E.J Westlake (2008). Friend me if you Facebook: Generation Y and performative surveillance.

E.J Westlake (2008). Friend me if you Facebook: Generation Y and performative surveillance.


The author starts of the article by illustrating their own experiences with facebook, which I found often resonating my own feelings as a frequent user of facebook, such as Facebook News Feeds and feeling uncomfortable about my online privacy during it’s inception (i.e. who can see what I write and to whom). Some of the key topics the author addresses includes: Generation attitudes, surveillance & Performative surveillance, facebook’s background, fake profiles and availability of information, Facebook’s News Feed controversy amongst other things.

When addressing Generation Y the author argues that most of generation Y who use facebook do so to identify the limitations of normative behavior through unique performances of an online self. As apposed to deviant exhibitionism on or a passive acceptance of intrusive surveillance. Whilst I’m still undecided regarding Westlake’s argument I can see merit to her argument on this. However I would have liked more elaboration on their argument, then what I read.

According to the author, attitudes of Baby- Boomers and Generation X-ers, is that Generation Y is detached socially and politically because of technology. However the author goes on to note –

“Studies show, in fact, that while young people spend more time on the computer (Fox and Madden 2006), they are more connected than ever in large part because technology facilitates contact in ways unfathomable even 10 years ago (Boase 2006).” – E.J. Westlake (2008)

Through my experience of facebook and myspace, as a frequent user, I tend to agree with the latter. Topics such as, socially and politically ones, are strong amongst facebook users including Generation Y.

Westlake also refers to Erving Goffman when addressing computer-mediated interaction. Westlake says,

“whilst certain elements that Goffman defined as part of the “front stage” performance are absent in computer-mediated interaction (visual cues such as clothing and facial expression and aural cues such as tone), they are replaced in chat and on websites by more “staged” elements such as font, photographs, music, and graphics.”


According to the Westlake some sociologists are worried that computer-mediated communication possibly could shape a generation, which has not properly socialized. Whilst these can be seen as genuine concerns it’s too early to know if these concerns carry any warrant. Moreover Westlake says, “Research suggests that computer-mediated contact does not replace more traditional modes of interaction.”

Other topics briefly touched were ‘fake profiles’ and ‘how facebook created its own subculture and language.’ One of the examples used for this was the variations of using the ‘Facebook’ as a verb or noun.

No doubt a major concern for the modern day parenting is Internet predators, which the author briefly looks at under the header ‘Surveillance.’ In 2005 & 2006 Facebook and MySpace made headlines for two reasons - Internet predators and had justifiable unease about the availability of information for state surveillance. MySpace was more global and lacked the similar precincts that facebook enforced on its users. So when several children were stalked on MySpace the alarms were raised regarding the possible threats of online user profiles. Westlake states:

“Facebook users have reported to me that they find the openness of the MySpace environment unsettling:

“I’m also on MySpace, which i used mostly for the kids i know who don’t go to college. It’s sort of creepy tho because of randoms. I had this guy who worked with a musical theatre/ cabaret record label randomly message me because he saw me on [another user’s] friends [list] and thought I ‘looked fun.’ It was true I had a crazy bowling picture of myself as my picture—but it was kinda creepy.”


Westlake says the U.S. Congress has made efforts to have limitation on access to websites such as MySpace and Facebook via legislation such as HR 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act, this would mean schools and libraries would have to make online social networking sites unattainable on their networks.

Through my own experiences online social networking sites like MySpace & Facebook can definitely be a playground for the online predator(s) and that is why I think it is a better idea to educate its users on how to practice online safety. Online networking sites have become very important in today’s society (i.e. politics, business, social and government etc…) so to simply restrict access may not necessary be the answer. Moreover online social networking sites could open up economic opportunities and / or new concepts from online participation.

Christopher Harper (2003). Journalism in a digital age.

In H. Jenkins & D. Thorburn (Eds), Democracy and New Media (pp. 271-280). Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
(In E-reserve)

Clear paper about how journalistic practices change with the internet. It is from 2003, takes a good look at “old media” journalism and continuity in the present.

