Papier-Mache

Analyze That

2008-10-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

So this blog post is not going to be entirely academic. Although, some might argue that it is. I feel that we're entering a new phase in communications studies. Like the Raymond Williams-esque debate that there is no distinction between high culture and low culture, it becomes apparent that old habits die hard. We now willingly accept television, magazines and pop songs as relevant texts to study the media, yet still have apprehensions about studying computer games as modes of communication. Through my recent foray into Second Life, I can attest to the communicative qualities this online world posseses and the rich textual resource it has been to study. I am not, however, quite as confident when it comes to my HTML skills. I have just uploaded a Second Life postcard of my avatar to this blog, and whether this image will magically appear when I click publish is really one of the last few communications and media studies mysteries of new media mankind has yet to solve.

Brave New Second Life

2008-10-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

This blog is a direct response to the articles:

Boellstorff, Tom. Chapter Four from Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist
Explores the Virtually Human. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008.

Dibbell, Julian. "A Rape in Cyberspace". From My Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a
Virtual World. New York: Henry Holt, 1998.

This week I had my first Second Life experience, which I can safely say bears no resemblance to my first life. Second Life is an anthropologist's/sociologist's/archeologist's (Second Lifer's will get that reference!) dream landscape. A land of virtual opportunity that houses very real opportunities for exploring and developing one's ideas. In having very brief knowledge about Second Life prior to setting up an account, I fully believed that it was a haven for the socially inept and desperately lonely. Again, my new media ignorance fails me. Second Life is a world that can generate real US dollars, and provide opportunities to explore various fields of research at a minimal cost and to large audiences. Architects can create virtual models of their designs, medical students can practice their studies with no real consequences, scientists can develop virtual displays of their theories, academics can host virtual seminars with users around the world. At the risk of echoing Huxley's Brave New World utopia, the potential that this program has for stimulating a renaissance of ideas is limitless.

Of course the underbelly of Second Life cannot be overlooked, with a multitude of concerns being raised in just one experience of this program. With the cross-over from the virtual economy to the real, the stakes become much higher and users who invest real dollars have very real chances of losing money. What also becomes a concern, in relation to Dibbel's article, is the regulation of this virtual world. Second Life follows similar patterns of social etiquette and mores as the actual world, yet doesn't have the means to enforce punishment when these rules are broken. In the majority of cases, not having an actual physical body (for the avatar) means that no actual harm can be reasoned in a court of (virtual) law. Yet when these social transgressions pass cyber bullying and financially affect avatar's (and their user's) ability to succeed and trade business in Second Life, some very strong arguments for cyber regulation become apparent. In one instance, a land owner had his block of units vandalised in Second Life. As a result the market value of the units fell and no-one wanted to buy in the neighbourhood. The user lost real US dollars from this act of vandalism and sought to find the perpetrator of act. Like "A rape in cyberspace", given the digital nature of the progam, all actions leave cyber-imprints, so it would be very difficult to deny one's actions in a virtual context. Yet where exactly is the line in the sand drawn?

Within ten minutes of entering Second Life, my avatar had been approached by a young man (with questionable intentions) who then teleported me (with my consent, but unwittingly) to a sex shop in Second Life. Could this behaviour be seen as soliciting and harrassment? absolutely. Does is deserve real life consequences? Probably not. I wouldn't consider it a breech of any major moral codes, especially given that it was consentual and wouldn't stand up in any court of law. Had I (as a real person) been mentally unfit at the time and the event caused very real stresses to the actual self, issues of cyber harrassment would certainly be considered. However, under what law do you prosecute? The defendant's country/computer of origin? the Plaintiff's computer/country of origin? Second Life presents an interesting example of a new media tool that extends beyond the digital to have real world effects. Close monitoring of this world and the direction it will go in the coming months will provide interesting precedents in cyber worlds.

Mobile Film

2008-09-22T17:23:00.001-07:00

This column is a direct response to Marcus and Perez's 2007 article "m-YouTube Mobile UI: Video Selection Based on Social Influence".

