User:Qwui.rose/sandbox

Engage Social Network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics

I noticed that some statements are in violation of WP: NEUTRAL since they come across as opinionated when referring to the underage allegations of Chinese acrobats. I had also noticed that in the sections regarding state training and expectations of Chinese athletes as well as doping, a few statements are made without reference. I would suggest further-inserting references in order for the readers to confirm the WP: VERIFY.— Qwui.rose (talk) 04:55, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_controversies

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Selfie Activism is a form of activism through the use of a selfie and commonly followed up by a hashtag which closely relates it to hashtag activism. The selfie is a self-portrait photograph and is usually shared on social networking sites (SNS) and acquire likes, comments and shares. It allows us to reflect the view of ourselves that we want to project onto the world.A draw of selfie activism is that it is accessible worldwide opposed to being pinpointed at a physical location. Although selfie activism commonly uses hashtags it is separate from hashtag activism since hashtags can also be used in posts strictly featuring text. The use of the hashtag allows the discussion to be organized within the social media platform. It is commonly seen on social media platforms such as Twitter or Instagram. This form of activism can take on many campaigns that are including but not limited to social, political, economic, feminist or stereotypical and are not always taken by the individual, but the photo will be focused on an individual.

Supporters claim that selfies are being used to redefine “normal” online and that they have the potential to “give a face to the social issues experienced by marginalized groups [and they] are used to challenge stereotypes”. They also say that it challenges the notions of state, government, Capital, urban design copyright, privacy and civic engagement. Claims that support selfie activism has included allowing the marginalized to be heard and empowered, allow easy access for anyone with a platform and allows for a wider reach of a campaign due to its ease of accessibility. Those who support selfie activism claim that it will have the potential to increase public awareness on social and/or political movements since it can reach a large audience due to it requiring minimal effort and can operate at low cost. They also argue that the concept of being able to practice civic skills with minimal commitment of time and effort is what motivates them to take part.Critics have met these claims with concerns of authenticity, longevity and motive. They raise concerns of slacktivism and narcissism regarding the platforms of selfie activism.

Political Activism

The first common form of activism that selfie activism uses is political and have been specifically used in the form of protest, awareness and Social media optimists claim that selfie activism is a form of empowering political participation and encourages social change. It is a way for a broader reach both to the audience and from those taking the selfie. Some believe that through the use of signs and hashtags, this brings the intent of the selfie beyond narcissistic tendencies.

Selfie Protest

Selfies have been used as a form of protest in order for activists to spread their messages fast. Jenna Brager says the selfie allows for the person to become an individual in a public debate and gives them an identity. Activists have also used individual protests to raise awareness for issues important to them such as Ai Wei Wei who posed in Tiananmen Square in a military fashion gas mask to represent his concerns over pollution and air quality. According to Clare Sheehan, she presents the idea of selfie protest being a practice of “self-actualizing digitally-mediated DIY politics”.

Protest in Brazilian Favelas

An example of this would be urban youth living in Brazilian favelas, who Nemer and Freeman say use selfies in order to assume their voice and seek empowerment. They use the selfies to show the world how they are feeling about their current living situations. Those living in the favelas also use them as a way to reflect for themselves how they are feeling to be able to comprehend their thoughts and emotions. They are not concerned with the reception of their selfies which is the opposite of what critics claim of narcissism. For others, they used their selfies in protest to the drug cartels that had control over to favelas to show their happiness despite the situation. In opposition of narcissism, selfies are being used in various forms such as empowerment and to overcome illiteracy.

Once I was an Immigrant…Now I Am

In an article by Kaarina Nikunen, she discusses the use of selfies to protest an anti-immigration movement in Finland by refugees taking a selfie with a card saying “Once I was an immigrant, Now I am…” which she says reinforces the contributions made to society by those who were once immigrants.

Trash Selfies

Another popular example of selfie protest is the “trash selfies” taken by citizens in Tunisia with the hashtag #SelfiePoubella (#trashselfie) to raise awareness about the amounts of garbage and pollution going on in the country due to a recent revolution. As a result, the Prime Minister has formulated a plan shortly after the movement spread, which was missing before and citizens believed that the spread of their selfies pushed for the change. Susan Olzak, a professor of sociology at Stanford University, says that there is a commonality of using signs in activist tactics no matter the form it is taking place in. To her, posting a selfie with a hashtag makes a bigger statement than the hashtag alone due to the hashtag adding an element of anonymity, and visual symbols allows for the campaign to be diffused across locations, regions, countries and movements.

