Week 13: Media Change

Perhaps the most prominent media change in the last 10 years would have to be social media. Not only has it near taken over the digital world, but it has become a pervasive and almost essential element of our daily lives. So much to say that some people externalise not only their plans, memories and goals on it, but almost their every waking thought per minute! I think it's safe to say that social media has changed the way we interact and perceived with our two worlds/realms (digital/reality).

Most notable for myself, Facebook now appear to be a great source of all my daily news. Whilst I do frequent the SMH website, I more so often find myself clicking on the links that my friends put up to Facebook. Can this be seen as a bad thing? Perhaps, but I think there is a positive influence in the ability to more quickly have stories related to your interests prominent.

Not only news, but events as well. They too have been adapted and fit into a new form of my social website interaction. It's easier than ever to simply set up an event page and invite anyone and everyone you desire. Due to this, i think its safe to say that every event I have been to in the last 4-6 months has been put through Facebook... They know a lot about my interests now.

Tying into this, Facebook has changed the way I meet people too. Whilst twitter allows me quick access to accounts of new interests, it's the traditional custom now to immediately go through the photos and past posts of anyone you just added. (Almost rude not to nowadays!) Staying connected with older friends as well as making new ones all comes down to how well they can portray themselves online.

Of course, self image online can be a very interesting topic. I've always been interested in the various character types you get whilst on Facebook. For example their are the 'cause- posters'- the friend who are always asking you to support this page, or read this article. And then on the other end of the broad spectrum are those quite 'watchers'. The ones who never seem to post anything, but you always notice that they have like almost every post on your feed! (stalker much?) It appears as though different formations of identities are being constructed in this new realm that I think haven't yet been entirely explored. Some people use social networking sights to simply 'keep in touch' whilst you notice others seem to pour their heart and emotions into there ritual hourly posts. Why? and what is different about these ranges of people that make them all conform to different personas. Can we put it down to just this new media change? or is it something deeper with the personality of the individual? I can't really answer these questions, but i think it's an interesting thought to leave you on for the time being.

Happy Blogging - this may be my last for now. (I'm at number 8!!!)

Week 10: Hauntology

Rather than the usual lectures of moral questioning, media engagement and social innovation enlightenment I usually encounter, this weeks readings has seen to a rather dark and bismal tone being washed upon the  topics of science, media and the environment. (Apparently I was unaware that Anthropocene was alluding to answer the question of fixing the world- by means of fixing the past- possible?... unlikely) Not only that, but this envisioning idea of 'presentism' has sadly confirmed all of those late night fears I have that i'm only living my life, but not really experiencing it.

Indeed, Rushkoff's ideas of presentism has been the buzzword of the week for me. The concept itself explaining how no past, nor future exists, creating a mindset that only exists in an exact current moment. the most interesting part? Rushkoff's idea of the unprepared people... we are in 'shock'. The overwhelming level of interaction we demand ourselves to complete renders our inability to actually experience  Rushkoff breaks this down a little better into the 5 struggles we face around the phenomenon. Here... let me give you the laymen break down:

- Narrative Collapse- in simpler terms, a breakdown or collapse of modern discourse. The idea that we no longer reach in-junctures through a structured, linear sequence of discourse. Everything these days seems to be so multi-platformed and cross referenced that post-modernism seems outdated as a term.
- Digiphrenia- Technology splits our experience apart. The best modern example would have to be Facebook addiction. No matter where you are, you have the ability to connect with someone, or something else. Ultimately your experience of where you are is diminished in it's memorable 'richness'.
- Overwinding- Quite simply, we try to cram to much into to little a space when it comes to our daily lives.
- Fractalnoia- We've become paranoid. We seek to make connections of every event we experience to another one that has NO connection. Inevitably, he examines how we look too much into the present to make sense of it, when we should be looking to the past. (a bit contradictory to presentism at first, but don't worry... it makes sense... I think)
- Apocalyto- This one i'm sure you can guess. End of the world. Boom. Bang. Splat. Whatever way you say, we seem to be obsessed with it! almost to the point that we will be a little disappointed if it doesn't happen... all that work devising a Zombie escape plan will just go to waste!

