tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/the-social-media-revolution-31890/articlesThe social media revolution – The Conversation2017-07-05T22:42:33Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/795382017-07-05T22:42:33Z2017-07-05T22:42:33Z‘Screen time’ is about more than setting limits<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176447/original/file-20170630-8225-1jd0hdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How much is too much screen time for kids?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asian-brother-sister-watching-cartoons-on-472962424?src=-8M1vrXec2Haov1oCsGriQ-1-8">Dragon Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In today’s media-rich world (or media-saturated, depending on your view), one rarely has to look far to find parents concerned about the ways that kids engage with technology. Recently, managing “screen time” seems to be on <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/19/why-a-colorado-dad-is-fighting-to-make-smartphones-for-preteens-illegal/">everyone’s</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/can-they-unplug-a-school-principal-will-pay-students-to-forgo-screentime-this-summer/2017/06/09/b22decd4-4c88-11e7-bc1b-fddbd8359dee_story.html">mind</a> – particularly during these summer months when kids find themselves with more time on their hands.</p>
<p>As someone who has spent the majority of my career studying <a href="http://www.mitpress.mit.edu/books/framing-internet-safety">kids and safety online</a>, I get a lot of questions from parents about screen time. My response? There’s a lot more to digital media consumption than expert advice about hourly limits. </p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8NcPA/4/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="328"></iframe>
<h2>Where ‘screen time’ comes from</h2>
<p>The idea of “screen time” initially gained traction in 1999, when the American Academy of Pediatrics suggested that parents <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-1753">avoid smartphone, tablet, computer and TV use for children under two</a> and limit such use to no more than two hours for children over two, adding hours as kids mature. While the American Academy of Pediatrics <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-screen-time-is-good-for-kids-53780">relaxed these guidelines</a> somewhat in 2016 (expanding their policies to include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2592">positive digital media use</a> and suggest family media plans), the <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/66927/1/Policy%20Brief%2017-%20Families%20%20Screen%20Time.pdf">core idea of screen time remains largely unchanged</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As early as 1984, even the Berenstains had something to say about screen time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/12152/the-berenstain-bears-and-too-much-tv-by-stan-and-jan-berenstain-illustrated-by-the-authors/9780394865706/">Penguin Random House</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite the allure of easy-to-follow rules that address parental concerns, screen time recommendations have drawn <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/66927/1/Policy%20Brief%2017-%20Families%20%20Screen%20Time.pdf">increasing criticism</a> from a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2017/jan/06/screen-time-guidelines-need-to-be-built-on-evidence-not-hype">wide range of experts</a>.</p>
<p>In the academic world, the science supporting screen time recommendations has major limitations. Lab-based studies don’t always translate to the complexities of real life. More often than not, screen time studies demonstrate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691615596788">connections between problems with well-being and media use</a>; they don’t demonstrate that one causes the other. For example, while research suggests that there’s a connection between screen time and childhood obesity, that could just mean that kids who are less active are more likely to be obese and spend more time in front of screens. The research does not suggest that screen time causes obesity.</p>
<h2>Screen time today</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1341&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1341&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1341&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One way to limit kids’ screen time: apps that lock their internet usage after a certain amount of time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.unglue.com/press/">unGlue</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As our media practices have changed, and adults themselves have begun to spend more of their time online, the idea of screen time has not quite kept up with the times. The world is increasingly saturated with all kinds of <a href="https://theconversation.com/textbooks-in-the-digital-world-78299">positive, interactive media experiences</a> – for children and adults alike. Ideas about limiting screen time assume all screen experiences are equally negative for kids and that they’re replacing positive offline activities.</p>
<p>Yet, we know that kids do all kinds of positive things with digital media, often in ways that <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/hanging-out-messing-around-and-geeking-out">support and are supported by “real life” activities</a> – in ways similar to adults. They go online to hang out with friends, catch up on events and seek out entertainment and information, just like anyone else.</p>
<p>In my own work, I’ve argued that some of the problems that parents have with kids and technology are, in fact, not about technology at all. With each generation, kids have been <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2011.638173">increasingly restricted</a> from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/13/living/feat-maryland-free-range-parenting-family-under-investigation-again/index.html">going outside on their own</a>. With fewer private spaces to be a kid, we shouldn’t be surprised when kids turn to social media apps to hang out and socialize – and get upset when we stop them.</p>
<p>What looks like a “waste of time” or an “addiction” is often just <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242101479_Questioning_the_Generational_Divide_Technological_Exoticism_and_Adult_Constructions_of_Online_Youth_Identity">everyday hanging out</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Should kids be allowed outside – away from their devices – alone? The Meitiv family of Silver Spring, Maryland, faced an investigation after allowing their children to play in a local park unsupervised.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So what should parents do?</h2>
<p>How, then, can parents get a handle on their children’s media use? As always, <a href="https://www.danah.org/books/ItsComplicated.pdf">it’s complicated</a> – and no expert advice should trump the real, everyday experiences that parents have with their own children. That said, there are some general guidelines that can help.</p>
<p>First, parents should get away from ideas about time and focus more on the <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mediapolicyproject/2016/08/05/the-content-and-context-of-screen-use-is-more-important-than-the-amount-of-screen-time/">content, context and connections</a> provided by different kinds of engagement with media. There’s a world of difference between spending a few hours playing games with close friends online and spending a few hours interacting with hate groups in an online forum. </p>
<p>Second, parents should ask <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2016/10/21/new-screen-time-rules-from-the-american-academy-of-pediatrics/">real questions concerning the well-being of their children</a>, independent of their media use. Are your children healthy, socially engaged, doing well in school and generally happy? If so, there’s probably no need to enforce hard restrictions on technology. If not, it’s best not to rush to conclusions about the inherent evils of technology. Have a conversation with kids about what they’re doing and what they think the rules should be. Unilaterally cutting kids off without understanding their problems can often <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/warning-screen-time-rules-can-backfire_us_5925d374e4b090bac9d46b07">make things worse</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, parents should remember that there’s no substitute for a meaningful, supportive relationship between parents and children. With a stable, trusting relationship, even negative experiences online can become positive learning experiences. In my many years of working with families, I’ve learned that if you already care enough to be worried about digital media, you’re probably already “doing enough” to protect your kids.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Monitoring children’s media consumption is important, but there’s no substitute for quality family time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nathaninsandiego/3995036506/">Nathan Rupert</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79538/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Fisk, Ph.D. receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>For decades, parents have fretted over ‘screen time,’ limiting the hours their children spend looking at a screen. But as times change, so does media… and how parents should (or shouldn’t) regulate it.Nathan Fisk, Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity Education, University of South FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/736172017-03-23T11:29:33Z2017-03-23T11:29:33ZWe asked young people what they want from the internet of the future – here’s what they said<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162039/original/image-20170322-31203-uq6fto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Growing up digital.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Tim Berners-Lee invented the world wide web, he surely didn’t anticipate that children would end up becoming some of its <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0034/93976/Children-Parents-Media-Use-Attitudes-Report-2016.pdf">main users</a>. Most <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10029180/Children-using-internet-from-age-of-three-study-finds.html">start using the internet</a> at the average age of three – and as <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35399658">recent research shows</a>, children now spend more time playing and socialising online than watching television programmes.</p>
<p>Given this change in habits, it is not surprising that a recent <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/21/children-should-learn-digital-literacy-alongside-rs-peers-say/">House of Lords report</a> has raised online safety and behaviour as an important issue. The report said that for children, learning to survive in a world dominated by the internet should be as important as reading and writing.</p>
<p>The House of Lords Communications Committee also warned that children should not be leaving school without “a well-rounded understanding of the digital world”. It also suggested that the government should think about implementing new legal requirements and a code of conduct companies would have to adhere to, which would help to bring the internet up to “child-friendly standards”.</p>
<h2>Making the internet safer</h2>
<p>Of course, trying to rectify this lack of child-centred design is not an easy task, but one that requires the cooperation and goodwill of many sectors. It will need to involve consultation with technology, education, legal and policy experts. And it would also be a good idea to make children and young people part of the process. </p>
<p>This would involve giving young people a say in the design and development process needed to ensure that the web is a suitable environment for all involved. And from our <a href="http://casma.wp.horizon.ac.uk/casma-projects/5rights-youth-juries/the-internet-on-our-own-terms/">own research on the issue</a>, it is clear that children and young people have a lot to say on the issue.</p>
<p>Our project, <a href="http://casma.wp.horizon.ac.uk/casma-projects/irights-youth-juries/the-internet-on-our-own-terms/">The Internet On Our Own Terms</a>, involved young people aged between 12 and 17 gathered together in the cities of Leeds, London and Nottingham to participate in a series of jury-style focus groups. These were designed to “put the internet on trial”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162041/original/image-20170322-31217-j891f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162041/original/image-20170322-31217-j891f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162041/original/image-20170322-31217-j891f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162041/original/image-20170322-31217-j891f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162041/original/image-20170322-31217-j891f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162041/original/image-20170322-31217-j891f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162041/original/image-20170322-31217-j891f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We need new interventions to prepare children for digital life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pexels</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The project has been developed by researchers at <a href="http://media.leeds.ac.uk/people/stephen-coleman/">Leeds</a> and Nottingham universities in collaboration with the <a href="http://5rightsframework.com/">5Rigthts Framework</a>, to place young people at the centre of this debate – which is typically dominated by “expert” adults and their fears.</p>
<p>In total, nine juries were convened, involving 108 young people and approximately 12 participants per jury. And from these debates, we were able to hear the voice of children and young people, and understand more about their relationship with the internet and digital technologies.</p>
<h2>Voices that matter</h2>
<p>Alongside many positive stories and personal anecdotes about the value of digital communication technologies, the young people who took part in the project also expressed their frustrations and concerns with the internet. </p>
<p>These concerns included the inconsistency of online and offline behaviours – with young people wanting online platforms to be governed by the same moral standards as the offline world. This would also mean that people would have the same rights and responsibilities online as they have offline.</p>
<p>Along with self-responsibility, young people also wanted regulation to introduce reasonable norms to ensure young people’s experiences online are not only safer, but happier.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162044/original/image-20170322-31213-cidxg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162044/original/image-20170322-31213-cidxg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162044/original/image-20170322-31213-cidxg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162044/original/image-20170322-31213-cidxg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162044/original/image-20170322-31213-cidxg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162044/original/image-20170322-31213-cidxg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162044/original/image-20170322-31213-cidxg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We need to promote digital resilience, giving children information about and power over the online environment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pexels.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The young people involved in our project also expressed fears around the way screenshots can be used online, along with how their personal data is shared and tracked.</p>
<p>In light of this, the young people we worked with suggested a limit to the length of time personal data can be stored. And also recommended that there should be a recognisable award or badge system for best practice in personal data sharing and protection of user privacy – that users could then look for online.</p>
<h2>Hopes and fears</h2>
<p>These are just some of the many recommendations that the young people who took part in our project came up with. These are concrete suggestions, based on their own experiences that could be useful to inform the designing of web services for children and young people.</p>
<p>The implications here are clear: young internet users want to have more control over their digital identity and online footprint. This is why collaborating with young people to help implement changes to the online environment, as well as a broader educational curriculum that helps to both explain and warn children about the online landscape, is so important. </p>
<p>This could take the form of a compulsory “digital citizen programme”, which would look at promoting discussions among peers, conversations, and personal reflections about online experiences and technical issues. And it is educational experiences like this that will help children to gain the knowledge and confidence required to influence and shape the future of their digital world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73617/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elvira Perez Vallejos works at Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute. She receives funding from EPSRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ansgar Koene is a co-investigator on the "UnBias: Emancipating Users Against Algorithmic Biases for a Trusted Digital Economy" project, which is funded by a grant from the EPSRC Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security programme in the RCUK Digital Economy theme. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute of The University of Nottingham.
