User:Tash/grad testplay

Test Play: 11 March 2019

Introduction

Reading: on contemporary social media culture

• "Indonesia, a nation of more than 260 million people – over 85% of them Muslim – has often been called the “smiling face of Islam”, but that label may no longer apply. The recent rise of conservative Islamist hardliners resembles the rise of populism and conservative politics elsewhere in the world. Islamist conservatives are in many ways the local equivalent of America’s alt-right – and they are just as adept at online disruption and manipulation.
  
  Recent studies link the rise of religious intolerance among young Muslims to their increased access to the internet and social media. Indeed, Jakarta tweets more than any other city in the world, and Indonesians are very big users of Facebook, as well as WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram." Source: https://theconversation.com/is-indonesia-retreating-from-democracy-99211

• "The outburst of social media use in Indonesia has dramatically transformed the way information is created, disseminated, and distributed. In electoral politics, leaders have wholeheartedly embraced commercial branding techniques through networks of volunteers, buzzers, and micro-celebrities, saturating the public sphere with emotional messages designed to cultivate trust in their political brand. (...)
  
  While facilitating freedom of expression, social media also encourages users to practice their freedom to hate, where individuals exercise their right to voice their opinions while actively silencing others." Source: Lim, M. (2017) ‘Freedom to hate: social media, algorithmic enclaves, and the rise of tribal nationalism in Indonesia.’ Critical Asian Studies, 49(3): 411-427.

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  Profile: 'Account closing service'. Bio: 'Admin is a Muslim sister / Facebook, Instagram, Twitter / Payment after.'

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  'Images and video of ourselves will haunt us in the afterlife'

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  'Not ready to cover your aurat? Don't worry, there's still space in hell'

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  A happy customer

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  'My sister, don't upload your photo'

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  'A strong Muslimah is: Not one that can lift a gallon, but one that can take a good photo of herself and not upload it'

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  'Thank God, there are no photos of my wife on social media'

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  Blurred women's faces on a popular Muslim account

• "A significant feature of virtual interactions involve online deviance and trolling; these include behaviors that range from mild mischief, to offensive language, to hacking and trolling, and to the expression of complex social problems, such as by revolutionaries and freedom fighters. (...)
  
  However, online trolling, in general, and the role of gender in perceiving, motivating, defining, enabling, or reacting to trolling, in particular, need to be better understood. Female trolls and deviants have not been well studied because they are a minority of online deviants and traditionally excluded from online deviant subcultures. However, an emerging body of cyberfeminism research document the developing trend of women deviants employing the Internet to accomplish ideological goals." Source: Sanfilippo, M. & Fichman, P. (2015) The Bad Boys and Girls of Cyberspace: How Gender and Context Impact Perception of and Reaction to Trolling. Social Science Computer Review 2015, Vol. 33(2) 163-180.

• Between April and September 2018, Facebook removed 1.5 billion fake accounts from the platform. Source: https://thenextweb.com/facebook/2018/11/16/facebook-removed-1-5-billion-fake-accounts-between-april-and-september/

Reading: on tactical media and games

• "To ask of media interventions, Does it work? would be to tap into such questions as, Has it raised public awareness and support? Has it affected government policy? Is there a tangible political outcome? However, to ask instead, Does it play? would be to tap into quite different sorts of questions—questions that point toward the creators or participants and toward the users of the project.
  
  To ask, Does it play? would be to open up such questions as, Is it creative? Does it use humor? Does it encourage its users to use their imaginations?" Source: Melkle, G. (2008) Whacking Bush: Tactical Media as Play. In: Boler, M. (ed.) Digital Media and Democracy: Tactics in Hard Times. Cambridge: MIT Press.

• "Play is, by definition, a safety space. If a designer or artist can make safe spaces that allow the negotiation of real- world concepts, issues, and ideas, then a game can be successful in facilitating the exploration of innovative solutions for apparently intractable problems." Source: Flanagan, M. (2009) Critical Play: Radical Game Design. Cambridge: MIT Press.

The Game

Live Action Instagram RPG

Knowing that social media functions by amplifying some voices while suppressing others, this interactive game will ask you to rethink your own relation to the medium. Like the practices of 'counterspeech' or 'contra-internet', it suggests new ways to talk back to social media spaces which have become especially hostile towards women. Through the performance and labour of roleplay, you are invited to critically explore this setting, and vicariously engage with its mechanisms and 'players'.

Unlike Gamification, which is the application of game-design elements to non-game contexts, this project relies on the already-existing gaming mechanisms in social media culture. As such, it is not the creation of a new game – but simply an invitation to play differently.

What you need

• Laptop & smartphone
• Internet connection
• Gameplay cards

Rules

• Always begin & end the game together
• Always play in teams of 2 or more
• Stay in character until further instruction
• Always follow back users who follow you
• Always screenshot your engagements in order of play
• Always tag / mention the game's main profile in your posts & comments, this way we can document your actions @raksasi1
• After the game, decide together whether to kill / donate the profile

Documentation: https://pad.xpub.nl/p/tash-testplay01

How to play
In groups of two or more, create fake identities and profiles on Instagram. Picking up cards from a deck, perform the actions on the card. Document the engagement you receive. More attention = more points. The team with the most points after 10 rounds, wins.

Steps

1. Divide into teams of 2.
   
   
2. Each time picks up one character card. Discuss, in your teams, what your target and mission is.
   
   
3. Create a new mail account with a free, secure service like Protonmail. All you need is a username & password. https://protonmail.com/signup
   
   
4. Open Instagram, and select: Add Account > Sign Up with email
   
   
5. Set a username and password that cannot be traced back to you. Do not connect any of your personal accounts or contacts to the profile.
   
   
6. Decide if you want a public or private profile. Turn off 'Hide offensive comments' in Settings > Privacy & Security > Comment Controls
   
   
7. Set up your profile (what is your profile pic? who do you follow? what is in your bio? whose voice are you representing?).
   
   
8. Once everyone is ready, we exchange handles, and all profiles follow the primary game profile. @raksasi1
   
   
9. Before we play the first round, each team is given a set of 4 "Gardening cards". These may be employed only once, and in place of picking up an action card.
   – Gardening card 1: Call allies to a conversation
   – Gardening card 2: Call 1 ally to a conversation
   – Gardening card 3: Maintain a conversation
   – Gardening card 4: Skip action (this one can be employed after picking up an action card)
   
   
10. Picking up cards from two decks, each team then completes 5 actions:
    – Pick up action card + channel card
    – Perform the chosen action on the chosen channel
    – Make screenshot
    – Save post to own archive
    Always tag @raksasi1 in your comments and posts!
    
    
11. At the end of 5 rounds, do one round of evaluation and discussion.
    
    
12. Picking up cards, each team then completes another 5 actions
    
    
13. Final round of evaluation, count points and decide on fate of accounts
    
    

Point System

• For every follower at end of game: 1 point
• For every like on comments or posts: 2 points
• For every flagged comment or post: 4 points
• For every DM received: 3 points
• For every reply to a comment or post: 2 points

Documentation

Player notes & observations:

• More at: https://pad.xpub.nl/p/tash-testplay01

Screenshots:

Team 1: The Politico

Team 2: The Feminist