Christopher Harper starts of by referring to the term “Defining moment” (a phrase meaning which a story / event has defined a specific medium or brand). He then compares defining moments for the other mediums such as television (John F. Kennedy), radio (Hindenburg), print (Vietnam War) and then the internet, in which Harper says Pundits have used a variety of defining moments (e.g. TWA Flight 800 crash, Princess Diana, the mars Probe and Monica Lewinsky case) regarding the web. However he is quickly to state that a defining moment doesn’t always mean that the internet and the WWW have obtained the power to establish a specific agenda for the test of the media and public. It is the media who sets the agenda “agenda setting” (i.e. what to think about…). According to Harper – 1970’s researchers, Max McCombs & Donald Shaw argue that it is not the individual media who determine what a reader thinks, but gives the reader something to think about. Moreover he says the media can produce stories in a certain light which may affect the reader’s interpretation of the news. He says - only the mars probe and Lewinsky case have come close to having a significant impact on the issues of the day by attracting mass interest online.

The 2003 paper says the web cannot set an agenda because the audience is relatively small when comparing with newspapers and televisions. However I no longer see this as the case in 2010 though I still agree that for the most part the broadcast outlets and newspapers still control the bulk of the “agenda setting” of journalistic agendas and public debate…

Harper says – “online journalism stands to alter dramatically the traditional role of the reporter and editor” – this is because it give heaps more power to the reader / user and allows them to challenge the traditional role of the publication as the gate-keeper of news and info. The user can either still depend on the gatekeeper to select and filter the news in the traditional sense or can take a more hands on approach by going to the basic documents of stories. This means the reader can check out the stories for them selves by comparing against other sources. Plus have access to archives, which weren’t so easily accessible using traditional sources.

Online journalism opens up new ways of presenting the story via utilizing a variety of online media-text such as - audio, video and images. It also gives the user the ability to search for data quick and easily. Online journalism also gives outlets for nontraditional means of transmitting news and info. Even back in 2003 online news had the ability to break news headlines faster then any other sources (i.e. TV, print or radio…) and provides more space giving journalist & editors less restrictions when choosing which stories to chose.

According to Harper researchers found that Gate-Keepers – may chose digital online stories based on ‘Intensity of the threshold value’ – ‘Unexpectedness’ – ‘Sociocultural values’ – ‘Continuity’ and ‘Cultural proximity or relevance.’ Compared to the Gate-keepers roles – which don’t apply to online – ‘Time span’ – ‘Clarity or lack of ambiguity’ – ‘consonance’ and ‘composition.’

Harper says – Computer consultant Leah Gentry argues that while there is much more options online in the way a story can be presented using links, blogs and often broken up stories into their component parts the same traditional Tenets will remain the same.

Another aspect Harper addresses is the structural design of online media. Tribune reporter Darnell Little creates storyboards for what the main pages showing how they’ll look and work, a process which has been used in film and TV for years. However with online media it’s different due to layout restriction i.e. computer screens tend to be smaller then the front newspaper page. So he uses a layering process, which utilizes images, text, headlines, navigation and highlighted links that flows and leads into other parts all of which he says makes the news easy to follow and read.

Harper continues by pointing out the different views amongst reporters regarding digital journalism and its future. He says researchers found reporters falling into three groups - ‘Benevolent revolutionaries’ (Enthusiastic ones about new technologies) – ‘nervous traditionalists’ (the ones that aren’t) and ‘serene separatists’’ (not scared by new technology but think its impact won’t make much difference). As this paper was written in 2003 it would be interesting what the views would be in 2010?

One of the final points Harper touches is - How will new media make its money…? This is a question that still today seems to be ambiguous according to Mignon Shardlow (Topic 3.1 lecture). Never-the-less in 2010 digital journalism continues to break the latest news faster then any other source and gives its readers more power to the user by allowing them to challenge the traditional role of the publication as the gate-keeper of news and information.

