The Deaf Community Finds a New Home on Social Networking Sites

Social Media has improved communication for everyone, especially the Deaf community.

    There is no denying that the methods and means by which people communicate have evolved drastically over the years. Much of this can be attributed to the advent and rapid growth of social media and other tools that facilitate remote communication between people. Social interfaces such as email, instant messaging, Skype, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube allow for rapid information exchange and communication between people worldwide. While social media has far-reaching impacts on the general public, it is important to consider the affects that it has on sub-populations. The Deaf community has been greatly impacted by social media. Though it is not without its negative side effects, social media has been generally beneficial for the Deaf community, creating a more user-friendly interface on which to communicate; allowing for a greater sense of independence among Deaf individuals; and generating a more global Deaf community.

Social media, such as Facebook, that allows for visual communication has had the greatest impact on the Deaf community

    There are many different kinds of social media sites that allow quick and easy communication between users, but some are more popular than others.  Because Deaf individuals communicate using a visual language, social media that incorporates that visual aspect of communication into the website make it more user-friendly. Assistant Professor of Audiology Dr. Samira Anderson gives her opinion as to which social media site has had the greatest impact on the Deaf community.

Due to the grammar of American Sign Language, social media sites that cater specifically to Deaf individuals have likely had a more profound impact on the Deaf community.

    American Sign Language (ASL) (as well as sign languages from other countries) is unique in that, just like spoken languages, it has its own grammar, word order, and pragmatic rules. As English is not the first language of many Deaf individuals, it can be a challenging and inconvenient task to have to decipher the grammar and word order of English.  For example, in English, one would say "Hello, my name is Katherine. How are you?" In ASL, however, one would sign "hello, my name k-a-t-h-e-r-i-n-e *pause* how you *raise eyebrows*" There is a clear difference between these two statements, and if someone is used to reading or hearing one, s/he will more than likely have a little trouble when trying to decipher the other. Because of the unique word order that is characteristic of ASL, it is most likely easier for Deaf individuals to use social media sites that make accommodations to that grammar. There are social networking sites as well as dating sites that are designed specifically for members of the Deaf community, and Dr. Anderson believes that these websites have had a more profound impact on the Deaf than those social media sites geared toward the general public.

Social media sites have essentially eliminated the need for Deaf clubs, which has brought some negative energy into the Deaf community.

    United by a common language and strong culture, the Deaf community has always been and continues to be enduring. Before the availability of social media and remote communication technologies, Deaf individuals were forced to rely on the postal service, TTY, or hearing people to make phone calls for them. Having to rely on another person for their remote communication needs must have generated feelings of dependency and frustration. In order to communicate with friends and family close by, however, people could meet at places called Deaf Clubs where they could converse (via sign language) face-to-face and learn about the latest news.  In developed countries where Internet access is readily available, social media sites have since eliminated the need for individuals to meet in person to socialize and acquire the news. While this has certainly made communication much faster and more convenient, it has generated negative feelings among some older members of the Deaf community. Because ASL is such a visual language, it is important that the people communicating with each other can clearly see each others' gestures and facial expressions. In some ways, social media sites have done away with this aspect of communication, and has perhaps even started to loosen the ties that some people feel to the Deaf community. This is especially true for older individuals who are accustomed to the traditional ways of doing things and who may not be as technologically savvy as younger individuals. Dr. Anderson explains that reducing the need for face-to-face time is a possible negative impact that social media has had on the Deaf community.

Despite this negative impact, social media has ultimately benefited the Deaf community, enabling it to expand.

    Just as it has with the hearing population, social media has allowed members of the Deaf community to connect with people from not only different states, but different countries as well. In a sense, this has created a new, virtual home for the Deaf community. Previously, there were many individual sub-communities due to the fact that communication had to be conducted in person. Therefore, communities were limited to smaller regional areas. While these still exist, there is now an overarching, global Deaf community that has connected people in ways that were previously impossible. As technology (especially video technology) continues to become more advanced, it is exciting to consider the new doors that may be opened for the Deaf community in the future.

listen to ‘Deaf Community and Social Media’ on Audioboo

Expert Interviews with Dr. Anderson

Final Project Assignment

            The globalization of technology over the years has dramatically changedthe way that people communicate with each other.  Not only has it made the world a smallerplace by increasing the ease and speed of communication, but it has had aneffect on the core foundation of how we communicate.  Although it has impacted everyone in somecapacity, the globalization of Web 2.0 and communications technology has hadthe most profound and significant impact on the global Deaf community, and theway in which Deaf people communicate. This is greatly due to the lack of communication technology that hasbeen available to Deaf people in the past. In fact, it was not until more than 100 years after the invention of thetelephone that D/deaf and hard of hearing (HH) people had access to telephonictechnology like hearing people did.

