Project 1

http://kylebenson2.wix.com/ifitwereeasy

Community? Or Means of Communication?

A large part of this weeks discussion has been focusing on the idea that we, as people, have changed what it means to be part of a “community” through our use of the internet. Now some argue that any online center for discussion is it’s own “community”. However, I have a very different opinion on this. I believe that there are in fact websites that encompass this idea of community but they are very few and far between. Really the only website that I have ever come across that fully meets the description of a “community”, in the sense we have talked about, is the website reddit.com. The reason that I think this is because reddit is entirely based off of its users; in other words, all the content on the website is user posted, what other people just like you are posting is what you are going to see. And never have I seen a sight with so many different forums for discussion with active users on almost every “sub-reddit” I have ever visited.

However, if we remove reddit from the picture, assume it to be it’s own separate entity for the sake of discussion, then I really don’t believe any websites have developed to the point where you could look at them as “communities”. Instead, I see the internet as a whole as one massive “community”. Anyone and everyone who signs on instantly becomes part of it. Just like a real life in a real community, on the internet you make your own decisions. You can make good decisions or bad decisions. You can choose where to shop, who to chat with/leave a message, what to read; you have complete control. Therefore, in that sense, I don’t look at individual websites as “communities” but rather the equivalent to buildings/shops within a real community. The only reason you can comment on something someone has said on a particular website is because you too, like the person you wish to reply to, had the common interest in the website and both choose to visit that website. If you try to compare this to real life this would be just like going out to the mall and running into a friend at a store you are shopping at. You see, you didn’t run into one another because you were both at the mall, but because you both had the same interest in stopping by that same store. Therefore, in my personal opinion, I don’t believe you can look at websites as communities (with the exception of reddit which, as I said previously, I believe is like no other site on the internet), but rather you must step back and look at the internet as a whole as this one massive community that nearly everyone is a part of and it is on us, not web addresses, to create and spark interaction through common interests.

Until next time,

– Kyle

Exercise 1

11 years ago there was really only one commonly used social media platform; MySpace. Founded in 2003, MySpace gave people the abilities to create profiles, connect with others, and develop “online personas”, along with many other things. MySpace revolutionized online communication, for it truly was the first site of its kind.

Now 11 years later, MySpace is practically non-existent; replaced by Facebook and other more specialized platforms such as twitter, instagram, linkedin, etc. I find it really interesting to look at how people made the switch from one website that encompasses everything that has to do with social media (MySpace) to many different platforms that, although specialized to perform different functions, all more or less do the same thing; which is connect people and allow for self expression. We as a society have developed this notion that we must find as many different ways as possible to market/express ourselves and we have turned to the internet to do this.

One of these highly specialized social media platforms that I would like to further discuss is Instagram. Instagram, as many known, it is a platform for sharing pictures and short videos. Much like on Facebook, users on Instagram have the ability to control their privacy settings, as well as what content they post and what content they see. In Michael Butera’s piece “Gatekeeper, moderator, synthesizer” he describes how on Facebook we all perform these jobs without even necessarily knowing we are doing it and I think these same concepts can be applied to Instagram. Unlike with Facebook, unless you make your profile private, anyone can follow you and view your profile. Therefore if you don’t make your profile private you are essentially leaving your gates open. This is useful for those looking to generate a public following (such as models or bodybuilders) so that people around the world can visually see what it is that these people do. However, if you are not interested in the public following you and you do in fact make your profile private, you are doing the exact same thing as accepting a friend request on Facebook every time you approve someone to follow you on Instagram. By giving someone access to your profile you have chosen to “open up your gates” to that person.

When it comes to acting as a moderator and synthesizer, this role is just as prominent on Instagram as it is on any other social media platform. You have complete control over what pictures you post as well as whose posts you choose to view. Instagram really empowers users as their own moderators in the sense that Instagram gives you the ability to edit your pictures so they come out looking exactly how you would like them too. You can adjust everything from the lighting, to the tone, to the angle, to the effects; practically anything.

Now the reason I chose to focus on Instagram instead of another social media platform is because even though people don’t necessarily have conversations on Instagram its still social media in the sense that its communication through visuals. People post images that they want others to see; we want others to view our experiences, know how we are looking, know what pictures we find interesting, etc. No matter what it is you are posting, all posts are visual forms of self expression. Now to me viewing pictures on Instagram is much more interesting than viewing status updates on Facebook or Tweets on Twitter because words will never be as powerful/captivating as something you can visually examine and draw your own conclusions from.

