Mar 2nd 10
Posted by justin in CCR760
Milioni, Dimitra. “Probing the Online Counterpublic Sphere: The Case of Indymedia Athens.” Media Culture Society 32 3 (2009). Print.
Arguing against Habermas’ depiction of the online public sphere as a site of ever-increasing fragmentation and segmentation (2006), but with Habermas’ normative ideal of the public sphere in The Structural Transformation, Milioni claims that the communalization of networked digital spaces actually does counterbalance the disintegration of a whole online public sphere by challenging power constellations. To achieve this challenge, Milioni correlates Habermas’ three dimensions of the public sphere – the structural, the representational, and the interactional – with “major modifications” that include 1) the multiplicity and diversity of publics (structural) ; 2) the consideration of processes of identity formation and collective action (representational) and; 3) the terms under which deliberation is carried out (interactional).
According to Milioni, the interactional dimension of the public sphere currently assumes a rational-critical character and relies on the force of a “best argument” based in oftentimes alien forms of speech (due to a rhetor’s socioeconomic background). As a revision, the author references Hauser and Benoit-Barne’s 2002 work that argues for shift from procedural and philosophical reasoning model to one based on equality and practical reasoning to achieve socioeconomically equitable deliberation that accepts vernacular rhetoric. Utilizing the tri-fold articulation of the ideal Habermasian public sphere, Milioni considered how the Independent Media Center in Athens GA.’s members:
- Participated in a vernacular critica-rational, dialogical debate in the forums
- Formed a collective identity for representational purposes
- Were part of a broader network of social movements
- Were shaped by the concept of the public in an alternative, non mass-media environment.
After providing extensive methodological direction for collecting data in CMC spaces – including features of communicative activity and user role differentiations – Milioni argues that Indymedia performs two functions: an exemplary function that is shaped by the network’s direct structural, normative and ethical opposition to mainstream media and a competitive function provides an alternative to mainstream mass-media. She also notes that CMC on Indymedia Athens’ website was characterized by critical-rational debate because of an editorial policy that valued politicized and argumentative discourse as well as tightly controlled moderation practices.
Mar 2nd 10
Posted by justin in CCR760
Kobayashi, Tetsuro, Ken’ichi Ikeda, and Miyata Kakuko. “Social Capital Online: Collective Use of the Internet and Reciprocity as Lubricants of Democracy.” Information, Communication, and Society 9 5 (2006): 582-611. Print.
In this article Kobayashi, Ikeda, and Kakuko argue that the internet promotes social capital in that trust and reciprocity are cultivated through participation in online communities. The authors also point out that the accumulation of social capital vis-à-vis online communities is often a good indicator for political engagement in rational civic discourse over the internet. The author even make the claim that this participation in rational civic discourse over the internet often translates into an increased political presence in RL and a heightened sense of democratic values.
Recapping Coleman and Putnam’s seminal study on social capital, Kobayashi, Ikeda, and Kakuko note that social networks with a collective set of social norms usually lead individuals participating in those networks to the “fruits of mutual cooperation” or the mutual benefits that are often the result of a critical-rational collective act of problem-solving. Further, if the group is somewhat heterogeneous, this civic debate played out over various CMC acts as a “school of democracy” that engenders a heightened sense of “political efficacy and generalized trust” (584). The authors also recognize that “generalized reciprocity” or karmic yoga is usually practiced by individuals participating in online social communities. Because of the nature of CMC (static, often text-driven), the visibility of reciprocal communications encourages similar karmic responses in “lurkers” or other non-forum types.
The authors also recap the two sides of the debate over the internet as a medium that encourages democratic political values by noting how the creation of heterogeneous (optimistically) and homogeneous (pessimistically) spaces either confirms of negates the internet as a part of the Habermasian public sphere.
Mar 2nd 10
Posted by justin in CCR760
DeVoss, Danielle Nicole, and James E. Porter. “Why Napster Matters to Writing: Filesharing as a New Ethic of Digital Delivery.” Computers and Composition 23 2 (2006): 178-210. Print.
