Recent years have seen a surge in popularity of internet use and particularly participation in social networking sites. “10 million is the number of unique visitors nbc, abc and cbs get every month collectively, these businesses have been around for a combined 200 years. 250 million is the number of unique visitors youtube, facebook and myspace get a month collectively. None of these sites existed 6 years ago.” (Xplane & The Economist '09)
According to Dana Boyd social networking sites are attracting a lot of academic and industrial researchers intrigued by their power and reach. “In February 2008 John McCain raised over $11 million for his US presidential bid. Barak O Bama that same month attended no election fundraisers, instead he leveraged online through social networks to raise $55 million in those 29 days.” (McLeod, Fisch & Bestler 2009)
“With the growth of Internet usage, serious concerns about Internet security and privacy have arisen.” (Brignall’02)
I researched privacy concerns relating to Facebook in particular and found that media activist groups have been constantly criticising Facebook’s changing privacy policies. “The Electronic Frontier Foundation" published a timeline of Facebook's Privacy policy modifications over the years, and liberal activist group MoveOn.org launched a Facebook group called "Facebook, respect my privacy!" in response to its new "Instant Personalization" option that shares a significant amount of profile data.” (McCarthy ’10)
The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s timeline illustrates Facebook’s shift away from privacy in favour of helping itself and its advertising business partners to more and more of its users’ information while limiting these users’ control of the privacy of their information. When Facebook started, “it was a private space for communication with a group of your choice”. It then “transformed into a platform where much of the users’ information was public by default”. Since Facebook’s most recent change in April 2010 users “have no choice but to make certain information public, and this public information may be shared by Facebook with its partner websites and used to target ads”. (Opsahl ’10)
MoveOn.org are arguing that facebook is violating our privacy with its new program “Instant Personalization” which shares information about users and their friends with other websites without the users control.
Facebook’s goal in getting people to make their information public is that it will make its search partnerships with Google and Bing all the more valuable. Privacy settings now, by default, allow anyone on the internet to access users’ information and “if you make your information available to ‘everyone,’ it actually means ‘everyone, forever.’ Because even if you change your mind, it’s too late — and although Facebook say they will remove it from your profile they will have no control about how it is used outside of Facebook.” (Ostrow ’10)
An interview by Phil Wong for “The Rumpus” with an anonymous employee of Facebook unveiled a number of facts about privacy. All user activity is saved to the data employees have access to the database and can view the history of activity of any Facebook user at any time. Every click is tracked and saved.
The employee briefly discussed identity fraud which got me to thinking of internet privacy on the whole and how nothing on the internet is really private.
In Brignall’s paper he argues that the internet shares properties with the panopticon prison structure. This was conceived in 1785 by the social theorist Jeremy Bentham. The panopticon prison differed from the previous dungeon like prison cells in that it played on the human fear of surveillance. The prison was designed as a circular building with a tower standing in the middle. The cells had a large glass window facing the tower, this cut down on costs as only one prison guard would be needed as prisoners are under the impression that the could be being watched at any time. “Foucault states that “the major effect of the panopticon: is to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power” (Foucault, 1972: 201).” (Brignall ’02)
"The Internet is a structure that is inherently similar to the panopticon in that Internet service providers can observe their customers’ online activities at any time without the customers’ knowledge. The Internet is also inherently similar to the Bentham panopticon prison structure because the dissemination of power and control is in the hands of the “jailers”." (Brignall '02)
Brignall’s paper “provides examples of how Internet user’s privacy is being overlooked in order for certain corporations to provide declared necessary services such as security against terrorists and hackers, control over illegal content (pornography, pirated computer, music, and film files, and dangerous information on how to build bombs etc.) Still, it remains too early to say that any kind of organized conspiracy exists with the goal to strip Internet users of their rights and monitor every interaction…However, the panopticon might emerge as a desirable structure for the perceived need for the protection of national security Internet user safety. There are abundant warning signs of the potential for an organized movement to control the flow of information over the Internet.” (Brignall ’02)
I do not believe that the average internet user and online social networker is aware that their privacy is at risk, that they are subject to identity fraud and to surveillance in their activities on the internet. It is up the user to be cautious about what private information they share on the internet.
