"Eternal" Frienship

Based on a reading by: Albrechtslund, Anders. "Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance" First Monday [Online], Volume 13 Number 3 (2 March 2008)

In this digital era one must take into account that everything said online remains available indefinitely.  The things people choose to blog about, post, tweet or communicate online could easily come back to haunt them. Danah Boyd believes social networking is a mediated public and can be categorized by four properties:  persistency, search ability-, replicability and invisible audiences (Albrechtslund, Anders. 2008).

Persistency: Online social networking is persistent in the fact that what is said online is documented. The content you publish online is and will be available indefinitely and one must take this into account.  Having information stored ads to the paranoia of our online past haunting us in our futures.

Search ability:  With the online world growing and the amount of information available online, search ability is something that allows people to find information on us with a few simple key words. A searcher has access to any information you have not protected properly.

Replicability:  The fact that so many people are so apt to publishing personal information, photos and things regarding their private lives makes information replicable. Communication on the online world comes with the chance of things being remade, taken out of context, or changed.

Invisible Audience: When people communicate online they generally have a specific group that they communicate to. Although communication is usually intended for a specific audience or group it is potentially available to anyone who has access to a computer with internet.

Boyd claims that, “together these four properties make friendships ‘eternal’- or at least existing beyond the control of the involved persons (Albrechtslund, Anders. 2008).” We must be aware of what we say while communicating online because these four factors could potentially make our online life surface in our real lives and haunt us at any point in time.

Albrechtslund, Anders. "Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance" First Monday [Online], Volume 13 Number 3 (2 March 2008)

Participation to Expoitation

Based on Dr. Ian Reilly’s Lecture Winter 2011, Week 9

For years television has filled out the gaps of free time in our day. Now with the World Wide Web we have entertainment, information, social interaction and work all at our finger tips. Our free time is becoming more dominantly spent in front of our computers. Having an online world so easily accessible we have come together and created a virtual world that has now become a tool we use to keep us up to date and down to earth.

Social interaction, technological appeal and the users experience while online creates a world of value inviting capitalism to piggy back along the ride making money off of user-generated content. By posting a picture or blog online and making it accessible to the world you open the doors for your content to flow smoothly through platforms potentially creating value for both the users and producers.

Social networking sites offer users the ability to create their own online communities. Each social networking site offers users different functions giving the us the option to enter online communities that best suit their lifestyle and our interests. The differences between Facebook and Twitter are obvious and for that reason appeal to different users. There are now so many social networks offering users fast passed social updates or an in-depth looks at other members recent activity. The amount of online interaction one can have in their free time is what keeps these online networks alive, they make communicating and accessing information easy. User generated content and communal projects online have become a better way for us to “pass time” as we feel we are contributing to something rather then spending ours on facebook "lurking" our "friends."

Check out the video below of Clay Shirky for more on how cognitive surplus will change the world.

The Invasion of Web

Based on: Scholz, Trebor. "Market Ideology and the Myths of Web 2.0" First Monday [Online], Volume 13 Number 3 (2 March 2008)

With our private information rolling off our finger tips and into the hands of businesses and marketers everywhere, industries are ready to gather your information and sell, sell, sell. Today, marketers have the ability to learn about us through the information we put online. With the web becoming a norm in day to day life, people, particularly youth have dropped their guards and become more and more willing to share their private information. Our openness has given marketers and agencies the ability to take control.

Even with a pirate mentality Web 2.0 may lose the battle against capitalism. Huge corporations have hopped on the band wagon and began collecting our data and invading these channels by filling them with media and ads. With the rapid expansion of the web, soon un-marketed space will be unheard of...even from those sites that promised to stay ad free such as thepiratebay.org. Aside from the fact that the web will eventually turn to a massive advertisement as television did, another example of companies hoping on the band wagon and utilizing the web is the new concept of user generate content or crowd sourcing. Crowd sourcing enables companies to outsource work and have a large group of people collaborate on finishing it for generally no compensation. This concept is no longer only online.

Examples of this concept can be seen thought our every day life. Throwing your cup out at a fast food restaurant, self check outs and information kiosks are all examples of technologies and methods saving companies time and money by not having staff complete certain jobs. This leads up to the idea and question; is it possible that we have become so consumed in technology that the technology is using us?

We will come back to this another day. In the mean time check out this though provoking video:

Scholz, Trebor. "Market Ideology and the Myths of Web 2.0" First Monday [Online], Volume 13 Number 3 (2 March 2008)

Use the Internet, Don't Let it Use You

The internet has enabled the world to come together and communicate on a global level instantly. The advanced capabilities of the internet have created a society better informed on global issues and a population that can share information globally at the click of a button. Gordon Brown discusses the idea of harnessing the Web and using it for the greater good of society. After watching the video below we begin to acknowledge further uses for internet that could potentially better the world.