TED talk – Jimmy Wales on the creation of Wikipedia

Jimmy Wales first starts of by discussing the architect of Wikipedia, which is a freely licensed encyclopedia written by thousands of volunteers in many languages and is truly global. It’s written by using wiki software, meaning that anyone can join and edit. Wales says it’s managed by virtually all-volunteer staff within a close community.

It’s a free online encyclopedia, which enables its volunteer contributors to collaborating, created, self-organizing, self-correcting an ever-growing multilingual encyclopedia. According to Wales it’s funded by donation from public and is in the top 50 websites and more popular then the New York Times, which employees 100s while Wikipedia employees only one, which is the led software developer.

He also states that one of the most important components that assist with Wikipedia’s Manage quality control is its neutrality policy. A policy that’s carries a Neutral Point of View meaning it social concept of co-operation, avoids some philosophical issues. The Diverse political, religious, cultural backgrounds of its community Wales says are kept together by our NPOV policy. This policy also may make it less controversial then offers.

When addressing the question on how good is Wikipedia he says its not perfect but pretty good considering its crazy model. Wales says when comparing Wikipedia to traditional sources they win hands-down. Wales also uses an example of a quality test done by a German magazine, which tested German Wikipedia. The German magazine found, according to Wales – its not perfect, but much better than you would expect – comparing Wikipedia to traditional sources shows Wikipedia to be generally superior, though weak in some areas. Better then some others such as: Microsoft in carter & Brock house multimedia.

Topic 3.1 lecture - MED104 Engaging Media

In this lecture Mignon Shardlow looks at four main topics – ‘Why News media is important,’ News is now online…so what?’, ‘The new digital revolution – will new media animate and strengthen democracy?’ and ‘Who will pay for quality journalism?’

Why News media is important: - News media is important because it is the main differences between what makes a democratic country and what doesn’t. A true democratic country relies on how free their journalists are (i.e. free press). In old terms called the fourth-of-estate in which journalism acts as a watch dog for the interest of the general public and keeps them well inform with government activities. Without this in place the public most likely wouldn’t be informed with government activities. This would mean the government would not have to answer for any breaches it breaks whilst in power.

News is now online…So what?: Whilst online media is a relatively new medium offering new platforms to publish and distribute news the traditional Tenets of the media industry will most likely be the same big company’s currently in existence, with some exception. Things that will change is the fact online platforms give journalist more possibilities to be creative using tools which will enable them to provide news faster, have more space for news, links, compare with other - journalists doing the same story, searching possibilities, check archives stories and use the latest online tools for Visual story telling.

Shardlow touches on further issues gyrating around the new digital revolution such as: - will new media animate and strengthen democracy? And who will pay for quality journalism? And how some media info we just can't trust. In which she highlights examples of incorrect journalism - such as the ‘weapons of mass destructions’ (WMD) being in the gulf, a huge error made by the world’s Medias.

Shardlow agrees with Rupert Murdoch, whom she uses as an example that journalism will be fine and continue to grow and develop even amongst the uncertainty surrounding the future of the media and journalism. A future that is unsure of media funding options such as: pay wall, publicly funded news sites and non-profit benevolent organisations. Shardlow finishes her lecture by emphasizes the importance of understand news values (i.e. how the media chooses news topic and which ones make the headlines)…

Topic 3.1 lecture

Playing on the digital commons: collectivities, capital and contestation in videogame culture.

Sarah Colman and Nick Dyer-Witheford (2007) article looks at the relationship between online gaming / fan production and the corporations. The authors discuss how copyright regulation replaced much of the collective traditions from oral culture and how cultural creation is born via the outcome of practices. The two side were distinguished as The rejectionists & The reformers.

The rejectionists, tend to represent the major corporations and industry associations which view the commons activity as criminal and having negative impacts on the future and growth of new media and its related industries.

The reformers, believe that cultural production in a digital world needs to have a more balanced & flexible copyright regimes that will protect, not just authors, but its audiences and sources also within the creative processes.

