New Book, New Sets of Questions!
Thanks, Gary, for a really good class exchange last week and some provocative questions.
This week, a new book and new sets of questions to examine as we begin exploring the social connections to writing in online environments.
Our fearless group discussion leader should now be ready to take us forward into this new realm. Fearless Leader, let your questions go (ok, I've been watching a bit too much "Iron Chef" this weekend...sorry for the dramatics!)
This week, a new book and new sets of questions to examine as we begin exploring the social connections to writing in online environments.
Our fearless group discussion leader should now be ready to take us forward into this new realm. Fearless Leader, let your questions go (ok, I've been watching a bit too much "Iron Chef" this weekend...sorry for the dramatics!)
posted by Diane Penrod at 2/26/2006
7 Comments:
Sorry that these are so late…between the Rowan Network being on the fritz and the gargantuan amount of work this weekend, I didn’t get a chance to post til now…
(Even though I tackled Bakardjieva first, we'll warm up with Howard and Jones):
1. In Chapter 1, Howard addresses how the traditional media (TV, radio, etc) differs greatly in function from the new media (namely the internet). One particular difference is that the traditional media monopolized on one function (TV viewing) while new media promotes multi-tasking and "sticky" (pg24) applications. Do you think this computes to the new media will ultimately ousting traditional media? And what do you see as the positives and negatives of the new media "stickiness"?
2. In Larsen's chapter of taking faith online, she states that the studies show that the internet supplements instead of replacing traditional religious practices (51). Why do you think that is?
3. (optional question) Why would you do a telephone survey on internet use?
4. On page 73, do you think Barlow's "Declaration" could ever realistically be achieved or do you think Nakamura's conclusion of "various categories of online citizens" has a more realistic outlook?
And now we go to Bakardjieva*
*I will address her as B.
(note: I got lost in this book more times then a
blindfolded man with vertigo in the Congo):
1. On page 33, B. cites Bakhtin's observation that speakers ultimately define the words they use and that such subjectivity creates the changes in language. In a world where we strive for globalization, does this concept affect that goal? How?
2. Looking to page 107-110, B. illustrates the Embodiment relation (I don’t care how it works, I want it to work), the Hermeneutic relation (I need to know how it works to stay with the times), and the Alterity relation (I really want to know how it works). She also defines that these views “can coexist within the same personal experience of a user with regard to different technologies, or at different stages of the user’s dealings with the same technology.” Where do you think you stand? Where do you think most Rowan students stand? Where should college students stand?
Bill,
Excellent discussion last night. You raised some great questions to explore. I think we had a really productive conversation, and Jen's point about "well, just because we can do these things...should we" really resonates with the whole focus on everyday life practices and institutions.
I'm looking forward to reading others' views. Especially if Linda gives us the "411" on the MySpace concerns.
Diane
1. Eventually, as we continue to technologically advance new media will oust traditional media. But, this ousting will occur through a process. Because traditional media is so heavily embedded within our society, this replacement will occur slowly. The alteration will become greater with each passing generation, as these new advances become the new “norm.”
There are a number of pros and cons associated with this new media “stickiness.” It is of benefit because it provides convenience and efficiency on a number of levels. One can essentially complete all daily errands with the click of a button. In retrospect, there are a number of issues associated with this advancement. As a society, we are vulnerable to this type of technology because we lack the familiarity and awareness necessary to understand all aspects. As a result to this, issues of surveillance, privacy, alienation, and isolation, and questions of connectedness, legitimacy, and perception arise. With this, the notion of value related to specific institutional experiences offered online become questioned.
2. The Internet can be classified as a supplement to religious experiences, rather than a replacement because it provides the opportunity to extend this institutional practice. The online environment provides opportunity to further educate on religious ideas and reach all individuals. It provides an alternate way to express faith (stepping above television broadcasts and documentaries). Its coexistence can further enhance religious experience, providing an alternate aspect of fellowship, sense of belonging, and healing. Along with this, as with all institutional practices, it is of great value to individuals who are confined to their home due to physical, emotional, or social issues. It enables the opportunity to include individuals who normally are excluded due to reasons beyond their control. Through this environment, individuals have the opportunity to freely express their religious views without judgment. Religion as a whole, is a sticky issue, so its value in the online community, ultimately relies on each person’s view and connection to practice of faith.
