FUTURE GAZE

Crab trail: Source: redbubble.com

So, where to from here?  It seems pretty certain that user-led activity is set to dominate the near future.

Rachel Botsman champions the power of collaboration and sharing through network technologies.  She speaks and writes on the many solutions to social issues that are emerging around the world - including Ushahidi - an open source software organisation dedicated to "lowering the barriers so that people can tell their stories."

Most of us know that Google and Facebook in particular, gather information on us.  Advertisements and even searches are personalised.  In this TEDtalk, online organiser Eli Pariser describes the "filter bubble" you may find yourself in, after Google's decision to opt everyone in to 'personalisation':

This cautionary message should not be understated, as industry analyst Jeremiah Owyang predicts "more and more targeted and sophisticated marketing" from the big two - Google and Facebook(Interview on the future of the Internet).

Some statistics tell us that people are increasingly identifying or 'liking' brands, but do not want to be 'listened' in on by advertisers when they are using social media.

"According to Altimeter, 42% of businesses in the US are prioritising Social Media Listening in 2013 – putting real focus on how they sift through and learn from the conversations in social media. But a recent study of US consumers found that 51% of them do not want brands to be listening to what they say online. As a greater emphasis is placed on social media listening and big data, the tensions with consumer privacy will also rise" (from an article in Business 2 Community 2013).

Fifty one percent may object to brands, but others are embracing brands and meeting them head on in companies (?) online communities (?) such as Kred and Klout that walk a blurry line between empowered consumer and rewards customer.
The extinction of privacy looms at the bottom of this social tech evolution, revolution and I really value mine.  The idea that my Google search is different to another's is depressing and Jeremiah Owyang's affirmative answer to the question of whether or not Google may attempt to engineer serendipity, chilling.
This grouchy crab is not very social as a rule - not even answering the cobwebbed landline unless absolutely necessary.  So, I must bring up the spectacle of the Google spectacles.  Hey, it's late and I did warn at the start that there would be crusty humour.
I love the look of Google Glass.  They look fun and I would love to have the opportunity to have a go of a pair.  But - the privacy issue is real for so many situations.  An amateurish delve into Australia's privacy laws showed policy makers readying for the challenges of the digital age - but has any country in the world had a challenge such as this?
And there are other issues that just scream out to be addressed.  This, again, is a cautionary tale from two psychologists on the dangers associated with "inattentional blindness" that could arise with use of Google Glass.
Finally - in my future gaze - I would like to think there will be a backlash to social media use.  Where individuals and groups actively plan for technology-free time.  Where the novelty of so many of our devices and their applications will have worn off a bit and we target our use more.  It is a cliche, but there is an outside world, where children can learn without the assistance of a mini device.  Where reflection and being bored are valued as a part of growth.  I hope that all this will be incorporated into our increasingly busy and hyper-connected lives.







 

PRODUSAGE & Second Life

Source:  Screenshot Wikipedia.org

"Welcome to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit" (www.wikipedia.org)

So, here you see what looks like an advertisement on my blog.  But, by the action of snapping a screenshot of Wikipedia's home page and providing a link to the site, I have both used and repackaged elements of the whole - I have behaved as a produser.

Dr. Axel Bruns (2008) suggested the term ‘produsage’ to describe the collaborative use and editing of what he calls artefacts.  Not products, as they would have been known as in the past – but artefacts – things made, but not necessarily ever finished.  Wikipedia is seen as the archetypical model of produsage, ever-open to editing from a vast, collaborative group.  Bruns (2008) frames the process of editing Wikipedia as:

"a massively distributed process of consensus-building (and sometimes dissent, which may be even more instructive if users invest the time to examine different points of view) in motion, rather than a dead snapshot of the consensual body of knowledge agreed upon by a small group of producers” (Bruns 2008, interviewed by Henry Jenkins).

The "dead snapshot" description Bruns (2008) mentions to was in reference the old style of encyclopedia, such as Encyclopedia Britannica and other traditionally produced books of that kind.

