Author: Tasia Pender

I can admit it now: I have always considered myself sort of recklessly blase when it comes to my own digital security. I think it probably stems from a combination of, “this isn’t going to happen to me!” and a kind of laissez-faire nihilism leftover from my punk rock teen years, but whatever the cause, the fact remains: I have been negligent of my own security. Luckily, I have not suffered overly from this negligence, and I’ve only had a couple of security hiccups – ones that were solved easily and without issue. In fact, though I haven’t taken huge steps to protect my information on the internet, my natural skepticism has gone a long way to protect me from scams and other possible breaches.

For example, I already avoid almost all emails at all cost unless absolutely necessary. This can be traced back to my general unwillingness to participate in correspondence, paired with my low tolerance for being “sold” things, but most emails end up in the trash. Furthermore, I have never shared sensitive material through email. It has literally never even come up – maybe because of all those emails I dump. 

I also tend to avoid other methods of scamming, such as texts (if I don’t personally know you, that text is getting deleted), and phone calls (who answers the phone anymore? Not me). I have received probably dozens of those scam IRS voicemails telling me that my social security number is going to be suspended…and you can probably guess by now what I do with those. 

Now, this isn’t to say I don’t have plenty of room for improvement – as I confessed above, I’m not exactly trying to play it safe with my data. It has basically been my own disdain for communication and my skepticism of everything, combined with dumb luck, that has saved me so far. But, after reading the great article by Melanie Pinola for Lifehacker detailing a top ten of digital security musts, I feel much better informed and prepared to take a more active role in protecting myself online. I plan on implementing many of the tactics I learned in the article into my routine as soon as possible.

For example (and this should’ve been painfully obvious), I need to actually back up my computer instead of pressing that “remind me tomorrow” button every day until the end of time. And – expanding on that – I need a better antivirus for my computer. Like, immediately. My computer security is pretty appalling, to be frank (please don’t hack me). My router settings also need to be changed, because it has definitely been a while. And I should absolutely start using a VPN when using public WiFi. 

My phone security could be improved in some ways (ahem, I really need to have a look at my current security settings for the apps I use the most), but I already use a 6-digit security code to unlock my phone, and almost every site I use (or at least the ones that potentially carry the most sensitive information) have implemented two-factor authentication. 

So, what have I learned? Being punk rock is no excuse for being an idiot, but it is a good way to nurture a healthy sense of skepticism. You win some, you lose some.

The way the law interacts with and affects our relationship with media is complicated, and my feelings about it are complicated. Laws in all spheres – not just relating to media – can feel arbitrarily chosen. Why do copyright laws protect us from some things and not others? How is it possible that we are legally allowed to jailbreak our iPhones, but we have to follow the sometimes outrageous demands of social media terms of service agreements? Why is it a woman can pose as a 15 year old boy to harass a teenager her daughter doesn’t like into suicide and she’s protected by the law to do so?

Diving into the minutia of these laws can and will make you feel at least a little hopeless. The United State’s obsession with protecting free speech over anything else feels like the right thing most of the time, and I’m certainly not here to argue in favor of censorship. But it does make you consider the implications and ramifications of such laws when they allow harassment to reach fatal levels, and there are no consequences besides the ones you find in the court of public opinion – which, if you move and change a few things about yourself so you aren’t immediately recognizable, really means nothing at all. At the end of the day, you can sue someone for defamation but you can’t sue them for certain kinds of harassment. It honestly seems so arbitrary and convoluted sometimes that it is incredibly frustrating.

And then there are the issues around net neutrality – the opposition of which is so obscene that it makes you realize that, while we live in what many might consider a capitalist nightmare, it could very well be much worse. Where do we draw the lines? How much freedom are we willing to forfeit so that faceless corporations can make an extra buck? As long as the people in charge stand to make a profit, the limit does not exist. The social media you use own you, the websites you visit own you, the “personal brand” you’ve carefully cultivated online doesn’t belong to you. And what are you going to do about it? Not use social media? Not likely. Truly harrowing stuff out there, people.

