The Role of Social Media in Political Movements

This essay focuses on the role of social media in political movements. The main point of the paper is to decide if social media can help or hinder positive social changes. The essay explores recent Venezuelan protests and tries to indicate whether their role is rather constructive or destructive.

In February, 2014 a series of protests and demonstrations occurred on Venezuelan streets as a result of insecurity, corruption, inflation, media censorship, strict price control, and human violation (Kurmanaev and Pons, November 8, 2013).
Everything began in January, 2014 when actress and former Miss Venezuela, Monica Spear, was murdered (Chavez and Galluzzo, January 8, 2014). This tragic affair was followed by the rape on a student that took place on a university campus in San Cristobal (Tayler, February 18, 2014). These events spurred the series of protests and public property attacks.
Due to the omnipresent censorship of media in Venezuela that includes, i.e.: limiting sources for newspapers, banning channels and blocking the Internet, the government was accused of assault, harassment and numerous of threats (Freedom of the Press News, February 26, 2014). Moreover, it was stated that reliable information regarding economy and crime statistics are not provided. The movement called "We are all Venezuela. No press freedom, no democracy" was created in order to help to defend both, press freedom and the right to information.















Nowadays, citizens can be engaged in various political processes in many ways. Activists using social media are able to set up different meetings and protests, virtual petitions, forums to debate issues. What is more, new technologies overcome obstacles to participation - lack of time constrains is no longer an issue. The Internet and online groups involve people in the real world where they can be taught various political skills (Rohlinger, Bunnage and Klein, January 2012).
It cannot be denied that Venezuela used social media a lot in recent protests in order to upraise against authoritarian government (O’Hagan, March 13, 2014). New technologies let them to access information that the whole World had access to. Broadcasting raised Venezuelans' awareness and consciousness, and played an enormous role in the demonstration. The role of social media affected Venezuela in two contrary ways. Freedom of speech, unrestricted access to information and the sense of unity was definitely more constructive than destructive. On the other hand, however, social media emphasized authoritarian attitude of the government and brought even more dislike, distrust and disrespect toward its governance.

Copyright 2014 Associated Press, "Twitter reports image blocking in Venezuela": http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/02/14/twitter-image-blocking-venezuela/5497219/ (Retrieved September 16, 2014)

Social media is for Venezuelans a means for showing the news in the streets, therefore, there was a huge  barrage of criticism between 12 and 15 February when images on Twitter were reported as unavailable due to technical problems (Copyright 2014 The Associated Press, February 14, 2014). This situation had an enormous impact on about half a million citizens. Due to the constant lack of trust towards the government, the popularity of Twitter (as the only free media) and social media in general is expanding everyday (Franceschi-Bicchierai, February 28, 2014).

As a means the Internet may be used by people within socio-political and cultural context, therefore, governments have developed various ways of controlling the online sphere. The position adopted here shows that social networking may be the lifeblood for many political changes as they strengthen indirect but very interactive conversations between users. A page can be treated as a political tool since it relies on "the power of community knowledge as a force for change" (San Miguel, December 18, 2012, pp.11). Nevertheless, it should fulfill certain requirements, such as allowing citizens for integration and expression of ideas.

In spite of various positive, as well as negative aspects regarding the role of social media in political movements, it is difficult not to agree with Sarah Joseph's words who claims that "the increase of unfiltered connections between people of different cultural, political, and economic outlooks is likely to have some unprecedented and beneficial consequences for the development of local, national, regional, and global activism." (Joseph 2012, p.188).

Bibliography:

Chavez and Galluzzo, "Venezuela: the most dangerous place on earth?": http://www.channel4.com/news/venezuela-most-dangerous-place-earth-murder-monica-spear-colombia-drugs (Retrieved September 16, 2014)

Franceschi-Bicchierai "In Venezuela, the Only Free Media Is Twitter": http://mashable.com/2014/02/28/venezuela-twitter/ (Retrieved September 16, 2014)

Freedom of the Press News, "IAPA protests official censorship of press in Venezuela": http://www.sipiapa.org/en/iapa-protests-official-censorship-of-press-in-venezuela/ (Retrieved September 16, 2014)

Joseph, "Social Media, Political Change, and Human Rights", 35 B.C. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 145 (2012): http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1667&context=iclr

Kurmanaev and  Pons, "Venezuela Inflation": http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-07/venezuela-inflation-hits-16-year-high-as-shortages-rise.html (Retrieved September 16, 2014)

