Comment on Ilona’s Assignment 2 – Lawrence Lessig blog

Lawrence Lessig’s (2007) rebuttal to Andrew Keen's book (2007), The Cult of the Amateur” was entertaining and enlightening. I have to agree with Lessig that Keen's book contained too many factual errors that took away from his credibility and when I reviewed his current website, the errors remained (2012). 

As David Silver writes in his article, Looking Backwards, Looking Forward: Cyberculture Studies 1990-2000, writing about the impact of the Internet often takes one of two sides: “dystopian rants or utopian raves” (2000). Keen’s work does the ranting, Lessig covers the raving.

Faulty argument

In my opinion, this book and Keen have received more attention than they deserved because he is one of the few people who are openly advocating against amateur publishing. While other people share his opinion, the majority of people who think blogs are a waste of space don’t bother to write about them – they simply ignore them.

From the single chapter I read from Keen’s book, his argument that amateur writers and publishers are hurting the world of professional journalism is simply not true (2007). Journalism is not a regulated profession – there is no entrance exam, no required educational training and no clubs to join prior to obtaining employment. Although I am a communications professional who holds a bachelor of journalism, I will be the first person to say that education does not make someone a professional journalist. A paycheque turns an amateur into a professional -that's it. There are poor professionals in every profession and just because someone earns a living performing work, does not mean that an amateur could not do better.

First step is awareness

Keen’s quote (2007), “the YouTubification of politics is a threat to civic culture. It infantilizes the political process, silencing public discourse and leaving the future of government up to thirty-second video clips shot by camcorder-wielding amateurs with political agendas" (p. 68) ignores the benefits of awareness. The first step toward change is learning about the problem. Our class is now talking about Joseph Kony, Invisible Children and the welfare of children in Uganda. Kim’s post highlights the need to actively challenge the ideas that are presented to us, both in the past and in the future.

Although the facts in the video have been disputed, the main essence of the video was - if Americans and the rest of the world were aware of the atrocities, citizens would convince their local politicians to send money and support to stop Kony and his forces. As of Sunday, March 18, there were over 83 million views of the video on YouTube.

From 2007 until now

While reading Lessig’s blog, I realized that Keen released the book in 2007, and I was curious to see if he has a newfound appreciation for amateur publishing. He hasn’t. According to his website, his new book, called Digital Vertigo: How Today’s Social Revolution is Dividing, Diminishing and Disorienting Us” comes out in May 2012 and Keen hasn’t changed. Here’s the text from the back cover

Using one of Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest films – Vertigo – as his starting point, [Keen] argues that social media, with its generation of massive amounts of personal data, is encouraging us to fall in love with something that is too good to be true – a radically transparent 21st century society in which we can all supposedly realize our authentic identities on the Internet (2012).

His website goes on to say, “Digital Vertigo is the first substantial critique of Web 3.0” (2012). If you take the time to peruse the rest of his site, you’ll see his YouTube video, photographs from Flckr, tweets from his Twitter account, his podcasts and his blog. I was surprised to see the number of collaborative Web 2.0 tools being used, because as Marshall McLuhan (1964) said, “the medium is the message” (p. 7). I was even more surprised to find spelling mistakes in the links on the site. They make the site seem amateurish.

References

Keen, A. (2007). The cult of the amateur: How today's Internet is killing our culture. New York, NY: Doubleday Publishing.

McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media: The extensions of man (Critical ed.). Corte Madera, CA: Ginko Press.

Lessig, L. (2007, May 31). "Keen's "the Cult of the Amateur": Brilliant!" [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.lessig.org/blog/2007/05/keens_the_cult_of_the_amateur.html

Silver, D. (2000). Looking backwards, looking forward: Cyberculture studies 1990-2000.
Web.studies: Rewiring Media Studies for the Digital Age, 19-30. Retrieved from http://rccs.usfca.edu/intro.asp

Vandivort, K., Longerbeam, H., Clendinen, C., Jouglet, N. (Producers), & Russell, J. (Director). (2012). Kony 2012 [YouTube video]. United States: Invisible Children Inc. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

Assignment 2 - Parts 1 & 2

Clay Shirky on New Book “Here Comes Everybody” – Youtube video file

(Link to tags on Delicious - http://www.delicious.com/ilonacc)

(Link to Assignment Two Stack on Delicious - http://www.delicious.com/stacks/view/DEhjmD)

Clay Shirky is a social media theorist and an associate teacher with Tisch School of the Arts in the Interactive Telecommunications Program. In this Youtube video, entitled “Clay Shirky on New Book “Here Comes Everybody” Shirky speaks about his newly released book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organization. The presentation was hosted by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School on February 28, 2008 

(Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_0FgRKsqqU).