Bibliography
1. Brignall 3rd, Tom (2002) “The New Panopticon: The Internet Viewed as a Structure of Social Control” [Online] Available at; www.theoryandscience.icaap.org/content/vol003.001/brignall.html
2. McCarthy, Caroline (2010) “Activist groups launch new Facebook privacy offensive [Online] Available at; http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20003928-36.html
3. Opsahl, Kurt (2010) “Facebook’s Eroding Privacy Policiy: A Timeline” [Online] Available at; http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/04/facebook-timeline
4. Ostrow, Adam (2010) “Facebook’s New Privacy Push Concerns Experts” [Online] Available at; http://mashable.com/2009/12/10/facebook-privacy-experts/
5. Wong, Phil (2010) “Conversations About the Internet #5: Anonymous Facebook Employee” [Online] Available at; http://therumpus.net/2010/01/conversations-about-the-internet-5-anonymous-facebook-employee/4/
Links
Video published by Mashable; “Facebook’s New Privacy Settings: What you need to know” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTpa3AS39uA&feature=player_embedded!
Xplane and The Economist’s Video on Convergnce: “Did You Know” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Media Activist Networking
Like everyone else, I had grown so used to being barraged by articles and documentaries on global warming that it had little or no effect in motivating me to do something about it. It was when I took a year out, travelling around the world and witnessed some of the devastating effects that climate change is having, that I returned home committed to finding a new way to encourage people to actually do something about it. There are hundreds of websites that offer information on global warming but my aim is to get through to people by Indymedia's logic of peer-to-peer networking. Using social media, I wish to generate interest, among my peers, in the urgent issue. Social media allow people to exchange information and their experiences. I think this will be more effective than firing information at people.
I founded my own grassroots NGO; FACC (Fight Against Climate Change) whose main goals are: to create widespread understanding of the causes of climate change by building a platform for people to share information, to open intelligent debate on alternative sources of energy that can provide real and just solutions to the climate crisis and to infiltrate the corporate domination of climate negotiations by establishing enough credibility to have a representative speak at any of these meetings. I believe people will be more interested if they believe they can make a difference.
I founded my own grassroots NGO; FACC (Fight Against Climate Change) whose main goals are: to create widespread understanding of the causes of climate change by building a platform for people to share information, to open intelligent debate on alternative sources of energy that can provide real and just solutions to the climate crisis and to infiltrate the corporate domination of climate negotiations by establishing enough credibility to have a representative speak at any of these meetings. I believe people will be more interested if they believe they can make a difference.
As the director of FACC, I am currently attempting to mobilise support for the cause. As discussed by Jeffery S. Juris in his essay; “The New Digital Media and Activist Networking Within Anti-Corporate Globalization Movements”, the proliferation of activist groups is as a result of the new digital networks available on the internet. Activists everywhere are "increasingly turning to technological paradigms as a way to promote social transformation." (Juris '08, p366) To achieve the goals I have set out for FACC, I will be attempting to mobilise support from my own peer groups through social media. My plan of action is to set up a social website where information can be shared using open editing software to collectively produce documents as well as using social networking sites such as facebook to spread the word and lobby support.
I will be working as part of a network of environment organisations such as CAN (http://www.climatenetwork.org/) and CJA (http://www.climate-justice-action.org/). I am determined to build a global movement for climate change that encourages urgent action alongside these organisations. So I will have links on the website to their web pages including the ECO online newsletter to further broaden the network and flow of information.
I will set up an emailing list and thread to keep people informed as of what they can do to help.
