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Adam D. Bohannon
abo46n2@gmail.com
2
ABSTRACT People create their identities through their relationships with others.
These relationships are necessarily mediated through a variety of media that shape
the structure and practice of these relationships. It holds that a shift in media will
some of which still exist today, albeit in different form—that helped transform
Introduction
to see ourselves as others do. Our webs of relations serve as mirrors from
which we may perceive ourselves through the eyes of others (Yeung and
Martin 2003). However, the reflections we receive are not constant across
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human perception but are intrinsically structured in ways that influence the
nature of the information we wish to convey and thus affect our relationships
that creates its own symbolic environment (Lum 2006). It follows that a
change in media will change the nature of our relationships as well as our
following the advent of the printing press. Today in the 21st century we are
communicate their virtual identities using Facebook and other online social
estimated 250,000 new users are registering virtual identities each day
(Facebook 2008). In addition, last year more than 125 million Americans
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watched over 7 billion online video streams per month on sites like YouTube
2008). And according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project (Rainie
previous year. YouTube itself, considered the largest online video library in
the world, was estimated to hold over 70 terabytes of data back in March
month (Business Intelligence Lowdown 2007; Wall Street Journal 2006). If so,
that would mean today YouTube hosts approximately 286 terabytes of data.
That’s four times the size of the Library of Congress, the largest physical
their cell phone can upload their ad hoc production to YouTube via the
Outside the walls of these sites, virtual strangers freely swap enormous
and harnessed on a global scale, giving small start-up businesses who are
compete for a piece of the global market. Companies like SunGard (formerly
VeriCenter), Amazon, and Google have created services based on this idea of
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only the IT market, but the nature of business altogether (Carr 2008).
more of our interactions are occurring through what Nicholas Carr (2008)
calls “the World Wide Computer” and at speeds never before experienced. It
is perhaps passé to talk of our ability to pick up a phone and call someone
conversations with them over the Internet via messaging clients such as
GTalk or AOL Instant Messenger. However, it is not just these rather simple
quite amazing—but the very foundations of our economies and societies are
Imagine for a moment a time when our entire lives, every piece of
know about other people and other things, are floating around our heads
twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Now imagine that if only we
had the right tools, we could reach out and grab this information as we
knowledge, at our finger tips. Well, that time is upon us. We are not just
with the advent of the printing press. We are experiencing a similar change
of digital media. But, as Michael Wesch (N.d.) points out, like any medium,
Internet-mediated communication has its own inherent rules, its own biases.
information conduit often posited by early adopters where anything goes and
which knowledge is stored and transported often come to define the nature
of knowledge itself. Lawrence Lessig echoes this sentiment, but for different
asserting their right to decide how people can use the network” (Rheingold
brought electric appliances into the home (Carr 2008). The ability to channel
electricity into people’s homes changed how they perceived and interacted
situations collapsed while others were created. As the electric iron came to
twice a month. Since the weight of large floor rugs typically exceeded what
dragging the rugs outside to beat them. With the adoption of the vacuum,
this joint activity was no longer necessary. Women could clean the rugs
time for leisure activities the new pressure to constantly vacuum the rugs in
order to keep them clean effectively consumed any leisure time that may
have been awarded by the electric appliance (Harris 2004). danah boyd
community space with the adoption of the air conditioner in places of intense
summer heat such as the deep south. Those without air conditioning would
sit in “social space” on their veranda and communicate with others doing the
same. The air conditioner increased opportunities to stay inside during hot
days, thus contributing to the collapse of the social space of the front porch.
can become even more substantial. Consider radio and video. Presently,
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communicate over long distances with other tribal groups. One result is a
—to let the world know that not only do they exist and have existed for some
time but that they are resisting large energy companies who are threatening
to destroy their native lands by sequestering resources for countries like the
United States (BBC 2005). This movement is then broadcast over radio
on the Internet, creating a global audience that would have been difficult to
form before the existence of electronic media. Other groups are using video
as the primary medium for raising awareness and preserving their culture,
exchanges that occur at the speed of light call upon us to rethink our ideas of
someplace else as our perception meets the message coming through our
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of indigenous groups in South America, while never leaving our couch. From
this vantage point, our consciousness travels to the city of Quito to protest
oil companies alongside a mass of colorfully dressed Shuar Indians. But this
can talk to us, therefore we are freed of our responsibility to respond or make
adjust our positions relative to the positions of those around us; and our
With the Internet, the shift in orientation is similar as we adjust our self
see ourselves and others differently when we are not presented with the
category. Joshua Meyrowitz (1985) argues that “it is not the physical setting
focus on “social exchanges rather than on spatial proximity” (649). This can
take place in the same physical context. What distinguish them are the
identity and what these differences might imply when thinking about the
printing press on culture in early modern Europe. During the 15th century,
As the efficient and easy process of print came to eclipse the slow and
overstatement to claim that as order (Wesch N.d.) and progress became core
values (Eisenstein 1983), the climate surrounding the advent of the printing
press helped shape the Renaissance, inspire the Scientific Revolution, and
between scribal and print culture in her book The Printing Revolution in Early
“…no precedent existed for addressing a large crowd of people who were not
gathered together in one place but were scattered in separate dwellings and
1983:57]
Eisenstein when he states, “Scribal culture could have neither authors nor
became associated with “rebellion and emancipation,” scribal culture lost its
the time.
