Digital Media Test #2

Community

• builds on each other

• bounded by close ties, shared values & belonging

• people are returning to one and the same place, and that they recognise one another

Disembodiment (R)

• the concept that the internet made it possible for people to make believe that they were anyone, or anything, they liked.

• anyone receiving the communication lacked the information or resources needed to validate the identity of the person(s) they were engaging with

Online Identity (R)

• we might target our identity performances towards different audiences depending on the online context

• our identities will move between the online and the offline context in ways that blur the boundaries between the digital and face-to-face

• technological tools to write outselves into being (posts, blogs, profile, comments, etc.)

• identity has become a more open issue than before

Asynchronous communication (R)

• communication that does not need to happen in real time

  • still comparably quite fast to standard mail etc.

• lead to a ‘conversational relaxation’ - giving users time to be more strategic about what they say, and how, which also enables more refined forms of self-presentation and self-censorship.

• makes it possible for very large groups of people to have sustained interaction.

Cyberspace

• relate to the imaginary and non-physical (sometimes called virtual) place where digital media communication and interaction happens

• It is the non-space where the message is when it passes from sender to receiver

• coined by sci-fi author in the 80’s from Neuromancer

Anonymity/Invisibility

• being anonymous, unknown

• removes personal responsibility and generates a perceived loss of individuality, it can also lead to people becoming more altruistic and more willing to help others.

• even those who interact online with little to none of these protective layers tend to feel that they are more anonymous than in some offline settings as well

• only relative invisibility, no pure - we don’t have to worry about our physical appearance or the sound of our voice as we communicate

Post-Anonymity

1. Truly anonymous places online are becoming rarer.

2. Social media encourage visibility rather than anonymity.

3. Our data are tracked and traced by others, and by ourselves.

Networks

• fragmented, open information, weak ties

• centred on the different sets of connections that can provide an individual with things like information, friendship, support, and social status

Imagined communities

• a sense of community relies largely on people ‘imagining’ – as in feeling, thinking, and talking – their communities into existence.

• As most online community members will never know most of the other members closely, and are even less likely to meet them in person, the community mainly exists in people’s minds

Ways communities can be formed:

• through social network sites

• through hashtags

• through groupchats

• through online forums

Third places

• a place outside of home or workplace, a free place for expression

• for example, coffee-houses, barber shops, gyms, libraries, parks, or streets

• the goal is that they are primarily about socialising with each other

• can be an online community like a facebook group for some, but not for another, there is a wide context of the use

True or false: You have to be a real of community to foster a sense of community.

False, networks can foster a sense of community without being one

Network (Centric) Society

• a society whose social structure is made of networks powered by microelectronics-based information and communication technologies.

• most of our network connections don’t know each other (shift from group-centric)

• about a large-scale and complete transformation of how society is organised around globally interdependent networks of production, consumption, business, politics, and so on.

Networked Individualism

• Rather than being members of external entities, such as a church or political organisation, networked individuals command their own unique and egocentric networks

• people have increasingly shifted away from tightly-knit communities

• it loosens the grip of communities that might be limiting, but it also takes effort because individuals must network actively to maintain ties

• ex: Everyone has their own personalizes instagram feed and everything revolved around them, with some people overlapping

Social Presence Theory

• the sense of awareness of an interaction partner is very important for the social effects of any communication medium.

• suggests that increased social presence leads to a better perception of the person with whom we are communicating

• people often disclose more intimate and private things in computer-mediated communication when compared to face-to-face communication

Hyperpersonal interaction

• people communicating digitally – with fewer cues than in face-to-face communication – might succumb to an over-reliance on the information that they have.

• We might assume that the people we are interacting with are more similar to ourselves than they actually are, which may in turn generate feelings of closeness and lead to an idealisation of them

• we also tend to manage our identities online in order to optimise the public image of ourselves - leads to behavioral confirmation, each person will further optimise their self-image

History of BBS and newsgroups

• In the early days of the internet, being part of a group online meant connecting to chat rooms, BBSs, newsgroups, or being a member of an email list.