Other Examples of Selfie Protest

#NotAMarty was started in response to a bombing that killed sixteen-year-old Mohammed Schaar in December 2013 in Beirut. Victims of political attacks being labelled martyrs which have been commonly used in Lebanese culture used to valorize those who die for their religious beliefs. Citizens choose to post a selfie with this hashtag and will say what they want to be changed in their country since they no longer wanted to live in fear.

#StandByMe was based in the UK where students from the University of Sheffield used selfies to protest their government’s policy on immigration by showing the numerous friendships they had made with international students to the UK.

#BringBackOurGirls where celebrities took selfies such as First Lady Michelle Obama or activist Malala Yousafzai to show support for the 200 missing girls who were abducted in Nigeria by Boko Haram in April 2014

#StriketheHike where people in the Philippines used selfies to protest hikes in train fares

#SuffocatingPrisoners was a movement based on a heatwave in Egypt in May 2016 where protestors took selfies with plastic bags over their heads to represent the dangerous conditions Egyptian prisoners were living in.

#FreeAJStaff was in an effort to illustrate the suppression of free speech and freedom of the press specifically in Egypt for a Canadian journalist.

Selfies for Silence is a movement in support of LGBTQ+ people who are silenced by discrimination, harassment and violence where those taking selfies will hold up a card saying who they are and why they are being silent

#ILookLikeAnEngineeer is a selfie protest to fight gender and racial stereotypes of what a “normal” engineer was to look like.

Selfie Journalism

Selfie journalism has been recently introduced to participatory journalism in an attempt to attract larger audiences by adding an element of interaction. This can be seen as a form of activism by allowing the journalist to Selfie journalism has been described to reconstruct the public sphere and contemporary reality, relocate the interest from the event to the image, the up-to-the-minute sharing with the audience, and active participation for the journalists in their stories. Journalists say that by incorporating selfies in their journalism it allows for their piece to become personalized and an expression of themselves. They also say it allows them to provide their self-representation to the news letting them be “framed” within the piece and provides a further element of socialization due to the fact people are able to comment, share and start conversations on the various social platforms the selfie would have been posted on. Selfies in the news can be understood as a form of proof for the journalist documenting their participation.

Feminism

Feminists have argued that utilizing selfies as a form of protest allow for users to reclaim their body and visualize the change. Selfies have been used in feminist campaigns and platforms as a way to visualize their thoughts. Feminist selfies allow for “self-identifying women to use the selfie through practices and technologies of smartphones and social media as a communication tool to challenge oppressive political statement and ideologies”. (18) Selfie research leaders Theresa Senft and Nancy Baym support the use of selfies in feminist practices since they are an “opportunity for social engagement, radical forms of community building, and most importantly a forum to produce counter-images that resist erasure and misrepresentation”. (21)

Jouët says that hashtag feminism represents a twenty-first-century form of digital feminism both online and offline granting further accessibility. Dare to be a Feminist launched a campaign #Iamafeminst where followers would send selfies with this hashtag and a short message on their message about feminism. Many other feminist protests have relied on selfies and hashtags such as campaigns against street harassment, rape or cyber-sexism.

Body Positivity

Feminists see the use of selfies as reclaiming and showing the body as well as visualizing the differences that need to be acknowledged, accepted and seen. Body positive selfie movements have featured the campaigning of femininity, sexuality and beauty acceptance. This is featured in women taking selfies with their scars, stretch marks, varying amounts of clothing, body hair or no makeup. Feminists claim that women are able to use selfies in order to reclaim their bodies and exhibit the agency of their female gaze. They claim they feel empowered due to being able to exhibit their self-adoration and consciously choose to share their photographs. This view is in what they say is opposition to being photographed through the male gaze and being distributed for the other. An example of this would be the feminist group Selective Shout in Australia to re-create Australia’s Next Top Model with a selfie competition to start their own body positivity campaign.

