Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/621909
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 JANUARY 2016 News 9 IN 2012, the Dutch scholar Geert Lovink wrote: "We need to investigate the slippery nexus between the internet's re- inforcement of existing power structures, and parallel and increasingly inter-penetrating worlds where control is diffused." The relationship between messages, people, networks and culture on social media is getting complicated. In theory, social media provides us with the means to rapidly connect, communicate and circulate informa- tion horizontally, seemingly without the permission of others. Social media do not rely on any particular me- dium. We should consider it as a practice, or set of prac- tices, for using media socially. What matters is not the medium, but our use of it. Yet on the cusp of 2016, there's nothing to indicate that we are using social media mindfully. Social technology and society continue to feed off each other – and in the process change each other. We discover new online con- tent via a toxic dependency on apps and the stream from our social media of choice, served to us on our mobile phone. The stream dominates the way we receive informa- tion on the web. We discover fewer dedicated web pages via organic search since we are now fed a constant flow of information that's selected for us by the complex and se- cretive algorithms from a few software houses like Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple. The content we are served is dependent on a cocktail of the votes we cast on social me- dia: the likes, the plusses, the stars, the hearts are actually more related to cute avatars and celebrity status than to the substance of the content that is posted online. We con- sume content on the basis of its newness and popularity, as served by the stream on the basis of our social graph – what the algo- rithm believes that we will like and share, as opposed to mindful content. We are now all slaves to the 'popular' and the most-recent: we live in online echo-chambers. The sociologist Anthony Abela once astutely observed that Malta is a 'city island'. Throw in our eclectic mix of Mediterranean clientelism, political polarisation and love of gossip and you start to understand how the reflexivity between technology and society gets amplified in our local context. No, I don't think the Maltese are going to get any nicer in their use of social media in 2016. We continue to develop our taste for anonymous trolling on village 'zekzik-style' surveillance blogs and mainstream media sites. Let's face it, all media are 'social' now. What will it take for something to change in our relationship with social media? Perhaps some well-publicised, tragic incident as a consequence of online bullying. The outing and shaming of local, persistent online trolls. Ideally, and most im- portantly – a much- needed education drive to raise awareness on digital literacies in the classroom, the board- room and the home. We need to understand how technology both enhances and constrains pre-existing cultural practices. The sooner we do this, the better if we still wish to put our so-called social media to good use. I'm not sure we do. Social media We continue to develop our taste for anonymous trolling on village 'zekzik- style' surveillance blogs and mainstream media sites. Let's face it, all media are 'social' now 'The Maltese won't get nicer on social media' Dr Alex Grech, strategist and senior lecturer in digital culture front seat. Besides, he is in the list as Platini's alter ego. We come to the favourites. Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jor- dan took on Blatter earlier this year, garnering 73 of the 209 votes. The Malta FA was one of the associations nominating him then, and it is doing so again now. Quite admirable when consider- ing that the MFA shunned Platini and later Infantino to stick to its guns. The Prince is basing his campaign on the need for reform to tackle corruption in the run- ning of the organisation. The fact that he cannot bank on most of his Asian counterparts could be crucially detrimental. That's because Asian associa- tions tend to rally behind their current Confederation President, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain. A former backer of Platini, Al Khalifa's main theme is decentralisation of power within FIFA. As a member of the Bahrain royal family he has been accused by human right groups of being involved in the suppression of demonstrations in 2011. Such little matter aside, as things stand he seems to be the front runner. But eight weeks until 26 February is a very long time. On the pitch Thankfully the show goes on. The key football event of the New Year ought to be Euro 2016 taking place in France. The tournament will in- clude 24 teams, including newbies such as Albania, Northern Ireland, Wales and Iceland. Holders Spain may not be the same bunch by now, and meanwhile Germany have become World Champions. We'll have more time to savour the excitement such tournaments bring with them. At this point in time, reeling as we are from the shock of the Paris attacks in No- vember, it is impossible not to link the two. It is inevitable that fans will have security concerns at the back of their minds. Closer to home, 2016 will also see the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign. A number of exciting fixtures await our na- tional team. The opener is at home against Scotland on the 4th Sep- tember, followed by the away en- counter against England a month later. Football is one of the constants in life. Enjoy it while you can. Happy 2016. Contender supported by Malta: Prince Ali