Henry Jenkins (2006) in his book Convergence Culture uses multiple studies to make the argument that his definition of convergence is central to how individuals will coexist in popular, political, and civic culture in the near future. Specifically, he focuses on the ideas of media convergence, participatory culture, and collective intelligence. Of interest to me is this third concept, the idea of collective intelligence. I wonder if such communities do not already exist separate of technology.
Each of the studies illustrate how collective intelligence works to enhance the experience associated with media consumption. Jenkins (2006) makes the argument that the "spoiler" culture connected with Survivor is essentially a collective intelligence where individuals all contribute in some small way to solving the puzzle. Individuals will participate by posting clues that they have extracted about the show in order to guess how the coming season of Survivor will play out. Posters establish credibility in these "spoiling" communities through experience and the posting of accurate findings. The community in this case was strong until the emergence of a poster who posted relatively accurate findings without being discredited by the community. Once the game was “spoiled,” much of the community died down because they lost the sense of community success.
In his examination of MIT research of groups who view American Idol together, Jenkins (2006) suggests that collective intelligence works to keep each other up to date on the show, to make fans out of casual viewers, and to bring viewers closer to the show and the affiliate product brands that have ties to the show. Such shows work effectively to bring viewers to the brands sponsoring the show. Of course, I can think of marketing tactics that worked to include or remove brands that sponsors did not want in shows that go back to before reality television, specifically the sitcom Friends.
Jenkins (2006) suggests that The Matrix is a convergent media and one that requires a collective intelligence in order to fully understand the meaning of the story arc. The nuanced, layered content of the franchise requires a group of devoted fans each bringing something to the table in order to learn about everything that is in the story. By sharing knowledge, all members can come to a deeper understanding of the franchise. In this study. Jenkins notes the financial motives behind making The Matrix transmedia, but not the hypocritical impact it could have on the message of the original film. Going from Anti-Hollywood to media franchise is counter intuitive to the first film's message about the dangers of consumer culture (Proffitt, Tchoi, & McAllister, 2007).
In his examination of the Star Wars: Galaxies gaming community, Jenkins (2006) found that collective intelligence helped developers to create a game that fans could better enjoy in game play and in social interaction. Taking his perspective to the next level, Jenkins (2006) suggests that by utilizing the concepts of collective intelligence. We can better understand the politics of our society and hold them accountable. My only question here is whether or not citizens really want to invest that much time or interest in the enterprise of politics. Each of the groups Jenkins examines hold special interests in specialized forms of entertainment media. I can see a group of policy wonks engaging in such a practice, but not society in general.
While I agree that the concept of collective intelligence serves a critical function in each of these cases and that it can further benefit society, I question if collective intelligence is not just a naturally occurring social function. Close-knit communities often come together through neighborhood watches or associations to overcome crime and potential abuses by city officials. Graduate seminars are ideally a collection of students who come together each week and share ideas about the weekly topics to test each other’s perspectives and to expand their understanding of the topics. From a historical perspective, revolutionary elites in the colonial period of the United States came together in a niche community to form ideas about overcoming British policies they disagreed with and eventually formed a government. While Jenkins (2006) makes a great case for the utility of such groupings, I believe that his work could be enhanced by considering the historical foundations for such collective intelligence communities, and how those traditions translate to this technological period.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Sexualized Gaming and Historical Hacking
This week’s readings in Critical Cyberculture Studies cover a broad spectrum of topics, and a couple of them caught my attention. The focus of this week’s entry is to look a little more closely at each of them, and to raise some questions I have after reading about them.
O’Riordan (2006) focuses her contribution on the visual presentation of female video game heroines in, including characters like Lara Croft and Ananova. She makes the claim that this presentation of women with large breasts and narrow waists is an attempt to sexualize the characters and to commodify the product. This argument seems tautological and an unnecessary inclusion in the conversation. The programmers are infusing sex appeal in the characters, and the morally questionable practice seems to be driven by the desire to make a profit. That said, I am pretty confident that the average consumer can look at a Lara Croft and think “sex symbol for profit” the same way they look at the run of the mill Hollywood actress. This is a problem that exists on a larger scale than the gaming industry. Whether it is movies, games, television, or magazines, we see it everyday in more perspectives than video gaming.
