PICTURE OF THE WEEK

A screenshot from 'Spellforce' - a game produced by Auran, which is the company lecturer John Banks did ethnographic research with.

Week 4 Class and Reading Reflection

Week four’s reading, Conclusions in Miller and Slater’s book – The Internet: An Ethnographic approach, discussed in detail the ethnographic research of Internet use in Trinidad. I’m not sure if I’m meant to say this…I don’t know about anybody else but I found this reading rather dense and not very enjoyable to read. Perhaps I was just tired? The reading raised issues surrounding the dynamics of objectification, mediation, normative freedom and positioning, which was basically different perspectives on how Trinidadian people engage with the Internet. The reading reinforced the concept introduced in the lecture that “the Internet is not a monolithic or placeless ‘cyberspace’; rather, it is numerous new technologies, used by diverse people, in diverse real-world locations”. The other reading, Interpreting and Comparing Perspectives in the Audience Community by Nancy Baym, was an example ethnography of soap opera audience practices within an online forum/mailing list called r.a.t.s. As John said in the lecture to get a sense of how to write an ethnography it is best to read them. It was pretty interesting; I didn’t realize people took their soaps so seriously. I admit I’m obsessed with The OC and Desperate Housewives and even regularly watch Neighbours and The Bold and the Beautiful (shame) but I don’t think I’m that engrossed that I would frequently participate in a newsgroup about them…or would I? Hehe, just jokes. Finally, the other reading, Anthropology as ‘Brand’: Reflections on Corporate Anthropology by Lucy Suchman, discussed anthropology becoming a commodity as it shifts from academic and public institutions into commercial, marketing and corporate public relations areas. It mentioned that anthropology is now playing a role both as brand and social science.

In the lab session we addressed the question: what are the ethical challenges of researching and facilitating virtual communities? I believe researchers of virtual communities have ethical obligations. Of course these change depending upon the topic/genre of the virtual community but it is something that researchers should be careful with. I don’t think it would be necessary to make the community aware that they were being observed/researched because it is only inevitable that this would change the way the individuals behaved and interacted. I think it is important for the researcher to use their discretion and be aware of the ethical issues involved with research, eg: not to use names, etc. If trust was seriously breached within a community it could permanently affect the way it continues to function. At the same time I think that people who participate in online virtual communities are naive to think that the people they interact with are completely honest and honorable people. The Internet harbors fraudulent and deceitful people and users utilize the Internet at their own risk. This doesn’t mean that researchers should throw out all ethical standards rather it means that virtual participants should be wary of EVERYONE when dealing with personal or emotional matters online.

Week 4 Lecture Reflection

The week four lecture focused upon ethnographic methodologies and how they can be used to research online communities. The lecturer, John Banks, also went into detail about his own ethnographic research with Auran. The main things I learnt from the lecture were the key characteristics of ethnographic research such as it involving participant observation, extended periods of time, a particular cultural site and most importantly that it is not neutral. I also learnt about the stages of ethnographic research and how important access to the field is, which involves ethical clearances and ‘gatekeepers’. In relation to researching online communities the argument of Daniel Miller and Don Slater was outlined; the Internet does not exist out in space, rather it exists within people’s homes, and effects how people interact within their culture. The material covered in the lecture is relevant to the current expansion and revolution of the Internet, its use and online communities. An interesting detail that John presented was that his ethnographic research began as just observation but then his findings and reports started to have influence within the company and his research then became participation, not just observation.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Professor Manuel Castells - ok maybe he is far more intelligent than me but he is definately not as attractive, hehe.

MUDs, Virtual Communities and Blogs ???

Originally MUDs, virtual communities and blogs had me confused. When I first heard that I would be keeping a blog in KCB295 for some reason I kept thinking about these ‘things’ I had read about called MUDs (then not remembering the name) and I thought my blog was going to be like the MUDs I had read about. So when I first started this blog I thought…hang on, this isn’t the kind of thing I read about all those months ago. So when I was reading Castells chapter this week I came across MUDs again and it said, “MUDs are the privileged domain for role-playing and fake identities…Most MUD players are teenagers or college students, enacting on-line much of the typical role-playing behaviours of the period of their life when they often experiment with their personality”. So this refreshed my memory and I realised that it was MUDs I had read about not blogs. AND THEN…I got thinking about my virtual community Cybertown (discussed in previous post) and realised that it is very much like a MUD. SO…Cybertown is similar to a MUD and is also a virtual community while this is a blog; a blog is a blog and not a virtual community or a MUD. Hehe. You are probably confused but I no longer am.

Week 3 Class and Reading Reflection

Week three’s reading, Open Publishing, Open Technologies by Graham Meikle, raised the issue of open source software and open publishing forums in relation to Independent Media Centres (IMCs). After learning about open source software in the lecture I thought it was something associated only with things such as Linux and free software on the Internet, however, the reading introduced me to the phenomenon of open publishing, which I believe possesses very similar characteristics of a blog. Aside from the Internet activism of political virtual communities I thought it was interesting because of its connection with DIY culture, innovation, horizontal structures and allowing people to become active participants rather than passive readers. IMCs’ use of dispersed networks and decentralised organisation links back to the basis of the lecture in terms of the network society and open source communities. The other reading, The Culture of the Internet by Manuel Castells, was really enlightening! and it raised the issues surrounding the culture of the Internet. The reading focused upon the four-layer structure of Internet culture (as covered in the lecture) – techno-meritocratic culture, hacker culture, virtual communitarian culture and entrepreneurial culture. After reading all 25 pages I realised that Castells summarised it beautifully in the last paragraph:
“The culture of the Internet is a culture made up of a technocratic belief in the progress of humans through technology, enacted by communities of hackers thriving on free and open technological creativity, embedded in virtual networks aimed at reinventing society, and materialised by money-driven entrepreneurs into the workings of the new economy.”