So that's the summary for you.... a dark week of intellect indeed!

However, so you don't leave this with a dreary head, here's something a little more uplifting... THE INTERNET OF THINGS! Just a great youtube clip for you!

Word this week: Hauntology

Week 9: Open Science

Not only has new technology's allowed for more productive, accurate and efficient research in science but has also allowed multiple gateways of access and understanding. Any lay person holds the infinite ability to simply wiki any topic there mind pnders and recieve an emense response that previously could only be discovered through the most extensive research. But is this causing a problem?

I like to put forward the question this week of open science and the opposing value in private research. 

Inger Mewburn, a researcher and thesis 'whisperer' has taken on the challenges of the new media network and created a twitter feed designed to aid the overflow of PHD students that Australia (and for that matter, the world) has encountered over the last 10 years, with numbers almost tripling in students.
Though the accounts main goal is to be a modern resource for students, giving information of thesis ideas, current jobs, possible grants and newest findings, its counter production is a free, open and inviting resource for any persons access as well. 

“So I really see it as a newspaper for PhD students by PhD students and I'm the editor who has a bit more experience.” Mewburn says. (Read more here)

Can this be harmful to the scientific community? Does this introduction of openness eliminate the need for students and the like to source their own findings?

However on the other hand, an open source like the net has created simple access for researchers to converge ideas, share findings and allow for a medium that encourages globalisation and growth. Elizabeth Pisani reports this to be a key reason to many of todays modern advancements. "Nowadays, gene sequences get posted on the web daily and scientists build on one another's work. The pace of discovery has increased exponentially and, as a result, so have diagnostics and cures." (Read More Here) 

However the flip slide to this is the placement of science and discover within the media itself. Sadly  media prioritisation puts science often at a low level for reporting, often beaten by political discourses or what Snooki did with her newborn the other day (and you can read THAT unmissable story right here!). Perhaps the most interesting explanation of my point can be performed by the infamous Chasers. See their Youtube clip below:

Word this week: Open Science

Week 8: Social Organization

Week 8 Word: Social Organisation 

The most prominent topic and reading that stood out to me this week, clearly has to be The Knife Party's Climate Change video.

Whilst this is by no means a video that will generate the same level of discussion as one of Gore's Inconvenient truths (most likely because it didn't have the budget), it concise;y does something that many activists and politicians fail to do on the subject of climate change... it offers a clear METHOD of solution.

It's one thing to claim an answer, but another to define a path of deliverance for those whom it affects. The Knife party however, uses the incumbent application of social media, networking and the historical learnings of the 60's Individualist movement to provide a new context for advocating change. 

A simple, three fold medium to aid global efforts. The first, an information forum (or 'green wiki' as they put it) to be a internalised 'go-to' place for advocates. The second, an 'open innovation forum' that allows parties and individuals to collectively problem solve issues. And third, a 'catalyst system' or simpler put, a social network that allows individuals to connect with others souly for the purpose of fighting the global pandemic.

So their you have it. Problem: global warming. Solution: Collaborative effort. Method: an  Information archive, a Forum and a Network.  A simple layered idea that holds the potential power to become a great catalyst. Al Gore will be spewn'.

But does collaboration always work? ... Does stewardship fail without any centralised leadership. Or worse yet, would Douglas Rushkoff  be right and the government will switch off the net?

Let's hope not on that one. But one thing to question is the value in individual efforts. Collaboration is always thought to be primal to human efforts of survival but the value of the social organisation is undermined with examples of the ulterior. Apple computer's co-founder and inventor of the personal computer is perhaps the best example...