According to Bruns (2008) 'produsage' requires the following (core) principals:

1. Open participation and communal evaluation - the community should be sufficiently large and hold varying qualifications.
2. Fluid heterarchy (that is, each produser theoretically plays an equal role) and Ad Hoc Meritocracy; where produsers participate according to their personal skills, interest and knowledge.  Their level of involvment changes as the project proceeds.
3. Unfinished Artefacts, Continuing Process.
4. Common Property, Individual Rewards: contributors permit (non-commercial) community use and adaptation of their intellectual property, and are rewarded by the status capital gained through this process.

This is all much 'food for thought'.  Bruns (2008) is effectively saying that the traditional producer/consumer relationship is making way for collaborative processes where a participant can make a contribution, just by being social for example.  Clicking a link on Google, assists with their page-ranking system of importance or relevance Bruns (2008) explains.

So far, I have only given Wikipedia as an example of a produsage model, but there are video games, such as The Sims - or strategic life simulation video game - that use isometric graphics to make two-dimensional representations of three dimensional objects.  I won't pretend to know exactly how that works - but the end result is that users of the game can construct virtual people  - "Sims", place them in a house and tend to their moods and desires - like a pet?!  After The Sims 1.1, successive series were released, each allowing more options for the player to apply to their Sim.  I shouldn't scoff - apparently - according to Wikipedia - The Sims is the best-selling PC franchise in history.  Regardless of that, I'm quite pleased to add this clip to the blog, which shows Sims being 'killed'.....aaahh human nature...play with the toy...get sick of the toy....destroy the toy:

The crab is far more interested in what musicians such as Radiohead or Nine Inch Nails are doing.  In trailblazing fashion they have uploaded their recordings to the Creative Commons group which allows others to build on their work, adding additional vocals or instrumental tracks, remixing or sampling from the work (Stone 2009, as cited in Sonvilla-Weiss 2010).  This article talks about Radiohead opening up a recent video to the public to "play with".


Reflecting on my own experience with produsage, I feel I am just getting the hang of it.  As a late comer to computers (just 7 years experience) and one who worked in the ancient times of paper, typewriter and landline slavery, I am still in a state of wonder at the ease of Internet banking, cut and paste and many, many of the time and tree saving elements of the digital age.

Making comments, sharing, liking and linking are becoming part of my new vocabulary – mainly commenting on news sites and movie review sites I have to say.  I have never edited Wikipedia, but would not hesitate if necessary.  And lastly, blogging – these blogs are my first and are a labour of maybe not love, but great enjoyment.  But – to misquote Peter Parker’s father (that’s Spiderman’s dad) – I have found that with great enjoyment, comes great responsibility.  I worry about my produsage regarding my blog.  I feel that whatever I post should be accurate.

However, I think we are moving toward a much more flow-oriented and trend-trending (!) world, where many old concepts are being reimagined.  On with the revolution.......................................

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SECOND LIFE is another open-ended, collaborative produser environment.

Real life

Second Life

This 2007 article is about tests conducted at the Keio University in Japan, on patients suffering severe paralysis and the opportunities that could be afforded them in the Second Life environment.  Electrodes attached to the scalp pick up electrical changes that are associated with brain activity.  This data was able to be picked up by a computer and used by the patient to manipulate an avatar around the virtual world.

"Second Life could motivate patients with severe paralysis, who are often too depressed to undergo rehabilitation," said Junichi Ushiba, the universities biosciences and informatics professor.

This is, in my very crusty, crabby opinion, one of the only worthwhile uses for Second Life.
What a spoil sport!

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Refs:  Sonvilla-Weiss, S 2010, Mashup Cultures, EBL, Springer Publishing

POLITICS & SOCIAL MEDIA

Source: www.socialmedianews.com.au

The way the crab sees the situation with (mainly Australian politicians) at the moment, is similar to that of musicians of the early 1980's - the beginning of the MTV (Music Television) era.  From that time on, it was not enough to write, perform and tour a great song.  To be competitive, the 80's musicians also had to come up with a fantastic piece of visual art - a video clip.