Enhanced speed, flexibility and reach of information flows has changed patterns of social engagement and the nature of social relationships and communication, allowing interactions across vast distances. Digital networks allow activists to coordinate actions and physically manifest their ideas all over the world. In other words, social media provide a technological infrastructure for me to operate at local and global levels. 
In order to create a truly global movement I need to create a striking, graphic image to symbolise the aims of FACC, one that can defy nationalistic boundaries. I found this image of a dried river very striking and believe that a graphic image of a dried river could become an internationally recognised symbol for the fight against climate change as all nations depend on rivers as they bring life and where rivers are drying up; life is drying up. This image would become recognised through social media and other computer-supported networks.
As digital networks have been incorporated into our daily routines, virtual and physical activities are becoming more and more integrated. The more often people see the image the more people are reminded that the world's climate is changing everyday, this will spark daily interest and discussions.
In order to create a truly global movement I need to create a striking, graphic image to symbolise the aims of FACC, one that can defy nationalistic boundaries. I found this image of a dried river very striking and believe that a graphic image of a dried river could become an internationally recognised symbol for the fight against climate change as all nations depend on rivers as they bring life and where rivers are drying up; life is drying up. This image would become recognised through social media and other computer-supported networks.
As digital networks have been incorporated into our daily routines, virtual and physical activities are becoming more and more integrated. The more often people see the image the more people are reminded that the world's climate is changing everyday, this will spark daily interest and discussions.
Thousands of activists in Copenhagen have worked together to show that there is substantial activist opposition fighting climate change at grassroot level. Through these uses of social media I too can mobilise my peers to act and generate widespread visibility surrounding issues related to climate change.
References
Climate Action Network http://www.climatenetwork.org/
Climate Justicec Action http://www.climate-justice-action.org/
"Climate March 12 December '09, Copenhagen" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1OcfHIxm3Y&feature=player_embedded#
Juris, J (2008) "The New Digital Media and Activist Networking within Anti-Corporate Globalisation Movements" in "The Anthropology of Globalisation" p352-370
Sunday, February 28, 2010
A product as a network of nodes, ties and flows.
Any finished product is a result of a network of nodes, ties and flows. A node is a physical place; a factory where something is produced or a shop where a product is sold. A tie is something which links these places either physically; the transportation of the product, the shipping industry or online; websites or emailing. The flow is the product that travels through the nodes and that is carried by the ties. The volume of the flow is determined by the demand for the product. The success of the network depends on the demand for the product which is determined by its quality, pricing, desgin, advertising and sales.
Butlers Irish Chocolates is an Irish brand producing Irish handmade chocolates in Dublin since 1932. Although their chocolate is an Irish product its main ingredient, cocoa grows in parts of Latin America and Africa. The cocoa beans grow in pods in cocoa trees. After six months they are harvested. Within 24 hours the beans have fermanted. This creates the chocolate flavour. The beans are then cleaned, roasted and ground into cocoa mass which is pressed into cocoa butter from which cocoa powder is produced. In this form it is transported to the factory in Dublin where the chocolates are made.
The farm and factories both in Latin America, Africa and Ireland and the shops where the finished, packaged chocolates are sold are the nodes. The ties are based on the logistics of managers that organise the flying, shipping and driving of the raw materials from the farm to the factory and from the factory to the shops and of course from the shops to the homes of loving consumers. What flows between the nodes is the flow, the chocolate in all its forms; the raw cocoa beans, the cocoa butter, the Easter egg or the Mothers' Day variety box.
Behind every product is a huge network of people involved in its conception, production, distribution and consumption. This network starts with an idea. Take for example Butlers Irish Chocolates. The production of Easter eggs by Butlers begins with the design of the egg, the managers figure out the demand for the product, they order a specific amount of ingredients based on this, they organise the design of the packaging, the materials for which must also be purchased thus creating a network of professionals in each field. Such a small thing as an Easter egg has involved an interconnected network of people; from the farmer who grows the cocoa pods, to the lorry driver who brings them to the port, to the worker who loads the ship, to the insurance company that cover the cargo getting lost, to the factory managers who conrol the product's quality, to the maintanance and machine installers, to the workers who package the finished product, to the people who designed that packaging, to the shop display designers who specialise in creating an environment conducive to the sale and finally to the consumer who buys and enjoys the product.
