Assignment 1B: Blog

 Politics and civic cultures 

Social media is practical in so many ways, and this will be established as we discuss how politics and political parties can utilise social media to their advantage during the campaigning process. Posting across a range of social platforms such as Instagram and Twitter will give a party an increased likelihood of adopting fans. These posts are designed to be persuasive, which means they will likely influence one’s opinion due to the abundance of good ideas and thoughts being outputted. Therefore, social media can be portrayed as a very influential practice.  

Twitter is a notable social platform where a great deal of information regarding a diversity of topics is available and at the fingertips of its users. Politics is one of the topics which is heavily discussed on Twitter, with parties and members posting mainly self-promotional content, as well as ensuring they are communicating with their constituents (Wikipedia 2022). Twitter is widely acclaimed for its use of hashtags, which are a way to categorise certain tweets and help people find what they’re looking for when inserting a phrase into the search bar. The hashtag “#auspol”, short for Australian politics is mainly used for rumour spreading surrounding the federal government. It has grown significantly in popularity since first being introduced to Australia in 2010 (Bogle 2016). Anyone on Twitter can reference this hashtag whilst posting via the app which is why it showcases both hate and encouraging comments aimed toward certain politicians and parties. 

However, social media in partnership with politics isn’t always represented with a positive approach, with the element of fake news being at risk. Fake news is the spreading of misleading information with the intent of destroying one’s reputation. It is evident that fake news is certain to occur when elections are upcoming due to the level of competition between parties and politicians. A common example of fake news takes us back to the 2016 Trump vs Clinton election, where Trump attained a lot more Facebook engagement than Clinton due to the spreading of fake news rather than real news stories (Bakir et al. 2017, p. 156). Subsequently, it was argued that this ultimately influenced voting decisions as people became influenced by the fake news stories they had read online. Therefore, social media has a large impact on civic cultures in both a positive and negative light. We can become overwhelmed with the amount of information being fed to us during elections, nonetheless, we shouldn’t believe everything we read and see online. 

Reference

Wikipedia 2022, Use of Twitter by public figures, Wikipedia, viewed 7 May 2022, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_Twitter_by_public_figures>

Bogle, A 2016, ‘#auspol: The Twitter hashtag Australia can't live without’, Mashable.

Bakir, V & Mcstay, A 2017, ‘Fake News and The Economy of Emotions’, Digital Journalism, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 154 - 157. 

Activism and protest 

Social media in conjunction with activism and protest can be used to create social revolution. With the continuous development of technology, social media can now be used to initiate significant influence, such as facilitating community action. 

An example of social media being used to it’s advantage is the black lives matter movement. The black lives matter activist movement began as a hashtag following the death of Trayvon Martin, an African American teenager, shot and killed in Florida 2013 by American George Zimmerman (Black Lives Matter: From Hashtag to Movement 2020). 

#BlackLivesMatter made another appearance in June 2020 after the death of George Floyd who was killed under police custody. The movement took place via social platforms, in particular instagram which displayed what was referred to as “BlackoutTuesday”. During this, people would upload a black screen which sent the message of black lives being important, and what had happened to George Floyd was obscene.

Another significant movement which took place digitally is the #MeToo campaign. This was blew up across the platform Twitter, subsequent to the numerous sexual abuse allegations made against Harvey Weinstein in October 2017. The overarching idea of this campaign was to let women speak up and have a voice regarding their previous assault, rape, abuse and harassment (Gleeson et al. 2019).

These are just two examples as to why social media can be so valuable in making a change to society through activism. It is not only a way to help victims feel like they're not alone but also a way to educate others and help put a stop to this unfathomable behaviour. 

Reference 

‘Black Lives Matter: From Hashtag to Movement’ 2020, ADL, 2 June. 

Gleeson, J & Turner, B 2019, ‘Online Feminist Activism as Performative Consciousness-Raising: A #MeToo Case Study’ SpringerLink, pp. 53-69. 

Trolling and social media conflict 

The notion of trolling has become a mainstream practice in the digital world, significantly influencing anxieties in social media users. Trolling can be defined as ‘deliberate, deceptive and mischievous attempts to provoke reactions from other online users’ (Golf-Papez et al. 2016, p. 1336). This form of bullying can happen to anyone who posts content online, all it takes is one comment, and with the click of a button, someone can become really hurt. 

British singer, Olly Alexander faced the effects of trolling immensely when he received mostly homophobic comments across all social platforms. As an outspoken advocate of LGBT rights, Olly faced trolling, which would usually include gay hate (Olly Alexander Has to Deal With Homophobic Twitter Trolls 2016). Whilst this was disheartening, the trolling only worsened for Olly when he began to receive comments about rape threats and other forms of abuse, all of which forced him to stay offline. What some people don't realise is that this conflict can cause more detrimental consequences than the bullies may think. The impact it has on one’s mental health is substantial and can lead to illnesses such as depression or even worse can become life-threatening to the victim. 

When trolling first emerged, comments would usually be uploaded by an anonymous profile which would mean no one was liable for the consequences of bullying. The anonymity would contribute to increased levels of bullying as the social media trolls would feel no sympathy and have the ability to post hateful words without being identified. However, today in the digital community, trolling has become so normalised that people will post freely, with their names and profile attached to obnoxious comments (Hannan 2018, p. 216). The fact that our world can feel so confident in posting hurtful comments is unfathomable, and the worst of it is that in most cases, the bully won’t have to face any consequences, and instead could even gain likes on their nasty comment. 

Social media is such a prominent part of our world today, it has become the norm to use a range of social platforms daily, whether that be to communicate with friends, upload content, or just browse through your feed. Whilst social media is practical in so many ways, it also is the main reason why trolling exists. The extent of bullying that happens to people every day is only progressing and whilst social media is alive, trolling will continue. 

Reference 

Golf-Papez, M & Veer, E 2016, ‘Don’t feed the trolling: rethinking how online trolling is being defined and combated’, Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 33, no. 15-16, pp. 1336-1354. 

‘Olly Alexander Has to Deal With Homophobic Twitter Trolls’ 2016, Female First, 8 April.

Hannan, J 2018, ‘Trolling ourselves to death? Social media and post-truth politics’, European Journal of Communication, vol. 33. no. 2, pp. 214-226.