Privileges, you can obtain them by working hard and some of them are just randomly given. In my case a privilege that has be given to me is that because of my family I don’t have the need to work. Also, because of this prior privilege I get to go to college for free, thanks to Financial Aid. Besides that privileges that have been given to me, I do not posses any privileges -none that I am aware of – regarding my ethnicity, age, gender or skin color. My education level have always depended on my will to keep on studying and my effort on having high grades; this is to  be able provide a better and more stable future for my family. In considering how I would connect these privileges to my subject of study, I do could consider that the fact that my family is able to provide some “luxuries” such as a gaming console has granted me the opportunity to know about the “Super Smash Bros.” community. The reason why I chose this community was because I would like to dig deeper into why this video game has been of such relevance for a tremendous amount of people that form part of this community. On the other hand, one fixed position and subjective position I carry and would affect my research would be that people from gaming communities are people that are disrespectful to new comers. It has always been evident to me that high skilled players feel no compassion for low skilled players. This is something that happens in every game. Also, people that belong to this communities might be perceived as lazy and unorganized and that is a statement that I do not know if it would be changed. It is matter of being proved wrong.

Privileges are things that often times we overlook due to the nature of some coming without effort. Others come about because our own personal success that put us in place of those privileges. I grew up in a middle-classed Latino family in Brooklyn, and so there are many privileges that I grew in to that many times I could’ve possible overlooked. Especially in the current situation that is going on with this pandemic, I think Wi-Fi in my house is a privilege that can be overlooked. This facilitates my research on a online community by being able to easily access it from the comfort of my home. The online community that I choose to observe is the page on Reddit called AskReddit. I choose community because of all the different interesting conversations that come about. There could either be deeply political questions or completely random and funny thought-provoking questions. Its always entertaining to see everyone’s thoughts, reactions, and responses to the particular question. What’s best about it is the vast variety of people that come to the page. I do not think any age is excluded and you can see that in all the different posts. Being that I am a latin-american male who was born and raised in new York, I think I may definitely carry my own biased opinions about different topics discussed in the AskReddit page, and this is what keeps the page interesting. Everyone may have their very own opinions quite possibly stemmed from ones background, and therefore you are free to express it as you wish under this page.

I usually don’t think about the privileges I have but there are some things in my life that I suppose give me privilege. One of these things is my family. There are many people out there who don’t have parents or have to live on their own for various circumstances. My family provides me with financial and emotional support and gives me a safe environment to live in. Although my family is not the wealthiest, this is still a big privilege and I think it has made a huge difference in my life.

Another privilege I think I have is the country I grew up in. The United States is a first world country with access to a lot of things that I think many of us take for granted or don’t really think about the privileges we have here. Like for example, all the technology many of us have access to. In this Coronavirus situation we are going through, internet access is absolutely vital to have, but there are many people in the world who don’t have access to either the computers or laptops to use the internet or the electrical power, or the internet service itself and whatnot. All this technology I have access to has made a huge difference in my life. From letting me have access to vasts amounts of knowledge at the push of my fingertips to simply having a means of “escape” whenever I may be feeling down (This “escape” could be anything – like having the technology to play a video game or watch a movie or something). Something like that seems so simple to us, and yet its something many people in the world may not have access to.

This ties into the online community that I chose to observe – which is the online Fighting Game Community. I use technology a lot in my life and of course I grew up exposed to video games a lot and played a lot of fighting games as a kid. So naturally, why not observe a community that ties into something I enjoy ?

