In response to our discussion on the Chun reading last week, one aspect that I would like to remember and come back to is that of morality. The paragraph by Elmer-Dewitt on page 88 got me thinking about some simple ideas that could resolve many of the controversies surrounding pornography on the internet. "Pornography is powerful stuff, and as long as there is demand for it, there will always be a supply" (88).
This particular section talked about the message vs. the medium, and which one is to blame for the spread of porn online. While the Internet has certainly enabled pornography to come into our homes, it is merely following the preceding mediums (printing press, TV, etc) by maximizing how many people it can reach. In other words, the content is naturally following the progression of information access. That said, morality, or in this case, parents teaching/informing their children about pornography seems to be a constant line of defense that the medium can't touch (seemingly). Yes, kids will always be curious, and there will always be parents who won't be concerned about their kids viewing porn, but for those who do care, it seems that installing a sense of morality will, at least in some part, help to curb some of the dangers of online porn. I find it interesting that a human sense of morality could be the answer to technological questions.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Project ideas...
From the first day of class I've found blogging a fascinating (and fun) way to communicate and discuss topics with each other in class. In contrast to classes I've taken in the past that have had discussion components, I've always felt that the blogging aspect unified our ideas a little better and made actual in-class disscusion all the more beneficial.
Other than reading a few blogs, I didn't have much experience writing or responding to blogs before this class, so for a semester project I want to focus on the blog medium and how it effects community and network-building.
Some initial ideas:
1. How blog format promotes community--Chun's concept of space and Weinbergers idea of disorder. I've been thinking about how blog links tie into endless, seemingly random networks and how this is a basis for the formation of blog community.
2. As a basis for some research, I want to do an interview with a local blogger that runs a fairly successful blog about the city of Milwaukee. I've followed her blog since day one, and asking her about it one year later might reveal some interesting things about growth and community.
3. Scouring the Internet for blogs dedicated to improving blogging, hits, and number of readers in an attempt to build networks.
4. Ideas from our class postings and experiences.
I think it would be fun to write this project out as a blog post (or several if need be). Having links insteads of Works Cited, maybe some Photoshop or iMovies, and the blog format in general would be an interesting way to read a "term paper." I think the way the class would read the project would lend well to some of the things I'll talk about.
This seems like a lot of rambling right now, but hopefully things will come into focus a little better once I narrow things down and get some feedback.
Other than reading a few blogs, I didn't have much experience writing or responding to blogs before this class, so for a semester project I want to focus on the blog medium and how it effects community and network-building.
Some initial ideas:
1. How blog format promotes community--Chun's concept of space and Weinbergers idea of disorder. I've been thinking about how blog links tie into endless, seemingly random networks and how this is a basis for the formation of blog community.
2. As a basis for some research, I want to do an interview with a local blogger that runs a fairly successful blog about the city of Milwaukee. I've followed her blog since day one, and asking her about it one year later might reveal some interesting things about growth and community.
3. Scouring the Internet for blogs dedicated to improving blogging, hits, and number of readers in an attempt to build networks.
4. Ideas from our class postings and experiences.
I think it would be fun to write this project out as a blog post (or several if need be). Having links insteads of Works Cited, maybe some Photoshop or iMovies, and the blog format in general would be an interesting way to read a "term paper." I think the way the class would read the project would lend well to some of the things I'll talk about.
This seems like a lot of rambling right now, but hopefully things will come into focus a little better once I narrow things down and get some feedback.
Recent article of interest...
Going back to the Nakamura/Rose reading, I found this article on Fox Sports today that relates to some of the topics we have discussed concerning race and visuals.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Thoughts on Chun (1-127)...
There were two different areas that struck me during the first two chapters of Chun: 1) Her notion of "space" and the separation of physical and virtual bodies, and (2) the differences between the message and the medium.
