KCB206 Blog

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Working In, With and Around the Crowd

During his lecture on “Minds for Sale”, Zittrain raises a number of potential issues arising from the use of new media as a means of acquiring cheap labour. The primary way in which new media is used as a labour tool is through crowd sourcing, explained in the video below.

While it carries with it the potential for misuse (as highlighted by Zittrain), crowd sourcing offers many opportunities to individuals as a way of reshaping the traditional power relationships associated with work and labour, and gives consumers the power to define “the products or enhancements” that meet their needs (Boutin 2006).

One such example is t-shirt company Threadless, who allow users to submit designs online to their site. These designs are then voted on, and the most popular ones are put into production. Crowd sourcing benefits the three primary stakeholders in the business; the company only produces clothing it knows will be popular; the customers are given a wider range of choices, and the designers are given the opportunity to have their work “seen and worn in public” (as well as receiving $2000) (Boutin 2006).

An example of a Threadless design.

Crowd sourcing has even been adopted as a creative endeavour. Life In A Day is an experimental documentary about a “single day on earth” that is comprised of footage uploaded to YouTube by users wishing to have their lives featured in the film (Google 2011).

Crowd sourcing shows the potential that new media has to radically alter the way in which we work, and gives us the potential to have a greater impact on the products we consume.

References

Boutin, P. 2006. "Crowdsourcing: Consumers as Creators." Accessed April 28, 2011. http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jul2006/id20060713_755844.htm

Google. 2011. "Life in a Day." Accessed April 28, 2011. http://www.google.com/landing/youtube/lifeinaday/

Zittrain, J. 2009. "Jonathan Zittrain on 'Mind's For Sale'." Accessed April 28, 2011. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/

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New Media, Medicine & Misdiagnosis

The “shift in power” between medical professionals and patients that is enabled through new media was first discussed in this weeks lecture (Leong 2011), and it is an idea that carries a number of potential difficulties. The most obvious example of this shift is in the sheer volume of medical information that is now available to the layperson.

There is a veritable “avalanche” (Harris et al 2008, 1) of medical information that is freely accessible through the internet. Self-diagnosis is now only a few clicks away. As Keating notes, there are many people who “rely upon Google as an efficient and cheap way to answer their health questions” (2011).

The main issue that arises out of this is that the quality of the information can “range from wholly accurate and reliable to grossly misleading and even dangerous” (Gibson and Sutherland 2008, 56). Obviously the final onus is on the individual to ensure that the information they gather is reliable, but medical professionals do have a responsibility to ensure the information available online is as accurate and accessible as possible.

The charitable organization, Cancer Research UK, has recently done just that. They have vowed to “tidy up” Wikipedia and “increase (the) accuracy and clarity” of cancer-related articles on the site (BBC 2011). In January of this year, Wikipedia had “more than 3.5m page views for cancer-related content” (BBC 2011), and is clearly a very popular location for individuals to learn more about the disease.

If more medical organisations, can follow in the footsteps of the Cancer Council UK, the internet (and related media) could become an even more useful and empowering tool to promote health.

References

Gibson, Elaine and Jan Sutherland. 2008. “To Filter or Not to Filter: Legal and Ethical Aspects of Librarians’ Ude of Internet Filtering Techniques.” In  Mediating Health information: The Go-Betweens in a Changing Socio-Technical Landscape, edited by Roma Harris, Nadine Wathen and Sally Wyatt, 56-77. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Accessed April 10, 2011. http://www.qut.eblib.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=435772&userid=bsEDudeaSVWLxSwo838NAg%3d%3d&tstamp=1302428426id=F4BB123DB3F1170A4EDFD3CC095A57D24037585A

