Blog Prompt: Network
PLEASE ANSWER BY POSTING COMMENTS.
http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1414857/newsmakers-italian-artist-couple-eva-and-franco-mattes
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/31/trolls-for-trump
Artists Eva and Franco Mattes and ultra-conservative internet "activist" Mike Cernovich share with journalist their ideas/experiences related to the role the internet in contemporary culture. PDFs are also posted on moodle. After reading both articles, please share your thoughts about how they touch on complex issues related to freedom of speech, internet anonymity, and other issues. The New York Times author likely has a political bias, but I think it's worth thinking about the issues he draws attention to regardless of one's political leanings - such as ideas related to where we get our "news" and the impact/importance of the words we use on the internet and the memes we adopt. In this context, what is your reaction to the quote, "It's just a thing on the internet"?
Artist Eva and Franco Mattes and the internet "activist" Mike Cernovich both have two different ways of exposing things that we see in our society daily. The more that I think about why and how social media and the internet effects us, I see that we never really think about all the intentions and aspects of the idea of the internet. The italian artist expose the internet for what it really is, a controlled variable. We only see why people want us to see. Their videos being removed by certain people is apart of that. Website artist only show what they want to be seen, but who says what should and should not be on the internet? That depends on the person and their morals. If you think about it that's why you only are friends with people on e Facebook that have similar interest as you because they share and post things you like or don't mind seeing. The freedom of speech counts on the internet, yes but many people don't agree and that's ok. The internet "activist" Cernovich is approaching a political view to me and it's interesting to do via the internet because it's something that we all use. The opinions of millions can be found via a hashtag. I think his way of spreading what he believed was very smart, obviously it got attention. People sitting at home should notice that people post these things on purpose to get our attention. We are going to take the bait and bite to follow the conversation. I definitely agree that online organization is very effective. People get their news from social media networks, online newspapers, and things they see that are "viral." The words we use on the internet will never go away. I firmly believe that someone can screenshot what you said as soon as you go to delete it. A screenshot will kill a lie. "It's just a thing on the internet" can be true but in this case, these two websites draw attention to greater issues. It's not just a thing, it's a way to get you to look and listen to what's going on in the world concerning the internet and it's effects on us.
ReplyDeleteThe content that people encounter on the internet has a great deal of influence on the thoughts and beliefs that they hold. It is for this reason that companies and the wealthy like to filter out things they don't particularly agree with. According to Eva and Franco Mattes, companies that hire people to filter YouTube and similar sites, choose what should be banished to the dark net based on more than just morality, but also political points of view. In the same way, the propaganda that the "alt-right" supports and shares, reveals a similar kind of bias, only providing facts and statistics that are skewed to agree with their beliefs.
ReplyDeleteEva and Franco believe that the internet should be for the most part anonymous and unregulated but even if it should, it isn't. This is true for the surface on the internet with websites such as youtube and google. The surface of the internet is like a celebrity's face, it has to be perfect and any blemishes get removed. All youtube videos are regulated and removed by private outsourced corporations, sometimes with the influence of governments. They go to the dark net to display their works because it is all anonymous and uninfluenced by outside forces.
ReplyDeleteThe trolls for trump article is humorous, at least to me. I do believe that posting fake news to influence people is a bad thing, but what it comes down to is gullibility. If you see an article online from a source that isn't a reputable source, you should probably fact-check it. I like what Keneisha said when she was talking about online organization being an effective way to to influence people because everyone is a victim to it, regardless if they click on the actual articles. We see the articles on social media and subconsciously it is in the back of our head whether we believe it or not. Social media is a great way to connect with with people of different cultures but becomes a poison when we fill it with lies.
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ReplyDeleteThe Eva and Franco interview was pretty interesting to me. I don't particularly believe anything on the internet without digging into it a little bit. Overall reading that one had my attention and kept me intrigued with it. Especially how they compared the dark web to the internet in the 90's. As for the other reading it was really boring for me and was hard for me to stay focused with honestly. Its not my cup of tea so to say. The ways the people portray their message like with twitter and all that turns me away from reading it. I do like what his message is trying to imply with his use of social media.
ReplyDeleteIt was really interesting to read about how the Internet and Social Media influences our culture. I never really thought about it before, but everything we see on the Internet influences us and if content is removed because of political reasons, this will influence our opinion about certain topics. I think in general people should be more aware of what they read on the Internet and don't asume it is true just because somebody wrote and published it!
ReplyDeleteArtists Eva and Franco Mattes treat freedom of speech like an art medium. They take media that’s been silenced by unknown content moderators, and redistribute it in a way that gives it a platform again. These content moderators are highly anonymous and rely on that for their work, to avoid any type of backlash. This anonymity though has reached the point where they’re treated as if they don’t exist. They do not receive any kind of support, such as psychological support, which they may need due to the nature of their work and what they’re exposed to daily. The work that these moderators do regulates internet culture in a way that distorts and re-defines freedom of speech. In theory, the internet is a platform where anyone can say just about anything. But, there are moderators that follow a certain agenda to restrict this freedom of speech, in a way that keeps certain lines from being crossed. The deep web is much larger that the internet we’re familiar with, which is just the tip of the iceberg. The deep web is much too large and complicated to be easily moderated, because of this its existence is almost entirely for freedom of speech. On the deep web people also heavily rely on anonymity due to the nature of this unregulated web. The anonymity is part of what gives them the ability to unapologetically share their content and opinions. Virtually anything can be posted on the deep web and anyone can be given a platform, and this is the idea that Eva and Franco Mattes resurrect with their work. In response to the quote “It’s just a thing on the internet,” to some people it can be difficult to take things seriously when they’re reading it from an anonymous source on a screen. The delivery of the information almost makes it seem less real. Also, the attitudes that anonymity gives people online is something people adjust to over time. The list of things that are socially acceptable expand on the internet when indirectly dealing with a vast range of anonymous people. There’s less consequence, and people take advantage of that. This kind of attitude of saying whatever you want, as long as it’s not to a person’s face, is expected at this point. This is just a consequence to the, moderated, “freedom of speech” that people display on the internet. But, this doesn’t mean that people’s words and actions should be excused. If a person crosses a line on the internet, they should be held accountable. Typically though, no matter how extreme a comment may be it’s eventually shrugged off as “a thing on the internet.” This is why there’s so many issues with harassment online. It’s just considered to be part of the experience, and the person getting harassed is blamed for giving attention to their harasser. Internet culture has a bigger impact than people think, it has the ability to warp social etiquette and spread various ideas. This can be both good and bad, and the outcome always depends on an anonymous user starting a new trend.
ReplyDeleteI think these articles both provided an interesting view into how echo chambers, especially on the internet, are created. Due to the incredible power of the internet, we can constantly be surrounded by news that we agree with all the time, without having to worry about it challenging our viewpoints. If real news can't fit inside this bubble of our pre-conceptions, fake news can fill that gap. I think this is the big takeaway from the NYT article, about the power and influence of social media in promoting and forming these echo chambers.
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