If you, like me, find this all terrifying in a very George Orwell dystopian kind of way, I can only try to impart some tips to try to keep as much of yourself as possible on the internet. It’s not much, but it’s better than a kick in the pants. (Apologies for the Letterkenny reference; I honestly can’t help myself.)

Tips! This is an obvious one, or it should be, but you’d be surprised by how many need to learn it: don’t put anything, anywhere on the internet that you are not 100% okay with the entire world knowing. I don’t mean like bank account information, because that really can’t be helped if you’re online banking and shopping, and in general the security measures for that kind of thing are pretty tight. What I mean here is personal stuff. Had a bad day and want to rant? Expect that you’re ranting to an audience of about 7 billion, give or take. The same goes for pictures. Yes, your cleavage looks great in that pic, and if you don’t mind the entire world seeing it, more power to you. But if that isn’t something you’re comfortable with, don’t share it.

More tips! Talk to your children and your parents about media literacy as soon as possible and as often as possible. Protect them from outside influences and ne’er-do-wells, but especially from themselves.

Make an effort to set up stringent privacy settings for yourself and your older and younger loved ones. It won’t save you or them from everything, but it might help.

The most important and obvious tip I have for you is this: be kind to each other. What you put out there stays out there, and people read it and see it. You don’t know what people are going through. Be kind.

 

We all have those friends and family members (older, usually conservative-leaning, if we’re being honest) who share those posts on Facebook. You know the ones. The posts that are so blatantly false, with no sources cited and outrageous claims masquerading as “facts,” that your first reaction is likely derision. Or anger. And, if you’re like me, your first impulse might be to tear it apart bit by bit, publicly and rudely. Hey, I’ve been there! I once saw an uncle share a post that claimed “Kurt Cobain actually predicted and supported a future Trump presidency!” with a “quote” from the former Nirvana front man. Now, knowing what I know about Kurt Cobain’s personal politics (and it isn’t hard to find these things out, all it takes is a bare-bones knowledge of his lyrics and a few interviews) I knew this had to be fake. So, I did what any anger-fueled person might do: after jumping onto Snopes to be sure of my position and to get some screenshots to prove it, I tore my uncle a new one. Readers: don’t be like me.

That impulse is a very understandable one, and I’m not just saying that because I have fallen victim to it. When you know you’re right and someone else is wrong, and especially when it involves something you’re passionate about, emotions can run high. But here’s the thing: being right doesn’t give you a free pass at cruelty, and it doesn’t mean that other people will listen. In fact, given some well-established habits of human nature, having someone yell at you (publicly, no less) that you’re wrong is pretty much the fastest way to get you to dig your heels in. No one wants to be made a fool of, even if they are being a fool. My suggestion is this: even when they might deserve it, don’t embarrass someone publicly. In fact, save the dressing-down for never, not even in private. I know, some people will never be convinced of their wrongness, no matter how kindly and privately you approach them. In which case, what’s the point of dressing them down? Save your energy for causes that aren’t lost. No, the best thing to do is a private message.

This private message shouldn’t be accusatory, either. If you come off on the offensive, the natural reaction will be a defensive one. Put up a bit of emotional separation between you and the situation before you approach, and then just come with facts. Explain that it is very common for false stories to spread around Facebook, and that anyone can make anything seem real with a little photoshop and motivation. Explain that even you yourself have fallen victim to misinformation (it doesn’t matter if this is actually true; it places you on the same level as this person and therefore not above them), and so you have learned to fact-check before sharing. Show them how easy the websites like Snopes are to use, show them how you discovered the post they shared wasn’t true through this approach, offer help them navigate this misinformation landmine in the future, and then leave them to ponder the rest on their own.

You’ve done what you can, and the rest is up to them.

Media literacy matters, and that doesn’t just apply to traditional news media. Pop culture is a window to and reflection of our culture at large, and a study of it can help you tap into and navigate the current zeitgeist. If you’re looking to get a better understanding of how film criticism and fan cultures intersect in this media landscape, here is a quick crash-course to get you started.