One other final thing I also find very interesting about Instagram is that since it is specifically made for posting pictures, users who have say both a Facebook and an Instagram will go through the time to put pictures up specifically on Instagram for people to see but wont necessarily put the same picture on their Facebook. And that’s because people know that others go to Instagram to look at pictures but wont always look at them if they are on Facebook. And this is what shows why we, as a society, have looked to all these highly specialized forms of media and have turned away from just using one common platform, and it’s because we want to make sure that each and every specific thing we put other there is seen by an audience that wants to see it. This is why a lot of people use twitter; so that they can follow celebrities that they like and can keep people WHO ARE INTERESTED up to date on what they are doing throughout the day – because if someone is on twitter thats what they will expect and are there to see; your status updates. The same goes for Instagram, people post pictures on Instagram because they know that thats what the other users on the site are there to see; pictures. Now you don’t really see the same stuff with Facebook because it is more of a tool of communication as well as a personal profile. Not everyone goes on Facebook to see pictures, or so that they can read what you have been up to for the last few hours; they’re on Facebook to have a conversation, share news/media, or look at your profile. If you can understand what I’m trying to say here it’s that our care about our target audience has led us through this progression from one standard platform (MySpace), to two standard platforms (MySpace and Facebook) to having an abundant number of very specialized forms of social media that as I said, although they are all specialized to be different, all have the same function as a means of self expression and tool for keeping people connected.

Social Media… A Waste of Time? Or Not?

To be entirely honest I’m not really a huge fan of social media to begin with. Sure, I have a Facebook, a twitter, an Instagram, and so on just like many college students. But when it really comes down to it I hardly ever use these platforms and I personally don’t think my life would be that much worse without them….

THAT BEING SAID…..

I do believe that this week we discussed some very key topics regarding social media that really were completely spot on. I liked how we referred to our outlets of social media as virtual communities within this vast chaotic network known as the internet. And it is within these communities that we, the individuals who sign up as well as consent to join these “communities”, have the ability to create our own virtual personalities/realities, we have the ability to organize around a cause, we can communicate with one another, and so on and so on. 

Now this comes with some pros and cons of course. What’s great is that we can “friend” or “follow” almost anyone and everyone we have ever met so that if we EVER have any reason at all to contact them they are simply a few clicks and punches into the keyboard away. What is also very convenient is that you have the ability to control your privacy settings, and as we said in class, act as your own “gatekeeper” for what you put out there, who sees it, and whose information you see. The final thing I think is great about social media is how it has the ability to rally people behind a cause that can trend and thousands upon thousands of people can pick up on. For example, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Social media has the potential, if done right, to organize people to do good; as shown by this example. Something like this wouldn’t be possible without the internet, imagine someone trying to start this within a community by word of mouth; let’s just say I doubt it would make it out of town. So looking at social media through this lens I guess it actually kind isn’t that bad.

HOWEVER,

My big problem with social media that I struggle to get over is that people abuse this tool that has been given to them and go too far with it. In my opinion, some people have the tendency to share the most pointless things that really make you not even want to go on. For example, taking a selfie just because its Monday, or, pulled directly from my Facebook right now, a shared article titled “17 Things You Should Know Before You Date an Athletic Girl”, or even Facebook game requests (seriously if you want to play a game you’re going to look to Facebook?). I don’t entirely know where I’m going with this, but I saw this as a phenomenal opportunity to express me distaste for many aspects of social media. However, I will say through our discussion I have gained a greater understanding of the potential that social media has; it’s just sad how this tool is so poorly abused by so many people.

Until next time.

– Kyle

Week 2 Post – Electronic Monuments

For our first reading we read the preface and introduction to the book Electronic Monuments by Gregory L. Ulmer. As I stated in class the main part that really caught my attention was the part about convergence and how if people become too dependent on the system that is supposed to expose them to new ideas and other realities then the goal behind the network might backfire by means of people viewing this system as reality. The author also touches on how there is no one classification that organizes reality for everyone and how if a population becomes so absorbed in what they think they know, to the point that they fail to realize what is happening around them in other parts of the world, and that what they know as reality may not be reality everywhere else, than the only thing that can open up their eyes is a huge “reality check”. In the case of the United States the author suggests that this reality check for Americans was the events of 9/11 because it was something that impacted each and every American. The excerpt is as follows:

” It is a matter of relations among ideology and values, politics and morality. “Multiple voices and silences are represented in any scheme that attempts to sort out the world. No one classification organizes reality for everyone” (Bowker and Star 2000, 41). Bowker and Star warn that this inevitable interdependence of policy and metaphysics becomes dangerous in a condition of “convergence” — when the system disappears as such. “This blindness occurs by changing the world such that the system’s description of reality becomes true… It will be impossible to think or act otherwise” (49). A community will not know it has reached convergence until there is a breakdown in the system (34), when it’s solutions fail to pass a reality check. The events of 9/11 may be one such reality check. “

I found this part very intriguing because it reminds readers that we cannot be ignorant to what is going around us, even in our neighboring communities, and that we should not get so caught up in our own lives or any one system or reality such as the internet or social media, etc. As for how you translate this into a call to action for civic engagement, I don’t exactly know beyond advocating people to get more informed, but these were my thoughts about this reading as well as what stood out to me most. Feedback welcomed.

 

Source: 

Ulmer, Gregory L. “Introduction.” Introduction. Electronic Monuments. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 2005. 20-21. Print.