Living online

A confession: I'm not admitting to currently having an Avatar or an online representation of myself, because I don't, but, I used to... And it was amusing.

In my early years at high school, I would use a website, aimed to be used by young people, called "Habbo Hotel" (for anyone who knows is familiar of this site, yes, I'm very embarrassed to admit it). This particular website allowed me to create a cartoon version of myself, visit an online hotel/resort and chat with other 'Habbo's'. I found it entertaining to sit behind a computer screen and talk to people I didn't know. I didn't have to think on the spot about what to say next, I could walk away when I got bored and best of all, I didn't have to bother getting dressed to 'socialise'.

Thankfully, I came to my senses and no longer use the website. 

This is just one version of a digital world that people can become addicted to. I found myself logging onto my Habbo account every single night to maintain my social status with fellow users. It became an obsession. 

'Second Life' is an online virtual world where users have the opportunity to live their life as in it were reality. Users can buy items we typically need in our real lives (a house and clothes in particular) for real money and communicate with other users, not by talking, but by typing (ABC net, 2012). 

Some people are so reliant on their virtual life that it can become a source of income for their real life. Anshe Chung is a perfect and very successful example. She is one user who found herself to become a millionaire property developer after selling prestigious houses on Second Life (ABC net, 2012). 

However, it's not all fun and games (no pun intended) in the virtual world. There was a horrific incident in South Korea where a couple starved their three-month-old daughter to death after devoting their time to raise a virtual child (Tran, 2010). Incidences such as these make me feel sick. Individuals that begin to deprive their own lives to live in a virtual world are kidding themselves. Do they forget that THESE WORLDS AREN'T REAL?!?! Not only are players putting other lives at risk but their own well fair is surely suffering too. It wouldn't surprise me if some users forget to feed themselves or even go to the bathroom! 

I quit using Habbo Hotel because I found it was becoming an obsession. I had my own friends (who I actually knew!), I am comfortable with my own appearance and I don't need to think for 20 seconds before typing a continuation of a conversation. As much as I was attached to my virtual self and found it amusing, I was not prepared, especially as a teenager, to swap my perfectly normal life for some time-wasting virtual one. 

References:

ABC net: Four Corners (2012) You Only Live Twice. [video online] Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20070319/default_full.htm [Accessed: 28 January 2013].

Tran, M (2010) "Girl starved to death while parents raised virtual child in online game", The Guardian UK, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/05/korean-girl-starved-online-game> accessed: Jan 28 2013 

Wiki-wiki-whaaat! WikiLeaks!

Julian Assange. How many times have you heard that name in the last few years? Born in Townsville, this "silver-haired Australian" (Wachter, 2010) is the founder of the headlining website WikiLeaks.org.

Some may describe Assange as a whistleblower, activist or terrorist. I choose the word "hacktivist". I come to this conclusion after reading about his efforts hacking into computers of the worlds most powerful leaders and organisations. He has unveiled information that is supposed to be confidential. Oh, how easy it seems to access private data. 
The "media insurgency" does not consist of paid staff, copiers, desks or an office and it is unclear of what Assange has done that is officially illegal.   

After I viewed 4 Corners documentary, "The Forgotten Man" (warning, footage may be disturbing for some viewers), about Assange and WikiLeaks, I began to ask myself "Why are authorities trying to stop WikiLeaks and shut it down? Assange is doing the right thing, he's exposing the truth to the world". Leaked footage shown in the documentary of the US army shooting down unarmed Afghani men, helped my naive mind come to terms with the concern governments and oganisations have with WikiLeaks and why such footage should be kept under wraps.  

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warns Assange that WikiLeaks "puts people's lives in danger, threatens our national security and undermines [US] efforts to work with other countries to solve shared problems" (cited in Kinsman, 2011). Leaking such disturbing and horrific footage can quite possibly amplify political issue surrounding the war resulting in terrible consequences. Unless the world's "secrets" are disclosed in ways that cannot be hacked, unfortunately for a lot of governments and organisations, yet fortunately for Assange's followers and fans, I believe WikiLeaks will be around for many years to come. 

Sure enough, certain information should stay within the government and organisations and this is a reason as to why there is so much controversy surrounding WikiLeaks. I can just imagine the discomfort I would feel knowing someone knew something extremely confidential about me, threatening to publish it on a website or social media site. It would be deplorable. However, in this day and age, big scandals are something that everyone will be interested in and want to know about and anyone who is willing to expose such stories has some real nerve! 

References:

Kinsman, J, 2011, 'Truth and Consequences: The WikiLeaks Saga', Policy Options, viewed 21st January 2013, <http://www.irpp.org/po/archive/feb11/kinsman.pdf>

Wachter, P, 2010, ‘Just Who Is Julian Assange, The man Behind WikiLeaks?’, Aolnews., viewed 21st January 2013, <http://www.aolnews.com/2010/07/26/just-who-is-julian-assange-the-man-behind-wikileaks/>

Politics

I remember when I was younger, I would come home from school, plonk myself in front of the TV, and watch ABC kids every weekday until the news started at 6pm. I knew then, that it was time for the adults to take over the then, remote-less television. 

