Power to the People.

New media promotes democracy, allowing people to generate social change in ways that were once impossible. As the communication realm becomes increasingly participatory, the networked population is able to gain “greater access to information, more opportunities to engage in public speech, and an enhanced ability to undertake collective action” (Shirky 2011,3). 

However, this notion does not include everyone . Some governments try to “stifle communication”, fearing that they will lose control of their citizens (Shirky 2011, 3). Although, it seems traditional media and government regulatory bodies are losing a degree of power, as people connect through new media to affect change themselves.

Consider Days of My Life, a blog I follow, written by a young Iraqi woman, nicknamed Sunshine. Her words are her own; and it is through new media that Sunshine has become empowered, as discussed in Pete’s blog digimediastudent, on March 26, 2011. She can express herself and reflect her people in an alternative way, not often revealed by the media.

Peace One Day is another example of online empowerment, and embodies the idea of new media connecting people to create positive change where it is needed most. The project gained momentum around the world using social media platforms like Youtube and Facebook.
I feel incredibly lucky to live in a world where many people have the freedom to connect, communicate and collaborate for change.

Pump Aid- one of Peace One Day's many achievements - providing clean drinking water for over one million people in Africa. 

(Image accessed: http://www.peaceoneday.org/en/savinglives/life-saving-activity-archive).

REFERENCE LIST


Peace One Day. 2009."Introduction to Peace One Day." YouTube video, posted July 22. Accessed March 27, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6z_E3cen_I


Peace One Day. n.d. "Home". Accessed March 27, 2011. http://www.peaceoneday.org/en/welcome


Pete. 2011. "Freedom and Responsibility," Digimediastudent, March 26. Accessed March 27. http://digimediastudent.wordpress.com/ 


Shirky, Clay. 2011. "The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Political Sphere and Public Change in Foreign Affairs 90 (1): 1-3. Accessed March 23, 2011. http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/ehost/detail?hid=21&sid=eb3febea-5c69-4ebe-8c9f-02a139dd7943%40sessionmgr14&vid=1&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=afh&AN=56624549


Sunshine. 2011. "Determined to change...the Friday of anger and the palms' revolution," Days of My Life, February 26. Accessed March 27. http://www.livesstrong.blogspot.com/

Musical One-upmanship

Fashion and accessories are considered symbols of status and identity by many. Your hairstyle, your shoes, or the type of car you drive, all represent part of who you are. While these aspects of identity are still relevant, new media platforms, namely the iPod and online music communities like 8tracks and Last fm have become increasingly popular as tools of self expression.

Leong (2011) explains that one’s personal music playlist functions as a “rich, personal narrative”, and impacts upon an individuals’ “social, cultural and political capital”.

Levy (2006) expands upon this theory in his discussion of iPod wars, whereby an individual bombards another with the song they are currently playing on their iPod, and compares it to the song playing on the other persons’ iPod. Because playlists have become representative of identity, iPod wars function as a type of status battle, one that can be humiliating (Levy, 2006).

(Image accessed: http://chicagoist.com/attachments/jakeguidry/2010_05_07_ipod.jpg)

Indeed, it seems many people are willing to alter their musical playlist in order to better their social, cultural capital, a process Levy calls impression management (2006). This concept is not unlike the careful, but sometimes augmented construction of identity practiced by many online users, as outlined by Amie in her blog My-Take.

While some may view impression management as a negative pressure upon ones’ true self, it is clearly a process we have long practiced. New media has simply expanded our opportunity for self expression.

REFERENCE LIST

Leong, S. KCB206 Media, Internet, Self and Beyond: Week 3 Lecture notes. Accessed March 16, 2011. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au.

Levy, Steven. 2006. “Identity”. In The perfect thing: How the iPod shuffles commerce, culture and coolness, 21-41. New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks. Accessed March 15, 2011. https://cmd.library.qut.edu.au/KCB201/KCB201_BK_272671.pdf.

Identity Deception and Social Media

Social media platforms provide an online stage for performance, allowing us to construct and display an identity (Pearson, 2009). Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and online dating sites are used by people to build networks of friends, dates and business partners based on this identity (Donath and Boyd, 2004). However, while I don't discount that enhanced connectivity can be beneficial for society, I do wonder if the idea of networking has a way to go in terms of becoming a safe and reliable online environment.

Donath and Boyd (2004, 73) explain that "online, identity is mutable and unanchored by the body”; allowing one to establish an online self that closely resembles or wildly differs from reality (Pearson, 2009). So, how can one really know whether or not the person they are highly compatible with on Match.com is real, and has genuine intentions? Furthermore, what are the consequences if they are not real?

(Image accessed: www.google.com.au)

We are all aware of at least one form of online identity deception; whether it is an online scammer, a cheat, or a romance gone wrong. Perhaps you simply suspect a false identity?

Although most popular social networking sites have security settings, perhaps greater precautions and more effective methods of identity verification are needed?

REFERENCE LIST

Donath, J and D Boyd. 2004. “Public displays of connection”. BT Technology Journal 22(4). Accessed March 10, 2011. www.blackboard.qut.edu.au

Pearson, Erika. 2009. “All the world wide web’s a stage: the performance of identity in online social networks”.  First Monday 14 (3).Accessed March 8, 2011. www.blackboard.qut.edu.au

LINK REFERENCE LIST

Facebook. “Arj Barker”. Accessed March 14, 2011 . http://www.facebook.com/people/Arj-Barker/901595149

Herald Sun. “Online love leads to online loss”. Last modified March 14, 2011. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/online-love-leads-to-online-loss/story-e6frf7kx-1226007793864

Stungundotcom. 2008. “Online internet dating predators”. Youtube video, posted May 18 2008. Accessed March 14, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiIBsD4I1JA