Artificially limiting reach of large accounts to then turn around and demand extortion money? It's the social media mafia!

If this assertion is based on the Pew "News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2017" (http://www.journalism.org/2017/09/07/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2017/) please note the question asked in the survey reads:

"Do you ever get news or news headlines on any of the following sites? By news we mean information about events and issues that involve more than just your friends or family."

Do you ever... I'm surprised the figure wasn't higher.

It struck me as a beautiful idyll when I read Brave New World. At the time, I was probably in my late teens, a sex child at his peak.

Social Media Company in Singapore - Incepte

Future of HE, Social impact, public good

Action is the escutcheon of the elect

Quadrille, according to David Parlett was a wildly popular card game of the period. "A notable characteristic of Quadrille is that it was always more popular with women than with men." The pool is the main stake of each round, like the collected bets in poker.

Historic Card Games described by David Parlett

Darcy’s income was more than 300 times as much the average per capita income of his time. Translated into today’s currency, Mr. Darcy would have an annual income of over $300,000 (http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/printed/number12/heldman.htm).

Women learned specific skills to make themselves more desirable to potential suitors. The accomplished woman read appropriate books and was knowledgeable in math, science, French, social science, music, art, dance, and needlework. Women were expected to socialize well and serve the family with skills that would not challenge her husband (http://randombitsoffascination.com/2014/11/04/accomplished-lady/).

"A type of light four-wheeled open carriage, usually drawn by a pair of horses, and having one or two seats facing forward" (OED).

Image of a light phaeton (Two Nerdy History Girls).

"A light two-wheeled one-horse carriage" (OED).

Image of a Standhope-style gig (Wikipedia).

“A small flat piece of bone or ivory used instead of money or for keeping account in games of chance; sometimes made in the form of a fish” (OED).

Fish made from ivory (Austenonly.com):

Other shapes, made of mother-of-pearl (Austenonly.com):

This paragraph is written right after the paragraph where it mentions that Mrs. Gardiner is an "intelligent, elegant woman", which is interesting because it goes directly to the role she has to play as a woman. Mrs. Gardiner talking about the latest fashions suggests her social ranking as well since women of upper class were the ones who mostly experienced changing fashion and middle class women wore the same outfits (Life for Women in 18th Century). The change of topic in the paragraphs also ignores her intelligence and instead shows her focusing on topics she should care about as a woman because that was her role.

It's well known that men had an advantage of getting a proper education which explains Mr. Gardiner's intelligence. This paragraph shows that Mrs. Gardiner was "amiable, intelligent" which shows that she had some form of an education. For women, getting an education was different than men because not all females got an education. According to the article, "Life for Women in 18th Century", if women got an education, it is usually because they were wealthy and were able to go to boarding school. Some women, not everyone, of lower class learned basic reading and writing skills. Although this doesn't mention her background and what exactly it means by "intelligent", it makes me wonder which social class she was raised in and if she really did get education.

Mrs. Bennet is so upset with Elizabeth not accepting the proposal because in the late 18th century getting married was important for young ladies, for future economic concerns, especially for those women who wouldn't be left anything after their father's death (Maurer, Courtship and Marriage).

The 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice television adaption used the historical Edgcote House as Netherfield. "Edgcote House, located in southwest Northamptonshire, is the setting for Mr. Charles Bingley’s leased estate. The building was built in the 18th century, and was at one time owned by Anne of Cleves, who was Henry VIII’s fourth wife, and one who was actually allowed to keep her head!" (https://austenauthors.net/a-tour-of-estate-houses-used-in-pride-and-prejudice/)

BBC recreates what it would have been like at the Pride and Prejudice ball. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63lLJFBiV_M

The Boulanger was the closing dance at a ball, in which couples would align in a circle, turning dancers and their partners, and then repeated the dance in the opposite direction (https://www.yorkregencydancers.com/regency-dance.html). Below is a depiction of the dance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuSa5JLUAAY

Assemblies refers to social events that were held in local Assembly Rooms for the public. They were often balls, as in this case. The Assembly Rooms were large public spaces built for such an occasion.

A chaise and four is a small carriage pulled by two to four horses with two to four wheels

As with the other documents and writers, it is interesting to consider whether or not history has validated or contradicted the assertions of the author. Useful to remind students of the notion of "common law"

Being a clergymen as a living meant a guaranteed income and home for the lifetime of the clergyman lucky enough to be appointed to one. Since the incumbent did not receive a wage or sully his hands with works per se, it was considered a gentlemanly profession and many younger sons of gentlemen pursued the church as their career."

