First, I would like to thank ENG 363W for the wonderful semester - this class has been a wonderful opportunity for me to reflect on myself and the issues I have long been interested in, such as gender identity, usage of social media, and the recent incidents of police brutality. The mediums I was able to express myself through in this class, such as autoethnography essays, blog posts, and film projects were priceless; I was able to well sum up my perspectives on such issues and integrate them into understanding my stance on issues, as well as document them on social platform using Weebly. This class is a "modern" class, as it allows students to develop their abilities to use social media while increasing our abilities to analyze critically. The books we read in class were very timely and adjusted to modern time frame; as I mentioned in the last blog post, the controversy on the usage of technology and social media platform will be outdated in the short future. This won't be something we will easily able to avoid, as the technology will be increasingly interwoven into our lives. The opportunities I was given in this class allowed me to learn how to use social media both creatively and cleverly. From ENG 101 to ENG 363W, the works I have done will go a long way with me; companies these days are interested in seeing students' work using social media, and these are great assets that express my thoughts on issues that are relevant to us daily. I am eternally grateful for the intelligent classmates I was able to share ideas with, and their constructive criticism helped me develop as a person. Once again, Professor Heather, I thank you for the great semester and have a great winter break!
In Networks of Outrage and Hope: Prelude to the Revolution, Castells highlights the significance of social media and technology in the modern society. The novel begins by describing two revolts, each in Tunisia and Iceland. Both revolutions occurred due to economic crises; both events instigated governmental change and showed the power of social media in the modern society. Internet technology has become so thickly interwoven into the lives of citizenry that any government must take a stance on tis use. Entire national ideologies can now be determined by a country’s stance toward technology, particularly social media and Internet news. In the case of the 2011 Egyptian protests, then-President Hosni Mubarak further provoked the international community and domestic groups by turning off the Internet for five days, a bizarre and disastrously expensive gesture that was generally understood to have redoubled protesters’ efforts. To the international community, the gesture read as an utter misunderstanding of social media technology and of its irrevocable prominence in the global public sphere. As seen from Castells argument, the “elites” of the society are now afraid of the usage of social network and the changes it brings about, due to the increasing transparency people has on political issues. As we discussed in class, as time passes by, the controversy on usage of social media will eventually be outdated, and the technology will be increasingly interwoven to our lives.
Over the past few weeks, I have been observing the recent tragic events in the United States related to racism that brought about everyone's attention: the deaths of Michael Brown, and less than two weeks later, that of Eric Garner. Both incidents failed to indict the police officers that were responsible, and nationwide protests arose instantly. Since the grand jury’s refusal to indict officer Darren Wilson for the fatal shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, some have used the protests as an opportunity or excuse to destroy and loot the very community they claim to support. The shooting and the grand jury decision ignited anger and frustration that had been building up in a community with a black majority governed and policed by a white power structure. However, in my opinion, the priorities of such protests need to be reconsidered. While it is important to speak out and call for social change, it is MORE important to think about why it was OK for Michael Brown to be walking outside, high on substance at such late hour. Why was it OK for him to grow up in such environment? How does he have the money to acquire illegal substance, but not proper education? Another thing that baffles me is that people protest without doing enough research on their own. The video above is of a woman who does not know accurate facts about the event, but is still out on the street eagerly protesting against the government; granted, speaking of the issue matters, however, people should not conform to others' anger and get incited just to "fit in". Having an original judgement on the issue is important, and it is also crucial to consider the facts that are overshadowed by the media.
Over this project, I will explain two incidents including the of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, trace the events to a deeper symptom, introduce #BlackLivesMatter protests around the nation, and lastly highlight the reaction of the Emory community. For my documentary project, I would like to conduct interviews on whether or not Emory students think the campus needs Yik Yak, an anonymous social media app. Recently, Yik Yak has brought many controversies because of its sinister users; specific people have been targeted and victimized, and SGA even proposed to ban the access of Yik Yak on campus Wi-Fi. By nature, the application differs from other anonymous sharing apps, such as PostSecret and Whisper, for the app is intended for sharing primarily with those in close proximity to the user, potentially making it more intimate and relevant for people reading the posts. All users have the ability to contribute to the stream by writing, responding and up voting or down voting yaks. Yik Yak can certainly be a window for students to share entertaining jokes and bond over the proximity-based platform, but its anonymity can be outrageously dangerous. For example, recent posts on Emory Yik Yak were of scornful comments towards Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. Other instances included racially insensitive comments soon after the Ferguson incident.
