Month: December 2024

I have been using Reddit since August 2019, and I still do not understand how awards or how Reddit gold works. I also just realized there was a premium version of Reddit, which shows how much I engage with the features Reddit has to offer its users.

To me, these features seemed like a ploy for Reddit to make money off of its users without it having any tangible value, so I never gave them much thought or attention. However, upon further research, it seems like these features are significantly valued by users on Reddit. Being able to reward other Redditors for their contributions to the site is an important part of the Reddit community.

The sentiment is backed up by u/jgoja who stated, “Awards are acknowledgements, stickers if you will, that are given to eligible posts or comments that the giver feels is worthy. Most awards provide the receiver with the amount of contributor gold the giver spent on the award”.

What is the point of awards on a post? How do I give them and does the author benefit from them?
byu/eternalangst inNewToReddit

According to Reddit, “You can use gold to give awards or get digital goods in Developer Platform apps such as games.” Gold ranges between $1.99 for 100 gold to $49.99 for 2,500 gold. Not only can users buy gold, but they can also earn gold from awards given to their posts or comments. Reddit keeps track of the amount of gold spent to buy those awards which they call “earned gold”. This also measures one’s contributions to their site.

Additionally, in 2023, Reddit introduced the Contributor Program, which allows users to earn money from Reddit based on the karma and gold they receive for their contributions. While Reddit doesn’t necessarily create a space for algorithmic mutual aid to happen, top contributors are finally being rewarded for their digital labor, especially those who moderate subreddits.

In his paper about civic labor and online moderation, J. Nathan Matias wrote about “the codependence of many online platforms with the substantial uncompensated labor that continues to support them”. Matias goes on to explain, that while in the real world, this type of community management is often compensated, the majority of digital labor is unpaid.

Although I’ve been using social media for over a decade, I never thought about my contributions to a website as digital labor. However, I am starting to understand that a platform can only survive with the participation of its users. Not just participation but the creation of commodities that continue to give value to the platform.

Bryan Dosono and Bryan Semaan explain this phenomenon concerning Reddit in their research paper, stating, “Reddit relies on volunteer moderators to keep its platform active. Similar to users of other large-scale online communities, redditors that continue to visit the platform are increasingly exposed to sponsored advertisements that keep the company profitable”. There is an inherent codependency between users (their data and content) and the value being generated on social media platforms.

Reddit relies on volunteer moderators to keep its platform active. Similar to users of other large-scale online communities, redditors that continue to visit the platform are increasingly exposed to sponsored advertisements that keep the company profitable

Bryan Dosono and Bryan Semaan

As users become increasingly aware of how much their presence on these platforms contributes to the millions, if not billions, of dollars, being generated towards these platforms, it is only fair for platform owners to create a way to redistribute the wealth to the users. While some believe Web3 can solve this unequal distribution, I feel as though it will bring more harm than fixes. As has been seen in the past, NFTs and Blockchain technology are unsustainable, unregulated, and terrible for the environment. 

While Reddit is taking steps to create a platform that rewards users both financially and virtually for their contributions, there is always more that can be done. As a casual user myself, I’ve never expected to be compensated for any digital labor I’ve contributed, but seeing them create more incentives for top users and moderators brings a fleeting sense of hope that they recognize the importance of user-generated content.

As a Black woman, I’ve experienced what it has felt like to be seen as a monolith. If other Black women are into something, then I must have to be into that as well… right? Whether it is the music we listen to, the outfits we wear, or the way we do our makeup, it always seems as if Black women are put into these stereotypical boxes of how we should present ourselves to the world. This is why I wanted to see how AI views Black women. Will it do the same things? Put Black women into a stereotyped box? Or will it show a more diverse depiction of Black women?

Using, https://imggen.ai/, I typed in, “A group of Black women”, and had it generate an image. To my surprise, the image staring back at me didn’t feature Black women with Eurocentric features (straight hair, a thin nose, light complexion). Instead, I looked at a group of Black women with natural hair and protective styles, women with different complexions, and a wider nose bridge. However, unsurprisingly, it only shows one type of Black woman, the African woman. 

These women are clad in dresses akin to traditional African fabrics and designs, such as kente cloth. They all have features that resemble women from African countries, as well. So, I asked AI to repeat this, but this time I simply typed in “Black women” and again, all the images generated reflect Black women from the African diaspora. Is this how AI sees Black women? As only being African women? Not only that but does AI think being an African woman is this homogenous?