(Grace, Maria. Vicars, Curates, and Church Livings. Random Bits of Fascination. Web.)

"Emerge; become known." (OED).

In the 18th century, dinner was the main meal of the day and it was especially eventful if there were guests invited. The number of courses often changed but essentially each course would offer something different, one might be a soup and the next a meat. Based off of the Bennet's status they probably would have eaten cheaper meat like mutton (Porter, 18th- Century Food).

Until the the Married Women's Property Act of 1882, women could not have this privilege—and even then, you had to be married and have your husband's name! Mrs. Bennet has every right to fear the possibility that Charlotte and Mr. Collins could threaten the Bennet family and kick them out of their home.

According to and article titled Courting the Victorian Women, "Courtship was considered more a career move than a romantic interlude for young men, as all of a woman's property reverted to him upon marriage". Mr. Bingley traveling is discussed as everyone's business, and "reports" are updated of his whereabouts. It's not that the town where the Bennet's live is gossipy, but rather so many young women are hoping to marry Mr. Bingley and wait for the opportunity to run into him conveniently, or can know how many times he has gone to see Jane Bennet etc.

“A call should be returned with a call, a card with a card, within one week, or at the most, ten days.” (Hoppe "Calling Cards and the Etiquette of Paying Calls")

Ten thousand pounds is somewhere around 1,090,000 GBP adjusted for inflation from 1800. However, inflation rates vary; so this number is approximate ("Historical UK Inflation Rates Calculator").

For context: Miss Bingley, and Mrs. Hurst have twenty thousand pounds (ch. 4). Miss Darcy is worth thirty thousand (ch. 35). The Bennet sisters are splitting their mother's fortune of five thousand pounds (ch. 50).

“To settle (land, an estate, etc.) on a number of persons in succession, so that it cannot be bequeathed at pleasure by any one possessor” (OED).

Also spelled casino; "a card game for two to four people" (Pool, What Jane Austen Ate…, 281).

"A card game played by four people with forty cards that was the fashionable predecessor of whist" (Pool, What Jane Austen Ate…, 360).

From “to come out”—when a young woman formally enters adult society, usually at 17 or 18, and is eligible for marriage (Pool, What Jane Austen Ate…, 288).

The description of societies as being polished is referring to them as being "refined, cultured, or elegant"(OED).

“A tune, a melody; a piece of music in which a single melodic line predominates, and which has little or no distinctive accompaniment”(OED).

Gobo, a proof of concept.

Where we discover that Friendica (and Hubzilla) are clearly the best options for navigating The Free Network.

It's a shame that the connectivity to Twitter and other non-free networks and services is not better highlighted. It's clearly by being compatible with the non-free networks that the Free Network will win in the end -- by allowing people to escape en masse.

Advocacy, leadership, social media

social media use

NBC News is sharing a database of 200,000 tweets from accounts that pushed Russian propaganda during the 2016 US election.

Interestingly, Diigo allows many of these same functions.

I’d run across this wonder of an app a couple of years back too. I’ve been using it for a while, but to post to my WordPress and WithKnown based websites. WordPress and some of it’s subsidiary plugins utilize URL parameters in such a way that URL Forwarder can be easily configured for them as well.  Details can be found at http://boffosocko.com/2017/01/10/browser-bookmarklets-and-mobile-sharing-with-post-kinds-plugin-for-wordpress/#A%20Post%20Kinds%20%E2%80%9CBookmarklet%E2%80%9D%20for%20Mobile

Again, I find it important to note the emphasis placed by the founders on encouraging social intelligence as well as academic intelligence. The University was not meant solely as an institution of book-learnin', but also one of character development. Still, this sentiment is rather ironic in the face of UVA's history, but I prefer to look at it from the perspective of self-betterment. The social relations of the university are certainly included in "all the social situations under which [the student] shall be placed," so change can be made from the inside, especially with the advent of student self-governance.

This idea that fear cannot effectively regulate behavior after a certain time is founded on basic social psychological principles. There is a concept of internal versus external justification. With an external justification, such as fear, one does something only because they know they have to, which leads to only a temporary change. Internal justifications, such as belief in a system of governance or code of ethics, leads to a permanent change because one does it because they believe it is right.

