the creation of hashtags,” (Lee, 2019). These hashtags are usually found in posts that comment and criticize events and discriminatory systems based in the U.S. Some notable acts that this subculture of Twitter has done was call out inaccurate information by the Associated Press (AP). The AP reported a case where a man shot Regina McBride, a woman of color, and the headline was written in a way that sided the man, claiming he had done it out if fear for his life. It completely ignored the high possibility that it was more likely a hate crime, causing an uproar in social media. In response, black Twitter began posting relevant headlines relating to issues in today’s world that were dripping with satire and using the #APHeadlines to show how ridiculousness the AP sounded in their last tweet. In the course of three hours, the AP noticed the backlash and changed their headline into a neutral tone, showing the power of the Web.

2.  Now that everything is online, can we have social revolutions on places like Twitter and Facebook?

“The Internet is a techno-social system consisting of social networks that make use of a global network of computer networks (Fuchs, 2014). The Internet is used as a tool to exchange and spread information about social issues. I wouldn’t consider it to be a place where we would have a revolution, but as one of the most effective methods to stir social unrest as a mean to transform corrupt systems in the outside world.

3.  What are some cons to solely participating to online activism?   

One down side of solely engaging to activism online is that we won’t ever know how serious the situation is just by reading it. Now that this world has been transitioning to digital, our minds are over-saturated with information nearly everyday. The information we process becomes passive because we are reading instead of watching and experiencing what is going on in different sides of the world. We also are used to receiving information instantly, thanks to social media, so reading the headline sounds just as good to the most of us when it’s actually the worst method of information-gathering.  Another down side is believing we are activists just by retweeting or sharing one post about a social awareness issue. Spreading information is great, but there is so much more left to be done. 

4.  How is technology used in digital warfare between different sides?

Technology can raise social awareness to thousands of people in a second, but it can endanger others. For example, there were many recordings of Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests that happened this year. People were posting it online to show active action against racially-oppressive systems as well as for justice against unruly murders of countless black people. Videos were also posted to show the world how U.S. forces were attacking peaceful protestors, openly showing how flawed America is. To discourage these protests, the U.S. government used facial recognition technology to identify and arrest these people. In response to this, BLM supporters encouraged everyone to either to take video without any visible faces in the frame or to blur out faces using video-editing apps on our phone before posting any footage. This is how technology is used to fight and protect on a digital battleground between opposing sides.

Sources:

Fuchs, C. (2014). Social media and communication power. In Social media: A critical introduction (pp. 69-94). London: SAGE Publications Ltd doi: 10.4135/9781446270066.n4

Lee, L. (2017). Black Twitter: A Response to Bias in Mainstream Media. Social Sciences, 6(1), 26. doi:10.3390/socsci6010026

Vegh, S. (2003). Classifying Forms of Online Activism The Case of Cyberprotests against the World Bank.

#wgst320

[elizaorelijah]

Week 12- Creating Virtual Communities

Is it unfair that White people are profiting off of Black womens’ hair care products?

White-owned companies like L’Oreal and Alberto Culver dominate and control more than one-third of the black hair market (Lee, 2015, p. 6). It indeed is unfair to women of color. They are told by white people from schools to jobs to the military that their hair is styled in unacceptable conditions. With this said, Black women aim for a smooth and sleek look that requires them to spend an unnecessary amount of time and money fixing their hair to the standards given to them. It is unfair that these people expect the women to spend more and more money to abide by the outrageous standards that don’t exist to anyone else other than Black bodies. The people that should be making over one-third of the profits of Black hair care should be Black bodies or women in particular. White people profiting off of them and their ‘insecurities’ of some does not sit right with me.

Are people narrow-minded and racist if they believe long weaves increase attractiveness?

Yes. Patti Stanger is one of the many people that urge Black women to straighten their hair to “improve” their appearance. Patti is a matchmaker that has her own TV show and told one of her guests to “weave her short afro…in order to become more attractive” (Lee, 2015, p. 9). She is one of the many people who do not believe that Black hair is beautiful, leaving a bad impression on many. These people that prefer long weaves are the same people with the racist mindset that believe natural hair is ugly or unattractive. By wanting Black bodies to change their hair inorder to conform to their perspectives of beauty, these people are close-minded and racist. They are racist if they think that there is no other beauty aside from “white girl hair”. People with a spotlight like Patti should use their influence for good instead of telling her viewers with similar hair that the way they were born isn’t beautiful. All hair and people are beautiful.

