Trying to move beyond boring lessons in digital citizenship to address real-world issues of online social responsibility? Learn a safe way to talk about transgression by exploring the Scary Maze Game to open up dialogue about representational ethics in YouTube videos.

1. Safe Ways to Talk
about Digital
Transgression
Renee Hobbs
Harrington School of Communication and Media
University of Rhode Island USA

4. • 11% received experienced online harrassment in the
past year
• 23% of youth reported unwanted exposure to sexual
material in the past 12 months in 2010
• 13% saw violent sexual porn in the past year
• 16% of youth report at least one stress symptom as a
result of exposure
N = 1560 children and youth ages 10 – 17
Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire
American children
experience risk online

5. European children
experience risk online
EU Kids Online, 2013
N = 25,142 children ages 9 – 16 in 25 countries

6. European children
experience risk online

7. European children
experience risk online
EU Kids Online, 2013
N = 25,142 children ages 9 – 16 in 25 countries

8. In the past 12 months
have you seen or
experienced something
on the Internet that has
bothered you in some
ways? For example,
made you feel
uncomfortable, upset, or
feel that you shouldn’t
have seen it?
17%
of European children
have been bothered,
uncomfortable or
upset by something
online in the last year
EU Kids Online, 2013
N = 25142 children ages 9 – 16 in 25 countries
European children
experience risk online

9. In the past 12 months have you
seen or experienced potentially
harmful user-generated
content?
31%
of European children
aged 13 - 14 have
seen or experienced
potentially harmful
user-generated
content
EU Kids Online, 2013
N = 25142 children ages 9 – 16 in 25 countries
European children
experience risk online

10. Internet Safety Curriculum

12. Humor is Transgressive
Humor in general consists of a play with
meaning, openness to the possibility of a
meaningless world, and introduction of
disorder. It implies surprise, loss of control,
openness to novelty and ambiguity, and
disengagement with regard to truth,
morality, and affection.

13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_y8RdJ0HzY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyOr9RAMzmM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQff6yj6vWA
The „Maze Game“ on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2R9YTXJeWE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-MAR7n3qrQ

14. Scary Maze Prank the Original
27,113,068 views as of January 27, 2014

15. This made me feel ___________________
because __________________________.

16. Representational Ethics

17. Representational Ethics
Consent
Free Will
Intentionality
Consequences
Social Good
Spectatorship

18. Consider the Subject
Subject
• Consent. Did the subject consent in the making of the
video?
• Free Will. Did the subject exercise free will in choosing
to participate in the game? Or was there coercion, where
the subject was not truly free to refuse to participate?

19. Consider the Author
Author
• Consequences. Did the author consider the
consequences of their actions on the subject? On the
audience?
• Social Good. Does the effect of their actions contribute
to furthering healthy social relationships and a good
society?
• Intentionality. Did the author act with good will towards
the subject? Towards the audience?

20. Consider the Audience
Audience
• Intentionality. Did the viewer/reader/audience have
good will towards the author? Towards the subject?
• Spectatorship in a Relational World. Does the
viewer/reader/audience consider the consequences of
their actions as a spectator? On self? On others? On
society?

21. Representational Ethics

22. Child Victim Experiences Distress
Child Victim Experiences Distress
Scary Maze Game Pranks Take Many Forms

23. Teen Victim with Family Pranksters
Peers Pranking Each Other
Scary Maze Game Pranks Take Many Forms

24. Learning Outcomes: Students will
• recognize different ways to categorize online videos by personal
pleasure, genre, purpose, author, and audience response.
A Lesson for Grades 6 – 7 - 8Exploring Online Videos
• gain knowledge about the research method of content analysis.
• strengthen discussion, listening, speaking and analytic skills.
• use comparison-contrast to identify patterns in media messages.
• reflect on the ethical relationship between the author, subject
and audience.

25. Engage
Online Videos: What we like and dislike

26. How to Categorize Internet Video?
• Videos I Like – Videos I Dislike
• Music Video – Movies – Sports – Reality, etc.
• Amateur – Professional
• Information – Entertainment – Persuasion
• Socially Acceptable – Controversial
Analyze
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT THESE WAYS
OF CATEGORIZING INTERNET VIDEOS?

27. Transition: The Scary Maze Game Videos
Basic facts and student familiarity
Sharing our reactions

28. Analyze: Create a Chart
Content Analysis
A systematic approach to examining patterns in the
content of media messages
WHAT PATTERNS IN SCARY MAZE VIDEOS CAN YOU FIND?
URL WHO IS THE
VICTIM?
HOW DOES THE
VICTIM REACT?
WHO IS THE
PRANKSTER?
HOW DOES THE
PRANKSTER REACT?

29. Learn and Discuss
A Social Taboo Becomes Normalized

30. Audiences are Implicated in
Media Ethics

31. Reflect
Reflecting on ethical issues and on our social responsibilities as
authors, subjects and audience members
Subject
(Victim)
Author
(Prankster)
Audience
Write about it:
Imagine your best friend asks you to upload a scare prank
video of his little sister to YouTube. What would you do?

32. LULZ

33. LULZ without Consequences

34. • Middle-school children are
creating images to represent their
play and learning
• Images stand in for experience
• Images embody complex social
power relationships
• Children are not born with the
ability to understand the cultural
meanings of images
Media Literacy is Essential

36. Safe Ways to Talk
about Digital
Transgression
www.mediaeducationlab.com
Professor Renee Hobbs
EMAIL hobbs@uri.edu
Twitter: @reneehobbs