Ansgar Koene is also an active member of the Internet Society (ISOC UK England) where he is engaged with the User Trust theme. </span></em></p>They have some big ideas.Elvira Perez Vallejos, Senior Research Fellow, University of NottinghamAnsgar Koene, Senior Research Fellow, Horizon Digital Economy, UnBias, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/734232017-03-20T01:32:40Z2017-03-20T01:32:40ZCan Silicon Valley’s autocrats save democracy?<p>In late February, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/building-global-community/10154544292806634">published an essay</a> that laid out the social network’s vision for the coming years. </p>
<p>The 5,700-word document, immediately dubbed a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2017/feb/17/facebook-manifesto-mark-zuckerberg-letter-world-politics">manifesto</a>,” was his most extensive discussion of Facebook’s place in the social world since it went public in 2012. Although it reads to me in places like a senior honors thesis in sociology, with broad-brush claims about the evolution of society and heavy reliance on terms like “social infrastructure,” it makes some crucial points.</p>
<p>In particular, Zuckerberg outlined five domains where Facebook intended to “develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us.” This included making communities “supportive,” “safe,” “informed,” “civically engaged” and “inclusive.”</p>
<p>Silicon Valley <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/how-silicon-valley-nails-silicon-valley">has long been mocked</a> for this kind of “our products make the world a better place” rhetoric, so much so that some companies are asking their employees to rein it in. Still, while apps for sending disappearing selfies or summoning on-street valet parking may not exactly advance civilization, Facebook and a handful of other social media platforms are undoubtedly influential in shaping political engagement. </p>
<p>A case in point is the Egyptian revolution in 2011. One of the leaders of the uprising created a Facebook page that became a focal point for organizing opposition to ousted leader Hosni Mubarak’s regime. <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1102/11/bn.02.html">He later told CNN</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I want to meet Mark Zuckerberg one day and thank him… This revolution started on Facebook.” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MA9g-Ij81F0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Changing-Your-Company-Inside-Intrapreneurs/dp/1422185095">As I have written elsewhere</a>, Facebook and Twitter have become essential tools in mobilizing contemporary social movements, from changing the corporate world to challenging national governments. Zuckerberg’s manifesto suggests he aims to harness Facebook in this way and empower the kind of openness and widespread participation necessary to strengthen democracy. </p>
<p>But while he’s right that social media platforms could reinvigorate the democratic process, I believe Facebook and its Silicon Valley brethren are the wrong ones to spearhead such an effort. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J-GVd_HLlps?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The HBO show ‘Silicon Valley’ focuses on skewering the industry’s inflated sense of itself.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Technology and democracy</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-facebook-ruled-the-world-mark-zuckerbergs-vision-of-a-digital-future-73459">initial reaction</a> to Zuckerberg’s manifesto was largely negative. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/02/the-mark-zuckerberg-manifesto-is-a-blueprint-for-destroying-journalism/517113/">The Atlantic</a> described it as “a blueprint for destroying journalism” by turning Facebook into “a news organization without journalists.” <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-02-17/mark-zuckerberg-s-manifesto-for-facebook-offers-a-social-dystopia">Bloomberg View</a> referred to it as a “scary, dystopian document” to transform Facebook into “an extraterritorial state run by a small, unelected government that relies extensively on privately held algorithms for social engineering.” </p>
<p>Whatever the merits of these critiques, Zuckerberg is correct about one central issue: Internet and mobile technology could and should be used to enable far more extensive participation in democracy than most of us encounter. </p>
<p>In the United States, <a href="https://theconversation.com/american-elections-ranked-worst-among-western-democracies-heres-why-56485">democracy</a> can feel remote and intermittent, and sees only limited participation. The 2016 election, which pitted radically different visions for the future of democracy against each other, <a href="http://prospect.org/article/first-official-2016-turnout-report-has-some-good-news">attracted only 60 percent of eligible voters</a>. In the midterm elections between presidential campaigns, <a href="http://time.com/3576090/midterm-elections-turnout-world-war-two/">turnout drops sharply</a>, even though the consequences <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/03/us-midterm-election-results-tea-party">can be equally profound</a>. </p>
<p>Moreover, whereas voting is compulsory and nearly universal in countries such as Brazil and <a href="http://www.aec.gov.au/FAQs/Voting_Australia.htm">Australia</a>, legislators in the U.S. are actively trying to discourage voting by <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-voter-fraud-crusades-undermine-voting-rights-71966">raising barriers</a> to participation through voter ID laws, sometimes <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/30/us/federal-appeals-court-strikes-down-north-carolina-voter-id-provision.html">targeted very precisely</a> at depressing black turnout.</p>
<p>Democratic participation in the U.S. could use some help, and online technologies could be part of the solution.</p>
<h2>Toward a truer democracy</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript">“social infrastructure” for our democracy</a> was designed at a time when the basic logistics of debating issues and voting were costly. </p>
<p>Compare the massive effort it took to gather and tabulate paper ballots for national elections during the time of Abraham Lincoln with the instantaneous global participation that takes place every day on social media. The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Here-Comes-Everybody-Organizing-Organizations/dp/0143114948">transaction costs for political mobilization</a> have never been lower. If appropriately designed, social media could make democracy more vibrant by facilitating debate and action. </p>
<p>Consider how <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2017/01/31/the-woman-who-started-the-womens-march-with-a-facebook-post-reflects-it-was-mind-boggling/?utm_term=.bee164ecc06c">one Facebook post germinated one of the largest political protests in American history</a>, the Jan. 21 Women’s March in Washington and many other cities around the world. But getting people to show up at a demonstration is different from enabling people to deliberate and make collective decisions – that is, to participate in democracy.</p>
<p>Today’s information and communication technologies (ICTs) could make it possible for democracy to happen on a daily basis, not just in matters of public policy but at work or at school. Democracy is strengthened through participation, and ICTs dramatically lower the cost of participation at all levels. <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo8056093.html">Research on “shared capitalism”</a> demonstrates the value of democracy at work, for workers and organizations. </p>
<p>Participation in collective decision making need not be limited to desultory visits to the voting booth every two to four years. The pervasiveness of ICTs means that citizens could participate in the decisions that affect them in a much more democratic way than we typically do. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.loomio.org/">Loomio</a> provides a platform for group decision-making that allows people to share information, debate and come to conclusions, encouraging broad and democratic participation. <a href="https://www.opavote.com/">OpaVote</a> allows people to vote online and includes a variety of alternative voting methods for different situations. (You could use it to decide where your team is going to lunch today.) <a href="http://budgetallocator.com/">BudgetAllocator</a> enables participatory budgeting for local governments. </p>
<p>As Harvard Law School Professor <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0032329213483108">Yochai Benkler</a> points out, the past few years have greatly expanded the range of ways we can work together collaboratively. Democracy can be part of our daily experience.</p>
<h2>Silicon Valley isn’t the answer</h2>
<p>This ICT-enabled democratic future is unlikely to come from the corporate world of Silicon Valley, however. </p>
<p>Zuckerberg’s own kingdom is one of the most autocratic public companies in the world when it comes to <a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.soc.31.041304.122249">corporate governance</a>. When Facebook went public in 2012, Zuckerberg held a class of stock that allotted him 10 votes per share, giving him an absolute majority of roughly 60 percent of the voting rights. The company’s <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000119312512034517/d287954ds1.htm">IPO prospectus</a> was clear about what this means: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Mr. Zuckerberg has the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other words, Zuckerberg could buy WhatsApp for US$19 billion and Oculus a few weeks later for $2 billion (after <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2017/1/17/14297046/zenimax-zuckerberg-testify">just a weekend of due diligence</a>). Or, a more troubling scenario, he could legally sell his entire company (and all the data on its 1.86 billion users) to, let’s say, a Russian oligarch with ties to President Vladimir Putin, who might use the info for nefarious purposes. While these actions technically require <a href="https://investor.fb.com/corporate-governance/default.aspx">board approval</a>, directors are beholden to the shareholder(s) who elect them – that is, in this case, Zuckerberg. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-American-Corporation-Navigating-Hazards/dp/1626562792/">It is not just Facebook</a> that has this autocratic voting structure. Google’s founders also have dominant voting control, as do leaders in <a href="http://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sulr/vol39/iss2/13/">countless tech firms that have gone public since 2010</a>, including Zillow, Groupon, Zynga, GoPro, Tableau, Box and LinkedIn (before its acquisition by Microsoft).</p>
<p>Most recently, Snap’s public offering on March 2 <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/22/snap-like-facebook-and-zynga-strong-founders-control-voting-rights.html">took this trend to its logical conclusion</a>, giving new shareholders no voting rights at all. </p>
<p>We place a lot of trust in our online platforms, sharing intimate personal information that we imagine will be kept private. Yet after Facebook acquired WhatsApp, which was <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/25/12638698/whatsapp-to-start-sharing-user-data-with-facebook">beloved for its rigorous protection of user privacy</a>, many were dismayed to discover that some of their personal data <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/25/whatsapp-to-share-user-data-with-facebook-for-ad-targeting-heres-how-to-opt-out/">would be shared</a> across the “Facebook family of companies” unless they actively chose to opt out. </p>
<p>For its part, Facebook has made <a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/facebook/acquisitions">over 60 acquisitions</a> and, along with Google, controls <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-google-top-out-uss-most-popular-apps-in-2016/">eight of the 10 most popular smartphone apps</a>. </p>
<h2>Zuckerberg the benevolent dictator?</h2>
<p>The idea that founders know best and need to be protected from too many checks and balances (e.g., by their shareholders) fits a particular cultural narrative that is popular in Silicon Valley. We might call it the “strongman theory of corporate governance.”</p>
<p>Perhaps Zuckerberg is the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/world/asia/lee-kuan-yew-founding-father-and-first-premier-of-singapore-dies-at-91.html">Lee Kuan Yew</a> of the web, a benevolent autocrat with our best interests at heart. Yew became the “founding father” of modern-day Singapore after turning it from a poor British outpost into <a href="https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=67">one of the wealthiest countries</a> in the world in a few decades. </p>
<p>But that may not be the best qualification for ensuring democracy for “users.”</p>
<p>ICTs offer the promise of greater democracy on a day-to-day level. But private for-profit companies are unlikely to be the ones to help build it. Silicon Valley’s elites run some of the least democratic institutions in contemporary capitalism. It is hard to imagine that they would provide us with neutral tools for self-governance. </p>
<p>The scholar and activist Audre Lorde <a href="https://www.micahmwhite.com/on-the-masters-tools/">famously said</a> that “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” By the same token, I doubt nondemocratic corporations will provide the tools to build a more vibrant democracy. For that, we might look to <a href="https://www.loomio.org/about">organizations that are themselves democratic</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73423/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jerry Davis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While Facebook’s Zuckerberg suggested as much recently, companies run like autocracies cannot fulfill technology’s promise of reinvigorating the democratic process.Jerry Davis, Professor of Management and Sociology, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/674782016-10-30T10:49:11Z2016-10-30T10:49:11ZTanzania’s social media policing increases the risks of government abuse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142666/original/image-20161021-1778-vdte5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">John Magufuli after he was declared president in 2015. His distaste for social media has heralded a national clampdown in the digital space. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Access to digital information and communications technologies has increased dramatically over the past decade across Africa. In Tanzania, <a href="http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/publications/Summary%20of%20results/tan_r6_sor_en.pdf">87% of urban residents</a> report using a mobile phone every day. In addition, 34% of the population access the internet. The vast majority use their <a href="https://www.tcra.go.tz/images/documents/telecommunication/CommStatMarch16.pdf#page=14&zoom=auto,-252,595">mobile phones</a> to do so.</p>
<p>Prepaid bundles offered by service providers have made data more affordable. They sometimes include free access to social media platforms for subscribers.</p>
<p>Africa’s “mobile revolution” has generated much debate about the potential for new technologies to contribute to economic development, improve service delivery and foster political change. The World Bank’s 2016 <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/896971468194972881/pdf/102725-PUB-Replacement-PUBLIC.pdf">World Development Report</a>, for example, explores the relationship between “digital dividends” and development. </p>
<p>However, widening access to technological innovations can also expose people to risks. Governments across the region are debating how to respond to new challenges. These include online fraud and the dissemination of hate speech through SMS or social media. </p>
<p>Until recently few African countries had legislation related to <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-loopholes-lurk-in-african-cybercrime-law-where-it-even-exists-46648">cybercrime</a>. Police may need further training to deal with digital offences. Citizens will require reliable information about how to stay safe online. </p>
<p>In Tanzania the response to these threats has been influenced by political calculations. Expressions of political dissent have been cast as “cybercrime”. Thus, for many the most pressing threat to their cyber security may not be fraud or identity theft, but the risk of being arrested for content shared online. </p>
<h2>‘Misuse’ of digital platforms is a concern</h2>
<p>My recent field work in the Tanzanian city of Mwanza suggests that “misuse” of digital platforms is a concern in densely populated low-income areas. Here “cybercrime” is often used to refer to insults and obscene language used over the phone or on social media. </p>
<p>In the words of one research participant, people need to “know how to use social media well”. Establishing what this means will entail discussing the boundaries of acceptable behaviour online. </p>
<p>This debate is also being played out at the national level, with some worrying implications. Social media has assumed greater importance in <a href="http://qz.com/510899/whatsapp-is-now-the-primary-platform-for-political-trash-talk-in-tanzanias-election-campaign/">political campaigning</a> and in the creation and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34517711">dissemination of news</a>. Information that is critical of the government can be shared rapidly with large numbers of people. This appears to have worried ruling elites who are seeking to restrict online political debate.</p>
<p>A controversial <a href="https://www.tcra.go.tz/images/documents/policies/TheCyberCrimeAct2015.pdf">Cybercrimes Act</a> was introduced in 2015. The Act addresses some important concerns, including child pornography and cyber bullying. However, it also contains vague clauses that could be used to restrict freedom of speech. This includes prohibiting publication of “false” and “misleading” information. The law gives the police <a href="https://www.article19.org/data/files/medialibrary/38058/Tanzania-Cybercrime-Bill-TO.pdf">wide-ranging powers</a> to seize communications devices.</p>
<p>Prosecutions under the Act to date include eight volunteers for opposition party Chadema. The volunteers’ alleged offence was <a href="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/tanzaniadecides/Chadema-volunteers-charged-with-publishing-wrong-results/2926962-2933186-u8vnikz/index.html">sharing election results</a> data over Whatsapp deemed by the government to be inaccurate. By my count, 11 individuals are alleged to have “insulted” President John Magufuli in social media posts. </p>
<p>Most recently, the musician Mwana Cotide was charged over a video posted on YouTube entitled Udikteta Uchwara (Petty Dictatorship). The prosecution claimed the material was intended to <a href="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/entertainment/Bongo-Flava-musician-charged-for-posting-provocative-song/1840560-3398544-4jcw4lz/index.html">humiliate</a> the president. </p>
<h2>Magufuli’s distaste for social media</h2>
<p>Magufuli’s distaste for social media is clear. He describes it as an impediment to concentrating on bringing about <a href="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/How-Social-media-is-shaking-up-Govt/1840340-3410148-dpr4yf/index.html">development</a> in Tanzania. Indeed, he has also cast political opposition more broadly as <a href="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/Enough-politicking--JPM-tells-Opposition/-/1840340/3264682/-/15iu05dz/-/index.html">a distraction and unnecessary</a> until the next election in 2020. </p>
<p>A ban on all political meetings, which has since been partially rescinded, the frequent arrest of opposition politicians and the closure of media outlets have raised concerns that democracy may be a casualty of Magufuli’s <a href="http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Democracy-vs-development-in-Magufuli-Tanzania/2558-3416434-89r829/index.html">pursuit of development</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://oro.open.ac.uk/45446/">Politicised policing</a> is nothing new in Tanzania. But the government’s interpretation of cybercrime has facilitated its extension into online spaces. Tanzania is certainly not unique. Across eastern Africa governments have cracked down on social media ostensibly in the interests of <a href="http://cipesa.org/?wpfb_dl=225">national security</a>. Most recently in Ethiopia ongoing protests led to the shutdown of the entire mobile internet network. Posting <a href="http://qz.com/810955/as-oromo-crisis-grows-ethiopia-bans-posting-on-facebook/">Facebook updates</a> on the situation has been declared a crime under a state of emergency.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67478/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlotte Cross does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The biggest cyber security concern for many Tanzanians is the risk of inadvertently becoming a perpetrator of politically-defined cybercrime, rather than becoming a victimCharlotte Cross, Lecturer in International Development, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/657942016-10-21T01:15:55Z2016-10-21T01:15:55ZHow social media is helping Australian journalists uncover stories hidden in plain sight<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142081/original/image-20161017-12418-apjlw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Journalists with the skills to dig into social media can discover connections between key players in complex, often global stories.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-132469673/stock-photo-woman-hand-pressing-social-media-icon-on-blue-background-with-world-map.html?src=8ZQ-RS0F60BPkHVCx6LHBA-1-73">Mathias Rosenthal via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Social media has revolutionised how we communicate. In <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/the-social-media-revolution-31890">this series</a>, we look at how it has changed the media, politics, health, education and the law.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>A stray social media post that cracked open a child abuse scandal brewing in England and Australia for half a century. A Facebook group in the middle of a deadly flood, helping families and the media identify lost loved ones. Asylum seekers washed up on an Indonesian beach, staying in touch with an Australian reporter online.</p>
<p>I’ve spent the past three years researching how Australian investigative journalists use digital technologies in their work – and those are just a few real examples of how social media helped with breaking news stories in The Australian, The Times of London, the Sydney Morning Herald, the ABC’s 7.30 program and more.</p>
<p>At a time of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/newspaper-closures">newspaper closures</a> and <a href="http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/07/newsonomics-the-halving-of-americas-daily-newsrooms/">newsroom cuts around the world</a>, one of the hopeful findings of my research is that digital technologies can help journalists cover stories that would otherwise be too expensive or time-consuming to cover, or else impossible to find. </p>
<h2>Untangling webs of friends and followers</h2>
<p>It was the <a href="http://www.news.com.au/sport/more-sports/see-our-snapshot-of-todays-acc-report-detailing-the-use-of-performance-enhancing-drugs-and-crime-links-in-australian-sport/story-fndukor0-1226572696758">biggest Australian sports story of the year</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It all kicked off with a press conference in which ministers got up and they told the country that beloved football codes had been infiltrated by organised crime and that it was rife with the use of performance-enhancing substances, which was all pretty shocking … The chase was on across radio, television, you name it: who were the doctors? Who were the biochemists? Who were the players that had been allegedly taking this stuff? <strong>– Caro Meldrum-Hanna</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The race was on for interviews with key insiders – especially biochemist Stephen Dank, who had worked with several AFL and NRL clubs including Essendon and Cronulla.</p>
<p>So how did ABC TV current affairs reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna convince Dank to talk, beating so many better-connected sports journalists? </p>
<p>Her skills in digging into social media proved to be the difference, helping her draw connections between key players in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-the-essendon-saga-any-reform-to-anti-doping-regimes-must-give-athletes-a-greater-say-53212">supplements saga</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In order to find those people, ‘cause they were just names on paper, it was absolutely social media. Trawling Facebook, I was trawling YouTube, trawling Twitter, an old Myspace account I think it was, or a Bebo, desperately trying to find pictures of these people, because I didn’t know who they were and I didn’t know what their history was. That was absolutely vital, social media in that regard. And once that had been established and I could say who they were and show them, then after that I got the interview with Steve Dank and the rest sort of snowballed from there.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="32" data-image="" data-title="Caro Meldrum-Hanna: social media was 'absolutely vital'." data-size="512417" data-source="Caro Meldrum-Hanna" data-source-url="" data-license="CC BY" data-license-url="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
<source src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/524/link-3-caro-mh-social-media-was-absolutely-vital.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
</audio>
<div class="audio-player-caption">
Caro Meldrum-Hanna: social media was ‘absolutely vital’.