"In his memoir, Mr. Wozniak offers this guidance to aspiring inventors: 

“Most inventors and engineers I’ve met are like me ... they live in their heads. They’re almost like artists. In fact, the very best of them are artists. And artists work best alone .... I’m going to give you some advice that might be hard to take. That advice is: Work alone... Not on a committee. Not on a team.”

A great example sure enough, but perhaps only in the cases of discover Vs solution could his be applied. It took Wozniak only himself to screw in that light bulb. But it takes 90% of climate scientists in the world today to prove to governments that climate change is real. 

Source: Click Here

...... Evidence it seems, is just an inconvenient truth to them.

Week 7: Data

I found my self somewhat trailing back this week to works of last years publishing course. Whilst I agree with my lecturers strong stance of usability and application of ANT (Actor network theory) i'll still take issue with a 'equal' balance when it comes to assemblage. 

These conceptions associated with assemblage creates an overwhelming link between some contemporary business models and the changing technologies of todays world. Gardiner's text "What is an Author" aptly helps display between the changing conceptions of assemblage within publishing and the modern/digital technologies that are changing its foundations.

It also appears to me that Delueze's Theory of Assemblage is closely linked with the conceptualisation of discourse. A building block to the theory of an evolutionary basis within developments of an field. Quite frankly though, unpicking a deep understanding of medfia discourse in terms of assemblage theory is an act worth of a brain explosion... so instead...

The following picture I feel most explains discourse in simple terms: (at least in a way that keeps me smiling whilst doing so.)

Taken from: http://www.toistudio.com/blog/2010/01/discourse.html



Word: Data. 

Week 5: Augmented

Word: Augmented.

You hear Augmented. You think ugly thoughts. ... don't you?

Images of the body, manifested and mutated, instantly come into the mind. Twisted beings and flashes of Joan Rivers scratch into the roots of your brain. Somehow this word has been completely monopolised by the macabre. That fleeting sense of horror. Smouldering flesh and frankly, just distasteful stuff really... you know, that sort of thing.

Hopefully though, I digress, this image can be changed to reflect a new angle toward the augmentation of our world. Specifically, what media can do to change our reality.

What struck most about the readings this week was the vast array of practical applications that you can use with Augmented realities. In particular, the article "7 Ways Augmented Reality will Improve Your life" showed the newest IKEA catalogue sporting the new 'quick-model' app that allows readers  to simply scan the image on the page and have an instant moving model opaquely appear upon the phones! Not only amazing! but also wonderfully useful for any person struggling to win the battle of 'of honey, but I'm not sure if it would actually fit.."

Ofcourse, not everyone I think seems to have this inescapably ecstatic mood toward this new technology as I do. Privacy, omission and experience of the 'the real' versus 'reality' generate hot debate among many when it comes to the technologies of IKEAS quick-models, patient environments and google glass. Can an augmented reality create a fake reality? Can it innately hinder the human experience rather than enhance? Should we be allowing a device that has the potential to be used for both bad and good be available so freely to all?

All of these questions hold validity. Especially when we refer to things such as google glass. But frankly, perhaps a little blind faith may not go ascue. In the case of google glass, a history lesson might be a good reflection of a cyclical pattern. The introduction of CCTV generated much same same debates such as privacy and validity, but the test of time has showed that the benefits far outweighed the liabilities. Though in all fairness, this still is debated. (see below: BBC Morning's 2010)

The questions remains for me to be however, nothing ethical, but shallowly commercial. What else can we do with it? Frankly, the opportunities for design, industry and advertising are so vast, it's nearly stepping us into a new realm. A renaissance almost, of the technological era.

Week 4: EMT & Metacommunication

The idea of the "extended mind thesis" has stuck with me the most this past week. Not only because of its imperative concept that connects the tangible with the theoretical and developing, but also because of its direct link to the notions of memory and internalised recall.

