New Media and Culture 6 April 28, 2009

This is my final post for class. I would like to talk about my final project… but I’m afraid that that isn’t going to be an acceptable topic for a post on class material. maybe. Instead, I’ll talk about gender and identity on the internets. First, there is the question of whether or not we have one true identity or multiple identities that develop in reaction to certain circumstances. In my opinion, I think identity depends on the situation. The internet provides people with an opportunity to create any identity - perhaps even the identity that they themselves feel is “true”.

Now with gender; generally it refers to biological sexes. However, with the internet, we are able to examine gender in other ways: how it is constructed, learned, and performed. When online, one could easily take on the role of the opposite sex. By doing this, it is possible to interact socially as the opposite sex and to in turn learn what it is like to be treated in your assumed gender role. In a way, the same applies for race – it can be socially constructed, learned and performed.

Psychologist Sherry Turkle addresses these issues in her book Life on Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet (1994). With people spending more and more time online, how will we change socially? Turkle claims that the computer is playing a central role in how we are “retribalizing”. Being able to adopt any identity may lead to hurt relationships with a lack of commitment and a lack of accountability in our actions. Will it be the new “I’m sorry, but I was drunk…”? “I’m sorry, but that was just me online… I don’t even know her in real life…” Hmmm. I feel like most of these identity changes and gender role assumptions apply to chat room situations where one does not know anyone they are interacting with in real life.

Now you don’t need to go to college out of state to change who you are. Just go online.

Book Review: Snow Crash April 19, 2009

This is my 5th post (of 6 total) for New Media and Culture. Over spring break we were assigned to read Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash. The nerdy part of me was really excited to read the book, and I was surprised to come back to class and hear that only about half of us actually enjoyed it. I suppose cyberpunk isn’t for everyone.
To start off, I’ll explain a little background information. As a genre, cyberpunk is a new wave of science fiction involving cybernetics (defined in lecture as: “a science of studying control and communication in the animal and the machine +  punk music and aesthetic). Cyberpunk isn’t just a genre, but it can also be considered a lifestyle or a culture. Neal Stephenson is considered to be an one of the original cyberpunk writers- along with William Gibson (“inventor” of cyberpunk fiction and “cyberspace”, and author of Neuromancer). Themes of cyberpunk include: hackers as heros fighting evil society, set on earth in near future- often an alternate reality, post-apocalyptic and a dystopia, incredible technology, AI, people often enhanced by machinery, hard to distinguish between real life and virtual reality, AND everything is computerized. There are also many post-modern themes that overlap- but I don’t want to get in to that right now.

So. With Snow Crash:
Main characters Hiro Protagonist – a well known hacker and top sword fighter- along with Y.T. (Yours Truly) – a kourier (delivers on a skateboard aka “plank”) and thrasher- become partners in uncovering information on the virus and drug called Snow Crash, and attempting to prevent an “infocalypse”. The drug affects hackers and programmers through exposure to raw bitmaps, and other citizens through a physical drug laced with the blood of an infected hacker. As Hiro and Y.T. discover new intel on the powerful people involved- such as Bob L. Rife and harpooning Aleut Raven- they are pulled deeper into a situation that mimics history from the age of the Sumerians and Babel. In a post-apocalytic L.A., the world is about franchises, information, speed, and technology. The metaverse, an alternate reality, plays an intergral role by allowing the characters to connect with each other in the ways that permit rapid information sharing- both good and evil. The cyberpunk novel ties in humor and history well.

Many of the students in my class complained about the ending of Snow Crash. On authors@google Neal Stephenson discusses this common conception between minutes 10:45 and 13:00.

New Media and Culture 4 March 13, 2009

For this post, I am writing about the Zapatista movement and the internet’s effect on it. First off, I’ll give you a little background information on the rebellion. It started in January of 1994 in a number of cities in the Mexican state Chiapas- one of the poorest regions of Mexico.  The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) is the group rebelling against the Mexican government. The issue is that Chiapas has seen very little development and very little money put into their region. Dispite being rich in resources, (petroleum, coffee, beef) the money made from them does not go back to the locals. With NAFTA in effect, the Zapatistas rebelled; and the information regarding these protests was sent out into the world via the internet – exposing the EZLN’s situation in relation to the Mexican government.

The internet’s role in this rebellion, is basically that it allows the EZLN to express their situation to the world without being stifled (with misrepresentation or with violence) by the Mexican Government. The only way these people are able to have an international presence is through the web. According to Mikele R. Meether’s quote of Harry Cleaver’s The Zapatistas and the Electronic Fabric of Struggle, “the international circulation through the Net of the struggles of the Zapatistas in Chiapas is one of the most successful examples of the use of computer communications by a grassroots social movement.” By using the internet, the rebellion changed from a military conflict (in which the Zapatistas would have no chance) to a political conflict. The EZLN does not have access to the world wide web, but instead faxes information to outside sources that in turn upload it.

I believe this movement would not be possible without user generated internet. The information regarding the Zapatista revolution is not necessarily for large news corporations, but from independent human rights organizations.

