This week in our lecture we looked at a series of events that have taken place over the past 20-30 years regarding the internet, in particular, the use of Botnets and the idea of a sock puppet army.
A botnet is simply a number of internet-connected devices. Botnets are more often used for non-illegal activities and are often referred to as ‘the workhorses of the internet’.
Botnets become a problem when looking at their illegal purposes, as they can be used for malicious attacks including credentials leaks, data theft and DDoS attacks to name a few.
This then moves into the idea of a sock puppet army. This term was first coined when documents were released stating that the US government had thousands/tens of thousands of fake accounts on social media that looked realistic. This got people talking about how this has the potential to sway public opinions or draw focus from important topics.
My first comment was on Michaela Shales blog (BCM215 DA BETA). Michaela said that she changed her original idea of playing video games to starting a blog based on the same idea of f gender sexualisation in video games. I gave her one recommendation at potentially looking potentially using twitter to find a community and start an informal discussion and convert followers to interact with her blog post and receive more feedback.
Second comment was on Tobias Joshua Thomas’s blog (BCM 215 Beta blog) he discusses why he chose the topic and he’s love for video games and what topics his has planned into the future of his DA, and the promotional struggles and lack of a feedback. I also gave a recommendation of joining a twitter discussion if there is any on the specific game and media texts which could potentially lead to more readers and engagement with his content.
Third comment was on Ruby Losinno’s blog (RUBY REVIEWS – BETA), she discusses her DA being based around reviewing and potentially reviewing different game shows. I suggested her to look at a particular academic journal about the critique of the price is right which could help in her review process and blog.
From this I got to see a lot of different ideas of what goes into the gaming community and different ways that I could further improve my DA. As well as the importance of laying the information out of the reader/viewer, I would much rather just read the key points of a post then have to look through for the important stuff and having relevant topics, something that will engage the viewer. The ways I could improve myself for future comments would be by having more sources instead of just one or two. As well as get sources from a wider range of areas, such as Journal Articles, academic research and YouTube videos (reviews or game/topic breakdowns). Also that my comments could possibly be longer and better structured in order to let the reader get a better understanding of what I am saying.
They are anyone and everywhere. Hiding in the shadow and on the internet.
If you are unfamiliar with Anonymous well then! You are in for a treat!
Anonymous to summarise is as the name suggests an anonymous decentralised movement. They are hackers known for their various cyber attacks mostly against several governments, oh and of course Scientology…
Social media has made an imprint in today’s society. Allowing for the ease of communication and simplifying the ability to learn and promote. However, with positives comes the negatives as a society which aims to be connected often becomes disconnected.
A negative which has been imprinted within our brains is Social Media’s ease to promote “black magic”. A sort of black magic which leads us as humans to make bad choices.
Personally, I can relate as when assignments and everyday tasks pile up one-by-one, I find some of those tasks can be done to the bare minimal effort and not to a satisfactory effort.
However I also find social media as extremely influential and positive as it can allow for motivation and to spark a drive to do more.
So the question is whether the negatives outweigh the positives?
My topic is travel content, I am researching Jay Alvarrez a USA lifestyle and travel influencer. This media niche ranges from travel, photography, videography and extreme activities (e.g. sky diving). Most influencers have a strong connection to their audience “by sharing details of their personal lives, interacting with followers across social media platforms, and encouraging a sense of community” (Lawson, 2020).
Jay Alvarrez has a broad field site, he is a business owner for an online digital assets company called The Creator Studios. In addition to this he posts regularly on instagram, youtube. Over the years, Jay has expanded his network and become popular by keeping his followers up to date with his lifestyle and travels around the world
My ethnographic research is a “methodology for studies of cultures and peoples, with the assumption that they have something in common” (Sobolewska, F. Smith & Turner, 2009). By researching all of Jay Alvarrez’s social media platforms, I believe that there will be similarities.
A common ethical issue for lifestyle influencers is authenticity. Wellman, Stoldt & Ekdale (2020) identifies that “ethics of authenticity is premised on two central tenets: being true to one’s self and brand and being true to one’s audience”.
