The Importance of Collaboration: Public Protests

In light of the recent Presidential Election, the nation has erupted into a mass of hate crimes, protests, and citizens in varying realms of disarray. I'm choosing, this week, to explore a little bit the effects of publics and counterpublics on the reception of this outcome and how online collaboration has been playing into the general atmosphere of social media and these public spaces as of late.

"Such a public also has a sense of totality, bounded by the event or by the shared physical space,"

Warner, Publics and Counterpublics.In the case of the election, many, including myself, were bound

by the event of the reveal of the popular and electoral votes. Many were shocked as well as elated by

the results. This public event may have changed how many viewed the history and future of their

country. That night, the DOW dropped by more than 700 points. However, upon the end of this

election the "public" as defined by this event was gone. The public then had to be redefined. According

to Warner, the public at any given time is self organized and thus onlyexists as long as long as this

public is directly addressed or enveloped in their shared experience. Strangers were connected through

technology and their common interest and emotion over the results. Through this event, this public
was engaging with one another, posting on social media, sharing their emotions with their loved ones
as well as strangers, and creating a common discourse that connected them throughout the duration
of this chaotic and surprising elective outcome.

I thought of the protests happening because of the election all across the country as a kind of public as

well. These individuals were feeding into their own, shared, common discourse. These groups are

collaborating through what Warner defined as spin-offs of "conversation, answering, talking back,

deliberating." These groups are connected online and in person, as they are using online protest tools

such as CrowdVoice and WeTheProtesters to connect with others that were as empassioned by the

election as they were. However, these protesters could also be considered a counterpublic. Not
necessarily that they do not understand the election process, but that these protesters are active and
wanting to change the outcome for their own well being and the well being of their friends and families.
These individuals are using online and personal means to attempt to change the course of the election
up to this point. I, personally, find this amazing. I see that they are passionate and able to attempt
to change public opinion of the current President-Elect, and thus are engaging in their own discourse
and conversation to work against what they see is a White Supremacist mobilization by Trump and his
followers.

What it was Really Like to Vote in my FIRST Presidential Election: The Social Media Extravaganza

     Honestly, this election was a social media nightmare. As people live their lives increasngly on online platforms, people are becoming more comfortable revealing their political affiliations to others through social media. This election has brought us some social issues and other sides of people that I hadn't cared to explore before. I now know which of my Facebook friends are racist, xenophobic, feminists, and anti-feminists. I know which friends are critical of the words people say and which are not. Needless to say, I am glad this election will shortly be over, but none the less hope that it goes my way.

     Social media has also played a role in otrs views of complex social issues that have been present since before women were even able to vote in elections. Less than 100 years ago, women could not vote. That is, white women coud not vote. The 19th Amendment did not extend the right to vote to women of color, unsurprisingly enough. Yes, it is amazing that just 96 years after the passage of the 19th Amendment we are able to vote for a white woman to be President. However, social media has become aware of this fact- that Hillary is white. The famous suffragettes were only lobbying for the right to vote for white women. I'm hoping to use these social media posts that I have seen on my own social media feeds that follow to further draw attention to the disparitites that existed long after women like me gained the legal right to vote, and how votes are still being effected by the racism, sexism, and xenophobia of a now mobilized white America.

Kayla, Facebook. California. Black.

"I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work or demand the ballot for the Negro and not the woman." - Susan B. Anthony

Happy Election Day

@RedBeKnowing, Twitter. Louisiana. Black.

Any stickers left on the grave of Fanny Lou Hamer who addressed the 1964 DNC & was erased for her role in securing the vote for Blacks?

Nick F., Twitter. Arizona. White.

This is how it must feel to be facing a natural disaster: knowing you can't stop it and trying to keep up your spirits but you can't.

@K_A_DD, Twitter. White.

Trump will be on trial for child rape in December

Pence advocates for electro shock therapy on gays 

This is who you voted for 

@Amanditalks, Twitter. Black.

The elected officials of North Carolina SAID OUT LOUD THAT they were INTENTIONALLY suppressing the black vote, and look what happened. 

