6.1 Leviathan on Live

For people who only play video games on consoles, Halo2 is a fan favorite. When logging in to play Halo 2 online there are plenty of norms in which a player should get accustomed in order to have an enjoyable experience. Most of the norms involve the game play. If you are playing as part of a team, you shouldn’t kill anyone on your team. If you are playing as a team and you are not good with the sniper rifle, then don’t pick it up. When deciding which race you will play as, either human or elite, you should always play as a human because elites have bigger heads and are therefore easier to kill and snipe.

People usually know these rules from playing the single player campaign or from previous multiplayer experiences. The game’s administrators also help enforce some of the more obvious rules. When a player kills someone on his/ her own team, the team member who was killed gets the special option of ejecting his traitor teammate from the game. Also, after each match, each player is given an opportunity to give negative or positive feedback to the players with whom he/ she just played. If a player gets enough negative feedback then he/ she will get punished by the Xbox Live Staff by being suspended from play for predestined time period or simply not being allowed to play anymore and having their membership revoked. The other norms are usually learned by playing the game and interacting with the other players. If you are not good with the sniper rifle and your teammates see that you are not killing anyone with it, they will implore you to give it up to someone with more skill. Also, if you play as an elite, the sniper on the opposing team will always pick on you as a favorite target since you are easier to hit than the other non-elite players. Other players will usually tell you about this if you do not know, especially if you are on their team and your constant death hurts the teams efforts.

The main Leviathan of the game is the Xbox Live staff since they are ultimately the ones who decide who plays the game and when they get to play. They enforce the rules with their special administrative powers that allow them to ban certain players from game play.

I think that Wallace’s arched brow is especially relevant to the Xbox Live environment. A popular taunt is to call someone a “noob” referring to someone who is new to the environment and therefore doesn’t know about the rules to the degree that a more experienced player might know. Whenever a player does something that he/she should by the standards shared by the rest of the players, he/ she is referred to as a “noob”. This is a bad insult for online gamers. By attacking unfavorable behavior and embarrassing a player, that player learns not to make the same mistakes.

6 As You(tube) Like It

For this assignment I decided to discuss how the Leviathan enforces norms within Internet spaces. One online space with an active Leviathan and several norms that I frequently visit is Youtube. Video content on Youtube involves various subject matters, including amateur music to funny pet videos to the classic man getting hit in groin by football. I know that I go on to Youtube expecting to find anything. Well, almost anything. The content on Youtube videos is relatively clean. There is no pornography, illegal acts, or even inappropriate speech throughout the site. Considering the scope and incredible size of Youtube, it is astounding how these norms are learned and widely enforced.

Foremost, in order to establish norms on the site, Youtube has a Help link on the homepage that answers practically any question a new user would have. There is an entire section on what is acceptable within the “Youtube Community.” If a new user does not take the initiative to read this listed set of norms, the intention of Youtube is clear just by observing the site. The home page has a listing of featured videos and the most popular videos of the day, all of which have relatively clean content. There is even a function to search videos by category – notice there is no pornography category, or a graphic violence category.

Next, let’s see how the Leviathan enforces these well constructed norms on Youtube. Wallace describes the Leviathan, as it exists on the Internet, as a type of authority figure, “one to which most people willingly give up freedoms in order to preserve the value and energy of the medium itself.” We can think of the Leviathan on Youtube as a moderator that does not step in until absolutely needed. Although Youtube administrators can and do search through videos to make sure there are no content violations, this system of norm enforcement relies heavily on users themselves. Users must flag videos they deem inappropriate, which sends a notification to administrators. These administrators then review the video and decide to either take it down or leave it. They can even ban someone from the website for life if the video is deemed as harassment.

Finally, why does this system work? Why is this Leviathan successful on Youtube, when it relies mostly on users flagging content themselves? According to Wallace, “[T]he Leviathan is there anyway because we want the Internet to flourish.” Basically, the Leviathan works because we want it to work. We want to continue using Youtube for what it was intended, sharing creative works, without having to run into vulgar content at every corner. I thought it was interesting that video content guidelines were listed as rules for the “Youtube Community.” Youtube has established a space that people feel like members of, a space that we want to remain usable. I for one am glad that Youtube has remained a fun video forum and has not turned into just a site to post porn – I know now that most of that has to do with the Leviathan.

