I wanted something that would communicate the power of virtual networks and give you a bit of insight into why we are making you explore and analyse them for the next couple of weeks. I found some great videos & a TEDTalk by Sherry Turkle (the lady who wrote "life on the screen"). I'll post it on the facebook page for anyone that wants to have a look. However, all the videos I watched seemed to be lacking something.
The academic analysis of these networks is really important - don't get me wrong! Virtual networks exist at the indices of sociality and technology; they are re-shaping our social worlds and the way we interact (for better and for worse). They are changing our understandings of freedom, privacy, democracy, and ownership; as well, as the way we do business and educate ourselves. And it's super important to study all this, from all sorts of disciplinary perspectives - psych., sociology, economics, law, criminology, education, politics ... the lot.
But for me, as a so-called "cyber-anthropologist" (it's a thing guys trust me!), the most interesting things about virtual networks are the people within them. How they interact, how they form relationships and communicate, and how they create a sense of community and place online. Basically, how the sprawling global-digital-networks that we are part of influence our lives (online and offline).
And, out of all the videos I watched, I don't think anyone managed to express the power of virtual networks quite as well as this guy in the first few minutes of this youtube clip.
Your task for this week is to find a network (there's more info on that in the tute vid). And from next week (wk3), till week 8, I'm handing the blog over to you guys.
But for now, ....
What are your thoughts on virtual networks/social-networking?
- Is it important to study them/it?
- How does power operate in virtual networks? Who has the power? And how is it used?
- Do you think we rely too much on online interactions - do they enhance our relationships or alienated us from each other?
- And, what about surveillance? Who's watching and why?
Check out the readings and the lecture.
And, then let us know what you think in the comments ...
- Rhian
References:
Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the internet. New York: Simon & Schuster
1. I think it's very important to study networking and media. It's becoming more and more crucial to our day to day lives both personally and in relation to business.
ReplyDelete2. Power in virtual networks is given to people in our society that are deemed interesting like celebrities. They have millions of followers for example, on twitter. Online news media garners attention as does large companies like Apple, who introduce new products to the world. They are given power by their fans and consumers who continue to provide them with this power by buying their products. This is vastly different to my online presence. However as presented in the youtube clip, any of us who have access to the internet can earn more power in the online world if they so desire. It does mean that people in third world countries who have no internet access, have no means to create power online.
3. I think online interactions can be both negative and positive. A relationship can suffer because a person has become so attached to their online community and become more and more withdrawn from their parter, family and friends in the read world. I myself find it incredibly useful because I am able to maintain close relationships with friends living across the globe. It can also benefit a work environment when colleagues in Brisbane, can form a closer bond with their colleagues who live and work overseas, by using Skype.
4. It seems surveillance is in place mainly to protect our security and the safety of the public. It's also collected for business purposes however, such as advertising and customer research. This can be seen as incredibly intrusive though, say if Facebook discovers your Facebook status changes to being single, they may place dating sites on your page.
Great responses :)
DeleteHave to say I am concerned about the ways in which online surveillance is used to monitor & quell political dissent, e.g. the arrests of Twitter users during the protests in Turkey this year.
1) The phenomenon of virtual networking over the past 20 years has totally reshaped the manner in which most people in our modern society interact socially and professionally. I feel it is very important to study and analyse these networks to determine what dangers may be present and to maximise the benefits.
ReplyDelete2) From what I have observed, the power in a lot of virtual networks belongs to corporate bodies and political groups as they have the funds to control what is valued and therefore discussed. This can be in the form of promoting products and services or changing the way people think and act.
All virtual networks have an administrator. This person has the power to censor what is said and who can be a part of the group like our BA1002 facebook group. Corporate bodies employ these administrators and can therefore influence the choices they make.
3) There needs to be a balance between online and face to face interactions. Obviously our personal relationships at home between partners and children will suffer if somebody becomes too obsessed with their online persona. However with the right balance we can benefit greatly from our online experiences both socially and professionally. Examples include meeting a future partner online as illustrated in this weeks youtube clip and having the ability to sell a product to a global audience via Facebook.
4) Surveillance if used for the purposes of combatting terrorism or intercepting crime networks I believe is justified. However, Rhian gives us an example of a government ie Turkey using surveillance for their own political gain. This is an example of abusing their power through the use of surveillance.
1. To study social networking and virtual networks is important and relevant as it is used by people all over the world and the number of people using them is increasing each day. Many people live their lives around social networks such as Facebook and Instagram by interacting and in a social sense. In studying these networks one can observe the relationships between others.
ReplyDelete2. In certain networks there is an Administrator who has the power to remove things that are deemed inappropriate by others. For example on Facebook there is an option to report a person or a photo and the person will be unable to access their Facebook for a certain amount of time or the photo will be removed, but the Administrator does not constantly watch what is going on it needs to be brought to their attention by it being reported by an individual so that creates an argument of whether the Administrator has the power or the person reporting the issue has the power.