Happy Election Day, everybody.

#HilaryforPrision: Why Trump Supporters are Being "Censored"

It's really no question that Trump and his supporters are seen as racist and xenophobic, but also have egos similar to those of their chosen Presidential candidate. It may be the case, in the recent accusations for Twitter censoring Trump supporters' tweets, that Trump supporters are simply thinking they are more important than they actually are. Many are accusing Twitter of having blocks up on the traditional hashtag #HillaryforPrison, because they are trying to take attention away from Trump associated hashtags. Twitter, however, has had a longstanding reputation of shutting down potentially harmful political trends on its website. This threat to their perceived "free" racist, anti-feminist, and often xenophobic speech is what some may deem a favor. "Pro-Trump accusers came to the conclusion that Twitter was sabotaging the hashtag from trending when the F.B.I. surprisingly confirmed further investigations into Clinton’s controversial emails and did not see it have any effect in the Twittersphere," (Ojo-Medubi).

Others argue that Twitter is being partially governed by algorithms, and these hashtags are not trending because, simply, no one is really interested in what Trump supporters have to say anymore. Twitter has since denied to comment on this potential censorship, but instead has directed news sources to "a section of its FAQ that stresses: “Trends are determined by an algorithm and, by default, are tailored for you based on who you follow and your location,” (Lowe). In this case, the algorithm that is actually determining what individuals are seeing as trending may outline that Trump his supporters, and his opinions, are not as popular as these egoistic individuals may believe.

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Image: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CwGm5lLWIAAIRJJ.jpg:small

Lowe Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/why-is-supernumberhillaryforprision-trending-on-twitter/ar-AAjEKbf

Ojo-Medubi Source: http://www.inquisitr.com/3663352/why-did-typo-hillaryforprision-trend-on-twitter/

Social Media, Spreadable Media, and the Political Atmosphere

     A study published two years ago by the Pew Research Center shows that there has been a huge increase in the amount of older people that follow political figures and their campaigns on social media. Campaigns are being transformed digitally, just as the rest of the world is adapting to an increasingly digital age. To stay relevant, political figures are forced to have a solid and favorable presence on the internet and various social media sites. I believe that many of us can see this through our own recent social media experiences, whether our connections be to our families or others form the "older" generations. The public is growing more comfortable, regardless of age, with social media outlets as a place to utilize the one-to-many information relationship that these types of sites are providing to users. Alternately, one can think of this shift in the way of Jenkins in Spreadable Media, that social media has changed social interactions and has normalized sharing in such a way that social media users are able to change, adapt, and re-spread ideas freely, even in a political context.
   

     The most surprising increases, to me, have been from 30-49 year olds and 50-64 year olds. I remember when social media was first emerging, and my relatives were complaining that screen time with phones and computers were taking away from face-to-face interactions, particularly in those my own age. At this poit, it seems like an adage to be told not to allow the screen to become your antire life. With these widespread attitudes of disdain toward my genereation from elders and our use of the digital atmosphere, it is surprising there was not more push-back in the use of mobile social media by these older dempgraphics.

     However, social media is not a fad. It's not "going out of style" anytime soon. At this point, I find it hard to imagine all social media disappearing. Social media use has warped society in such a way as to so fundamentally change the way we communicate as humans. Social media has changed the atmosphere of the digital age and as facilitated instantaneous sharing, and in some cases, oversharing. However, this sharing can be used in political senses as well as in the sense of everyday life. Hashtags on twitter in response to different contemporary political comments include #DumpTrump and #CrookedHillary.

     Jenkins again explains in Spreadable Media that individuals have to choose to share this media, otherwise it isn't spreadable. Simple enough, right? The use of social media, in this case, was most likely spreadable in nature. These individuals of the more reluctant older generation that use social media outlets probably shared their interactions and opinions on these outlets, and others took their opinions into consideration when deciding whether or not to make accounts. How meta. 