            Globalizedtechnology such as web cameras, Facebook, email, text messaging, and instantmessaging have created their own cultures that have the potential to, andalmost always do, influence cultures beyond the cyber world.  Deaf culture and community are not immune tothis influence.  Because much ofglobalized technology is used for the purpose of communication, it has become amajor part of Deaf culture, as well as a major part of the lives of those deafand HH individuals who do not identify with the Deaf community. 
This post will explore how Internet technology has affectedthe way in which D/deaf and HH people communicate with each other.  In addition, it seeksto explain how these changes in communication have led to changes in the Deafcommunity, and how the quality of life for all D/deaf and HH individuals withaccess to it has improved.  

Questions:

1. Which social media site do you think has had the most profound impact on the Deaf community?
2. Which do you think is more popular among the Deaf community: social media sites used by the general public or social media sites geared specifically toward the Deaf community?

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1328979

First audioboo recording

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1320283-favorite-candy

Design Flaws and Changes in Society Prevent Early Social Networks from Reaching Facebook Status

Today, if I asked you to name a social network, the first one to come to your mind would probably be Facebook or Twitter. Although these are the only social networks many of us have ever known, they were by no means the first. As with many other things in life, less cool, less user-friendly, and less popular predecessors had to pave the way for what we consider to be the essentials of today.

eCRUSH and eSPIN-the-Bottle were among the first social networks ever created, but failed to retain their initial popularity due to design flaws.

eCRUSH was launched on Valentine's Day of 1999 by Clark Benson and Karen DeMars Pillsbury. The idea behind eCRUSH was that it would match users with their "crushes" by sending them anonymous emails. According to an article on mashable.com, those emails requested a response that included a list of crushes. If two names listed by two different users overlapped, those users would be matched up. For example, if John listed Sally as one of his crushes, and Sally listed John as one of her crushes, the two would be virtually paired up. eCRUSH also included another site called eSPIN-the-Bottle, which simply allowed users to flirt by way of messages, photos, and videos. The idea behind both of these networks seemed good in theory, but it is possible that neither site ever reached the popularity levels that Facebook and Twitter can lay claim to because of the emails it sent out. There has been speculation that emails notifying users that someone "had a crush" on them looked too much like spam and therefore got sent straight to the trash folder. If this is true, then it is likely the reason that the websites sank into obscurity and lost their original domains in 2011. What were originally eCRUSH.com and eSPINtheBottle.com are now ecrushonline.com and myespin.com. Both websites now look rather poorly designed, cheap, and "uncool," displaying photos of users that look much older and much less trustworthy than the original target audience: high school and college-aged girls. In addition, eCRUSH no longer even identifies as being a social networking site; there is a blurb on the website that describes eCRUSH as an "entertainment community network." For these reasons, neither eCRUSH nor eSPIN-the-Bottle have the potential to gain Facebook popularity.

Friendster.com was the "granddaddy" of social networks, but was transformed into a gaming site after it was purchased by a Malaysian payments company.
          
Friendster.com, launched in 2002 by Jonathan Abrams, was one of the first popular social networking sites created. Allowing users to share information such as hobbies, favorite bands, and photos with their contacts, it proved to be quite popular with the public. Friendster was so groundbreaking, in fact, that it is often referred to as the "granddaddy" of social networks. Despite this title, the website never reached its full potential. In 2009, a Malaysian company purchased the site, and has since turned it into an online gaming site. Before its transformation, however, the folks at Friendster put out a notice that, though all accounts would remain active, they would be deleting almost all user data on May 31, 2011, with the exception of friend lists, game details, and basic profile information. They suggested that users install a custom-made application that would allow them to export all of the information on their profiles. While the announcement sounds courteous enough, it is clear from comments made by old users that they were not directly notified of this impending data deletion, and many of them lost valuable photos, conversations, and other sentimental information. Friendster may have started off as a strong social networking site, but its lack of tact in handling the transition from social network to gaming site likely cost it a number of users who would have gladly retained their membership had the situation been handled better. Even if Friendster had remained a social networking site, the poor way in which it handled its users' accounts would have prevented the site from becoming as popular as Facebook or Twitter.