This network is interdependent. Without one of these elements that make up a network; nodes, ties and flows the product would not exist.
Butlers Irish Chocolates is an Irish brand producing Irish handmade chocolates in Dublin since 1932. Although their chocolate is an Irish product its main ingredient, cocoa grows in parts of Latin America and Africa. The cocoa beans grow in pods in cocoa trees. After six months they are harvested. Within 24 hours the beans have fermanted. This creates the chocolate flavour. The beans are then cleaned, roasted and ground into cocoa mass which is pressed into cocoa butter from which cocoa powder is produced. In this form it is transported to the factory in Dublin where the chocolates are made.
The farm and factories both in Latin America, Africa and Ireland and the shops where the finished, packaged chocolates are sold are the nodes. The ties are based on the logistics of managers that organise the flying, shipping and driving of the raw materials from the farm to the factory and from the factory to the shops and of course from the shops to the homes of loving consumers. What flows between the nodes is the flow, the chocolate in all its forms; the raw cocoa beans, the cocoa butter, the Easter egg or the Mothers' Day variety box.
Behind every product is a huge network of people involved in its conception, production, distribution and consumption. This network starts with an idea. Take for example Butlers Irish Chocolates. The production of Easter eggs by Butlers begins with the design of the egg, the managers figure out the demand for the product, they order a specific amount of ingredients based on this, they organise the design of the packaging, the materials for which must also be purchased thus creating a network of professionals in each field. Such a small thing as an Easter egg has involved an interconnected network of people; from the farmer who grows the cocoa pods, to the lorry driver who brings them to the port, to the worker who loads the ship, to the insurance company that cover the cargo getting lost, to the factory managers who conrol the product's quality, to the maintanance and machine installers, to the workers who package the finished product, to the people who designed that packaging, to the shop display designers who specialise in creating an environment conducive to the sale and finally to the consumer who buys and enjoys the product.
This network is interdependent. Without one of these elements that make up a network; nodes, ties and flows the product would not exist.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Van Dijk
Van Dijk defines New Media by three characteristics simultaneously; "they are media which are both integrated and interactive and also use a digital code." (Van Dijk p9 2006) This allows us to easily differentiate old and new media. For example, traditional television integrates images, sound and text but is not interactive or based on a digital code. Therefore it can be referred to as old media compared with new mobile devices which are fully digitalized, integrate image, sound and text, interactive and are connected to the internet.
Van Dijk describes these three defining characteristics in detail as the essence of the current communications revolution. The changes that bring about a revolution are structural changes and technical improvements. Integration is a stuctural new media characteristic. "It is the process of convergence" (Van Dijk p7 2006) of telecommunications, data communications and mass communications in a single medium. "The separate meanings of these terms will probably disappear" (Van Dijk p7 2006) instead we will use terms such as "multimedia" and "broadband".
Integration takes place on many levels; infrastructure, transportation, management, services and types of data.
Integration has been enabled by; the full digitalization of all media, and by the transmission of broadband through cable and by air.
Interactivity is, simlarly, a structural new media characteristic. Interactivity is "a sequence of action and reaction." (Van Dijk p8 2006) It is defined at four levels (in four dimensions) by Van Dijk and de Vos (2001); the space dimension, the time dimension, the behavioural dimension and the mental dimension.
The space dimension is the most elementary level of interactivity; it is the establishment of two sided communication.
The time dimension is the degree of "synchronicity" of the interaction. The quality of interaction is improved by the uninterrupted sequence of action and reaction, this is why face-to-face interaction better conveys meaning whereas immediate verbal and nonverbal signs are lost with mediated communication.
