Social Media and the Queensland Floods

The recent Queensland Floods, devastating though they were, are a strong case study in the political power of social media to encourage large scale dialogue and activism among citizens.

Shirky (2011) explains that social media allows “greater access to information, more opportunities to engage in public speech, and an enhanced ability to undertake collective action”.

Social media was used comprehensively by both Government and citizens alike during the flood. We saw the initial dissemination of information through many channels: The Queensland Police Service Facebook and Twitter pages, YouTube videos, and personal anecdotes shared through Facebook. This information was added to and shared continuously throughout the floods, resulting in an overwhelming outpouring of support from around the globe.  Most impressively was the way in which social media was used to enable the coordination and mobilization of thousands of local volunteers in to assist in the prevention and clean up of flood damage.

Hundreds of volunteers begin cleaning up Brisbane

Jeff Camden

Courier Mail Galleries: Brisbane flood clean up pictures

Social media was used to overwhelmingly positive effect during the floods and for myself the experience will never stop serving as a remind of the political power that social media, used well, can hold.

References

Camden, Jeff. 2011. "Hundreds of volunteers begin cleaning up on Bayswater St, Rosalie". Image. Accessed March 27, 2011. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/gallery-e6frer9f-1225987588708?page=104.

Shirky, Clay. 2011. The Political Power of Social Media. Foreign Affairs 90(1), pp. 28-41.

Identity in the Age of Musical Voyeurism

Using music to shape identity and connect with others is not a new concept, but the popularity of social networking platforms like Ping, Last.fm and the now banned Pandora, have allowed us to undertake this self defining process in a much more public sphere. We’ve entered what Levy (2006) describes as the age of musical voyeurism.

This week’s reading by Levy (2006) explored the effect of the “iPod era” on music as a form of identity creation and cultural capital. Important to this reading was the idea that in the same way that we define ourselves through music, new media has allowed our choices to be judged by others. Levy (2006) highlights the elitism surrounding music, explaining that music affects status and reputation; a music library can either “distinguish one as a discerning individual” or as a musical parasite with no personal taste.

These notions of musical elitism and the social implications of making your musical identity public are highlighted well by the Man in the Box Show.



It’s no surprise that the potential for criticism of our tastes can lead to a heightened self consciousness online (Pearson, 2009). But it’s important to remember that new media offers a great opportunity to explore, discover and share music. In an arena as large as the online world, there’ll always be someone who appreciates your tastes.

References

Levy, Steven. 2006. The perfect thing: how the ipod shuffles commerce, culture and coolness, New    York: Simon & Schuster, pp. 21-44.

Man in the Box Show. 2008. “Man in the Box: Music snob.” YouTube video posted July 15. Accessed March 20, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMK3hRsTAs8.

Pearson, Erika. 2009. “All the World Wide Web’s a stage: The performance of identity in online social networks.” First Monday 14 (3-2). Accessed March 20, 2011 via Course Materials Database.

Contructing Our Online "Self"

Week Two in KCB206 centred on how and why we construct our identity online. Social networking sites offer a platform by which we can select, contrive and omit  signals, which come together to form our online identity.

Pearson (2009) uses the analogy of actors playing a role. She says that online the performer is “disembodied and electronically re-embodied through signs they choose to represent themselves”. Donath and Boyd (2004) talk about signalling theory, explaining that each signal we select represents an underlying quality. What differs between the two approaches is that Pearson (2009) suggests our online identity has no boundaries, while Donath and Boyd say the public nature of our online connections creates accountability for our behaviour and encourages an “honest self presentation”.

I believe that the reality falls in the middle ground of these two approaches. Though I don’t construct a false identity, I do censor some aspects, while highlighting other aspects of my identity that I consider the most positive. For example, my Facebook statuses reveal my sense of humour, my “check-ins” reveal what type of social scene I most relate to, and anything that I sense might be damaging to my constructed identity I can delete.  From my own experience of social networking, I see the process of online identity construction more as a personal public relations tool rather than a performance.

Image from Littlejohncomics.com

Reference List

Pearson, Erika. 2009. “All the World Wide Web’s a stage: The performance of identity in online social networks.” First Monday 14(3-2). Accessed March 11, 2010 via Course Materials Database.

Donath, J and Boyd, D. 2004. “Public Displays of Connection.” BT Technology Journal 22(4): 71-82. Accessed March 11, 2010 via Course Materials Database.

http://littlejohncomics.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html. Accessed March 13, 2010.