Why are age, religion, ethnicity the ties that bind a community together?

Age, religion, and ethnicity are the factors that create communities because they are the strongest ones. These factors are the ones that offer the most shared interests and stories for others. It makes sense that two teens are going to get along and have more in common than a teen and someone in their mid 80s. People are more likely to interact with each other and build more relationships if they have shared backgrounds and interests (McLaine, 2003, p. 7). There is going to be more to talk about and the individuals will enjoy the other(s) presence and what they have to contribute. Ultimately, these three factors are what contribute to the strongest communities.

How do video games like Animal Crossing teach about the real world and commodification?

At the start of the game, Animal Crossing has people take out a loan to pay for a mortgage of a house they cannot afford. In terms of the real world, it teaches younger generations the negatives of loans and the hardships of paying them off. It may even give them a bad representation of loan by allowing them to think that taking out more than one is a good idea. Nonetheless, they learn more about earning and spending money than in school. As for commodification, users can take advantage of the soil around them and turn it into capital. It teaches people to make and share items of value to others for money. They can exchange items for economic value.

Bogost, I. (2020). The quiet revolution of Animal Crossing. The Atlantic.

Hathaway, J. (2014). What is gamergate, and why? An explainer for non-geeks. Gawker.

Lee, L. (2015). Virtual homeplace: (Re)constructing the body through social media. 91-111.

McLaine, S. (2003). Ethnic online communities: Between profit and purpose. 233-254.

#wgst320

[winderbecky]

Week #7 Blog Post due 10/7

1. Why do you think that women on the online dating source OKCupid “sought out White men as partners” (Senft and Noble, p. 107)?

For one thing, White women claimed that they had “no preferences” on whether or not the man they were looking for was of a certain race. However, they only really answered back to men who looked like them. In other words, they did have a preference, and they wanted to be with a man of the same race. A reason they might have done this is because, according to the research blog of OKCupid there was “a huge fear on the part of the commenters about being labeled a racist” (Senft and Noble, p. 107). Hispanic and Asian women also looked for White men as partners. The reason for this may be because our country is run by White men.

2. What is “Black Twitter”?

“Black Twitter” is basically the idea that “25 percent of online Blacks use Twitter, as opposed to 9 percent of online Whites” (Senft and Noble, p. 114). In other words, more Black people use twitter than White people, and they use it to connect to people who may have similar experiences as them. According to Senft and Noble, “For Black users, signifyin’ on Twitter allows not only opportunities to reject ‘colorblindness’ but the chance to connect with others to ‘create and reify a social space for the ‘Blackness’” (p.114). Twitter allows people to find their safe space, where there are people who have gone through the same things as them and want to fight to make things better for everyone.

3. How is it possible that Netflix can tell what race a person is?

Netflix can tell a lot about the shows and movies that someone watches. According to Benjamin, “Netflix and other platforms that thrive on tailored marketing do not need to ask viewers about their race, because they use prior viewing and search histories as proxies that help them predict who will be attracted to differently cast movie posters” (p. 43). They are going off the idea that Black people will be more attracted to movies or TV shows that have a strong Black cast member, and White people will be more attracted to movies or TV shows that have a strong White cast member.

4. Why have White supremacists had great success in the digital era?

For one, Twitter has a “relatively hands-off approach when it comes to the often violent and hate-filled content of White supremacists actually benefits the company’s bottom line” (Benjamin, p. 49). Twitter doesn’t really care or do anything about censoring content that is posted. White nationalists “generate harassment campaigns that target people of color, especially Black women” (Benjamin, p. 49). People who see harassment are expected to report the harassers, if they do not, then nothing happens. Twitter basically puts it in the users hands to determine if what is posted is okay or if it should be considered harassment.

Sources:

Benjamin, R. (2019). Race After Technology: Abolitionist tools for the new Jim Code. Cambridge: Polity, 41-88.

Senft, T., Noble, U. N. (2014). Race and Social Media. The Social Media Handbook, 107-125.

#Wgst320

[georginna-shnani]

Week 13 - Short Answer Quiz #3

1. Determine what kind of social media site you are creating. Then answer the following questions, explaining your decisions. (Remember the key here is to create an ethical algorithm model).

 The social media site I would create is a platform such as Twitter but a more modified version that is inclusive and prevents racist, sexist or any form of vulgar tweets. Businesses and people that want to use it just for personal reasons to express an opinion or share their interests or what not are able to use it.