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Nationals: The New Facebook Leviathan

Facebook as a social networking site has several social norms in regards to the wall, group, messages, pokes, etc. For many of these norms the Leviathan is the administrators of facebook, threatening to not allow you assess to the site if you break any rules in regards to posting. However, today, facebook has become so popular that even outside groups are enforcing online actions. An example is sororities. Every sorority has a national chapter who basically watches over all the different chapters across the country. Today, nationals are now looking at sorority members’ facebook pictures and profiles and have communicated to chapter presidents that all members must only have pictures, info about themselves that portray them individually “in a good light.” According to nationals, every individual member reflects the sorority as an entity and therefore all facebook actions must be appropriate according to their standards. Nationals have communicated this message through email and letters to chapter presidents, who in turn notify the entire sorority.

The example of the sorority national’s role in facebook applies to many of the concepts Wallace discusses in Chapter 4. Interestingly the example of a sorority is a group FTF and also online nationally connecting all chapters. If all sorority members act ladylike and according to sorority standards on campus, why would they need to be even more controlled online? As explained by Wallace and proved by Asch’s experiment “a computer mediated environment strips away some of the features that contribute to our tendency to conform in a group setting. Physical presence is absent…” Therefore in this case in order to maintain the image of the sorority, an enforcement or person to make sure all are conforming to social norms must be in place. Wallace defines this entity as the Leviathan and in this case it is the sorority’s nationals. Nationals make the rules the sorority has to follow consequences of not abiding could be anything from a verbal warning to limited social events. Also explained by Wallace, the verbal warning is an example of the arched eyebrow, a gently way to remind the sorority member they must follow the facebook rules, whereas limited social events could be a reproach if behavior does not improve.
As explained in Chapter 4, when conforming, we give up individual freedoms for greater societal goods/rights. Members in this case give up the individual right to post inappropriate information for the better of the sorority overall. Older women who were in the sorority years ago want to maintain the same image. Wallace explains the need for the Leviathan is even greater now because “the growing realization that our contributions to the net are not as fleeting, not as difficult to trace, as many had supposed.” Knowing the facebook could be accessed by anyone, maintaining content becomes even more important for groups.

Assignment 6: The Two-Faced Leviathan

How much time would you say people take to create their profile picture on Facebook? I’ve known some people to browse through photos for hours until they find the right one they want to upload. Everybody knows it has to be good, because it is going to pop up on the newsfeed of all of your friends’ home page. Many people choose a picture in which they are featured with some of their friends, usually at a social scene like that party all of your friends went to this past weekend. Others find one in which they think they appear their best and sent it straight to photoshop to crop and zoom. How is creating a Facebook profile picture a social norm? Most people naturally want to display a picture that represents them at their best, while those that choose ridiculous pictures tend to not take their social image too seriously. Here is where gender plays a role in representing the ideal “best.” Males tend to portray themselves at a party scene or through an athletic image. While many girls choose images that include drinking and partying, they typically surround themselves with friends rather than sports.
In addition to profile pictures, tagged photos offer another set of social norms. When you look at a person’s profile and see that they have 234 pictures, how does this effect your impression of them? Some people may say this might suggest that this person is popular if there are so many photos. If you see that all 234 photos were tagged by the person, how would this change your opinion? Most people would say that this would make them less popular if they had to tag every photo.
In the world of Facebook, the Leviathan consists of more than just the people that are listed under the heading of friends. The Leviathan consists of any person that may approach your page, and that is to say that every safety precaution was not taken to prevent others from viewing it. The obvious and probably most prevalent Leviathan is your group of friends; they are the ones that view your page daily. But your friends are not the only people looking. Everybody in this class knows that Professor Hancock has a Facebook. I wonder how many other professors have one as well. How many instances have you heard of in the news recently of applicants being denied jobs because of future employees digging around through their online life? This happens quite often and more and more it is becoming another tool which is frequently used in the application search. So the question is who is acting as the Leviathan? I believe there are two faces of the Leviathan: the one in which we perceive and take note of, and the one in which we cannot see and do not predict.

6 Option 1: Leviathan in WoW

Today I’ll be discussing the intricate world of MMORPGs(Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games), most specifically World of Warcraft and its Leviathans. Anyone who’s played World of Warcraft knows that there are a plethora of social norms that exist. These norms have actually been incorporated into the game as well with Raids so that players who do not conform to the norms are missing out. It is expected that you have an exceptional vocabulary of the game and its various aspects, and new players who are unfamiliar with many terms used are looked down upon. There also exists two sides in the game, Horde and Alliance. If you are a member of the Horde it is expected that you will despise players from the Alliance side, and vice versa. A large portion of the tasks available to players in WoW cannot be accomplished without some sort of group. Within these groups there also exists an unspoken rule on looting only items that you need and can use, or as decided by the group. Often large groups of players will band into long-lasting teams called Guilds that try to organize and take on harder challenges known as Raid-instances. Due to the nature of the game, players will either learn the norms quickly, or be cast aside as “n00bs” and not progress very far into the gameplay.

