Tom Daley

Social Networking:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2183494/Tom-Daleys-Twitter-troll-Reece-Messer-lives-benefits-bedsit-father-11-children.html 
The link above provides information about Tom Daley's experiences online with 'Twitter Trolls'.
After Tom unfortunately missed out on a medal during the London 2012 olympics for synchronised diving with Peter Waterfield, he was criticised/ confronted by twitter trolls online.
The young boy of whom was a similar age to Tom tweeted him saying "You let your dad down I hope you know that." Many of the public reacted to this tweet and classed it as a form of cyber bullying. This is because the previous year, Tom's dad Rob unfortunately died of brain cancer. Due to this, the comment made was insensitive and regarded as a form of bullying. Tom also reacted to the tweet and responded by stating "After giving it my all..you get idiots sending me this". This made Tom's followers aware of this and they therefore began giving their support.
The boy who tweeted this was consequently arrested on "suspicion of malicious communication".

'Coming Out' Video:
December 2nd 2013: Tom Daley came out as bisexual to his 2.4 million Twitter followers through a 5 minute video that he uploaded to YouTube. He also then posted the link on his Twitter account, making sure that it would be noticed by the majority. The video has currently reached 8,659,993 views on YouTube and 163,023 users have 'liked' the video. It also appears on the YouTube homepage under the title of 'Popular Now'.
Tom received mostly support from his fan base/ the public, whereas on the other hand some may argue why it has been made to be such a big thing as an individuals sexuality should not matter and that instead we should all focus on his talent at diving. However, big news institutions such as the Daily Mail and the Metro produced articles about the video almost instantly.
It could be argued that it was a good idea for Tom to create the video as he stated himself that he wanted his fans to hear from him himself, rather than have his words twisted within an interview. However, it could be argued that as he is an international sportsman coming out so publicly could affect where he competes such as The Middle East who do not support the gay community. It could also be argued that due to our interest in celebrity culture, coming out so publicly could have a negative impact.

Are Internet Institutions such as Google doing enough to combat illicit use of the Internet?

Examples:
Article on the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/18/uk-us-dark-web-online-child-abuse-internet

Information from the article:
Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt has announced that a strong team of 200 people have ‘cleaned up’ Google Search to target 100,000 terms that can be used to locate child sexual abuse images.  The company is now also showing warnings at the top of its search results for 13,000 queries.
YouTube has now created new technology, which identifies videos made my pedophiles. Google and Microsoft have now been working together in attempt of identifying child abuse images.
A transatlantic taskforce will now identify ways of targeting criminals/ pedophiles that use secret encrypted networks to distribute images of abuse.

Quote from Google’s executive chairman: "We've listened, and in the last three months put more than 200 people to work developing new, state-of-the-art technology to tackle the problem. We've fine-tuned Google search to prevent links to child sexual abuse material from appearing in our results."

Quote from Joanna Shields (Chief executive of London technology investment agency, Tech City, who previously worked for Google and Facebook): "It's vital that governments and industry work together to eradicate child abuse content from the internet, and that we mobilise the best and brightest in the technology industry to come up with innovative solutions."

BBC Article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24980765

100,000 search terms will now return no results that find illegal material and will trigger warnings that child abuse imagery is illegal.
David Cameron is responsible for welcoming the move. The National Crime Agency director said that tests show that the changes are working. Therefore, David Cameron argues that the next stage is to tackle the “dark web” where people share images online without making them publicly available. The image to the left shows what now comes up when key words are now typed into Google.

Microsoft’s General Manager: "It will be much harder to find that content on both Bing and Google. We are blocking content, removing content and helping people to find the right content or also sources of help should they need that,"

I think that Internet Institutions such as Google, Microsoft and Bing are doing a good job at attempting to combat illicit use of the Internet as they have blocked and removed various websites that contain forms of sexual child abuse. This has evidently had a positive impact overall as the NCA state that tests show that the changes are working and therefore it is harder for individuals to access illegal content through these search engines. However, I feel that the impact is not all beneficial because of the “dark web” where people share images and material online yet can keep their identities hidden. Overall I feel that Internet Institutions are making an effective decision through removing content, however there is still room for improvement.  

Essay Preparation

'We Media will make the world a more democratic place' Discuss
Examples:
http://syriangirlpartisan.blogspot.co.uk/ 

The Arab Spring: Revolution 2.0

Quotes from Wael Ghonim:

'The Internet will change politics in Egypt'

'Revolution 2.0 is a bold, moving story of the and the hope, courage and fearlessness it takes to start a revolution' 

'I thought that my anonymity was my power' 

'The power of the people is greater than the people in power'

'We used all available tools in order to communicate, collaborate and agree on a date, time, and location for the start of the revolution'

'His release in February 8th was seen as a key moment in the revolution'

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2013/04/arabspring/

Citizen Journalism

BOSTON BOMBINGS

https://blog.twitter.com/2013/the-boston-bombing-how-journalists-used-twitter-to-tell-the-story

On this particular blog that was written after the Boston Bombings, statistics are shown of how many tweets were sent about the incident, reaching a peak of 100,000. There is also another graph displayed which shows how rapidly the amount of followers that the account '@BostonGlobe' received after the attack. 