I have a vivid memories of the ABC news as a child and remember how boring I would find it, especially when 'that short man with the glasses and funny voice' came on (aka. John Howard).

So I can safely say that politics has never been my favourite topic.

I knew the week would come that I would have to write a blog about politics and I was left pleasantly surprised when I actually became interested in how politicians use social media to reach their citizens. 

When I think about it, it's fair enough that politicians want to interact with the community, especially their younger audiences, through websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube however, what was really wrong before? Australia still needed to elect a Prime Minister 10 years ago before the traditional ways of political campaigns were subsided by social media. If anything, wouldn't you agree that seeing leaders such as Barack Obama, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd on these social media websites lessens their credibility? Knowing that world leaders can send a simple tweet or uploading a status to a nation seems a little informal to me. Would you agree?

In saying this, and I recognise that I'm contradicting myself, I must applaud Barack Obama's efforts with his recent campaign and how it involved social media. MyBarackObama.com was created to assist with Obama's campaign and lead to the creation of popular meme "Obama girl" (obama girl, 2013). With Obama girl receiving millions of views online and on television, especially from the vital under 30s, Obama's campaign soared to success and he was elected for Present in the US for a second term. 

In 2007, when Kevin Rudd was running for Prime Minister in Australia, the Kevin07 campaign used various social media sites, particularly YouTube, to reach their target audience. Again, the campaign was a success and was popular among younger voters resulting in Rudd being elected as Prime Minister in that year. I was not old enough to vote in 2007, however, I remember the campaign and although I had no interest in who the next Prime Minister was, I was pleased when Kevin Rudd was elected because I felt as though I knew him on another level. He used the same websites I used and to me, this was "cool".

It would seem that the use of social media during a campaign is the new fad in politics. I commend the use of social media and believe it is a crafty way to reach a wider audience, particularly because of the high percentage of voters being involved with social media one way or another. 
However, I don't believe using social media helps with politicians credibility. After visiting Barack Obama's twitter profile (see here), I find it a bit Kim Kardashian and consider it to be too informal and, to an extent, lazy. 
To conclude, citizens want an honest, strong and admirable leader who does right for their country. Social media use should be left behind in their personal lives. 

Digital Activism



When I log onto Facebook, 98% of the time I will come across a post on a company, celebrity or public figure's profile with tens of thousands of 'likes'.

Generally, I'll have a read of these almost-essay-long posts to find that a majority of them are negative feedback and opinions people have of a company or public figure. One post I saw late last year was a photograph taken of a salad from a well-known American supermarket. This wasn't any ordinary salad, there was a lovely, slimy frog sitting in the sealed bag (view image here) and the buyer felt it appropiate to upload this photo onto the supermarkets official Facebook page for all the world to see. Obiovusly, they succeeded if I, a regular girl from Australia, came across the image on my News Feed.
Some may decide that the author of this image is a "cultural jammer" made popular by Mark Dery. Culture jamming is defined as "a form of resistance to the hegemony of popular culture, based on the ideas of guerrilla communication and the detournement of popular icons and ideas" (Dery, M 2013). Basically, the person who uploaded this particular image may have done it purely to see is it would go viral because it's out of the norm or I could be completly wrong.. Maybe they wanted to complain to the supermarket and just decided to approach it over Facebook.

Sivitanides and Shah (2011) call this "Anti-brand Consumer Activism" and explain that "there has been a growing resistance towards certain brands and corporate globalisation" evident on digital technologies where anti-brand profiles, public posts and webpage communities have been made and numbers can increase dramatically in a short amount of time (2011).

Digital Activism has become such a popular medium for the average person to voice their opinion. However, for many that face social disadvantages, such as those living in developing countries or remote or rural areas, are unable to participate in digital activism as the cost and quality of their internet connection is not available to them (Sivitanides & Shah, 2011).

Although I am not yet convinced that Digital Activism is the right way to go about voicing an opinion, it saddens me that people living in disadvantaged areas of the world do not have the same options as those living in developed countries. In saying that, whatever is written about certain issues, companies or a public figure needs to be published with thought. I'm no therapist, but I would suggest to think twice about what you write because you never know what is going to go viral.

I'm sure that having a frog welcome you to your salad was as much of a surprise to the victim as the amount of views the image received after being uploaded.  


References:

Image: http://www.meta-activism.org/2011/06/global-digital-activism-data-set-our-sources/ <viewed Dec 7 2013>

Dery, M, 2013, Shovelware, http://markdery.com/?page_id=130 <viewed Dec 7 2013>

Sivitanides, M & Shah, V 2011, The era of digital activism.