Jonathan Bishop

Centre for Research into Online Communities and E-Learning Systems

The misrepresentation of Digital Teens as

Trolls

Sean Duffy: A taster comparison

Sean DuffyFamily of Natasha

McBryde

Odd Ones Out Round

Stella Creasy John NimmoPeter Nunn

CarolineCriado-Perez

Two of these have a sexist policy of having less men on benknotes and three went to jail for challenging them.Who are the sexists and who are the convicts?

Isabella Sorley

Three Case Studies we will explore

Case Study 1

Former Swansea University Student, Liam Stacey

The Digital Classroom of Tomorrow Project

Case Study 2

Benefit Claimant, Reece Messer

The Emotivate Project

Case Study 3

Marginalised youth, Adam Lanza

The Free Digital Project

Case Study 1: Liam Stacy

• Liam Stacey was a Swansea University Student

• He posted racist remarks to other Twitter users when the challenged him for mocking the cardia arrest of footballer, Fabrice Muamba

• I was interviewed by BBC Radio Wales on the topic:

Liam Stacey: Daily Mirror

• Liam Stacey is pictured in cuffs with his head down to reflect shame

• The headline is in capitals with words like “SICK”

• Fabrice Muamba pictured with parner in a supportive way

• Fans are pictured supporting Muamba

Liam Stacey: Daily Express

• Liam Stacey is pictured in cuffs with his head down to reflect shame as in the Daily Mirror.

• The headline is in soft font saying “sobbing student” to reflect vulnerabily and vile is in single-qutes to suggest it might not be.

• Fabrice Muamba pictured with parner in a happy and jolly way to suggest no harm was done.

Case Study 1: What 'they' said…

Politicians

“If racist tweets are illegal, why wasn't the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington and Shadow Minister for Public Health Diane Abbott jailed or at least sacked when she Tweeted ''White people love playing divide and rule'’?”

“Double standards, eh?”

- From the Musing of a Young Conservative Blog

Journalists

“So, I can understand why people were pleased to see Liam Stacey, the student who posted a nasty Twitter comment about Fabrice Muamba and replied in racist language to those who criticised him, go to prison for it. I can see why newspaper columnists have spent the last week cheering the sentence and the lost appeal.”

“When people cheer Liam Stacey's jailing without knowing exactly what he did, or even what he's officially guilty of, I fear that we are halfway there already.”

- Victoria Coren

Feminists

“This is why the offences committed in the Ched Evans case are worse, in my view, than Liam Stacey’s drunken abuse of Fabrice Muamba. I’m not in favour of sending more people to prison but I’d like to see heavier penalties for naming rape victims, perhaps in the form of community service with organisations that help victims of sexual violence. This “naming and shaming” of women who say they’ve been raped is a form of terrorism, and it has to stop.”

- Joan Smith

What the data says…

A high number of NEETs is associated with high numbers of impressions, meaning advertisers should be targeting Digital Teens.

What Digital Teens say…

“We want opportunity”

• “I like talking a lot and I just like hanging out with my friends like going to the cinema or something or going to my friends house. You know just getting together chatting.”

“We want understanding”• “I think I picked it (the

Internet) up well, my old secondary school didn’t really have internet access […] I don’t know the best search engines to use, and how to find what you want to find. Definitely picked it up from friends.”

What Digital Teens do…

• The Digital Classroom of Tomorrow originally linked up two schools – one Welsh speaking and one English speaking.

• It tailors a learner’s device to accommodate their diverse interests and abilities.

• It is now widely adopted across Europe as Classroom 2.0

Case Study 2: Reece Messer

• Reece Messer was a disadvantaged youth relying on state benefits

• When Tom Daley came 4th in a diving competition at the Olympics, Reece Messer posted a tweet saying he let his father down.

• I was interviewed on BBC WM 95.6 about the issue:

What they said…

Politician“Young people who write about the good things that have happened to them can find that they are attacked on the websites. The example of Tom Daley comes to mind, because of what happened to him at the Olympics, when a cheerful thing turned into nastiness. […] there must be some system in place, whether banning trolls from using the websites, legislation or whatever, to protect young people and those using the internet in an innocent fashion?”