• These places were separate from each other, and sometimes required quite elaborate processes to connect to, for example, through dial-up modems and dedicated software.

• Going online meant entering a certain ‘room’ of your choosing by logging on, then staying in that room for a period of time, and then logging off.

Visual turn

• meaning that there has been increased interest in how images and visuals, photos and videos, affect how we experience culture, and how we interact with each other.

• society is thriving on the production and consumption of images and depictions

• the very basis of sociality, held together by images, paintings, symbols, etc.

• this is a consequence of the development of film and cinema, television, colour printing, advertising, video, computers, and so on.

Postmodernity

• what happened when modern society, as we knew it during the 19th and 20th centuries, entered into a form of cultural crisis during latter part of the 20th century. 

• the idea that things could only get better, and the belief that there was always only one truth no longer seemed convincing to many people

  • This led to culture becoming ironic and artificial

• we are rediscovering the possibility of expressing things with our bodies after a long historical phase where words and letters have been dominant.

Selfie

• a photographic self-portrait shared on social media

• selfie is considered a social action

• groups together self, physical space, the device, netowkr

  • expects some form of social action in response

History of the Selfie

• Occurred for the first time in 2003 (Samsung)

• was originally intended for video calls but was soon adopted by users for taking stills at arm’s length

• The first use of the word ‘selfie’ is said to have been in Australia. In September 2002, a young man posted a photo of his damaged bottom lip, writing in a forum post on the site of public broadcaster ABC: ‘sorry about the focus, it was a selfie’ (ABC 2013).

  • word of the year in 2013, widely mainstreamed in 2012

Performativity

• suggests that nothing within our identities is fixed, so people maintain their gender identity, like any other aspect of identity, by repeatedly performing it in similar ways

• If people start doing things differently, society can gradually change.

Affinity spaces

• a name for a type of social setting that sometimes takes shape online

• people come together because of a feeling of similarity or like-mindedness

• coined by linguist & psychologist James Paul Gee

Affinity

• feelings of connection between people.

• A feeling of connection is an openness to interacting with another person.

• achieved through activities of social bonding in which people come to feel connected with one another, readying them for further communication.

Videos of affinity

• attempt to maintain feelings of connection with potential others who identify or interpolate themselves as intended viewers of the video.

• Ex: the videos seem to say: I am (still) here! This is what I look like! I am in this room! This is my life at present! You can still subscribe/like/comment on what I do! We continue to be connected! (youtube videos)

  • not for meant everyone, only for those who desire a connection to the video

• these videos are social actions that foster communities or networks.

Emoji

• small visual symbols, that we combine with other modes of visual and textual communication

• created in 1960s by graphic designer Harvey Ross Ball, paid $45

• crying laughing emoji WOTY in 2015

• literally means ‘picture word’

• first universal language system

Meme (R)

• an imitable, spreadable, customizable social form which was passed along as it evolved into a phenomenon shared by a large number of people.

• a shortened form of the Greek word mimeme (‘imitated thing’), and it refers to a unit of cultural transmission

• they can become appropriated and taken over by various political interests

GIF

• these are an example of how digital messaging and social media not only mirror face-to-face dialogue but extend beyond it.

• made possible by technological advances in the communicative system, and can be used in place of non-verbal behaviour

The affective turn

• happened in recent years, reflects a growing awareness in research of feelings and emotions for society and culture

• allows for new perspectives, some of which are highly pertinent in relation to digital society

• about how what we see online makes us feel

Affect

• an experience of intensity that can often be unconscious

• It is a particular energy, mood, or drive, which may in turn generate a particular ‘feeling’ with someone.

• comes before the individual, while feelings are personal experiences of this

• a force that attaches people to certain communities, networks, topics, tools, and so on

Actor Network Theory

• states that all subjects, human as well as others (hardware, software, gadgets, language, etc.) become what they are through their connections with other subjects

• actors must be understood through the networks of which they are a part, the networked connections are what make the actors come into being

• people articulate desires, deal with issues of trust, and foster interests, activities, and relationships that might be of deeply felt importance to them.

