Borkowski Weekly Media Trends 13-08-21

Ofcom complaints for Love Island | Twitter navigates free speech in India | Generational emoji wars

Don’t like what you see? Report it to Ofcom

A recent episode of Love Island, which featured an argument that upset many viewers, triggered a wave of complaints to Ofcom (25,000 to be precise), suggesting that many of these people think it is Ofcom’s role not just to regulate misinformation and hate speech, but also to limit distasteful content that causes distress.

Complaining to Ofcom about particular scenes has become so frequent that Ofcom has ceased to publish its statistics on the number of complaints received for fear that they would further aggravate ‘media outrage’.

The expletive-filled interaction between contestant Faye Winter and Teddy Soares was more of a one-directional stream of abuse than a domestic argument, and evidently many viewers felt the show had manipulated the scenario as to cause distress for the male contestants.

This trend fits into a larger cultural scene. Indeed, people have become more aware of signs of psychological abuse in relationships, with terms like ‘gaslighting’ making it into the common lexicon. In a culture that is increasingly skittish about confrontation, arguments such as these can strike us as a form of violence.

Secondly, the rise of reporting culture across institutions, campuses, and workplaces has given rise to the expectation that outside authorities ought to be called in to regulate conflict and punish those responsible.

These trends are changing the ultimately passive form of spectatorship (watching Love Island) into something potentially participatory. As the Guardian reports, “Complaining to the regulator has increasingly become an active part of watching reality shows such as Love Island, as many viewers wish to see sanctions imposed on the broadcaster when they feel uncomfortable with the material broadcast.”

This fits into the longer narrative of interactivity in reality TV. Perhaps it would be fitting for our age if, instead of voting via text for America or Britain’s next best singer, we could, by the click of a button, send complaints to Ofcom about which contestant on Love Island ought to be disciplined.

Twitter navigates free speech minefield in India

Last week, Twitter suspended the official account of Rahul Gandhi, the leader of India's largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress.

Allegedly, the move was spurred by Gandhi tweeting out a photo with the family of a 9-year-old Dalit (a caste group formerly known as untouchables) girl brutally murdered in the Indian capital, Delhi. This was flagged as a violation of India's Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, which prohibited the revelation of the identity of a victim of sexual assault. Shortly after Gandhi's account was suspended, the official account of the Congress party itself was also suspended by Twitter under similar allegations.

Twitter's actions in India have reignited debates around the power of social media companies to limit free speech, particularly when acting under political pressure. This is the highest profile suspension of a political leader after the suspension of Donald Trump's Twitter account in light of the riots on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. While the suspension of Trump's account was celebrated by several activist groups as a victory against hate speech, several concerns had been raised about the dangers of giving social media companies complete control over who deserves to have their voices heard online.

Gandhi has alleged that this is a blatant stifling of the freedom of expression in India and a marker of growing authoritarianism under the Narendra Modi-led national government. The Congress has pointed to instances of leaders from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party posting similar photos with victims of sexual assault in the past, arguing that the child protection law is a red herring and that the real intention is to clamp down on increasing amounts of dissatisfaction in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While no immediate resolution seems to be forthcoming, social media experts across the world are watching keenly to see how Twitter navigates the contested political terrains of the world's largest democracy. This is particularly true for political leaders in countries like Russia, where the Putin administration has been applying pressure on social media platforms to censor opponents, as Twitter's actions in India will set a precedent for other countries to follow. As social media regulation becomes a burning political issue across the world, this latest confrontation with the Indian government is certain to hold ramifications for global debates around the freedom of speech.

The Emoji Wars: Gen Z vs The World

From the humble smiley to emojis in the thousands, the emoticon’s influence on modern communication has sparked wars across multiple generations. Despite the prominence of the Millennial versus Boomer conflict, it’s Gen Z waging war on ‘cringey’ Millennials and their use of emojis littered across TikTok. This week, Generation Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – spokespeople (an assortment of Gen Z’s speaking to the press) have claimed that the use of the smiley face is used sarcastically, and the former, beloved, ‘Face with Tears of Joy’ is boycotted completely as it’s associated with boomers – anyone over the age of 35.

That’s right, the former ‘Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year’ is now deemed ‘uncool’ by those that grew up attached to a smartphone. Although the Oxford Dictionary awards doesn’t ooze ‘cool’, it marks the cultural significance emojis have had on all generations. Our use of emojis is a reflection on our personality. Have you ever looks at someone’s ‘frequently used’ emojis? It can offer a unique insight into one’s personality.

Don’t dismiss this – it’s yet another case study on the intergenerational communication minefield. The societal distance between generations is vast and difficult to fathom. Connecting with younger generations is becoming increasingly harder. As these barriers between generations grows daily, running a ‘traditional’ targeted PR campaign, for instance, is an impossible task without understanding what makes younger audiences tick; they can see right through brands attempting to move into spaces like Reddit, Discord and TikTok. Whilst studying communication patterns isn’t a quick fix, it does give you an insight into communication warzone that goes on today.