First, Chun states that cyberspace "is a free space in which to space out about space and place, fact and fiction" (43) allowing users to "see oneself...where one is not" (54). As I was reading, I began to get a little paranoid about what I looked like while I was surfing the net, checking email, or chatting with friends online. I think if we were to watch a videotape of ourselves doing these things, Chun's notion of separation of the physical self from the virtual self would be quite self evident. Of course, our fingers are typing, our facial expressions might change, or we might cross or uncross our legs, but our minds occupy a space that is limitless, yet no bigger than the diameter of our screen. We fully absorb ourselves in this world, whether we are shopping on Amazon or sampling music on iTunes. "By moving from URL to URL, we cut the scenery or space between fixed locations" and are able to navigate through vast corridors of information (47). I wonder how this shift from a physical space to a virtual space will eventually effect the workplace and academia. Our class is a prime example--outside of our class discussions, we interact through our blogs. Rather than physically meeting for discussions, we "jack-in" to our virtual class space, read each other's postings, and experience an infinite potential of ideas, links, and pictures/videos. And all we need is a 15-inch computer screen to do that?
Second, I wanted to briefly touch on Chun's notion of message vs. medium. I think a lot of ideas from this chapter will be fleshed out as we get into later chapters, but I found it very interesting that some argue (concerning pornography) that "the medium was the message, and the message was the pornographic invasion of the home" (81). To me, the invasion of pornography into homes via the Internet is a natural progression, just as it was with the printing press and television. Porn will always be one of the "staple dark sides" of humanity, and, as Chun states, pornography, sexual practices, and commerce have not changed since the printing press, or since early prostitution" (80). Therefore, the type of medium does not matter. There are certainly a lot of good things online as well, and I think many of the same arguments could be made for ESPN.com bringing sports news into the home, too. Or into the workplace, which I am guilty of. The medium enables, but the message itself will always be interpreted by the user. I think that many take the medium for granted because of the ease with which it allows us to access information, but I don't see the two connected anymore than I connect a person's voice with my cellphone.
First, Chun states that cyberspace "is a free space in which to space out about space and place, fact and fiction" (43) allowing users to "see oneself...where one is not" (54). As I was reading, I began to get a little paranoid about what I looked like while I was surfing the net, checking email, or chatting with friends online. I think if we were to watch a videotape of ourselves doing these things, Chun's notion of separation of the physical self from the virtual self would be quite self evident. Of course, our fingers are typing, our facial expressions might change, or we might cross or uncross our legs, but our minds occupy a space that is limitless, yet no bigger than the diameter of our screen. We fully absorb ourselves in this world, whether we are shopping on Amazon or sampling music on iTunes. "By moving from URL to URL, we cut the scenery or space between fixed locations" and are able to navigate through vast corridors of information (47). I wonder how this shift from a physical space to a virtual space will eventually effect the workplace and academia. Our class is a prime example--outside of our class discussions, we interact through our blogs. Rather than physically meeting for discussions, we "jack-in" to our virtual class space, read each other's postings, and experience an infinite potential of ideas, links, and pictures/videos. And all we need is a 15-inch computer screen to do that?
Second, I wanted to briefly touch on Chun's notion of message vs. medium. I think a lot of ideas from this chapter will be fleshed out as we get into later chapters, but I found it very interesting that some argue (concerning pornography) that "the medium was the message, and the message was the pornographic invasion of the home" (81). To me, the invasion of pornography into homes via the Internet is a natural progression, just as it was with the printing press and television. Porn will always be one of the "staple dark sides" of humanity, and, as Chun states, pornography, sexual practices, and commerce have not changed since the printing press, or since early prostitution" (80). Therefore, the type of medium does not matter. There are certainly a lot of good things online as well, and I think many of the same arguments could be made for ESPN.com bringing sports news into the home, too. Or into the workplace, which I am guilty of. The medium enables, but the message itself will always be interpreted by the user. I think that many take the medium for granted because of the ease with which it allows us to access information, but I don't see the two connected anymore than I connect a person's voice with my cellphone.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Thoughts on Benkler...
_The Wealth of Networks_ was quite the meaty read, but I suppose the best way to give a summary statement would be the following from page 30..."the Internet decentralizes the capital structure of production and distribution of information, knowledge, and culture."