The nature of our society has changed and leaves us wanting more from our social networks, which is why we no longer find relevance with sites like Friendster and eCRUSH.

In the days of early social networking, it was enough to use these websites to merely communicate with friends, but since then, times have changed. We now receive all of our news, gossip, media, etc. from multiple sources and have the ability to add our voice to the discussion. For example, television shows adopt hashtags that viewers can add onto a tweet so that their opinion of that show will be seen by everyone else using that hashtag. As you can see, all of our information sources have become intertwined, and sites like Facebook and Twitter not only reflect this change, but participate in it. Earlier social networks did not keep up with this change in society, and have therefore become obsolete.

Bookstores Fight the Growing eBook Industry: Loyal Locals & Unconvential Partnerships Keep Indie Bookstores Alive & Well

The accessibility that the Internet provides has without a doubt impacted our consumer culture and the way in which we now make purchases.  Independent (“indie”) stores, including indie bookstores, have not escaped these changes.  Many people have made the switch to eBooks due to their compactness, transportability, and (generally) lower costs in comparison to paperback and hardcover books.  This is, of course, bad news for independent book stores.  On top of that, indie stores have reported being negatively impacted by a new phenomenon called ‘showrooming,’ which refers to customers coming into stores, browsing through products, and then going home and purchasing those same products online instead of in the store.  In addition, indie bookstores have experienced problems getting loans, and, because the state of the economy has been challenging for consumers, it has therefore been challenging for vendors as well.

                With all of these obstacles, one would think that independent book stores would be on the way out.  This, however, is not the case.  According to the American Booksellers Association (ABA), independent businesses’ revenue has steadily grown for five years in a row.  This growth is thanks in part to ‘buy local first’ campaigns.  Perhaps you have seen the commercials—friendly-sounding narrators accompanied by heartwarming footage of small towns and quaint shops explain the importance of independent retailers and promotes ‘Small Business Saturdays,’ encouraging consumers to dedicate just one day to shopping locally.  In fact, the 2013 post-holiday Independent Business Survey conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ISLR) found that, where ‘buy local first’ initiatives existed, indie businesses experienced an average revenue growth of 8.6 percent in 2012.  Vendors in communities without this initiative however, experienced a revenue growth of only 3.4 percent.  These campaigns aren’t just a ploy to keep indie businesses afloat, though.  It turns out that shopping independently and locally is better for the local economy, too.  According to “Indie Impact National Survey" by Dave Grogan, this is because indie vendors recirculate 52.3 percent of their revenue back into the local economy, whereas chain businesses only recirculate about 15.8 percent of their revenue.  Even ABA CEO Oren Teicher agrees—“…shopping at your local, independent retailer is better for the fiscal health of a community.  At a time when many cities and towns are faced with budgetary and job creation challenges, these figures simply provide yet another great reason for shopping local.”

                What does all of this mean for independent bookstores, then?  Clearly, the ‘buy local first’ initiatives have done great things for indie businesses in general, and this includes bookstores! But what else is keeping indie bookstores afloat?  According to the ABA, indie booksellers across America have done something quite clever.  I’m sure we’ve all heard the phrase, “if you can’t beat them, join them,” and it appears as though independent bookstores have done just that.  In 2012, the ABA partnered with Kobo, resulting in the ability of all ABA members “…to offer their customers a full line of eReaders, eReading accessories, and eBooks from Kobo’s catalog of nearly three million titles.”  Moreover, part of the revenue for each sale goes to ABA members.  By encouraging customers to shop locally and joining forces with the world of eBooks, independent bookstores are not only alive, but thriving.

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Hi there! My name is Katherine Easthope and I'm a senior hearing and speech sciences student. One of the major things that I study is the way in which people communicate, and how that experience can be maximized.  Social media and technology and general have vastly changed daily communication for everyone who has access to it.  We are now able to access news stories, research topics, find old friends, share photos, or video chat with someone in another country almost instantaneously. Despite all of these benefits, technology does have its downfalls.  If abused, it can tarnish reputations, ruin relationships, and spread lies.  In addition, it may be detrimental to our ability to interact on a human level with others.  While I believe we should embrace technology and all it has to offer, we must be cautious in our use of it.