What Eurovision Can Teach Us About Cultural Citizenship

Undoubtedly, the way in which we consume television media in recent years has undergone a dramatic evolution. With the aid of globalisation and the internet, our sense of cultural citizenship has flourished, particularly considering that free to air television, regardless of circumstance or wealth, is generally accessible to most people. In this respect, the public

The Final Straw: Social Media and the “Individualisation of Responsibility”

I’m scrolling through Facebook when suddenly, a video catches my eye. It’s a turtle with a straw being extracted from its nose, clearly suffering from a significant amount of discomfort. I look down at the smoothie I’m drinking and immediately feel a sense of penitence at the tiny plastic tube protruding from my cup. In

Flash Test Dummies

Have you ever wanted to dress up as a Zombie and dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, with a huge group of people in a public place? Well you’re in luck, because Saturday the 28th October 2017 is THRILL DAY, an annual event whereby “friends, families and other local residents each year join together with thousands of

‘Unaccountable Monkeys With Typewriters”

A while back, I wrote about Citizen Journalism, and its prevalence during the natural disaster of Cyclone Debbie. Increasingly, we are seeing everyday members of society taking to social media to report a first hand account of the world around us – and increasingly we, as media consumers, are turning to this as a source

“We Will Build a Great Wall(ed garden)”

I’ve always been quite conscious of my internet usage, and observant of how “Walled Gardens” such as Facebook use my metadata to create tailored advertisements. I couldn’t tell you how many times I have been looking at dresses online, and then open my Facebook tab to almost instantaneously find an ad from a related website. You

A Social Life: Research Proposal

This here, is home. “Eulola” is our family property, which is 90 years old and full of stories. Not long ago, I was sitting at the table in the dining room, on my laptop and absent mindedly scrolling through my Facebook feed. I got to thinking. What would it have been like to live here

Our Personal Brand: It’s called ‘fashun’, honey.

Fashion as a means of self-expression can sometimes be deemed frivolous. What is it really that draws us towards a particular outfit or style of dressing? And is what we wear really a depiction of who we are as a person? The same questions can be probed for the way we curate our image online.