2. What will you measure? (ex: likes, hashtags, how long someone stays on a page, etc) Be sure to explain all your decisions.

 What I will measure when I create this other form of “Twitter” is the tweets put out there and determine if they flag the sites guidelines of what is acceptable to tweet or not. I will also measure hashtags to see what kind of hashtags are being put out there and if they are appropriate or not. These measures would keep the site fun but also safe and accepting.

 3. How will you weigh these factors? (rank factors from most important to least important)

 I would weigh these factors by allowing users to pick and choose what they want to see on their feed by giving them the option to take a survey of what they want to see. I feel as if this would be beneficial for people’s mental health as well if they do not want to see anything that triggers their trauma or what not. This would definitely be important to add because it would benefit a lot of people’s mental health.

 4. What factors will not be measured? (what will not be measured in your algorithm and why)

 The factors that will not be measured on this site is gender, sexual identity, race, etc. The reason I would not include these factors is because I would not want anyone to be discriminated against because of these factors and I think it would be more beneficial for people to have these factors private.

5. How will the model learn or adapt to new information? (this can include changes in language, etc)

 The model will learn to adapt to new information because of the built in algorithm that will always update the site when new information needs to be added or what not. The algorithm will continuously update any changes that need to be modified and always keep up with new information to update it. 

 6. What biases will be built into the model? How will this change the algorithm’s outcome?

 The biases that will be built into this site is that there will be a no hate tolerance whatsoever. Everytime someone posts something that is even slightly hateful, it will be taken down immediately and that person can never make another account on this site ever again. Doing this would change the algorithm’s outcome because a lot of people can be safer and not feel scared to use the site.

 7. How will the model live out the (un)ethical practices we have discussed?

The way that this site will enforce the unethical practices that we discussed in this course is that there will be no room allowed for any sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic or any other discrimination allowed on this site that will minimize someone and make them feel left out or less than from other people. This will also be a site where it holds people accountable for their actions and also make it extremely impossible for someone to create an account again if they are participating in any form of hate.

#wgst320

[curlyhairqueen]

Week 1 Blog Post  (due 8/27)

STORY-TIME: How Zoom exposed me 

Ahhh who doesn't love technology now a days! You can photoshop literally anything in a picture, text back without using your fingers, and even track loved ones with a click of a button; very convenient if you ask me. Especially for us college students that, due to COVID, had to transition fully online for quite some time. This had us rely again on our beloved friend technology, specially Zoom. Don't get me wrong, Zoom has changed my world for the better! I can literally be in class with my pajamas on and not worry about the traffic on the 57 I would be in if I were to be attending in person or even worse, the school parking. I guess you can say I had nothing but a love relationship for Zoom until that one day came. Unfortunately, I was positive for COVID the week of midterms having every symptom possible but still doing whatever possible to attend class etc. That week, specifically during one of my CAS classes, I had the immediate urge to throw up. I had been running a fever and things were just not good for me. My first initiative was to run to the restroom and take my laptop with me to not miss midterm review. Well, let's just say I should've thought about that twice. Keep in mind, my camera and sound was off. Now I'm sorry if this gets personal but its part of what makes the story haha. Okay so as I ran to the restroom I placed it on a shelf we have to which faces the toilet bowl directly... to where my camera decided to TURN ON. Yes folks, turn on. The class saw everything from me sitting on the toilet and throwing up to then me noticing, in embarrassment, that my camera was on. Till this day I don't know how in hell it turned on how, on top of that, my screen managed to grasp my professors attention. In other words, technology failed me terribly. I WAS SO EMBARRASSED. Anyways, if you have not invested in a camera cover, please do so and learn from my mistake! Hope you all enjoy my embarrassing story lol!

#WGST320

[rsanntn]

Week 10 blogpost (10/28/20)

