Thoughts on Nakamura (1-94)

In her intro, Nakamura states that the purpose of her book is to "focus on the ways that users of the Internet collaboratively produce digitial images of the body...in the context of racial and gender identity formation" (5). I found this a fascinating mode of critique. The Internet has become a visual-generating medium where text is no longer the only option. As our experience with Photoshop has taught us, ideas and creations of self-imaging are at our fingertips, and we can share those images with classmates simultaneously (not to mention the rest of the world, if only so many people were interested in our 709 blogs). Thus, it would seem important to analyze how we portray ourselves with the visual tools and outlets the Internet provides.

After reading the first couple of chapters (maybe I've not gotten far enough into the book to make a fair assessment), I found myself with many questions about the value of such analysis. Her second chapter focuses on AIM buddy icons. If we assume that the author of "Muslim" is a 15-year old Muslim girl from Detroit, why should we be suprised that her buddy icon features a Muslim girl with a DKNY shirt? This seems like a normal progression of expression, no different than if we were asked to draw a picture of ourselves. However, the Internet hides the actual person, so we can't be sure if "Muslim" is a Muslim girl or a 50 year-old white guy. The "anonymous" user is the wild card in terms of visual expression in an online environment. I was at first skeptical of Nakamura's choices of analysis, but I'm really beginning to see the value of online image analysis. The Internet certainly holds the potential for endless creativity with how we portray ourselves, but how will that change the way we communicate with others?

If we can be anyone we want online--which in most cases, we already can be--how will that affect our cultures? Nakamura raises a great point about how children today seem to be skipping the written text phase of learning and are jumping directly into a digital world of images and pictures. I've always been sure that the Internet will eventually be accessible to everyone on the planet, so when that day comes, it's feasible that a world-wide, uniform online culture could develop. Skin color would no longer matter, because each individual could represent themselves in any way they chose. And since the online environment would likely become the focal point of communication and culture, the actual human beings wouldn't really matter anymore, just like it doesn't matter if "Muslim' is a 50-year old white guy.