The behavioural dimension refers to the level of control of the interacting parties, and "is defined by the ability of the sender and the reciever to switch roles at any moment... as digital media are more interactive than traditional media, they enable a shift in the balance of power to the user and the side of demand." (Van Dijk p8 2006)
The mental dimension is the level of interactivity in which communicating with an understanding of meanings and contexts by all interactors is involved.
The Digital code is the technical new media characteristic. The digital code defines the form of new media operations. It is a code that enables the transmission of information in the form of strings of ones and zeros called bytes. This code has replaced analogue transmission of items of information through beams of light and vibrations of sound.
The transformation of media contents into the digital code is having three effects.
Firstly, it is creating a uniformity and standardisation of all contents.
Secondly, as this code has made it easier to produce and distribute information, and has increased the storage capacity of computers, it is increasing the quantity of items of information and communication.
Finally and most importantly, the transformation from "linear to hypertext media" has been made possible by the use of the digital code. (Van Dijk p9 2006) This is the transformation of the traditional linear order of units of communication and informaton to the hyperlinks of items obtainable to the reciever in the order they want.
Van Dijk has defined the new media of our current communications revolution by its characteristics of integration, intractivity and digital code. This short essay has summmarised Van Dijk's description of these characteristics.
Bibliography
Van Dijk, Jan (2006) "The Network Society" London; Sage (2nd edition)
Van Dijk describes these three defining characteristics in detail as the essence of the current communications revolution. The changes that bring about a revolution are structural changes and technical improvements. Integration is a stuctural new media characteristic. "It is the process of convergence" (Van Dijk p7 2006) of telecommunications, data communications and mass communications in a single medium. "The separate meanings of these terms will probably disappear" (Van Dijk p7 2006) instead we will use terms such as "multimedia" and "broadband".
Integration takes place on many levels; infrastructure, transportation, management, services and types of data.
Integration has been enabled by; the full digitalization of all media, and by the transmission of broadband through cable and by air.
Interactivity is, simlarly, a structural new media characteristic. Interactivity is "a sequence of action and reaction." (Van Dijk p8 2006) It is defined at four levels (in four dimensions) by Van Dijk and de Vos (2001); the space dimension, the time dimension, the behavioural dimension and the mental dimension.
The space dimension is the most elementary level of interactivity; it is the establishment of two sided communication.
The time dimension is the degree of "synchronicity" of the interaction. The quality of interaction is improved by the uninterrupted sequence of action and reaction, this is why face-to-face interaction better conveys meaning whereas immediate verbal and nonverbal signs are lost with mediated communication.
The behavioural dimension refers to the level of control of the interacting parties, and "is defined by the ability of the sender and the reciever to switch roles at any moment... as digital media are more interactive than traditional media, they enable a shift in the balance of power to the user and the side of demand." (Van Dijk p8 2006)
The mental dimension is the level of interactivity in which communicating with an understanding of meanings and contexts by all interactors is involved.
The Digital code is the technical new media characteristic. The digital code defines the form of new media operations. It is a code that enables the transmission of information in the form of strings of ones and zeros called bytes. This code has replaced analogue transmission of items of information through beams of light and vibrations of sound.
The transformation of media contents into the digital code is having three effects.
Firstly, it is creating a uniformity and standardisation of all contents.
Secondly, as this code has made it easier to produce and distribute information, and has increased the storage capacity of computers, it is increasing the quantity of items of information and communication.
Finally and most importantly, the transformation from "linear to hypertext media" has been made possible by the use of the digital code. (Van Dijk p9 2006) This is the transformation of the traditional linear order of units of communication and informaton to the hyperlinks of items obtainable to the reciever in the order they want.
Van Dijk has defined the new media of our current communications revolution by its characteristics of integration, intractivity and digital code. This short essay has summmarised Van Dijk's description of these characteristics.
Bibliography
Van Dijk, Jan (2006) "The Network Society" London; Sage (2nd edition)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)