3. I think that in todays day and age that the internet is a dominant force, I find fewer people are buying a newspaper to get the up to date news, instead they will go online on websites such as news.com.au or Twitter or Facebook. I dont think we rely too much on online interaction I think we are adapting to the online interaction being the main source of communication. In saying that though I can see how some relationships break down when one person is neglecting the other because they are caught up on certain online interactions, but that is based on the individual I think a healthy balance needs to be in place.
4. Surveillance they say is used to protect us by preventing acts of terrorism and organised crime. For me personally I don't disagree with it I feel that in some cases surveillance is needed. Im not sure how far it goes as in is the Government watching our every move, are we being watched closely in our homes? Some see it as a form of protection and others see it as an invasion of privacy. It depends on the individual.
You make an interesting point about the power of admins - it brings home Allen's (2003) point about power being a "relational effect of social interaction" (p.2).
Delete1. The internet and virtual/social networking now dominates the way we interact on so many levels; it is extremely important to study the repercussions of their impact on individuals, society and the network as a whole.
ReplyDelete2. To me power in virtual networks is like the panopticon model. As the internet and virtual networks gathers data on everything we post, like, and google etc. the operators of these sites and networks collect market research to effectively advertise to us. For instance the things you google then dictate the ads that appear on google.
The reason I see the panopticon is that obviously advertising would be their primary capitalist agenda. In the Richard Cooke article about the NSA, they have also been privy to this information. What is their purpose with our details? Since 2011 the threat of terrorism has stripped many privacy laws and civil liberties around the globe, for our safety. It shouldn’t matter if you have nothing to hide. I think the way power is used on virtual networks is conveyed in Michael Foucault’s panopticon model.
3. Virtual networks are both positive and negative for human interactions. Sometimes we can rely on virtual communications instead of visiting a friend or picking up the phone. Sometimes the tone of what is being written can be lost and misinterpreted, particularly text messaging. It is fantastic for keeping in touch with people far away though; for me this is an invaluable tool.
I think going out for a meal with someone and both of you sitting there playing with your phones is alienating actual human contact. I think it is important to be present in the moment, which I think social networking can disrupt. But at the same time it’s wonderful to be able to Skype someone on the other side of the world. Some people can reply to heavily on virtual interactions which is certainly alienating. But for someone that is housebound this would be quite the opposite. I think they can enhance our relationships if people use them appropriately.
4. The panopticon network of interactions is used as an advertising and safety strategy. The internet is the greatest marketing tool of all time. Everything we do online is logged somewhere in order to sell us something later.
I think when you hear about the NSA keeping all data, it’s easy to think Big Brother is watching 1984 style. But honestly most of this data is a capitalist tool for consuming. As much as I disagree with the US just stealing our data, I don’t think they are going to stop anytime soon.
1.)I believe it is important to study networks seeing as they are apart of our everyday lives, even if we don't identify them initially. Things like social media, the news and our friendship and business networks influence our lives dramatically and are therefore extremely important to understand.
ReplyDelete2.) The power within virtual networks, I believe is a competition relationship, only because the power resigns in both the user of virtual networks and the actual programmers/runners of the network, though this power is of course unequally distributed. The users of a network have a lot more power in how it runs and so forth then most users realise.
3.)I believe that we as a society especially, the younger generations rely on online interactions much to heavily. Many examples of this can be found in the online dating and gamer networks, forming tangible at best relationships between users. These relationships, though prominent online in the "real" world would not occur as easily if at all. the online interactions are both good and bad for relationships, good in the sense that you can make relationships easily, bad in that those relationships are not fully functioning.
4.) Surveillance is a hard topic to debate because it can be both good and bad for society. Most people know and understand that they are being watched and their online behaviour monitored but the information is not used as a means of control but of observation and in most cases marketing. The "who" that's watching is the problem however, with people having no way of knowing who's watching their activities, a form of panopticon.
1) I believe it is important to study the virtual network / Social Networking groups. It is easy to be confused and or miss a vital instruction that enables your time on the network a safe one.
ReplyDelete2)The administrator has the power of the virtual Network. They could be someone who is wanting to create a network of like-minded people who can share ideas to corporations who are promoting goods, services, sharing of inforamiotn or being able to hold business meeting across the glode and other products like gaming. Power can be seen within the conversations around ideas and opinions, the administrator has the final governing ability to put a stop to inappropriate communication or footage.
3) I do believe that there is too much time spent on online interactions, especially with children. Time spent in the outdoors seems to be a taboo to many city children these days as their time is spent engrossed with their heads in the computers. This has put a distance also between parents and children as the child in today's world know way more about the virtual world than the adults. For me, Facebook has been able to bring me closer to friends and family when i moved away from the city to a remote community. In other cases, if boundaries aren't set around the time spent on social media, i believe it hinders relationships.
4)It's a catch 22 scenario, we want to know that we are safe when using virtual networks, we hear of the hackers and preditors who put us/ our identities and safety at risk and loss of our power. So in that sense it is good to know that there is surveillance. Turkle (2005) cites Foucault's perspective as the most important factor would not be how frequently the agents are used or censorship is enforced. Like the threat of a tax audit~ what matters most is that people know that the possibility is always present.
