User:Marie Wocher/Proposal Draft

Tentative Title

The Web cheated on me

General Introduction

The world is highly determined by New Media. I am interested in the way users of the Web act in popular structures, such as Wikipedia, Facebook and Google. Throughout my time at PZI I want to investigate how the use of the Web has an impact on our thinking and behavior. I am interested in the limits of Knowledge on the Web. What questions and feelings can be covered by web structures and what can not be covered. Are we well informed by the web? what questions can not be answered by Google and what Knowledge is not shared. Is there need for and how do people deal with it.

For my part, I grew up to believe that the web knows everything. I believed that the web would help me in finding answers to all questions I have. But I start realizing that the knowledge on the Web is very limited and I don't get my questions answered which leads to disappointment. I would like to find out where this promise, that the Web knows everything, has its origin and from whom I adapted this belief. By means of interviews and Cultural Probes I want to investigate if other people feel the same disappointment. The interviews should cover several generations because I suspect that different generations believe in the Web for various reasons. The outcome of my Graduation project will be a Visual Essay that clarifies my research. I want to generate new knowledge by reorganizing information. In my work I always try to configure information in a different way to make my position clear.

Relation to previous practice

How does your research connect to previous projects you have done? Remember to briefly explain or describe related projects as the external is not familiar with your work.

Relation to a larger context

Meaning practices or ideas that go beyond the scope of your personal work. Write briefly about other projects or theoretical material which share an affinity with your project. For example, if you are researching urban interventions, you might talk about Situationist approaches to psychogeography, urban tactical media and activist strategies of reclaiming the streets. Or, if you want to explore the way data is tracked, you might touch upon the politics of data mining by referencing concerns laid out by the Electronic Frontier or highlight theoretical questions raised by Wendy Chun or others. (Keep in mind that we are *not* expecting well formulated conclusions or persuasive arguments in the proposal phase. At this juncture, it's simply about showing an awareness of a broader context, which you will later build upon as your research progresses.)

Practical steps

Describe how you will go about conducting your research through reading, writing and practice. In other words, through a combination of these approaches, you will explore questions or interests you have laid out in your general introduction. In this section you can help us understand how your project will come together on a practical level and talk about possible outcome(s). Of course, the outcome(s) may change as your research evolves, but it's important to have some idea of how your project might come together as a whole.

References

A list of references (Remember that dictionaries, encyclopedias and wikipedia are not references to be listed. These are starting points which should lead to more substantial texts and practices.) As with your previous essays, the references need to be formatted according to the Harvard method.) See: http://pzwart3.wdka.hro.nl/wiki/A_Guide_to_Essay_Writing#The_Harvard_System_of_referencing

Feel free to include any visual material to substantiate, illustrate or elucidate your proposal. For example use images to reference your work or that of others.