lecture 11: david’s slingshot:
DESCRIPTION
Lecture 11: David’s Slingshot:. Professor Victoria Meng. Do digital media help the underdog?. Review: Flew. Technology (Media) = object + activity + context = tool + skill + infrastructure Example: PowerPoint presentation + Making and using the presentation + - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
1
Lecture 11:Lecture 11:David’s Slingshot:David’s Slingshot:
Professor Victoria Meng
Do digital media help the underdog?Do digital media help the underdog?
2
Review: FlewReview: Flew
• Technology (Media)= object + activity + context= tool + skill + infrastructure
• Example:PowerPoint presentation +Making and using the presentation +Factories, utilities, schools, etc.
3
• Unit I: Imagination and Practice(activities and skills)
• Unit II: Forms and Styles(objects and tools)
• Unit III: Identity and Community(context and infrastructure)
Course DesignCourse Design
4
Course DesignCourse Design
Unit I Unit II
“Forest” “Trees”
Media in general Media specificity
5
Course DesignCourse Design
I: “Forest”
(activities)
II: “Trees”
(objects)
III: “Biomes”
(contexts)
6
Why Politics MatterWhy Politics Matter
Political Activism, broadly defined.
Typical reactions to the word “politics”: it’s “boring,” “dirty,” and “too much trouble.”
7
Why Politics MatterWhy Politics MatterPolitics is an important context for understanding media technology.
8
Why Politics MatterWhy Politics Matter
Can digital media be a “slingshot” that changes traditional power relationships?
David and Goliath
9
Lecture OutlineLecture Outline
• “The Promise and the Peril of Social Action in Cyberspace”
(Gurak, 1999)
• “Photoshop for Democracy” (Jenkins, 2006)
• An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006)
• MoveOn.org; Haystack
10
Reading: GurakReading: Gurak
The Internet during the 1990s: a different digital experience.
11
Reading: GurakReading: Gurak
The Internet during the 1990s: a different digital experience.
• Starting to become a “democratic” medium
• Hardware and software were expensive, difficult to use, and slow
• Relatively few users who had a lot in common: “Net Community”
12
Reading: GurakReading: Gurak
Case Studies: Lotus MarketPlace, 1990; Clipper chip, 1994.
13
Reading: GurakReading: Gurak
Case Studies: Lotus MarketPlace, 1990; Clipper chip, 1994.
Method: Collecting Internet communications, tracking sources and dates, and performing rhetorical analysis.
14
Reading: GurakReading: Gurak
Case Studies: Lotus MarketPlace, 1990; Clipper chip, 1994.
Method: Collecting Internet communications, tracking sources and dates, and performing rhetorical analysis.
Conclusion: the Internet changed how information was delivered and the nature of social action.
15
Reading: GurakReading: Gurak
Promise: “…the speed and reach of online delivery along with a powerful community ethos made the issues clear and immediately accessible…” (248)
16
Reading: GurakReading: Gurak
Promise: “…the speed and reach of online delivery along with a powerful community ethos made the issues clear and immediately accessible…” (248)
Peril: “…in cyberspace, certain voices/texts can easily become dominant, whatever their level of accuracy.” (259)
17
Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery
Internet v. mail, telephone, face-to-face
18
Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery
Faster More reckless
19
Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery
Faster More reckless
Cheaper More careless
20
Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery
Faster More reckless
Cheaper More careless
Far-reaching Hard to assess
21
Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery
Faster More reckless
Cheaper More careless
Far-reaching Hard to assess
Compressed “TMI”
22
Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery
Faster More reckless
Cheaper More careless
Far-reaching Hard to assess
Compressed “TMI”
Hierarchy-flattening
Less formal tone
23
Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery
Faster More reckless
Cheaper More careless
Far-reaching Hard to assess
Compressed “TMI”
Hierarchy-flattening
Less formal tone
Community ethos Isolationism
24
Reading: JenkinsReading: Jenkins
Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins
25
Reading: JenkinsReading: Jenkins
“The current diversification of communication channels is politically important because it expands the range of voices that can be heard: though some voices command greater prominence than others, no one voice speaks with unquestioned authority.” (208)
26
Reading: JenkinsReading: Jenkins
“The new media operate with different principles…: access, participation, reciprocity, and peer-to-peer rather than one-to-many communication. Given such principles, we should anticipate that digital democracy will be de-centralized, unevenly dispersed, profoundly contradictory, and slow to emerge.” (208-209)
27
Reading: JenkinsReading: Jenkins
“The new political culture – just like the new popular culture – reflects the pull and tug of these two media systems: one broadcast and commercial, the other narrowcast and grassroots.” (211)
28
Reading: JenkinsReading: Jenkins
“…crystallizing one’s political perspectives into a photomontage that is intended for broader circulation is no less an act of citizenship than writing a letter to the editor of a local newspaper that may or my not actually print it.” (222)
29
Reading: JenkinsReading: Jenkins
Red v. Blue (2003-2007)
30
Community v. IsolationCommunity v. Isolation
An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006)
31
Community v. IsolationCommunity v. Isolation
An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006)
32
Community v. IsolationCommunity v. Isolation
An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006)
33
Review: FriedmanReview: Friedman
End of Lecture 11End of Lecture 11
Next Lecture: “Spending” Time:
Is there balance between mass production and customization?
34