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caro Meldrum-Hanna</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a><span class="download"><span>500 KB</span> <a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/524/link-3-caro-mh-social-media-was-absolutely-vital.mp3">(download)</a></span></span>
</div></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pkk7BequD_Q?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Stephen Dank breaking his silence in an interview with Caro Meldrum-Hanna on the ABC’s 7.30.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.walkleys.com/walkleys-winners/sports_journalism_2013_caro_meldrum-hanna/">Meldrum-Hanna</a> is among the 16 leading Australian investigative journalists I’ve interviewed at length for my research. Together, they identified 14 different investigative tasks in which social media helps them do their jobs better, including finding names and verifying identities, speeding up investigations, verifying associations between people, and crowd sourcing information.</p>
<h2>From families caught in a deadly flood, to an international child abuse scandal</h2>
<p>I began to realise the huge possibilities of social media in 2011, while reporting on the deadly flash flooding in Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley for The Australian. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142129/original/image-20161018-16180-qe73vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142129/original/image-20161018-16180-qe73vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142129/original/image-20161018-16180-qe73vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142129/original/image-20161018-16180-qe73vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142129/original/image-20161018-16180-qe73vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142129/original/image-20161018-16180-qe73vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1116&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142129/original/image-20161018-16180-qe73vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1116&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142129/original/image-20161018-16180-qe73vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1116&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The updated edition of The Torrent.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Several families of the missing people posted photographs to Facebook asking for public help to find them. I contacted one family who gave permission for the photograph of the father, Bruce Warhurst, to be used in the newspaper. His daughter told me the terrifying story of <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/the-seconds-that-separated-life-and-death/story-e6frg6nf-1225985909274">their ordeal</a> trying to escape what many people described as an “inland tsunami”. </p>
<p>Social media also helped in finding people who were believed to have drowned, but who had <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/toowoombas-miracle-girl-surfaces-after-being-feared-drowned/story-e6frg6nf-1225991338315">actually survived</a>. (Those and other stories are shared in a new edition of my book <a href="https://penguin.com.au/books/the-torrent-a-true-story-of-hope-and-survival-2nd-edition-9780702259524">The Torrent</a>, <a href="https://penguin.com.au/books/the-torrent-a-true-story-of-hope-and-survival-2nd-edition-9780702259524">due out in January 2017</a>, which follows the survivors’ recovery in the years since.)</p>
<p>More than a year after the flood, I found social media made all the difference in a complex international investigation.</p>
<p>In late 2012, I received an email out of the blue from a man in England who claimed to be a victim of sexual abuse by a very senior cleric, Robert Waddington, whose eulogies after his death in 2007 praised his “<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/churchs-wall-of-silence-on-sexual-abuse/story-e6frg6z6-1226639077238">special gift for teaching boys</a>”.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/choirboy-haunted-by-painful-memories/story-e6frg6nf-1226639101313">If the account was true</a>, there would be more abuse victims – but I had no names to try to find them. It was a seemingly impossible task. </p>
<p>However, within a couple of hours, I tracked down a post made to a social media site, <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/73855525/Old-Friends-announces-closure">Old Friends</a>, naming Waddington as a paedophile and providing the name of another victim, this time in Australia. </p>
<p>We used a secret Facebook group, email and Skype calls to interview the victims. Over the following six months, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/churchs-wall-of-silence-on-sexual-abuse/story-e6frg6z6-1226639077238">evidence obtained from police</a> in Manchester, a long-running civil action in Australia, and documents from a failed Australian police investigation verified that decades of abuse by Waddington had been covered up by the Church of England and the Diocese of North Queensland. </p>
<p>Simultaneous front page stories <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/child-sex-scandal-in-two-countries-rocks-anglican-church/story-e6frg6nf-1226639078714">in The Times of London and The Australian</a> broke the story and led to <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/robert-waddingtons-cycle-of-abuse-stretches-beyond-50-years/story-e6frg6nf-1226654874606">more abuse victims</a> speaking out. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cL4lvnNA6RU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Warning: contains details viewers could find distressing. Ray Munn describes how the priest Robert Waddington “groomed” him and other boys for abuse.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Australia, the Anglican Church referred the case to the <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/">Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse</a>. </p>
<p>The Church of England launched an inquiry. There, the case led to a review of the <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/global/top-anglican-calls-lifting-seal-confessional-child-abuse-cases">seal of the confessional</a> and a review of <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10248599/Paedophile-priests-church-re-examines-files-dating-back-60-years.html">clergy records dating back 60 years</a>. The UK inquiry vindicated the victims and led to the <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/anglican-bishop-quits-over-sexual-abuse-coverup/news-story/357ff0d9c077d4c5fc4869af3b83ef1c">resignation</a> of the former Archbishop of York, Lord David Hope of Thornes. North Yorkshire police are currently <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/former-archbishop-investigated-over-claims-of-sex-abuse-cover-up-jrb8h2cpl">investigating the former archbishop</a> over his handling of complaints against Waddington.</p>
<p>As The Australian’s <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/Michael+McKenna">Michael McKenna</a>, who collaborated with me on that investigation, has said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is no doubt that social media and the internet has completely changed the way that we do business for the greater community of journalists. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The investigation is an example of global investigative journalism, which reaches beyond the <a href="https://theconversation.com/right-to-know-the-nation-the-people-and-the-fourth-estate-21253">“fourth estate”</a> in Australia, and demonstrates that a <em>global</em> fourth estate is emerging. </p>
<h2>Social media is another tool – not a panacea</h2>
<p>Keeping in contact with vulnerable news sources is now much easier, no matter where they are. Fairfax foreign correspondent <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/by/Michael-Bachelard-hveki">Michael Bachelard</a> interviewed asylum seekers on the beaches of Indonesia where their boats were washed ashore. Social media then enabled him to keep in touch with those people, who were continually having to move in search of a safe place to live. </p>
<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="24" data-image="" data-title="Michael Bachelard on using Facebook to follow asylum seekers." data-size="393716" data-source="Amanda Gearing" data-source-url="" data-license="CC BY" data-license-url="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
<source src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/528/link-6-bachelard-fb-asylum-seeker-contacts.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
</audio>
<div class="audio-player-caption">
Michael Bachelard on using Facebook to follow asylum seekers.
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amanda Gearing</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a><span class="download"><span>384 KB</span> <a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/528/link-6-bachelard-fb-asylum-seeker-contacts.mp3">(download)</a></span></span>
</div></p>
<p>Social media platforms are not a panacea for investigative journalism in financially stressed times. Some of the journalists I interviewed for my study were still not yet ready to embrace social media platforms for investigation, citing risks such as losing exclusivity on a story, factual error, risk to physical safety and legal risks.</p>
<p>But as I and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-investigative-journalists-are-using-social-media-to-uncover-the-truth-66393">others have found</a>, social media connections do allow some stories to be reported that would not otherwise be published.</p>
<p>One public post on social media can sometimes make it possible to investigate stories that have gone untold for too long. And powerful institutions that were once able to tightly control information – never imagining the advent of technologies that would allow isolated victims of crime to find one another across the world – can at last be called to account.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65794/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Gearing receives funding from the Australian Government via an Australian Postgraduate Award and Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, via a Deputy Vice Chancellor's Scholarship. Amanda is also the author of The Torrent: A True Story of Heroism and Survival, published by UQP, a new edition of which will be released in January 2017. She is a member of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance. </span></em></p>From a social media post that cracked open a decades-old abuse scandal in the UK and Australia, through to tracking asylum seekers, social media can be vital in breaking investigative news stories.Amanda Gearing, PhD Candidate, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/668382016-10-19T19:13:20Z2016-10-19T19:13:20ZAlgorithms might be everywhere, but like us, they’re deeply flawed<p><em>Social media has revolutionised how we communicate. In <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/the-social-media-revolution-31890">this series</a>, we look at how it has changed the media, politics, health, education and the law.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s the problem?</h2>
<p>As <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-science/algorithms/intro-to-algorithms/v/what-are-algorithms">algorithms</a> become entrenched into society, the debate about their effects rages on. </p>
<p>In essence, algorithms are sequences of instructions used to <a href="http://futurism.com/images/what-are-algorithms/">solve problems</a> and <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3391475/what-is-the-difference-between-an-algorithm-and-a-function">perform functions</a> in computer programming. As mathematical expressions, algorithms existed <a href="http://paulhertz.net/saic/algoprac/history.html">long before modern computers</a>. While they <a href="https://hbfs.wordpress.com/2008/12/23/the-10-classes-of-algorithms-every-programmer-must-know-about/">vary in application</a>, all algorithms have three things in common: clearly-defined beginning and ending points, discrete sets of “steps,” and design meant to address a specific type of problem.</p>
<p>And problems we have.</p>
<p>On the one hand, algorithms play the role of <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/133472/life-age-algorithms">prime suspect</a> — responsible for the recent UK pound’s Brexit-induced <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602586/algorithms-probably-caused-a-flash-crash-of-the-british-pound/">flash crash</a>, used for political and <a href="http://www.datasociety.net/pubs/ap/MediationAutomationPower_2016.pdf">informational manipulation</a> on social networks, and part of what Harvard Professor Shoshanna Zuboff calls <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2594754">“surveillance capitalism”</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142080/original/image-20161017-12447-1bmgeo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142080/original/image-20161017-12447-1bmgeo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142080/original/image-20161017-12447-1bmgeo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142080/original/image-20161017-12447-1bmgeo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142080/original/image-20161017-12447-1bmgeo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142080/original/image-20161017-12447-1bmgeo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142080/original/image-20161017-12447-1bmgeo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sorting algorithm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">by Pmdumuid, own work, CC0</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the other hand, algorithms <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/story/algorithms-practical-efficiency/">make modern life easier</a>: they help us find information, <a href="http://www.thecardiologyadvisor.com/heart-failure/heart-failure-identification-algorithms/article/548354/">detect disease</a>, connect us to friends and family, show us products we’re likely to be interested in, <a href="https://research.googleblog.com/2016/09/the-280-year-old-algorithm-inside.html">recommend personalised experiences</a>, and direct us around traffic delays, saving us valuable time and money. </p>
<h2>Algorithms are everywhere</h2>
<p>Much has been written on what algorithms do and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/jul/01/how-algorithms-rule-world-nsa">how they affect us</a>. This includes <a href="http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/10/dont-trust-that-algorithm/">how algorithms secretly control us</a>, what types of information <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/facebooks-filter-bubble">they filter in or out</a> of our social media feeds, and the thousands of calculated outcomes <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/20150204_Big_Data_Seizing_Opportunities_Preserving_Values_Memo.pdf">they force on us daily</a>.</p>
<p>This piece isn’t about these issues, or about breaking down the complex nature of how algorithms work.</p>
<p>The relevance of algorithms at the moment isn’t because they are used in Google’s search, maps, autocomplete, photos, and <a href="https://research.googleblog.com/2015/07/how-google-translate-squeezes-deep.html">translation</a> services; <a href="http://social.cs.uiuc.edu/papers/pdfs/Eslami_Algorithms_CHI15.pdf">Facebook’s news feed</a> and Trends; Twitter’s <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/2015/trend-detection-social-data">trending topics</a>; Netflix’s <a href="http://techblog.netflix.com/2016/02/recommending-for-world.html">movie recommendations</a>; Amazon’s prices and <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-takes-another-swing-at-dodgy-product-reviews/">product reviews</a>; or for <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=122439">predicting hurricanes</a>, <a href="http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx">creditworthiness</a>, and home and car insurance liabilities. It’s not because most computer software and mobile applications are essentially <a href="http://cs.stackexchange.com/questions/38386/computer-program-vs-algorithm">bundled packages of algorithms</a>. </p>
<p>To return to my very first point, algorithms are important because they are <a href="https://www.wired.com/insights/2014/09/artificial-intelligence-algorithms-2/">the key process in artificial intelligence</a>: <em>decision-making</em>.</p>
<h2>AI_gorithms</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142082/original/image-20161017-12431-1vymbir.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142082/original/image-20161017-12431-1vymbir.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142082/original/image-20161017-12431-1vymbir.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142082/original/image-20161017-12431-1vymbir.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142082/original/image-20161017-12431-1vymbir.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142082/original/image-20161017-12431-1vymbir.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142082/original/image-20161017-12431-1vymbir.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Algorithms are …</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">auto complete screenshot</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Algorithms, in a sense, are the “nervous system” of AI. They are the models that underpin machine learning, prediction, and problem solving. Yet, as many researchers argue, due to their design by humans, algorithms <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/software/computer-scientists-find-bias-in-algorithms">can never be neutral</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"732580543913689088"}"></div></p>
<p>As <a href="http://internethalloffame.org/inductees/vint-cerf">Vint Cerf</a>, co-inventor of the Internet Protocol, Turing Award winner, and Google VP pointed out in a <a href="http://opentranscripts.org/transcript/artificial-intelligence-and-internet/">recent speech at Elon University</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We need to remember that [AI systems] are made out of software. And we don’t know how to write perfect software … the consequence is that however much we might benefit from these devices …, they may not work exactly the way they were intended to work or the way we expect them to. And the more we rely on [AI systems], the more surprised we may be when they don’t work the way we expect.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>“The way we expect” is key here, because algorithms are a computer-simulated reflection of encoded human <em>expectations</em>. </p>
<h2>Engineering memories</h2>
<p>Facebook’s famous “On This Day” prompt involves “<a href="https://code.facebook.com/posts/1748968875380127/engineering-for-nostalgia-building-a-personalized-on-this-day-experience/">engineering for nostalgia</a>.” Likewise, Instagram algorithmically sorts its timeline so you “<a href="http://blog.instagram.com/post/145322772067/160602-news">see the moments <em>you</em> care about first</a>”.</p>
<p>The more we, as humans, rely on algorithms, the more our reality becomes encoded with other people’s flawed expectations. As more AI-powered systems come online, this type of calculated bias will permeate every level of our lives — even our memories and past experiences.</p>
<p>Take, for instance, Google Photos, which uses AI-powered “deep learning” to organise people’s photos beyond normal metadata (GPS, time, date, lens, etc.). It uses advanced <a href="https://research.googleblog.com/2015/06/inceptionism-going-deeper-into-neural.html">machine learning algorithms</a> to classify material objects, facial expressions, and emotional relevance. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142077/original/image-20161017-12450-et3zy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142077/original/image-20161017-12450-et3zy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142077/original/image-20161017-12450-et3zy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142077/original/image-20161017-12450-et3zy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142077/original/image-20161017-12450-et3zy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142077/original/image-20161017-12450-et3zy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142077/original/image-20161017-12450-et3zy1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Google Photos: ‘The photos app that’s as smart as you’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Twitter</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The robotic “assistant” even can touch up images, suggest creative filters and <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/03/google-photos-assistant/">create photo albums automatically</a>. </p>
<h2>Biased learning, troubled future?</h2>
<p>As algorithms “learn” more about us through our financial data, location history, biometric features, <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1608.07187v2.pdf">voice patterns</a>, social networks, stored memories, and “smart home” devices, we move towards a reality <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/what-makes-paris-look-like-paris-let-an-algorithm-tell-you">constructed by imperfect machine learning</a> systems which try to understand us through other people’s expectations and sets of “rules”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142114/original/image-20161018-12450-vsgdta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142114/original/image-20161018-12450-vsgdta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142114/original/image-20161018-12450-vsgdta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142114/original/image-20161018-12450-vsgdta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142114/original/image-20161018-12450-vsgdta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142114/original/image-20161018-12450-vsgdta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142114/original/image-20161018-12450-vsgdta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What’s on your mind?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Facebook News Feed prompt (screenshot)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Algorithms are the literal manifestation of “playing by someone else’s rules.”