4. Barlow’s “Declaration” sounds flawless in theory, but its existence based on our current society is not reality. My views run parallel to those discussed in class, coinciding with Nakamura’s conclusion-this notion cannot exist in a society that is largely segregated and fragmented. The dynamics existing in our society will parallel the dynamics existing in the online community. Segregation cannot exist simply through the application of hypertext. Only when we are unified as a culture, will we be unified online.
1. Much of what was discussed regarding this question coincides with the information presented in a course I am currently taking entitled, Writing Difference. Vernacular English and its place in higher learning institutes is a heavily debated topic often visited in lectures and readings in this course. It is shown that slang, academic language, language barriers, characteristics associated with language, and various jargons used in the setting segregate the community. Consensus on this issue cannot be set within American Institutions, supporting that obtaining globalization in this same area is in far reach.
2. Based upon the relations illustrated by Bakardjieva, I find myself swaying to and from the Embodiment relation to the Hermeneutic relation. When necessary in understanding how advancements work and their importance I stand within the Hermeneutic relation, but based upon daily technological use, within my mundane life, importance relies in not in how what I am using works, but simply that it works. I feel as though when I progress with my career as an educator, it will be important and of great value to be within the Alterity relation. Along with this, I would like to have comfort in knowing how things work and be capable to fix them if needed, instead of heavily relying on others with greater knowledge.
As we continue to progress as a society, Universities should provide awareness and access for college students to stand within the Alterity relation. Universities have the opportunity needed to provide this knowledge. With this, in most fields, it will be necessary for many students to hold this knowledge to excel in their future endeavors. Currently, based upon my own undergraduate experience at the University, I feel the majority of Rowan students are within the Embodiment relation. This is accredited to lack of motivation and awareness as result to the lack of excess available within the institution.
1. I think for new media to completely replace old media it will have to develop more. You can turn on your radio or TV and it comes on instantly and it is rare that any channel will have an ongoing technical problem that will prevent you from watching or listening. With online entertainment, you have to boot up the computer, access the Internet, find what you’re looking for amongst a million other things and technical problems can happen all the time. The Internet cannot currently match the convenience of television and radio.
Some positives of new media are the ability to multitask, like surfing the Internet while downloading itunes, and the cost cutting aspects, like downloading individual tunes instead of having to buy the whole CD. Some negatives include, the mountains of junk that you have to weed through to get what you want, for instance, you can search a topic and get a million hits of unwanted junk, and as mentioned in class, the inability to trust where the information is coming from.
2. I can’t imagine online religious practices taking over traditional practices completely. A huge attraction for many at my church is the fellowship. Our church offers an interactive website, but it also offers tons of fellowship activities and a lot of none regulars do attend the social functions. I know there are several housewives that can’t wait for Sunday so they can dress up and get some adult interaction.
3. I used results from a Pew Internet survey in my case study paper. In 1997 they said about 8% of Americans had Internet access in their homes and today over 75% of homes have Internet access.
4. I agree with Nakamura’s conclusion of “various categories of online citizens.” People have different interests and backgrounds and we tend to separate ourselves naturally based on these interests and backgrounds. As Linda mentioned, she would have never been interested in checking out MySpace and her nieces’ postings if not for this class. MySpace is geared for teens and young adults, until the recent controversy, older adults didn’t seem interested in exploring MySpace.
Like Linda, I too explored MySpace for the first time for this class. I had the same reaction as she did.
Bakardjieva
1. I just want to comment and say that I love the individuality that language can provide us. I would hope that technology does not force us to loose this individuality.
2. As mentioned in class I can fall in all three categories, Embodiment, Hermeneutic and Alterity depending on the topic. As an undergrad, I was extremely frustrated working in groups in the R/T/F field because I found many of my peers here at Rowan fit in the Embodiment category. It seemed that they didn’t care how a lot of the technology worked, as long as they could do it to pass the test.
I think as college students we should strive for the Alterity category. My grandfather often asks me simplistic questions about his computer that I can’t answer. It really makes me feel guilty. I think he puts so much faith in me to be knowledgeable enough to help him and I feel like I’ve let him down.
I'm going to post some comments - but right now, I have a question to ask.
I was originally scheduled to lead the reading discussion on 3/6 - which is Monday. I know we are a week behind, because my "scheduled" readings are not next.
