Reblogiation

I wish I’d been around when The War of the Worlds was first broadcast:



Due to the play being written and performed in the style of a news broadcast, much of the audience at the time believed they were hearing an actual news account of an invasion from Mars! "People packed the roads, hid in cellars, loaded guns, even wrapped their heads in wet towels as protection from Martian poison gas, in an attempt to defend themselves against aliens, oblivious to the fact that they were acting out the role of the panic-stricken public that actually belonged in a radio play." (Source)

Bolter and Grusin define this effect as immediacy. Media producers seek to erase the gap between the signifier (medium) and the signified (subject) to create a "style of representation whose goal is to make the viewer forget the presence of the medium and believe he is in the presence of the objects of representation". Due to the rapid development of digital and interactive media, such as live webcams and CGI, audiences demand immediacy from traditional media. Documentary programmes like Traffic Cops use point of view cameras to make the audience feel like they’re in the action chasing a bunch of scallywags in a stolen Citroën Saxo.


Not to stereotype...

The opposite of immediacy is what Bolter and Grusin defines as hypermediacy. This is a "style of representation whose goal is to remind the viewer of the medium". Hypermediacy can be seen in the characteristics of websites. As they stream video, adverts and text all at once and adding in the fact that people can chat, listen to music and download whilst on the web, it panders to the audiences’ fascination with the medium itself.



These two contradicting techniques are able to not only coexist in digital media but have become mutually dependant. TV news programmes borrow from the graphic style of websites, using video streams, split-screen displays and graphics, but contrast this with the live immediacy of news coverage mostly on location (enhancing the immediacy).



Bolter and Grusin predicted that “not only will the new media landscape look like television as we know it, but television will come to look more and more like new media”. This has been achieved due to the convergence of immediacy and hypermediacy in what has been dubbed the ‘double logic of remediation’.

The next step is virtual reality headsets. C’mon Science!

Multi-blogging

Traditionally, 'old' media such as broadcasting and print had its own distinctive functions and markets without much interaction or involvement with each other. But now we are entering an era where the media is EVERYWHERE! (cue 1984 paranoia ¬_¬)
You can watch movies and browse the web on games consoles. On my iPhone I can watch TV/surf the web/listen to music/read the news/play games/take pictures/update social networks/book trains and even make a call! Technology is becoming an electronic version of a swiss army knife.




The old idea of convergance was of one central device that did everything, like a universal remote or a 'black box' in your living room. However, this isn't the case. Due to cross-media ownership and the expansion of interactive 'new' media, the same content can flow through many different channels. Cheskin Research (2002) states that " What we are now seeing is the hardware diverging while the content converges." Meaning, we can access the same content from many different devices.

However, Jenkins argues that this media change isn't just technological, it has a cultural effect:
" Convergence alters the relationship between existing technologies, industries, markets, genres, and audiences. Convergence alters the logic by which media industries operate and by which media consumers process news and entertainment." (Jenkins, 2008, p15). From a top-down corporate driven perspective, companies deliver content across different channels to expand revenue and broaden markets. This leads to a bottom-up consumer driven convergence, which allows the user to control the flow of media and interact with other consumers. I don't know where I'd be if I couldn't check Facebook and play Angry Birds whenever I wanted to.

It's an expensive trend to keep up with though. Technology is constantly evolving and the most advanced media device becomes outdated within a year. Do we really need to have the latest gadget just because it can do everything? I mean, what is the point of an iPad?

Seriously.

Who bloggin' Cares?

Public Sphere can be defined as “the communicative institutions of a society, through which facts and opinions circulate, and by means of which a common stock of knowledge is built up as the basis for collective political action” (McNair, 1995)

McNair explains the development of the Public Sphere in the diagram below.

From this, we can see that the traditional role of citizens in the Public Sphere is as receivers of political information through the media, with limited feedback. However, due to the participatory nature of the Internet, individuals can produce and distribute their own political media. But to what extent have people been using this oppotunity to create something meaningful?

