Senator John Faulkner’s call for political parties to re-engage with Australians through social media is laudable, but his own efforts illustrate how much politicians have to learn.
Facebook/John Faulkner
After his speech about party renewal last week, I went to Labor Senator John Faulkner’s Facebook page. It has about 2700 likes. The page features links to speeches and pictures of events that Faulkner…
The suspense of reality TV hangs on viewers’ votes for contestants. Can social media predict winners and losers?
AAP Image/Nine Network/Paul Broben
Reality television, alongside shows such as Q&A – which may be Reality TV in all but name – frequently drives social media conversations about the Australian television industry. Big Brother, currently…
Channel Ten is trying to engage its audience through social media – but will it work?
Channel Ten
With Ten’s new drama Party Tricks set for an October 6 premiere, coverage has focused on the social media campaign to promote the show. In advance of the screening, Ten has created in-character accounts…
Women ask why there aren’t more women in lists of top scientists.
Katrina Cole
A steady infiltration of scientists onto Twitter has accompanied the growing recognition that a social media presence is just as important as taking the podium at a conference. Social media is leading…
Ello is new social networking space on the web that is receiving a lot of attention of late – so much that it’s caused a few problems with the website out of action from time to time. Ello’s new popularity…
To many in the LGBT community, the policy is an act of intimidation because it violates their right to define who they really are.
Henk Kosters/Flickr
To her fans and friends in the Australian LGBT community, her name is Roma Therapy. But that’s not how she’s known on Facebook. Roma is one of thousands of queer performers who have been affected by Facebook’s…
Sarkeesian has been the focus of much online hatred since she started her website Feminist Frequency in 2009.
Anita Sarkeesian
Three weeks ago, well-known feminist gaming critic Anita Sarkeesian was forced to leave her San Francisco home due to an ongoing tirade of abuse and threats. Members of a vocal minority of online trolls…
In Indonesia, ranting online holds the risk of offending thousands of people and even jail time.
EPA/Adi Weda
“Unity in diversity” is how Indonesia likes to describe its multicultural country. But cyber-bullying cases in Indonesia’s active social media project a different view of how Indonesia’s diverse groups…
A still from the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s award-winning Be Deadly Online campaign.
ACMAcybersmart/YouTube
Tony Abbott is spending this week in North-East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories…
Is the Yes camp having all the fun online?
http://frannleach.com/daily-docs-65/
As Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling went head-to-head for the last time on Monday August 25, both sides were already pre-empting the following day’s media coverage of post-match analyses, and talk of…
In retrospect if I’m being honest our relationship had been in trouble for some time. It had all started off innocently enough, sharing some photos of my latest trip or cycling exploit, exchanging stories…
The filtering of Facebook’s news feed raises concerns – so why does it happen?
Geoff Livingston/Flickr
Facebook’s news feed is probably the most-used feature of the social network. It organises posts, photos, links and advertisements from your friends and the pages you follow into a single stream of news…
Jennifer Lawrence’s naked photos were released online.
EPA/Claudio Onorati
A hacker’s release of personal photos of actress Jennifer Lawrence and other female celebrities on the internet on the weekend has again drawn our attention to the security of our personal information…
Autonomy is patriarchy’s supreme foe. It suggests self-determination, power, and control, and the “selfie” is a culturally ubiquitous iteration of autonomy. The release onto the internet of hundreds of…
Jennifer Lawrence: another victim of 4chan.
Will Oliver/EPA
The powerhouse of internet virality, 4chan, has achieved notoriety, and in a spectacular way. The release of hundreds of images claiming to show a pantheon of celebrities in various compromising, or at…
In China, former basketball star Yao Ming takes the Ice Bucket Challenge at his NBA Yao School in Beijing.
EPA/NBA Yao School
The Ice Bucket Challenge has been called “one of the most viral philanthropic social media campaigns in history”. The campaign has raised the profile of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). But some…
Social and digital media perform a function that is humanising by connecting people and allowing freedom of expression.
Icons from Shutterstock
Is social media really delivering on its promise of democratising communication? Or have we just replaced one model that privileges those with power for another? Dr Andrea Carson speaks with Professor…
It’s summer and Facebook news feeds are awash with idyllic, sun-drenched snapshots of family life. This kind of “sharenting” is bigger than ever but we rarely stop to think about whether it is appropriate…
For a cause to go viral, it has to garner widespread interest from enough members of a diversity of tribes, not just one.
Kymberly Janisch
The news that broke last night of the accidental death of the Ice Bucket Challenge pioneer, Corey Griffin, has come as a shock. The Ice Bucket Challenge, where people film themselves or friends dumping…
Facebook’s Messenger sparked the latest outrage over privacy - but should people be concerned?
Flickr/Karlis Dambrans
The recent furore about the Facebook Messenger app has unearthed an interesting question: how far are we willing to allow our privacy to be pushed for our social connections? In the case of the Facebook…