As for the interviewees, I plan to interview a brother of Alpha Tau Omega and have him share his thoughts on Yik Yak. I would also like to interview a student who enjoys being on the harmless side of Yik Yak, and overall values the application's presence on campus. For I want to get a variety of perspectives, the last interviewee I plan to contact is the Associate Director of Student Advising at Emory University, who prefers not to use the application. Through this documentary, I hope to explore what the general population at Emory thinks about the social media app Yik Yak, and what initiatives can be taken to prevent hate speech. http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/10/15/yik-yak-the-next-social-media-trend-or-new-site-for-bullies/ Social media have come to the point where we can be anonymous with what we’re posting. A variety of social media apps allow students to become distracted and not in a good way. One of the most recently innovative social media apps is called Yik Yak and has become a danger to many students.
Yik Yak, which was released late last year, is available for IOS and Android. It allows users to post, reply and view anonymously on the bulletin board within a 1.5 mile radius. The users are also allowed to vote up or vote down on what other users post. Students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln may already be familiar with these functions because the app has become popular on campus this year. A few days ago I saw an advertisement on my Facebook wall to like this app. I’d heard about Yik Yak before so I thought I would give it a try. Bad idea. I’m distracted. I’m frustrated. And I already want to delete it. Most of the recent things I’ve read as I scroll through the bulletin board have been related to a football game this weekend, how cold it is outside, people pointing out random people on campus whether it be good or bad or random school and home problems people have encountered. Even the most random things have been thought of and posted for fun, such as SpongeBob or the campus squirrels. But some of these posts haven’t been as fun or as nice. I’ve seen multiple Greek houses on campus written about, but not in a good way. There have been multiple racist, homophobic and sexist posts or replies on the bulletin board concerning the most random thoughts from students. Even though they’re anonymous, the Emory Police Department can still track the threats or rumors back to the server. It isn’t just Emory that has put precaution into this social media app. Multiple schools, mostly high schools, have already decided to ban this app because of the major controversy and the cyber bullying it can undertake. The principal of Lake Forest High School in Illinois sent out an email to all of the parents. It warned them about what Yik Yak can do to the students and that the school has already banned it on their premises, but students can still access it through their cellular network. An article titled, “Colleges should not ban access to Yik Yak,” published on The Daily Orange discussed what the real problem of Yik Yak and all social media networks are. It said Yik Yak shouldn’t be banned because of freedom of speech. They also argued that these problems concerning cyber bullying have been happening even before Yik Yak was created, and it’s not these social media apps that are responsible for the harmful disputes. It’s the users. Some users have already fought against the derogatory language that was used toward their posts. For example, one student was arrested in Mississippi for threatening to injure other students. There’s a responsibility that comes with technology. Think through your opinions before postng them on social media platforms where everyone can see them. Don’t harass others simply because you disagree with them. Having anonymous apps such as Yik Yak may make you feel as though you can post anything you want. It doesn’t work that way. Don’t get carried away by anonymity. If you end up becoming frustrated or hurt, try deleting the comments. If threats become bigger, report them. If you’re truly upset, just delete the app because it’s not worth it. Yik Yak may look like a fun and interesting social media app that can make you laugh when you’re bored, but it can also create an unhealthy environment. Because it’s anonymous, anybody can say something to you without you knowing who they are. But it isn’t just Yik Yak with the offensive comments. All social media websites can have these problems. Watch what you say because the police can track down your threats or bullying even though it’s anonymous. These types of apps can get you into trouble, so use them wisely. As soon as I opened up the book to read the article, I was both intrigued and puzzled by the title: "Cesar Chavez, the United Farm Workers, and the History of Star Wars." As self-explanatory as it seems, I started off by searching "Cesar Chavez" and the "United Farm Workers" on the Internet. Here's what I got. Cesar Chavez, according to Wikipedia, was an American farm worker, labor leader and civil rights activist who co-founded the United Farm Workers, a labor union that later became a union of farmworkers. My next question was: so what does Star Wars have to do with a labor union? Before I delve into Star Wars, it would be foolish not to mention Silicon Valley where virtually everything started. Silicon Valley is the inception of United States’ technology and the center of digital cultures that we cannot live without today. Curtiz Marez goes on to mention that companies based in the valley tend to emphasize their corporate history. For instance, Intel, the world’s largest maker of some of the most innovative technologies, operates a museum “for the purpose of increasing employee, customer and public awareness of Intel innovations, technologies and branding in an interactive and educational manner.” In other words, it all comes down to marketing and branding of the firms in the most attractive and pretty ways. The image of the “bunny” most accurately depicts what is really going on with Intel, or many other similar firms in the Silicon Valley. The Intel Museum invites people to take pleasure in performing an Intel brand based on images of happy workers in bunny suits jumping up and down with stretched up arms and splayed fingers. The image of the happy bunny acts to disguise the work-related illnesses and injuries of low-wage Asian and Latin American migrant workers in Silicon Valley. Consumers are constantly fed with positive images from corporate giants and almost always truly believe in what they see.
