I’m my own publisher
 |
| Aldous Huxley, 1930. |
“In
the days before machinery men and women who wanted to amuse themselves were
compelled, in their humble way, to be artists. Now they sit still and permit
professionals to entertain them by the aid of machinery. It is difficult to
believe that general artistic culture can flourish in this atmosphere of
passivity.” (Huxley, 1927).
New media publishing (social media
publishing)
New media
publishing can also be synonymous with social media publishing as the majority
of online publishing covers a myriad of virtual and mobile mediums like:
websites, eBooks, blogs, twitter feeds, videos, podcasts and articles on an
endless sea of subjects. When googling ‘new media publishing’ the first hit is
for an online publishing service called Newmedia Publishing that enables anyone to publish and distribute their written word and/or
creations online. Newmedia Publishing
sells their service as, “This is your site, if you are an author, content
creator or publisher, which most of us are, even if we do not think of
ourselves as such, in a conventional sense. Whatever you create on or with your
computer today is a candidate for publication and online distribution.” (2006) Contrary
to Aldous Huxley’s quote,
the access to online publishing services implies that people are extremely
creative, do not remain passive and now are seeking out methods to publish
their creations by-passing traditional publishing houses.
The content
creator becomes their own publishing house gaining more freedom of creativity
as they are not stifled by the rigidness of a publishing house. Web 2.0 has
affected how publishing is carried out and has changed the rules; no longer wholly
controlled by a select few. As Ianto Ware stated in 2008, “with the rise of Web
2.0 a whole range of literacies that used to be defined as “private sphere” or
“everyday literacies,” everything from personal conversations and
correspondence to book clubs and fanzines, have become far, far more public.” The
Web has increasingly becoming a canvas where more than one user can contribute,
“provid[ing] a richer tapestry for the next user to modify or build on.” (Tapscott
& Williams, 2006, p 27)
 |
| Johannes Gutenberg's printing press |
As history
indicates change occurs with the introduction of publication technologies first
with Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press in the 1400s, the household printer and now with online publishing technologies like eBooks, blogs, videos and
podcasts. Ware continues to mention that the idea of a ‘traditional publishing
house’ continuing to remain fixed is naive.
“What
the rise of Web 2.0 has done is simply to bring every day, private sphere
dialogue driven literacies into the public sphere in a very obvious way. The
kind of discourses once passed off as resistant youth subcultures are now being
shown as common place. Keen is right to suggest that this will continue to
impact, sometimes negatively, on traditional gatekeepers. Yet the change is
inevitable. As our reading and writing practices alter around new genres, our
understandings of what constitutes legitimate fields of publishing will also
change.” (Ware, 2008, paragraph 20)
In addition
to the online changes occurring with publishing services; the advancement and increased
access to ‘modern’ technology also increases the creative freedom for the
everyday Joe and Jane to publish their contributions. Virtual and mobile technology
has provided the tools for more creativity and wider distribution.
MarshallMcLuhan favored the
technological humanism perspective
because it sought, “to renew technique from within by releasing the creative
possibilities inherent in the technological experience ... [and] will create the
conditions for a new ... condition.” (Kroker, 1945, p 14) This ‘new condition’
implies that more individuals will interact on the virtual stage contributing
to a cultural shift in how society views publishing. This shift in how society
views publishing is creating new literacy practices amongst writers, content
creators and artists.
Some view
this shift as a revolution like Andrew Keen who is
renowned for his disapproval of removing the ‘gatekeepers’ (publishers and
certifiable experts) enabling the non-professional to contribute. “[Keen’s] His
definition of “publishing” is essentially one in which a few, carefully groomed
producers express work seen as relevant to the wider community.” (Ware, 2008, paragraph
4)
Blogging
Men and women
are not just idly sitting still (well they are probably sitting) but they are
not inactive, “permit[ting] professionals to entertain them by the aid of
machinery.” (Huxley, 1927) They are utilizing the machinery to create their own
messages a good example would be blog writers or bloggers who are creating a
genre of online journal writing. They are millions of blogs on a myriad of
subjects ranging from political, academic, artistic and social commentary to mention
a few blog genres. One that blog that made a big splash in the blogging world
and eventually crossed the threshold to become a published book and a wide
release movie was the Julie/Julia Project blog written by Julie Powell . Unfortunately the original blog is no
longer available due to the blog service updating their programming. The
Julie/Julia Project blog is a good example of an online publication creating a network
and community for interested readers.
