2: Social Media Culture to the Commodification of Childhood
Social Media
Social media: the digital platforms that allow users to create and share content and to interact with other users.
Communicative forums have been open for 15+ years: content creation and interaction. Social networking has been around for 20+ years. Non-centralized tool of communication.
Impacts
interaction and relationships
learning and knowledge sharing
building personal & professional networks
user-generated content
globalized discourse and social justice
user-controlled discussions.
General history
1844: the first telegraph message invented by Samuel Morse. Historical roots of network communication.
1969: ARPANET → Advanced Research Projects Agency Network: sharing of data, hardware and software between universities
1980s: advent of small, affordable computers by e.g. Apple and IBM → democratization of information exchange.
1990s: early forms of digital social communication, the blog.
Social media is used to describe media in the 21st century. Suggests unique sociality compared to previous media. Term varies but linked to UGC and Web 2.0.
Contemporary Social Media:
Social media afford the differences in social experiences of each medium.
Traditional electronic media was limited in sociability: telephone, radio, TV → interpersonal and mass electronic media were stationary.
The distinction between personal and mass media was straight forward. Broadly stationary.
Traditional media: passive, packaged information. People were the consumers.
Social media: active/reactive, information is a conversation, people are the consumer or the producer. Curation through organization and selection — a dynamic exchange.
Contemporary social media: set apart by a new type of mediated sociability.
interactive, mobile, abundant, multi-mediality. → fundamental drivers of the media’s democratic potential.
e.g. abundance of political information increases political participation. Capitalizing on these characteristics enables protest groups and social movements to communicate in a more effective manner. Reaches wider audiences.
Sociological exploration: Telegraph & Twitter
Sociological relevance of communication technologies across historical periods.
Technology impacts societal boundaries, privacy, surveillance, and communication dynamics. → both send condensed messages to the global public and both viewed as a threat.
1700s play: satirize the telegraph as a threat. Advancements in technology can blur the line between private and public spheres; anxiety around surveillance. These are concepts that were considered in the 1700s!!
Privacy, surveillance and communication dynamics.
Discussion: technology & connection.
how individuals don’t deserve private lives anymore.
social aspects have become more centralized
how are children safeguarded on the internet → their access to the world has expanded so much, including their access to criminal groups. → To what extent should children have access to unvetted information?
to what extent should technology be excluded as an access to safety?
the line has been blurred between between personal and professional life → pressure to post.
LinkedIn and professional outreach
digital footprint, always online.
posts are public.
filtered by algorithms; what if you had a child? algorithms doesn’t have the capability to determine age
providing content for parents → psychosis of a child, child-based trauma? Should we be using children to be promoting our products?
the safety of our politicians and local representatives: should politicians be scrutinized on private holidays?
Social Media Stats
2005: 5% of Americans were using social media
2019: 72% of Americans were using social media.
Younger adults were the earliest adopters, but usage by older adults has increased in years.
Rural area social media use is less. → less reliable internet connections.
Canadians & Facebook
29 million Facebook users. 14 million check their news feed every day.
Rapid growth: Social media has been capable of adapting to dynamic social contexts and driven by technology. Human desires to communicate and economic considerations. Network, job search, it’s free.
Online marketing: great for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Direct to customer: eliminates the middle man, control over distribution and customer relationships.
Availability: easy to access.
Multiple channels: various platforms
Affordability: little to no budget to create content.
Health: 6 health implications. Younger users experience more — greater intensity in the use.
sleep loss
difficulty concentrating
declined physical activity
depression/anxiety
envy
frustration/anger.
Adolescents had a better understanding of their health because of their mobile technologies.
Cyberbullying: bullying has taken on a new form and it’s easy to find victims.
sleep problems
headaches
fatigue
poor appetite
lower grades
Females are more subject to relational/verbal assaults; males are more subject to physical assaults.
“When the bullying ends, the harm does not.”
Instances of public shaming have gained social acceptance.
Social media has exasperated cyberbullying in our society.
Forms: exclusion, harassments, flaming, trolling, cyberstalking, doxxing, fraping, impersonation, catfishing.
TED Talk: female gaming streamer cyberbullying.
Video games often have the most sexist representations of women.
Targets of massive online hate campaigns. → rape, sexual assault, violence, death.
Doxxing, perpetrators say “it’s a game.”
Maintain status quo of video games as a male dominated space → a boys club.
Fundamentally social game. → praise and approval of peers.
CLA: activist campaign.
Conflict Perspective
Focuses on the recreation and reproduction of inequality. Processes that disrupt society rather than contribute to its functional operation.
Digital divide → different access to technology.
Who is controlling media? What is being promoted?
The people in control of the media decide what the public is exposed to. Blind sides? Marginalizes other groups.
Media outlets owned by marginalized populations cease to exist. Media ownership is consolidated. Reinforces dominant power structures & ideologies.
Technological growth & other agendas → accompanied by cultural imperialism and other ideologies. When tech is brought to developing nations, it is often done with an agenda, e.g. economic trade, western influence, Chinese influence.
New media weakens the role of powerful people in the control and distribution of information. → encourages things like self-policing,
Unbalanced political arena: wealth can purchase greater online exposure. Access to media is a form of power, influencing public opinion and political outcomes.
How can voter turnout be increased?
Symbolic Interactionism
Technology is considered a symbol and is a social indicator (e.g. wealth, status) based on the technology that you use.
Pertains to a social construction of reality: subjectivity in the creation and understanding of reality. Like a reference group, comparing ourselves to media to judge our own successes.
Definition of identity
Carries different meanings depending on age, culture or community.
We define ourselves based on our perception of how others view our communications.