Amanda Koster explains that:
"Everybody seems to be rallying an audience with all this social media, so why not rally an audience, have that directed attention, but then tell stories that are actually going to make a difference in people's lives"



Campaign Project:

For this project, we were required to produce an alternative media campaign video (or a series of short videos) to raise awareness of a particular cause or issue. I based most of my research on the Battlefront website, which is an excellent example of the grassroots activism through social and digital media.

Rationale:

My group found it very difficult to decide on a cause or issue that we felt stongly enough to campaign about. Even to the point where we decided we just didn't care about anything. This revelation is the basis of our video:

Faceblog

We can all agree that the Internet has changed the way we communicate with each other, as demonstrated here by the BRILLIANT Bill Bailey. He illustrates the popular belief that communication online is inferior and unnatural in comparison to traditional face-to-face contact.





If you have a facebook page and go to De Montfort University, you'll have heard of Matt Hawk. He is one of those people who adds literally everyone with a connection to DMU. What is the point? When i first drafted this entry, he had 2293 friends. I had a quick check today (09/02/10) and he's got 2449!

And in the time I was making that picture up on Photoshop, he added another 2 friends! He can't possibly know that many people, so why has he added them as Facebook friends? I believe he does it to increase his 'Social Capital'.

Bourdieu and Wacquent (1992) define social capital as "the sum of the resources, actual or virtual, that accrue to an individual or a group by virtue of possessing a durable network of more or less institutionalised relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition". In other words, social networking sites allow the maintenance of existing relationships and the formation of new connections. This can be seen especially in the use of Facebook by students. They can maintain relationships with friends and family from home whilst at University, and can form new connections easily by adding friends and joining social groups.


There are three measures of social capital as defined in Putnam's groundbreaking book 'Bowling Alone' (2001).

Bridging
Bridging refers to the formation of relationships between people with loose connections. These relationships provide information or new opportunities, but not emotional support. According to Williams (2006), "the social capital created by these networks generates broader identities and generalized recipriocity", allowing offline social capital such as job opportunities or new love interests to be generated by online tools.

Bonding
Bonding is the reinforcement of existing relationships with close friends and family on social networking sites. Facebook has been especially useful for me to stay in contact with people as I have lost three mobile phones since being at DMU (but that's a story for another day!)

Maintained Social Capital
Maintained Social Capital relates to how easy it is to communicate and remain involved with old friends or people that you met once at a party. Ellison, Steinfield and Lampe (2007) defines the use of social networking sites this way as a "low maintenance way to keep tabs on distant aquaintances" as you can comment or like their status'/birthdays/photos without actual physical interaction.


Nie (2001) argues that using the Internet detracts from face-to-face time with others and diminishes an individual's social capital. However, I don't believe that to be true. Social networking keeps people in contact with each other if they live too far away to visit, and it is now easier than ever to make new friends and enhance existing relationships. Online interactions are not replacements for those in the real world but a new way to enjoy relationships.





Refresh... Refresh... Refresh...

Share and blog alike

Jenkins argues that the emergence of the Internet has spawned a new participatory culture. He says that "this ability to share media has helped to motivate media production, resulting in an explosion of grassroots expression." (Jenkins, 2006)

We are no longer just consumers of media, we have become 'prosumers' (consumer + producer). We debate online and give feedback. We generate and remix content on Youtube and blogs.

One of my friends has even created his own Soundcloud page:
Click this and listen to Insteption :)

Cool Youtube examples of remixes are:

Snatch Wars


Wishery (Disney remix)


Justin Bieber vs Slipknot - Psychosocial Baby


Andrew Keen is critical of the increase in free user-generated content, as seen in his book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture (2007). He argues that "most of the content being shared - no matter how many times it has been linked, cross-linked, annotated, and copied - was composed or written by someone from the sweat of their creative brow and the disciplined use of their talents". He believes that the creators of the content aren't being credited for their work when it is being remixed.