Marcus and Perez make very interesting insights into the future of mobile phone usages, specifically the use of film and video content through mobile internet platforms. With the advancement of mobile web browsers, we now have access to a portable internet. This is nothing new, most people are able to look up the footy scores, horoscopes and other such trivia in a heartbeat with mobile phones. What is interesting to note however, is the possibilities this new media platform holds for us. Marcus and Perez note that due to the size and quality of mobile phones, adjustments need to be made to develop specific mobile-based versions of online applications such as YouTube. I agree with Marcus and Perez and site the major setback for video mobile applications being the small size of the screen and the inhibited quality of images. Even with the advent of new "smart phones", the quality is nowhere near that of a computer screen. Given the social nature of YouTube, when these qualities are comprimised, there is nothing to keep users engaged.

There have been an abundance of mobile phone film competitions in recent times, however, we must question the context of these events. The quality of most mobile phone cameras is fairly poor, yet the interest in these comptetitions is enormous. I believe that this stems from a boom in users interest and ability to produce their own content- a hallmark feature of new media. It has never been easier to produce content. In some ways, the diminished quality of the mobile camera gives it a distinct retro/archaic look, that is difficult to replicate through other mediums. This aspect gives mobile phone footage an entire subculture of its own. Perhaps people won't adopt smart-phone technology as rapidly as it is estimated.

While there may not be the rapid uptake of smart-phone technology as predicted, it is undoubted that in the near future, all phones will be enabled with such technology, just as buying a phone with a camera 5 years ago seemed an outrageous excess. There are several opinions on the future of this industry in terms of technology:

http://technology.cgap.org/- the future of mobile banking

http://www.fitfuel.com/blog- web 4.0 and mobile content

http://www.skypejournal.com- Skypes involvement with mobile technology

http://www.dailywireless.org- Info on a major US merger combining satellite and cell phone technologies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjWgslVATuo- A video on the future of divergence/convergence

Last year I wrote an essay on the future of mobile technology in the advertising industry.

For full essay see: '>http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfwgvvx3_5dhzmj2hk&hl=en">

In this piece I argue that due to the high saturation of mobiles in the general population, this provides a lucrative avenue for personalised, direct advertising. There are big issues regarding privacy and content distribution in this argument, however; it would appear that this is the direction that mobile technologies are heading.

Mobile Culture

2008-09-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

Forgive me while I digress,

This isn't another gender blog, nor was the purpose of this entire blog to discuss gender politics in blogging, although it's proven to be a highly controversial area. This blog is about new media communication and hence credit must be paid to the adaption of mobile phones into this emerging culture. Or rather, mobile phones are the culture to be studied, communication is the catalyst. Or it it?

It's a quite the chicken and the egg situation. Have we embraced mobile telephones because in our ever globalising world, communication is the driving force that connects us all, albeit 24/7? Or have we become increasingly interconnected with each other through our obsession with new media gadgets and technologies?

I remember seeing the film Pretty Woman when I was about 10, and being stunned at the child in the sports car on Rodeo Drive talking on his (incredibly oversized!) mobile phone. This seemed so far removed from my existence and was making the point of the opulent excesses of owning a mobile phone. This child had a gadget that most adults couldn't afford. And yet with the the gradual saturation of phones into our culture, we don't bat an eyelid at a 7 year old wielding a mobile phone. Our gradual relaxing of our perceptions of mobile phones parallels Goggin's (2008) mapping of the introduction of mobile communications in Australia. I wasn't allowed a mobile phone until I was in year 10 (Age: 15, Year: 2002) and it was on the condition that it was only ever supposed to be intended for emergency calls. Right. Sorry Mum and Dad. It was also on the condition that I paid the bills myself, which perhaps explains my relatively curbed use of it in relation to my peers.