This is where Star Wars comes in: in a 1977 advertisement of Intel, a computer engineer wearing a Darth Vader mask was portrayed. Some suggest that the Darth Vader is a representation of a clear corporate, social or even racial hierarchy within many technology companies. Later on, Star Wars became a metaphor that defined the American Dream. Phrased in a very sarcastic way, the belief that a “better life lay beyond the junior high school” was far spread among the society. Tying the knots back together, the relationship between Cesar Chavez, the United Farm Workers and Star Wars is pretty straightforward: what you see is not everything. While corporate giants like Intel deceive the public with bunnies or what not, minorities are constantly suffering on the backstage to stand up to that corporate image. Silicon Valley produces products and services of which we are consumers, dependent upon labor by those who may not have the means to access these goods and services. While we blindly applaud or admire the many benefits of seemingly well-off employees involved in R&D, we forget to question the equitability of laborers at the Silicon Valley. For my first hyperessay, I would like to examine the impact of media on gender identity issues. We've all seen the toys and the clothes and the movies... and the ads for those toys and clothes and movies. Pink vs. blue; passive vs. aggressive; sedentary vs. active; pretty vs. smart. Girls vs. boys.
It's so insanely formulaic, and a lot of adults are laughing all the way to the bank as our kids pass under the bus. The strategy is simple: convince kids of both genders that they are very different from each other and that they need completely different products with different colors and different labels, and they will naturally only want what they've been told is "for" them and what has been spoon fed to them since birth. Parents will then dole out double the money buying separate products for their sons and daughters, ensuring that the retailers and marketers double their profits and double down on the stereotyped messaging. And why wouldn't they? It's brilliant. It's lucrative. It's also a breathtaking act of psychological vandalism against our children. Media shapes perception, and perception becomes reality. Through this hyperessay, I would like to examine various factors where gender stereotypes are observed, and further analyze the causes. It will also delve into how the growing influence of media has affected parenting. blog 4: "New Voices on the Net: The Digital Journalism Divide and the Costs of Network Exclusion"9/11/2014 We turn our computers on and we start browsing the internet. Millions of possibilities of participation and entertainment are offered to us as we spend most of our time in front of the computer. We read the news, watch videos and interact in our social networking services. In some cases, we dare to share our thoughts. Does not that feel good? It seems we are actively participating in the construction of internet as a social and public sphere. However, who are WE? Where do WE get information from? Who controls the information that WE get? In Internet, we have gotten the idea that all differences in terms of social class, sexual orientation, and race have disappeared. How true is that?