The paper suggests a need for our copyright laws to be reviewed and amended to accommodate our digital times.

Sarah Colman and Nick Dyer-Witheford (2007). Playing on the digital commons: collectivities, capital and contestation in videogame culture. Media, Culture and Society 29 (6), 934-953.
http://mcs.sagepub.com/content/29/6/934

All the world's a game & copyright (i-lectures)

Listen to a couple of i-lectures last night. The first being "topic 2.5 All the world's a game" by speaker: Dr David Savat

http://dbs.ilectures.curtin.edu.au/lectopia/lectopia.lasso?ut=1963&id=38671


David Savat discusses the games, virtual worlds, interactivity and convergence and how these impact on the way we consume entertainment through discussing his own interests such as 'the World of Warcraft franchises.' He briefly looks at the relationships between games, military and Hollywood (i.e. movie making) and argues that computer games.

and the other "topic 2.2 copyright" by Speaker: Dr Em McAvan.

http://dbs.ilectures.curtin.edu.au/lectopia/lectopia.lasso?ut=1963&id=38669

Dr Em McAvan discusses copyright, read only / read write and briefly looks at the history of copyright and related technology. She often refers to Lawerence Lessig and the US term 'Fair Use.' Plus how the recording industry often manipulates (e.g. uses loop holes) the law.

Indigenous, ethnic and cultural - by Ramesh Srinivasan

Ramesh Srinivasan's - article looks at how modern media technology can impact indigenous and ethnic communities in a positive way by utilizing database-driven networks in order to help met the needs of their cultural, political and social visions.

Srinivasan argues thorough work he has done he has developed a process where information systems can enable culturally and community-focused goals. Moreover incorporating participation from the people of those cultures and community's, where they can use information systems to preserve, share information and develop collective infrastructures...

Srinivasan - emphasises the process he took, specifically, relationship building he established through the community he was doing a case study on.

He states - "18 months (11/03–5/05) on the reservations, my goal became to develop bonds with as diverse a group of tribal elders,
leaders and institutions across all the reservations as much as possible."

This was a key component for his research to work. By building the nessersary relationship meant the project could interact with diverse networks and power structures across the reservations rather than inherently serve as a tool of those already in deeper connection with the SCTCA. (Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association).

Larry Lessig on laws that choke creativity

Larry Lessig makes some very interesting comparison / stories to explain his point during this ilecture.

He looks at how the world use to be a "Read-write" society, which turned into a "read-only" society.

How the laws in the US once said the owner of a land/property also owns the sky property sat under.

Plus ASCAP vs broadcasters regarding accessing music and how BMI came along, which changed the dynamics.

Ascap thought the public would side with them because they had the access to the best music and there would be a revolt from the public but the public chose BMI due to the accessibility of their music they offered.

Lessig also looks at how the Internet has been able to revise the "read-write" & remix ways of the past and how today's Technology has provided creative tools & tools of speech.

Lessig sees the extremism from both sides those of the 'law' and those of 'fair-use' - the law side making ridiculous commands (take down warning etc..) to take certain content of sites such as YouTube and the 'fair-use' side, specifically our youth, which rejects copyright laws altogether.

He believes there is a need for balance, which can be gained through a private solution, a solution that will show our law makers that, just like BMI offered years ago, their is a way that is still economically friendly and good for business. We need to build on where artist and creators chose to freely give their works to none commercial / fair-use avenues. This is a key component to making this work.

Just like the laws once needed to be changed for technology such as Plans flying over protected property. The Internet technology offers new challenges and our current laws need to be able to adapt to.

Recovering fair use, MC Media Culture

I just read Steve Collin's notes. Which had me think of examples where fair use and copyright issues were happening. One example came to mind...