Shirky begins with the focus of his book, ‘multiple audiences’ setting the tone of the presentation and video. He discusses in depth the affects of the internet on society in relation to the forming of groups and group action; discussing the four patterns contributing towards group creation and action; sharing conversation, collaboration and collective action. Technology and the internet providing a set of tools that engages and enables individuals to create groups; communication within these groups becomes easier and more widespread as a direct result of the technology. Unlike Howard Rheingold in the video file, “Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution” who focuses on how technology allows more free writing and “every desk top being a printing press”. (Rheingold, 2002, np) Shirky discusses the influence the internet has had on forming groups and how group action can than influence real-time reaction by coordinating what has now become known as flash or smart mobs. “Media becomes a place where groups can come together and achieve some sort of shared goal rather than just a source of information is ... observable now and is going to become widespread.” (Shirky, 2008, np) 

Another concept mentioned by Shirky and echoed by Rheingold is the power of the people when they speak about ‘technology and how technology has influenced free writing and group action. Shirky discusses the power of the people and how people / groups can alter how the market is looked at when they are brought together for a common goal whether it access to Anime or passing a bill of rights for air travellers. 

In 2008 smart mobs may have been in their infancy but Shirky was very astute when he predicted they would become widespread due to online technology and the ease of creating groups for collective action. 

Clay Shirky on New Book “Here Comes Everybody”. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_0FgRKsqqU 

Rheingold, Howard. (2002). “Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution.” MIT World. [Video file]. Retrieved from: http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/22

Participative Pedagogy for a Literacy of Literacies by Howard Rheingold

Howard Rheingold is a “writer, artist and designer, theorist and community builder” who specializes on virtual communities and the implications of modern communication mediums i.e. the internet. (TED, n.d.) This essay Participative Pedagogy for a Literacy of Literacies is one of nine essays written by communication theorists for a book compiled by Joi Ito. (Link http://freesouls.cc/essays/03-howard-rheingold-participative-pedagogy-for-a-literacy-of-literacies.html) 

Rheingold begins this essay by discussing the impact the web has had on human sociality by amplifying human connections with online social networks creating virtual communities, virtual communities with like-minded people from around the world. Introducing cyberculture studies as an academic discipline within a variety of fields like “sociologists, anthropologists, historians, psychologists, economists, programmers and political scientists.” (Rheingold, 2011, paragraph 4) As online usage increases patterns emerge, these patterns are studied and eventually influence software design.  “One particularly useful affordance of online sociality is that a great deal of public behavior is recorded and structured in a way that makes it suitable for systematic study.” (Rheingold, 2011, paragraph 5)

In Rheingold’s words the internet makes it possible for individuals to act together in new ways with people from around the world. As these individuals create and/or join virtual communities they influence the world around them with their collective actions. Rheingold also discusses the phenomena of online volunteering where individuals willingly answer each other’s questions, design software; participate online with blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, file sharing, and social networks without fiscal reward. The internet has made it easier for individuals to contribute, “While the old story^[9] is that people are highly unlikely to cooperate with strangers to voluntarily create public goods, the new story seems to be that people will indeed create significant common value voluntarily”. (Rheingold, 2011, paragraph 7)

Participatory media has made it easier for people to contribute online as individuals or as a collective. Participatory media gains power from the value associated with the usage. In closing Rheingold states, “Such literacy can only make action possible, however−it is not in the technology, or even in the knowledge of how to use it, but in the ways people use knowledge and technology to create wealth, secure freedom, resist tyranny.” (Rheingold, 2011, paragraph 12)

Howard Rheingold Profile. TED: Ideas Worth Sharing. Retrieved from www.ted.com/speakers/howard_rheingold.html

Rheingold, H. (2011). Participative Pedagogy for a Literacy of Literacies. In ITO, J.(Eds.), FREESOULS captured and released.  Retrieved from http://freesouls.cc/essays/03-howard-rheingold-participative-pedagogy-for-a-literacy-of-literacies.html

Lawrence Lessig’s Blog

Keen's "The Cult of the Amateur": BRILLIANT!