My reasons for choosing the online community of Bernie Sanders supporters because it is very relevant considering that we are only 7 months away from our next presidential election. I am not into politics that much, at least not like how I used to be before Trump was elected. I know people who love and adore Bernie. He has 4.8 million followers on Instagram and with a health crisis going on I wonder if his promise for free universal healthcare is enticing people. I’m very skeptical of all politicians but Bernie seems like a stand-up guy, I most likely will vote for him. I come from a single-parent working-class home and this may affect what Bernie policies I agree and disagree with. Having the privilege of being an American citizen ICE does not affect me personally however the inhumane treatment of immigrants and undocumented peoples indeed bother me. The subjective positions I have from growing up in public housing I feel like minimum wage should increase, and health care should be not only a right but free. My grandmother relies on government assistance such as social security and government health insurance such as Medicare and Medicaid. I am not aware of all the changes or promises Bernie has made in his campaign nor have I kept up with any debates or the primaries but he seems like he genuinely cares about poor and middle-class families. Sanders wants to move America’s energy system away from fossil fuels to combat global warming which is important to me because as a college student I have learned both in and out of school how serious this issue is for humanity.

I understand privilege here as a special right not enjoyed by ordinary people. My family is not very wealthy, but it also provides me with the best possible. Before I immigrated to the United States, I was in a private middle school and I felt a lot of the difference between private schools and public schools. Include the resources you have enjoyed and the circle of friends you have contacted. As well as my immigration to the United States, this is a privilege that comes from my born family. I don’t have to worry about my life. My parents have provided me with protection. This is what I have now. Still, I found some jobs through my own efforts. These jobs bring me life experience and I reach different people. There are also different people applying for the same job, but they did not get it, and my spare time work is also my own privilege. Due to financial support from my family and my own work, I came into contact with some of the online communities I searched for. I also pay attention to some specific clothing brands and buy some new arrivals that I like.

It is undeniable that the friends around me let me know the online community I am studying now. The pursuit of tide brand and fashion of people of different classes brings them together. For people with enough financial means, they can buy a lot of clothes, shoes or bags, and a large part of the group is young people. There are different age groups of followers for “Hypebeast”, but most are young. From my experience, some people spend money from their parents, and some people get what they want by working. A wealthy family gives them great privileges in the online community that I research. Financial ability is one of the most important factors in this community. Many people criticize this community, thinking that some people join this community just to satisfy their vanity. Not really like and love different brands.

Some of my privileges may affect my research in the economic sense. I am researching an online trading community. In order to trade, one must need money. Unfortunately, if one does not have money that makes it complicated for a person to join the community. As a person who has their own job and who does not live at such a disadvantage, it was easier for me to join the community. I was able to wait for my next paycheck and join right away. Some of these people had to wait in order to join the company. They had to wait month or ask people for money in order to start. In my case, I was even able to fund my account and I did not have to wait months like the others did. When one person joins the platform, they are creating their own business. When they create their own business, they are able to add people to it and once they start, they get paid by the company. Once that happens, the people who did not have enough money to start, now have some money to fund their account. However, I am able to fund my account with the money that the company gives me and when my job pays me. Some of the people in the company are just able to fund their accounts with the money given to them by the company. Sometimes, I do not realize how fortunate I am to being very ambitious and hard working.

Social Privilege is “an advantage that only one person or group of people has”. Privileges that a person can have are advantages that can be based on aspects such as age, education level, ethnic or racial category, gender, religion, and social class. To a certain extent everyone without even realizing has privileges in their lives. I am lucky enough to have many privileges in my life that others don’t have.

I grew up in a home with both of my parents and being the youngest of three siblings I never had to carry any financial burdens even though both of my parents are lower-middle class. I go to a college and receive a free education from financial aid. I’ve grown in a supportive environment and being born as an American citizen I never had to deal with the same struggles my parents had. I was privileged with the freedom of speech, practice my religion, vote, and raised in a household that has made me bilingual.

The online community I chose is the Bardigang which is Cardi B’s large online fan-base. Being a fan of Cardi B since the beginning of her career when she was in Love and Hip Hop and just starting music, I have a bias towards the Bardigang. I have been a fan of the female rapper for a long time and I appreciate how outspoken she is as a person. Cardi being a New yorker and a woman of color has allowed me to have a strong bias towards her. My opinions can influence the way I do research on this online community. My fixed and subjective positions are affected as I already have a background knowledge of her. I will also have a connection as the majority of the community are minorities and I will carry my views as being part of an insider into this research.

