We currently find ourselves in a society where youth are constantly entranced by social network sites that allow them to connect with others. Danah Boyd writes about this current culture in Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life, written in 2007 and published by MIT Press. Danah Boyd is currently a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research, a Research Assistant Professor in Media, Culture, & Communication at New York University, a Researcher at Harvard Law School, a Fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center, and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales. As you can tell, she is very involved with the research of social media, along with youth practices, social network sites, and interactions between technology and society.

danah boyd
Source: dialogicalcoffeehouse.com

This paper that she has written is important to her line of research because she has great interest in how youth use social media and how this affects their everyday lives. She starts her paper with a quote by a thirteen year old girl stating how showing off her vacations on a social network site will help her to find people who would want to be her friend by how she presents herself.

In this paper, Boyd attempts to dive into the questions of why social network sites are highly valued by youth and what the content is that they wish to share with others. She does so by talking about the creation of social network sites and how music originally started this revolution of inviting others to be part of a site. She further analyzes the definition of “public” and how this may sometimes be confused when considering social network sites. Currently, Facebook is going through legal issues regarding this “public” issue, because they allow all data and personal information to be public to anyone who wishes to access the information.

Facebook
Source: Computer HelpDesk

It is interesting that these “public” social network sites are also used for private use. In Boyd’s paper, a seventeen-year-old child states that she writes online journals so that she can communicate with friends, without her mother snooping in on their conversations. This seems interesting to me since before Facebook came along, Myspace could be accessed to the public, and sometimes even to people who do not have Myspace accounts. This would allow parents and employers to view one’s Myspace and look at the “private” conversations that others are having on their comment section.

The question that finally arises is why youth feel like they need to use social network sites, such as Myspace. Boyd bluntly states that the root of why teens access these sites is the “power that adults hold over youth” (18).

 “In the United States, the lives of youth – and particularly high school teenagers – are highly structured. Compulsory high school requires many students to be in class from morning to mid-afternoon; and many are also required to participate in after-school activities, team sports, and work into the evening. It is difficult to measure whether today’s high school teens have more or less free time than previous generations, but the increased prevalence of single working parent and dual-working parent households implies that there are either more latchkey kids or more after-school programs watching these kids” (18).

These teens want privacy in a public setting. They feel as though their information and conversations are private because they are not physically surrounded by people, but they understand that others that may or may not know them will also be able to read this information.

There will always be tension between the private and public aspects of social network sites. Currently, Facebook is facing the problem of public access to private messages among friends. Although these messages are not possible for any others to see other than those involved in the message, Facebook has allowed other people, regardless of who they are, to see one’s conversations on their Facebook “timeline,” before a certain time. This has made people very distraught, and now Facebook users must systematically change their settings so that others may not access and see these private messages.

Currently I am a user of Facebook, although not religiously like many others. I use it to a minimal extent because I choose to communicate others in person, however when necessary it is convenient to use social network sites such as Facebook. Since I have also had private messages between friends, I hope that the privacy settings for Facebook will be reconsidered so that anyone will feel comfortable with using these sites.

Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life

Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy was written by Lawrence Lessig in 2008, published by Penguin Press. Lawrence Lessig is currently the director of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics at Harvard University, along with being a professor of law at Harvard Law School. He previously founded the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School. He is known as a political activist, and has much influence on reduced legal restrictions, such as copyright and trademark.

Lawrence Lessig
Source: OBEY

This following book is about the effect that Internet has on society and consumption and production of pop culture. Part I focuses on our Internet culture from the past and what is to come in the future. He compares the Read-Only (RO) culture and the Read/Write (RW) culture. Lastly, he compares the different types of values that these cultures.

RO is defined as the “Read/Only” culture, in which consumption is simple and performance and creativity are not emphasized. RW is defined as the “Read/Write” culture, in which “ordinary citizens” listen or read representations of their culture, and continue by creating and re-creating this culture around them.

Lessig continues to speak about remixes among texts and media.  It is quite obvious that the growing remixes in media have encountered issues with the “copyright wars”.  Although there are many reasons to crack down on these issues of copyrighting, Lessig reminds us that this RW culture provides those talented people with a voice that can be heard to many.

In the last section of Part I, I was particularly interested in comparing the RO culture with RW culture. Specifically, I read especially closely to the paragraphs that focused on the differences in value, as in if these cultures are any good to our society. This section starts off by talking about Andrew Keen’s book The Cult of the Amateur. He states that:

“Not a day goes by without some new revelation that calls into question the reliability, accuracy, and truth of the information we get from the Internet” (90).

He continues to state that:

“Wikipedia, for example, ‘is almost single-handedly killing the traditional information business” (90).