To an extent he is correct. However, there is a way for creators to retain ownership and for copyright not to limit the remix culture. Creative Commons' copyright licenses give artists and institutions the choice to have either strict or loose copyright control over their own creative work. This means that the creators are able to retain ownership of their work and be credited for it, while allowing others to copy, reuse and distribute it. Creative Commons states: "We realize there’s an inherent conflict between innovative digital culture and archaic copyright laws. Our licenses help bridge that conflict so that the Internet can reach its full potential."

By having content freely available to be shared or remixed by the public, it enhances our culture and encourages creativity for anyone with an idea and an Internet connection. As Doctorow said, "If culture loses the copyright wars, the reason for copyright dies with it."

Psychoblography

Psychogeography, as defined by Guy Debord in 1955, is "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals." Or to put it another way, psychogeography is about discovering how the environment you live in shapes the way you think. A recent example of this is from a report on the BBC website.

One of the main investigative methods is the idea of 'dérive'. It is a Situationist technique in which you conduct a walk without definite destination or purpose. By maintaining a psychogeographic awareness, you can explore the urban environment in new ways, thus allowing yourself to be drawn by the unnoticed aspects of your surroundings and their affect on everyday life.


We were set the task of creating our own psychogeography project and using digital media to present it on the internet. As I was feeling a little lost (ironic considering it's an assignment based on maps!), I conducted a bit of research.


Research:

Daniel Belasco Rogers - The Drawing of my Life
In this project, Rogers uses a GPS device to continuously record his location over seven years. He uses these recordings to create a drawn map of Berlin depicting his travels around the city. From just looking at the drawings, we can tell by the darker parts of the map where he spent most of his time. Rogers states his intention was to "develop a sense for the drawing I am making across the surface of the earth with my body every time I move." I loved the idea of creating a map and documenting a personal journey. This gave me the idea to plot out my discovery of Leicester since moving here in September 2010. However, this proved too difficult as I don't really go anywhere that's not Uni, Spar or some dodgy club in Leicester town centre. Also, I believed that producing a factual point-by-point map didn't encorporate the artistic side of Psychogeography enough.


Magda Knight - Psychogeography for Beginners
Knights post explains psychogeography and the dérive in straightforward way. Apparently, becoming a psychogeographer can be as easy as "studying graffiti and poking your nose where it doesn't belong...". She gives a few example projects to get you started, with my favourite being 'The Freedom to Sit Dérive'. Knights entry provides an artistic and philosophical perspective compared to Rogers literal map project. She encourages free thinking whilst on a derive, to note your thoughts and feelings on the relationship between space and people living in it. This gave me clearer understanding of the task and became a starting block from which to develop my own idea. (Plus, I got to buy a new notebook. Win-win.)

Crypoforestry - There is life next to the motorway
This blog is for psychogeographers who describe their work as "Searching for the forest in the city. Searching for the city in the forest." This particular entry explores an area of untouched nature next to an Ikea and the motorway. It is documented through photography and includes little side notes from the psychogeographer. Unknown plants and trails are exposed, with witty asides including "A feral chicken in Utrecht is more special than a castle in Scotland, a temple in Thailand or a sheep thief in Oz." It is a simple yet fascinating insight into an area that doesn't get noticed by most people. But by having a sense of psychogeography, it becomes a journey of discovery through forgotten wildlife.


My Project:

The juxtaposition of inner city parks with urban life exposes the unnaturalness of nature in cities.

My journey through Castle Park, Nelson Mandela Park and Victoria Park.


View Psychogeography in a larger map

Blog 2.0

Web 2.0 is a concept coined by Tim O'Reilly to ressurect the internet economy from the dotcom crash of 2000.



One aspect of Web 2.0 is Cloud Computing:

Cloud computing