O'Hagan, "Does social media really bring us closer to the reality of conflict?": http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/does-social-media-really-bring-us-closer-to-the-reality-of-conflict-1.1303773 (Retrieved September 16, 2014)

Rohlinger, Bunnage and Klein, "How Social Movements are Using the Internet to Change Politics?": http://www.scholarsstrategynetwork.org/sites/default/files/ssn_key_findings_rohlinger_on_virtual_power_plays-2.pdf (Retrieved September 16, 2014)

San Miguel, "Social Media, a Tool for Political Change": http://www.academia.edu/2619486/SOCIAL_MEDIA_A_TOOL_FOR_POLITICAL_CHANGE (Retrieved September 16, 2014)

Tayler,"What the heck is going on in Venezuela?": http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-18/what-the-heck-is-going-on-in-venezuela-could-the-maduro-regime-fall (Retrieved September 16, 2014)

Is This Video Game Art?

First of all, in order to answer whether a video game is art or not, we need to define the notion of art itself. In my opinion, art is something beautiful and expressive. The form does not matter - it can be a painting, a performance, a sculpture, a film, a song, a dress or a make-up. Everything can be art, as long as it is emotive. Art can be done by adults or children. It can be done by those with artistic background or without it, as long as it creates emotions. Please, see the link below:

Digital games - But are they art?
















Adams (2007) in his article introduces us to the notion of art and, at the same time, highlights its ambiguity. Adams assumes that “the boundaries between art and non-art are not hard and fast; there is a grey area.” (p.255). Adams enumerates various dimensions of this term, such as: literary arts, fine arts, and decorative arts. Moreover, Adams distinguishes the work of art from the object itself stating that, very often, the second one is just the delivery medium and does not possess any artistic value while being separated from the artwork.

Adams points out that some video games should be treated in categories of literary arts since, similar to movies, contain narrative elements. Nevertheless, as stated earlier, art does not have to be narrative, it can be visual – providing addressee with pleasurable aesthetic or kinetic experience. Moreover, similarly to great works of art, games are able to survive many centuries in spite of various changes in, for example, culture or language.

Adams tries to explain the development of the philosophy of art which, at the beginning, was identified more with copying certain objects in order to create their accurate representatives. The breakthrough of the twentieth century, however, established different ways of perceiving things raising, at the same time, the idea of art as a form of expression.

In spite of many approaches towards the purpose of art, it certainly possesses one, undeniable feature – durability. Perceiving things as being aesthetically interesting does not change with times.

The perception of art has changed. Together with the introduction of popular culture, art no longer needs to be placed in galleries and museums. Its medium can be interactive, allowing for self-immersion in the new form of experience. There is a thin line between artwork and pop culture. Adams supports his point of view by comparing game and film industries and explaining that the majority of movies is not art, so is not most of the games.

Adams debates about the possibility that interactivity precludes art – the way of communicating changes, viewer interferes, author is no longer an artist. However, most of us know the notion of performing arts. Such artists as Marina Abramovic or Yoko Ono allow viewer to interact. In the performance entitled “The Artist is Present”, Abramovic puts 72 different objects on the table, such as, e.g.: a scourge, a gun, a rose, a razor blade, pliers, a mud, a condom, a jar of honey, and waits. You can please her, you can hurt her. Ono, on the other hand, in performance entitled “Cut Piece” kneels on the stage, while a pair scissors lies in front of her. The viewers' task is to cut a piece of her clothing and take it with them. The performance ends when Ono is being completely exposed. The purpose of both performances is to show that civilisation is like a thin layer – a group of people can change into beasts very quickly if you allow them to do so. Both, Abramovic and Ono prove that interactivity between an artist and a public creates art itself. Adams believes that interactivity enables players to discover the message of art since, according to him, games are able to say things.

Adams claims that art possesses settled features, e.g.: content or aesthetic. “Art must have content” (p.258) since its purpose is to express certain issues and ideas. Art also determines what is beautiful and what is ugly. Art, as having an aesthetic, needs to be appealing, meaningful and deep. Games might me deep and might me shallow. Their form might be aesthetic or not. Games might or might not contain ideas. But if they do, players are able to learn things out of them due to various simulations. Most of all, however, Adams points out that art “makes you feel things.” (p.259). Good art is also characterised by lack of formula and utility. Its purpose is not to be sold, its purpose is to be telling.

Adams states that games, in order to be treated as an art form, need to possess certain features of other art forms. Nowadays, games production is mostly focused on providing players with fun and entertainment – they are lack of deeper message.