Turkle.S.(2005)Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the internet. Pg. 246 - 249. New York
I find this interesting in an odd kind of a way, in that at first I thought 'who cares', why would anyone want to study virtual networks? Seems like there are more important things to do in life, but when I watched the video about the guy hitting 500,000 subscribers and how extremely important this is to him, I started to think a little more about it. I am not going to pretend I understand why this virtual ‘popularity’ means so much to him - maybe it is my age - but who cares how many people hit ‘like’ or read or watch your blogs/posts? So perhaps this is in itself reason enough to study virtual networks.
ReplyDeleteI think the way in which we use the internet and social network platforms determines its impact (i.e. enhances or alienates interpersonal relationships). For me personally, I find it a little unsettling that this man’s self-worth and confidence seems to be so dependent on the popularity of his online persona. Am I missing something?
Don't think you're missing anything - in fact I think you've hit the nail on the head. The main question that this vid. prompts is "why?" Why do these subscribers mean so much to him? And why would someone's self-worth be influenced by people clicking like/subscribe? I think the answer lies in the notion of power. Many ordinary folks don't feel that they have a whole lot of power in their everyday lives - especially if you're fat, nerdy, poor, unemployed i.e. you don't full-fill societies criteria for "what constitutes a worthwhile human that should be listened to". On social networks it's often easier to find the affirmation that may be lacking in the "real" world. People who may not have had a voice in society suddenly find there are people listening to them (sometimes even agreeing or looking up to them).
DeleteI think this guy felt alienated in the real-world and turned to a virtual network to combat this sense of alienation. Virtual networks play on our need for social interaction and human contact - and human contact from a distance is better than no contact at all, or overwhelmingly negative contact. People are able to access a broader community of listeners/viewers online and are consequently, more likely to find people who "agree" with their view points. This results in a sense of affirmation, connection (although the "quality" of this connection is debatable)and ultimately power - power related to the sense of having a voice and being heard.
It's interesting, and extremely positive, that he had such a great experience by turning to virtual networks to combat his sense of alienation. I'm pleased that it was such a positive experience for him, because as we all know, in many cases all over the world, people similar to him have felt the same sense of isolation in the virtual world. They have been in a sense dis-empowered by opening themselves up to an even larger audience, who then unleash their own power onto people who seem the weaker of the pack.
DeleteBut does he really have any power or has he simply handed over his power to the subscribers? Hmmm...might focus on this for my blog...*still wondering* :-)
DeleteI believe it is extremely important to study social networks. Social media isn't a fad, it's a fundamental shift in the way we communicate (Kairos Advantage LLC, 2013). Simply by looking at all of the statistics out there that surround the rise of social media and the momentum it has had in such a short period of time, it is very easy to see that it is not going anywhere. It has entirely changed the way we communicate, how often we communicate and the forums we choose to communicate in. We now have at the tips of our fingers over 7 billion people throughout the world. Talk about a small world!
ReplyDeletePower operates differently I think, depending on which virtual network you are within. But on a basic level, social media has given the power to the consumer; brands can no longer hide behind their core values or their perfectly designed PR campaigns, because if it does not match the service being received by a customer, the world wide web will very quickly know about it! Power however, definitely sits with the every day user, because from behind their computer screens and keyboards, they can be anyone they want to be, offer any opinion they'd like to offer, without the normal consequences that may have resulted if that communication was instead offered face-to-face.
I think we do rely too much on online interactions. It has almost removed our desire to communicate face-to-face. For example, in the office environment, most people will send an email before they pick up the phone. They will send an email before they turn their chair around and ask the person directly. I think it is for this reason that social media can alienate us from each other.
When you're interacting online, you are being watched by almost anyone and everyone. You could be being watched because your direct friends and family are interested in what you have to say and what images you post. But you could also be being watched by people who are preparing to steal your identity, companies that are tracking your every interest so they can target you with user specific advertising. You could also be being watched by law enforcement groups. So I believe, you are probably being watched by almost anyone. But that is what we accept and expect by joining a social network.
Kairos Advantage LLC. (2013, May 10). The Social Media Revolution 2013 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqy8lSppS-A
It is important to study social networks. Social networks give us a platform on which can more readily observe humanity as a whole. It gives us hard data on human networking capabilities which allow us to have a deeper understanding of humanity as a whole and allows us to create pretty pretty pictures like the picture on the cover of our subject outline. As a whole, the internet and social networks are in a rhizomic state which allows for easy access to data and subsequently transfer of knowledge and memes.
ReplyDeletePower within virtual networks take many levels. I refer back to the rhizomic state of the internet and social networks. Each node is a source of power that may be controlled by one or more individuals. To explain, a node of power within the social network may not only be the administrator of the site but also the creator of your favourite Facebook LOLcat page.
Do we rely too much on social interaction? That is a matter of some debate. On the one hand, our society has adapted the internet to be a vital part of the workings of society, without it the world as we know it would cease to exist. On the other hand we have people dying from starvation as they refuse to get up from their computer games. It is a controversial question, the answer I believe is moderation.
As for surveillance. Everything that you do on the internet can be viewed by anyone and everyone. We have seen recently that the US government has deals with leading Silicon Valley companies to store and access all of your data. Big Brother is watching.
I must be old...what is a Facebook LOLcat page Bayden?
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