human beings hold. Eisenstein points out many historical examples of the
2007); both approaches state in their own way that repeated encounters
with a task—in this case, tasks associated with print technology such as
(McLuhan and Powers 1992; Meyorwitz 1985). The 21st century emphasis on
electronic media and print have sensitized us to the earlier contrast between
no longer needs to gather in public places alongside his peers to listen to the
his own control due in large part by the nature of the new medium. If we
reconsider the printing press, the private reading of the Bible may have
being the bias of the printed medium. It calls for different behavior in
This is important. Information is not static across all situations and “when
of media shape the messages they are relied on to transmit. Hence the
book; the printed medium allows for more breadth of coverage and more
detail, but also many other things the cinematic form fails to offer.
about the ways the performance is being mutated as it passes through the
filters of the television medium. Can you still appropriately call it a “theatre
audience.
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New media allow us to think in new ways. The history of the printing
press, arguably the last major communications revolution, has shown us how
new media can transform the way civilization operates and by extension the
way humans think, behave, and interact. Howard Rheingold (2002) reminds
literacy, a focus on the scientific method, and the formation of new social
groups the opportunity to interact and form stable communities more easily
than before (Alstyne and Bryonjolfsson 1997; Bower 1998). Attitudes of open
material and information, creating a movement that rivals even the most
makes sense then that during the advent of print the printers were the ones
most severely punished for their acts rather than the authors whose work
print culture’s ability to collapse existing contexts and create new ones. If
and apply this to our understanding of not just the effects of print but also
time are able to change the way human being conceptualize the world and
themselves; and how, ultimately, this will change culture. In this paper I take
encounter growing up shape our sense of a “core” identity, but that the
not implying that my view of identity is or has been the only correct
relevant given the current technological climate and for the particular
argument for the effects of digital media and the Internet. It is far too early
attention certain aspects of what Yochai Benkler (2006) calls the “networked
however, I must first discuss the environment itself and outline its
perception.
Living Networked
closed a multimillion dollar deal to build two enormous warehouses each the
has dozens of these so-called “server farms” all over the world and they
(McIntosh 2003), and three years later acquired the online video sharing
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website YouTube for a staggering $1.65 billion (Google Press Center 2006).
This business behavior is not unusual and Google certainly is not the only
company flexing its prowess at ventures of this kind. Heeding this, many
and software, companies can lease these services from companies like
Google and Salesforce (Salesforce 2008) and challenge some of the largest
businesses with hardly any comparable cost. How this works is companies
company can draw all of its computing hardware and software needs directly
from the grid, all without needing to store and maintain the expensive
attempt to fit more and more components on computer chips, their size will
was written 10 years before the first personal computer was invented
(Roberts and Yates 1975)—or “at least [in] terminals connected to a central
but also with populations armed with cell phone technology. Some people
have speculated the extent to which electronic media contributed to the fall
1
This is not to overlook the glaring divide in access to digital technology between first and
third-world countries, nor is this to overlook the fact that lower-income households tend to
have less access to computer and Internet technology (Madden 2006).
21
electronic media are more difficult to regulate than print media (Harris
collective action of this kind, but even more amazing is the fact that the
demonstration was primarily organized using short text messages via cell
phones (Rheingold 2002). Rheingold (2002) writes about a less volatile but
the home. The results are the formation of loosely knit, fluid, and
2001).
authority and power. Following the arrival of print technology, the wide
was they who were responsible for directing information flows. The printing
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situation in Shibuya is similar. The thumb tribes are taking the regulation of
communication out of the hands of their parents and placing it in their own.
Japanese youth, through the use of text messaging, are creating information-
systems where parents know less and less about their children’s social
exchanges.