     In cases of spreadability, I wonder if the same could be applied to politicians and their campaigns? Was Trump's rise to infamy due to the inherently (in my opinion) embarassing nature of his comments? What made his followers take him seriously? In addition, what kind of impact has social media made on thsi rise, in comparison to the campaigns of 2012, or even in local elections of 2014?

     Social media has become a widely utilized outlet for political campaigns due to its demographic: younger people, as seen in the graph as the spread of political connection through social media for 18-29 year olds. These connections to news outlets and other sources for political campaigns have essentially "burnt out" one third of social media users in a much more recent study by the Pew Research Center. I believe this is particularly obvious, even in our own classroom. Many of the women in this very 211 class are reluctant to talk about anything political when we discuss social media news, though the news surrounding the election is completely relevant and even important to discuss in a scholarly setting. 

     Being exposed to opinions, even those that differ from your own, is important, as we have touched in our brief discussions of the internet's "filter bubbles" in class, However, that is a discussion for a different blog post.

Copyright, Creative Commons Licensing, and Open Source

     To me, for content or software to be truly open, it must be accessible without any type of restriction to my obtainment of the medium. It can't cost money or require a membership to view it. I believe open access information, to be considered such, must have content that is truly really free and has no "copyright" or other policies regarding its use by other internet users. 
     
     I do believe that copyright law needs to be reformed within reason in order to incorporate the ever changing world of the internet. I don't think that a reform should call for every piece of produced content to be free to use in any way the public sees fit. Instead, I believe that a majority of the content that is to be produced should be licensed under Creative Commons licensing in order to facilitate the use of content, while still being able to respect the wishes of the creator
. 

     Generally, the Internet is an interface in which most people would not consider the re-post or other reproductions of copyright protected content to be a breach of copyright law. Instead, fan communities post the copyright content in order to spread and advertise their love for their favorite shows, brands, or comics. I don't think that fan created content such as .gifs or other types of edits are plagiarizing, but instead a type of labor that the fans decide to take part in in order to show how much they enjoy the copyrighted content that is produced by these companies or other artists. These companies' fans are providing their services without a thought of compensation on their part. Most companies and artists will allow the re post of their work within reason, and often if asked in a formal fashion. This is a step toward a Creative Commons license, as the creator and owner of the licensed good is able to have their content used under their discretion. 

     In addition, the use of original content on the Internet is hard to police. Many artists create original works, but find it hard to prove they are the original creators in order to have re-posts eliminated or otherwise find it difficult to see where their creations are being used. When browsing a website such as Tumblr, you see many artists on their posts asking for the other users to give them credit for the creation, or to ask for permission to re-post the work to another site. This, I believe, is an informal type of creative commons license. However, it is understandable that artists are outraged if they do not receive credit for their work. Their wishes are often being ignored when others re post their art or other works on different websites. many times, it is even the same site that the art originally was posted on, but some just choose not to "reblog" or attribute their love to the original. If the creator does not wish for their work to be published or otherwise used elsewhere, it is the responsibility of the consumer to ensure that their work is used in accordance to their wishes and to not contribute to the problem ourselves.

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Image 1: https://creativecommons.org/about/downloads/

Image 2: http://jamestheknight.tumblr.com/post/128548411190/ok-lets-talk-seriously-nhi-told-me-about-how

The Pro-Anorexia Conundrum

 First off, Lili Steffen defined the pro-ana "community" as more of a support network than the pushing of a certain lifestyle. But this didn't mean that individuals in this community were not living with this illness. However, this attempt at amateur recovery from an eating disorder is not mediated through health professionals, but instead is seen through regular human experiences that accumulate online and on online platforms.

One important aspect of the pro-ana phenomenon was the ability to share the experiences of the survivors and those struggling with both anorexia and bulimia. This sharing of experience translates into the "Sense of Community" reading, when McMillan revamped his arguments in 1996 to include the Sense of Belonging aspect as well as Emotional Safety. Other than these two defined community aspects of pro-ana, I would emphasize the emotional support aspect of these online connections. There is some sort of freedom of expression present, in both positive and negative ways. Positively, some could be celebrating some type of success in real recovery. Alternately, there could be others that are still celebrating their "successes" in losing weight as an anorexic individual. In addition, there is contrast with the other communities such as the Suicide subreddit, where there were health care providers and individuals not effected that could mediate the community in order to promote healthy eating habits or mental recovery form this illness.

