During week 6 of of Art 110, our activity was to explore the app Periscope. I was extremely inspired by Tuesday’s class, when popular periscoper, Bree Olsen came and spoke. It was so interesting to hear how her life has been affected by this app and how she continues to broadcast so much of her daily life.
I used to want to be a youtube vlogger so I was very excited when it came to this project. I thought it would be similar to talk to people online and broadcast myself. It was a lot different than I had expected. My first scope was on Thursday during class, when everyone was at the galleries. It allowed me to kind of get a feel for the app as I walked around and talked to a camera. Although I had over 100 viewers that day, no one was talking to me! Or responding to anything I had said. The next time I decided to periscope was on Friday when I had gone to Robeks. After finishing my food, I turned on my camera and began to broadcast. This time I was so nervous because I was alone. During this attempt, I scoped a lot longer. I actually had people come on and ask me questions! It was pretty nerve-wrecking but I ended up having a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I got a lot of sexual comments-which I was surprised about. Some comments included “have my babies”, “I want to date you”, and other more explicit phrases…One man even offered to send me a new pair of headphones for mine which weren’t in the greatest condition. Although, I have to admit I found these comments somewhat flattering, they were not the ideal comments I wanted on my first periscope. I was not sure if some questions were of general interest or because they found me attractive. So there was that. I began the Periscope nervous and ended it nervous. A couple of times people even pointed out that I was blushing. My final scope was on Saturday at work with my coworker. Many people joined out broadcast when we were showing our faces but when we began to show around our store we got down to zero viewers! That was interesting to me.
Another part of our assignment was to watch different Periscopes! This was also something new to me as I got to view the lives of so many different people. Some scopes I got to check out included Glenn (my professors), some classmates, someone from my hometown (Pasadena), and even scopes from England and Italy! It was crazy to check out all these different types of lives people live. I really enjoyed the aspect of talking to people from so many different perspectives of life.
Overall, Periscope was such a different experience for me. Definitely not the same as youtube vlogging where you can edit out different parts of daily life. I did enjoy it and I may do it again! But I really do think everyday scoping could be difficult.
juliahodgdon 
Yes Julia, Periscope is pretty cool. But the gender-based harassment is really a drag. It’s everywhere IRL and online of course, but it does seem to be a bit worse on Periscope. Any thoughts / guesses as to why that is?
Could it be that Periscope is different from WordPress, or even different from YouTube, in that it’s a “Live Show”? I wonder if the space or nature of the broadcasts “invite” this behavior. For sure I don’t want to make excuses for the bad behavior, it sucks and it’s inappropriate! But it is also curious as to what elements encourage or discourage, facilitate or suppress, this behavior?
I’ve taught Art110 sections the same semester in UT-108 and in a “normal” classroom like FA4-311. It’s DRAMATIC how different the classes are even thought presumably I was doing the same things. I think the rooms really had a big factor. For sure students make their own choices and should be responsible for them, but I think it’s worth appreciating how different physical rooms can facilitate different student behaviors…
… and how different App UI/UX perhaps also facilitate more or less harassment. It’s for sure weird. And sad. I think Bree Olson has blocked about 8,000 people!!
Whether you choose Periscope, YouTube, or something else, video is, obviously! a powerful medium of our time! I’d encourage you to find what works for you and think about using it. It could really help build a career.
I’m not sure what your focus in Social Work is, or will be, but it certainly seems like a space where considering these issues could be powerful, and these tools could help you express and share ideas.
It’s interesting to compare someone like Bree Olson and someone like Guy Tang. Olson broadcasts hours a day! Tang is much less, mostly just showing off details of his latest hair coloring. But both are very charismatic and have large followings.
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I do agree that it is easier for them because of the platform. It is a type of social media where your friends and family aren’t typically present. It’s almost anonymous in that sense because no one you know IRL has to see what you comment/say on any of these live casts. Also, they disappear in 24 hours. So it is almost like there is no proof of the cat calls. Whereas youtube comments are typically permanent, facebook has family, twitter and instagram have friends. Periscope is kind of private because it’s just you and your viewers. So this space most likely makes them feel safe to make a quick comment that disappears. With that, I definitely do agree that the platform makes it more common, although it isn’t appropriate.
Personally, I am a shy person who has never put much effort into standing up for myself or my beliefs. I think Periscope or youtube or any social media could be great platforms for me to step out of my comfort zone and grow. Maybe even to the point where I can speak up for myself and other important issues.
Bree is a very strong woman who just doesn’t accept any of the comments/inappropriate behavior she sees. It was very inspiring how she wouldn’t put up with the “creepers” and blocks so many people.
I really would like to grow as a person through these different platforms and maybe even gather a large following.
Also, I really enjoyed Kaitlin’s video. Her story was very raw and it must’ve taken a lot to share something so personal to her heart. I think that activity along with the encouragement to make the “counterfactual identity” to be personal could really give people a lot to think about. And maybe even grow a bit in the process! I know this activity would be something I would enjoy taking the time to think about and create.
Anyway, thank you Glenn for taking the time out of your day to comment and talk to me! I really appreciate your ideas.
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Hey Julia, I remember watching one of your Periscopes! It was a lot as you described! I remember you playing with your hair and, indeed, seeming nervous… but then starting to interact with your audience and just sort of radiating. It was a dramatic transition! đŸ˜€
As for your comment,
“Personally, I am a shy person who has never put much effort into standing up for myself or my beliefs. I think Periscope or youtube or any social media could be great platforms for me to step out of my comfort zone and grow. Maybe even to the point where I can speak up for myself and other important issues.”
I have 2 thoughts on that! They both amount to, “Yes! Do it!”…
1. You could do Periscope, YouTube, whatever, for any of the upcoming Activities / Conversations. So it’d be the same Activity / Conversation, but instead of WRITING WORDS… you’d be MAKING VIDEO / VLOGS.
2. Alternately, I love what you wrote and agree that it could be a really valuable experience for you. I’d be up for letting you “trade” upcoming Activities for 1 or more VLOG activities. See what you think. Or LMK if you have questions or thoughts about it.
Hmm… I think I’ll offer #1 to the whole class.
But… shh… #2 is just an offer for you! đŸ˜€
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We used to have an Art110 “Counterfactual Identity” Activity where we “made up” characters and expressed them across whatever social media peeps chose. A lot like fiction writing, like a short story, but instead of a word processor, we used Facebook or Twitter or WordPress. Anyway, here’s the video from your not-cousin Kaitlin Hodgdon that had us all in tears. Watching it again I’m inspired to bring the activity back! But to try to encourage things a little more like what Kaitlin did. Many of the others were much more superficial and probably less profound.
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