For dating app Tinder’s algorithmic “Smart Photos” matching, <a href="http://tech.gotinder.com/smart-photos-2/">the rules of successful engagement on Tinder are made clear</a>, and enforced on users. </p>
<p>Does this mean that <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-we-living-in-a-computer-simulation/">we live inside a computer simulation</a>? I’ll <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/2/11837874/elon-musk-says-odds-living-in-simulation">defer that question to Elon Musk,</a> who has said, “there’s a billion to one chance we’re living in base reality”. Cerf, however, warns that it’s a mistake to “imbue artificial intelligences with a breadth of knowledge that they don’t actually have, and also with <em>social</em> intelligence that they don’t have”.</p>
<p>The algorithmic end game, AI, will get better with time, but it will always be flawed. Even in straightforward applications like a game of chess, algorithms can leave people clueless as to how they arrived at a certain outcome. </p>
<h2>Great expectations</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142083/original/image-20161017-12431-zkl54t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142083/original/image-20161017-12431-zkl54t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142083/original/image-20161017-12431-zkl54t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142083/original/image-20161017-12431-zkl54t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142083/original/image-20161017-12431-zkl54t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142083/original/image-20161017-12431-zkl54t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142083/original/image-20161017-12431-zkl54t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">IBM’s Deep Blue.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">By James the photographer</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cerf talked about a scenario in which IBM’s “Deep Blue” supercomputer, playing world chess champion <a href="http://www.kasparov.com">Gary Kasparov</a>, made a move that Kasparov could not understand. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I mean, it made no sense whatsoever. And he was clearly concerned about it, because he thought for quite a long time and had to play the endgame much faster … <a href="https://www.wired.com/2012/09/deep-blue-computer-bug/">in the end it turned out it was a bug</a>. </p>
<p>It was just a mistake. The computer didn’t know what it was doing. But Kasparov assumed that it did, and lost the game as a result.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The implications of bias today might result in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/25/us/police-program-aims-to-pinpoint-those-most-likely-to-commit-crimes.html?_r=0">poor neighbourhoods experiencing more police brutality</a> because of predictive data modeling; tomorrow, it will mean people die when the algorithms controlling self-driving cars are programmed to <a href="http://blog.caranddriver.com/self-driving-mercedes-will-prioritize-occupant-safety-over-pedestrians/">save the occupants lives instead of pedestrians</a>.</p>
<h2>Bad or good?</h2>
<p>Is the <em>social</em> use of algorithms inherently “bad,” provided they form the basis of “intelligence” in AI?“ David Lazer, a computer scientist at Northeastern University, is sceptical. <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6239/1090">In a recent <em>Science</em> article</a> he said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The fact that human lives are regulated by code is hardly a new phenomenon. Organizations run on their own algorithms, called standard operating procedures. And anyone who has been told that "it’s a rule” knows that social rules can be as automatic and thoughtless as any algorithm. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>It does mean that companies, governments, and institutions that employ algorithms, and soon, AI powered deep learning “<a href="https://www.wired.com/2015/04/jeff-dean/">neural networks</a>” need to be more transparent in showing us <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/03/18/how-do-you-govern-a-hidden-fluid-and-amoral-algorithm/">how the algorithms they use might affect our reality</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"788463940510617601"}"></div></p>
<p>Given how proprietary algorithms are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/us-money-blog/2016/may/15/hedge-fund-managers-algorithms-robots-investment-tips">the new business model</a>, this is doubtful, even despite current <a href="http://yaroslavvb.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-patent-algorithm-in-us.html">laws preventing algorithms from being patentable</a>.</p>
<p>A recent SSRN piece maintains the need for a “<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2747994">Food and Drug Administration for algorithms.</a>” Some scholars go so far as to argue that <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/01/algorithms-need-managers-too">algorithms need managers, too</a>. According to Cerf: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s a little unnerving to think that we’re building machines that we don’t understand … Not only in the technical sense, like what’s it going to do or how is it going to behave, but also in the social sense, how is it going to impact our society?</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Just like us</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142084/original/image-20161017-12428-c5t7qa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142084/original/image-20161017-12428-c5t7qa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142084/original/image-20161017-12428-c5t7qa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142084/original/image-20161017-12428-c5t7qa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142084/original/image-20161017-12428-c5t7qa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142084/original/image-20161017-12428-c5t7qa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142084/original/image-20161017-12428-c5t7qa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bias.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Error Message Generator (CC 3.0)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, algorithms, the underlying process of decision making in artificial intelligence systems are imperfect, prone to bias, and make unpredictable decisions that impact the future.</p>
<p>Sound familiar?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66838/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Albright does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Think it’s a mere coincidence the first two letters of “algorithm” hint at Artificial Intelligence?Jonathan Albright, Assistant Professor, Elon UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/663932016-10-17T19:20:01Z2016-10-17T19:20:01ZHow investigative journalists are using social media to uncover the truth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141924/original/image-20161017-14873-r1wn24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The film Spotlight showed how investigative reporters uncovered abuse in the Catholic Church.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Participant Media</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Social media has revolutionised how we communicate. In <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/the-social-media-revolution-31890">this series</a>, we look at how it has changed the media, politics, health, education and the law.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Borrowing Malcolm Turnbull’s election slogan, optimists would say there has never been a more exciting time to be a journalist. Why? Part of the answer lies with social media and the digital age. </p>
<p>A recent trip to Nepal for the second <a href="http://2016.uncoveringasia.org/">Asian investigative journalism conference</a> revealed something exciting is changing journalism. In a digital era that promotes sharing through tweets, likes and follows, reporters are sharing too – not just their own stories, but also their skills.</p>
<p>They no longer view each other as simply rivals competing for a scoop, but collaborators who can share knowledge to expose wrongdoing for the public good. </p>
<p>Take, for example, the <a href="https://panamapapers.icij.org/">Panama Papers</a> that broke in April this year. It involved almost 400 journalists together trawling through 11.5 million leaked documents from law firm Mossack Fonseca to expose the shady global industry of secret tax havens.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141912/original/image-20161017-30272-1sn61zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141912/original/image-20161017-30272-1sn61zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141912/original/image-20161017-30272-1sn61zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141912/original/image-20161017-30272-1sn61zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141912/original/image-20161017-30272-1sn61zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141912/original/image-20161017-30272-1sn61zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141912/original/image-20161017-30272-1sn61zy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wealthy individuals were exposed of corruption and wrongdoing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panama_papers_sz_chat.jpg">Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another version of this type of collaboration occurred in Kathmandu last month. Eighty of the world’s best investigative journalists from The New York Times, The Guardian and other quality outlets met to train hundreds of reporters from across the globe in digital journalism. Classes included data reporting, mapping and visualisations, online searching, tracking dirty money, co-ordinating cross-border reporting teams and effective use of social media.</p>
<p><a href="http://gijn.org/">The Global Investigative Journalism Network</a> (GIJN) chose Nepal as the host country so that journalists from less-developed economies – many with limited political and civil freedoms – could attend to learn how to strengthen watchdog reporting in their home countries. </p>
<p>Reporting in these nations can be difficult, and some stories told were horrific. <a href="https://www.icij.org/journalists/umar-cheema">Umar Cheema</a>, a Panama Papers reporter and investigative journalist for Pakistan’s The News International, described how he was abducted by unknown assailants in 2010, stripped, shaved and beaten. His “crime” was to report critically on the Pakistani government, intelligence services and military. </p>
<p>His captors have not been caught. But rather than remain silent, he shared his story with the world and was awarded the Daniel Pearl Fellowship to work at The New York Times in 2008.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141918/original/image-20161017-30236-h8wedm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141918/original/image-20161017-30236-h8wedm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141918/original/image-20161017-30236-h8wedm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141918/original/image-20161017-30236-h8wedm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141918/original/image-20161017-30236-h8wedm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141918/original/image-20161017-30236-h8wedm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141918/original/image-20161017-30236-h8wedm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Umar Cheema established the Center for Investigative Reporting in Pakistan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eastwestcenter/13392285425/in/photolist-mpqXSR">East-West Center/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite diverse backgrounds with varying levels of press freedom, journalists came to Kathmandu with the same motive: to give voice to the powerless against those who abuse power; whether it be corrupt governments, corporations or individuals.</p>
<p>Unique to the digital age, this can be achieved with tools as simple as a mobile phone and internet connection. Social media platforms are useful too, to distribute stories beyond the territories that oppress them.</p>
<p>Among the watchdog journalism educators were Pulitzer Prize winners, including <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/staff/robinson">Walter “Robbie” Robinson</a>. Now editor-at-large at the Boston Globe, Robinson is the reporter played by Michael Keaton in this year’s Oscar winner for Best Picture, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwdCIpbTN5g">Spotlight</a>. </p>
<p>The film tells how Robinson in 2001 led the Spotlight team’s investigation that uncovered widespread sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. That investigation inspired other journalists around the world to probe and eventually expose the church’s widespread abuses of power. Robinson’s message was simple: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>To me you are all Spotlight reporters. For the great journalism you have done and will do. For your energy, for your passion, for your courage, for your tenacity, for your commitment to righting wrong and for knowing with a certainty, that there is no injustice however grave that cannot be eradicated by those who unearth the truth.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To unearth truths, trainers profiled free digital search tools like <a href="https://www.picodash.com/">Picodash</a> for trawling Instagram, and Amnesty International’s <a href="http://www.amnestyusa.org/citizenevidence/">YouTube DataViewer</a>, as well as reverse image searching programs like <a href="https://www.tineye.com/">TinEye</a>. </p>
<p>Thomson Reuters’ Data editor Irene Liu showed reporters how to search for people using <a href="https://pipl.com/">Pipl,</a> ways to navigate blog content using <a href="https://kinja.com/">Kinja,</a> and creative techniques to search social media. Sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can be trawled using <a href="https://rapportive.com/">Rapportive</a> and Chrome extension <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/storyful-multisearch/hkglibabhninbjmaccpajiakojeacnaf?hl=en">Storyful Multisearch</a> to find public interest information quickly and cheaply. </p>
<p>Here are five ways that social media is changing journalism in the digital age:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Reach: social media offers journalism a potential global playing field. It is used for sharing stories but also crowdsourcing information and enabling local stories of significance to spread beyond geographical boundaries. Whether it is the Arab Spring uprising or the recent hurricane in Haiti, journalists can source contacts and share stories with the rest of the world. </p></li>
<li><p>Participation: social media provides a many-to-many network that allows for audience participation and interaction. It provides for audience comment, and these interactions can take the story forward. </p></li>
<li><p>Hyperlocal reporting: social media is filling a gap in hyperlocal reporting. In a recent study <a href="http://mia.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/05/18/1329878X16648390.abstract">we found</a> community groups, including the local police at Broadmeadows, used social media to provide local news. This helped fill a reporting hole left by the shrinking newsrooms of local newspapers.</p></li>
<li><p>Low cost: social media is a fast and cheap way to find, produce and share news. It lowers the barriers to entry for start-up news outlets and freelance journalists. </p></li>
<li><p>Independence: journalists can bypass state-controlled media and other limits on publishing their stories. They can report independently without editorial interference, and broadcast their own movements, using publicity for self-protection.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The benefits social media can offer journalism, particularly in developing economies, is not to deny the challenges established media outlets face in developed countries in the digital age. </p>
<p>Certainly, the rise of digital media technologies has fractured the business model of traditional media as advertising has migrated online, causing revenue losses. In turn, these have sparked masses of newsroom job losses cutbacks, and masthead closures. </p>
<p>But for all the pervasive pessimism about the future of established news outlets, and the negative aspects of social media such as trolling, the Nepal conference demonstrated the positives as well. </p>
<p>Digital tools are changing the ways in which journalists find, tell and share their stories with audiences beyond the control of state borders. Yet, at the same time, new technologies enable journalists to do what they have always done: to uncover stories in the public interest. </p>
<p>Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa wrote in The Leopard:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>So it is with journalism in the digital age.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66393/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Carson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite its negative aspects, investigative journalists globally are using social media to collaborate and uncover important stories.Andrea Carson, Lecturer, Media and Politics, School of Social and Political Sciences; Honorary Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/664792016-10-17T03:35:53Z2016-10-17T03:35:53Z12 deadly Indigenous Australian social media users to follow<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141115/original/image-20161010-3906-xwcp9t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">From a battle over an oil pipeline in the American mid-west to small Australian communities fighting for survival, Indigenous people are harnessing social media to take their stories global.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/40969298@N05/29405124371/in/photolist-LL4rzs-KYsca7-Lu7r7w-LL4ph1-KYDTXg-LSAxaG-LVAn4F-Lu4yG7-LKZUrS-LVAfei-LVAcjk-KYAKvc-LSynhj-KYABkK-KYAy18-KYp2SW-LVzX7n-LSyc3G-KYoRKb-KYoQbQ-LVzPVi-LNvACx-LNvzhr-LKZnVG-LNvwnP-LSxZzb-KYoHjU-LSxYcm-LVzEuz-LNvq84-LSxTBj-KYox31-LKZ6X9-Lu3GeU-LVzgW8-LSxDKw-KYzE28-KYoaXW-LtYLbu-LNqX1X-LNqUt2-LNqRfD-LVuYoR-LVuVLX-LKUuC9-KYiGeh-LKUqab-KYvpL2-LSsESS-LrrLn7/">Joe Brusky/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Social media has revolutionised how we communicate. In <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/the-social-media-revolution-31890">this series</a>, we look at how it has changed the media, politics, health, education and the law.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>In many countries around the world, Indigenous people make up only small percentages of the population. But at a time when <a href="http://www.briansolis.com/2011/05/this-just-in-news-no-longer-breaks-it-tweets/">“news no longer breaks, it tweets”</a> – with information travelling faster than the mainstream media can keep up – social media has become an increasingly powerful way to make our voices heard.</p>