Reclaiming Sexuality

Professor in History of Art and Visual Culture, Derek Murray claims taking a selfie as a form of sexual fantasy for online consumption is designed to embrace femininity and sexuality; celebrate the history of women; reject unhealthy beauty standards; and advance body-positive attitude. Murray says “...perhaps it is in the young woman's representational contending with the most dehumanizing conditions of late capitalism, that they are able to envision themselves anew and to transcend the depreciatory vision that is so often imposed upon them.” An example of this would be the movement against an Iranian judge’s decision for the punishment of a convicted criminal to dress in women’s clothing and walk into the street as punishment. . This rose attention and led to a selfie protest with men wearing women’s clothing (and some vice versa) to get the message across that being a woman is not a form of humiliation and should not be considered a punishment.

Selfie Autopathography’s

Part of this, featuring women that post selfies sharing their medical stories saying that they are hoping to redefine what constitutes a “normal” female body. An autopathography is a self-authored medical history, which in this case are portrayed through what is most emphasized as an “unfiltered” selfie. Some of these selfies depict women with post-op wounds or scars, having panic attacks which are used in an attempt to neutralize women’s body in order to prevent them from being “reduced to their disorders”. Bassey Ikpi, who is a writer and mental health advocate, says that the selfies allow women to identify with others and their situation by being able to visually see it.

Critiques of Selfie Activism

Selfie activism has faced critiques and concerns over its effectiveness, commitment and motivation behind the selfie being taken. Scholars who are sceptical about the correlation between selfies and social change question whether the act of raising awareness translates into “more meaningful and tangible social benefits”. These concerns have been applied to selfies taken at places of controversy. Critics have argued: ‘Worries have been expressed, that these activities are pointless in that they are unable to achieve political goals and can derail political participants away from the more effective forms of participation in the activist's repertoire that have traditionally been used.’

Slacktivism

The ease in accessibility and minimal commitment to a cause proves to be the main concern for critics of slacktivism.Critics of slacktivism worry that online forms of participating in activism may replace offline forms.Communications scholar Evgeny Morozov critiques selfie activism as being a form of slacktivism in many of his works, and says it is to achieve a feeling of change, but it is not an effective form of protest The word is a combination of the word’s “slacker” and “activism”. There is concern over the effectiveness of selfie activism and fear that it will not be able to facilitate social change, although they do agree that it will raise awareness about the given topic . Those who take part in selfie activism are accused of slacktivism due to critics believing that posting a selfie does not hold the activist accountable, it is driven by self-gratification. Those who say that selfie activism is a representation of slacktivism also argue it exhibits narcissism since they believe posting a selfie is for self-promotion and flattery. Not only do critics apply the concept of slacktivism to those who take part in selfie activism, but also to those who take part in supporting it through likes, comments and shares.

Narcissism

Narcissism in many selfie campaigns have been a reoccurring concern for critics due to their questioning of intentions. Selfies can be a way for millennials to spread a message about a particular topic. As previously mentioned, there are communication scholars who also argue that selfie activism is narcissistic. An example of this being of the Israel Defense Forces who called upon soldiers and youth to upload selfies with Holocaust survivors that are special to them with the hashtag #WeAreHere. To those taking the selfie it was a way for them to find meaning in their present day on a past event. Critics saw this as rendering the survivors to be props as a tool for propaganda and self-attainment by the selfie taking. Many see selfies when used in certain context can bring light to a situation such as the previously mentioned protests, but some say that selfies are not always appropriate to use as activism. Some online users have taken selfies at places that have proved to be controversial for some such as Auschwitz concentration or Ground Zero of the World Trade Centre. With these selfies has been a growing concern that those taking the selfies are being desensitized to the backgrounds of their selfies.

The Selfie Gaze

A campaign called “Girl Up” urged girls from the Northern part of the globe to take a selfie and post it on social media in support of what they call “sisterly solidarity” with girls from the Southern part of the globe. In sharing the selfie with the free Donate a Photo app Johnson & Johnson would help girls be sent to school. This campaign has been criticized by feminists for being what they say is self-oriented on the Northern girls due to the two-way communication between the North and the South is missing and the “sisters” from the South are missing altogether. Those in opposition of this campaign call this the “selfie gaze” meaning that they see an element of novelty in the “sister solidarity” since the gaze is being placed on the girl taking the selfie and not on the one that the campaign is intended for. The campaign has reciprocated to these claims by implementing a “call to action” from girls through video uploads answering questions rooted in the campaign.