It was this year that there was a copyright issue with the band Men at Work... using the riff from "Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree" in their song, 'Down Under.' It was the publisher not the creator (as the creator past away in 1988) that sued them. The Publisher only obtained the copyright to "Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree"since 1990... I kind of feel Men At Work's use of the riff should be 'fair use' but I might feel different if it was the creator who was complaining not the publisher...etc...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/30/2640727.htm

I guess with this example I feel the use of the riff was used by the writers of 'Down Under' to capture the Australian vibe... so sway towards 'fair use.'
I found this link on the 3aw site: -
http://www.3aw.com.au/blogs/3aw-generic-blog/colin-hays-say-on-down-under-ripoff/20100205-nhax.html

There's a fine line between 'fair use' and encroaching on copyright. Finding the balance is hard to do because people interpret laws differently and usually for personal gain...

Fanfiction

Fanfiction - yet another labour of love. Fanfiction comes in all forms and offers different things.
Fanfiction can offer unanswered questions fulfilled, explore character more in depth, turns minor characters/parts into their own series/stories or see the view from a different characters prospective among other things. Fan fiction is written by fans for fans. The creators of the original work(s) sometimes discourage whilst other encourage it. Fanfiction whatever form(s) it takes has been around for years. "Shakespeare's history plays are like Real People Fiction, while many of his comedies and tragedies are based on Italian, classical, and other existing stories." (Explore: fanfic entry on the fanlore wiki) and will continue for years to come...

Vidding

Watching short documentaries clips about Vidding -

Vidding to me seems to be a labour of love were certain fans of entertainment media (i.e. music/film or TV) put together their own pieces work using existing works such as songs over pieces of their favorite film and/or TV footage. They will cut certain bit out of a TV show or movie and put music to it.

2.1 Entertain Me! Who makes your entertainment? Institutions, audiences & participatory culture.

Reading The promise is great: the blockbuster and the Hollywood economy. Media, Culture and Society, 31(2), 215-230. By Cucco M. (2009).

Basic notes: -

The author starts of looking at the blockbuster (movie/film) and the marketing strategy's after WWII. Douglas Gomery states - "whilst Jaws wasn't the first film marketed and promoted by and through broadcast television it was the first million-dollar success proved that that strategy was the one that would redefine Hollywood through saturation advertising."

The author then looked at the "saturation booking strategy" and how it has changed over the years due to the new distribution channels which have been introduced. Jaws taught the film indusdtry the power of saturation advertising.

Then there is the strategic role of the opening weekend - "80 percent of the advertising investment is spent in the week before the release of the film in the theatres (Vogel, 1998)." The author also notes thats the most playing time (coverage) is in the first week in order to get the most out of the TV advertising etc... Also in recent times the marketing cost have been higher then production costs...

Movie are also considered an experiential commodity because its hard for the cosumer to know the quality and will often wait until they receive some kind of feedback or read/hear reviews etc...


To maximize the cost of transfer rights: Tends to be higher if the movie did well during its first week...etc...


To maximize the star and pre-sold identity effect: Stars turn into brand-names that help sell the movie. However a stars brand will only last the first week... This is why the distributor puts its efforts towards the first week...


To reduce the danger of competition: Studios have an agreement to release dates to limit competition (i.e. same audience). Certain times are better for release dates to gain maximum impact.


To exploit the potential of multiplex cinemas: life cycle of a movie and how cinemas work with this.


To maximize distributors’ receipts: "Distributors and exhibitors share the takings according to percentages that change over the weeks."concentration of revenue on the first weekend brings a higher remuneration for the distributor."

(a)concentration of advertising costs and maximization of effects;
(b) avoidance of a debate over quality;
(c) maximization of transfer rights costs;
(d) maximization of the star-effect and pre-sold identity;
(e) reduction of the danger of competition;
(f) use of the potential of multiplex cinemas;
(g) maximization of distributors’ revenues.

Lee's Personal media use and preferences;

I posted this on my uni discussion board on the 5th... so its late. But here it is anyway.... :)


Social Media: - Well I spend a lot of time on Facebook.. (Multi times Daily). I find it a great/Convenient way to stay in touch with friends and family plus for networking! I also use Myspace and youtube heavily for networking and promoting works. Did I mention I'm a Musician?