“Great art challenges the viewer. It demands that the viewer grow, expand his or her mind, see things that have not been seen before, think things that have not been thought before.” (Adams 2007, p.261)

Art is about taking risks, putting yourself in someone else's shoes, looking at things from different angle, thinking out of the box.

Adams describes his experience playing “Balance of Power” when he decides to play the game from the enemy side. This decision not only allows him to understand all the challenges that the Soviet Union faced during the Second World War, but also changes his perspective forever.

Games, in order to be considered as an art form, need undeniable changes. Adams tries to prove that games have a potential, however, “gaming awards must change.” (p.262). Prizes in gaming industry are mostly given for best graphic or sound. There is almost no prizes in categories of acting or story-telling. Moreover, there are almost no well-educated critics being willing to make an in-depth analysis of a game. If certain elements are treated as irrelevant it is hard to expect any improvement from their authors.

Adams does not indicate whether he believes in interactive entertainment as being an art form or not. Nevertheless, he defines all the changes that should be made in order to do so.

Bibliography:

Ernest W. Adams (2007) “Will Computer Games Ever Be a Legitimate Art Form?”. In Clarke and Mitchell (eds), Videogames and Art, 255-264.

Marina Abramovic: http://www.skny.com/artists/marina-abramovi/ (Retrieved September 8, 2014)

Yoko Ono: http://imaginepeace.com/archives/2680 (Retrieved September 8, 2014) 

Modern Times, Then and Now

Technology affects the Charlie Chaplin character in a significant way. At the beginng of the movie we can see Charlie working very hard. Employees being in a constat rush have no time for scraching themselves or going to the WC. I believe that this very demanding work force atmosphere is caused by workers' fear of being replaced by machines. As it can be noticed, everything is done manually so we can observe the domino effect – if one employee does not do his work the work of others collapses. Cameras placed everywhere allow Chaplin's boss for controlling him almost everywhere. Moreover, employees use special cards in order to record the exact time of coming to and leaving work.

When technology comes into Chaplin's work place, he no longer needs to use his hands in order to consume a meal. Special robot does everything for him. In the movie, however, the robot breaks down and Charlie ends up having a soup all over his face. Charlie cannot do anything in order to stop the machine, and at the same time, is completely dependent on the device - he needs to wait for the machine to feed him, as well as to water him.

Please, click on the link below:
Charlie Chaplin - Eating Machine

Nowadays, people use electronic devices all the time. Technology comes into our lives and people no longer have to do everything manually. They have different sort of machines that do everything for of them. Moreover, there are cameras everywhere. Big brother is watching you. Our behaviour is controlled. Following this path, nowadays we also possess various cards that record our moves. Lets focus on Octopus card. You can pay with it in various shops, buses, MTR. The Big Brother know exactly where you are, which bus number you take everyday, which canteen you eat meals in. Technology is power.

Digital Media in My Life

To begin, I truely hope to learn from this course as much as possible. Most of all, I would like to know different ways of aesthetic appreciation of digital art and media. I always wanted to have my own blog, however, due to the constant lack of time I never had one. Therefore, the fact that writing a blog is one of the assignments for this semester made me very happy.

It is generally agreed today that everybody uses digital media, so do I. One of my favourites is well-known Facebook. It allows me for keeping in touch with those I have not seen for ages. Regarding the fact that geographical boundaries are disappearing, a lot of my friends moves abroad. The awareness that they are still there for me is really comforting. Moreover, recently I moved abroad as well. In spite of the fact that there is quite long distance from Poland to Hong Kong, I do not feel it that much. There is no home-sickness (my mum always knows how I am doing). Furthermore, recently Facebook introduced a video calling that connects with Skype. Seeing my grandfather on one of the mobile devices is definitely the best part of my Sunday afteroon.

Moreover, one must admit that Facebook gives you the possibility of expressing yourself. Sharing your photos, favourite music or quotations gives you the chance to design your own life. However, as we all know appearances can be deceptive. Facebook might also give you a false impression of not being alone. Surrounded by hundreds of digital friends you believe you can count on them. And then something happens. Eventually, you go to a friend or yours that lives on the same street.

Posting all the information about yourself has its drawbacks. Big Brother is watching you. You are no longer anonymous. Everything about your friends, family, preferences, location is recorded. Therefore, we need to be very careful about what we post and we have to think twice about what kind of information we want to go public.

As presented above, digital media (concretely social media) has its pros and cons. Despite all the minuses, we cannot reject everything what is digital. We have to move with times. Digital technology helps us staying connected to those we love. Nevertheless, the omnipresent need for showing up made people forgetting that there are some things not for show.