Of course, some musicians took to this better than others.  (I invite you dear reader to let your memories be the judge.  If you can remember that far back - you will be seeing the acid wash jean, the shoulder pad, the long perm - even the jump suit......)

Source: www.mashable.com

And so it is with politicians in this era - where not only do they have to be physically out and about, meeting and talking to people in their electorate - they must now maintain a presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.  Maintain a website, perhaps with a blog and a Flickr stream.  In other words a high level of social media competency is now expected of them.  And, just as with the 80's musicians, they must learn to excel in the new landscape to be competitive.

In his book "The Rise of the Fifth Estate", Greg Jericho (2012) examines the state of Twitter use in Australian politics and finds it wanting.  Apart from some exceptions - Malcolm Turnbull, Ed Husic, Jamie Briggs, Cory Bernardi and Scott Ludlum - Jericho (2012) concludes that no Australian politician yet has "taken the medium by the throat".  He puts it down to a reluctance to engage with the active, unpredictable nature of social media and believes that most politicians would rather herd or direct people to their websites where they (the politicians) can retain more control over the engagement.

But there is another aspect to the social media landscape that affects politicians and arguably complicates their work.  It is, I would argue, what former ALP minister Lindsay Tanner (2011) has called the "dumbing down [of] democracy".  Our 'pollies' do not just appear on TV screens at appointed news times anymore.  They are not huddled in Parliament House, out of reach of the public.  They need to reach out and make themselves accessible to the public like never before.  They have to be camera ready the minute they leave home and be ready to perform across platforms.  In person, on radio, on television, on message in YouTube addresses, be Twittering, maintaining a Facebook presence and blogging.

So much exposure and emphasis on performance appears to be having an effect on how we perceive politicians.  Appearance and relationship status of politicians seem to be as important as policy.  Tanner (2011), who left politics in 2010, experienced a transformation over his career, from serious politics to what he considered a sideshow, playing for laughs.  He saw that:

"Under siege from commercial pressures and technological innovation, the media are retreating into an entertainment frame that has little tolerance for complex social and economic issues.  In turn, politicians and parties are adapting their behaviour to suit the new rules of the game-to such an extent that the contest of ideas is being supplanted by the contest for laughs" (Tanner 2011)

The core of Tanner's (2013) book is about the relationship between politicians and the media.  Journalist and politicians alike recognise that each needs the other to exist.  The ABC's Media Watch program explored the state of the association as more and more, politicians are bypassing the traditional news outlets and broadcasting their own messages via YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.  Journalists, naturally feel their livelihood is under threat, but are concerned that without their scrutiny, the pollies could be getting away with all manner of untruths.

Politicians, like Kate Lundy, ALP Minister for Sport, ripostes that politicians are not being asked serious policy questions by the media.  She and other politicians despair that the media more and more ask questions to do with appearance, polls, emotional outbursts and leadership controversies.  Here is Julie Owens, Federal Member for Parramatta speaking on this topic:

As stated earlier, some deal with the social media challenge better than others.  Larger than life politician Bob Katter, who is running for the seat of Kennedy under his Australia Party banner,  has an active website , Twitter and Facebook accounts, a YouTube presence and additionally has put out a call to Australian citizens to come up with a video that he can use in his campaign.  Crowdsourcing in action!  Entitled "Your Katter Campaign" - the search for a suitable video is being run as a competition - prize - exposure of your work, signed copy of Bob's book (a history of Australian people as told by Mr. Katter) and.....an Akubra hat!

Social media has worked extremely well for some politicians - Barak Obama's 2008 presidential being the most successful, setting a benchmark for citizen engagement.  Elsewhere, there is the success of Italian comedian Beppe Grillo, who's anti-corruption blog turned into a political movement, the third largest in that country.  Different methods for different environments.





                           

               

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