1. How does a troll affect someone's reputation online? A troll is someone who shares or responds in an unusual way that disrupts a person or community online. With that being said, a troll or a group of trolls can affect someone's life by having the power to anonymously type negative and/or post hate comments towards a group or a person. People respond to someone else's criticism differently. Trolls who usually do not care about what they say online can affect someone emotionally or mentally in a negative way. Such as when Leslie Jones was faced with trolls online hating her for a movie she did without any reasonable cause. 2. How dangerous is it to have the ability to create a character online and have the vulnerability of being exposed to a lot of criticism? Reddit is an example of a social media that allows its users to not only find information but also to entertain themselves by communicating to people online. However, this also encourages its users to make up a persona online that they do not have to take responsibility for when damage has done. Not ony does it harm other users by posting false information, it can also make a user vulnerable to online hate comments or can put their private life at risk. Such as when Grandpa Wiggly was being forced by Reddit users to identify himself, it put the creator of 'Grandpa Wiggly' at risk and it also breaks the trust in the online community. 3. How do trolls affect the trust of online users with other users? Trolls are obviously a disruption in the online community. The creators of these troll accounts are purposely made to hide their identity to be able to post or reply whatever they want without being responsible. Now, having that control affects the trust between online users because one might be communicating to another but has no knowledge of whether this user is genuine. "Whether a troll is impersonating a living person or fictional persona, he or she undermines the integrity of the community (Phillips, 57)." This makes the online community not reliable when it comes to getting to know a complete stranger or by obtaining information from it.

Bergstrom, K. (2011). “Don’t feed the troll”: Shutting down debate about community expectations on Reddit.com. First Monday, 16(8).

Phillips, W. (2015), "Defining Terms: The Origins and Evolution of Subcultural Trolling”. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture. pp.55-57.

Silman, A. (2016). A Timeline of Leslie Jones's Horrific Online Abuse.

#wgst320

[jbuenrostro00]

Week 8 Blog 10/14

1. How can the relationship between a made up persona (Annanova) and a person distort their view on real life relationships?

“In much traditional media reception the consumer can be said to view the media content. In the computer game scenario the user operates the content (Lara Croft).” With that in mind, some people may feel the comfort of being able to manipulate their relationship with someone. The simulated newscaster (Annanova) is programmed to be content with the user and easy to manipulate. In contrast, many real life people are the opposite of “pleasant content” and can prove to be difficult to associate with. This won't cause confusion for people to develop relationships with organic humans but since “we have reached a cultural moment in which the concept of interpersonal extends beyond humanism...” it will be seen by some as too much of a task to create those genuine connections. 

2. What issues can arise from the development of cyber bodies?

The cyber bodies of female are bringing back “...old templates, against which normality beauty and legitimacy can (again) be judged.” The women in the cyber world are sexed through morphology and are typically made with unrealistic features including excessively large breasts. With developers being able to create the bodies, it allows the comeback of judging female bodies in comparison to a cyber body. “Virtual bodies, as it turns out, are not the human translated into data but the data embodied as a fantasy of the female.” Developers and users are able to create and interact with their fantasy female which will in turn put down the realness of a  real female. This creation of hyper-femininity reintroduces one-dimensional understanding of gender. 

3. What is the difference in screen names between White men and White women?

For White men, their screen name tends to be symbolic and/or also have connection to a White hero. A man by the name of diabloblanco14 expressed that his name came from Muhammed Ali describing White nationalists as “white devils” and that he wanted to embrace that. He said that he, as a White man, needed him and his race to become white devils in order to create the society they want. He then described the 14 as a quote of his “We must secure the existence of our race and future for White children.” In contrast however, White women did not really have any meaning behind their screen names. Many white women chose names such as WarMaiden, Classic-Goddess, Norwegian14Beauty. These names show that the women did not chose signifying names which leads to the point that the author made in saying that “men tend to choose screen names that refer to honor and heroes and martyrs of the movement.” The women often described their names in terms of beauty of a city or of themselves which is drastically different compared to White men. 

4. What is the difference in White supremacy online and White supremacy in the print-only era?

White supremacy in the print-only era was much less complex and did not have the ability to to reach others in different countries who shared the same beliefs. The print-only era of White supremacy was contained by the “...one-way, top-down communication strategy of printed newsletters published by a few (mostly male) leaders. White supremacy online however has led to the creation of translocal whiteness. Translocal whiteness “transcends national boundaries in favor of racial and ideological boundaries.” This allows White supremacists around the world to interact with each other and use the source from a third country to align their views such as the American and Canadian who used a historical example from the Czech Republic as a way to align their views. 

Sources:

Daniels, J. (2009). Gender, White Supremacy, and the Internet. Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights (pp. 61-86). Rowman & Littlefield.

Haraway, D. (1991). A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (pp. 149-181). Routledge.

O’Riordan, K. (2006). Gender, Technology, and Visual Cyberculture. Critical Cyberculture Studies (pp. 243-252). New York University Press.

#wgst320

[xwestcoastwassyx]

Week #12 - DUE: 11 NOV 2020

1) What are the consequences that Black women – in America – face for not conforming to Euro-Centric standards of beauty aesthetics?

