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'''Notes on Jan Fernback's The Individual within the Collective''' | '''Notes on Jan Fernback's''' '''''Virtual culture: identity and communication in cybersociety – <span style="font-size:8pt">chapt II</span> The Individual within the Collective''''' | ||
<div style="column-count:2;-moz-column-count:2;-webkit-column-count:2"> | <div style="column-count:2;-moz-column-count:2;-webkit-column-count:2"> | ||
#Central questions: | #'''Central questions:''' | ||
#* How is collectivity in cyberspace jusxtaposed against individuality? | #* How is collectivity in cyberspace jusxtaposed against individuality? | ||
#* How is cyberspace used as a public space and what does this mean for the collectivity? | #* How is cyberspace used as a public space and what does this mean for the collectivity? | ||
#* How are anarchy and dissent dealt with among the collectivity of computer-mediated communication (CMC) users? | #* How are anarchy and dissent dealt with among the collectivity of computer-mediated communication (CMC) users? | ||
# | #'''On (cyber)space:''' | ||
#* ''[...] space is not matter, but a set of culturally bound relations as well as an empirical construction.'' '''''Urry (1985)''''' | #* ''[...] space is not matter, but a set of culturally bound relations as well as an empirical construction.'' '''''Urry (1985)''''' | ||
#* The development of electronic communication technologies has abrogated space and time such that we live in a boundless "global village" with "no sense of place". (~McLucah & Meyrowitz) | #* The development of electronic communication technologies has abrogated space and time such that we live in a boundless "global village" with "no sense of place". (~McLucah & Meyrowitz) | ||
#: -> widespread use of CMC made re-examination of our concept of space necessary. | #: -> widespread use of CMC made re-examination of our concept of space necessary. | ||
#* Cyberspace is popular culture: a pixelated mirror of everyday life and all it's 'features' | #* Cyberspace is popular culture: a pixelated mirror of everyday life and all it's 'features' | ||
# | #'''Users as consumers:''' | ||
#* Our participation in public life has been reduced to our media consumption | #* Our participation in public life has been reduced to our media consumption | ||
#* Television as the main tool for mediaconsumption (passive consumption) | #* Television as the main tool for mediaconsumption (passive consumption) | ||
# Openness of cyberspace: | #'''Openness of cyberspace:''' | ||
#* Only rules are social propriety and "netiquette" | |||
#: -> Flaming and virtual harassment ("dark side of CMC") | #: -> Flaming and virtual harassment ("dark side of CMC") | ||
#* Nature and limits of public space ~ seventeeth-century coffee houses of Britain/salons Paris/... | #* Nature and limits of public space ~ seventeeth-century coffee houses of Britain/salons Paris/... | ||
#* Cyberspace offers a surrogate for an authentic socially democratic public realm that in the 'real' world exists nowhere | #* Cyberspace offers a surrogate for an authentic socially democratic public realm that in the 'real' world exists nowhere | ||
#* Cyberspace is both public and private | #* Cyberspace is both public and private | ||
# The term 'community': | #'''The term 'community':''' | ||
#* Both material and symbolic dimensions | #* Both material and symbolic dimensions | ||
#* Notion of community us dynamic and evolves as society evolves | #* Notion of community us dynamic and evolves as society evolves | ||
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#* '''Ideologically''' cyberspace communities offer a platform for free speech, individualism, equality and open access | #* '''Ideologically''' cyberspace communities offer a platform for free speech, individualism, equality and open access | ||
#* Volatility of virtual 'membership' to communities: log on, log off | #* Volatility of virtual 'membership' to communities: log on, log off | ||
# Collective versus individual | #'''Collective versus individual''' | ||
#* Some negative viewpoints: | #* Some negative viewpoints: | ||
#: '''Sennet''': community as a form of ''destructive gemeinschaft'', where emotional relations between people take precedence over collective action. | #: '''Sennet''': community as a form of ''destructive gemeinschaft'', where emotional relations between people take precedence over collective action. | ||
Line 38: | Line 38: | ||
#:: -> communities of interest as aggregations of self-interested, self-seeking individuals who join together to augment individual good: communities degenerate into lifestyle enclaves | #:: -> communities of interest as aggregations of self-interested, self-seeking individuals who join together to augment individual good: communities degenerate into lifestyle enclaves | ||
#:: -> the paradox of meaning in community | #:: -> the paradox of meaning in community | ||
#''''Threats' to virtual communities''' | |||
#* Things like copyright infringement, censorship, limited access only for 'technological elite' counteract with the ideals of openness (~ read: virtual communities) | |||
#* CDA: appliance of censorship on the internet -> legal disputes regarding freedom of speech/expression | |||
#* Providers acting as 'publishers/editors' of fora hosted on their servers. In some cases (nudity, sexuality) censorship approved by law. | |||
#* Behavior that is not conform the 'netiquette' can ruin the whole CMC environment for all (flame wars, propaganda, spam) -> censorship | |||
#* Hacker ethic: a countercultural activity against privatisation of the CMC collective and for democratization of cyberspace. | |||
#: -> unique position within online communities: both rebels and protectors of civil liberties and democratic right to openness and freedom |
Latest revision as of 13:42, 24 October 2010
Notes on Jan Fernback's Virtual culture: identity and communication in cybersociety – chapt II The Individual within the Collective
- Central questions:
- How is collectivity in cyberspace jusxtaposed against individuality?
