Monthly Archives: October 2013

Online Control

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Our discussion in ASTU class today got me thinking a lot more about the Internet and how the online platform is practically in a world of its own. It is shaped by the stakeholders that control it (such as Google, Facebook, Firefox, etc.), and it’s users, who are the ones responsible for bringing it to life.

Consumers are prompted (and to some extent, feel obligated) to share a wide range of personal information on the networking sites they are in. For example, take a look at the “Timeline” on Facebook.  I think when I first discovered it, I thought of something along the lines of, “wow, this is going to make creeping a whole lot easier.” Now whether we like to admit this or not, the fact is that this is the purpose of social networking sites. They were built with the intention of creating common grounds in the online world for people to connect, and learn more about the people they are connected to. It’s funny, because despite all this, I still find myself wanting to maintain a degree of privacy on Facebook, and I’ve opted to leave a majority of my “about” and “life events” section on my profile relatively blank.

It wasn’t until our discussion in class today, was I reminded of a small, yet profound incident. At the beginning of the year, I noticed something that builds upon Eli Pariser’s Ted talk, Beware online “filter bubbles.” There, he talks about how major stakeholders have an increasing amount of control in personalizing the internet for its users. Have a look:

On the very first day of the new year, Facebook automatically published and highlighted a “life event” on my profile, because apparently, I graduated from high school six months early. I found myself confused by how Facebook could even publish something on my behalf, especially since it wasn’t true. I looked on my friends and classmates’ timelines, and they also had the exact same post as I did. A bit weird, and definitely perplexing, but I forgot about it shortly after.

Similar to how advertisements and search results are filtered based on what a hosting site thinks you want to see, Facebook was posting on my behalf, because they thought that my “graduation” was something that needed to be shared, even if it was incorrect. Not only have I realized that the internet is being filtered and personalized, but I am aware of how social media is pushing its users to share more and more personal information so that we can contribute to our online identities (and as a result have that information sold to third-parties.) Not only do we have to be conscious of the type of information we receive online, but also the information we choose to share. That way, internet users are also able to exert control in the online world that we have become so integrated in.

The Power of Mass Media

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A few weeks ago, in our ASTU class, everyone had to pick and analyze a blog post from Riverbend’s blog, Baghdad Burning. Riverbend is a female Iraqi blogger, who describes herself as a “survivor of the war”, and offers an engaging, yet critical perspective of the War on Terror. I read through some of Riverbend’s older blog posts, but the one that caught my eye was the most recent blog post written on April 9th, 2013. There, on the 10 year anniversary of the invasion of Baghdad, Riverbend evaluates  the lessons that have been learnt since the War on Terror.

Riverbend succinctly describes the role of mass media in the portrayal of history by asserting that,

“We’re learning that the leaders don’t make history. Populations don’t make history. Historians don’t write history. News networks do. The Foxes, and CNNs, and BBCs, and Jazeeras of the world make history. They twist and turn things to fit their own private agendas.”

As scary as it may seem, this is unfortunately true. Often, representation in mass media is portrayed in a certain perspective, and can cause biases amongst its consumers. Our perceptions can be shaped and dictated by the way mainstream media reports news, and the voices they allow to be heard.

Now, I want to connect this idea with the concept of feminism. For Political Science class, we had to read bell hooks’ (her name is intentionally uncapitalized) book entitled, Feminism is For Everybody. hooks asserts that that misunderstanding of feminism is largely due to the fact that most people hear and learn about feminism through patriarchal mass media. When people think about feminism, they may think of a very radical, “anti-men” movement that is solely interested in gender equality. However, the reality is far from this. hooks describes feminism as a broad topic that encompasses issues of social-class and racism, and seeks to overturn oppression and sexism as a whole.

To be quite honest, I haven’t really thought about feminism in the way hooks describes it. And though it is partially my fault for not digging deeper into the topic, I think I can also attribute my lack of understanding to the flaws of mainstream media. We are (whether we know it or not) in some ways trained by the media to think and act a certain way about a particular topic. Thus, feminism, and the War on Terror, are similar in that they are grossly misrepresented by how the mainstream media presents them. And this is dangerous, because our limited perspectives can undermine and silence the voices that have been so cunningly excluded.

We need to break out of the tunnel vision that we have become so accustomed to. Though we may not be able to access a diversity of thought through the mainstream media, there are plenty of other alternatives out there. Independent media outlets, blogs, and of course, the internet are some ways to find and uncover perspectives not offered by conventional forms of media. Whether we choose to pursue it or not is up to us.

A comparison between “The Book of Negroes” & “Persepolis”

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Quite a bit of time has passed since I read The Book of Negroes, written by Lawrence Hill, but I was reminded of it while reading Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Although these books are presented in completely different genres (The Book of Negroes being a historical novel, and Persepolis a graphic narrative), I found myself comparing and drawing connections between the two.

When I first read The Book of Negroes, I immediately found myself intrigued by how the book was written from the perspective of a young girl (who was abducted and sold into the  Atlantic slave trade.) Despite the fact that the story is a work of fiction, The Book of Negroes draws upon a horrific history that can be difficult for some to truly understand. I remember feeling a heavy, disheartening feeling while reading The Book of Negroes, and again while reading Persepolis. The different genres of these two books, told through the perspectives of innocent, yet rapidly growing young girls, allowed the experiences of trauma in everyday life to be more relatable. The usage of vivid and illustrative language in The Book of Negroes, is contrasted by the simple, yet powerful graphic illustrations in Persepolis. Their approaches in conveying trauma and history may have been different, but it allowed me to empathize with the narrator’s predicament, and increase my understanding of global conflicts.

Recently, I read a very interesting blog post called, The Forgotten Minority, written cleverly by Connie Zhou. There, she talks about the conflict of having an Asian-American identity, and how racism is not simply and issue between black and white. Rather, it is an issue of discrimination against all coloured people, some who are more neglected and forgotten about during discussions of racism, than others. In her blog post, Connie writes,

I remember sitting in one of my media classes discussing race; we had spent weeks on how blacks and whites are portrayed in the media. As my professor went on and on, I sat there wondering when she was going to bring up Asians, Hispanics, or Middle Easterners. Finally, as if God had heard my plea, a thankfully inquisitive student in the front raised his hand, “What about Asians?”

There was five minutes left in class, and all she said was, “Well, they tend to be the ‘model minority,’” and carried forth with the discussion on blacks and whites.

And it’s true. Back in elementary and high school, I remember we often talked about the history and racism against black people more than any other minority races. I’m not trying to detract from their significance, or say that they aren’t worth talking about, because they certainly are, considering all the awful things that have happened to them throughout time. However, I think that the education system fails to properly address and educate students about other minority groups, such as Asians and Middle-Easterns. Before entering university, I have to admit that I knew more about the issues of black people, than the history and predicament of Middle-Eastern people, or of my own culture, the Asian race. In my opinion, while The Book of Negroes and Persepolis are two successful and highly praised books, I think that The Book of Negroes is more widely known, partially because talk about history and racism tends to be more about black people. (This is just based on my observations and conversations with family and friends, so let me know if your experience differs.)

Anyways, this is why I am grateful that university has opened me up to reading more about the “forgotten minorities”, and I think that my knowledge and understanding of the Middle East has definitely grown. Thanks ASTU!