Public space and Weblogs within our society

My group discussion was Chapter 3 in Networked Publics by Merlyna Lim and Mark E. Kann, Politics: Deliberation, Mobilization and Networked Practices of Agitation. By engaging in that discussion over the last week or so, I was able to relate well to O’Baoill’s essay on Weblogs and the Public Sphere. Much of what I read about Habermas ties in with O’Baoill, thus reiterating the same concerns of the ‘power’ of the Internet and the potential for good and bad.

What does it take to be a blogger? According to Andre O’Baoill it takes a digital device, connection to the web and a little bit of time. Public space is available to anyone without discrimination, creating a safe haven for anyone to exercise their constitutional rights; more importantly their first amendment right. The sky is the limit when it comes to topics of blog. For God’s sake, we can blog about our dog’s potty habits or take it to another extreme and blog about Wall Street trends. But what is more important is how many bloggers are not as educated in their field and who is taking their work as gospel and disseminating it about their networks?

Public debates, or as some refer to them as ‘town hall meetings’ can be started with just a topic of interest in a network of similar interest people. Oddly enough, last week I was speaking to the Class of 2015 president (who has been my daughter’s friend since pre-k) and she was telling me how she went about campaigning for class president. How we got on to the subject was beyond me but the conversation took on its own life and I realized that these teen agers have the ability to use the Net for anything, including their own political GAIN!

She said that at the end of Junior high she had started a mini blog thru facebook and had a list of about 510 followers by the end of freshman year. Her blogs were school and activity related and she found that her audience trusted her to be the eyes, ears and voice of her class. Her audience began to depend on her blogs so that they were informed and had a better understanding of issues that were coming to life around them in the school setting. There is where ‘trust’ was built and her words became ‘believable’. She said to me “for some 8^th & 9^th graders, they use facebook and the Net for hurting and defaming people, I use it to help my peers and those in my community by helping them stay informed and allow them a voice in an area which is free from criticism.” For an 18 year old girl, I was quite impressed. And that is how she became Class President. She built trust, demonstrated transparency and became a trusted voice amongst her constituents. Megan’s blog was an “organized discussion among private people that tended to be ongoing” (Habermas, 1997, p.238), hence a weblog. Megan’s public space met the elements that Habermas refers to for successful public debate and participation. She allowed everyone who wanted to participate to join in, none were discriminated against, and any topic was up for discussion so long as it was legal. Here was a 13 year old who completely understood what was needed in order to build consensus and trust among her constituents. I was totally taken back by the knowledge and talent of young adult.

In O’Baoill’s essay he discusses RANK. This I feel is a critical piece in the success of any blogger. First and foremost you need to attract an audience and find a venue where those with similar interests will follow. For Megan that was easy because when you are a teenager in a school, the Nexus is the school and your audience is your cohort/peers. She said by 11^th grade she had had over 3000 people following her. O’Baoill makes a great point with regards to getting started and being followed in the blogging world. As it becomes more and more popular and many educated people in particular fields already have an audience, trying to break thru the labyrinth is not as easy. He insists that you must have a good reputation and your work will be tested. This should be a given but for some bloggers, there has been work copied from non credible sources and disseminated as truth. A blogger who is reputable, such as education expert, Diane Ravitch is considered a highly trusted, well respected and fairly compensated blogger.

As O’Baoill explains, public spheres, social networks and blogging in the form of a town hall meeting has caused some unrest in communistic and toleration nations. However it is understandable considering the temperament of a closed minded nation. In the United States, your access to any information is at a stroke of a key, in other countries there are far more restrictions. To some degree I do not blame some cultures for want to suppress parts of what our society brings to the table. Some of what goes on in our nation is embarrassing and needs to be curtailed. Many other cultures do not want to expose their citizens to the insanity we have to offer. For God’s sake, I don’t want my family exposed to some of it either, but the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave’ has taken democracy to a whole new level and the Net has just helped it get their even quicker. While I am on this kick, my next blog should feature Alexis deTocqueville’s, Democracy in America. After reading that, we can’t say a French Philosopher was wrong about our own demise.. that blog spot will be for another day.

 References:

 ^{O'Baoill, A. Weblogs and the Public Sphere . Retrieved from http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/weblogs_and_the_public_sphere.html}

Habermas, J. (1997). Institutions of the public sphere. In C. Newbold (Ed.), Approaches to Media: a Reader (pp. 235-244). London: Arnold.

 

Teaching media literacy in schools during the 21st century digital age

I wish to address the issue of teaching media literacy in the schools. This has proven to be a problem for various reasons. First, while educators understand that we are now in the 21st century and that the digital age will only continue to expand, there has resistance on the part of teachers to allow the use of technology in the learning environment. Even though there has been much talk about “integrating technology into the classroom,” how many teachers have actually embraced this? Some have and many from an older generation, like it or not, have not. This is likely due to their own feeling of being uncomfortable with these tools since they themselves did not grow up with them and use them when they were in school. Resistance has also stemmed from the fact that teachers are fearful of how students will use their hand-held devices, i.e., cheating on tests and perhaps taking unflattering pictures in the classroom that wind up on social media sites such as Facebook. Second, many educators feel that students know more than they do and therefore there is no need to teach them. After all, “the kids are more familiar with these new technologies and can teach us,” right? Wrong. As Jenkins states, “Some defenders of the new digital cultures have acted as though youth can simply acquire these skills on their own without adult intervention or supervision (p. 12). However, as Jenkins points out, children may know more about digital media than many adults, they need to be instructed on how to use this new technology appropriately. That needs to be taught. Children need to become knowledgeable about separating fact from fiction, what Jenkins calls the “issue of transparency.” What is extremely crucial are the teaching children about the ethical issues surrounding social media. How does what you write on social media impact others? Students need to think about the ethical choices they make when using social media. Lastly, schools need to have an understanding of their students accessibility to not only the skills needed to participate in the digital world appropriately, but that students have access to the hardware to do so. In school districts that are considered “high need,” i.e., large percentages of students in the lower socio-economic ranks may not have access to technology.