- How is cyberspace used as a public space and what does this mean for the collectivity?
- How are anarchy and dissent dealt with among the collectivity of computer-mediated communication (CMC) users?
- On (cyber)space:
- [...] space is not matter, but a set of culturally bound relations as well as an empirical construction. Urry (1985)
- The development of electronic communication technologies has abrogated space and time such that we live in a boundless "global village" with "no sense of place". (~McLucah & Meyrowitz)
- -> widespread use of CMC made re-examination of our concept of space necessary.
- Cyberspace is popular culture: a pixelated mirror of everyday life and all it's 'features'
- Users as consumers:
- Our participation in public life has been reduced to our media consumption
- Television as the main tool for mediaconsumption (passive consumption)
- Openness of cyberspace:
- Only rules are social propriety and "netiquette"
- -> Flaming and virtual harassment ("dark side of CMC")
- Nature and limits of public space ~ seventeeth-century coffee houses of Britain/salons Paris/...
- Cyberspace offers a surrogate for an authentic socially democratic public realm that in the 'real' world exists nowhere
- Cyberspace is both public and private
- The term 'community':
- Both material and symbolic dimensions
- Notion of community us dynamic and evolves as society evolves
- Rheingold (1993): Virtual communities as social aggregations that emerge when people carry on discussions
- - long enough
- - with sufficient feeling
- - to form personal relationships
- Ideologically cyberspace communities offer a platform for free speech, individualism, equality and open access
- Volatility of virtual 'membership' to communities: log on, log off
- Collective versus individual
- Some negative viewpoints:
- Sennet: community as a form of destructive gemeinschaft, where emotional relations between people take precedence over collective action.
- Dewey: absence of individuality that can operate within the community. The individual's full potential cannot be realized without the context of the community to guide it.
- Etzioni, Tipton, Bellah a.o.: individuals can subvert hyper-individualistic, selfish tendencies in favor of realizing the benefits acting responsably within a moralistic, transcendent order.
- Jones: no one medium/technology has been able to provide crucial elements as empowerment, political action, moral, social order..., in combination.
- -> communities of interest as aggregations of self-interested, self-seeking individuals who join together to augment individual good: communities degenerate into lifestyle enclaves
- -> the paradox of meaning in community
- 'Threats' to virtual communities
- Things like copyright infringement, censorship, limited access only for 'technological elite' counteract with the ideals of openness (~ read: virtual communities)
- CDA: appliance of censorship on the internet -> legal disputes regarding freedom of speech/expression
- Providers acting as 'publishers/editors' of fora hosted on their servers. In some cases (nudity, sexuality) censorship approved by law.
- Behavior that is not conform the 'netiquette' can ruin the whole CMC environment for all (flame wars, propaganda, spam) -> censorship
- Hacker ethic: a countercultural activity against privatisation of the CMC collective and for democratization of cyberspace.
- -> unique position within online communities: both rebels and protectors of civil liberties and democratic right to openness and freedom