She precedes her argument about image and profit with the claim that creating these young, almost innocent, and attractive female characters for the user to control fulfills a paternalistic function. I have two criticisms of this statement. First, I find it highly doubtful that the average consumer who is swayed by the sex appeal of these characters will think of themselves as their father. Second, what about a Lara Croft or Ananova makes the declaration of “almost innocent” feasible? This perspective seems like a reach on O’Riordan’s part, and one the article could do without.
In general, I think O’Riordan’s (2006) arguments are valid, though I question the meaningful contribution they make. Female characters do suggest an absurd acceptable body image for women who play. A closer examination of female characters in gaming might help to show that the character development does create positive social characteristics for these characters as well. Lara Croft of Tomb Raider is a survivor, is educated in archaeology, beyond the image provides a positive female role model for women because she is portrayed as independent, strong, and confident in her pursuits (Kennedy, 2002). Samus Aran of Metroid fame is a female bounty hunter that tries to save the universe (http://cube.ign.com/articles/096/096588p1.html). Granted, these examples are a bit oversimplistic, but a young girl playing these games gets a positive message from female characters independent of the image that O’Riordan criticizes. I agree we need to broaden the image specturm of pro-social video game heroines. That said, this will not happen without a viable market.
Turner (2006) presents a historical account of the first Hacker’s conference, discusses the code of ethics, and presents an often-discussed element of concern in our readings lately, the debate over presenting innovations to improve society against the need to make a profit. These are both great elements to discuss, but he oversimplifies what it is to be a hacker in a complex context of modern interpretation. Granted, there are those out there who are computer enthusiasts who focus on coding in order to present a better world through computing innovation (e.g., Steve Wozniak).
There is, however, a very viable grouping of hackers that is more directly interested in cracking security systems that may or may not be computer-related, as a form of subversion. Turner references Theodore “John” Draper (a.k.a. Captain Crunch), who had little to do with computers in gaining fame. Draper, in fact, hacked telephone lines for free access to long distance calls. In addition to telephone hacking, many hackers now are engaged in computer hacking for a variety of good or bad purposes.
Hacking for benevolent purposes is typically called white hat hacking, and they will hack a system to determine its weakness and promptly report their findings to the company so they can improve their system. Hacking for criminal (and more subversive) purposes is referred to as black hat hacking, and they engage in hacking that results in personal profit, damage to the system they hack, or general mayhem to promote the decentralization of society that Turner refers to in the hackers’ ethic. A notable figure surrounded in controversy is Kevin Mitnick, who engaged in what he called social engineering from the age of 12 in gaining bus access up until his federal conviction for illegal computer access in 1995 (http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/10/07/kevin.mitnick.cnna/index.html). Grey hats are the go between of the above two groups in the culture who may or may not take something, but will never profit and sometimes report the problems they see to companies they deem reputable.
For a brief interview of these three figures in hacking history, check this link out:
http://www.maniacworld.com/original-hackers.htm
O’Riordan (2006) focuses her contribution on the visual presentation of female video game heroines in, including characters like Lara Croft and Ananova. She makes the claim that this presentation of women with large breasts and narrow waists is an attempt to sexualize the characters and to commodify the product. This argument seems tautological and an unnecessary inclusion in the conversation. The programmers are infusing sex appeal in the characters, and the morally questionable practice seems to be driven by the desire to make a profit. That said, I am pretty confident that the average consumer can look at a Lara Croft and think “sex symbol for profit” the same way they look at the run of the mill Hollywood actress. This is a problem that exists on a larger scale than the gaming industry. Whether it is movies, games, television, or magazines, we see it everyday in more perspectives than video gaming.