Mike Hearn, formerly with Google, calls a recent report on Twitter bots promoting Brexit "deliberate lying, or if you like, fake news."

Without having looked into it further than reading his response, I'm doubtful about his doubtfulness. I suspect the kind of bots he was trying to identify were a different variety. He says he never saw "cyborg" accounts. He doesn't mention that Russia is known to employ people for social media propaganda.

Is it, really? I think this confuses the issue.

Digital Hydra: Security Implications of False Information Online (NATO StratCom COE, Nov 2017)

Wer den Social Media fernbleibt, ist vielleicht online, vielleicht auch nicht. In beiden Fällen können die, die online sind und bei Social Media mitmachen, denjenigen, der fernbleibt, nicht «sehen», auch nicht als Leerstelle. Wer nicht bei den Social Media mitmacht, existiert – aus der Innensicht – in gewisser Weise nicht. Es sei denn, das Fernbleiben wird innerhalb der Social Media thematisiert. Und das kann nur, wer mitmacht oder prominent mitgemacht hat. Aus den Social Media heraus könnte zwar nach außen auf jemanden verwiesen werden, der nicht mitmacht – aber wäre das Kommunikation? Doch nur dann, wenn diese Person innerhalb der Social Media bekannt ist. «Ich mache bei Euch nicht (mehr) mit!» mach bei Social Media keinen Sinn. Ich würde also behaupten: im Zusammenhang mit Social Media ist Nicht-Kommunizieren durchaus möglich.

Jonathan Albright says that Instagram is another major channel of Russian propaganda.

IRA (Internet Research Agency) - a Russian troll factory.

David Karpf argues that actual user engagement among US citizens can be hard to estimate, since a lot of apparent activity comes from fake accounts.

This (“[hearts] increased likes by a billion!”) is said by an actual employee of Twitter as if it means something, but it means nothing. Clicking on a heart is not some inherent good like increasing exercise, or upping the amount of fiber in your diet, or decreasing poverty. It’s a decision to provide Twitter with more data. That’s it.

The truth is many people working these jobs are so far into the machine they don’t see the difference between platform engagement (clicking on hearts) and civic and personal engagement (enjoying life more fully, thinking about things more deeply, empathizing more broadly, imagining and building a better world). They upped the click rate on a heart which is good for marketing. They are food scientists trying to tweak a flavor profile to get people to consume thirteen more Doritos a day.

This is something that's been nagging at me for the last couple of weeks.

Does it all matter? Does that tweet, share, thumbs up, like really matter at all? If you/we/I share out of tweet of support, outrage, or indifference, does it really matter on the grand scale.

Yes, I might have some likeminded individuals value it, read it, use it, share it. But, ultimately aren't we really just shouting into the echo chambers that have been built up for us thanks to these algorithms and networks? We're preaching to the choir.

I'd like to think that open can/will combat this...but unsure.

I think this is a post for Hybrid Ped or elsewhere. Lemme know if this resonates with anyone and you want to write it out.

Kris Schaffer distinguishes bots, sockpuppets, and trolls, and talks about how to identify botnets. Twitter and other social media sites should be able to eliminate many of the bogus accounts. But they don't.

Interesting section

Our social work education accrediting organization fetishizes competencies, thereby inducing stress in instructors, which then gets passed along to the students. I use hypothes.is extensively and can directly observe the students transition from coping to engagement.

Close reading is basically standardized in Common Core--it's referenced in the first ELA anchor standard for reading. Hypothesis is a means to assess competency in that standard by recording, measuring, and allowing feedback on

A big part of social reading: listening to the text and to other readers.

Because social and interactive, collaborative annotation can make reading more engaging.

Pretty good definition of social reading in fact!

Social reading makes reading a team sport!

Twitter took 11 months to close a Russian troll account that claimed to speak for the Tennessee Republican Party even after that state's real GOP notified the social media company that the account was a fake.

The account, @TEN_GOP, was enormously popular, amassing at least 136,000 followers between its creation in November 2015 and when Twitter shut it down in August

The Bystander Effect - Crowds sometimes fail to help someone in trouble: everyone assumes someone else will do it.

Similarly, people in groups often fail to check facts as carefully as they would if they were alone. They assume someone else has already checked.

