Finale

On reflection, Net Communications has taught me that there is far more to the Internet than I initially thought.

I realized that there has been immense effort put in to make the Internet what it is today, in the form that our world tends to take for granted, and this subject has opened my eyes to this and numerous other issues that we, as a society, should probably be more aware of.

Practically instantaneous information at your fingertips – about anything, anyone… the Internet has the capacity to find an answer for almost any question you throw at it, and this makes it an invaluable resource for which we could be more thankful for than we currently are. Being able to “google” something, find something on Wikipedia, or “stalk” people on Facebook, we are not only able to get answers, but we are inundated with choice for how we go about it.

When I told my dad about this subject and my intended Media major, he decided to call it “University 2.0”, and while at the time I thought of it as just another dad joke, I understand some of his reasoning. The study of the Internet is a different type of subject to those with science, history and numbers-based content. It is both subjective and objective at the same time, constantly changing, and yet intrinsic to the way in which we live today.

So, daggy as it may sound, Net Communications may just be part of the beginning to a new generation of uni subjects that teach us about the Internet, things that should really become general knowledge for those of use who use it every day of our lives.

 

Thanks for reading!

Week 7 Blog Topic (B): Blogs to Manage the Self

Lovink (Reader, page 222) also argues that: “No matter how much talk there is of community and mobs, the fact remains that blogs are primarily used as a tool to manage the self”.
Discuss giving an example of a blog.

Lovink argues that “blogs lead to decay” (Lovink, 2007; p5) and that they are simply tools used “to manage the self” (Lovink, 2007; p28), and I can see his point. Blogs tend to be used to self-promote (take famous young fashion blogger Tavi), with bloggers posting photos of themselves, along with musings about their own experiences, beliefs, opinions and myriad individually focused things. One may argue, as Lovink does, that this is done as “the nihilist impulse” (Lovink, 2001; p1), a rejection of moral principles and in the belief that life is meaningless – I would, however, argue that bloggers see their lives as meaningful, and interesting enough for others to want to read about, thus I would describe it as more narcissistic and self-centred than nihilistic.

The popularity of blogs can be somewhat attributed to the inherent human inclination to read others’ diaries and find out about their deepest thoughts, feelings and experiences. Blogs give us, as Lovink terms it, “exhibitionist insights” (Lovink, 2007; p28) into the minds of the bloggers, and we enjoy reading them because of this. People often make a travel blog, rather than keeping a travel diary, so that they may stay in contact with friends and family with little effort, and have a record of their experiences as a keepsake once they return home. In this sense, although they are online and thus part of new media, blogs have a tendency towards hierarchy due to some blogs being read more than others and as a result are reminiscent of old media. For example, a famous blog like The Sartorialist is read by many, however Scott Schuman, the writer, would only read a select few blogs himself – in a way, this allows him to manage himself through blogging’s capacity for celebrity.

Another lure of blogging is that it is possible to connect with like-minded people who blog about things that interest you. Niche blogs focus on interests ranging from common, like fashion and design, to obscure, like blogs with photos of animals alongside stuffed animals. This is part of what gives blogs a communal atmosphere – people with similar interests have the opportunity to comment on these blogs, opening the door to online conversations with people from all over the world. In this sense, blogs function as a replacement for the online forums that were once popular. However, as Lovink claims, there is the option on most blogging services to disable the comment function on their posts, which if used makes the blogs significantly more one-sided and introspective, more self-centered. Comments on blogs can be offensive to bloggers and other readers, with anonymous and uncensored posts making it easy to embark upon cyber-bullying and harsh criticisms without consequence, so even though it may detract from the communal sense of the blog, taking away the comment function can be an act of self-preservation.

In a way, blogs are an avenue for managing oneself, as Lovink says, due to “the need to structure one’s life, to clear up the mess, to master the immense flows of information” similar to what occurs in PR and promotion (Lovink, 2007; p28). This type of PR and management of the self through blogging can result in personal gain. Take design blogs like madebygirl, which started as a simple blog based on the writer’s likes and experiences regarding design, and has grown into a well-known and visited site which has various advertisements on the sidebar, which no doubt means a financial and commercial gain for the blogger.

I cannot help but agree with Lovink that blogs are primarily used to self-promote, although I don’t see it in such a negative light. Even though blogs remain quite self-indulgent, the community of the blogosphere is an important and thriving aspect of online life.

References:

Lovink, Geert. (2007). ‘Blogging, the Nihilist Impulse’, in Zero Comments: Blogging and Critical Internet Culture. Routledge: London.

http://www.thestylerookie.com/

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

http://madebygirl.blogspot.com/

http://animalswithstuffedanimals.com/

Creative Commons

The idea that people are able to allow their creative works to be shared through the use of CC is a positive concept in today’s networked society. To assume that all information licensed by CC is stolen and/or of poor quality is to make generalizations and underestimate the ideas behind CC. “Creative Commons… represents an attempt to roll back on the intellectual property approach to copyright in order to facilitate more open access to creative works.” (Garcelon; 2009) The basis for CC is not to undermine the efforts of those ‘professional elite’ that benefit from copyright laws, rather, it was created for “second-tier” creators and small companies so that they have an alternative to the “oligopolistic control of information distribution” (Garcelon; 2009).

References.

Garcelon, M.  “An information commons? Creative Commons and public access to cultural creations” in New Media & Society. 2009.