As Benkler hits on again and again (and again and again), we are seeing the complete restructuring of information and cultural environments. There's a lot to sift through, but I think the best place to begin is to look at the way information is becoming a public good, rather than a pure, private good. The example that struck me hardest was that of the "Clickworkers." I thought it was amazing how 85,000 untrained users could map out craters and almost perfectly replicate the skills of a trained geologist. Imagine the difference in costs: a very low budget to organize this volunteer effort compared to the money it costs to train and hire a geologist (I'm not sure how much that is, but I'm sure it's much more than what they paid to put together this experiment). I think it would be an understatement to say that "digitally networked environments makes nonmarket strategies vastly more effective."
He also uses the example of open source software. In many cases, one user is defined as the author, another user identifies the bugs, and yet another user fixes the bugs. All three of these actions are completely independent of each other, yet still yield a viable and useful software product. This type of unmanaged collaboration is similar to that of the Clickworkers, only on a much smaller scale. However, the driving force behind each of these phenomena is the same--decentralized access to information and production.
Whether it's 85,000 amateur "geologists," or the thousands of users who run and edit Wikipedia, decentralized information illustrates the "reorganizing of the public sphere." This has become a powerful tool in today's Internet culture, and has the real potential of forever changing global economies. Normal, everyday users of the Internet don't have to raise the necessary capital to become powerful players because so much information is now free and shared. The concept of Exclusive Rights is becoming more and more challenging to pull off because information is becoming more dependent on itself. I picture it as this "eternal stack" where each piece becomes crucial to the formation of the next. In the case of the Clickworkers, the crater maps they created exemplify this phenomenom. Who can take credit for the production of that information? It was an 85,000 member team effort, and it cost beans to put it together.
There are endless examples of this in the online world today, and this network that Benkler describes is only becoming more complex. He uses terms such as "unmanaged collaboration" and "resources governed by commons," but I still think that "decentralized" is the best fit term. Certainly there are centers of information exchange, but when access to these centers opens futher and further, the clear lines our market and nonmarket behaviors once saw become blurred.
As Benkler hits on again and again (and again and again), we are seeing the complete restructuring of information and cultural environments. There's a lot to sift through, but I think the best place to begin is to look at the way information is becoming a public good, rather than a pure, private good. The example that struck me hardest was that of the "Clickworkers." I thought it was amazing how 85,000 untrained users could map out craters and almost perfectly replicate the skills of a trained geologist. Imagine the difference in costs: a very low budget to organize this volunteer effort compared to the money it costs to train and hire a geologist (I'm not sure how much that is, but I'm sure it's much more than what they paid to put together this experiment). I think it would be an understatement to say that "digitally networked environments makes nonmarket strategies vastly more effective."
He also uses the example of open source software. In many cases, one user is defined as the author, another user identifies the bugs, and yet another user fixes the bugs. All three of these actions are completely independent of each other, yet still yield a viable and useful software product. This type of unmanaged collaboration is similar to that of the Clickworkers, only on a much smaller scale. However, the driving force behind each of these phenomena is the same--decentralized access to information and production.
Whether it's 85,000 amateur "geologists," or the thousands of users who run and edit Wikipedia, decentralized information illustrates the "reorganizing of the public sphere." This has become a powerful tool in today's Internet culture, and has the real potential of forever changing global economies. Normal, everyday users of the Internet don't have to raise the necessary capital to become powerful players because so much information is now free and shared. The concept of Exclusive Rights is becoming more and more challenging to pull off because information is becoming more dependent on itself. I picture it as this "eternal stack" where each piece becomes crucial to the formation of the next. In the case of the Clickworkers, the crater maps they created exemplify this phenomenom. Who can take credit for the production of that information? It was an 85,000 member team effort, and it cost beans to put it together.
There are endless examples of this in the online world today, and this network that Benkler describes is only becoming more complex. He uses terms such as "unmanaged collaboration" and "resources governed by commons," but I still think that "decentralized" is the best fit term. Certainly there are centers of information exchange, but when access to these centers opens futher and further, the clear lines our market and nonmarket behaviors once saw become blurred.
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