As time has passed, mobile phones have become ridiculously cheap, the market incredibly competitive (hence low rates and maxicaps) and phone culture not viewed as prestigious or elusive. It is the mundane, the ordinary. It will be very interesting to see the future of where the industry will and can go. The image that sits in my mind and perhaps best sums up this culture is in the 2007 film "Knocked Up"....

Debbie: Alison, you have to call him

Alison: I can't call him

Debbie: Why not?

Alison: Because he doesn't have a phone.

Alison: He doesn't have a phone? (My six year old) Sadie has a phone!

Bloggers. Ugh.

2008-09-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

A word to the wise...

A new Australian T.V. series is airing on ABC on Wednesday nights at 9pm. It's called "The Hollowmen" and it's perhaps one of the best Australian series to be produced in years. Without giving my best Margaret and David impersonation, it is brilliant.

Why I bring it up is because of a funny recurring theme in the series regarding bloggers. Every episode there is a reference to the people who write blogs. It is usually unflattering and sees bloggers as whingeing pessimists with a bleak outlook on life. I didn't say it, I'm just repeating it. Every time a serious issue confronts the federal policy makers in the show, and the policy makers require feedback, they look to television, newspapers, radio and blogs; in that order. Bloggers are seen as the bottom of the food chain and whenever "public opinion" sways against the government, it is always addressed as "Bloody bloggers". In last weeks episode, the eternally un-cool characters who veto all the government spin, are ecstatic that "the blogosphere is going off!". This is met by rolling eyes and false enthusiasm as the policy makers try to think of a way to infiltrate and influence this uncouth and dangerously unstablising blogosphere. Fantastic viewing, well worth watching if only for the disparaging remarks about people who call themselves bloggers.

The Blogger Mystique

2008-09-02T19:01:00.000-07:00

In Monday's Digital Communications class, my comments made me the object of some raised eyebrows and puzzled faces. I'm sure Germain Greer and Angela Davis felt a simultaneous subconscious shiver down their spines as I launched into my tirade regarding this (what is becoming rather self-reflexive) blog. To lay a brief foundation for my thoughts, I am a somewhat post-feminist. I'm sure a post-feminist group exists that is far more radical and extreme in their actions (as opposed to my actions of writing a humble blog). Without burning my bra and condemning all manhood, I basically believe that men and women are equal beings and that there is still a glass ceiling for women in a corporate, political, personal and socio-economic context.

Ingrained in our culture are certain prejudices, not only in regard to women, but to race, social class and culture. This extends itself to an online environment. In an article by Gregg (2006), the issue of gender and blogging is addressed in great detail. Gregg finds that men largely write about "political" issues and women blog about "domestic" issues. However, what is considered to be "political" remains largely undefined. Gregg goes further to say that by nature of subject matter and mass (ingrained) generalisations, women's blogs are considered to be less notable than men's blogs. I do believe that the predominantly domestic nature of women's blogs is vitally important in a political context and can be read as a political text. Gregg confirms this point and argues that the "domestic" nature of women's blogs is the new media way of women being active participants in the public sphere (a domain that has traditionally excluded women).

In creating this blog, I have carefully considered these points, and it is for these reasons that I have produced a primarily "masculine" blog. It is masculine by reason that I have tried to exclude all traces of femininity in terms of text, layout, colour schemes, photographs and language. I have no intention to deceive, as if you are reading this, I'm sure that you are well aware by now that I am, in fact, female. However; to the passer-by who glosses over the homepage of this blog, searching key words that are present in my posts, I don't wish to deter them (you), by the very fact that I am female, and the ill-considered, ingrained fear that the rest of my posts will be about cats, cooking and knitting (as notable topics as these are).

The Apprentice of Blogging

2008-08-31T18:51:00.000-07:00

This post has been developed through reading Doorns, Van Zoonen and Wyatt's article "Writing from Experience: Presentations of Gender Identity on Weblogs" (2007).