We are well aware of the common uses of the Internet, for example social networking, *, business and research. As a population that makes thousands of clicks daily on the World Wide Web we must begin to analyze other purposes the web can be used for. Gordon Brown highlights the ways in which the internet has been used to spread important messages that need to be addressed globally. An example is the photograph of Tiananmen Square, a man standing before three tanks became a picture known to the whole world showcasing resistance. Using the internet to raise awareness of problems going on around the world invokes action.

As a technologically savvy generation, we must look at far past the advantages of using the internet as a business tool and actually begin to think how we can use it as a tool to educate the public on what is going on around the world. We must use our communication skills, our intellect and our ability to broadcast messages throughout various platforms on the Internet. We must use our knowledge of the internet for the greater good of society.

New Technology, New Media: More Opportunity

Starting as a text based tool and evolving into the World Wide Web with a mass user base leveraging the social platform it has become, the Internet is one technological innovation that has grown into a necessity.

The Internet was developed to safeguard military knowledge; nobody could have predicted the technological development that the Internet would go through. From a tool funded by the US Department of Defence to a technology used worldwide, the creation of the web and the amount it has advanced is dumbfounding. Since the Internet is a relatively new technology, which has not even been fully explored it is amazing to think of the further advancements it will undergo. Rather than focusing on the media itself, I would like to focus on the issues new technologies raise or don’t raise.

The Internet has changed our culture, our relationships, and our communities affecting the way we interact and socialize. With such a drastic effects on our lives, this technology poses threats but must be looked at optimistically.

With our privacy becoming less and less important, and a culture that fiends for social interaction the changes that this new technology has implemented is becoming more and more apparent. It is said that these changes lead to anxiety. On a side note, I believe any form of change leads to anxiety be it technological advancements, change in government or even something as simple as moving. In researching change management it becomes obvious that people don’t adapt well to change. To say the least, I strongly feel if anything our society is adapting quite well, its proved by the millions of social networks being accessed everyday and a population now willing to tell the entire world just about anything.

I feel that social interaction on the Internet is not such a bad thing; though huge corporations are uneasy at the fact the today’s youth could be considered pirates adding and taking from the web jeopardizing revenue. Social interaction is simply a new gateway for companies to better target their audience. As said before with a culture whose less concerned with sharing private information this is a huge opportunity for companies take advantage of the technology and target specific markets on specific platforms.

Though new technologies come with new issues and new boundaries, I strongly feel people must embrace the change. By embracing change we are able to see the huge advantages that these technologies have to corporations, individuals and intellectuals.

The Remix

Old school meets new school with the remix. Remixing is about taking something that already exists and adding your personal touch to make it your own. The remix started in the music industry and evolved into a movement throughout our culture today.  

This video is a perfect example of how taking something old and something new and meshing them together can create something that seems to just fit. Our youth can take past trends and mash them with new trends creating the hottest fads, products and sub-cultures.

In a fast passed world that is rapidly changing, the remix is more than mashing two songs together; it is a way for companies to reinvent products, images, songs, ideas and brands. Rather than a company taking risks on investing in new products and new brands companies can reinvent, repackage and remind audiences of a product by making simple changes. By taking original ideas and repositioning and reinventing them, companies are able to sell old products as new products and make a quick buck.

Today we are surrounded by remixed culture, from the styles we wear to the music we listen to. Our culture is taking old ideas and rejuvenating them so they fit in society again. This concept is very exciting, the remix gives us the opportunity to take what we have seen in the past and do what we want with it. We are able to reinterpret ideas and find a place where they fit in our world today. The Internet enables us to write messages for the world to see. Today we are able to remix anything and find a specific audience to target. The future of technology and the current era of Web 2.0 enable our youth culture to pick and choose what we see, hear and speak about.

The Relationship Between Media and Culture

We are social beings and in a world of advancing technology we must have a solid understanding of the effects these technologies have on us and be observant in how these technologies influence us as persons and intellectuals so we do not become consumed by these technologies.


Four theories of media culture to be considered:
• No effect: media and culture are not related
• Mirrored effect: media reflects our culture
• Determinist effect: media determine and shape our culture
• Mutual influence effect: our media and our culture shape each other


These four theories give us a direction in forming our own opinions on advancing technologies. When considering these four ideas we gain a better understanding of the topic and can form our own opinions based on what theories we feel are better representation of the effects these technologies have on us.


Bayms uses four frames of thinking to make sense of how we look at new media and concepts to help us analyse and take a perspective on the topic. The four frames of thinking are as follows:
• Technological determinism: new technology changes us and their active forces that humans do not have the power to resist
• Social construction of technology: people are the source of change in society and in technology
• Social shaping of technology: influence comes from both directions (technology, people and institutions all drive change)
• Domestication of technology: technology is taken for granted and no longer influences change

I believe that our media and our culture shape each other. Based on our current economics I believe that in order for media to shape our culture it must reflect our culture and in turn both have equal effect on each other. Media has to appeal to its audience in order to get into the audiences head to sell and promote images and products. The social shaping of technologies is prevalent in today’s society.