She precedes her argument about image and profit with the claim that creating these young, almost innocent, and attractive female characters for the user to control fulfills a paternalistic function. I have two criticisms of this statement. First, I find it highly doubtful that the average consumer who is swayed by the sex appeal of these characters will think of themselves as their father. Second, what about a Lara Croft or Ananova makes the declaration of “almost innocent” feasible? This perspective seems like a reach on O’Riordan’s part, and one the article could do without.
In general, I think O’Riordan’s (2006) arguments are valid, though I question the meaningful contribution they make. Female characters do suggest an absurd acceptable body image for women who play. A closer examination of female characters in gaming might help to show that the character development does create positive social characteristics for these characters as well. Lara Croft of Tomb Raider is a survivor, is educated in archaeology, beyond the image provides a positive female role model for women because she is portrayed as independent, strong, and confident in her pursuits (Kennedy, 2002). Samus Aran of Metroid fame is a female bounty hunter that tries to save the universe (http://cube.ign.com/articles/096/096588p1.html). Granted, these examples are a bit oversimplistic, but a young girl playing these games gets a positive message from female characters independent of the image that O’Riordan criticizes. I agree we need to broaden the image specturm of pro-social video game heroines. That said, this will not happen without a viable market.
Turner (2006) presents a historical account of the first Hacker’s conference, discusses the code of ethics, and presents an often-discussed element of concern in our readings lately, the debate over presenting innovations to improve society against the need to make a profit. These are both great elements to discuss, but he oversimplifies what it is to be a hacker in a complex context of modern interpretation. Granted, there are those out there who are computer enthusiasts who focus on coding in order to present a better world through computing innovation (e.g., Steve Wozniak).
There is, however, a very viable grouping of hackers that is more directly interested in cracking security systems that may or may not be computer-related, as a form of subversion. Turner references Theodore “John” Draper (a.k.a. Captain Crunch), who had little to do with computers in gaining fame. Draper, in fact, hacked telephone lines for free access to long distance calls. In addition to telephone hacking, many hackers now are engaged in computer hacking for a variety of good or bad purposes.
Hacking for benevolent purposes is typically called white hat hacking, and they will hack a system to determine its weakness and promptly report their findings to the company so they can improve their system. Hacking for criminal (and more subversive) purposes is referred to as black hat hacking, and they engage in hacking that results in personal profit, damage to the system they hack, or general mayhem to promote the decentralization of society that Turner refers to in the hackers’ ethic. A notable figure surrounded in controversy is Kevin Mitnick, who engaged in what he called social engineering from the age of 12 in gaining bus access up until his federal conviction for illegal computer access in 1995 (http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/10/07/kevin.mitnick.cnna/index.html). Grey hats are the go between of the above two groups in the culture who may or may not take something, but will never profit and sometimes report the problems they see to companies they deem reputable.
For a brief interview of these three figures in hacking history, check this link out:
http://www.maniacworld.com/original-hackers.htm
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Ethical Decisions, New Media Campaigns, and Project Vote Smart
Howard (2006) in New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen examined the practices and decision-making of several companies that utilized new media to produce campaigns. More than an examination of norms and routines, Howard attempts to discuss the ethical problems that new media campaigns face, as well as the future implications for new media campaigns as well. Specifically, Howard discusses three common decisions that were made in these “hypermedia campaigns” that will have implications for future campaigns, which I will expand upon in this posting.
The first decision is data mining for profit by some of the organizations. Of particular concern is the mining of personal information, including credit charges, addresses, contact information, and other details that are sold to anyone who can meet the price tags associated with acquiring the information. Howard goes into some detail about how the practitioners dealt with an inner conflict between improving democracy and having to make profit to keep the project going. While I agree that generating income is a necessary evil in projects without benefactors like the organizations studied, it would seem that there are better opportunities to generate income than by marketing the credit histories and contact addresses of citizens. Of greater concern is that any data was marketed without the prior consent of citizens who participated on the discussion boards or in polling. In this regard, Howard (2006) is on the mark that this decision is problematic because the need to generate income may in this case undercut the desire of practitioners’ to help improve democracy. Considering the choices made, one has to question how well the organizations thought about how to improve society for its citizens.