      It is far beyond known that the United States democracy is established to cater to the dominant white nationality that is centered around Euro-centric standards. The passage “Virtual Homeplace: (Re)Constructing the Body through Social Media” – by Latoya Lee – brings attention to the constant harassment, discrimination, racisms, and sexisms that are present in Western culture by stating that Black women constantly get backlashed for being in their natural, bodily state. To be specific, Lee mentions that Black women are constantly harassed for wanting to express their natural African-American heritage by choosing to be comfortable in their natural state of their body, specifically their hair (2015). Black women’s heritage, culture, and hair are beautiful and need to be shown however a black woman chooses to show their hair – whether it is in the form of an afro, locs, and/or braids. However, Western culture chooses to disagree with the following statement I have made and chooses to conform to the white national beliefs expressed by national leaders and mass media outlets that the black body is cruel, dangerous, and disturbing to society. I bring the example of seven-year old Tiana Parker who was suspended from her school because her hair was in the form of locs. Lee exclaims, “…that her hair [shoulder-length afro] “is a distraction to other students, which is a violation of school policy”’ (2015). This example is one of the many cases where officials harass black women for being in their natural state. In most cases, having locs, an afro, or braids are “not appropriate to have” and can come off as “unprofessional” in the workplace, educational aspect, and public sphere. However, the example of seven-year old Tiana Parker proves that Western culture is ran by White nationalist who constantly police and surveillance the black body – trying to control the black body and what women, men, and black children can do with their bodies.

      For not conforming to Western “needs”, black women are told to chemically straighten their hair or to get weaves so that they can come off as “professional”. The Euro-centric standards, especially, stress that black women should wear weaves because it fulfills the standards of the Euro-centric desires. It is crucially important to note that Black women also experience a form self-hate because of the constant backlash of being told that their natural hair is not beautiful. These discriminatory and inhumane remarks can psychologically mess with a person’s head and cause them to experience self-hate and embarrassment for being in their own skin. Hence, black women have formed virtual communities among one another to create a safe haven that provides a space of safety and encouragement to display their body and hair in its natural state.

2) What is a “virtual homeplace” and how is it established on internet blogs?

      The rise of social media and the Internet technologies have allowed for black women to form coalitions with other black women who face the same body shaming in the offline world. I will reference the passage “Virtual Homeplace: (Re)Constructing the Body through Social Media” – by Latoya Lee – once again to show the necessity of virtual homeplaces. To start, a homeplace is not limited to the online community and can be expressed in the offline society. However, we will focus on the virtual homeplace on modern, social media blogs. Virtual homeplaces allow for Black women to reshape and recreate societies views of the Black body and their hair. Latoya Lee asks an important question when stating, “To what extent do popular hair blogs, websites, and vlogs allow Black women to (re)think, (re)define, and (re)create an alternative aesthetic that places their bodies at the center?” (2015). A possible answer could be that the blogs act as virtual homeplaces where the Black body can be idolized for its natural state without any social judgements. These blogs also form an online community where Black women can come together to share their struggles and come up with solutions, together, as a healing process to move forward from the discriminatory actions they face.

      Hair blogs, created by Black women and who consist of a majority of Black women, act as virtual homeplaces and safe havens where these women can come together to create a healing process. In fact, the virtual homeplaces are so powerful that they bring the attention to mass medias and mass corporations (Lee, 2015). Black women connect with other Black women on these hair blogs and promote their Black owned hair businesses where women share advertise their products as natural and organic. Also, these bloggers advertise other Black owned businesses in support of their community members to help grow the virtual homeplace and bring it to life in the offline world. It is essential to make note of the difference in homeplaces between White women and Black women. According to Lee, White women create homeplaces to create a home while Black women – on the other hand – create homeplaces to formulate a space for care, nurture, and healing (2015). Black hair blogs act as virtual homeplaces to represent a site of resistance against the constant hate and discriminatory actions – both verbal and physical – that Black women experience every day in American culture.

3) Are these “online communities” established to formulate a sense of empowerment within a specific ethnic group? Are they real communities of healing or are they a place for fun?