<p>I’m currently in the United States, working on a special issue of the <a href="http://journal.acs.org.au/index.php/ajis/about">Australasian Journal of Information Systems</a> on Indigenous people and social media activism. While here, I’ve been able to closely follow one of the <a href="http://returntonow.net/2016/09/08/dakota-access-oil-pipeline-halted-largest-native-american-protest-history/">largest Native American protests</a> in modern US history.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140421/original/image-20161005-15909-tvuaq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140421/original/image-20161005-15909-tvuaq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140421/original/image-20161005-15909-tvuaq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140421/original/image-20161005-15909-tvuaq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140421/original/image-20161005-15909-tvuaq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140421/original/image-20161005-15909-tvuaq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140421/original/image-20161005-15909-tvuaq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Aboriginal flag flying in solidarity at the Sacred Stone Camp, North Dakota, USA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sacred Stone Camp, Facebook</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Social media has helped the <a href="http://standingrock.org/">Standing Rock Sioux Tribe</a> attract national and global support in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/09/us/dakota-access-pipeline-protests.html">their fight</a> to protect <a href="http://nativenewsonline.net/currents/standing-rock-sioux-tribe-reasserts-dapl-destroyed-sacred-places/">sacred sites</a> and water supplies from a <a href="http://www.daplpipelinefacts.com/">1,900 kilometre pipeline</a>, expected to carry 470,000 barrels of oil a day just north of their reservation. (Follow the latest #NoDAPL developments on <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23nodapl&src=typd">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%23nodapl">YouTube</a>, <a href="https://medium.com/tag/nodapl">Medium</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/nodapl/?hl=en">Instagram</a> or see the Aboriginal flag flying at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CampOfTheSacredStone/">Sacred Stone Camp</a> via its Facebook page.)</p>
<p>Social media is also crucial to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sosblakaustralia">#SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA</a> – a campaign against the closure of remote Aboriginal communities that took off after <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/allanclarke/how-a-single-facebook-post-inspired-thousands-to-stand-up-fo?utm_term=.jwpk2gj2L#.niOmMxkMw">a single Facebook post</a> from the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-30/protest-against-forced-closure-aboriginal-communities/6431558">Bieundurry family</a>, residents of the remote Aboriginal community Wangkatjungka.</p>
<p>Within a week of that first Facebook post, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-30/protest-against-forced-closure-aboriginal-communities/6431558">thousands of people across Australia</a> were in the streets. Then came <a href="http://www.vice.com/read/we-spoke-to-western-australian-remote-aboriginal-communities-facing-closure">international media coverage</a> to the issue, as well as support from Indigenous groups <a href="https://intercontinentalcry.org/aboriginal-australian-communities-announce-a-global-call-to-action/">overseas</a>. </p>
<p>I’ve written about the #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA campaign as an example of the nexus between political activism and Indigenous people’s use of social media in Australia for a chapter of a new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Negotiating-Digital-Citizenship-Control-Contest/dp/1783488891">Negotiating Digital Citizenship: Control, Contest and Culture</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"682482597394399236"}"></div></p>
<p>There are some challenges. While social media can provide significant <a href="https://theconversation.com/well-connected-indigenous-kids-keen-to-tap-new-ways-to-save-lives-30964">benefits</a> to Indigenous people, we have yet to fully understand the health impacts of constantly being connected and subject to violent and oppressive content. This is something <a href="https://croakey.org/for-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people-what-are-the-health-impacts-of-social-media/">my current research</a> is focused on. </p>
<p>Indigenous Australians have always been early adopters of technology, and information and communication technologies are no exception. I’d expect that to continue as new media platforms continue to emerge. As <a href="http://www.vividpublishing.com.au/makingtheconnection/Making_The_Connection_eTXT_screen.pdf">Jason Glanville notes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>what the longest continuous unbroken thread of human history points to is an extraordinary level of capacity and resilience, innovation and adaptability </p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are too many strong Indigenous people on social media to list here. But if you want to tap into the latest in Indigenous Australian news, politics, research, culture and more, these deadly dozen will steer you towards more accounts to following.</p>
<h2>Dameyon Bonson</h2>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-5s3_NL_AO4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">About the Black Rainbow Living Well Foundation.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dameyon Bonson is the 2016 <a href="http://indigenousx.com.au/dr-yunupingu-award-for-human-rights/">Dr. Yunupingu award for Human Rights</a> recipient and founder of <a href="http://www.blackrainbow.org.au/home.html">Black Rainbow</a>, Australia’s peak suicide prevention group for Indigenous lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. He’s also the managing director of <a href="https://theindigenist.com">Indigenist</a> and an advocate of Indigenous genius, Indigeneity and wellbeing. </p>
<p><strong>Follow Dameyon on <a href="https://twitter.com/DameyonBonson">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dameyonbonson">LinkedIn</a>, or Black Rainbow on <a href="https://twitter.com/BlkRnBow">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BlackRainbowAustralia/">Facebook</a>.</strong></p>
<h2>Leesa Watego</h2>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s1NBtr1kVlY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Leesa Watego talking about Taking Ownership and Building Platforms.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.notquitecooked.com/p/about-me.html">Leesa Watego</a> started <a href="http://deadlybloggers.com">Deadly Bloggers</a> in 2009, a directory of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers posting on everything from business to pop culture. She is the director of <a href="https://twitter.com/iscariotmedia">Iscariot Media</a>, a niche media enterprise focusing on creative, online and educational projects. Leesa is an outstanding educator and deep thinker. </p>
<p><strong>Follow Leesa on <a href="https://twitter.com/leesawatego?lang=en">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NotQuiteCooked/">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/leesawatego?&ab_channel=LeesaWatego">YouTube</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/leesawatego">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="http://www.notquitecooked.com/p/about-me.html">more</a>, or Deadly Bloggers on <a href="https://twitter.com/DeadlyBloggers">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/deadlybloggers/?fref=ts">Facebook</a>.</strong></p>
<h2>Joe Williams</h2>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/106148474" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A short film about champion boxer and former rugby league player Joe Williams’ fight with depression.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.joewilliams.com.au/speaking/">Joe Williams</a> works hard to inspire youth and individuals through motivational speaking workshops, run through his charity The Enemy Within. He is impassioned by the high rates of suicides in Indigenous communities – speaking and <a href="http://www.joewilliams.com.au/blog/">writing</a> powerfully about his own experience of surviving a suicide attempt – as well as the continued discrimination Indigenous people face in mainstream media.</p>
<p><strong>Follow Joe on <a href="https://twitter.com/joewilliams_tew">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-williams-51bb9b11a">LinkedIn</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheEnemyWithinJoeWilliams/">Facebook</a>.</strong></p>
<h2>Amy McQuire</h2>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/180724382" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Amy McQuire leading a video panel on police brutality featuring Leon Petrou’s case.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://amy-mcquire.com/">Amy McQuire</a> is a journalist with <a href="http://www.989fm.com.au/">98.9FM</a> in Brisbane, the first Indigenous radio station in a capital city. Amy has a history of being vocal about the injustices faced by Indigenous people, including talking about hard issues like Indigenous deaths in custody and police brutality.</p>
<p><strong>Follow Amy on <a href="https://twitter.com/amymcquire">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-mcquire-b504932a">LinkedIn</a> or <a href="https://medium.com/@amymcquire/latest">Medium</a> and 98.9FM on <a href="https://twitter.com/989fmcountry">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bima989fm/">Flickr</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/989fmcountry/">Facebook</a>.</strong></p>
<h2>Jack Latimore</h2>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4GKgwGaHn9k?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Jack Latimore hosting a 2015 panel on New Media and Indigenous Reporting.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jack Latimore is a <a href="http://caj.unimelb.edu.au/about-us/our-staff">researcher</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jack-latimore">journalist</a> with The Guardian Australia, writing on Indigenous affairs, politics, culture, tech, media and journalism. He is involved in the development of several projects aimed at improving the quality of Indigenous representation and participation in the mainstream media. </p>
<p><strong>Follow Jack on <a href="https://twitter.com/LatimoreJack">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://medium.com/@latimore">Medium</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LatimoreJack/">Facebook</a>.</strong></p>
<h2>Euginia Flynn</h2>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"730580578563579904"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://eugeniaflynn.wordpress.com">Euginia Flynn</a> is a blogger who writes from her viewpoint as an Aboriginal, Chinese, Muslim woman living on Kulin Country in Melbourne. Euginia is a thoughtful, poised and strong Indigenous woman.</p>
<p><strong>Follow Euginia on <a href="https://twitter.com/flyingenie1">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/blackthoughtslivehere/?fref=ts">Facebook</a>.</strong></p>
<h2>Bronwyn Fredericks</h2>
<p>We have some wonderful academics researching issues that are important to Indigenous Australia. Often referred to as “Blakademics”, many of them are enthusiastic social media users – such as <a href="https://www.cqu.edu.au/about-us/structure/executive/pro-vice-chancellors/indigenous-engagement">Professor Bronwyn Fredericks</a>, one of Australia’s few Indigenous Pro Vice-Chancellors. </p>
<p>Bronwyn promotes issues of health and wellbeing, race/racism, regional development and more. She is also a fantastic supporter of <a href="https://theconversation.com/laying-pathways-for-greater-success-in-education-for-indigenous-australians-54380">Indigenous students</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Follow Bronwyn on <a href="https://twitter.com/BronFredericks">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronwyn-fredericks-304173b4">LinkedIn</a>.</strong></p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"781030225945694208"}"></div></p>
<h2>Summer May Finlay</h2>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dQe6a_HtzYY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Summer May Finlay on #JustJustice.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://summermayfinlay.blogspot.com.au">Summer May Finlay</a> is a public health professional, PhD candidate and an avid social media user. She is passionate about Australian politics, Aboriginal issues, health, music, art, films and blogs on a variety of other topics. </p>
<p><strong>Follow Summer on <a href="https://twitter.com/OnTopicAus">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/summer-may-finlay-4946698a">LinkedIn</a>.</strong></p>
<h2>Lynore Geia</h2>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1tZaTf21D64?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Lynore Geia speaking about Close the Gap 2016.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://research.jcu.edu.au/portfolio/lynore.geia/">Dr Lynore Geia</a> is an impressive advocate for Indigenous Health. She is the founder of <a href="https://croakey.org/about-ihmayday/">Indigenous Health May Day</a> – or <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ihmayday">#IHMayDay</a> – Tweetfests, which have been successful in gaining national support over three consecutive years and getting Indigenous health trending on Twitter.</p>
<p><strong>Follow Lynore on <a href="https://twitter.com/LynoreGeia">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynore-geia-ab51a6bb">Linkedin</a>.</strong></p>
<h2>Celeste Liddle</h2>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uZAbvjRS0-s?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Celeste Liddle at Communities in Control 2016.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://blackfeministranter.blogspot.com.au/p/about-black-feminist-ranter.html">Celeste Liddle</a> is the National Indigenous Organiser of the National Tertiary Education Union, freelance opinion writer and social commentator. She <a href="http://blackfeministranter.blogspot.com">blogs</a> at Rantings of an Aboriginal Feminist. Celeste is a strong voice on social media and an advocate for Indigenous-controlled media, as well as the value of having more Indigenous commentary <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/news-and-views/opinion/australia-could-learn-a-lot-if-it-actually-listened-to-indigenous-women-on-domestic-violence-20161005-grvp5w.html">in the mainstream media</a>. As <a href="http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=49969#.V_RD_DJh3v2">Celeste recently wrote</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter… allowed us to connect and organise over vast distances. They also gave us platforms to discuss matters which had long been denied within the mainstream press.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Follow Celeste on <a href="https://twitter.com/Utopiana">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://au.linkedin.com/in/celeste-liddle-8a012529">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/blackfeministranter/">Facebook</a>.</strong></p>
<h2>Sandy O'Sullivan</h2>
<p><a href="http://sandyosullivan.blogspot.com">Dr Sandy O’Sullivan</a> is one of our wonderful academic bloggers. She is a great example of the way Indigenous people are making global connections. She is currently in the United States promoting Batchelor Institute’s <a href="http://www.batchelor.edu.au/centre-for-collaborative-first-nations-research/">Centre for Collaborative First Nations Research</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"785154753449852929"}"></div></p>
<p><strong>Follow Sandy on <a href="https://twitter.com/sandyosullivan?lang=en">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://au.linkedin.com/in/sandy-o-sullivan-1a79724">LinkedIn</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sandyosullivan66">Facebook</a> or the Centre for Collaborative First Nations’ Research on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/firstnationsresearch/">Facebook</a>.</strong></p>
<h2>Luke Pearson and IndigenousX</h2>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"684959376067563520"}"></div></p>
<p>No list of Indigenous Australian excellence on social media would be complete without <a href="http://indigenousx.com.au/about/#.V_t9EpN97eQ">Luke Pearson</a> – founder of the highly influential Indigenous media organisation <a href="http://indigenousx.com.au/">IndigenousX</a>. Luke is also currently a senior digital producer for <a href="https://twitter.com/NITV">NITV</a>. </p>
<p>@IndigenousX started in 2012 as a rotating Twitter account, hosted by a different Indigenous Australian every week, and has since expanded into other social media.