The second and third decisions are related. The second decision that concerns Howard (2006 is the choice of practitioners to politically redline citizens by using mined data to strategically target campaigns to mobilize citizens that are most likely to agree with organizations or candidates on issues. The third decision was to focus campaigns in areas where campaigning clout was needed. I agree this was an opportunity to change the status quo from typical political campaigns or communication campaigns in general.
I question, however, the blame Howard (2006) leveled at the companies to who assist campaigns with the information and implants. There is no ethically sound explanation for using the mined personal data to target citizens, but the practice of targeting is a natural part of the campaign process. Campaigns make decisions about which audience to target because of budget and time constraints. Redlining takes place because if a campaign were to tailor messages for all audiences, they would run out of time and money at every critical point in the campaign (Denton, 2005). In addition, the desire to win on an initiative or in an election drives the decision to target campaigns in areas where more of a push is necessary. An immediate example is the use of moral referendums on the ballot in battleground states in the 2004 election (Denton, 2005).
Organizations target elites and contested regions over the general population because they are more viable to help accomplish the goal of passing an initiative or in getting a candidate elected. When new media companies are employed by campaigns to conduct these practices, it is because that is what the campaigns request from them. If critics like Howard (2006) want to reform the practice, we must find a way to get campaigns to address all audiences in a manner that is efficient in time and cost-effective. This problem is institutional in the American political system and the feasibility of running an effective campaign, not only the practices of these companies. Howard (2006) must qualify the blame leveled in this case, as companies seem to use new technology to complete traditionally effective campaign strategies in a more efficient manner. They are not the source of these decisions.
In addition to discussion these three decisions, Howard (2006) also compares the motives and rationale behind each of the four companies examined and how they practiced campaigns. He praises the pseudonominous GrassrootsActivist.org because of their use of technology and information to help citizens and community groups mobilize issue campaigns to help improve society. In this way, they seem to stay closer to the desire to improve democracy. Another current Web site for Project Vote Smart (http:// www.vote-smart.org/) provides a means for politically independent citizens to research candidates for each state and national election, to research policy issues on the ballot, and opportunities for citizens to volunteer, intern, or find work with their organization. This site seems to be morally grounded and interested in empowering citizens in the right ways. Perhaps not the most sophisticated in new Internet technologies, it does provide a variety of in-depth ways to learn the character, ethics, and issue stances of candidates.
The first decision is data mining for profit by some of the organizations. Of particular concern is the mining of personal information, including credit charges, addresses, contact information, and other details that are sold to anyone who can meet the price tags associated with acquiring the information. Howard goes into some detail about how the practitioners dealt with an inner conflict between improving democracy and having to make profit to keep the project going. While I agree that generating income is a necessary evil in projects without benefactors like the organizations studied, it would seem that there are better opportunities to generate income than by marketing the credit histories and contact addresses of citizens. Of greater concern is that any data was marketed without the prior consent of citizens who participated on the discussion boards or in polling. In this regard, Howard (2006) is on the mark that this decision is problematic because the need to generate income may in this case undercut the desire of practitioners’ to help improve democracy. Considering the choices made, one has to question how well the organizations thought about how to improve society for its citizens.
The second and third decisions are related. The second decision that concerns Howard (2006 is the choice of practitioners to politically redline citizens by using mined data to strategically target campaigns to mobilize citizens that are most likely to agree with organizations or candidates on issues. The third decision was to focus campaigns in areas where campaigning clout was needed. I agree this was an opportunity to change the status quo from typical political campaigns or communication campaigns in general.