The Leviathan exists in several ways within the World of Warcraft. The Leviathan is a power that exists to ensure that we adhere to society’s norms and standards. First off, in World of Warcraft, there are hired employees of Blizzard called Game Masters (GMs) who are members of the customer support department with certain special powers. They are also there as enforcers however to ensure that players are following the rules set down by Blizzard. Also, within guilds it is very important you follow the norms that exist, and attend Raid-instances regularly, or face being outcast and exiled from the guild. Plus, if someone does not follow the rules of looting within groups several times over, they may be named a “ninja looter” and have their name spread as someone never to allow into publicly formed groups.

Assignment 6: Wikipedia Leviathans

Wikipedia has become an extremely popular source of information, and almost all students use it to look up something or the other. “Written collaboratively from by volunteers from all around the world,” the articles on Wikipedia can be edited by anyone who wishes to do so simply by clicking on the “edit this page” link. Such freedom grants tremendous power to its users in terms of entering in what they deem correct; users could theoretically replace correct information with rude language or false statements. Such incidences barely occur, however, and users usually remain respectful of the site and its content. People who choose to edit an article are careful to input only data they truly believe to be correct. Moreover, they are meticulous to use correct spellings, respectful language, and grammatically correct sentences. Essentially, people follow a set of norms to ensure the website remains controlled and useful.

While old users usually know the norms through use of the website, both new and old users can fully understand Wikipedia’s customs through the “Policies and Guidelines” page, which can be accessed through the main website. As Wallace succinctly states, “members of cohesive groups expect new participants to comply with whatever norms and posted signs are in place for the group, and when they don’t a reproach may be forthcoming.” Should they choose not to follow the norms, Leviathans exist to reproach them and correct their behavior.

Essentially, “the Leviathan is there…because we want the Internet to flourish…it will not unless we build a framework of trust and establish means to ensure compliance with, at the very least, netiquette” (Wallace 69). In this case, the Leviathans are other, more experienced Wikipedia editors who san be trusted to maintain order. Articles with mistakes are usually changed in lesser than a few hours by editors who routinely browse the website. Moreover, should users engage in vandalism, “Administrators” have the power to block users. To avoid being criticized, reproached by the raised “virtual eyebrow,” or exiled from the Wikipedia community, users conform to and follow the online community’s norms and standards. Thus, “the presence of some authority figure can have a calming influence and ensures participants that a means is available to resolve disputes should they arise” (Wallace 70).

6 The Chinese Leviathan is the Great Wall

Recently, I heard of some research at UC Davis being done on the Golden Shield Project, better known as the “Great Firewall of China.” This term refers to the Chinese system of net surveillance and denying access to certain web addresses, locations, and resources where blacklisted keywords appear frequently. The research is being done to monitor the frequency and changes in censorship, specifically based on content. According to one of the researchers, the firewall isn't an actual firewall. It is inconsistent and works partly on the idea that it encourages self-censorship. Effectively, this acts as the Chinese Leviathan that regulates the flow of ideas through Chinese net space and encourages the conformity of its users.

Specific information is blocked from the eyes of Chinese users, causing some ideas to converge to seemingly universal affirmation. Of course, it is only superficial since divergent opinions may be blocked by the firewall. The lack of disagreeing views leads to conformists who follow the beliefs of the government. New users will find any dissenting opinion to be a disagreement with a seemingly unanimous group position. They come to know the norm as soon as they are blocked from accessing a censored website. At that point, the information the user is attempting to access is probably against the government expected norms. Since these norms are the norms of the users, the user is in danger of being ostracized from the rest of the group if he or she decides to oppose it.

According to Wallace, there is less conformity on the Internet due to the absence of physical presence and increased anonymity. However, in terms of Chinese net space, there is less anonymity, resulting in the evident increased conformity. Since this is a national surveillance program, there is also fear that the government can take legal action on nonconformists. Combined with the ostracizing force of the group, this fear enforces group norms. Norms are ensured by both social means as well as legal means.

Wallace justifies creating a leviathan-like creature out of a need for orderliness at the cost of certain freedoms. The Chinese government created the project in an attempt to establish and maintain order in their part of the network. Their stated goal isn't to hinder the flow of ideas, but to improve the efficiency of their information systems. However, in practice the two goals are mutually dependent, at least in an outward analysis of Chinese censorship. According to MacKinnon, cited in Wallace, people are willing to forgo freedoms to keep the value of the Internet. Indeed, for Chinese users, the Internet allows greater access to information, even though some information is blocked. In fact, MacKinnon is cited recently for stating that Chinese users do not feel oppressed.

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