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Lecture 11:Lecture 11:David’s Slingshot:David’s Slingshot:

Professor Victoria Meng

Do digital media help the underdog?Do digital media help the underdog?

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Review: FlewReview: Flew

• Technology (Media)= object + activity + context= tool + skill + infrastructure

• Example:PowerPoint presentation +Making and using the presentation +Factories, utilities, schools, etc.

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• Unit I: Imagination and Practice(activities and skills)

• Unit II: Forms and Styles(objects and tools)

• Unit III: Identity and Community(context and infrastructure)

Course DesignCourse Design

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Course DesignCourse Design

Unit I Unit II

“Forest” “Trees”

Media in general Media specificity

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Course DesignCourse Design

I: “Forest”

(activities)

II: “Trees”

(objects)

III: “Biomes”

(contexts)

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Why Politics MatterWhy Politics Matter

Political Activism, broadly defined.

Typical reactions to the word “politics”: it’s “boring,” “dirty,” and “too much trouble.”

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Why Politics MatterWhy Politics MatterPolitics is an important context for understanding media technology.

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Why Politics MatterWhy Politics Matter

Can digital media be a “slingshot” that changes traditional power relationships?

David and Goliath

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Lecture OutlineLecture Outline

• “The Promise and the Peril of Social Action in Cyberspace”

(Gurak, 1999)

• “Photoshop for Democracy” (Jenkins, 2006)

• An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006)

• MoveOn.org; Haystack

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Reading: GurakReading: Gurak

The Internet during the 1990s: a different digital experience.

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Reading: GurakReading: Gurak

The Internet during the 1990s: a different digital experience.

• Starting to become a “democratic” medium

• Hardware and software were expensive, difficult to use, and slow

• Relatively few users who had a lot in common: “Net Community”

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Reading: GurakReading: Gurak

Case Studies: Lotus MarketPlace, 1990; Clipper chip, 1994.

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Reading: GurakReading: Gurak

Case Studies: Lotus MarketPlace, 1990; Clipper chip, 1994.

Method: Collecting Internet communications, tracking sources and dates, and performing rhetorical analysis.

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Reading: GurakReading: Gurak

Case Studies: Lotus MarketPlace, 1990; Clipper chip, 1994.

Method: Collecting Internet communications, tracking sources and dates, and performing rhetorical analysis.

Conclusion: the Internet changed how information was delivered and the nature of social action.

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Reading: GurakReading: Gurak

Promise: “…the speed and reach of online delivery along with a powerful community ethos made the issues clear and immediately accessible…” (248)

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Reading: GurakReading: Gurak

Promise: “…the speed and reach of online delivery along with a powerful community ethos made the issues clear and immediately accessible…” (248)

Peril: “…in cyberspace, certain voices/texts can easily become dominant, whatever their level of accuracy.” (259)

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Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery

Internet v. mail, telephone, face-to-face

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Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery

Faster More reckless

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Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery

Faster More reckless

Cheaper More careless

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Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery

Faster More reckless

Cheaper More careless

Far-reaching Hard to assess

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Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery

Faster More reckless

Cheaper More careless

Far-reaching Hard to assess

Compressed “TMI”

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Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery

Faster More reckless

Cheaper More careless

Far-reaching Hard to assess

Compressed “TMI”

Hierarchy-flattening

Less formal tone

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Gurak: Characteristics of Gurak: Characteristics of Internet DeliveryInternet Delivery

Faster More reckless

Cheaper More careless

Far-reaching Hard to assess

Compressed “TMI”

Hierarchy-flattening

Less formal tone

Community ethos Isolationism

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Reading: JenkinsReading: Jenkins

Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins

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Reading: JenkinsReading: Jenkins

“The current diversification of communication channels is politically important because it expands the range of voices that can be heard: though some voices command greater prominence than others, no one voice speaks with unquestioned authority.” (208)

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Reading: JenkinsReading: Jenkins

“The new media operate with different principles…: access, participation, reciprocity, and peer-to-peer rather than one-to-many communication. Given such principles, we should anticipate that digital democracy will be de-centralized, unevenly dispersed, profoundly contradictory, and slow to emerge.” (208-209)

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Reading: JenkinsReading: Jenkins

“The new political culture – just like the new popular culture – reflects the pull and tug of these two media systems: one broadcast and commercial, the other narrowcast and grassroots.” (211)

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Reading: JenkinsReading: Jenkins

“…crystallizing one’s political perspectives into a photomontage that is intended for broader circulation is no less an act of citizenship than writing a letter to the editor of a local newspaper that may or my not actually print it.” (222)

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Reading: JenkinsReading: Jenkins

Red v. Blue (2003-2007)

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Community v. IsolationCommunity v. Isolation

An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006)

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Community v. IsolationCommunity v. Isolation

An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006)

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Community v. IsolationCommunity v. Isolation

An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006)

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Review: FriedmanReview: Friedman

End of Lecture 11End of Lecture 11

Next Lecture: “Spending” Time:

Is there balance between mass production and customization?

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