New Media and Culture 3 March 12, 2009

This go around I’m writing on what we’ve learned regarding internet addiction in my New Media and Culture class. Before this I don’t believe I ever really thought about internet addiction as a serious problem. Sure, there are days where I wish I wouldn’t have wasted so much time on the computer, and sure there are people I know who I really wish would stop playing World of Warcraft… But I didn’t know much about internet use outside of my little circle.
For lecture, we read an article about an internet addiction rehab just outside of Beijing, China run by Tao Ran, a progressive Chinese psychologist. Upon reading it, I was surprised at how many angles this camp attempts to treat from. First off, the rehab center for “non-material” addictions (think: work, sex , shopping etc.) is located on a military base where the addicts must participate in drills in military bearings and formations as well as “grueling” workouts before a 9:30pm bedtime. The author of the article calls this: People’s Liberation Army style. At the same time, they are also treating the patients with social games like laser tag, counseling, sex ed, confidence building activities, and 60% of the members with medication. The article explains that Tao defines internet addiction as spending more than six hours a day for three months or more at a time on the internet on non-work or study related material.
One profile discussed in the article (Jia Chunyang) shocked me because of the complete disregard for the real world he had upon entering the rehab center. I won’t go into that now though… you can read the article. However, this got me thinking about my own internet use-age. I’m online a fair amount, and I admit I do enjoy checking my email and facebook and do feel a little behind when I haven’t checked them in just a day… but I’m not even close to the 15 day internet binging Jia Chunyang was guilty of. In class we discussed our own possible internet addiction. A couple of students raised their hands when asked if they thought they were addicted, however, I don’t believe everyone was taking into account that work and study related online time is not included.

Anyway.

This brings me to another article. One about a man and his two lives. This man has a real wife (for now…) and a second life wife (4eva!) and what I would call an addiction. The article poses the question: is he cheated on his wife? Well, there are a few ways of answering that. My take is: pysically- no, emotionally- oh yeah. This man is spending his waking hours on the internet, hardly noticing the lunch his actual living, breathing life partner left for him on top of the computer- of all places. He is a success in 2nd life; owning properties and surrounded by a large group of friends. Before this article I had already made the decision to not try 2nd life… mostly because I fear myself getting too into it (this coming from someone who once or twice played the SIMS so much they infiltrated her dreams. sick). Now I’m sure I’ll stick to one life… I have enough to do already.

All in all: I’m convinced that internet addiction is a real problem.

New Media and Culture 2 February 19, 2009

This is my second blog for my New Media and Culture course. Just last week our class read and discussed author Andrew Keen’s Cult of the Amateur. Before I had started the book, our class watched a Google author interview with Keen about his book. He is a British man living in the United States who was once in love with the internet and its possibilities, but has now become quite cynical of web 2.0 and its elimination of the expert, aka the “middle man”.

For those of you who aren’t learning about this in your classes, this essentially means that with a user generated web (web 2.0), you are your own publisher, producer, what have you. Keen states that with blogs and sites like youtube.com or Wikipedia, users (like me, for instance) can put whatever they want out onto the web without guaranteeing facts. How he described blogs like mine made me feel as if I were somehow polluting the internet. I feel that this is true in some circumstances… perhaps with some senseless youtube videos, or with websites that misinform their readers. Really, though, I feel that it is also important to have an outlet for creativity, and self expression. As long as internet users are still able to filter through the nonsense and find scholarly material, allowing the average citizen to have a place on the net is overall very positive.

Most of what Keen had to say rubbed me the wrong way, however, I am still able to understand his message. Without the expert, there are many, many confusing websites available to be taken for general knowledge, creating a possible hassle in finding the truth. It also is taking away the “title” from artists or scholars who deserve to have their research published or their work admired. What annoys me is that it sometimes comes out like a “we earned it, you don’t deserve the same opportunities” argument. I’ve come to the conclusion for now that I like the advancements in new media (even if it is hard to let my romanticized views of old media suffer) and that “democratizing” the internet may make our society more aware and active.

New Media and Culture 1 February 19, 2009

Alright, so I mentioned before that I am writing a total of six entries for my New Media and Culture class. I am actually really enjoying it so far… and I’m not just saying that because I’m being graded on this. The information overlaps really well with my other classes so that I can understand everything on a more meaningful level. I am going to talk about the social networking site Facebook in this entry.

One of the readings we did for class was one titled “Me Media: How hanging out on the Internet became big business” (The New Yorker, 2007). It is essentially all about the “birth” of Facebook; how Mark Zuckerberg has always been a master at computer programming. After the creating and almost immediate shut down of his site “facemash” (a Harvard “hot or not?” … haha), he began work on a site called HarvardConnection he had been recruited for by a few of his classmates. Before he finished with that project, Mark Zuckerberg became involved in one of his own… putting the Harvard Facebook (Ivy League directories) online.

As you’re all hopefully aware of, Facebook became a wild success, expanding from only Harvard to all Ivy League Schools, to other Universities, to High Schools, and eventually to anyone- young and old. My own take on this “invention” is that it must have been such a success because the general public was ready and needed such a (simple) way to keep in contact, and were thrilled by the “newness” of social networking sites. When reading this article, I thought of Zuckerberg very positively. However the issue of him having stolen the idea from his colleague’s HarvardConnection – now ConnectU – does put a sour taste in my mouth. I will say though, that I do like Facebook… it is kind of like an answering machine- I check it just the same way.