1. Weaponizing the haters: The Last Jedi and the strategic politicization of pop culture through social media manipulation 

This is an extensive academic study of the phenomenon of The Last Jedi and the toxic fandom that tried to strike it from the Star Wars canon, specifically through aggressive tweets and social media campaigns. Source: First Monday, a peer-reviewed online journal.

2. The Problem With Toxic Fandom And How We Can Fix It

A podcast episode from the SlashFilm podcast featuring Lindsey Romain from Nerdist, who writes a lot about toxic fandom surrounding Star Wars. There are several entries on this list pertaining to that particular fandom, because the problems within it have been particularly notable. Source: YouTube, SlashFilm

3. Twitter thread from former Star Wars writer Chuck Wendig

Prominent writer and critic Chuck Wendig threads his experience of being fired from working on ancillary Star Wars stories following his push-back against angry, trolling fans – and the way those fans harass and bully the people that work on these franchises. Source: Twitter, Chuck Wendig

4. Importance of Film Criticism

A quick look into the importance of film criticism to film itself, and society and culture at large. Film is an art, and art critique has always been inextricable from art itself. An important entry on this list for anyone who wants to understand and appreciate film better. Source: YouTube, Cinema Beyond Entertainment

5. @FemaleCritics

A worthy Twitter follow for anyone wanting to broaden their criticism horizons beyond the standard white, male boundaries. Women are notoriously underrepresented and diminished in film criticism, and the only way to fix that is to listen to and support the female critics that are making their voices heard. Source: Twitter

6. The Most Beautiful Shots in Movie History

This one’s just for fun, but I think a very important and worthwhile watch for everyone – especially those wanting to appreciate the art of film and cinematography. A reminder of why film (and art) is such a significant part of our culture, and why we love to study it. Source: YouTube, The Solomon Society

In an effort to analyze how entertainment industry-specific topics were being reported by major news outlets that aren’t specific to the industry, I went on a search for articles about the recent decision by popular film review site Rotten Tomatoes to diversify its collection of contributing film critics. This is what I found, and what I’d like to analyze here today.

Movie-Critic Website Rotten Tomatoes Diversifies, Adding More Women Reviewers by Anousha Sakoui, for Time.

I’d like to start out by taking a look at the sources Sakoui used for this article. A total of three sources were used from what I can tell, and two of that number were directly quoted from interviews with female film critics on the topic. Primary sources are always the best kinds of sources – after all, what better way to hear information than directly from someone who has experienced it? Both of these women were recently added to Rotten Tomatoes’ list of contributing film critics after years of writing film criticism for independent outlets.

The other source cited in the article was the film aggregate site itself, Rotten Tomatoes. This source provided the article with important data figures on the diversity of the current and previous lineup of contributors, as well as statements of their intention to diversify even further in the future. This is also an important primary source, and lends legitimacy to the piece. Overall, the quality of the sources used is good.

However, one issue I saw in the article was the glaring lack of links and other web tools that the reader could use to verify the information provided by the sources, and verify the research. There should have been links to the independent outlets the two film critics write for, and links to the Rotten Tomatoes website. The reader has to just trust that the information given is correct because of a lack of tools to verify and research ourselves.

Another small failure by the journalist was the lack of investigating into the ethnic diversity efforts of Rotten Tomatoes. They found the fact that the website intends to diversify in that way important enough to mention, and one of the film critics interviewed made a special point to address it as well, but whereas the gender data was pretty thorough, the data in this aspect was sorely missed.

A comparative analysis between  Rotten Tomatoes and other film review and aggregate sites would have been welcome as well. It could have been interesting to see how they measure up in the industry, and find out whether they’re ahead of the curve in this area or behind. Rotten Tomatoes is pretty notorious for being a haven for mostly white men, and I would have liked to see if that comparison remains true now.

Other topics in the article were teasingly hinted at but not explored or expanded on at all, such as the efforts Rotten Tomatoes has recently made to prevent review bombing, as well as their efforts to support diverse independent and  freelance film critics by providing funds to send them to film festivals and screening events. Obviously the article cannot include every topic of interest, but the way these things were mentioned felt like speed bumps on the way. If you’re not going to report on it, why mention it?