Careless people, and bots, tend to share news quickly, without bothering to fact check. Once something has been shared thousands of times, even fairly careful people are likely to assume it must be true.

Again, if social media was to think a bit bigger, there are ways to apply this insight to deprivilege the influence of the quickest, and privilege the influence of those making informed decisions.

Mike Monteiro's short history of Twitter from the point of view of a long-time user. They went bad when they started tolerating racists for the sake of continued growth. And now Trump's tweets are a genuine threat to the entire world.

DH as moving English more toward the statistical...

Back in 2012, Zeynep Tufecki pointed out that election campaigns driven by big-data and social media could be bad for democracy.

This passage clearly exhibits the desire of human growth and expansion generated by the University. Again, there is this ambition to continue to be better than before; adding to the prestige of the University of Virginia. This quote discusses “qualities of virtue and social worth,” however, they do not outline their virtues and social worths - it is to be implied by the times of it’s creation. From my Doing Fieldwork Engagement, I have learned that social virtues and worths are extremely varied depending on the perspective. It is not fair to assume that everyone follows and conforms to one’s own expectations and values; in fact, this makes one ignorant and biased when collecting viable and strong data.

interesting

This is a critical distinction.

Is there data on this? What research has been done looking at networks and bystander intervention behaviors and/or beliefs? This would be a very interesting project.

Yes! This is the cost of geographical, educational and social marginalization. Different economic groups travel in different circles which reproduces their current economic position.

Again, I think the theoretical point behind social capital is that all relationships can have some value but it is also to show how some connections have more value than others. Certainly, knowing your neighbor or sharing stories with the clerk at the 7-11 is helpful to those how live in poverty. But, for those who are born at the top, they know the head of the corporations so the pay off is bigger. Both pay off but one pays off more.

I am not sure this is the best example of social capital in that these are family relationships not social relationships. I think the idea of social capital is to show that other relationships beyond family or blood have value.

What are the benefits of this? In terms of cost/benefit, if these ties pay off just as well as in person ties without the expending of as much time and labor, is that a net positive? Or is something lost in the ease of contact? Again, what does data say?

Are these students building social capital? Do these ties follow them outside the class? Do they draw on these ties for other purposes?

Are weak ties now more important than strong ties for seeking and finding social support? I am thinking of discussion boards/forums.

This is a new line of research and theory!!

These are the new questions raised by the digital world. What does digital social capital look like? Have our new ways of interacting replaced bowling? Are we still as social only in different ways?

Almost 25% of Japanese men and 10% Japanese women over age 60 say there is not a single person they could rely on in difficult times. The American crisis may not be so dissimilar from the Japanese one.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported there were 3,700 “unaccompanied deaths” in Japan in 2013, but some researchers estimate that because of significant under-counting, the true figure is closer to 30,000. In any case, the frequency of kodokushi has been on the rise since they emerged in the 1980s.

I wonder if people with social anxiety fear weak ties more? What is the psychological relationship between strong and weak ties? I also wonder about social mobility--do those at the higher levels have more weak ties? Spend more time on their weak ties?

I wonder if those who are more aware of their weak ties or have more contact with more ties have higher or lower social anxiety? We always think of social support as a net positive but is there such a thing as too much?

This is an interesting SaaS system for exploring how to create good moderation systems.

Moe aptly presents her argument again, as she argues that Elizabeth's frustration with Charlotte, for example, has to do with her own issues managing her frustration with "social forms." Moe allows the reader to "fill in the blank" here, as the reader can use this piece of information to better understand Elizabeth's reaction to Charlotte--her frustration is in Charlotte's refusal to resist the social forms that inherently oppress women and impact the emotional aspect of marriage. By giving her reader room to make this judgement herself, Moe's argument consequently becomes more concrete.

Main motivation for adoption of workplace social learning tools.

This space is fundamental to sociological theory. It the place where social forces exert power in the lives of individuals. SNA seeks to capture that influence and power.

This is fundamental to sociology as a discipline. We call it peer pressure, social support, social capital, norms, etc. This is why many who use SNA see it as the best methodology for doing sociology.

This is called the horizon of visibility. We generally know who are friends friends are but it is really hard to know who are friends friends friends are. SNA and the internet give us sight beyond the horizon. I wonder if that makes a difference in our choices or social capital?

Networks are like 'air'; they are all around us constantly. This class will not only help you see networks but also to see the complexity of them. They are growing more complex and more important to how our society functions. I often wonder if networks are not replacing institutions.