Shibuya teens are only one example of how electronic media are being
culturally relevant material will increase (Benkler 2006) creating once again
caused the creation of a new hierarchy, one based around literate and
education level, income level, and relative proximity to urban centers that
socially and politically biased in that through their form the media of print
effectively limited who could access the information as well as shaped what
it meant when someone actually had such access. During the nascent
stages of computer technology, such was the case as programmers had the
critical knowledge necessary to manipulate the new medium while others did
not. The same may be said of the Internet until relatively recently. Blogs,
vlogs, wikis, e-mails, IMs, tweets, are all elements of the Internet that
popularly used by millions of people all over the planet thanks to a more
before it was necessary to know HTML code in order to create a web page,
today anyone can instantly claim their own space on the web by signing up
for a blog; none of this requires any coding knowledge. Indeed, the World
between distinct clusters of information in new and exciting ways that did
not require the specialist coding knowledge needed prior to its creation
(Moschovitis, et al. 1999; Turner 1995); we have them to thank for the easy-
to-use graphical interface that many people associate with the Web/Internet
(two terms often used interchangeable although they each refer to unique
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phenomena).
children to learn the complex skills of reading and writing, they can begin
as young as two years of age; although at such an age much of the content
way, TV is far more inclusive and non-elitist compared to print. This means
that the millions of illiterate individuals in the United States can still have
with the literate population; the informational divide between certain groups
is much narrower than with the exclusive political and social biases of print.
via a utility computing grid the situation becomes even more interesting and
exciting.
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has changed this basic fact [that communicating over large distances
information itself the core structuring facts in the new networked information
news articles on social news sites such as Reddit and Digg; groups are
gathering at sites like Kaltura.com to collaborate and edit video and audio
projects together, online; and others are using social bookmarking services
like Diigo and Delicious to collectively tag and organize the vast array of Web
content. All of these tools are free and open to anyone connected to the
network.
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blog to a personal printing press or Windows Movie Maker and YouTube to our
own private television station. The digital technologies of today dwarf the
individuals to inform and share with people across physical boundaries via
weak ties to an extent never before possible. Whereas order and progress
were central values during the age of print; connection, collaboration, and
social networks. Rather than eroding the core ties of close friends and
family, in many respects the Internet strengthens these core ties while also
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positioning them within a sparsely knit social network (Boase, et al. 2006).
The strength of weak ties lies in their fluidity and their ability to bridge two
The transactions that constitute weak ties between two groups are typically
are bridging social networks with weak ties. Every time a user updates their
status on the social networking site Twitter, or checks the statuses of others,
they contribute to the formation of weak ties. And when someone adds a
comments on the posted media of another, they also promote the creation of
with Metcalfe’s Law which states the power of a network multiplies rapidly as
the number of nodes increases. Because of its spatial and temporal biases,
Id/entity
others. What people we associate with, what groups we belong to and even
the physical places in which we choose to spend our time, all define to some
degree who we are. It also helps define who others are. Symbolic
which we are a part and that which we ultimately created; to invoke Max
selves, or perhaps here more appropriately called “roles”, are complete with
costumes, lines, and behaviors that further define the role we happen to be
playing. For instance, a professor has her stage (front of the classroom)
chalk) and she is wearing the proper costume (some variation of semi-formal
to formal dress) that distinguishes her from the audience (her students). She
recites the lines for that role (e.g. theoretical knowledge of physics) and
class when the professor returns to her office, kicks off her shoes and places
her feet on her desk to talk to a fellow instructor would be considered more
of a backstage performance.
individuals as well, the smallest active agents of culture. Media are critical in
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cannot play her role without communicating her lines via speech, writing on
the chalkboard, or using any of the other media present in the room; indeed,
even her body language sends a message and should also be considered.
sensory modalities. Print, radio, television, and the Internet all use different
sense ratios, thus altering how we perceive the world (Lum 2006), those
around us, and ourselves. With regard to Goffman’s ideas, each medium
media have modified the relationship between self presentation and physical
location.
Keeping the core tenets of media ecology in mind, we must remember not
only are media not value-free conduits for information, but that human
beings also exercise some agency over the creation and use of media. This
should give us some hope, granted we choose to recognize the nature and
biases of media environments and their impact on every facet of the human
condition.
With the development of dynamic coding languages like AJAX that gave
people are now able to create their own mediums for communication—often
platform itself was created by computer science students, but today the
average user has to ability to create applications that help distill who your
“top” friends are, or that let everyone know where you have traveled or what
books you are reading. But before I discuss particular Facebook widgets, I
backstage behavior, but without clear divisions between the two. For
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instance, as Meyrowitz (1985) points out, one main difference between print
media and electronic media is their different “stage” biases. Print is well
suited for the formal presentation of ideas, hence why newspaper articles
and books are more information dense than television programming and
often regarded as more authoritative. Print allows for the use of complex
this way, we can think of print media as having a front stage bias. This front
also provides server space to upload and host digital photographs. Here we
see a shift in bias from front to back or middle stage, depending on the
person. The formal and communicative nature of the main profile page is at
odds with the stage position of an individual’s digital photo album. In these
illegal activity, and frankly childish behavior; while the entire time the front
2
Profile sections that list religious affiliation, political preference, etc. can be considered
backstage information since in physical reality this information is not usually readily
available to others. On the Internet however, and in comparison with the visual and
expressive form of digital photographs, it may be better referred to as front stage behavior
because you have more conscious control over these messages than the often uninhibited
messages delivered in photos.