Luke has a great sense of irony, which is often evident in his tweets (like the one above).</p>
<p><strong>Follow Luke on <a href="https://twitter.com/lukelpearson?lang=en">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://au.linkedin.com/in/lupearson">LinkedIn</a> and IndigenousX on <a href="https://twitter.com/IndigenousX">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Indigenousx/">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/indigenousx/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTK6oqOtAgPONFsdVyf6fDw?&ab_channel=IndigenousX">YouTube</a>.</strong></p>
<p>That’s just a snapshot of how Indigenous Australians are using social media to connect, debate and advocate to make a difference, as are so many other Indigenous people internationally. As <a href="http://www.vividpublishing.com.au/makingtheconnection/Making_The_Connection_eTXT_screen.pdf">Luke Pearson has said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>digital technologies, and in particular social media, can be a significant tool for connection, empowerment, education, employment, the ongoing struggle for social justice, and Reconciliation. In fact, whatever issue is being addressed (or is not, as the case may be), I believe the digital world can assist.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66479/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Carlson receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Discovery (Indigenous) grant for a research project entitled, 'An Examination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Help-Seeking Behaviours on Social Media' </span></em></p>Indigenous people make up small percentages of the population in many countries – but using social media, Indigenous voices can be heard worldwide. Here are a dozen deadly Australians worth following.Bronwyn Carlson, Associate Professor, Indigenous Studies, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/663972016-10-16T19:08:03Z2016-10-16T19:08:03ZSocial media and crime: the good, the bad and the ugly<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140813/original/image-20161006-32708-1s1429x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C29%2C720%2C495&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The release of CCTV footage of Melbourne woman Jill Meagher’s last moments via social media channels assisted in apprehending her killer.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Social media has revolutionised how we communicate. In <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/the-social-media-revolution-31890">this series</a>, we look at how it has changed the media, politics, health, education and the law.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>The popularity of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat have transformed the way we understand and experience crime and victimisation. </p>
<p>Previously, it’s been thought that people form their opinions about crime from what they see or read in the media. But with social media taking over as our <a href="http://www.journalism.org/2016/05/26/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2016/">preferred news source</a>, how do these new platforms impact our understanding of crime? </p>
<p>Social media has also created new concerns in relation to crime itself. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/dec/27/social-media-crime-facebook-twitter">Victimisation on social media platforms</a> is not uncommon.</p>
<p>However, it is not all bad news. Social media has created new opportunities for criminal justice agencies to solve crimes, among other things.</p>
<p>Thus, like many other advancements in communication technology, social media has a good, a bad and an ugly side when it comes to its relationship with criminal justice and the law. </p>
<h2>The good</h2>
<p>There is no doubt social media has been beneficial for some criminal justice institutions. </p>
<p>For the police, social media has given them unprecedented access to the public, and vice versa. Via Facebook and Twitter, police and the public can communicate in real time about incidents and events. This has proven invaluable not only <a href="https://www.police.qld.gov.au/corporatedocs/reportsPublications/other/Documents/QPSSocialMediaCaseStudy.pdf">during times of crisis</a>, but also on a day-to-day basis and at the <a href="http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/about_us/structure/operations_command/major_events_and_incidents_group/project_eyewatch">local level</a>.</p>
<p>Social media has also become an important tool in police investigations. For example, the release of CCTV footage of Melbourne woman Jill Meagher’s last moments via Facebook pages and YouTube assisted in <a href="http://www.mamamia.com.au/a-detective-has-revealed-exactly-how-police-caught-jill-meaghers-killer/">apprehending her killer</a>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2011/dec/14/judge-court-reporters-twitter">social media “broadcasting”</a> of criminal trials has added an extra level of transparency to criminal proceedings. </p>
<p>But while live tweeting represents a step forward in achieving open justice, there remain concerns with <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/CICrimJust/2015/23.html">the practice</a>.</p>
<h2>The bad</h2>
<p>At the other end of the spectrum, social media has been accused of posing risks for many users, particularly young people. </p>
<p>Social media has been used to facilitate “new” crimes such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-revenge-when-intimate-images-are-posted-online-32948">revenge porn</a>, prompting calls for <a href="http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/people-who-post-revenge-porn-could-face-jail-under-tough-new-laws/news-story/4a05d19450ff863b82b63a6c2feee862">harsher punishment</a>. </p>
<p>Also, the ability for criminals to use social media platforms to track potential victims (and their possessions) was highlighted in the recent <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/04/entertainment/kim-kardashian-police-social-media/index.html">Kim Kardashian robbery</a>. </p>
<p>In addition, “old” crimes such as <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11653092/Police-facing-rising-tide-of-social-media-crimes.html">harassment and threats</a>, as well as <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/sharp-rise-in-identity-fraud-as-scammers-use-facebook-and-other/">fraud and identity theft</a>, have been conducted in new ways through social media. </p>
<p>Social media is also changing the nature of post-crime behaviour. So-called <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2016/01/28/how-social-media-is-changing-the-way-people-commit-crimes-and-police-fight-them/">performance crimes</a> – where offenders boast about their criminal behaviour to their friends and followers online – are increasingly common.</p>
<p>Finally, <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/6/7/citizen-crime-sleuths.html">“couch detectives”</a>, eager to identify suspects, often weigh in on social media, which can at best be distracting for law enforcement and at worst result in innocent people being <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-22214511">wrongly accused</a>. </p>
<p>In a recent <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-27/conviction-inside-the-hunt-for-jill-meagher's-killer/7864120">ABC documentary</a>, the detectives who worked on the Meagher case said they:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… refused to engage [in the Facebook debate], making a conscious decision that they did not need any extra pressure. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The ugly</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/trial-by-social-media-why-we-need-to-properly-educate-juries-13547">Trial by social media</a> has become increasingly concerning for those working in the criminal justice system. </p>
<p>Activity on Facebook and Twitter can pose a threat to prosecutions and the right to a fair trial through practices such as sharing photos of the accused before an indictment, creation of hate groups, or <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/juror-fined-for-describing-case-on-facebook/">jurors sharing their thoughts about a case online</a>. </p>
<p>In the Meagher case, Victoria Police used its <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/trial-by-social-media-worry-in-meagher-case-20120928-26pe4.html">Facebook page</a> to educate the public about the consequences of such breaches. In addition, a <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/web-gag-on-hateful-adrian-bayley-material-in-jill-meagher-murder-case/story-fndo4cq1-1226493805409">web gag</a> on social media was imposed by a magistrate who suppressed the information that might compromise the trial.</p>
<p>Social media can also be used as a tool for <a href="http://m.smh.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/can-we-please-stop-the-victim-blaming-20120925-26izn.html">victim-blaming</a>, as occurred after the <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/elliewoodward/right-lets-go-over-this-sexism-once-again-shall-we">Kardashian robbery</a>. Immediately following the incident, some Facebook and Twitter users argued she got “what she deserves” and that “maybe she will cover herself up now”. </p>
<p>Social media can be further be used as a weapon through which the friends and families of victims of crime are exposed to secondary victimisation. </p>
<h2>The future</h2>
<p>As platforms evolve and new issues emerge, social media will continue to provide challenges and opportunities for criminal justice officials, as well as change the way the public perceives and engages with issues of crime and victimisation. </p>
<p>However, calls for bans and restrictions to social media are unlikely to yield results.</p>
<p>Social media is here to stay, and we need to think outside the box if we wish to understand this phenomenon, capitalise on its benefits, and prevent or minimise its negative effects in relation to crime and the criminal justice system.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66397/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alyce McGovern receives funding from national funding bodies, such as the Australian Institute of Criminology Research Grants.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sanja Milivojevic receives funding from national and international academic funding bodies such as the Australian Institute of Criminology research grants. </span></em></p>Like many other advancements in communication technology, social media has a good, a bad and an ugly side when it comes to its relationship with crime, criminal justice and the law.Alyce McGovern, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, UNSW SydneySanja Milivojevic, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/662802016-10-14T01:17:19Z2016-10-14T01:17:19ZBlocking kids from social media won’t solve the problem of cyberbullying<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141575/original/image-20161013-31308-8wtw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One in five 14- to 15-year-olds have been cyberbullied.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-165358520/stock-photo-teenage-boy-using-laptop-in-bed-at-night.html?src=1myqddojy1XaRhAPU8TbdA-1-4">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>F_Social media has revolutionised how we communicate. In <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/the-social-media-revolution-31890">this series</a>, we look at how it has changed the media, politics, health, education and the law._</p>
<hr>
<p>Bullying is among <a href="http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/media-centre/announcements/parents-urged-to-remember-cyber-safety-in-back-to-school-rush.xm">parents’ greatest concerns</a>. And little wonder. It’s the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24317152">biggest modifiable risk factor</a> for children and adolescents developing mental illnesses. Every few weeks there are <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2016/10/05/mother-writes-heartbreaking-open-letter-to-sons-bullies-after-he-took-his-own-life-6173925/">reports of children and teens</a> who <a href="http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:320047">have taken their lives</a>, allegedly due to bullying and cyberbullying.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.acma.gov.au/%7E/media/mediacomms/Report/pdf/Like%20post%20share%20Young%20Australians%20experience%20of%20social%20media%20Quantitative%20research%20report.pdf">One in five</a> (21% of) 14- to 15-year-olds report having been cyber bullied, up from 4% in eight- to nine-year-olds. Bullies post threatening messages, spread rumours and share humiliating images via sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and Instagram for teenagers, and Moshi Monsters and Club Penguin for pre-teens. </p>
<p>But contrary to public perception, bullying via <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=VyTdG2BTnl4C&oi=fnd&pg=PP7&dq=Willard+(2007)&ots=u5Ik1Lrf6n&sig=315lpWJbfRkAFtLC-q-p-S47Ang#v=onepage&q=Willard%20(2007)&f=false">social media</a> is not as common as traditional forms of face-to-face bullying. </p>
<p>It’s natural for parents to want to protect their children and teens from bullying on social media, but simply taking their devices away is not the solution. </p>
<h2>Who is cyber bullied?</h2>
<p>Students who are bullied online <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pits.21841/abstract">are also likely to be victims</a> of traditional bullying and most know the perpetrator in real life. </p>
<p>Like traditional bullying, the highest risk time for cyberbullying is at <a href="https://kidshelpline.com.au/upload/22878.pdf">transition to high school</a>.</p>
<p>Children and teens are also more likely to be bullied on social media if they:</p>
<ul>
<li>spend <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257253040_Facebook_bullying_An_extension_of_battles_in_school">a lot of time online</a></li>
<li>engage in <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257253040_Facebook_bullying_An_extension_of_battles_in_school">risky online behaviours</a> such as sharing passwords</li>
<li>use social media sites to <a href="http://www.thefrederickcenter.com/uploads/3/2/2/9/32298427/risk_factors_for_involvement_in_cyber_bullying.pdf">bully others</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p>Victims of cyberbullying report <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21402273">high rates</a> of anxiety and depression.</p>
<p>But the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pits.21841/abstract">evidence is mixed</a> about whether cyber or traditional bullying <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10964-013-9937-1">impacts more</a> on mental health. It’s likely that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23381779">both have a serious impact</a>.</p>
<p>There is also a cumulative effect: the more experiences of bullying (whether cyber or tradtional), <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740914002321">the worse</a> the mental health risk. </p>
<h2>Social media can be good and bad</h2>
<p>Most Australian children <a href="http://www.acma.gov.au/%7E/media/mediacomms/Report/pdf/Like%20post%20share%20Young%20Australians%20experience%20of%20social%20media%20Quantitative%20research%20report.pdf">(78%)</a> have used social media by the ages of eight or nine. Usage increases during teenage years, with most 16-17 year olds (92%) accessing it at least once a month, and around half with daily access. </p>
<p>When parents see a problem, it’s <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/tom-elliott/ban-kids-from-social-media-to-stifle-bullies/news-story/6f4b97ed91d7c5df45156a126c71a04b">sometimes tempting</a> to try to ban children from using social media. But a ban is difficult to enforce, given the reliance on the internet for education. </p>
<p>It may also be counter-productive. Most 14- to 17-year-olds <a href="http://www.acma.gov.au/%7E/media/mediacomms/Report/pdf/Like%20post%20share%20Young%20Australians%20experience%20of%20social%20media%20Quantitative%20research%20report.pdf">report</a> that the internet is very important to them, saying it improves their wellbeing and <a href="http://www.acma.gov.au/%7E/media/mediacomms/Report/pdf/Like%20post%20share%20Young%20Australians%20experience%20of%20social%20media%20Quantitative%20research%20report.pdf">relationships</a>. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740914000693">recent review</a> of international research confirms that participation in social media can increase teenagers’ feelings of self-esteem, support, and fitting in with a group. Children relate to each other through social media, for good and for bad. </p>
<h2>Setting up safe processes</h2>
<p>You can help your child from being targeted by adequately supervising them when they’re online, only providing access to social media sites that are appropriate for their level of maturity, and maintaining good lines of communication. </p>
<p>To help decide whether social media sites are appropriate for your child’s age, read the “terms of use” and check the minimum age. You can then help your child to set an appropriate privacy setting. </p>
<p>It’s important to educate your child about internet safety. This includes ensuring they only “friend” people they know in real life, and that they consider the possible impacts of information before posting. </p>
<p>Good cyber-safety resources include the Office of the eSafety Commissioner’s <a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-the-office/esafety-brochures">downloadable brochures</a> and the <a href="https://www.amf.org.au/what-we-do/esmart-digital-licence/">Alannah and Madeline Foundation’s eLicence</a>. School-based education programs have <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ab.21608/abstract">also been shown to reduce</a> cyberbullying.</p>
<p>Try keeping computers only in the common area of the house, friending or following your child online, and occasionally checking their online profile. </p>
<p>Over time, you can give your child more independence as they develop their skills to manage more complicated situations online. But try to maintain good communication so they <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-should-parents-do-if-their-child-is-bullied-at-school-37152">can come to you</a> with any problems – this includes listening without overreacting. </p>
<p>Look out for signs of distress, such as greater emotional reactivity, avoiding school or social situations, sleep disturbance, or a drop in school marks.</p>
<p>If your child is unwilling to speak with you, they may be willing to call a support service such as the <a href="https://kidshelpline.com.au/">Kids Helpline</a>.</p>