I think this is why we are so fascinated by social media; it has revealed what has always been under the surface. To me, networks are like 'air'; all around us but hard to see. SNA reveals the air.

I think this is a central question of our age--does social media make us happier? Increase democracy? Smarter? And the question always changes because the technology always changes. I now wonder about SnapChat. It functions a bit differently but with the same goal of connection. Does it produce better feelings than FB? Worse? More vicitimization? Less?

I think this is why they are hard to analyze...it is like trying to see and understand air. It is everywhere so it feels so normal and invisible. Networks, particularly human networks are the same. Humans have always been embedded in networks; we live, thrive and die in networks. They are another form of 'air'. The difference is that today, social media has made them more visible. We can now see them and analyze them in new ways. Hence, why this class is online :-)

I have never seen this movie, so the start of this scene is a bit confusing. Why are these people secluded from what seems like the rest of society? I also notice that there are no people of color aboard on this "rocket bus;" it seems like only the upper class are included so far.

This part of the text is a good example of how technology has become transparent because cellphones and other computers are used so regularly that the knowledge of how to use them, are second nature; however, social groups that are excluded from this idea are the lower class whom cannot afford such luxuries. Most of these examples seem to be geared towards the upper middle class.

Some ways to identify bots on Twitter.

*Social experiment*: Our cognitive perception of others ha s an effect on whether we decide to help or not.

A short film captures how social interactions influence our complex relationships between self-presentation, self-esteem and self concept in a unique way.

MIT is running a master's program in data, economics, and development policy with unique admission requirements. Anyone can apply after completing five online courses through edX with in-person exams.

https://micromasters.mit.edu/dedp/

Social-emotiobal learning is more important than any other subejct taught in class

https://arxiv.org/abs/1707.07592

Bot tweets are retweeted by humans at the same rate as human tweets. Stories propped up by 1,000 bots spread just like stories propped up by a thousand humans.

The backfire effect is getting turbocharged online. I think we’re getting more angry and convinced about everything, not because we’re surrounded by like-minded people, but by people who disagree with us. Social media allows you to find the worst examples of your opponents. It’s not a place to have your own views corroborated, but rather where your worst suspicions about the other lot can be quickly and easily confirmed.

I concur. Diigo could have been a leader in the social annotation space, way ahead of Hypothesis. But now I think H is gaining more momentum than Diigo, because it adheres to open standards.

Em.. this is an interesting statement. So Diigo is moving away from being social?

Reduce the number of distractions you get better results.

Again, economic relationship is also social relationship in Marx's eyes. Because both relationships co-exist.

In Marx's idea, superstructure is the base for other infrastructure, all ideas rely on superstructure. Superstructure can be looked at as the foundation.

In Marx's social relationship of production, Marx always include that social is also a part of economic activity. Marx pointed out what differentiate human from animals are that human feel the need to work together and make the things they need to survive, and as a result of this, social relationship became essential in our lives.

I find this statement to be eerily ironic given america currently

The transformation of modes of production and social organization resulting from changing superstructures -- due to a reordering of social relations and belief sets in a society -- and technologies that change the means of production. The process begins when problems with the system become apparent to producers but remain unaddressed by owners.

With the goal of uncovering the power structures in society and the true meanings of "common knowledge", Marx did a historical analysis of the society with consideration of the physical, social, political and economic environments in that society.

Taking into consideration the specific historical moment, its political, economic and social process and accompanying structures and relations when considering an event, phenomena, action etc.

Being that humans need to produce use-able goods from their natural environment, we must rely on the collective strength and ability of their community. Many people are involved in the labor process in production, thus, production creates social relationships.

This is a way of looking at class structure. In capitilistc society that we live in labor is extracted from the proletariat at the lowest possible costs for economic interest ( pay only enough to keep the proletariat alive and productive). Marx predicts the proletariat will drvie a change to communism from the capitalism

a classless and stateless society

caused by conflict between the oweners of material productions and the producers which results in a change in the economic bases. This then leads to a transformation of the superstructure.

social classes posses an awareness - of itself, the living conditions, the social world, - and futher their ability to act in their own interests is based on this awareness. Therefore, class consciousness has to be reached before the class can have a successful revolution.