 |
| Stine Gotved's Triangle of Cybersocial Reality |
Reviewed
through Stine Gotved’s The Triangle of Cybersocial Reality the Julie/Julia
Project blog is an example of an interactive online network. The basic Triangle
Approach (the inner triangle) includes three basic sociological categories of culture,
structure and interaction framing the cybersocial reality created by
integrating technology and social networking. “The triangle symbolizes the
condition for the construction of social reality ... eyes are drawn to the
center of the triangle, where all the different factors and categories convene
and where the cyber social reality is constructed.” (Gotved, 2006, p 170) The
culture side would include the common understanding of Powell’s blog as a study
of Julia Child’s cookbook, Mastering ofthe Art of French Cooking. Julia Child is a well known chef who had a huge impact on the American creating
recipes that brought French cuisine to average American family.
“On the
triangle’s structural side, the organization is in focus....where the social
structure and organization are intertwined tightly with the technology’s
interface and underlying design ideology.” (Gotved, 2006, p 171) The structure
of a blog involves the blogger writing posts that are published via blog server
like Blogger
these blog posts are then read by the reader who may or may not write a
comment. Interaction occurs when the reader responds to a blogger’s post, “interaction
occurs not only between humans but also between humans and computers and
between computers.” (Gotved, 2006, p 171) The online social complexities covered in the
basic triangle include: surfers, networks communities and the dyad indicated
with the triangle.
The online
community established with the Julie/Julia Project blog illustrates the
interaction between writer and reader but also illustrates that people are
doing more than just being entertained. They are actively participating from
their computers with a variety of contributors creating online communities. Social
media publishing is allowing everyone, with the technology to have access to
becoming published authors or creators.
Resources
(2004 –
2012). [image]. Gutenberg’s Printing Press, Clipart ETC, Florida Center for
Instructional Technology. Retrieved from http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/44800/44880/44880_guten_press.htm
(2006).
About Us. Newmedia Publishing. Retrieved from: http://newmediapublishing.com/
(2010, September 3). [image]. Mentoliptus: Show GRUB2 Menu Only If Shift Key Is Pressed in Multi-Boot System. Retrieved from http://mentoliptus.blogspot.ca/2010/09/show-grub2-menu-only-if-shift-key-is.html
Agnihotri,
S. (2010, August 10). [image]. Gotved’s Triangle. Digital Tribes: Superfan 2.0.
Retrieved from http://sunilagni.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/digital-tribes/
Flood, A. (2011, April 12).
[image]. Brave New World among top 10 books Americans
most want banned. The Guardian, UK edition. Retrieved
from http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/apr/12/brave-new-world-challenged-books
Gotved, S. (2006). The Construction of Cybersocial Reality.
Silver, D & Massanari, A. (Eds.). Critical
Cyberculture Studies. (pp 168-178). New York: NYU Press.
Huxley, A. (1927,
August) The Outlook for American Culture: Some Reflections in a Machine Age,
Harper’s Magazine.
Kroker, A.
(1945). The Canadian Discourse (pp 7- 19). Technology
and The Canadian Mind. Montreal: New World Perspectives.
Tapscott,D.,
& Williams, A. (2006). The Perfect Storm. In Wikinomics: How Mass
Collaboration Changes Everything (pp. 34-64): Portfolio.
Ware, Ianto. (2008). “Andrew Keen
Vs the Emos: Youth, Publishing, and Transliteracy.”
M/C Journal. 11.4. Retrieved from: http://journal.mediaculture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/viewArticle/41