Despite some minor complaints, overall I felt this article did a good job reporting the facts in a clear, concise way, without evidence of bias or persuasion or a lack of transparency. I’d give it a B+ – or, in Rotten Tomatoes language, I’d call it certified fresh.

I’ve found four articles online concerning how social media affects the film industry and, specifically, film criticism, that I find interesting and enlightening. Let’s get into it.

1. ‘Star Wars: Last Jedi’ review scores manipulated by angry fans: Report by Kim Renfro of INSIDER. This is a news article reporting on the event that occurred around the release of the film STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI. As Renfro writes in the article, some angry fans collectively and maliciously attacked the film’s Rotten Tomatoes score, even creating hundreds of bots to write false negative reviews of it in order to drag down its score, proudly admitting this fact on various social media sites. They’ve gone so far as to create petitions to remove it from the greater STAR WARS canon. There is no opinion here, this is fact as admitted by the instigators themselves and investigated by INSIDER.

2. Social Media is changing how quickly we talk about movies, but not what we say by Sonny Bunch for The Washington Post. This is an opinion piece by Bunch discussing how social media has changed the landscape of film criticism in fundamental ways (such as the speed in which reviews and opinions can be shared and turned into clicks that can make or break a film’s success) but the very need for that speed and those clicks means that the criticism itself and the conversations around it aren’t any more enlightened – or ignorant than they have ever been. The writer quotes several critics on both sides of the argument, but there is no real consensus – which is kind of the point.

3. The Death of the Movie Critic by Daniel Harlow for Film Threat. This piece – which I would classify as news – investigates the data from a survey of 750 film journalists conducted investigating, among other things, how connected and intertwined the declining industries of independent film and film journalism are. The article reports on the specific results of several questions that were posed to these film journalists about their industry and how it is being affected by declining independent film audiences and by social media.

4. Studios Are Right: Rotten Tomatoes Has Ruined Film Criticism by Tom Brueggemann for IndieWire. This article by Brueggemann is an opinion piece diving into how major film studios view the review site as having an “unchecked power” to ensure a film’s success or failure, but as the box-office analyst at IndieWire, his issue with Rotten Tomatoes lies in the “degradation of the critical process” he sees them support with the way their ratings system works. There is no more conversation around the film, just the binary of “good” or “bad” divorced from the intellectual study of film. He makes a fair point about the methodology they employ being skewed toward the negative, with a film needing 60% “critic” (in this case, largely audience) approval or it is labeled as “rotten.” And bad news travels faster and wider than good news. As it happens I agree with his views and his reasoning, but it remains firmly in the camp of opinion.

Film and entertainment journalism is a topic I’m very passionate about and invested in. Following how film (and television) is reported in the media, and social media in particular, is a subject that is very close to my heart. My Twitter follows are a mix of random feel-good accounts (like WeRateDogs), friends I’ve made in person and online, random celebrities I find funny or engaging in some way, and others. But what probably makes up the majority of my social media follows is the film community, whether it be studios, directors, writers, and especially critics.

A few years ago I was working, maybe not entirely happily, but at least contentedly, in my regular 9-5 job. I had never found something that I was exceptionally passionate about career-wise, and I expected that that would always be the case. Not everyone can “do what you love,” or even ever know what that means for them. At least not in a way they could build into an actual career. But then I started listening to a few pop culture podcasts by some well-known and respected voices in media criticism, and suddenly it clicked for me. This was something that I could not only do, but that I could really love doing. Something that eventually led me to decide to go to college for the first time, in my thirties. Writing about film and television culture, and pop culture at large, was what I wanted to do. And through that I discovered the fascinating and often complicated online culture surrounding the film and entertainment industries.

The way film and culture critics (a lot of whom I follow across various social and digital media platforms) are received online has been a surprising and interesting foray into that world. Between sites like Rotten Tomatoes – where unprofessional viewers can leave their own reviews and shape (for better or worse) how films perform in the box office, to the often toxic elements of online fandoms and how they interact with the professional critics, I believe there is a lot to learn about how we as a society, and as sometimes clashing cultures, engage with media.

