topic 4: the effects of global digital communications on identity

Question 1

positive impacts of digital comms on identity

Answer 1

— liberating and empowering as it gives the voiceless a voice 💪

— Bjorkland

— Miller

— Boyle

—McGonigal

— Robertson

— Haraway

Question 2

negative impacts of digital comms on identity

Answer 2

— Turkle

— Adorno

— Carr

— Royal Society for Public Health

Question 3

Bjorklund

Answer 3

— media used to create CURATED IDENTITY 🎨 🖌

— social media = autobiographical (Facebook)

— recording life events + constructing fluid online identity is enjoyable 🤩

— life can be edited at will

Question 4

Miller

Answer 4

— digital comms used to GAIN STATUS 🥇

— global ethnographic research

— Brazil: ASPIRATIONAL PHOTOS (posting pics 📸 of them with things they don’t own e.g. trying on expensive clothes in elite shops 👠, implying hotel pool complex is your own)

— impermanent, but still REJECTS STRUCTURAL CONSTRAINTS of their class position?

Question 5

Boyle

Answer 5

— digital comms provides NEW OPPORTUNITIES, access to new info
— creativity 🎨 as digital media is made by the users (Youtube ▶️)
- Pewdiepie youtube worth millions
- Kyle Thomas tiktok 31 million followers
— PROSUMERS: produce and consume media

BUT: many prosumers like Pewdiepie come from privileged 💵 backgrounds
—> digital revolution only benefits the wealthy who have technology + skill

Question 6

McGonigal

Answer 6

media enhances identity as it TEACHES YOUTH SKILLS 👩‍🏫
— average 21 yr old man has 10,000 hours of gaming 👾
— helps deal with boredom, anger 😑😡
teaches creativity 🎨
problem solving 🤔
teamwork
dealing with failure
optimism
consumed less snacks

Question 7

Robertson: Taming Gaming

Answer 7

AFFINITY GROUPS of gamers

sense of community, friendships

conferences and exhibitions give these groups tangible expression

Question 8

feminist interpretations of digital comms affecting identity

Answer 8

😊
- social media FREES ppl from gender expectations: gender neutral usernames etc
- Haraway: women can transcend gender duality and focus on other aspects of identity

😕
- NOT a long term solution to patriarchy
- sad that women have to hide their gender
- anonymity may lead to danger… paedophilia?

Question 9

Turkle

Answer 9

ALONE TOGETHER

Digital world + addiction to social media isolates us —> less satisfying communication —> breakdown of face-to-face relationships.

Parents = bad role models, using phones too much in front of children. Setting disconnectedness as the NORM! (post-familial family)

Goldilocks Effect: physically together, mentally alone. Relationships are in the inbetween.

Question 10

Adorno

Answer 10

😒
Marxism
Popular culture 📺 socialises the masses to be passive 😐😴 and unquestioning, MAINTAINING CAPITALISM. Deflects attention from injustice.

FALSE PSYCHOLOGICAL NEED FOR CONSUMER GOODS: leaves us feeling alienated, isolated, lonely

—> capitalism creates social isolation, not digital comms as Turkle suggests

Question 11

Carr

Answer 11

digital comms making us STUPID?
—> rapid transfer of info lowers our attention spans and makes us expect immediate gratification
—> average time spent on internet 9 seconds, average young person sends 100 texts a day, young ppl skim read info

TIDE OF THE AMATEUR 🌊 dilutes quality of culture and rewards “wrong” individuals (views, not talent)
e.g. amateur tiktok dances get more appreciation than pro ballerinas at National Ballet 🩰

Question 12

WHO 2019

Answer 12

classified GAMING DISORDER as a behavioral addiction

Question 13

Royal Society for Public Health

Answer 13

1,500 14-25 yr olds surveyed

Instagram has negative effect on mental health
users suffer from
loneliness,
depression,
bullying,
body image problems,
addicted to social media,
neglecting irl friendships,
insecurities from comparing

edited posts should be marked as edited/enhanced