Backlash to these online "communities" has come in many forms. Tumblr has banned certain blogs with this content or that otherwise promote anorexia as a way of life. Also, in France individuals that post pro-anorexia content on the web face jail time as a punishment. Tumblr has also used altercasting as a form of promoting health to its users searching for pro-ana content. Altercasting, as explained and defined by Lili, is the practise of projecting ideas of what someone else is through ones own behaviors toward them. Tumblr is thus stereotyping users that search for these pro-ana posts in pro-ana tags as anorexics themselves, and are treating them as if they need to be taken care of or otherwise coddled into recovery.

This "community", if we can call it such, also combats the marginalization of the members of the group. Discounting the value of sharing experiences with one another in an online setting in order to possibly recover in the future could not be the answer that these girls that search for a pro-ana community need. These groups of online anorexics probably wouldn't exist without the Internet, because individuals that are suffering and struggling with this illness aren't connected in person with others sharing their struggle. These pro-ana blogs and other resources for those that are affected by anorexia allow for a type of connection to others that understand and can relate with the experiences of others.

Often, mental illnesses that are associated with eating disorders are stigmatized in society, and the stigmatization can only be seen further when regarding those with other mental illnesses like bipolar disorder and depression. Anorexia is largely regarded as an issue of feminism and of the body image issues that society has placed upon the "normalized" female body: tall and extremely slender. These issues in particular in relation to anorexia and the ideals of obtaining a thin body through the absence of food disproportionately effect women.

Tags in particular are taken over by anti-pro-ana individuals in the fight of further demonizing pro-ana groups. These anti-pro-ana individuals argue that the presence of pro-ana pages and other types of gatherings of anorexic individuals to share their experiences are only triggering others into relapse when they are trying to recover from this illness. This also a very complex issue. Who are non anorexic individuals to say that these "communities" online aren't helping some to recover from their anorexia? This also brings up issues of the pro-ana community and personal identity: anorexia within these groups is seen as a lifestyle or otherwise something about oneself that they have to live with. It is not simply boiled down to a disease.

There is a type of value in being free to talk about one's personal struggles without judgment. From Lili's explanations, these women don't want to be defined by their illness. They want instead to talk about experiences in a community where its not treated as a disease but as a part of daily life. In addition, these pages and communities are started by the members and not mental health professionals. This, in fact, points to a need for online spaces where recovering and struggling anorexics are able to express themselves in a safe and judgment free environment. I believe that the need for these communities is worth exploring in the future, as well as the continued track of the progress of individuals within these online spaces that we can possibly consider an online community.
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Image 1: proana-anne.blogspot.com
Image 2: anorexia-is-not-a-diet.tumblr.com

Group Project #1- Reflections

We have recently turned in our first group project of the semester, and looking back on this project I would say my group had tremendous success! I am very proud of the way that we delegated tasks, worked together, and were able to create an aesthetically pleasing and information filled site about the rise after the demise of Harambe.

I think that learning about the different players that made this topic so spreadable over social media was particularly interesting, as the spread of "memes" through human interaction is sort of similar to the spread of diseases that Nicholas Chriatakis outlines in his TED Talk, "How Social Networks Predict Epidemics". This type of content spreads through the interaction of individuals on social media, and the inherent human aspect that each sharer puts on this content is interesting to see. With Harambe, we really saw how new "memes", such as the "Remembering Harambe Through Song" and "Dicks Out For Harambe" gained interest because they were influenced by something that was already popular and relatable for many in their consumption of media on interactive and personal sites. Human contact with media changes it, and as more and more people began to jump on the Harambe bandwagon, the meme gained new facets and could then spread to more people through these social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

If you want, you can check out our fabulous website here! A special thank you to my group members: Ana, Myles, Noelle and Karen. You were a joy to work with!

Photo Cred: The Edd666 on Instagram