Marx proposes that history is made of up stages driven by class conflict where there is an ownership class which controls the means of production and a lower class that thus provides labor for production. One class is thus exploiting another class. When these two come into conflict it leads to social change.

The Shouting Class -- people who criticize things as a way of life.

we’re at a pivotal point not just in the life of our democracy, but in how we think, read, and make choices. Selective information is being presented to us in a way that encourages selective reading and offers psychological and social rewards for, to put it bluntly, being stupid and submissive and spreading stupid to submit others.

...

What’s different now is that this propaganda is being gamed by professionals in a massive, orchestrated data campaign at a volume, pace, and consistency that not only muddies the truth, but completely eclipses the truth. Destroys the very notion of truth.

...

The truth about the truth is that we believe because we want to, because our ability to think independently is a point of pride for Americans. The people behind the curtain are telling us the same story we tell ourselves about ourselves. But this is also a vulnerability: Independence is in its purist form a kind of division. If you exploit it the right way, you can turn a democracy against itself.

Analysis of a subreddit for Trump supporters, based on comparisons of the users of various subreddits.

The history of the Seth Rich conspiracy theory.<br> https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/20/the-seth-rich-conspiracy-shows-how-fake-news-still-works/

This saying refers to a home in the eighteenth or nineteenth century that had elegant furniture throughout the home; and elegant dishes and dinnerware. The servants lived in brand new liveries. (janeaustens world)

According to the OED, rubber refers to "A set of games (usually three or five), the last of which is played to decide between the opponents when each has won an equal number; (hence) the winning of more than half the individual games by one side" (OED).

This phrase altogether indicates that Lady Middleton was partaking in a card game upon hearing the news of Marianne.

"A carriage with a half-head behind which can be raised or let down at pleasure, having a seat in front for the driver, and seats inside for two couples to sit facing each other" (OED).

For a young, unmarried woman such as Marianne to correspond with an unmarried man was considered extremely improper. In fact, for a single woman to initiate such correspondence would be considered scandalous, thereby tarnishing her virtue and reputation as an eligible bridal candidate. Only if they were engaged to each other would this practice be looked upon favorably; in fact, it might be necessary and expected. If they were not engaged, and especially not to each other, open correspondence would indicate a lack of morals in the woman, in that society would assume the young woman to be the man's mistress. Brandon follows this statement by extrapolating that Marianne and Willoughby would soon be married, since that would be the only alternative so her social reputation would not suffer.

"Calling cards became popular at the end of the 18th century and bore the visitor's name, title and residence." (Grace, Maria. "Morning Calls and Formal Visits: Socializing in the Regency Era" English Historical Fiction Authors, http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2013/08/morning-calls-and-formal-visits.html . Accessed 24 April 2017.) The purpose of the calling card that Willoughby leaves behind at Mrs. Jennings' residence serves to inform her, as the mistress of the house, of his presence in London. As her acquaintance, it would have been considered rude of him not to do so.

"An attendant or foot servant; one employed to run ahead of or alongside a coach, carriage" (OED).

"The flesh of a calf as an article of diet. A calf...as killed for food or intended for this purpose. Now rare. Chiefly in names of dishes. Made from veal, as veal pie, veal broth, veal cutlet, veal gravy" (OED).

To "take orders" means to ordain as a clergyman to the Anglican Church. In the Regency era, many young gentlemen looked to the church as a professional option, especially younger sons who had no other inheritance or estate.

At this time it was not unusual for women to go to London or other urban settings for access to different experiences. They offered many opportunities for new social interaction and there is ample evidence of women traveling to London and partaking of its many social activities. There were also many opportunities of new experiences for pleasure and excitement, some through social interaction. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_out/urban_life_04.shtml

Short for 'post-chaise', defined as ""a horse-drawn, usually four-wheeled carriage (in Britain usually having a closed body, the driver or postilion riding on one of the horses) used for carrying mail and passengers, esp. in the 18th and early 19th centuries"" (OED).

The tradesmen or middle sort are below Gentry and make their money by working. They could have as much or more money than the gentry class in some cases, but their status was always considered as lower.

http://www4.wittenberg.edu/academics/hist/crom/brit/socstruc.html

"A room reserved for reception of company, and to which the ladies withdraw from the dining-room after dinner" (OED).

The drawing-room had feminine decorations compared to the other rooms in a home; which included classically tasteful furnishings and musical instruments" (Drawing rooms, The Regency Town House).