Wilson and Costanza-Chock provide a general overview of the issue of representation and access of people of color in the world of journalism and internet. Their argument is that people of color in the United States have been underrepresented in media journalism (print, commercial and public broadcasts). Although the percentage of minorities is projected to increase, their participation in media seems to keep at the same level or even to decrease (p. 249). The bottom line is that media ownership will remain on the hands of a white-upper-middle-class-managed corporations that will follow their own agendas, while leaving minorities without a voice in the media market. This lack of representation in the media is equally transmitted at the level of Internet access. The term “digital divide” was used to signal the stark gap between those with access to the World Wide Web and those who did not even have a computer. The term was there as a political and social concern that aimed to provide solutions to the lack of equipment and connection “among undeserved populations” (p. 254). However, Willson III and Costanza-Chock argue, the Bush administration replaced the term “digital divide” with “digital inclusion” arguing that “more Americans were online” (p. 254). This is similar to the idea that in the U.S. there aren’t any poor people, but soon-to-be rich. The main question, that few dare to ask, is who are those Americans?: “persons in households making under $15,000 per year (in other words, homes supported by those with minimum wage or less-than-minimum wage jobs, the underemployed, or the unemployed) reported just 29 percent broadband at home, compared to 70 percent of households making above $50,000, 85 percent of those making above $100.000, and 89 percent of those with incomes above $150,000.” (p. 255) These statistics just show that the digital divide is a representation of the social division in the United States. They also show that the democratic participation in the Internet is just concentrated on one sector of the society; one sector that is predominantly white and upper-class. What is the solution? Willson III and Costanza-Chock state that in a multicultural and multiracial society requires not only diverse channels of communication, but also real diversity at the level of ownership, employment, participation and content (p. 261). If we consider that Internet is the ideal space of public participation, then we must seriously consider that “all people must have their voices heard and their full creativity acknowledged” (p. 261). Willson III and Costanza-Chock claim that a “digital revolution” is needed for all people to become active participants in the democratic process that internet represents. However, how do get engaged in such revolution? How do we communicate the needs of underrepresented groups in the U.S. and in societies around the world? Those are questions that are difficult to answer. What does technology infrastructure tell us about race/ethnicity? Well, according to Christian Sandvig, it could say a lot. In his chapter “Connection at Ewiiaapaayp Mountain,” Sandvig describes how the history and politics of racial/ethnic inequality play a substantial role in the formation/construction of Internet infrastructure. Looking at Tribal Digital Village (hereafter, TDV)—a multimillion dollars developmental project to build a wireless Internet network for Native American reservation lands in Southern California—as his case study, Sandvig argues that providing wireless Internet infrastructure on such a place as Native American reservations is different from providing a connection in the affluent suburbs of San Diego. The difference, he adds, is not necessarily a matter of different methods of construction per se. It also reflects issues such as identity politics and technological appropriation as well as innovation.
Combining communication theory with ethnographic approach, Sandvig reveals the problematic status of TDV as a developmental project. Proposed by Hans-Werner Braun—a German-born engineer with a long and distinguished career in computer networking—the TDV’s rationales emphasize technology transfer, poverty, and cultural patrimony, elements that expertly cater to the instrumentalist demand of public policy and philanthropic subsidy. These rationales overlook the history of Native Americans’ forced migration, which has unfairly relocated their homes to an “offline-by-design” environment, i.e. inhospitable lands with extreme conditions (172-74, 183). The result of these rationales is a moral burden for the indigenous people who are using this subsidized infrastructure. They have to justify their use of the Internet as educational while for the most part what they want (and what they actually do) is to be able to use the Internet just like everyone else, such as opening up MySpace account (a case that will be discussed further in the next chapter by Danah Boyd) or playing online games. Moreover, Sandvig also describes that because of this naturally inhospitable environment, the TDV project had to design their infrastructure in a different way than what the commercial wireless infrastructures—such as AT&T—would do. The TDV producers had to “appropriate” the intended uses of such things and devices as antennas, wireless towers, and car batteries in order to build a successful wireless Internet distribution network. While this technological appropriation in the end leads to an innovative wireless system in many ways and has transformed the Native Americans involved in the project from mere users to highly skilled producers of wireless technology, Sandvig reminds us that the TDV’s appropriation speaks for a very different perspective than the increasingly popular discourse of countercultural and subversive technological appropriation in cases like hackers and phreaks. Instead, it is—in Sandvig’s terms—an “appropriation toward parity,” where rather than being an “engine of difference,” it aspires to become “engines of similarity in the development of technological infrastructures” (191 original italics). Just like the users, these Native American producers would rather have a normal wireless system than what they have built. Yet, they had to build an unorthodox system because they had no other choice. As Sandvig aptly puts it, “[i]nnovation, in this context, is both liberating and oppressive at the same time” (190). Overall, Sandvig is successful in unfolding the complexities of technological infrastructure establishment, especially in regions with specific histories of racial and ethnic injustice. While I find his division of the indigenous producers and users sometimes inflexible, I believe it is strategically necessary to point out the serious disconnect between everyday uses of the Internet and the rhetoric of subsidizing it. The division is also useful to underscore the presence of identity politics such as tribal sovereignty in the establishment of technological infrastructure, an activity that sometimes is taken for granted. In the end, I agree with Sandvig’s statement that learning the case of the TDV, it “provides us with a new way to think about technological change and human identity” (194). |