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backstage bias of the photo album is at odds with the front stage bias of the
main, public, face. Now many people realize the public nature of the photos
they choose to upload; therefore, the pictures you view may not be the
entire story of the evening they depict. Thus, the Facebook photo album
constant scrutiny from its users regarding the improvement of the platform’s
privacy features; Facebook users desperately want to have control over their
presentation of self on the Internet and they recognize the anxiety that can
notifies users’ friends when they make purchases on Beacon affiliated sites.
Originally, the default settings were such that everyone was participating
without knowing it. This raised obvious concerns among the Facebook
community, who felt their privacy was being trampled on (Schiffman 2007).
This debacle raises serious questions about the nature of privacy and self
received with such apprehension because users feel they do not have
anyone, Facebook users encounter their parents, co-workers, and bosses all
in the same “place.” The result is a collision of stages, where roles and
boundaries are not clearly defined (Ladner 2007), and by extension neither is
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who makes an online purchase from a novelty shop with the intent of
private.
presentation of self. It is thus this self that they use to communicate with
on Facebook from an old friend whom I had not had any contact with since
other human beings. Had the friend request occurred over the phone or in
person somehow, the interaction and perhaps the outcome would be very
different. When someone views a Facebook profile, they receive a rich array
religious affiliation, music taste, your home town, what you are studying in
school, and much more just by skimming your profile. Of course you decide
and learning such information can then tailor their behavior the next or first
time they meet you to ensure the encounter goes smoothly (or abrasively if
they choose).
Self presentation on Facebook goes further than mere textual input and
the uploading of pictures and videos. In recent months, there has been a
game Oregon Trail. They can rate books, write reviews, and recommend
time and space, people are able to form virtual communities around their
they are transitory and can easily change as interests change (Wellman
1999a).
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short digital videos. Just as a web log (blog) is usually an ongoing textual
textual—changes the nature of self presentation; visual media allow for more
expression and thus can be more intimate than textual media (Meyrowitz
vlog that they are uncomfortable. They usually have trouble pinpointing a
particular topic to discuss and thus their language is discursive and flighty.
self conscious of their own speech and behavior. It is as if they are unsure of
how to present themselves. This is due in part to the biases of the visual
medium. The vlogger is not awarded the temporal leeway that is granted by
print. Their capacity to think about and revise their message is considerably
less and more spontaneous. This and the expressive nature of the visual
glimpse of the backstage of the vlogger’s life. Most people have difficulty
immediately present, where you can observe them as they observe you. In
this way, you may alter your behavior depending on the situation and the
responses from those around you. Indeed, much of our social interactions
present and if someone is recording a vlog for the first time, they are not
even sure if an audience is present at all. As I have said before, much of our
are embedded in. Those around us are constantly reflecting images of our
self back upon us and we use these reflections to negotiate our identities
that image back to you? What part of your self do you choose to present?
Not only that, but we choose to present different facets of our self in different
these people, or situations, present all at once? How do you behave when
your friends, parents, teachers, children, and boss are all together in the
same place? This is another dimension of the situation in which vloggers find
bound to alienate a certain section of your audience. Do you try to satisfy all
role, perhaps one you are most comfortable presenting? Or do you create a
38
new behavior? These are the reasons for the ostensible anxiety of first vlogs
the Internet.
on the Internet. In all likelihood, these cursory analyses can apply to any
gather and interact. I agree with Sherry Turkle when she writes “today’s life
perspective on the world and on others? Our lives are increasingly becoming
mediated environments where we are offered the ability to create our own
languages. If we can entertain the idea that each medium we use to interact
informational worlds between children and adults are brought closer together
behavior and begin acting more like adults as a result (Meyrowitz 1985), the
homogenized role that attempts to satisfy multiple roles and stages at once?
in line with the latter query. There is already a movement on the Internet
40
them all. So although there is a desire for more information control and
and media are a primary means through which this occurs. The relationships
their webs of relations and thus their cultures. The transformation of 15th
century Europe was accelerated by the advent of the printing press. In the
responsible for their creation as well as their use. Our negotiation of merging
extend to our cultures. Through its ability to compress time and space,
points out, what we do in the mediascape matters, and what it is, is up to us.
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