I work in a Perfumery. A small one I'll admit by commercial standards, but frankly I don't think of over 750 different fragrances as 'small'.
One the days where sales are a bit slow, we like to play a little game of 'scent recall' between fellow collugues. The object is for one person to select the three most different or hard to recognise fragrances they can think of, and for the second person to attempt to guess which fragrances they are, only by getting a sprayed sample on a tester card. The guessing person may have hints they wish, but ultimately they have a time limit to work out what fume they are sampling.

This game, though playful and only for fun, actually holds a lot of value between the ideals of EMT with the challenges of memory recall. According to the Weizman institute, your sense of smell is closest linked to your memory above all other senses, however, in a form different to the other four.

Let's take a contrasting look at this game in depth. I'm up first. The intangible scent of peony and tonka beans strike me first. I can immediately recall them. I picture them in my mind written down in in the fragrance encyclopaedia kept at work, and i visualise the list of matching perfumes. Completely internalised. completely recalling based on memorised experience. I search through the shelves looking at each bottle for a visual cue to set off the connection. Finally i come across a small square bottle with a diamond lid and the notes click. "It's this one!" i claim in excitement. And to my success i select correctly.

My opponent takes the floor. i hand her my selected fragrance. She smells and then immediately begins to write down her thoughts. She scribbles down each note in a hurried manner before coming over to me and asking "are these right". I look to her notes and find a list of ingredients she claims to have experienced in the scent. I cross off the ones that aren't there and leave the correct ones. She now continues to externalise the problem. now writing down a list of all possible fragrances. Again she comes to me and asks the same question. Without completely answering i say 'yes, the correct one is on there'. Finally, after much writing and logical elimination she selects the correct fragrance.

We both win!!

But more importantly, we both achieved our goals through divergent ideals of the EMT. She externalised the situation and used notes and submissions to solve the problem, whilst i, at first, internalise the response and used memory to solve the problem, then  proceeded to externalise using visual cues.

Week 1- "Events"

Kath n' Kim- Happy New Year!

Ok. So perhaps not the best and most eventful night for Kimmy, but still and event none the less! Infact, one of the largest events on the global scale! The new years countdown. The only world holiday event that is celebrated in almost every Sovereign State. And furthermore, one of the largest media events too, pulling in celebrants all over the world. But this by no means, defines any clear lines of a media event. mainly because a media event can really have no lines!... no form, or set rules. Over the last half century we have seen the evolution of media events transform and manifest to a plethora of viewer and particiopant opportunities. From that of the grand plan scale setup of the moon landing (and by that I mean no reference to the possibility of its rumoured forgery; just the planning and set up it needed in general to be seen across the globe), to the recurrent traditions of the US superbowl and Dick Clarke 'Rockin Eve', to the ever incumbent and what seems, omnipresent inclusion of the ultimate PR buzz word; 'social media event!' Heck, event memes seem to gather enough attention these days that I guess you could say their viral spread could be considered and event...

Particularly this one:

Traditionally, media events sought after publicity as well as provide a sense of entertainment. Examples such as the moon-landing generated tremendous improvements in global and particularly US spirit as well as giving a generation a 15 minute time slot to never forget. But today's stemming seek a multitude of goals spanning from corporate trading, to education and development and of course to the general and traditional use of public sphere stimulation.

Of course it would be right to mention a media event without the brand name infamous for their product launches and endless releases of expanding ideas. Apple Inc today is the largest company on the plannet with an estimated $651.5 billion gross worth. That's higher than the total value of the US economy of any year prior to 1977. Needless to say, their events are so anticipated their are usually pre-events before them!- Plus the endless crowd lined up out the door the day before.

Aiding to this is the newest craze to capture events. When previously the best and most sought after coverage was Live film for any event. Options of interest today have expanded to the concept of 'live blogging'. That is, posting live whilst the conduct of a media events goes on. This cultural zeitgeist has been gaining popularity within the last 18 months and even apple now have joined the fad.

But what holds for the future of the media event?... Well... I don't know!.. but I hope to find out over the course of this semester and comment on this weeks blog with my own answer in 12 weeks time! (Hi future me!)