Schools are becoming more in tune with these issues, but at a slow pace. Last year, New Jersey became the first state in the nation to pass a law requiring students in grades six through eight to take a class that will teach the appropriate use of various social media sites. Students will learn about cyberbullying, cyber safety and ethics. This is a start but so much more needs to be done.


Jenkins, H. (2006). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Retrieved from http://www.macfound.org/media/article_pdfs/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF

"People in Motion"

Even with the monumental advancements in technology in the late 20^th century, we may have made it easier to communicate via fax and cordless phone, but never did we comprehend the advancements in the next two decades. The wireless phone and fax progressed into analog and then digital cell phones but with limited access points or towers. The turn of the century had brought about lavish forms of communication…or so we thought. For the longest time we were tied to a pc set on a desk to reach other parts of the world, or we were tied to a land line telephone. Although we communicated with everyone around the globe, we still had hurdles such as premium charges or limited internet users in some parts of the world. … we then became ‘people in motion’…, but not to the degree we are today.

We no longer are identified by our home phone number when we call somewhere and if we answer the home phone we may not be home, for all anyone knows we could be in Hong Kong, because of technology and call forwarding.  It is amazing that our time travel and communication has now taken on a new form. In just the last decade alone, people are able to become a part of a participatory culture all through the means of innovations. If you are sick and can’t make it to the office, you could conference call or Skype in. You could Skype from your cell phone and it doesn’t have to be from a PC on a desk. Not for nothing, I was sitting in a College Council meeting a couple of months ago and one of the delegates started talking to his phone…he was dictating a message back to a voice mail he had received. I sat there is sheer amazement of the opportunities and continued connections that technology has given us.  People have been in motion for the last few years and only time has made it easier and easier. As Varnelis describes the transformation of network culture in the conclusion of his work, in part and parcel …. "one day we realize we can read our newspaper on line, the next day we decide we do not want the paper edition anymore and then all of a sudden we can bookmark the digital version to our mobile device, and “vhola” there you have, your favorite newspaper in motion with you wherever you go (p.145)." 

However, it really doesn’t matter what mode you ask for, it is available for people to be uninhibited and to be able to participate no matter of past stereotypes: race, gender, age, socio-economic statuses….people who are a part of the gaming, social media and globalized corporate world, no longer care what you look like, what sex you are or if you are poor or rich, they care about your contribution to their cause or community and create virtual space to be a part and socially participate to the level you feel comfortable. It could be via video, audio , cell, ipod, or from your watch or cell phone.

Teaching an on line course is no longer sitting at a table or desk with a computer now we can be at the beach monitoring or teaching the class.  Our own revolutions have been giving us the abilities to share our knowledge and information with anywhere at anytime. We are no longer hindered by having to be in certain location. In the first stages of cell phones and mobilizing our communication, we were able to leave the house and not necessarily be home, but in the beginning we had to search for service or look for tower access and in some cases in the beginning of ‘people in motion’ we had to stand on a red dot in the airport to make a phone call from that access point.

As our technology has progressed our ability to communicate has advanced we can do it from anywhere at anytime. We do not have to be home tied to a monitor or stand on a dot, we can now participate with society with different people or communities on the move.  We are not tethered to any restrictions. I could be dictating this right now while I am waiting on line at the grocery store or I could Skype Denise and discuss her thoughts on my blog ideas.  Perhaps I could call or text my brother in Mexico and get his perspective from being away from the family for the last 2 decades.

I am a Realtor and can do my work from the road anywhere. I have been in other countries and my clients do not need to know where I am or what I am doing.

Participatory culture is here and I feel that it has its benefits as well as it comes with negatives.  The benefits are the obvious, time nor space can hinder deadlines and progress however my concern is that there is a total need of instant gratification. In my career my clients expect 24 hour service and unfortunately I have allowed it to be that way and it makes me feel guilty if on a Sunday morning at 730am my clients are calling and I am not responding.  After all I am up, but then I ask myself ‘do I really have to be up and responding to them, just because this new communication has changed what is acceptable and expected?’

Solace and the need for privacy have become near impossible. We willingly post our lives on the social media networks as a matter of course. “The ideas of locks on diaries today seem almost preposterous as individuals, especially teenagers, discuss their most intimate, and illicit, details online (Varnelis, 2012, p.153)”  It has become a part of mainstream life and we take it for granted as part of the fabric of life. Unless we make efforts to get off the "grid" we are part of the participatory culture. Even if we do that we are still tracked with the multitude of surveillance cameras, Easy Pass, GPS and more. As Varnelis explains, we have created a small world for ourselves while losing a sense of yourself. “Participatory culture also underscores the degree to which privacy Is no longer important in this culture (Varnelis, 2012, 154).”  And as the saying goes,” you can run but you can't hide." Our evolution to a participatory society has its benefits, but are we really thinking about the unintended consequences? We have no choice I think. The future is here.

 

Varnelis, K (2012) Neworked Publics. Eds. MIT Press Books.