Harris, Roma, Nadine Wathen and Sally Wyatt. 2008. “The Go-Betweens: Health, Technology and Info(r)mediation.” In Mediating Health information: The Go-Betweens in a Changing Socio-Technical Landscape, edited by Roma Harris, Nadine Wathen and Sally Wyatt, 1- 12. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Accessed April 10, 2011. http://www.qut.eblib.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=435772&userid=bsEDudeaSVWLxSwo838NAg%3d%3d&tstamp=1302428426id=F4BB123DB3F1170A4EDFD3CC095A57D24037585A

Keating, Mia. 2011. “Who Answered Our Questions Before Google?” Mia Keating – The New Media Blog, April 10. Accessed April 10, 2011. http://miakeating.tumblr.com/

Leong, Susan. 2011. “KCB206 New Media: Internet, Self and Beyond: Week 6 Lecture Notes.” Accessed April 10, 2011. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/.            

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The Mediaopolis

Deuze argues that due to our “continuous exposure to, use of and immersion in media” we have become a society that lives in media, rather than with it (2011, 137). We are a “mediapolis”, a place where media has become fundamental to the basic experiences and expressions of ordinary life (Inkinen, Jong, Schuilenburg and Silverstone in Deuze 2011, 137), and is therefore an integral tool in constructing our reality (Deuze 2011, 140). And with so many of our daily interactions (work, entertainment, socialisation etc), occurring through (and relying on) media it is a concept that is difficult to disprove.

A Second Life user with her online avatar

One of the most obvious examples of the convergence of “real” and “virtual” life is the program Second Life, which allows users to construct an alternate identity and interact within a fully virtual world. In 2007, there were reports of Belgian police investigating an alleged rape that took place in this virtual world (Lynn 2007). While nothing ever came of the investigation, it does exemplify some of the difficulties facing a society that is entirely mediated, primarily that there is a huge chance for misuse or abuse.

The mediapolis is a confronting idea, and there are many worrying aspects of a life lived in media. Chloe Hume identifies one of the key concerns of this new social landscape, which is our privacy (2011). The amount of information individuals share online is immense, and many do not consider “who has access” to it (Hume 2011).

This is not to say that the mediapolis is an inherently negative construct, merely that as a society we must operate responsibly within it. Jenkins sees a life in media to be filled with opportunities for self-expression and cultural evolution (2006), but in order to reach such heights we must understand what is expected of us in a mediated reality.

  References

Deuze, Mark. 2011. Media, Culture& Society.  Accessed April 4, 2011. http://mcs.sagepub.com/content/33/1/137

Hume, Chloe. 2011. New Media: Internet, Self and Beyond. Accessed April 4, 2011. http://chume206.tumblr.com/

Jenkins, Henry. 2006. Convergence Culture: Were Old and New Media Collide. Accessed April 4, 2011. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=RlRVNikT06YC&lpg=PA244&dq=g oogle%20books%20convergence%20culture&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f= false

Lynn, Regina. 2007. Virtual Rape Is Traumatic, but is it a Crime? Accessed April 4, 2011. http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/sexdrive/2007/0 5/sexdrive_0504

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The Political Power of Social Media

Since the beginning of this year there has been enormous amounts of civil unrest across North Africa and the Middle East (Howard 2011). Citizens of various nations have been taking to the streets and demanding sweeping reform. Social media has played a huge role in these political upheavals, being used to organize, coordinate and unify the people (Howard 2011).

The Egyptian revolution shows the important political function that social media can serve. The catalyst for the Egyptian protests was the brutal death of a young man, Khaled Said, who posted a video of police receiving payments from drug dealers (Cole 2011).

Said was beaten to death by police for broadcasting this footage, and outrage over the incident sparked the creation of a Facebook page that acted as a rallying point for protesters. It was this page that first called for Egyptians to protest in late January, and it was these protests that eventually spread across the nation and ousted the corrupt president, Hosni Mubarak (Cole 2011).

Protesters holding a sign of Khaled Said (Shukrallah 2011).

Social media not only helped organise and unify the people of Egypt, but also broadcast what was happening across the world. The Egyptian government was so concerned that they began blocking access to social media sites (Galperin 2011).