Posted May 31, 2007

Lawrence Lessig is a Professor of Law with the Harvard Law School. Lessig is highly regarded due to his work with copyright issues regarding electronic applications. Within this blog post Lessig reviews the book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture by Andrew Keen. (Link to Lessig’s blog post here http://www.lessig.org/blog/2007/05/keens_the_cult_of_the_amateur.html)

Essentially this blog post is about online copyright issues and a rebuttal towards Andrew Keen for his comments about Lessig in the book The Cult of the Amateur (Link to book here http://www.amazon.com/Cult-Amateur-Internet-Killing-Culture/dp/0385520808) Keen is not a supporter of participatory literacy criticizing the accuracy and validity of online publishing by amateurs. “The lesson he [Keen] teaches is one we should all learn -- to read and think critically” (Lessig, 2007)

In the Extended Entry, Lessig addresses a few sections in the book where Keen attacks him, his views and role within the copyright and creative commons issues. Covering issues from piracy, to traditional meaning. One idea this book review does bring to the forefront of the online participatory literary is the importance of being critical of the information one reads. Rheingold’s interview with Adora Svitak echos this concept as she provides a few tips for children to determine the credibility of a website, “researching the authors is a good step”. (Rheingold & Svitak, 2010)

In closing Lessig supports online creativity and mentions, “What Keen misses is the value to a culture that comes from developing the capacity to create.” (Lessig, 2007)

Lessig, Lawrence. (2007, May 31). “Keen's "The Cult of the Amateur": BRILLIANT!.” [Blog post]. Retrieved from: http://www.lessig.org/blog/2007/05/keens_the_cult_of_the_amateur.html

Rheingold, Howard. (2010)“Adora Svitak: A 12 Year Old on Digital Literacy." [Video file]. Retrieved from: http://vlog.rheingold.com/index.php/site/video/adorasvitak-a-12-year-old-ondigital-literacy/

Part 2

I was impressed with a lot of the articles and video clips chosen especially The Grand Rapids LipDub (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI) reviewed by Glenn; it is an excellent example of collective action illustrating the power of the people when they have a common goal. James Potter and the Hall of Elders’ Crossing, the Harry Potter inspired ebook by George Norman Lippert reviewed by Hillary is very intriguing. I will be reading this ebook when I have some free reading time. Self publishing is a topic that interests me and in my cyber travels I found a website called Issuu – You Publish (http://issuu.com/explore) that enables people and publishers to produce ebooks.

Theresa’s review of Homeless Hotspots brought up the issue of ethics and the ethical use of online programs, mobile technology and social media. The ethics surrounding the internet and usage of mobile technology and social media is quite relevant as online communication increases globally. There is a mirage of opinions about the Homeless Hotspots project but the two primary positions are exploitation of the homeless or viable meaningful employment for homeless. 

The KONY 2012 video clip that went viral a few weeks ago was reviewed by Kim, Glenn and Liz. Kim brought up the idea that if something is well-designed and communicates a message we, the public are swayed; “Despite the fact I think as a public we are less naïve than perhaps a couple generations ago, we can still be swayed by a well-designed and communicated message.” (Denstedt, March 11, 2012) I think a correlation can be drawn between a well-designed website or podcast or magazine and physical beauty. We as a society are attracted to beauty regardless of the form. Raj Persaud wrote an article for the Financial Times that expresses society’s attraction to beauty and correlated it to intelligence and health. Basically we are attracted to beauty and well-designed visuals that communicate a message.  

Resources

Denstedt, K. (2012, March 11). Kony 2012 Second Text for Assignment 2 [Web log comment] Retrieved from http://nmnonline.blogspot.ca/2012/03/kony-2012-second-text-for-assignment-2.html 

Homelesshotspots.org. (2012). Collaborators. Retrieved from http://homelesshotspots.org/ 

On eve of James Potter sequel, Harry Potter fan fiction heats up: Unlikely author poised to keep the story alive. (2008, July 15). PR Web. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/07/prweb1080574.htm

Persaud, R. (2005, April 30). Science rewrites the rules of attraction. Retrieved from http://www.sensualism.com/beauty/attraction.html

“The Grand Rapids LipDub.” (2011, May 26). YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI

Why Videos Go Viral: Text 3 for Assignment 2

NMN Assignment 2 for:JessL
3 links stacked by hburridge | 1 views 

http://delicious.com/stacks/view/NgevO0
Kevin Allocca (2011), YouTube Trends Manager, explains the three factors that are necessary for an online video to "go viral" in a video from TEDTalks' TEDYouth event. The term "go viral" in this case means that a video receives millions of views seemingly overnight.