I question, however, the blame Howard (2006) leveled at the companies to who assist campaigns with the information and implants. There is no ethically sound explanation for using the mined personal data to target citizens, but the practice of targeting is a natural part of the campaign process. Campaigns make decisions about which audience to target because of budget and time constraints. Redlining takes place because if a campaign were to tailor messages for all audiences, they would run out of time and money at every critical point in the campaign (Denton, 2005). In addition, the desire to win on an initiative or in an election drives the decision to target campaigns in areas where more of a push is necessary. An immediate example is the use of moral referendums on the ballot in battleground states in the 2004 election (Denton, 2005).
Organizations target elites and contested regions over the general population because they are more viable to help accomplish the goal of passing an initiative or in getting a candidate elected. When new media companies are employed by campaigns to conduct these practices, it is because that is what the campaigns request from them. If critics like Howard (2006) want to reform the practice, we must find a way to get campaigns to address all audiences in a manner that is efficient in time and cost-effective. This problem is institutional in the American political system and the feasibility of running an effective campaign, not only the practices of these companies. Howard (2006) must qualify the blame leveled in this case, as companies seem to use new technology to complete traditionally effective campaign strategies in a more efficient manner. They are not the source of these decisions.
In addition to discussion these three decisions, Howard (2006) also compares the motives and rationale behind each of the four companies examined and how they practiced campaigns. He praises the pseudonominous GrassrootsActivist.org because of their use of technology and information to help citizens and community groups mobilize issue campaigns to help improve society. In this way, they seem to stay closer to the desire to improve democracy. Another current Web site for Project Vote Smart (http:// www.vote-smart.org/) provides a means for politically independent citizens to research candidates for each state and national election, to research policy issues on the ballot, and opportunities for citizens to volunteer, intern, or find work with their organization. This site seems to be morally grounded and interested in empowering citizens in the right ways. Perhaps not the most sophisticated in new Internet technologies, it does provide a variety of in-depth ways to learn the character, ethics, and issue stances of candidates.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Bridges, Bonding, Politics, & Communities in Crisis - 10/4/07
This week’s readings in Society Online examine how organizations with diverse interests utilize the Internet to fulfill their needs in specific situations. The studies included reveal some consistent trends in motives for usage, and some specific examples of why gaps in communication exist on the Internet. Other studies examine the use of the Internet in the political communication context, as well as in the crisis communication context.
Norris (2004) examined the role that the Internet plays in bridging gaps in communication between people of different backgrounds and viewpoints, as well as how it provides a means of helping people with similar backgrounds and interests bond. The findings indicate that the Internet is successful at providing likeminded people with a vehicle for bonding, but is not helpful in bridging the gaps in dialogue between people of different backgrounds and points of view.
Larsen (2004) examined how individuals use the Internet in practicing religion. The findings indicate a strong use for research and offering advice and support to other members in their faith. Similar to the Norris (2004) study, we see a trend that indicates that the Internet works well to strengthen the congregations of churches, but not in opening dialogue between different congregations.
The findings of both studies are indicative of the idea that we are less likely to participate in conversations in uncomfortable environments, whether interpersonally or in an Internet-based context. Perhaps this early scholarship on community building using the Internet could help address why the Internet is becoming particularly useful in political campaigns. Web sites seem quite successful at building vertical consensus on issues, but not in bridging gaps between organizations with different viewpoints. This Internet use seems effective for political parties.
Rice and Katz (2004) examine how the Internet is playing a role in enhancing political engagement in the 1996 and 2000 presidential campaigns. Current uses seem to support where they suggested Internet use would head. A simple examination of the Democratic party’s Web site (http://www.democrats.org/) provides the viewer with access to news and talking points on a variety of issues, the latest campaign and political news, the means to financially contribute, and the ability to search for local organizations that fit their needs.
An examination of the Republican party’s Web site (http://www.gop.com/) begins with a means to sign up as a member of the party, and then takes you to a Web site that provides many of the same features, but also gives the consumer some other interesting opportunities to engage, including a Spanish-language page, the ability to join the RNC’s “Official Facebook Group,” and links that allow readers to write their legislators on issues directly. I would speculate similar avenues for participation are available on individual candidate Web sites as well.