      With the rise of technological advancements, many people head to the Internet to stay connected with others around the world – primarily through social medias. In the reading, “Ethnic Online Communities” – by Steven McLaine – he brings the importance in noting that online communities were originally created around a sense of security. However, McLaine also brings the importance as to whether these online communities are in fact spaces of peace, community, healing, and empowerment or places where people can make a profit off of their small, owned businesses. McLaine claims, “Rarely, if at all, these “community centers” inspire or facilitate efforts towards individual or group empowerment, organizing, and advocacy” (2003). Just because an online “homeplace” has the name “community” in its URL, does not make it an actual homeplace or community. A lot of the times, we see people actively on social media communities to advertise their products and make a profit for their own good, not for their communities good. It is important to support small ethnic businesses, we need to remember that that is not what online communities were founded under. Though, as previously mentioned, McLaine does claim that ethnic online communities and individuals small owned businesses are booming through the usage of blogs/vlogs on social medias – which is great – but, again, ethnic online communities are not created to advertise their products. They were established to create a sense of peace, security, and encouragement – to actively support one another who constantly face harassments of racism and sexism by the dominant white nationalists in our country.

4) Can “game journalisms” be portrayed as dangerous and corrupt in the gaming community?

      According to the reading, “What Is Gamergate, and Why? An Explainer for Non-Geeks”, Jay Hathaway explains the essence of the gamergate movement and its connection to game journalisms. The #Gamergate Movement was established to address the concerns of ethics in the world of gaming and journalism to protect user identity (Hathaway, 2014). Hathaway mentions the fact that game journalisms constantly deal with angry, middle aged men who attack the users on Intel – specifically women. An example of this was with the gamer Zoe Quinn who decided to create an online game that modulated around her experiences with depression, titled Depression Quest (Hathaway, 2014). Many gamers wanted to believe that she was attacked online for creating such a devastating game. However, it is apparent that she was received death threats and was harshly criticized because of the fact that she is a women gamer. This proves that those that are active on online gaming journalisms are commonly angry, corrupt, middle aged, White men. Their words are just words, however, words can do a lot of damage – as Quinn felt her life was in danger and felt the need to “couch surf” rather than stay in the comfort of her own home (Hathaway, 2014). These are a few of the ways that game journalisms can be portrayed as dangerous and corrupt because of the constant judgements and harassments people – especially women – face. Though, gamer journalism website developers have spoken out on the harsh abuse, they still have not contributed enough to ensure that these corrupt users are banned and stay off of their game journalism social networks.

Hathaway, J. (2014). What is gamer gate and why? An explainer for non-geeks. Gawker.

Lee, L. (2015). Virtual homeplace: (Re)constructing the body through social media. 91-111. 

McLaine, S. (2003). Ethnic online communities: Between profit and purpose. 233-254. 

#wgst320 #fall2020

[christaporm1]

Short Answer Quiz 3

Connecter-page is going to be a blog with photo blog elements. Connecter-page's goal will be to facilitate inclusive discussion on any topic with self-organized communities. Communities are organized by creators of said community or page and it is this person’s responsibility to moderate and regulate the exchange of ideas. Once a community reaches a mass of 500 active users the moderator who started the page will now have to step down. The next moderator must be elected by the active users for 1 month and moderators who are elected can step down at any time and are only allowed to be a moderator for a maximum of 6 months then elections must take place again. These community elected moderators will enforce the basic promise of inclusivity of Connecter-page and they are allowed to create more rules and employ their administrations of sorts to support their moderation of their community. Connecter-page will track likes on popular posts an example of how to pop the variety of content will be ranked will go as follows a community on meal prepping is created the post on the community page with the most likes will automatically be on the trending section of the said page with the most overall popular ones rising. To safeguard against the malicious, racist, and unexclusive community’s within Connecter-page above all community moderators will be Connecter-page liaisons who must have a degree in Women’s gender studies or other related social sciences. The role of the Connecter-page Liaisons will be to ensure the promise of inclusivity for all sexual orientations, religions, and races equally and they will have the final say in any matter even above community moderators if a violation of Connecter-Pages promise occurs one or more liaisons will step in to resolve the issue. By creating a space with the specific goal of inclusivity and equality then toxic communities can be promptly disbanded while those that promote inclusivity can continue to elect their moderators unless a situation arises where Connecter-page liaisons must take an active role to ensure the goals are met. This model allows for the community to police themselves fairly and the website will not track cookies or use an invasive measure to track its users. This website is meant to be a nonprofit to continue to support its operational costs noninvasive non-tracking advertisements can be displayed. I am confident that the safe and inclusive biases that are built into this social media platform will ensure that the promise of inclusivity and a safe space for all people to exchange ideas will be met. This model gives the community’s the opportunity to police themselves will severe violations require action to be taken by the Connecter-page administration.

#wgst320