 

 

KENYAN MALL ATTACK

 

http://socialmediatoday.com/social-advocacy-politics/twitter-brings-kenyan-mall-attack-world

 

This article shows the importance of social media in relation to the news as it states that the terrorists themselves used to Twitter to provide "a running comentary and videos from the mall" as they were killing shoppers. Twitter kept suspending the accounts, however knew ones were then made. However, Twitter was also used in a positive way as the "Kenyan National Disaster Operation Centre" were keeping the world up to date with the tragedy.

 

 

 

 

Internet Musician: JUSTIN DREW BIEBER

Justin Bieber is now a global phenominan and is famous worldwide due to his career in singing.

Justin is unique compared to other artists as he started his career on YouTube. He set up an account called 'Kidraul' and began uploading videos of himself singing and playing various instruments such as the guitar, drums and piano. The original reason as to why he uploaded these videos was so that his family members who lived far from him and his mother could watch him perform and keep up with his progress. However, Justin's videos started to reach millions of views from around the world, creating his own fanbase, who began requesting songs for him to sing and upload.

A man named Scooter Braun came across one of Justin's video and noticed that he had an incredible and natural talent. Due to this he managed to get in contact with Justin's mum and flew justin out to LA where he got to perform for the artist Usher. He is now managed by the both of them by a company called 'Raymond Braun Media Group' and is signed to the record company Island Def Jam.

His first albums were called 'My World 1.0' and 'My World 2.0'  and were a success worldwide, making him a known artist. His single from the second album called 'Baby' has had 840 million views on YouTube and is one of the most viewed clips online. After the release of his first two albums he then went on a sold out a world tour and recorded the experience which then was used in his first documentary film, 'Never Say Never'. The film is unique as it shows how Justin's career started through the media and therefore how the fanbase feel a strong connection with Justin as they feel that they discovered him themselves. His fanbase are so strong that they are categorised as 'Beliebers' and have 'Bieber Fever'. 

Justin has gone on to also release another album called 'Believe' which of course has been another success. He has also created his own nail varnish line with OPI, as well three perfumes called 'Someday', 'Girlfriend' and 'The Key' for his female fanbase. This shows that Justin is not only an artist but also a brand. 

On the social networking site Twitter, he has an astonishing 45 million+ followers where he interacts with his fans and keeps them up to date with his daily activities. As Justin's fans first discovered him through the Internet, they feel the most connected with him whilst on social networking sites. 

Never Say Never Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJCN3Mhr14 

Article: 'Reading Between The Lines'

The death of Margaret Thatcher 
On April 8th 2013 Baroness Thatcher died. She was the first female leader of the Conservative Party and woman Prime Minister.
She has become an iconic symbol of the 1980's decade, as she introduced monetarism and a neo-liberal approach to the economic of the country.
Within hours of her death being announced, Twitter reflected two opposing positions: some people mourned her death as the passing of 'the greatest post-war prime minister'. Whereas other responses  veered from relief to open celebration and, in some cases, gloating.
The UK press was also divided:

• The Telegraph, Express and Daily Mail reported the death in a respectful manner using phrases such as "the woman that saved Britain". The mail also used a Union Flag as a dominant image on its front page as a tribute. 
• The Mirror, The Independent and The Guardian, took a neutral approach on the day of her death, using both praise and criticism of Thatcher and her politics. 
• Many comments on The Guardian were highly critical of Thatcher's politics, indicating that the consensus presented by the pro-Thatcher papers may have been inaccurate. 
• The Sun- referred the Margaret as "Maggie". Name-calling was used to reinforce the paper's opinions of non-Conservatives- although Labour politicians who did turn up and voice opinions different to the Sun's were also heavily criticised. It also found it important to mention the location of her death (The Ritz) to create a relation the Princess Diana's death as it is an upper class hotel, connoting Royalty. 
• The Metro readership is likely to be more politically diverse and therefore it was important that their views remained neutral in order to not alienate its potential readership. 
• BBC- attempted to be impartial about the late Prime Minister's impact and legacy. They have been accused of being both 'too pro-Thatcher' and 'too anti-Thatcher'. This was displayed through 'public anger' on social networking sites such as Twitter. 
• The week following her death, any response that was identified as criticism was simplified as disrespect. 
• The song "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" also reached number one in the charts, in the days following her death. 
• The British press show that newspapers use many propaganda techniques in attempt to influence opinions and set framework for debate and discussion. 

Syrian War Videos

New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/world/middleeast/brutality-of-syrian-
rebels-pose-dilemma-in-west.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Daily Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2412700/Horrifying-fate-Assads-soldiers-
executed-camera-Syrian-rebels.html