So - here's my question, and I'm sorry I did not think to ask it in class on Monday - but, when am I supposed to lead the discussion? This Monday or next Monday?
1) I think new media will eventually replace the old. In January, the industry held a large tech show. I caught some of it on television. At one point Bill Gates gave a presentation about a little gadget that did everything. It was wireless and when you walked into a room, other appliances picked up your ID. He went through a scenario where a person gets up in the morning and picks up this hand held computer. As they walk into their kitchen, their flat screen TV picks up their signal and opens to their favorite news channels. It also shows the weather and the traffic patterns tailored for a specific route. It went on with the person driving to work and continuing to use this “sticky” technology throughout the day. This is still a ways off and I see traditional media continuing to dominate for at least another five to ten years. It’s just a matter of wireless access spreading and becoming available to everyone.
I see mostly positives. With everything being wireless and easily accessible, there are concerns about security. There are always those who abuse technology, but as time goes on, I see these things becoming integrated into our lives more and problems becoming less serious. Can we become too dependent on these technologies? Again, there will be those who abuse and become lazy. But as time goes on, I think those sorts of issues balance themselves out.
2) I don’t know very much about religion or how people practice. It seems to me that for most people, religion is a community thing. Church is about celebrating your religion with others who share your faith. I would think that doing such a thing over the internet through chats or e-mails wouldn’t provide the same satisfaction. The internet probably acts as a great supplement in that you can learn more about your faith through it. You can learn about other religions, many of which you might not be able to find info on at your local library. You can talk to others you wouldn’t normally have access to. In that way, it can open up your religious views a bit more.
4) The online world is the same as the real world. It’s just a reflection for the most part. As long as there’s divides between the rich and poor and feelings of bigotry in the real world, those same concepts will extent themselves into the digital world. Aside from that, there will always be differences between people. Everyone has different cultural tastes based on geography, ethnicity and age. As long as people keep their individual identities, you’ll see various categories of on-line citizens.
1) It makes it much more difficult. Language is in constant flux. It’s always changing and can vary wildly between individuals. Even if we come to a point where everyone has internet access, I can’t imagine the globalization of language being an attainable goal. While in many ways it would be nice if everyone spoke the same language in the same way, I would miss the uniqueness that each language can bring to culture.
2) I’m definitely Hermeneutic. I don’t really care how things work, but I feel I should learn in order to keep up with the pace of the world. I think most Rowan students would feel the same way. Ideally, I think everyone should be on the alterity side of things. When we become so dependent on something, we should want to know all the ins and outs. We shouldn’t be so dependent on others. I feel sorry for people who can’t even operate the basic functions of a computer. However, that’s hypocritical as there are plenty of technologies where I have no idea what I’m doing and don’t care to learn. It depends on what your interests are. I think people will fall in all different categories depending on their ideas of what’s important and what’s interesting.
1.) Traditional media is here to stay, although after having satellite radio for abour four months, I can no longer tolerate traditional radio. Sure, I made the leap to Satellite, but I do not think everyone will do that. There are people who believe that things like TV and Radio should be "free" and the idea of paying for these medias is ridiculous.
2.) We spoke about this in class, I believe that one of the core things that surrounds religion is the social influences associated with religion. Historically, religious services have served as a social outing. A place to see your neighbors, townspeople, family, etc. I have seen many movies and television shows in which the "peer pressue" causes people to attend services more than the religous aspects of the service. People use the Internet to learn more about religions, but the idea of using it as a replacement is not full accepted. As Catholics, serives on Sunday are a means of sacrifice. You are sacrificing an hour of your time and giving that time fully to God. With the Internet and its premise pf multitasking, Im not sure people will be able to ever give 100%.
4.)The idea of race, creed, etc. disappearing online is a beautiful concept. All too often, I have seen how race can change everything. Wouldn't it be great to think that there could be a mass online gloablization.
5.)This question just isn't doing it for me - sorry Bill!
6.)I am definitely in the Hermeneutic relation. I am not a huge fan of technology -- does that sound weird? Part of me wishes I could go without it, but I know that this is unrealistic as a young, emergign professional. I know that in order to stay competitive in my field, I have dive into technology. But, I will never be a gadget girl. To me, there is nothing better than walking my dogs on a beautiful afternoon or putting my hands in cookie dough as I bake. I don't care how the oven works - but in order to bake, I have to at least know how to work it.
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