It is not just me asking these questions, in a New York Times article, many Black artists are doing the same questioning, particularly Stephanie Dinkins, a Brooklyn-based artist. For several years, Dinkins has been experimenting with AI’s ability to accurately depict Black women. She started by asking AI to generate images of Black women smiling and found a lackluster response.

Zachary Small, the journalist who wrote this article, reported, “Her algorithm produced a pink-shaded humanoid shrouded by a black cloak”. Dinkins was expecting to see something that resembled Black womanhood, but instead, all her results when generating images of “African American woman” or “Black woman,” came back distorted with mangled facial features and hair textures.

In the same article, Senegalese artist Linda Dounia Rebeiz, experienced something similar to me. When using AI to provide images of her hometown, Dakar, Rebeiz found, “The algorithm produced arid desert landscapes and ruined buildings…” which she believes is how the West views Africa. 

While I did not get distorted or negative depictions of Black women, I very much saw how AI reflects how Western countries view Black people. It comes off as if we are a monolith from one region in Africa. I feel as though the view of Black people being a monolith is constantly reinforced and normalized in the United States, and I feel as though it has a lot to do with the language used to describe Black people.

Blackness is not limited to just Africa, as Blackness can be found around the globe, and I believe that having that basic understanding can help expand how non-Black people perceive us in AI creation. However, it makes me relieved to know that Black women are becoming more involved with the evolution of AI. While it’s easy to believe that any representation is great, it’s important to remember that accurate and inclusive representation makes a difference, especially to communities of color. 

I strongly dislike advertisements. I dislike them even more when I am tricked into watching an ad. And I dislike them the most when they use influencers and celebrities, whom I enjoy, to market their products to me. Yes, I understand that social media and influencer marketing are important to a brand. However, I still can’t help but feel a bit disappointed when I get branded content shown to me. It always feels disingenuous when I know they are doing this for a check.

While this advertisement is funny and relies a lot on the positive perception people have about Michael Cera, I find it troubling that a lot of the branded content made for this brand only had “#ad” on the screen for a few seconds before disappearing. To me, this plays into some form of deceptive marketing, even if it is being light-hearted. Although these adverts technically do not go against the FTC guidelines for working with social media influencers, I believe CeraVe and a lot of brands have influencers and celebrities do the bare minimum in disclosing that it is an advert.

What is happening with CeraVe is also an example of media convergence. CeraVe’s advertisement was shared on social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, and it also aired during the Super Bowl, which was viewed by 123.4 million people. This led to journalists writing articles about this advert, too. From a consumer perspective, I am a bit fed up with the constant bombardment of ads. However, from a media communications perspective, I am impressed at how CeraVe successfully advertised its brand using the paid, earned, owned, and shared channels from the PESO model. 

The PESO model is helpful when looking at branded content because it shows both the separation and integration that occurs in this space. It also shows the blurring of lines and the convergence that is happening between them as well. While none of this is new, the relationship between integration and branded content is continuing to intensify in the digital era. Brands are becoming more aware of how important the convergence of media and marketing is in reaching their target audiences, which pains me as a consumer. 

As mentioned previously, I understand the importance of branded content and advertisement when it comes to marketing a brand; however, I dislike how everything seems to be done for profit. When I see influencers or celebrities marketing a product to me, unless I already own it, I am less likely to go out of my way to try it. Even brands like Red Bull or Dove, who have invested in a lot of branded content intended for consumers to feel something on a deeper level, leave me skeptical of their intentions. While there is a place for branded content and advertisement, I am too fatigued with the bombardment of ads, in my daily life, to feel anything more than disdain.

For the last 20 years, Dove has been running a campaign called “Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty”. This campaign is meant to inspire women and children to feel and be confident in their own bodies. As a part of this campaign, Dove released a film, in April of 2024, to comment on how the rise of AI will affect women’s and young children’s self-esteem. This film used AI to generate images of “a gorgeous woman”, “perfect skin”, and “the most beautiful woman in the world”. The images that were generated reflected some of the dominant ideologies that we deem as the beauty standards in the Western world. Blue eyes, blonde hair, fair complexion, just to name a few. 

However, Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty aims to do the opposite. Following the AI-generated images of these different types of women, the film asked AI to generate the same phrases, however; with the addition of “according to Dove’s real beauty”. The images that were generated consisted of a diverse and inclusive group of women. It ranged from women with disabilities to women with imperfect skin. And at the end of this film, Dove states, “Dove will never use AI to create or distort women’s images”. 

While I appreciate the sentiment Dove is trying to make with this advert, I can’t help but be skeptical of brands and their intentions behind marketing campaigns like these. As someone who identifies as a womanist, I tend to always look at the intersectionality in one’s activism. And in this case, while they have intersectional representation, I still feel as though it falls victim to the visibility and commodity of popular feminism.