In a study that was a little out in this section, but interesting because of recent personal experiences, Schneider and Foot (2004) examined the role of organization and company Web sites in providing crisis communication to their publics. An allusion to Internet use immediately following the 9/11 attacks prompted me to consider similar Web use following the April 16th shootings at Virginia Tech.
Within the University community, my friends and I used Facebook extensively to get updates on friends (http://lsu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2472900651), to mourn mutual friends lost in the shooting (http://lsu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2350888467), or to discuss specific issues relating to the aftermath (http://lsu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2323364268). In addition to these issues, we also made use of peoples’ individual pages to ask about them as well.
From the organizational perspective, Virginia Tech was diligent in presenting a strong crisis communication strategy to the public on its Web page (http://www.vt.edu/remember/), as well as its affiliate Web pages (http://www.hokiesports.com/). The Internet does serve as an effective means of communication in times of crisis both within an organization and external of it, as Scheider and Foot (2004) illustrate.
Norris (2004) examined the role that the Internet plays in bridging gaps in communication between people of different backgrounds and viewpoints, as well as how it provides a means of helping people with similar backgrounds and interests bond. The findings indicate that the Internet is successful at providing likeminded people with a vehicle for bonding, but is not helpful in bridging the gaps in dialogue between people of different backgrounds and points of view.
Larsen (2004) examined how individuals use the Internet in practicing religion. The findings indicate a strong use for research and offering advice and support to other members in their faith. Similar to the Norris (2004) study, we see a trend that indicates that the Internet works well to strengthen the congregations of churches, but not in opening dialogue between different congregations.
The findings of both studies are indicative of the idea that we are less likely to participate in conversations in uncomfortable environments, whether interpersonally or in an Internet-based context. Perhaps this early scholarship on community building using the Internet could help address why the Internet is becoming particularly useful in political campaigns. Web sites seem quite successful at building vertical consensus on issues, but not in bridging gaps between organizations with different viewpoints. This Internet use seems effective for political parties.
Rice and Katz (2004) examine how the Internet is playing a role in enhancing political engagement in the 1996 and 2000 presidential campaigns. Current uses seem to support where they suggested Internet use would head. A simple examination of the Democratic party’s Web site (http://www.democrats.org/) provides the viewer with access to news and talking points on a variety of issues, the latest campaign and political news, the means to financially contribute, and the ability to search for local organizations that fit their needs.
An examination of the Republican party’s Web site (http://www.gop.com/) begins with a means to sign up as a member of the party, and then takes you to a Web site that provides many of the same features, but also gives the consumer some other interesting opportunities to engage, including a Spanish-language page, the ability to join the RNC’s “Official Facebook Group,” and links that allow readers to write their legislators on issues directly. I would speculate similar avenues for participation are available on individual candidate Web sites as well.
In a study that was a little out in this section, but interesting because of recent personal experiences, Schneider and Foot (2004) examined the role of organization and company Web sites in providing crisis communication to their publics. An allusion to Internet use immediately following the 9/11 attacks prompted me to consider similar Web use following the April 16th shootings at Virginia Tech.
Within the University community, my friends and I used Facebook extensively to get updates on friends (http://lsu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2472900651), to mourn mutual friends lost in the shooting (http://lsu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2350888467), or to discuss specific issues relating to the aftermath (http://lsu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2323364268). In addition to these issues, we also made use of peoples’ individual pages to ask about them as well.
From the organizational perspective, Virginia Tech was diligent in presenting a strong crisis communication strategy to the public on its Web page (http://www.vt.edu/remember/), as well as its affiliate Web pages (http://www.hokiesports.com/). The Internet does serve as an effective means of communication in times of crisis both within an organization and external of it, as Scheider and Foot (2004) illustrate.
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