Allocca (2011) explains that viral videos must have to have three elements: they must be seen by cultural tastemakers, must naturally develop communities of participation and must contain unexpected content. 

Allocca's humourous presentation includes clips from viral videos, including the double rainbow video, Rebecca Black's Friday music video, Nyan cat video and Casey Niestat's video showing why you can't ride in bike lanes in New York (2011).

Tastemakers
Allocca explains that viral videos need to be seen and discussed by tastemakers such as late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel or performer Lady Gaga in order to go viral. Although Allocca does not explain the theory behind this claim, the reason why tastemakers are so influencial is that their reputation has earned them a legion of devoted followers. Jimmy Kimmel has 1.2 million Twitter followers plus a television show while Lady Gaga has 20.8 million fans on Twitter. When one of these high-profile celebrities talks about a video to their extended social media network, the video is thrust in front of millions of people with the celebrity's seal of approval. As Howard Rheingold (2002) says, "reputation is one of the ways we mediate trust".

When a Jimmy Kimmel fan sees it and enjoys it, it only takes a push of a button on a smartphone to retweet the video out to their network, which causes the number of views to grow exponentially. No one tells the viewers to share the videos. They are not paid nor rewarded except for the satisfaction of finding something “cool” before their friends and family find it.

Community of participation
The second element needed for a video to go viral is that it naturally creates a community of participation. The Nyan cat video inspired copycat videos, real-life versions and musical spinoffs. This element cannot be predicted. No amount of money, force or advertising can illicit the range of creative responses that are developed by the community. In his Smart Mobs lecture at MIT, Howard Rheingold (2002) explains that technology such as PCs and the Internet was created by social communication and its users, similar to the way uploaders and viewers are changing YouTube. Rheingold jokes that if we waited for the governments and corporations to create the world wide web, our grandchildren would still be waiting for it (2002). But by allowing users to do what they want with it, even if it's simply posting videos of their dogs, they change the technology in ways we never could have imagined (2002).

Rheingold points out that Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web, didn't have to ask permission from a large association to connect computers, he just did it (2002). Rheingold echoes Allocca's statement that YouTube viewers participate because "no one has to green-light your idea" (2011). 


Unexpectedness
Allocca's the third element that helps create viral videos is unexpectedness (2011). This hard-to-describe trait means that the video is surprising, entertaining and memorable. Allocca says that 48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute and this trait makes videos stand out (2011).

References

Allocca, K. (2011). "Kevin Allocca: Why videos go viral." TEDTalks. [Video file]. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_allocca_why_videos_go_viral.html

Berners-Lee, T. (2012). Bio. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/

Black, R. (Singer). (2011).  Rebecca Black - Friday - Official Music Video [YouTube video]. United States. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVsfOSbJY0

Gaga, L. (2012). @ladygaga. [Twitter account]. United States. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from https://twitter.com/#!/ladygaga

Hungrybear9562 (Cameraperson). (2010). Yosemitebear Mountain Giant Double Rainbow 1-8-10 [YouTube video]. United States. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI

Kimmel, J. (2012). @jimmykimmel. [Twitter account]. United States. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from https://twitter.com/#!/jimmykimmel

Neistat, C. (Producer). (2011). Bike lanes by Casey Neistat. [YouTube video]. United States. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ

 

PRguitarman. (GIF animator). (2011). Nyan Cat [original] [YouTube video]. United States. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH2-TGUlwu4

Rheingold, H. (2002).  “Smart mobs: The next social revolution.”  MIT World. [Video file]. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/22

Mapping New York's Hidden Gems: Text 2 for Assignment 2

NMN Assignment 2 for:JessL
3 links stacked by hburridge | 1 views 
http://delicious.com/stacks/view/NgevO0

In the Guardian newspaper's article, Mapping New York's Hidden Gems, Simon Rogers explains how New Yorkers are reclaiming the privately owned public spaces in the city through crowdsourcing.

Private companies receive exemptions to the city's zoning rules by building and maintaining spaces that are open to the public. But once the space has been built, no one checks to see if it remains open. The spaces are often locked up behind fences or are patrolled by security guards.

Michael Keller, along with the help of Brian Lehrer's morning radio program, received a list of these spaces and asked New Yorkers to visit them and report on their state. Keller and Lehrer are using crowdsourcing to have citizens review and document the spots using a GPS-enabled map.