Herring et al 2004 state that the weblog has been constructed by the media as masculine and adult. I have to agree. In analysing my own hesitance to produce a weblog, I realised that most of this stems from my own fears of inadequacies in this "male" domain. I am sure to receive a lot of criticism from this remark, but please bear with me while I explain this viewpoint.

In reading Qian and Scott's article regarding anonymity, I initially believed that my hesitance towards publishing personal material online was due to the fears of retribution and public ridicule. In opening up to strangers there is a strong fear of rejection. I believed (and to an extent still do) that my vulnerability is a direct result of these circumstances, until I considered the argument of gender representations. After reading Doorns, Van Zoonen and Wyatt's article, I realised that the way that I approached blogging, was with the same hesitancy as if I had been thrown into the position of becoming a bricklayer's apprentice. I had little technical knowledge, was open to public ridicule and most importantly, entering a dominantly male domain. I argue alongside Herring et al (2004) who state that ICT industries are a traditionally male domain (and have substantial information to reinforce this claim).

Hogan (1991) states that females tend to write in a diary style of format, so the main argument in Doorns, Van Zoonen and Wyatt's article, is that female's are feminising a traditional masculine sphere. In my own personal experience of this blog, I find myself writing largely academic and disassociated from my offline identity. I felt the need to provide short, specific entries and steer clear of anything that resembled the girly pen and paper diary scenario. I have a personal diary that is very feminine; however I would never consider publishing that material online. I wouldn't even consider writing it on the computer, printing it and pasting it into my diary. This stems from my belief that computer technology is a largely male sphere. I will have to consider where this belief has stemmed from in greater detail, and perhaps post more thoughts on this idea at a later date.

Anonymity and Self-Disclosure

2008-08-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

This post is a direct response to Qian and Scott's article on "Anonymity and Self-Disclosure on Weblogs" (2007).

Qian and Scott address the issue of anonymity from a multi-faceted approach of visual and discursive anonymity. In the context of my own blog, I have thoughtfully considered these aspects of computer-mediated communication in establishing this page. I have chosen not to display a perosnal photograph to afford myself a greater degree of anonymity, however; the majority of people that I imagine will be reading this blog will already know my identity in an offline environment. I have to agree with Qian and Scott, in that I feel that not including a photograph of me will allow for greater levels of self-disclosure in my weblog. Derlega & Chaikin (1977) find that people (in this situation) are more inclined to divulge personal information to complete strangers because the information that is shared is unlikely to reach anyone who has a personal impact on the discloser's life. There is a definite risk in divulging personal information in both an online and offline environment. I feel that the relative degree of anonymity associated with my blog will allow me to express my ideas more freely. I also believe that any information that is either personal or confrontational that I post online will be able to mediated by my peers who know me in an offline environment due to context. My peers have a far richer tapestry of interactions with me (than those who read my blogs without knowing me) and as a result can draw conclusions about my posts based on context.

Calvert (2000) best sums up the purpose for our willing self-disclosure on weblogs:

"...many people willingly seize the opportunity for mediated exhibitionism through the use of self-disclosure on blogs, which serves some important purposes: providing better understanding of self, confirming one's beliefs, offering rewards in social interactions, and manipulating others' opinions".

Papier-Mache, beta-version

2008-08-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

Preface

A few words before we get started...

The Web; "...a virtual world whose centre is everywhere and circumference [is] nowhere" (Codognet, 2002, 41). I haven't the faintest clue as to where you are reading my post, why you are reading it and largely what impression this will make on you. You might be the only person who ever reads this, or you might be one of millions. That is the nature of this beast and that is what I'll be examining in my posts. While this is ultimately a digital communications experiment, I do hope that you find some value in this work. If you have anything further to add to my dysfunctional collage of new media snapshots, comment away. The more people that start thinking about our common practices, the more of a chance we have of understanding it. In this sense, we look to create a "Knowledge Community" (Jenkins, 2006, 20). Whether it be contained within this page, or the endless boundaries of the web, hopefully we can gain some insight into new media communications and the future of online communication.