I find these two statements to be very strong, yet valid. People are able to easily access sources that may or may not contain legitimate resources and research. Also, every person who has access to the Internet is also able to put their own information and “facts” for others to see. For example, Wikipedia allows almost anyone to post their input or data onto copious pages on this free encyclopedia. Much of this information may be valid or faulty, but many readers may not expect it because they are unaware of the “writers” who contribute to Wikipedia. But this is not the main issue at hand. Many independent bookstores and other libraries are going bankrupt and losing much of their business to these free encyclopedias.

I feel as though Lawrence Lessig’s argument towards RW culture is legitimate with his reasons. He has constantly been an advocate against restrictions on copyright and trademark, and making the RW culture prominent in our society will help our society to continue to grow.

Read Remix Part 1: Cultures

After reading the first chapter in An Introduction to Cybercultures and New Media, I feel as though I have a greater understanding of the term “cybercultures.” Pramod K. Nayar is the author of this book, and currently teaches in the English Department at the University of Hyderabad, India. He has written multiple books on different aspects of culture, such as reading culture and politics.

Pramod K Nayar
Source: The Hindu

The following book was written in 2010 so the data that is given is fairly recent. This first chapter called ‘”Reading” Cybercultures’ goes into detail about cyberculture in general and the many issues and benefits that occur when studying cyberculture. I have never read any of Nayar’s work, but this chapter was an easy read and kept me engaged. I never understood what cyberculture consisted of and how it is defined, but now I have a greater understanding of what it is and its importance. One of the main points he focuses on is that many people tend to falsify their identity and this has been a criticism of cyberspace, especially when dealing with pedophiliacs and other unwelcomed guests. Also, another point is that there is no concrete cyberculture. Cyberculture differs among developed and developing nations, different classes in a particular society, and among general users due to the nature or quality of Internet use.

In this chapter, I was particularly interested in the section that talked about the digital divide that occurs as ICT’s continue to expand. Although I am quite satisfied as to where the U.S. and my current region is currently standing with cyberculture, it displeases me knowing that others have such a big disadvantage when dealing with Internet access. As our society is constantly relying on the help of the Internet to guide us in everyday tasks, this makes me wonder how other nations are able to “survive” without convenient access to Internet, as I am typing this blog on my MacBook Pro with wireless Internet. It is crazy to know that:

“Africa has 14.7 percent of the world’s population and constitutes 3.5 percent of the world’s total Internet use,” and, “North America has 69 percent Internet penetration, even though it has only 5.1 percent of the world’s population” (9).

These numbers are very shocking and discomforting. This digital divide continues to increase because of the lack of care that people have towards those in Africa and their access to Internet. Many people may assume that those who lack it may be used to it, but this should not be taken lightly and brushed off.

In general, this excerpt by Nayar was interesting to read and enlightening. However, I wish the author talked about the negative aspects of cyberculture towards health and wellbeing. As I am a Public Health Sciences and a Psychobiology double major, I have a passion for overall health and prevention. There are many inclinations about the increase of Internet world having a connection with the decreasing health and lack of exercise among the general population.

Also, there are many ways in which different nations incorporate cyberculture into daily lives. This may be covered in upcoming chapters, but if not it would be important to talk about the impact of cyberculture among different countries and how and why its expansion arose.

Ch.1- “Reading” Cybercultures

This first blog being posted is about another blog on the movie Premium Rush. Premium Rush is about a bike messenger in Manhattan who must deliver a special ticket before a crooked cop steals it. It is considered to be part of the action/thriller genre. This blog first addresses the plot of the movie and how it is laid out. The writer does not find that this movie is substantial with its lack of character and story growth. However, he finds that the action and suspense scenes were on point and made up for its simplicity.

Premium Rush
Source: NY Times

I definitely enjoyed this film when I watched it in theaters. I expected Premium Rush to be boring and uneventful, but I was thoroughly surprised when I realized that there was much more action and excitement than I thought there would be. I agree with the writer’s opinion, that this story was much stronger with it’s action scenes than when the character’s tried to build the storyline. I am a big fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but I felt as though his acting was not highlighted in this film. The characters were somewhat memorable but not enough to say that it would be anyone’s favorite movie with a favorite character. Although the movie was presented in a different way, by first having a scene in the future and rewinding to the past in order to see the progress of events, it felt somewhat generic since this has been incorporated in many films. However, in general, I did enjoy watching this movie and I would not mind watching it again. I felt a rush of excitement and suspense when the bike messengers swerved between cars and crossed busy intersections.
Blog on Premium Rush:

http://themovieblog.com/2012/review-premium-rush/