Television: - I seem to be all over the place with TV... I have been watching Seinfield on the GO channel... lol.. But have also been using Youtube sometimes instead. So its changing a lot these days my TV movements. TV seems to be a passing thing often. What I mean is, if I'm passing through and something catches my eye I will watch it... But I'm finding my internet and business activities are impacting my TV view greatly.

Research: - My Uni work is all done online as well... It seems fitting to research internet communications using the internet! I have even been known to contact Authors directly!Its also very Convenient for me.
Phone: Mobile for almost everything work/social etc.... Texting heaps also instead of talking... Plus e-mails frequently.

Music: - I listen to the car radio heaps. Don't buy CD's as much as I did 10 years ago? Might be a combination of my age and today's technology... I often go on youtube or myspace to hear music. I do this often to research music project I maybe working on.

Commerce: Well I also use online banking, Ebay, online product/softwarepurchases and updating my website(s), e-mails, uploading music and video files... sending off mp3 files...
Literature: online News, Uni Research, Music Industry related text. Sometimes I will youtube in lieu of text...

mini lecture on learning portfolio

Today I watched Helen's i-lecture. I found it really helpful... It just cleared the portfolio assignments for me...

referencing test

I did the ref Test today. My score was really bad. But it was over simple this... full stops etc... I'll take it again... when my eyes from reading so many threads become not so fatigue.... :)

Dr Tama Leaver - ilecture - (‏ - 2.1 entertain me!)

"Can the FREE genie be put back in the bottle or are there different ways content creators can make money?"

I listen/read an ilecture by Dr Tama Leaver...

Tama looks at the independent web series 'Dr Horrible' by creator Joss Whedon to provide an insight into a new convergence culture...

At first Whedon put the series on the net for free... Audience/fan participation was used. Joss Whedon utilized his fan base, which took a life of its own. Through this his loyal fans felt like they had some ownership to movie 'Dr Horrible' and helped promote it through several Internet platforms...like Youtube, Myspace, Facebook and Twitter, even remaking their own Fan versions of the series... Whedon was able to do this with Dr Horrible as he already had a strong loyal fan base already existing through years of film making... However utilizing Internet platforms and an existing fan base and interactivity the web series was able to spread faster and wider than perhaps many traditional means... By doing this Whedon was able to bottle up what was an initial free entertainment product and sell it to the consumer...

Four Puzzles From Cyberspace

Another very interesting piece of reading by: Lessig, L. (2006). Four puzzles from cyber space. In L. Lessig Code version 2.0 (pp 9-30). New York: Basic Books. (available online through the code 2.0 wiki - you can also download the entire book))

I'm sure where to start with this? hmmm... Ok...

The Author takes you through different stories/scenarios in order to get the reader to have a better understanding between the rules of cyberspace in comparison with the real world rules, what maybe so for the real world maybe totally different for cyberspace.

Laws that govern our real world are pushed to the limit of their boundaries... Regulation / privacy laws that are enforced in the real world are questioned due to the new Internet technologies... such as the government using worms to find out things, with-out any suspicious...

These real world laws need to be revised in order to keep up with modern times. Arguments on cyberspace can be fixed with a simply change in the programming codes... and who has the final legal/regulation say in something so global as cyberspace...

A person's persona portrayed in the real world can be complete opposite or different to their online one in cyberspace. This is because they are able to create fictional characters and/or able to release their inner dark secret personality's with the ability of being anonymous to others...

Like I said it makes interesting reading... Four puzzles from cyber space

I Read an interested post by Henry Jenkins, "Critical Information studies for a participatory culture (pt 2)", blog post, April 10 2009

In his blog post, which can be found here Critical Information studies for a participatory culture (pt 2) , Jenkins discusses topics -

The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself: -

How the media influences our opinions and the need for education to generate our ethical responsibility and civic awareness regarding unnecessary worries about their fears, safety and well-being.

From Digital Divide to Participation Gap: -

The author addresses the current digital divide amongst the education and work place sectors. Equal access to networked computers is important for everyone to be able to have an equal participatory culture experience where a current unbalanced system is in place and hidden curriculums being addressed.