Mohammed Hossain

Shamecca Harris

English

3-25-20

Privilege is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.For example, in this country education is your right, not privilege unlike in the countries where you have to pay for schools which make it a privilege. Money is privilege that many don’t have. This has to do with place they work at. I was born in middle class family so I dont have to to worry about having food on the table, cleaning up, having internet, new clothes to wear, etc. Not many people have that. Also, I have gotten many scholar ship offers for track that many who haven’t received because of me being better athlete then them.

I have been playing soccer since I can remember. Soccer is my like first love after my family. I was privileged enough to play soccer in high school team here. Growing up, I idolized Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo and Leonel Messi pretty much entered the pros at the same time. Since then, they have been the best player the history of the sport can offer. But till this day, no one one knows who better than who since they have pretty much similar achievements. This created separation between Ronaldo and Messi fans. This lead to people hating on each other. I have gotten into arguments about this topic with my soccer teammates where I have defended Ronaldo since I was his fan. Me being Ronaldo fan will make me look at this hashtag differently because this hashtag is basically created to bash on Ronaldo fans.

I have many privileges that sometimes I forget I am lucky to have. I was born a U.S citizen from a middle-class family, I always had a bed and my own room, healthy food on the table, access to education, the ability and financial support to go to college. I have the privilege of having open minded parents which is something I am truly grateful for and support from my parents to dream big and go for it not letting anyone get in the way of that dream. Family was an important and still is an important factor in my upbringing, but I feel like individuality almost topped that which might affect how I research my online community.

I originally was going to choose an online community on YouTube, but I have decided that Facebook is juicier, and it is much easier to observe and conduct field research. I am specifically going to study an anti-abortion page on Facebook. I think it will be really interesting to see who is active on the page and what are the demographics are. I have already read some of the comments under the anti-abortion page of their posts on Facebook and I can say that it is definitely passionate and that there are a lot of people who are pro-abortion really speaking their minds and serving the page some facts.

I am personally against anti-abortion for many different reasons which might affect how I see the online community and might make me bias towards certain opinions. I was raised in an anti-religious household; I was told that an education and career came before children.  I even have a promise with my father that I wouldn’t get married until I graduated college and a promise with my mother that I wouldn’t have children until I was thirty. I don’t have an exactly personal experience with abortions, but a couple of my friends do and couldn’t be more thankful for them.

I am hoping to gain a better understanding with the online community on their views on anti- abortion. I think there is many different aspects to it such as religion, science, financial support and culture that will play a role in their opinions.

I believe I have a couple of privileges, my parents are hardworking people. My mom works with the elderly while my dad is in charge of a department at the company he works for, bringing home a steady and reliable paycheck. I believe having a job is also a privilege because during these current times, a lot of people are not having the same luck. My parents have always told me that school comes first, being a privilege in itself that we all share, getting an education is something we might take for granted. Along with constantly reminding me about my education, they always let me know that if I ever wanted to leave my job, they would help support me financially which a lot of people around me wouldn’t be able to do. I learned this because during a past field research, I took a deeper dive into my coworkers lives and I learned a lot of deep emotional things about them. To me, my job was just a way of funding my hobbies but to them, missing a day of work meant light groceries or staying in until the next pay cycle. 

As cliche as it might sound, in the topic I want to research, being ‘born a woman’ and being in a relationship are privileges in two topics I chose. As someone who was assigned female at birth and maintained that identity, it is sometimes easy to forget that not everyone who identifies as a woman has the same privilege. Finding love and relationships of all calibers is difficult, and not being able to share the same experiences can affect my field of research. Going into a women’s bathroom is something I take for granted, while others have terrible and dangerous experiences doing so. In my other topic, being a woman and having a different perspective can easily cloud my judgements in regards to men thinking that women owe them intimacy and are to blame for the lack of it being provided. Although I do not agree, keeping an open mind can be difficult when all your senses are telling you to drop everything and run but one can try their absolute best to achieve great data.