News and Trolls: Olympic Games Coverage in the Twenty-First Century

News and Trolls: Olympic GamesCoverage in the Twenty-First Century.Tama Leaver / @tamaleaver 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Overview1. The Olympic contradiction.2. Channel 9 Olympics Coverage sucks.3. Trolling (for change)?Internet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

[1] The Olympic contradiction.Internet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

The Olympic Pie: National Slices … NBC (US): time-delayed coverage of key events until primetime. Online available, but only to specific cable subscribers. Australian coverage: Channel 9 free-to-air (single channel); Foxtel (subscription + iPad app), 8 channels.  Only 30% Australian households have subscription TV. Olympics FREE via YouTube in 100+ countries where the IOC was unable to sell national broadcast rightsInternet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

IOC YouTube Channel …Internet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

#NBCfailCurtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Internet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

@NBCDelayedInternet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Source: https://plus.google.com/112794044897464667374/posts/FwDEPGrE28JCurtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

[2] “Channel 9 Olympics Coverage sucks”http://www.facebook.com/ch9failInternet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Recognisable (Trolling?) Memes …Internet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Karl Stefanovic …Internet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

[3] Is this “trolling”? Australian media currently in a huge moral panic about ‘trolling’ ‘Trolling’ seems to mean any online abuse of any sort in media uses. Is something like the Channel 9 page a trolling response?Internet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Trolling (usually) understood … Deliberate baiting/provocation online to provoke an intense emotional response. Usually trolling done using anonymous/fake profiles. Memes strongly associated with trolling (4chan as probable origin of LolCats, trollface, etc.). Trolling/media symbiotic circuit: “Trolls need the media to become hysterical, and the media needed trolls to terrorize; each side benefit[s] from the overreaction of the other.” (Phillips, 2011).Internet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

“Channel 9 Olympics Coverage sucks” asmainstreamed trolling? Used memes and commentary to attract mainstream media commentary (minimal success; more focus on Twitter). Group had practical not disruptive aims (mostly): better coverage. NB: praise of ABC paralympic coverage. Memes depleted? Neither radical nor disruptive but banal social commentary?Internet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Memes & Image Macros … “An internet meme is a piece of culture, typically a joke, which gains influence through online transmission. While not all internet memes are jokes. … what makes Internet memes unique [is] the speed of their transmission and fidelity of their form.” (Davison, 2012, p. 122) “An image macro is a set of stylistic rules for adding text to images. Some image macros involve adding the same text to various images, and others involve adding difference text to a common image.” (Davison, 2012, p. 127)Internet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Image Macro Commentary? Chuck Tryon calls the 2012 US elections the ‘image macro election’ due to widespread use of image macro memes (Tryon 2012). NBCfail and the Channel 9 sucks pages more like image macro politics: specific commentary with practical (often banal) aims for change. This is NOT trolling which is disruption for disruption’s sake.Internet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Olympic ‘brand’ too big to challenge? Monopoly coverage: Channel 9 still had stellar ratings, and Foxtel gained viewers and praise for their offering (often Foxtel subscribers used the FB group to goad free-to-air viewers into subscribing.) More like a Foxtel ad! Little mainstream coverage made almost no difference (or perceived future plans) to Nine’s coverage strategy. NBC similarly did incredibly well, even with delayed broadcast times! Routing around: more people learnt about VPNs, but still didn’t really ‘damage’ mainstream broadcasts.Internet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

References Davison, P. (2012). The Language of Internet Memes. In M. Mandiberg (Ed.), The Social Media Reader (pp. 120–134). New York: NYU Press. Phillips, W. (2011). LOLing at tragedy: Facebook trolls, memorial pages and resistance to grief online. First Monday, 16(12). Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3168/3115 Phillips, W. (2012). The House That Fox Built: Anonymous, Spectacle, and Cycles of Amplification. Television & New Media. doi:10.1177/1527476412452799 Tryon, C. (2012, October 17). “Binders Full of Women:” 2012 and the Image Macro Election. The Chutry Experiment. Retrieved from http://www.chutry.wordherders.net/wp/?p=3498Internet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Questions, Criticism, Comments? Or find me later … www.tamaleaver.net @tamaleaver t.leaver@curtin.edu.auInternet Research 13, Salford. 18 October 2012Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

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News and Trolls: Olympic Games Coverage in the Twenty-First Century

by Tama Leaver on Oct 18, 2012

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