- Jim Shannon MP

Journalist“It is interesting that the man arrested (for allegedly trolling Caroline Criado-Perez and Stella Creasy MP) is 32 years old. All the other arrests and convictions were of much younger men. Reece Messer (who trolled Tom Daley) was only 17.”

- Robert Sharp

Feminist“It is not clear if the alleged tweeter was arrested for that disgusting taunt about Daley’s father or for his other threats. But regardless of the specifics of this case, it raises wider and deeper concerns about freedom of speech. The boy was arrested under the Malicious Communications Act 1988. Did you know we had such an Act? No, neither did I. Nor did I have any idea that its provisions are so wide.”

- Melanie Phillips

What the data says…

The data shows that in order for those Digital Teens who are not in education, employment or training to be responsible for all trolling offences there would need to be more than

double the number of NEETs than there already is.

What Digital Teens say…

“Things must be relevant”• “It’s (the Internet) just going to

keep getting bigger because now you’ve got the sites that offer you free web page anybody who can be bothered can get their own free website, or even more than one. So it’s just going to keep getting bigger. And as it keeps getting bigger it’s going to get more cluttered so it’ll make it harder to get what you want.”

“Recognise our aspirations”

• “As everything can be paid for by your parents anymore.”

• “Yeah I think so, cause internet‘s not been around a long time has it? So the old Granny‘s they won‘t use it, they‘re used to type-writers and things like that.”

What Digital Teens do…

• Eleven young people from Pontypridd and Llantwit Fardre in Wales took part in the Emotivate Project.

• They used the Internet and Photoshop to design collages about their ideas of the area’s past and what they would like it to be like in the future

• An artist in residence then marked up these onto boards which the young people then painted

• The boards were installed in an underpass in Treforest that was previously shabby.

Case Study 3: Adam Lanza

• Adam Lanza was a youth that showed autism like symptoms. He was bullied by others for being different to the point that he snapped leading to him ‘going postal’ through school shootings.

• Trolls then jumped on the bandwagon following the news breaking

• I was interviewed on BBC Radio Manchester about the issue:

What they said…

Politicians

“Very often these young men have an almost hypnotic involvement in some form of violence in our entertainment culture – particularly violent video games […]And then they obtain guns and become not just troubled young men but mass”murderers.”- Senator Joe Lieberman,

Journalists“In the months before the killing, Adam was left alone in his room. Black garbage bags covered the windows to keep out the light. He spend hours playing violent first-person video games, where he held a gun in his hand, shooting his way through human after human. He had cut off those closest to him, his father, brother, and in the final months, his mother, Nancy Lanza.”

- Matthew Lysiak

Feminists

“Adam Lanza had a Master 47/11 […] frequently associated with violence against women.”

“Lanza let a message on his computer stating how much he hated women”

- Pamela Lillian Valemont

What the data says…

Percentage of NEETs (high 51.6 Spain, low 6.9)

What Digital Teens say…

“We should have choice”

• “If I’m looking for something I just type it in .com and usually, nine times out of ten, there’s actually a website for it.”

• “I‘ll have lots of homework to do, and if that‘s computer work, I‘ll have MSN on at the same time, and then I can be doing my homework and talking to my friends.”

“We want free expression”

• “I think I can type very fast (well my friends say I can) and it allows me to get things done quicker, like homework or essays”

• “Like if it’s someone you haven’t seen for ages, you don’t really want to ring them up. You want to just email the person and see if they reply back to you to see if they still want to keep in touch with you. It can be awkward on the phone.”

What Digital Teens do…

• The Free Digital Project gives young and disabled people the opportunity to develop skills to live and work independently.

• Young people who might not otherwise be able to work in the IT industry get the chance to, in many cases leading to self-employment.

What you can do…

To Politicians

Visit writetothem.com and ask a UK Member of Parliament to change

Visit europa.eu to find a Euro MP to lobby

Ask prospective UK MPs what they will do: www.yournextmp.co.uk

To Journalists

Has a UK journalist been ageist by perpetuating false stereotypes about young people?

Complain to:

https://www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/makeacomplaint.html

To Feminists

Seen a Feminist act sexist or ageist, towards for instance young men, on a BBC programme? Complain to:

www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

Any Questions?

• Digital Teens• NEETs• Politicians• Feminists• Journalists

Further reading

1. Bishop, J.