My DA will be a travel Instagram @aquilahproductions, This will be a fun experiment to see how much I learnt about his lifestyle over the semester and see if I can replicate his Instagram feed. I will also attempt to edit the photos and videos in a similar way and use the same aesthetics he does.
References:
Lawson, C. E. (2020) ‘Skin deep: Callout strategies, influencers, and racism in the online beauty community’, New Media & Society.
Sobolewska, E., Smith, C.F. and Turner, P., 2009. Auto-ethnography: problems, pitfalls and promise. HCI Educators 2009-playing with our education, pp.91-97.
Wellman, M.L., Stoldt, R., Tully, M. and Ekdale, B., 2020. Ethics of Authenticity: Social Media Influencers and the Production of Sponsored Content. Journal of Media Ethics, 35(2), pp.68-82.
Feudalism takes the aged idea of a ‘walled garden’ and modernises it to display what the internet is like today. Feudalism 2.0 is the idea that certain companies create ‘walled gardens’ surrounding their products to prevent the external use of such aspects, therefore patenting their work.
Nowadays, Apple maintains full control over their IOS and macOS operating systems and selective process for all their applications that their systems can run, thus once a person is bought into their metaphorical ecosystem. Consumers may customise, personalise and design to their own pleasure, using IOS and macOS applications only.
Putting up a walled garden pulls and entices users to buy more Apple products and thus benefiting profits across the board. A smart idea which companies are beginning to use, benefiting their operations and marketing.
This lecture was really interesting because attention economy is what I call a destructive weapon because as much as it is “beneficial”…its definitely not. It a social media’s way of keeping you on their platform because of their “amazing personalised feed.”
In relating this concept and idea from the lecture to my personal experiences with social media and running my Digital Artefact, Aquilah Productions through platforms likeInstagram,Facebook and YouTube I can confidently say I am a victim to falling into the attention economy.
For you to understand, this isn’t a good thing either. It can cost you a lot of harm on your mental & physical well-being. It not only is a distraction but it an article I read explained it discussed “that it takes more than 20 minutes to get back into the flow once you’ve been interrupted, so even just “one little look” can have a huge consequences for our focus.”
I would love to be able to sit here typing to you and say that attention economy is a great thing and we should all participate in it…however it isn’t and if you stay away from it you might save yourself. Especially going on Instagram as much as it is great, it’s also disruptive to our everyday life and it’s time, our precious time that we are paying / feeding to technology and social media.
My first comment was on Michaela Shales blog (Gender Sexualisation in Games). Michaela said that she will focusing on Chapters interactive stories on iPhone, I gave two recommendations at potentially looking at a different genre of games as well as looking into the social aspects of Sims (Mass Effect 2) as well as sharing a link to a Kotaku article about female armour in games. The marketing side of things I found interesting, designers making their character more sexualised in order to attract more players to their game, it was something that I knew but never really thought of.
Second comment was on Tobias Joshua Thomas’s blog (Bcm 215 pitch) he discusses why he chose the topic and he’s love for videogames and what topics his has planned into the future of his DA, one being comparing Battlefield 4 to Battlefield which is one of my favourite game and game developer. I also gave two recommendations at potentially looking at IGN review page to gather ideas on reviewing games as well as asking his opinion on Halo’s story and game design as its one of my favourite games.
Third comment was on Ruby Losinno’s blog (RUBY REVIEWS – PITCH), she discusses her DA being based around reviewing and potentially reviewing different game shows. I suggested her to look at a particular academic journal about the critique of the price is right which could help in her review process and blog.
From this I got to see a lot of different ideas of what goes into the gaming community and different ways that I could further improve my DA. As well as the importance of laying the information out of the reader/viewer, I would much rather just read the key points of a post then have to look through for the important stuff and having relevant topics, something that will engage the viewer. The ways I could improve myself for future comments would be by having more sources instead of just one or two. As well as get sources from a wider range of areas, such as Journal Articles, academic research and YouTube videos (reviews or game/topic breakdowns). Also that my comments could possibly be longer and better structured in order to let the reader get a better understanding of what I am saying.
Sean Pickering 
