Week01

**About us**
toc Some things about us:

- Auditioned for Hobbit - Performing arts graduate - Recommends RTV class - Grandparent - Film producer

The digital subject
Nicholas Negroponte //Being Digital// (1995)

Human+ vs Human 2.0

BUT… beware the universalism implied by ‘human’ …hence ‘the subject’

‘Subjectivity’ is a major theme within philosophy: ‘the subject’ (as opposed to ‘the object’) ‘modern subjects’ (unitary, coherent, has an ‘identity’) vs ‘postmodern subjects’ (fragmented, contradictory, has various ‘identifications’ but no fixed identity) ‘analog subjects’ vs ‘digital subjects’? ‘phenomenology’ is the branch of philosophy that asks “what is it like to experience X?”

Beware solipsism - our experience is //socially mediated//: in studying digital media, this seems especially true given that our experience online are often highly //interactive// (not solitary - even as we sit alone in front of a screen)

Our investigations into our own ‘digital subjectivity’ will be framed by: - academic theories & research - media discourses - our social conversations about new media

Ethnography
From anthropology... “Thick description” (Clifford Geertz) (Going into detail and contextualising / analysing reasons for behaviour)

ethnography = method(s) but also: Ethnography = method//ology// i.e. not just a way of gathering data but also a //commitment// to enriching our understandings of the textures of everyday life, habits, routines etc. through the eyes of the subjects themselves; values //testimony// of 'ordinary' subjects.

Note it’s ethnoGRAPHY, not ethnoLOGY. Why? What does this tell us?

Some risks/pitfalls: - Not seeing the big picture - Uncritical celebration of everyday life - May be too descriptive - ‘Going native’

Look up Michael Wesch (and his work) online.

Digital ethnography
Issues that might interest us in a digital ethnography: Identity - //identities// Environment & (Urban) spaces Time (or, better, ‘temporality’: speed, rhythm etc.) Immediacy Crisis & trauma Censorship / access - responsibility & accountability )of user & author) Body Friendships Strong and weak ties Ritual Intimacy Emotional life Public and private Authenticity (culture of amateurism / DIY culture) {But what about originality??} Subculture - affiliations Globalization Passivity vs autonomy/freedom Unpacking routines & habits Generations & relations between generations

Our relations to SELF, OTHERS, PHYSICAL WORLD, POLITICAL LIFE, CULTURE, HISTORY etc.

Digital maximalism - William Powers //Hamlet’s Blackberry// Chris Anderson - //The Long Tail//: niche markets, personalization.

Possible methods for digital ethnography (in addition to traditional scholarly writing)**:** - online video - blogging - photography - audio

Auto-ethnography
Q: What is ‘auto-ethnography’? (Apart from the obvious answer that it’s an ethnography of the self!)

What are the major benefits and pitfalls? Is it impossible to //avoid// 'going native' with auto-enthography?

The social web
Key terms: - Network vs community - Web 2.0 - Folksonomy (vs taxonomy)

Social bookmarking: delicious.com

Is this ‘distributed intelligence’ or ‘global consciousness’? The emergence of the ‘global brain’? The inklings of a world seen only in science fiction? Or something much more mundane?

Geotagging: Flickr

Two features highlighted on the front page of Flickr. One is //time-based// (uploads in the last minute) and the other is //spatial// (i.e. geotagging).
 * are these just ‘novelty’ gimmicks or do they tell us something significant about contemporary culture?
 * how do they relate to other media that locate us in space and time (e.g. news, other social media etc.)?
 * how do they relate to McLuhan’s concept of the “global village”?

See [|__www.flickr.com/creativecommons__] for content that can be shared, remixed etc. Use the ‘advanced search’ feature to look for video content.

//Question:// how does Flickr differ (whether socially, aesthetically, technically etc.) from YouTube as a repository for user-generated video?

A couple of alternative Flickr search tools: __[]__ __[|www.tiltomo.com]__

Academic new media journals
//Key journals in the field:// New Media and Society First Monday Convergence Human Technology Fibreculture Journal The Information Society Television and New Media

Consider: - The kinds of topics covered in recent times - Is the journal peer-reviewed? - Does it seem reputable? (How do you work this one out?) - Is it available online? - Is it open access or only accessible through subscription (via the library)? - Does it look like a potentially useful academic resource? - Other titles not covered above?

Big names
Marshall McLuhan Jean Baudrillard Paul Virilio Jurgen Habermas Bruno Latour Michel Foucault Theodor Adorno Neil Postman Theodore Roszak Michel de Certeau Henri Le Febvre Manuel Castells Donna Haraway Erving Goffman
 * **Which "key thinkers" (mostly dead or elderly white males!) impact on the field of new media studies?**

**New media people:** Geert Lovink Howard Rheingold Sherry Turkle N. Katherine Hayles Sadie Plant Allecquere Roseanne Stone Lev Manovich Danah Boyd Stelarc Clay Shirky Laurence Lessig Henry Jenkins Jaron Lanier

*please add to these as you think of / use them... ||

Useful non-academic sources
//Tech news sites:// Mashable Read Write Web Techcrunch Guardian Technology (including podcast) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology/

//Documentary:// Virtual revolution (BBC)

Research journals (potential platforms)
Blogger WordPress Tumblr Posterous

…other platforms? Which one and why?

Consider: - Functionality - Usability - Aesthetics - “Platform culture”

In-class communication
//Options:// Dead trees Email CECIL Facebook group Wiki (wikispaces / pbworks etc.) YouTube channel Others? Ning?

UPDATE: So far, we have this wiki and a YouTube channel set up by George and Andrea - and which everyone in the class pledged wholeheartedly to give a 'fair go' :-)