<h2>What if your child has a problem?</h2>
<p>If the problem involves someone he or she knows in real life, your child might be able to sort out the problem directly. Or you can <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-should-parents-do-if-their-child-is-bullied-at-school-37152">ask the school for help</a>.</p>
<p>You can help your child decide whether to block or unfriend online users who are causing distress. It’s wise to keep a record of problems, by taking screen shots. Offensive content can be reported to the website or carrier, and if not addressed, can be reported to the Children’s eSafety Commissioner. </p>
<p>If you think your child is in danger, contact the police or <a href="https://www.crimestoppers.com.au/">Crimestoppers</a>. </p>
<p>Finally, if your child suffers ongoing distress, consider getting professional help from a psychologist, psychiatrist or your GP.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66280/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karyn Healy is affiliated with the Parenting and Family Support Centre of the University of Queensland. She is the co-author of Resilience Triple P, a program for children bullied by peers. </span></em></p>Children and adolescents relate to each other through social media, for good and for bad.Karyn Healy, Researcher, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/657232016-10-12T19:06:53Z2016-10-12T19:06:53ZI’m right, you’re wrong, and here’s a link to prove it: how social media shapes public debate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140820/original/image-20161007-32713-1dlkkcs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Politicians and their staffers are now highly attuned to the power of social media.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Lukas Coch</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Social media has revolutionised how we communicate. In this series, we look at how it has changed the media, politics, health, education and the law.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Once upon a time different political perspectives were provided to the public by media reporting, often through their own painstaking research. </p>
<p>If an issue gained attention, several perspectives might compete to inform and shape public opinion. It often took decades for issues to make the transition from the margin to the centre of politics. </p>
<p>Now, within minutes of any event, announcement or media appearance, we are able to get those perspectives thousands of times instantly via social media. There are constant reactions and debates, often repeating the same arguments and information.</p>
<p>It’s the communication equivalent of being at a football match compared to a dinner party. While meaningful exchanges between individuals are possible on social media, there’s so much noise that it’s difficult to make complex arguments or check the validity of information. </p>
<p>Social media is a superb medium for immediacy, reach and intensity. This makes it a great asset in situations where timeliness is important, such as breaking news. But it has serious limitations in conveying tone, nuance, context and veracity.</p>
<h2>The pros and cons of social media</h2>
<p>The ability for people to engage in arguments at a distance on social media has revealed an appalling lack of civility in many deep pockets of misogyny, ethnic antipathy, and general intolerance for difference. </p>
<p>These are attributes of users, not the technology, but <a href="https://johnpostill.com/2013/04/08/the-concept-of-affordances-in-brief/">social media gives</a> them a volume that they otherwise would not have. But these loud, often angry, voices also prevent many more people from taking advantage of its participatory potential.</p>
<p>The level of hostility encountered in many debates is a powerful deterrent for many. Nonsense and profundity, truth and fabrication, have equal rights on social media. It can be a frustrating and bewildering place, and a great waster of time.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, with the dedication and commitment of a few passionate supporters, small and more marginalised groups are able to create a public presence that previously would have required years to establish through community meetings, lecture tours, fundraising events and lobbying.</p>
<p>A group like the <a href="https://www.freewestpapua.org/">Free West Papua</a> movement, established in 1965 but outlawed by the Indonesian government, has successfully used social media to generate global support. </p>
<p>Other cause-related issues – such as animal-rights activism – that were previously confined to the margins of public attention have benefited from the greater reach social media allows. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"784151874261938177"}"></div></p>
<p>Communications technology has also enabled social media to amplify many debates about long-standing issues, such as domestic violence, by allowing people to share their stories and engage in debates. These in turn can place pressure on politicians to act and contribute to critical offline discussions.</p>
<h2>Just how powerful is it?</h2>
<p>The influence of social media on politics and public perception is indisputable, but the extent of that influence is yet to be determined. </p>
<p>While social media was initially dismissed by <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-tony-abbott-you-cant-dismiss-social-media-as-electronic-graffiti-36819">some politicians as trivial</a>, few make that argument now. Social media analytics are scrutinised with the same intensity as polls, and politicians and political parties follow social media exchanges closely. </p>
<p>But while political organisations and the media emphasise the volume of emotive, ephemeral and instantaneous messages produced for social media, they increasingly overlook context, complexity and causation.</p>
<p>So, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/time-to-learn-the-many-lessons-from-a-long-campaign-62048">Australian election result</a>, for example, was a surprise, particularly the level of support for One Nation. Similarly, the <a href="http://www.referendumanalysis.eu/eu-referendum-analysis-2016/section-7-social-media/impact-of-social-media-on-the-outcome-of-the-eu-referendum/">UK referendum result</a> on its membership of the European Union was a shock. The US election is covered as though the tweets of candidates are providing the policy settings for an entire administration. The outcome of a <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/03/americas/colombia-no-vote-reaction/index.html">referendum in Colombia</a> was a surprise. </p>
<p>These outcomes are not directly <em>caused</em> by social media – they’re far too complex to make that claim – but social media is a powerful contributing factor.</p>
<h2>But we should be aware of its limitations</h2>
<p>There is a clear danger in focusing on social media as the primary agenda-setting medium for public debates while ignoring the deeper, complex social roots of conflicting ideas or positions. </p>
<p>While social media may create awareness, real political change requires actual decision-making, which takes time and reflection. </p>
<p>Social media debates on politics quickly devolve into binary positions, between which repetitive messages bounce back and forth, often without resolution. The marriage equality issue in Australia is an example of an issue that has benefited from social media communication. But without a strong political will for change, the issue has stalled as real politics have come into play.</p>
<p>Politicians and organisations now devote considerable time to social media. Shouting at each other, and exulting in the ability to gather followers, be liked, retweeted or shared, the danger is in being oblivious to the people who either do not use social media, or use it sparingly or infrequently.</p>
<p>Consequently, social media activity gives a greater illusion of impact precisely because of the attention it is given by people spending so much time on it. </p>
<p>News, gossip, and political debates occur in all human societies. Whether it’s tribal councils (so creatively co-opted for reality television), the Roman Forum, Town Hall debates (now televised to global audiences), the public bar, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01440359808586641">the coffee shops of Europe</a>, and so on, social communication about politics is hardly new. </p>
<p>The need and desire for people to discuss decision-making and power, share news, pass on jokes, lampoon their leaders, provide information and so on is a defining characteristic of our species. Social media is the most obvious contemporary manifestation of this characteristic. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-caused-south-australias-state-wide-blackout-66268">recent power failure in South Australia</a> showed the best and worst aspects of social media. It allowed people to communicate useful and important information quickly in the midst of the storm, but a political debate began almost immediately, and just as quickly devolved into binary positions. A complex issue was reduced to a slanging match, and the real issues were obscured.</p>
<h2>Where to from here?</h2>
<p>Social media is another form of communication that adds to the many we already have. How we adapt political debates and decision making to it is a work in progress.</p>
<p>One response would be a greater focus in education on logic, statistics and rhetoric to make social media communication more reliable, effective and hopefully, more civil. </p>
<p>For now, perhaps we could start with an algorithm to determine how many thousand posts on social media are equal to one conversation in the bar or coffee shop. Or develop a pearl of wisdom filter based on the quality of the message, and thereby boost national productivity by saving hours of time scrolling through 10,000 posts that essentially say the same two things.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65723/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Collette Snowden does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Social media is a key platform for public debate. But that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good.Collette Snowden, Senior Lecturer, School of Communication, International Studies and Languages, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/664012016-10-12T00:03:23Z2016-10-12T00:03:23ZSocial media for tracking disease outbreaks – fad or way of the future?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141187/original/image-20161011-3864-1dehgm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Timeliness is important for detecting epidemics.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-289132151/stock-photo-seoul-south-korea-jun-19-2015-passengers-on-the-subway-wear-masks-to-protect-against-the-deadly-mers-middle-east-respiratory-syndrome-virus-outbreak-in-korea.html?src=JIB8M6n65R79G8w4VmTWvw-1-13">yochika photographer/</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Social media has revolutionised how we communicate. In <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/the-social-media-revolution-31890">this series</a>, we look at how it has changed the media, politics, health, education and the law.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Infectious diseases kill more than 17 million people every year. Large outbreaks, known as epidemics, <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsr1600236">are becoming more frequent</a>. And more serious infections <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsr1600236">have emerged in the past decade</a> than any time previously. </p>
<p>The social and economic impacts of epidemics can be severe. SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), for example, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92473/">cost the global economy</a> US$54 billion. </p>
<p>There is also a growing risk of <a href="http://publications.amsus.org/doi/pdf/10.7205/MILMED-D-14-00482">unnatural epidemics</a> from bioterrorism as a result of quantum advances in gene editing. </p>
<p>We need better surveillance systems to detect epidemics early. But while there is the potential to predict epidemics by mining data of rumours and news reports (rumour surveillance), or clusters of disease symptoms (syndromic surveillance) described by social media users, we’re not quite there yet. </p>
<h2>Traditional disease tracking systems</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8205649">Traditional disease surveillance</a> relies on data obtained from doctors, hospitals or laboratories through formal reporting systems. This yields valid and accurate data about emerging outbreaks and the impact of control strategies such as vaccinations. But it’s often not timely. </p>
<p>Epidemics can rapidly spiral out of control. Take <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/">the 2014 outbreak of Ebola</a>, for example. There was an exponential rise of cases between July and October, with each case resulting in two new cases, or effectively doubling in each generation *(every few days, depending on variations in incubation period) – so 10 cases becomes 20, 20 becomes 40, and so on.</p>
<p>The earlier epidemics are detected, the easier they are to control. Detecting and acting on the Ebola epidemic early, when there were only ten cases a day, could have prevented more than 600 cases a matter of weeks later. </p>
<h2>Rapid detection using social media</h2>
<p>Digital data are now publicly available from many sources. People talk about epidemics on social media using key words such as “fever” and “infection” before they are officially identified. </p>
<p>A surveillance system for detecting outbreaks of Ebola using Twitter, for example, could set geospatial tags for specific locations such as the African continent. It could search for a cluster of terms on the Twittersphere such as “haemorrhage”, “fever”, “virus”, “Ebola”, “Lassa” (an illness that can be confused with Ebola). </p>
<p>A system trying to identify influenza could mine terms that reflect visits to the doctor, purchase of tissues, paracetamol or aspirin from pharmacies, sick leave from work, as well as terms specific to the clinical syndrome of influenza. </p>
<p>But while there have been some attempts to use social media for disease surveillance in the past, such as <a href="http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/707744_4">Epi-Spider</a> (an outbreak tracker in Atlanta, Georgia), none are currently operating. </p>
<p>Social media has, however, been successfully mined for other health applications. The CSIRO, for instance, developed a tool called <a href="http://wefeel.csiro.au/#/">WeFeel</a> to measure the emotional pulse of countries using data from Twitter.</p>
<h2>Using news media</h2>
<p>Several publicly available web-based applications collect event-related information from news articles (but not social media), such as <a href="http://www.healthmap.org/en/">HealthMap</a> and <a href="http://medisys.newsbrief.eu/medisys/homeedition/en/home.html">MedISys</a>. Data is automatically collected and processed, and is sometimes moderated by a human before potential health threats are identified and published. </p>
<p>HealthMap was able to provide an alert for a “mystery haemorrhagic fever”, which became the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, nine days before the World Health Organisation (WHO) <a href="http://www.govtech.com/data/Using-Social-Media-Data-to-Identify-Outbreaks-and-Control-Disease.html">announced the outbreak</a>. </p>
<p>The WHO estimates that 60% of its initial outbreak alerts are from informal sources such as the <a href="http://www.who.int/csr/alertresponse/epidemicintelligence/en/">Global Public Health Intelligence Network</a> (GPHIN), a news aggregator developed by the WHO with Canadian Public Health.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.google.org/flutrends/about/">Google Flu Trends</a> ran from 2008 to mine data from Google searches to predict influenza epidemics. But analysis of the value of this approach <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/343/6176/1203">has been mixed</a> and Google ended the initiative in 2015.</p>
<h2>Moderated expert sites</h2>
<p>Expert sites that report unofficial information from health experts are also a valuable source of epidemic alerts. <a href="https://flutrackers.com/forum/">Flutrackers</a> and <a href="http://www.promedmail.org/">ProMED-mail</a> are moderated sites known for timely and high quality outbreak information. </p>
<p>Many important epidemics have first surfaced on ProMED-mail, such as the <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1307752">Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome</a> (MERS) Coronavirus and Ebola. ProMED-mail has now teamed up with TEPHINET (Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network), HealthMap and the Skoll Global Threats Fund to create a new rapid epidemic detection system, <a href="https://epicore.org/">EpiCore</a>. </p>
<p>Epicore is a closed virtual network of health professionals around the world who provide feedback on rumours and news stories to enhance epidemic surveillance. </p>
<p>Expert blogs are also a source of information, but can vary in reliability and quality.</p>
<h2>Trade-off between accuracy and timeliness</h2>
<p>Ideally, we want disease surveillance systems to obtain timely and valid data, but this is seldom feasible. </p>
<p>Traditional surveillance systems are subject to a number of checks to ensure the accuracy of their data. While this maximises validity, it results in delay and limited practical use. </p>
<p>For rapid detection of epidemics, a trade off is required between speed and data validity. </p>
<p>Social media-based surveillance isn’t a replacement for traditional surveillance, but an enhancement to it that improves our capacity to detect outbreaks early. </p>
<p>Once a rapid signal is acquired, public health authorities can then investigate and confirm the epidemic, and traditional surveillance can take over.</p>
<h2>How can we better use social media?</h2>
<p>Social media presents an opportunity to enhance epidemic detection and control. But unofficial information is unstructured and not created for public health purposes. </p>
<p>Algorithms designed to pick up “fever”, for instance, may detect false positives such as “Bieber fever”. So we need well-constructed algorithms for data mining. </p>
<p>The vast quantity of data available requires super-computing power, and methods to filter out background “noise” reliably. </p>
<p>Methods such as time series analysis can be used to compare several years of data to test if an epidemic signal is higher than expected compared to previous years. We already use these methods to improve traditional surveillance data, so they can be applied to social media data.</p>