As Howard Rheingold (2011) said in his lecture on smart mobs for MIT, mobile technology allows us to connect in ways were unable to before. By combining maps, GPS, mobile phones and an Internet database, Keller and Lehrer have created a virtual army of zoning officers who can patrol the city looking for violations and can report their findings. They are able to crowdsource the labour to willing participants, and in turn, the space checkers feel a bit more ownership over their city. They were able to turn a dull, seemingly unimportant list of zoning violations into a city-wide scavenger hunt.

References

Rheingold, H. (2002).  “Smart mobs: The next social revolution.”  MIT World. [Video file]. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/22

Rogers, S. (2011, November 9). Mapping New York's hidden gems: How crowdsourcing is taking the city back. Guardian Newspaper. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/nov/09/new-york-open-spaces-map-world

Digital fiction and participatory culture: Spark CBC podcast - Text 1 Assingment 2

NMN Assignment 2 for:JessL
3 links stacked by hburridge | 1 views 


http://delicious.com/stacks/view/NgevO0

In this Spark podcast from CBC radio, host Nora Young (2007) speaks with three experts immersed in the world of remix culture, fan fiction and copyright.

The first interview is with Harry Potter fan fiction writer, George Norman Lippert. Lippert’s novel, James Potter and the Hall of Elders’ Crossing, gained international notoriety after an Australian newspaper printed an article asking if this was a secret novel by the original author, J. K. Rowling. The online buzz for this site grew so quickly that J. K. Rowling’s media representatives released a statement that it was not by J. K. Rowling.

What makes this interview unique is that Nora Young implies that production quality of this piece makes readers question its authenticity. Lippert works as a website designer and used his talents to produce a 21-chapter novel for his son to read when he’s old enough. Her question implies that fan fiction is of a less quality than the original and reveals the bias that many people have toward remixed art.


The second interview quickly tells the downside of user-generated content competing with the original publications. Denis McGrath, a television writer who says that fans often follow clues that the writers include in the story and create their own stories from them. When the fan sees the writers return to that tidbit they snuck in the first season, the fan accuses them of stealing their idea, which as McGrath says, is the worst thing you can say about a writer’s work. Again, user-generated content is considered to be less important than the work created by "professional" writers.

The third interview is with Daniel Gervais, a professor of intellectual property who describes the copyright rules surrounding remix culture. He says that copyright has only been important for most users in the last 15 years because of the ease for sending information to others.

Was Lippert’s fiction controversial because it was of a higher quality than others? In an amusing twist of fate, fans have contacted Lippert asking his permission to create fan versions of his James Potter series. His response: "it feels extremely weird, but I always tell them to go for it and have fun. It’s all about the story" (2008).

References

On eve of James Potter sequel, Harry Potter fan fiction heats up: Unlikely author poised to keep the story alive. (2008, July 15). PR Web. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/07/prweb1080574.htm

Young, N. (Host). (2007). Spark Episode 15 (Podcast). Toronto, Canada: CBC Radio. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2007/12/episode-15-december-12-15-2007/

NMN Assignment 2 for:JessL
3 links stacked by hburridge | 1 views 


http://delicious.com/stacks/view/NgevO0
   

E-books, Digital Media and Publishing

Last fall, Teresa Sturgess (MACT 2011) and I thought we'd focus on e-books and publishing as the topic of an assignment in Comm 505. We didn't realize we were jumping into a huge topic that would introduce us to people like Robert Darnton, just about the most erudite librarian you're ever likely to meet who writes extensively on the history of the book, EPUB 3.0, XML, the future of academia and the technology behind a touchscreen. Besides wrinkling my brow trying to come up with a definition for an object as ubiquitous as 'book' and then realizing that others were also struggling, the essay was a wonderful jumping off point for New Media Narratives. I'm really looking forward to your comments, not least because we will be presenting this paper at the Media Ecology conference this June and need the practice answering questions about what we meant when we said x, y and z.

In my Delicious stack, I've provided a link to the blog on my webpage where you can find our paper "The Emerging Importance of the E-book and its Impact on Publishing." 

The second link is to a podcast interview by Trebor Scholz with Kathleen Fitzgerald, editor of the Media Common and an academic who invited online reviews of her latest book before publishing it. She argues that academia needs to change how it views academic work and reach "across the border between the academy and the public."  

The third reading is one recommended by Andy Campbell of Dreaming Methods. "Publishing and the Digital Revolution" is by Edward Picot delves deeper into many of the issues that Teresa and I touch on in our paper, including the crisis traditional publishers find themselves in and the merging platforms for e-books.  Picot also provides an interesting overview and examples of new media writing.



E-books, Digital Media and Publishing
3 links stacked by judithdyck | 1 views