Some Guidelines to Improve your Comments
- Include at least one (ideally more than one) direct and relevant quote from the assigned readings/viewings (This is to demonstrate engagement with the readings).
- Engage with the authors of the blog
- If possible, also engage with authors who have commented on the blog.
- Try to keep your comment fixed on a specific theme or point, rather than trying to cover too much ground (remember it is short).
- Add a respectful critique in a couple of sentences. E.g. what would you have added that the author of the blog did not? Do you think they missed something, misunderstood a point etc?
- Try and bring in contemporary relevance to important events in the digital sphere
Example of a decent comment (with my annotations)
Thank you for such an insightful post Asma and Omer! As avid users of SNSs, we don’t really pay attention to how it actually evolved into what it is today. In Asma’s article, a crucial point about privacy issues was briefly touched upon, which I believe is something that is to be considered especially when we look at the evolution of SNSs throughout the years. Privacy, especially on SNSs has always been a very sensitive one, and as Asma clearly highlighted- platforms have profited greatly from selling consumer data to marketers. Dwyer, Hiltz, and Passerini (2007) for example, discussed ‘trust and usage goals’ when it came to information sharing, and although Facebook may have seemed trustworthy in the past, with its recent lawsuits in user privacy, it really leaves a huge question on how the evolution of Social Media sites has actually been of benefit to the users. The whole idea of the ‘Rise and Fall of Friendster’ highlights the beginning of ‘Fakesters’, is a great addition for Asma’s post- especially as fake accounts is still quite a significant issue. With the evolution of SNSs, I believe the usage of fake accounts has also evolved throughout the years, an example being the involvement of ‘Twitterbots’ in the recent GCC Crisis.
I found the readings attached, and Omer’s post, both quite enjoyable to read. Alongside Mohammed, I too was interested in finding out about how people used to share media before the nineteenth century., simply because it is quite difficult to imagine a time like that, as Fatima mentioned. A point I definitely would like to highlight in Omer’s post is on challenging the status quo. I think media and social media in particular has definitely kept this constant throughout its history and growth, where it has always served as a medium for people to challenge any sort of status quo or repression. I think Mohammed and Fatima also touched upon how there is not just a need for a platform to share media that represents feelings and emotions, but how this change is now a new part of our society that needs to be considered. Keeping both its past, present and future in mind.
I definitely look forward to discussing this more in class tomorrow!
How to improve above comment
Thank you for such an insightful post Asma and Omer! As an avid users of SNS, I perhaps have not reflected on how it actually evolved into what it is today. Asma raises an interesting point about privacy, a theme I wish to develop. As Asma notes, these issues range from SNS companies selling user data, to the concept of the ‘privacy paradox’ (Barnes, 2006, cited in Boyd and Ellison, 2007), wherein teenagers using social media are not aware of how public their private lives become. A related note to privacy is trust. Dwyer, Hiltz, and Passerini (2007) for example, discussed ‘trust and usage goals’ which concerns how trust in a platform can impact on what people are willing to share. While Dwyer et al express their concerns back in 2007, their work is somewhat prophetic. Indeed, in light of the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal, thousands left Facebook citing privacy concerns. Such dramatic events raise huge questions about whether or not social media can act as a means of socialisation or isolation, emancipation or control. They also challenge the very nature of the ‘social’ itself. If privacy and trust continue to be eroded by these social networking companies themselves, at what point will the essential nature of SNS (the construction of a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system ((Boyd and Ellison, 2007), cease to exist, or exist but actively erode trust and social interaction. An anti-social media if you will…