“Popular feminism and its exhortations to simply have more women in various cultural, political, and economic realms is similar to liberal efforts to include people of color within a widened field of whiteness, one that continues to shape representation, work, and politics without interrogating the racism that forms the bound aries of whiteness from the ground up”.

Sarah Benet-Weiser

Dove is promoting a very corporate-friendly version of feminism that we often see in the world of capitalism. They’re essentially saying their products are for all women regardless of what they look like. However, the ad wasn’t created to disrupt capitalism or mainstream politics but to attract everyday women to their products. It also continues to align a woman’s value and empowerment with their beauty. While I don’t necessarily agree with Dove’s ad, I do understand why some believe this type of advertising is important. If women’s bodies are going to be intrinsically linked to their beauty, then redefining what beauty means is important and necessary.

Where I believe the most disconnect and hypocrisy lies between Dove and their parent company, Unilever. Not only is Unilever profiting off of Dove’s Real Beauty campaign, but they also own other brands, such as Axe, Slimfast, and Fair and Lovely, a skin-brightening cream. All of these brands profit off of the hypersexuality and insecurities of women. In Daniel O’Donnell’s case study, he reported the Campaign for a Commerical-Free Childhood (CCFC) found it “unfair for Unilever to profit from the sexy tone and expression of its Axe ads while at the same time benefiting from the positive publicity garnered by Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty”.

While continuing to redefine beauty is important to the conversation of feminism, I think it is important to continue to critique these advertisements and brands in redefining a woman’s value from her beauty to other non-physical qualities. I believe it is also important to look at their parent companies and urge them to make a change in the brands they support and profit from.

As an American, Netflix has been a household name for streaming since 2007. The Media Show states Netflix was originally a “DVD-by-post service, revolutionized home movie rentals by not charging late fees and introducing the concept of a subscription”. With their eventual introduction of streaming, it became a staple in the US. As long as you have a phone, laptop, tablet, etc., Netflix can be streamed on most devices, and given that Netflix was founded in the US, we have a wide variety of content that is available for subscribers to watch.

According to Netflix’s website, there is a “variety of award-winning Netflix originals, TV shows, movies, documentaries, and more”. However, not only can you watch content on Netflix, but you can play content on Netflix! I remember in 2019 playing Black Mirror: Bandersnatch with one of my friends. It was the first time I had interacted with content on Netflix, and it allowed my friend and I to make decisions throughout the show and unlock different endings – I was in awe! Since then, Netflix has expanded its content into games.

In 2021, Netflix introduced gaming to all iOS devices. They saw the interest from their reality games shows (Floor is Lava, The Circle, Squid Games), and wanted to continue their love for entertaining their members by creating 5 new games for those who may be more casual gamers to those who crave more immersive experiences. As of 2024, Netflix has over 80 exclusive mobile games for Netflix subscribers in certain countries, including the United States.

Because Netflix was founded in the US, we have been able to experience most of the content they put out or be the first to experience new BETA features, such as the Netflix mobile games. Since then, many popular Netflix original content have been remade in different countries, such as Love is Blind, which now has many international editions (UK, Japan, Brazil, etc.). 

Additionally, people tend to use VPNs to stream Netflix in different countries. I will say, as an American, I am always excited to visit another country because it is exciting to be able to stream new content on the same service. Therefore, having a VPN helps recreate that same feeling when I am back in the US. Not only do we have access to the US portion of Netflix, but with a VPN we have access to Netflix, globally! I feel like if I were still subscribed to Netflix, that would be a huge incentive to stay a subscriber, but to me, it has a low use value.

It is very interesting to watch Netflix transform from an ad-free, binge-friendly model to something that is very reminiscent of commercial television. With the competition of other streaming services being introduced in the US, Netflix’s business model is constantly changing to adapt to its competition. This has led to the inclusion of ad-supported content in October 2022 and a crackdown on password sharing in May 2023.

While the inclusion of these two things may have upset many subscribers, including me, it helped Netflix immensely. In her article, Samantha Delouya, a CNN Business Writer, reported, “Netflix… added more than 9 million subscribers in the first three months of the year, hitting a record high of 269.6 million subscribers”. As someone who was trying to stick it to Netflix by unsubscribing, I will say this shocked me.

However, seeing Netflix’s success with eliminating password sharing makes me nervous about what that means for other streaming services. Will they follow suit? Or will they continue to innovate something new for their subscribers? Only time will tell.