DeVoss and Porter push against traditional disciplinary understandings of authorship and ownership in this essay. Specifically, the authors argue that p2p file sharing in general – and Napster in particular – are representative of a new “digital ethic’ that understands file distribution and creation in a fundamentally different way from conventional expectations that have governed print-based documents. Because this new file sharing ethic has permeated our student’s lives, composition teachers have an obligation to understand how the process of sharing influences how their students come to the rhetorical situation and to encourage students to utilize the “fair use” clause to appropriate pieces of culture for academic purposes. As Napster is fundamentally a technology that transformed conventional rhetorical conceptions of delivery – by positing that writing is actually an interweaving of numerous forms of digital media for distribution across networked environments for a diverse group of audiences – composition teachers should also recognize that these new digital media texts should prompt composition teachers to revisit print-based notions of intellectual property and copyright; further, the Napster case should push teachers to reconsider their understanding of digital delivery, plagiarism, and broader digital composition pedagogies to better understand “value” and the reason why people want to compose writing for/on the internet.
Interestingly, DeVoss and Porter recognize that social capital is created in these digital filesharing spaces by recognizing the source of the information – be that an artist, or a hacking/cracking group (186-7). The authors also register their own anxieties about authorship and attribution in file sharing environments because, ultimately the naming of files and generation of metadata related to those files is in the hands of the uploader. On a finishing note, the authors also provide a really nice articulation of the corporatization of the internet so that free-market, post-industrial capitalism and the knowledge economy are provided secure spaces to expand and command.
Mar 2nd 10
Posted by justin in CCR760
Best, Samuel and Brian Krueger. “Online Interactions and Social Capital: Distinguishing between New and Existing Ties.” Social Science Computer Review 24 (2006): 395-410. Print.
This is an empirical study conducted by sociologists Samuel J. Best and Brian S. Krueger that measures the degree of online only interactions a group of people have with other people. To do this, the authors use s probability survey of U.S. residents. According to the authors, they find that the “level of online interaction with people met on the Internet positively relates to common indicators of social capital, such as generalized trust” (395).
The authors define social capital as the result of residual engagement of individuals in social settings – be they formal organizations, religious groups, or online communities. The authors make the argument that social engagement with other individuals over the internet is characterized by: 1) a shared sense of collective identity; 2) closed communities facilitating effective social norms; and 3) the expansion of social networks that enable users to join otherwise inaccessible communities in the meatworld (397). Recapping Granovetter (1973) the authors note that trust and reciprocity is widened over networks; however, stronger ties prevent further expansion of social networks due to the independence of strong social circles.
After studying the online interactions (CMC) of a large group of individuals, the authors come to the conclusion that indicators of social capital positively relate to the level of interaction with people met on the internet – or, in other words, that social capital is accrued through online interaction with individuals who have never met f2f.
Definitions:
- Social Capital – “a multifaceted concept comprising elements of generalized trust, reciprocity, and integrity” (401).
Feb 28th 10
Posted by justin in CCR760
Shirky, Clay. “File-Sharing Goes Social.” Clay Shirky’s Writings About the Internet.2/15/2010 (2003). <http://www.shirky.com/writings/file-sharing_social.html>.
Shirky highlights the RIAA’s “Crush the Connectors” strategy in this article. Specifically Shirky notes how the disintegration of highly networked, multiply linked node systems via RIAA action will work to deter file sharing among groups; however, he also recognizes that the nature of networks and the desire to get music will far outpace the efforts of legal action.
After highlighting the weaknesses like the “internal horizon” in distributed p2p networks like KaZaa and Gnutella, Shirky claims that the next development in file sharing technologies will have “real membranes” that are social as well as technological. As this article was written before the advent of bittorrent, Shirky describes a proto-bittorrent system characterized by controlled membership and encrypted file transfer that is invite-only, socially constituted and communally produced. Shirky, not anticipating the transnationalization of private, invite-only bittorrent communities claims that file sharing will likely take the model of small reputation based communities of 6 to 36 members.
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