<p>Machine learning holds promise for the future, but we need thoughtful human analysis and expert interpretation of the data. </p>
<p>In the meantime, a more active approach could involve user engagement and participation in surveillance activities, where citizens <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24161879">can send reports or surveys</a> directly to public health authorities via mobile applications or websites.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by Sheng-Lun (Jason) Yan, a UNSW medical student who is currently researching a project on social media for epidemic intelligence.</em></p>
<p><em>* This article originally said cases of Ebola doubled each day. This has now been corrected.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66401/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>C Raina MacIntyre is Director of a NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence, "Integrated Systems for Epidemic Response" (ISER) which includes work on rapid epidemic intelligence . ISER has a current student hackathon competition (Zikahack 2016) for developing rapid epidemic intelligence using social media. She currently receives funding from NHMRC and ARC. In the past she has received research funding or in-kind support (such as laboratory testing or supplies) for investigator-driven research from Pfizer, Merck, GSK, 3M and CSL (now Sequirus).</span></em></p>We need better surveillance systems to detect epidemics early. But while social media has been flagged as a potential solution, we’re not quite there yet.C Raina MacIntyre, Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, Head of the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/661192016-10-10T19:02:00Z2016-10-10T19:02:00ZHas social media really shifted the line between personal and private forever?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140447/original/image-20161005-15903-1jz0hdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The death of privacy and the erosion of the personal sphere is an internet meme, often attributed to social media.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Social media has revolutionised how we communicate. In this series, we look at how it has changed the media, politics, health, education and the law.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>In the past, so the story goes, we had privacy and dignity – but we kissed it goodbye with a few keystrokes on social media. Life is a bit more complicated than that.</p>
<p>The death of privacy and the erosion of the personal sphere is an internet meme. It is often attributed to social media – <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/breaking-the-black-box-what-facebook-knows-about-you">Facebook</a>, Pinterest, Flickr, Growlr, Twitter. These are digital communication tools that allow everyone to be an author and connect for free. It is authorship without the burdens of reflection or responsibility, alongside unaccountable surveillance of those authors, friends and readers.</p>
<p>If we step back from our Twitter feeds, we can see that reality is more complicated. Social media does not eradicate the line between public and private. Instead, along with other technologies, it shifts the line in ways that require thought rather than unreflexive condemnation or celebration.</p>
<h2>Don’t rush to judge</h2>
<p>Few people throughout history have enjoyed much privacy. They were subject to surveillance by family and peers. </p>
<p>The village gossip or neighbourhood busybody spread the news – true or otherwise – as quickly as the people at Instagram or the Daily Telegraph. </p>
<p>The thin red line between personal and public was often a matter of shutting the door or trusting that governments simply lacked the administrative capacity to watch most people.</p>
<p>Social media provides opportunities for awareness about the powerful – governments, corporations and individuals who traditionally sheltered behind hedges, guard dogs and barristers. One example is the information – accurate or otherwise – the <a href="https://panamapapers.icij.org/the_power_players/">Panama Papers</a> on tax evasion provided.</p>
<h2>Resetting the line</h2>
<p>The world of social media is also one in which scandal, lies and defamation can sprint around the world overnight, with truth – like the law – limping in the rear. It is a world where a “public” sphere for many people is smaller, given they can choose to engage exclusively with the <a href="http://policyreview.info/articles/analysis/should-we-worry-about-filter-bubbles">like-minded</a> in a digital <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/07/24/486941582/the-reason-your-feed-became-an-echo-chamber-and-what-to-do-about-it">echo chamber</a>.</p>
<p>It is a world where we need personal responsibility, digital literacy and law reform. </p>
<p>We do not, for example, need to gift our attention to the purveyors of disinformation or abusers of someone else’s privacy. We need to be conscious that information shared through social media leaves our control, and the consequences now or in future may be serious.</p>
<p>We need to critique what we see rather than naively assuming it must be true because it comes from <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/07/wikileaks-officially-lost-moral-high-ground/">Julian Assange</a> or <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/01/us/politics/donald-trump-alicia-machado.html">Donald Trump</a> or is about a Kardashian. But we also need law reform and meaningful enforcement. </p>
<p>It is puzzling that Attorney-General George Brandis <a href="https://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/Mediareleases/Pages/2016/ThirdQuarter/Amendment-to-the-Privacy-Act-to-further-protect-de-identified-data.aspx">proclaims</a> “the privacy of citizens is of paramount importance” but resolutely ignores a succession of practical recommendations from the <a href="http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/serious-invasions-privacy-digital-era-alrc-report-123">Australian Law Reform Commission</a> and other bodies. </p>
<p>If you are a victim of <a href="https://theconversation.com/ending-revenge-porn-how-can-we-stop-sexual-images-being-used-to-abuse-54733">revenge porn</a> you should not have to pray that you live in a state that <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-05/criminalising-%27revenge-porn%27-in-nsw-a-step-closer/7813446">does</a> have relevant law. You should demand remedies if your <a href="http://www.cso.com.au/article/607712/telstra-defensive-reverse-engineering-medicare-data-highlights-healthcare-security-risks/">health</a>, financial, <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-tale-of-vigilante-justice-adulterers-hackers-and-the-ashley-madison-affair-46511">dating</a> or <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/22/yahoo-data-breach-is-among-the-biggest-in-history.html">other</a> data goes AWOL. </p>
<p>In the absence of such remedies your private sphere is not going to be adequately protected, particularly by an egregiously under-resourced and timid <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2657959">Information Commissioner</a>.</p>
<p>Responsibility as citizens also means thinking hard about where we draw the line. Does the threat of terror mean we should all be suspects, all subject to undisclosed official access to our <a href="https://theconversation.com/crossed-wires-isps-are-already-struggling-to-retain-our-metadata-49043">metadata</a>?</p>
<p>If we have a life online using social media should we be restricting what the operators of each service can do with our data and when they can share, particularly if the sharing is not disclosed? </p>
<p>Should we have an opportunity to live down past embarrassments or even offences, through a <a href="https://groningenjil.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/grojil_vol2-issue2_rengel.pdf">right to obscurity</a>?</p>
<h2>Looking after yourself and others</h2>
<p>We know that marketers, employers and intelligence agencies mine data about our presence online, for example, profiling our friends by their affinity with us. We know that stalkers and other criminals on occasion misuse social media to track or harass.</p>
<p>One response has been <a href="http://firstmonday.org/article/view/5615/4346">pseudonymity</a>. People use spoof names and other identifiers. There are lots of 99-year-old residents of Antarctica with names such as Goldie Locks. People use multiple email addresses, assuming that some will be <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-05/yahoo-secretly-scanned-customer-emails-for-us-intelligence-sour/7904074">mined</a> and some can be used as filters to quarantine spam. </p>
<p>Governments have responded by encouraging truth in social media profiles, for example, to criminalise adult predators who are pretending to be minors in grooming children.</p>
<p>Another response has been old-fashioned common sense. Some people don’t publish images of themselves or their children. They don’t “tag” people on Facebook. They publish trivial rather than sensitive information. They don’t disclose information about misdemeanours that might be sighted by a current or future employer.</p>
<p>A third response has been despair, encapsulated in the meme that “your privacy has gone, so get over it”. That defeatism is fostered by digital activists like Assange, whose response to the powerful’s lack of accountability is to be accountable only to themselves. </p>
<p>It is also fostered by theorists who <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/privacy-is-the-last-thing-we-need/2007/04/21/1176697146936.html">dismiss</a> privacy as something that only matters to the guilty and woolly minded. In practice, <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/21/the-state-of-privacy-in-america/">most people seem confused</a> rather than indifferent.</p>
<p>A more effective response is that we should both act responsibly and require others – businesses, individuals and governments – to act with respect. That requires law reform, for example mandatory reporting about <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/consultations/pages/serious-data-breach-notification.aspx">data breaches</a>, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/privacy-the-fix-should-not-be-left-to-judges-20130325-2gq4l.html">establishment</a> of the privacy tort, higher standards regarding corporate negligence, and a less permissive approach by underfed watchdogs such as the Information Commissioner. </p>
<p>A tort will allow people whose privacy has been disregarded to gain compensation and an apology, and deter further harm. It is a commonsense response that will not prevent police investigations, cripple e-commerce and employee vetting, or chill free speech.</p>
<p>There is a line between public and private online. It is one we shape through our practice and our law, not something best left to Mark Zuckerberg or George Brandis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66119/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce Baer Arnold does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Social media does not eradicate the line between personal or private. Instead, it shifts the line in ways that require thought rather than unreflexive condemnation or celebration.Bruce Baer Arnold, Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/657292016-10-09T19:04:00Z2016-10-09T19:04:00ZSocial media abuse is a sign that the feminist project still far from finished<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140442/original/image-20161005-15886-vlfx74.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Social media abuse is often personal, sexist and wounding.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Social media has revolutionised how we communicate. In this series, we look at how it has changed the media, politics, health, education and the law.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Social media is notoriously uncontrolled, with millions of online postings, often unfettered and anonymous, creating multitudes of hostile, gendered abuse. The prevalence of trolling is causing considerable concern, with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/12/the-dark-side-of-guardian-comments">women seeming to cop the worst of the abuse</a>. It is often personal, sexist and wounding. The nastiest of these are often directed at women in power or those deemed to be feminist.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/clementine-ford-is-winning-the-battle-for-feminisms-final-frontier-20160930-grsesi.html">Julia Baird</a> sees trash-talking trolls as feminism’s “final frontier”. Quoting Clementine Ford’s book <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/general-books/current-affairs-politics/Fight-Like-A-Girl-Clementine-Ford-9781760292362">Fight Like A Girl</a>, Baird’s urgency seems to come from claims these activities discourage women from taking on public life and speaking out. Another excellent article covering these issues was <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-talking-writing-and-fighting-like-girls-66211?utm">Michelle Smith’s essay for The Conversation</a>.</p>
<p>While I have also received my share of mindless, hurtful commentary, I think there is a wider issue at play. To me, this abuse is evidence of a deep, underlying misogyny in public commentary that will not be fixed simply by women speaking out.</p>
<p>As a sociologist, I think the flow of nastiness is not from mainly uninformed individuals, or fringe groups with outdated viewpoints. The general macho, aggressive tone and content of the abuse are so similar and widespread that they are likely evidence of a serious backlash and rising hostility to any meaningful sharing of gender power.</p>
<p>The second wave women’s movement had considerable successes in improving women’s status in the last century. But this seems to have stalled in its aims of changing macho male dominance and defining what matters. </p>
<p>Long after both Simone de Beauvoir’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/books/excerpt-introduction-second-sex.html?_r=0">The Second Sex</a> and Germaine Greer’s <a href="http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/explore-history/fight-rights/womens-rights/germaine-greer-female-eunuch">The Female Eunuch</a> identified the problems, power is still defined in male terms. Women who bid for it are often unfairly judged against this. </p>
<p>So, the question is whether these social media posts are just revealing residual hostility, or is it the warning sign of a concerted feminist backlash? It may be the changes of the last two decades have undermined radical feminist expectations of further change by our accepting limited sharing of the status quo. We may in fact be stuck in groundhog days of macho domination.</p>
<p>The flow of aggro on social media suggests the bid to remake gender power relations so we can stop being the “second sex” has stalled, and we remain the “other” as defined by men. </p>
<p>So, rather than just empowering women to ignore trolling, or fight back against the trolls on their terms, we need to look at why there is such a high level of machismo online. Muttering about patriarchy is not enough, nor are approaches to control trolling and violence against women that assume these are short-term deviations from the norm.</p>
<p>We need to look again at the root causes, and reframe our arguments in contemporary terms. Rather than focus our efforts on helping victims and punishing individual perpetrators, we need to tackle the problems that are embedded in macho power structures and dominant paradigms.</p>
<p>Essentially, we need to focus on making men focus on their masculine excesses, not to help us, but because such changes are necessary to improve their lives. Rather than assuming the problem is ours because we fail to conform to their assumptions, we need more men to recognise the seriously inbuilt macho bias in almost every field of endeavour.</p>
<p>It’s not all men that accept the bias, and there are many who object. But the indications are that these views are widespread and may be increasing. </p>
<p>Why do so many men and boys think it’s clever, funny, amusing and somehow satisfying to put sexist, mindless or even violent comments on social media? Why do other men not see these views as a collective problem? </p>
<p>We need to ask serious questions about the way our society socialises boys and men that makes too many of them feel inadequate and aggressive towards females. We need to understand how the worst, most-aggressive trolling correlates with the continuing, intransigent and perhaps increasing level of violence against women, from intimates and strangers. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/young-australians-views-on-domestic-violence-are-cause-for-concern-but-also-hope-47405">Young men in surveys</a> reveal their views on their right to control and punish women are troubling, as is their support for gender inequality.</p>
<p>Rather than assuming social media vitriol is confined to reviving and continuing sexism, we need to explore how these views may be part of the wider backlash that is appearing in many western countries. As the rejection of centrist governments spreads, ideas of fairer, more diverse societies are under attack with rising populism, fundamentalism and false nostalgia for past virtues. The Trump example shows gender issues can also be involved.</p>
<p>So, “fighting back”, even if it empowers “a girl”, may be too limited a response, albeit sometimes satisfying. There are two arguments against such tactics: one is we accept masculinised parameters of the fight; the other is that most men who are anti-feminist enjoy making us angry.</p>
<p>So, what do we do? If we continue just to react, we play the game according to their rules. Let’s ask why the insecurities of so many men are undermining social wellbeing and reset the agenda, rather than asking powerful men to do it for us. </p>
<p>The continued high prevalence of violence against women and the increasing hostility to women who are outspoken or in the public view suggest we are still dealing with the effects of continued masculine dominance over almost everything. </p>
<p>Just because women have more formal legal rights, more access to paid jobs and more of us are sharing the male power troughs, does not mean the revolution has been won.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65729/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eva Cox does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Social media trolling, which is disproportionately aimed at women, is a sign of a much deeper malaise that must be redressed.Eva Cox, Professorial Fellow, Jumbunna IHL, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.