This raises the issue of Internet censorship, which Rory Zentilin discusses in his latest post. Rory states, and I agree, that online censorship should be heavily scrutinized in cases such as Egypt, where it is used to deny the population their right to information. The fear with which some authoritarian governments treat social media shows the immense political power that it holds.

References

Cole, M. and Ross, B. 2011. Egypt: The Face That Launched A Revolution. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/egypt-face-launched- revolution/story?id=12841488&page=1 (accessed March 26, 2011).

Galperin, E. 2011. Internet Security Savvy is Critical as Egyptian Government Blocks Websites. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/01/egypt-blocks- websites-arrests-bloggers-and (accessed March 26, 2011).

Howard, P. 2011. The Cascading Effect of the Arab Spring. http://www.miller- mccune.com/politics/the-cascading-effects-of-the-arab-spring-28575/ (accessed March 26, 2011).

Shukrallah, S. 2011. Egypt Revolution Youth Form National Coalition. http://sfbayview.com/2011/egypt-revolution-youth-form-national- coalition/ (accessed March 26, 2011).

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Endless Entertainment

New media offers huge opportunities to people trying to become a part of the entertainment industry. Sites like YouTube eliminate the scarcity of traditional entertainment delivery methods (e.g. the limited timeslots/channels of network TV), allowing a near-limitless volume of content to exist.

Without this scarcity, people now have the opportunity to broadcast content they have created to a (potentially) huge audience. Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez utilised new media to reach an audience of almost 6.5 million viewers with his YouTube video Panic Attack! (Zap 2009).

Panic Attack! YouTube Link

Alvarez made this video for $300, and four days after he uploaded it he had a $30 million movie deal with Sam Raimi’s (the director of the first 3 Spiderman films) production company.

While this is certainly an anomalous case, it does show that new media affords a unique opportunity for “amateur” entertainers to create content that is watched by millions. New media democratizes the creation and exhibition of entertainment content, but this does come at a price.

A significant issue facing new media with regards to entertainment is the sheer volume of content that exists. The lack of scarcity that allows such a wealth of content to exist simultaneously creates even more competition for viewer’s attention. The most successful new media entertainers will not only have to create compelling content, but also find a way to ensure that said content can find an audience.

  REFERENCES

Zap, C. 2009. From Uruguay to Hollywood: Watch the Video.             http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/buzzlog-uruguay-to-hollywood.html             (accessed March 20, 2011).

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Privacy in Social Networks

What feels like an intimate space can be under the watchful electronic gaze of a large unknown audience – Pearson, 2009.

Social networking sites encourage users to construct as wide a friendship network as possible. Facebook urges the use of its “People You May Know” feature to allow users to “friend” those with whom they may have only a passing commonality. This can transform a seemingly private online space into something much more public.

The “Glass Bedroom” metaphor is an apt one, with users “performing” with the expectation that what they have said or done will not reach beyond their intended audience. But due to the widening of friendship groups that social media encourages, such performances can very easily be broadcast to an entirely new audience.

A very recent example are the blogs Ignorant and Online (http://ignorantandonline.tumblr.com/) and Karma Japan (http://karmajapan.tumblr.com/), established to name and shame Facebook and Twitter users making insensitive and offensive comments regarding the tsunami in Japan. The site consists of screen grabs (submitted anonymously) of individuals celebrating the tsunami as “karma” for the attack on Pearl Harbour, among other things. The names and pictures of the people who made these comments are not edited out.

It’s safe to assume that users on the fringe of the speakers friendship group are making these submissions, as it is this group that is less likely to care if they cause the speaker embarrassment or humiliation. With these sites as an example, it seems that as your social network widens, your online privacy erodes.

  References

Pearson, E. 2009. All the World Wide Web’s a stage: The performance of identity in online social networks.  First Monday, Volume 14, Number 3 - 2 March 2009 http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2162/2127.