Wake up

 

When I wake up, usually the first thing I do is check notifications on my phone. I’ll set my morning alarms a bit earlier than I necessarily need to be out of bed for exactly this purpose; I like to have some time to wake up and “check in” with some of my more frequently used social media applications. If I have notifications from any of these I check those first, and then I’ll browse for maybe 15 minutes before I force myself out of bed. The three social media apps I use the most are Twitter, Instagram, and Slack. If I have a notification from Facebook or Tumblr or something else I’ll check it, but I use them much less frequently than the other three. I check out what is trending on Twitter, where I’ll usually get my news. I rarely will click on an actual article, and typically will just read the twitter highlights unless it’s something I’m particularly interested in. Then I’ll casually flip through some stories on instagram, and from there move on to Slack. I’m part of a private slack group dedicated to Patreon supporters of a pop culture podcast I’m subscribed to (previously called Storm of Spoilers, now just The Storm post Game of Thrones). I’ve met a lot of fellow pop culture nerds through the Slack, and we’ve all become friends over the last year or so. So I like to pop in there frequently throughout the day and catch up on what’s happening across the channels (we have channels in the Slack dedicated to current pop culture news, television shows we’re watching, movie trailers, music, etc. so it has become a source of news for me in a way). 

 

Commute

 

I have a pretty long commute, so it’s usually a time for plenty of media consumption for me. If I’m carpooling that day I will typically listen to music or a podcast, but if I’m by myself I like to put on whatever audiobook I’m currently listening (or relistening) to. 

 

Work day

 

I have a job that allows me to be on my headphones all day while I work, so my entire day is spent consuming media. Depending on my mood, I usually toggle between music (thank god for Apple music, honestly), podcasts, and audiobooks. More often than not it’s audiobooks, because I’ll get bored listening to the same music playlists over and over. When I’m on a break at work I’ll flip through social media again (Twitter, Instagram, Slack), check email, answer the occasional text. Again, the “news” I’m usually consuming is highlights of whatever is trending on twitter; I find that if I invest too much energy on (what is usually) political news I just end up angry and frustrated and sad, so I don’t make much of an effort to seek it out anymore. The world is a dumpster fire, same as ever. 

 

Evenings

 

If I don’t have homework or social engagements after work I have been finding myself more and more often just laying on the couch toggling between the same social media apps I check in on all day. But as I become more aware of this habit, and the fact that there are so many other things I can be doing with my time, I’ve been trying to step away from it. I’ve begun to read physical copies of books again, since I got so used to audiobooks at work that I forgot how nice it is to hold an actual book in your hands and read it in your own voice. Sometimes I’m reading several things at once, but right now I’m rereading Sense and Sensibility to keep up with a Jane Austen podcast some friends of mine started. I also have been playing a LOT of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on my Nintendo Switch. It’s alarmingly easy to get lost in that world for hours at a time. 

 

Creating

 

I don’t post a whole lot on social media (besides participating in conversations on the Slack), and what I do post is generally aimed at being dumb and funny rather than anything else. One thing I have recently done, though, is make a bookstagram. I read quite a lot, and I figured it would be a fun way to make it an artsy and aesthetic type of thing that could possibly allow me access to ARCs, and an easy way dip my toes in the pool of online media criticism. So far it has been pretty fun.

 

Credibility

As far as the credibility of my news sources go, it’s probably pretty apparent that I don’t put much thought into it, as I usually only barely skim the news as it is. I’m easily annoyed by click-baity titles, and naturally distrustful and suspicious of most things in general, so I don’t really put a lot of weight on what Twitter tells me is happening. If a news highlight or trend does grab my attention, however, I do try to note the source before looking into it further, and if it’s a generally credible and respected news source then I’m more likely to investigate. I also follow a lot of entertainment journalists on Twitter, and like to think I choose ones who are very transparent in their reporting or commenting on whatever stories are circulating. The Slack has also been a reliable source, or, more accurately, the people in the Slack. We all try to be smart consumers of media, and we all have a lot of in-depth discussions about news and pop culture stories and their credibility and implications.

Testing, testing, 123