Remaking Schools: -

“reinvent public institutions (schools, libraries, museums) in order to reflect this alternative understanding of participatory culture” and met its needs... Such as addresses limited access to certain sites which are very important (i.e. Key platforms) to a participatory culture and where new forms/practices do emerge.

Rethinking Collective Intelligence: -
This addresses the need to better understand and aim for alternative platforms, practices and opportunities of collective intelligence, such as ethical, educational, and political values, where people can share there expertise and experiences, which will assist in finding new forms of citizenly engagement.


Promoting Diversity: -

Whilst access to the web enables the possibility of cultural production and distribution to flourish much of the boundaries that already bound us regarding diversity and its promotion in the real only seem to extend and crossover into cyberspace according to scholars - danah boyd and S. Craig Watkins. Dominant groups and majoritarian principles continue to cement its power intimidating the minorities. An issue that has yet been overcome in the real suggesting it will unlikely be overcome in cyberspace.

Reasserting Fair Use: - Touches on the struggles over intellectual property and the future of participatory culture, where fans and companies battle of copyright, intellectual property and fair-use issues within a new participatory culture.

Critiquing Free Labor: - "we produce all the content, they make all the money."
Conflicts between grassroots media producers and the commercial platforms. Where Grassroots (creation of "user-generated content") wants to be recognized more of a form of creative labor then just a form of just playing…

Designing Civic Media: - Looks at changes in media amongst a new participatory culture. The author believe it is profoundly misleading to think professional journalists will be replaced by a citizen journalists… Though citizen may utilize new technologies to inform their community the author feels that media with professional journalist is like “horseless carriages.” However a citizen journalist gives the possibility to work around censorship.

“Huma Yosuf's study of the use of civic media in Pakistan during the recent national emergency suggests that citizens can use these tools to work around censorship, to organize in the face of oppressive regimes, and to alert the outside world about what was happening in their country.” –
Henry Jenkins

Thinking Globally: -

The author looked at new platforms for media sharing and how social networking represents alternative models for thinking about the politics of globalization. These new platforms enable the possibility for many young people (U.S. Bush era) to consume media created from other countries and often through illegal/semi illegal channels of distribution connecting them to people around the world.



Restructuring Activism: -
The author acknowledges that most of the conflicts and struggles are fought by grassroots groups structured on new models of citizenship and activism which stem from participatory culture. He uses a book by Stephen Duncombe (Dream:Re-Imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy) as an example of a new model of social change - “channels what we know as consumers as well as what we know as citizens, and embraces a more widely accessible language for discussing public policy.”
Jenkins uses the HP (Harry Potter) Alliance as an example of a new model of activism through examining their movements.
Jenkins states there is a need for many changes and are better understanding these new models and new kind of political discourse looks like such as -
· strength and weaknesses and whether it can effect meaningful change
· How do we build a bridge between participatory culture and participatory democracy?
· In each of these debates, there is a need for critical theory which asks hard questions of emerging cultural practices.
· There is also a need for critical utopianism which explores the value of emerging models and proposes alternatives to current practices.
· There is a need for theory which deals abstractly with these shifts in cultural logic
· There's a need for interventions which test the value of that theory through practice.
· There is a need for academic scholarship which trains the next generation and there's a need for conversations which overcomes the isolation between the various groups which are struggling over these issues.
· There is a need for people who stand outside the system throwing rocks
· There's a need for people who can move into the boardrooms and engage in conversation with those in power. Jenkins says, “It is too easy to draw false divisions between these various causes, too hard to identify the common ground.”

Lee's MED104 Engaging Media

Its been awhile since I did a blog for Uni. So bare with me...

Over the past two weeks I've been watchin vids and reading alot about the media, which is currently going through a transition to a participatory culture. This new wave culture somewhat competes and challanges the existing boundries established by the big media companies globally.. It also at the same time seems to need the media companies similar to how the web needs the internet....

Here's the first vid I have watched....