There comes a point at which academic writing and professional writing converge – often in a space like this, a public, issue-oriented blog. The primary purpose of this blog is to provide a space in which we can engage with and explore a range of topics that we encounter during the course of our readings…
Robert Gehl discusses the ways in which the online technologies with which we interface on a daily basis are in fact investing a great deal in insuring that our actions are being archived. The “new media companies and entrepreneurs […] assume a curatorial role” (1229) and thus have the power to determine what types of…
In Rober W. Gehl’s article “The archive and the processor: The internal logic of Web 2.0” he talks about serves and memory storage in the Web 2.0 era. Moe specifically how this relates back to social media and the instantaneous interactions between users. This does begin to create some interesting points. With how social media…
A few weeks ago I saw this video circulating on various self-proclaimed liberal micro-blogs and Facebook groups, where it was touted as the long-awaited, incontrovertible proof we needed to finally be able to challenge New York’s “stop and frisk” policy. A young man had recorded his experienced being interpellated and violently harassed by a group…
A recent class discussion over what exactly constitutes “too much” digitization and connectivity, sparked by smart fridges,piqued my curiosity about the conveniences I already enjoy that might be viewed as excessive or unnecessary by previous generations. The smart fridge proposes to ease the burden on fridge-owners by transferring the responsibility for monitoring food levels and…
Russett’s article “A Contemporary Portrait of Information Privacy: Collective Communicative Consequences of Being Digital” explores the death of privacy online, examining both the death of privacy and the processes behind it. While reading the article, I was reminded of an incident which may serve as an instructive real-life example on Russett’s discussion, namely Blizzard Entertainment’s…
In Preston Russett’s Contemporary Portrait of Information Privacy the concept of online desensitization is discussed. Personal information is out there to be viewed on the web. However as users we have become used to seeing it all the time. Think about Facebook, everyone sees everything. All of your information like what you like, who you’re…
In Contemporary Portrait of Information Privacy: Collective Communicative Consequences of Being Digital Preston C. Russett discusses internet users and how today privacy on the web is no longer really an option. Privacy on the web is also no longer a priority to users. Russett explores the concept that the web has made it possible that…
There’s a difference with viewing culture on a computer or tablet screen and actually experiencing culture in person and partaking in it. Also it is a statement about the person and their social standing. In his article “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” Benjamin talks about the Aura of the piece.…
In a recent Forbes article published online, “What Are You Worth To Social Media Stocks? It Must Be More Than Advertising”, the question is raised about the money being invested into these social media companies and why. The article asserts that; Most Social Media stocks rely on advertising revenue. And ad dollars dedicated to Social Media are…
“Entering a new type of society,” as well as a “leaving behind of discipline,” we witness a “taking over” from disciplinary institutions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; modes of micro-power practiced through meticulous techniques of standardization, management, organization, individualization, examination, and observation enacted on and through enclosed bodies sought to produce normalized subjects for…
WIIH Fellows: New Media, New Knowledge 