No One Man Should Have All That Power

 

 No One Man Should Have All That Power

I guess you could say that any pre existing notions I had of power were from the song by Kanye West, but despite the sick beats of Yeezy, the topic of power has always intrigued me. I found it interesting that there are so many different meanings and contexts in which power can be applied in various situations. I guess I tend to lean towards the post-structuralism idea that power can be applied everywhere.  (Kuttainen, 2013). 

In relation to the discussion of last weeks lecture and readings, John Allen has described Power as ‘a relational effect of social interaction’ (Allen, 2003). This description can ultimately distinguish how and why people use viral networks, as it seems that people are more reliant upon social media sites to feel connected with those around them. Whether it be through a Facebook message or tweet, it feels as if days of talking to someone face to face are long gone.

The network I have chosen to analyse is Tumblr. Tumblr, is a micro blogging platform which I personally have been using since 2010. Over the span of 3 years of using this site, I have noticed that this site is actually beginning to be useful. If your brave enough to wade through the gifs of cats, there are thousands of blogs that flow through this site preaching a range of social justice issues, but only if you look hard enough.  Blogs that are about bullying, gender inequalities, sexism, and racism are all apart of this clique to help put end to some of these issues.

Most of the blogs can reproduce documentation of local and state causes of where some of these inequalities are occurring and organise petitions to help get funding for programs. The power that these blogs hold is incredible in relation to people power, with one blog displaying their follower count of 237, 854 thousand. The sheer number of notes (similar to likes on Facebook) that show up on some photos and videos is kind of exciting to say the least, as it shows that people are listening and replying in a way. The power of this viral network is growing rapidly, and has already come a long ways since I first started using it. It might not be like Facebook or Twitter in the sense that there is direct contact with people you know, unless you want it that way, but there’s the connectivity of people joining to together to help in some way to combat social issues.  

 Reference List:

1. Kuttainen, V (2013) BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives And The Making    of Place, Lecture 2: Power. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au 
2. Allen, J. (2003). Introduction: Lost Geographies. (pp. 2). United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing 
3. Images retrieved from: http://tumblr.com/tagged/tumblr-logo