Author: byronsmith0205
“what might have you not seen” – censorship
Within the evolution of digital media the concept of censorship has become a widely discussed topic across the world as new social media platforms find balance between protecting users from sensitive content such as pornography vs limiting users ability to have a sense of free speech. In the modern technological era, Censorship can come from both governments and private organisations who control the major media outlets used as a way of global communication.
There are growing concerns that censorship is diminishing the media’s ability to provide information as large media outlets prevent the spreading of media that does not align with their moral standards. With most media platforms being used globally and often by people who do not live in the base country of the platforms, conflict between what kind of censorship is morally acceptable has evolved, specially highlighted by the strict censorship undertaken on the Chinese platform tik tok…
View original post 552 more words
Digital Asia – Growing trends with Censorship
The growing expansion of Digital Asia over the past decade has allowed for a greater exchange of information and media between people. The development of new platforms provides new ways of connection, with financial, social and political transactions all now possible via digital platforms, ultimately removing the barriers. This is especially apparent in the current environment with the existence of COVID19. The evolution of Digital Asia has allowed increased ability for information to be shared between Asia and the rest of the world, with global flows of information, culture, media and more coming in and out of the region. CNBC (2020) has shown an increase of “40 million new internet users” in SouthEast Asia.
I have been able to learn about key aspects of Digital Asia through the increasing distribution of Asia media. From documentaries such as the self financed and highly controversial documentary ‘Under the Dome’ which was created…
View original post 602 more words
AlphaGo – ME VS THE COMPUTER
Over the past decade Esports (Electronic Sports) have increased in popularity and become a strong aspect of global popular culture and especially in Asia. Esports refers to the concept of competitive video gaming within the online space, often conducted in multiplayer settings where players meet with other users virtually.
The realm of Esports goes beyond just playing the game as it has become a contributor to other industries such as live streamers as mentioned in previous blog post as well as other industries including gambling, publishing, technology and live entertainment. Esports popularity has significantly grown with the Global Sport Economy by bringing in $700 million in 2017 (Chapman, 2017), the Industry can also boast 2.3 billion users globally (McCauley, Nguyen, McDonald & Wearing, 2020).
In this week’s seminar we viewed critically acclaimed documentary AlphaGo by Greg Koh (2017) which focuses on the evolving development between traditional gaming and artificially enhanced…
View original post 399 more words
Blog Post 1 – Live Streaming to the World
While the term digital encompasses anything with numerical digits, media refers to a method of transmitting information. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital device, this allows for faster and more versatile communication, but can also lead to data security issues. In the expanding world of technology, peoples increasing online presence has led to the development of trends that focus highly on protecting privacy and consumer consent for example ‘Apple’ asking permission for other applications to use your data, the development of artificial intelligence and the creation of new opportunities for income. Live streaming has contributed to the development of new relationships formed between streamers and viewers in a time of isolation due to covid. Often seen as a new way to connect with people with similar interests without physically being in the same location, has led to the formation of online communities with key leaders.
Asia dominates the online streaming industry, with over 2 million internet users from the 4.8 million users globally. As the world shuts down during a pandemic, millions have turned to live streaming as a form of income, this has evolved into the “gig economy”, with services such as Up live and Lamour being developed, increasing in popularity on a global scale.
In this week’s seminar, we looked at Hao Wu’s People’s Republic of Desire (2018) which highlighted the concept of digital transactions, defined as online transactions that take place through an online medium, ignoring the need for tangible aspects to make a transaction. The documentary looks at the ever expanding industry of online streamers in Asia. Focusing on the lives of those who use streams as a source of income and economic benefit, providing details on the hardships and pressure put on them to be the most liked. This documentary highlighted how people were able to significantly improve their living conditions through this new source of income, emphasising the extensive opportunities they are given to obtain financial abundance and status.
As mentioned by Athique (2019) money appears as an integer or processing unit, its value can be determined within a set of social exchanges. Financial transactions occur online and act as an agreement between the buyer and seller, in the context of online streaming this refers to the viewer/fan and the online personality. Technology gives those that are in ownership of money greater control and influence, the creation of virtual money has led to enthusiasm towards crypto currency in Asia. Leading to a significant amount of digital heists, occurring through hacking which is an issue that has evolved from digital transactions. The documentary highlights the control and influence streamers have over their audience, as well as emphasising the ease in which digital transactions occur. For example, the influencers are constantly asking for donations and purchasing votes to nominate them as the most popular, or best online personality, consumers do this as they idolise the personality and enjoy seeing people doing the things they cannot do due to financial limitations. The documentary also indicates how the fans have power over the streamers due to financial interactions. As the streamers rely on the votes and donations from their fans, the fans gain a sense of power as well, this is often shown when fans demand the streamers to do certain acts which at times are ethically questionable.
For me personally, the idea of online transactions with the context of providing live steamers with financial funds is something I would not do. Factors such as a lack of security and confidence of where the funds are going especially concern me however I can see how fans would want to support the live steamers as it is essentially paying for a form of entertainment and belonging.
References
CopyPress. 2021. Digital Media: Definition and Examples. [online] Available at: <https://www.copypress.com/kb/content-marketing/digital-media-definition-and-examples/> [Accessed 30 July 2021].
Smart Insights. 2021. Digital marketing trends 2021: 25 practical recommendations to implement. [online] Available at: <https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/digital-marketing-trends-innovation/> [Accessed 30 July 2021].
Investopedia. 2021. What Is a Digital Transaction?. [online] Available at: <https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/digital-transaction.asp> [Accessed 30 July 2021].
Bray C, Qu. T, 2021. South China Morning Post, Live streaming is the gig economy of the pandemic era, Uplive says. [online] Available at: <https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3138685/millions-turn-livestreaming-earn-living-during-covid-19-pandemic> [Accessed 30 July 2021].
Digital Asia 