Friction

• generates affect, feelings, and emotions

Affective Intensity

• people’s uses of social media are generally driven by a search for intensity. We are looking for some kind of ‘affective jolt’.

• makes people use social media and pulls them back for more

• Calls for support, aggressive outbursts, descriptions of harm and hurt, or waves of sarcasm or amusement are the types of actions and experiences that knit digital society together

Stickiness

• things might be this way because they are loaded with both positive and negative affect

• content that’s emotionally charged is more likely to be remembered and shared

• might be measured by how often people reply or comment, share or like, or dislike, the content in question

Grab

• emotional hooks (humour, shock, curiosity)

• to seize for a moment, to command attention, to touch – often inappropriately, sometimes reciprocally

• occurs during production, consumption, interpretation, circultation

• ex: porn has strong grab

Resonance

• describes the grab, but also how user attach themselves to the content

• about connections between affective content and affective audiences and how they resonate, or dissonate with each other

• brands that align with their audience's’ values create lasting emotional connections

Flaming

• Online social actions that express affect in the form of aggression, insults, and hatred towards other users

• makes the affect ‘sharper’ and also can reduce people into stereotypes

• ‘a flame is not a flame until someone calls it a flame’ - have to be understood from the context of social norms

Online Hate

• Amplified by social media, leading to cyberbullying and hate campaigns

• People who are inclined to turn to radical groups are ‘nudged to greater extremes’ if participation in such groups takes place online

Cyberbullying

• refer to situations when bullying among peers, for example in a school or in a workplace, moves into the digital sphere.

• covers any kind of systematic and repeated abuse, harassment, or insults to a person by digital means

Trolling

• deliberate provocation for entertainment or disruption

• you must self-identify as a troll to be a troll

• posting opinions that one does not really hold, being intently categorical, making comments that are abruptly off topic, and so on (ragebating equivalent)

• motivated by lulz (the only reason) - the enjoyment of the laughed at victim

Lulz

• refers to a certain kind of laughter that is unsympathetic and ambiguous.

• It ‘celebrates the anguish of the laughed-at victim’ and expresses ‘amusement at other people’s distress’

Jakobson’s Model of Comms

• (I) Emotive function: Expresses the addresser’s feelings or attitude toward the topic; creates the impression of a specific emotion.

• (II) Conative function: Directed at the addressee, aiming to influence or prompt action (e.g., “Click below to subscribe”).

• (III) Poetic function: Focuses on the form and style of the message itself—how language is used creatively or persuasively.

• (IV) Referential function: Relates the message to a specific context or reality that the addressee must understand to interpret meaning.

• (V) Metalingual function: Depends on a shared code or language that allows both parties to understand symbols, words, and meanings.

• (VI) Phatic function: Involves maintaining contact or the communication channel between addresser and addressee.

Evolution of Aww

• R/Aww subreddit created in 2021

• cuteness has become a powerful social medium, cute content builds emotional connections & community

• LOLcat memes

• cute cat theory – web 2.0 is a space for people to make and circulate everyday things

• affective gestures can take the shape of cute cat pictures as well as of explicitly political discourse, the point being that affect is not a bearer of any agenda, but simply of intensity

History of Cyberbullying/Trolling and Message Boards

• the roots of the phenomenon were in newsgroups such as alt.tasteless and in the proliferation on the early internet of so-called shock sites

• Such forums nurtured a nihilistic attitude towards content, and fostered a culture of pointing unknowing web surfers to shock-images that ‘can’t be unseen’, or to completely pointless stuff.

• the infamous /b/ discussion board – a subset of the anonymous online forum 4chan – became a steady breeding ground for trolling. /b/, a ‘random’ board with a ‘no rules’ policy, became an incubator of sorts for making trolling into a coherent and recognisable practice.

Trolling and Politics

• trolling has gone mainstream, contributes largely to political convos

  • most commonly related to far right politics online, post-Trump

• pushing politics not based on logic, truth, or civility

• ‘Wild West of Communication’