The lab session this week introduced me to mailing lists and virtual communities. First we established what a ‘community’ is and that it involves interaction, sharing of an interest, regular commitment and perhaps membership. I found what I believe to be a virtual community. It is called Cybertown and it is literally a virtual community based upon the real world. I’m looking forward to exploring it a bit more. I was also introduced to Yahoo Groups which is a plethora of mailing lists. I joined the mailing list called The Da Vinci Code Forum. I think it will be good because I will get a daily digest of what is said through the mailing list. I think mailing lists are great. There are so many of them with so many different topics. Learning about mailing lists was useful for me because I can see how they could be useful to use in other study or work related areas to gather information.

Week 3 Lecture Reflection

The week three lecture focused heavily upon the network society (greatly detailed by Manuel Castells) and also discussed open source communities. Prior to the lecture I never knew what an open source community was or that they existed. The lecture detailed how networks are flexible, adaptable, decentralized and distributed and I learnt that the decentralized characteristic of networks makes them more dynamic than traditional hierarchical structured organisations. A significant point made in the lecture was that the network is the enterprise; that is that what connects the nodes of a network, the flows of information and the people within it are the enterprise. I also learnt about the relationship between the network society and the informational/new/network economy, which has seen the shift from industry towards knowledge. Knowledge has now become the economic driver of innovation and productivity. This is strongly linked to Richard Florida’s notion of the Creative Class. I’m uncertain if I agree with the idea of a Creative Class. Part of me wants to concur but another part wants to be cynical. The material in the lecture regarding the network society, new economy, Internet and organisational structures are all current topics that are important because they concern the development of today’s societies, economies, organisations, communities and the creative industries across the globe.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

The Internet - pretty isn't it.

Weeks 1 and 2 Class and Reading Reflection

Week one’s reading, New Media as Cultural Technologies by Terry Flew, discussed the development of new media and its relationship with technology and culture. It elaborated on the three levels at which technology can be understood as discussed in the lecture; common sense, contextual and systems of knowledge. I think the discussed levels of technology are important because they highlight the intersection of cultures and communication, which are important issues in KCB295. The other reading, Antipodean Internet: Placing Australian Networks by Gerard Goggin, discussed the concept of the Internet being national. It introduced the question of whether there is an Australia Internet within the global age and what that means. I think that as there are communities online that are socially shaped the Internet can be culturally shaped. I think the issue of the Internet taking different forms in different local, national, regional and global contexts is interesting.

Week two’s reading, What is a Weblog? by Rebecca Blood, described what a blog is, its history and provided a basic foundation for blogging. The most interesting thing I found in this reading said, “Webloggers understand that people will regularly visit any website that reliably provides them with worthwhile content, even when that content is on another site. As counterintuitive as it may seem from an old-media perspective, weblogs attract regular readers precisely because they regularly point readers away.” I liked this because it contrasts old and new media. The other reading, Cyberculture in the Dotcom Age by Geert Lovink took a rather critical and slightly cynical approach towards the Internet and cyberculture. It raised an interesting issue concerning improper use of open forums and communities leading to mailing lists and forums becoming password protected because “no one wants to discuss sophisticated concepts with all the wierdos surfing the web” – snobbery?

The first lab session showed me how to send an email to my entire class, start a blog, blogrolling and posting to the class discussion. Emailing techniques, blogging, networking and online discussions are all techniques that could be important for me to use for other studies and work. Although it was a basic introduction they are important skills to maintain especially in terms of blogging. In my future professional practice or research it may be necessary for me to establish and maintain a blog for a more significant purpose.

Weeks 1 and 2 Lecture Reflection

Virtual Culture’s week one lecture was an introduction to the role of the Internet, computer mediated communication (CMC) and virtual communities. What I learnt most from the lecture related to first, second and third generation approaches to the Internet. Each approach highlighted the diversity of the Internet in terms of its use and effects over time. The discussed material relating to the Internet is relevant to the development currently occurring in terms of new media, DIY culture and virtual communities. I agree with the lecturer’s emphasis upon the notion that the Internet is not just about computers and technology but more importantly about networks of people and that the Internet is a form of communication that has facilitated the construction and maintenance of virtual communities. As a thought on the side; I think the application of the ‘imagined communities’ concept to ‘virtual communities’ provides for an interesting, perhaps perplexing, relationship.

The week two lecture was an introduction to blogs, blogs and more blogs! From this lecture I learnt what blogs are all about (admittedly I did not totally grasp the concept until I actually started this one of my own). I discovered the statistics in relation to blogs and was really surprised by their prevalence because I had never heard of blogs before. I realised that blogs come in all shapes and sizes, genres and purposes. In the beginning I thought that perhaps blogs were only a personal or recreational craze but it was interesting to learn that they are used for research as well as by large corporations. Blogs are currently very relevant because they are so popular as well as powerful. As Rebecca Blood states in The Weblog Handbook, “I strongly believe in the power of weblogs to transform both writers and readers from ‘audience’ to ‘public’ and from ‘consumer’ to ‘creator’”. This is very relevant to the rising notion of everyday people gaining the ability to create and develop DIY culture. This was touched on by the lecturer using a term and concept I really like, ‘technological democracy’, which means ordinary people have the ability to be creative producers rather than just a creative consumer. (I think this is discussed by Andrew Sullivan)