Remediation in entertainment

According to Bolter in Remediation: Understanding New Media, the term remediation can be defined in terms of the entertainment industry as "repurposing: to take a property from one medium and reuse it in another" (Bolter, 2000, p45) The entertainment industry has always had a history of taking older films and reinventing them for a newer audience but now its not just remaking films that can be considered as remediation.

In this day and age, it seems no longer acceptable to have a media on just one platform, for example just a video game or just a movie. Video games which have reached global success through the years like Halo or Final Fantasy, after numerous game releases for their prospective consoles, have made the move to other medias many times, Halo with various books and comics, a web series and an upcoming live action TV series and Final Fantasy with multiple mangas and CGI films, including Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children, which was a direct sequel to the events of Final Fantasy 7. So to mirror Bolter's definition, taking features from a game like Final Fantasy, for example characters or locations, fans of the franchise are placed in a familiar setting, whilst the use of a different medium can bring around a whole new audience, who may not have accessed the media through its original means, introducing them to a new form of digital media as Bolter states "Remediation is a defining characteristic of the new digital media" (Bolter, 2000, p45)

Whether or not, it is a good or bad thing that remediation or "repurposing" is a factor within the entertainment industry, it has both its benefits and disadvantages, can still be argued. While its a good thing that, using multiple platforms can introduce a new audience to a franchise, that they previously never would have experienced, it can also reduces the appearance of any new material, which can lead to fans getting bored of franchises and therefore affect sales. It is a method that need not be overused.

Bibliography

Bolter, J.D, (2000) Remediation: Understanding New Media, New Ed. MIT Press. (p20-50)

Remediation-Bolter

Remediation is becoming a more and more important term in society today, as there are so many products which are just recycled. For example, Spiderman. Spiderman began as a Marvel comic in 1963 with "The Amazing Spiderman", it has since been a TV series, (The Amazing Spiderman- 1977-1978) an animated cartoon, (Spiderman-1994), a film (Spiderman-2002), a video game (The Amazing Spider-man-2012) which ties in with the most recent film (The Amazing Spider-man- 2012). The films are, granted, different from each other but they still have the same theme. They are all based on the comic book, which came out 50 years ago, and the only way to understand the films is to have a knowledge of the comic or the other media- as Bolter states:

"The new medium remains dependent on the older one in acknowledged or unacknowledged ways" (Bolter, 2000, p. 47)

Bolter goes on to say that film is trying to reuse or repurpose digital technology. (2000,p.48). The majority of action and science fiction films use special effects to some degree, although it has become apparent that these are also reused from other films. The video below shows a clip from Transformers 3 which is strikingly similar to the clip from The Island:

This isn't exclusive to live action or science fiction films, it also occurs in animation. Disney for example reused dance sequences from several other Disney films. The next video shows it in practice-

Although this type of remediation can be argued that it is a reuse of choreography instead of actual animation, the main point is there-Disney are still reusing old features.
Most recently, Call of Duty Ghosts reused a cutscene from Modern Warfare 2, all that was different was the vehicle, the clothing and the landscape. The motions, and facial expressions were exactly the same. 
Audiences are now more perceptive to the reuse of media and with websites like Youtube, they can make it known. This is perhaps going to make it more difficult for the entertainment industry to make something new and exciting that audiences will enjoy.

"Repurposing as remediation is both what is 'unique to digital worlds' and what denies the possibility of it's uniqueness" (Bolter, 2000, p.50)


References

Bolter, J.D., (2000). Remediation: Understanding New Media New Ed., MIT Press. (P.20-50)

Transformers 3 Scene- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7kcqB3thJM

Disney Montage- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWKo5veKjVU

Call of Duty Ghost Reused Cutscene- http://metro.co.uk/2013/11/06/call-of-duty-ghosts-branded-lazy-for-reusing-modern-warfare-2-cutscene-4175989/

Virtual reality

Virtual reality is a way off opening up people to a whole new type of world were they can do, be or even see anything fro the birth of the universe to its inevitable distraction. At this time we can not make anything close to this perfect reality. Bolter says " Today's technology still contains may ruptures: slow frame rates, jagged graphics, bright colours, bland lighting, system crashes."(Bolter,J.D.2000.p.g.22) Today technology have came a long way sense  Bolter write his book but we are still not there. technology has gotten to the point were video-conference are easy to manage threw the use of Skype something that Bolter seen coming. " video-conference will lead to more effective communication than a telephone call." (Bolter,J.D.2000.p.g.23)

The desktop computer has lead to a physical reputation that people can see and make sense off i.e. folders, icons and the trash bin. these are all things that every desktop and laptop have. They are a small window's in to virtual reality. Figure one is an example of a modern day desktop.

Figure 1

Transparent is a term used to describe the line that has been crossed in virtual reality to make it so real that people could lose them selves in it and get confused between the two. Bolter states that " Transparent interface would be one that erases itself, so that the user is no longer aware of confronting a medium."  (Bolter,J.D.2000.p.g.23) The movie Inception can be referenced for this as in the movie the lead protagonist is afraid of losing the grip of what is a dream and what is not just like his wife did. Could technology be so advanced that this could happen or would people action want to use it as a form of escapism and it shall become there reality instead of the physical existence. 

Bibliography


Bolter, J.D., (2000). Remediation: Understanding New Media New Ed., MIT Press. (P.20-50)

Automation as a Means to Immediacy

As Bolter (p.25) mentions, "[a] third strategy for achieving transparency has been to automate the technique of linear perspective." To deconstruct this to a basic explanation and use the camera as an analogy, the camera automates the process of capturing a scene through a series of light based chemical reactions, or a light sensitive electronic sensor. It takes direct illustration of the scene out of the hands of the artists and puts it in the hands of another processing unit. The question of quality then becomes one of mastery of an external system rather than the individual's ability.

Manovich in his explanation of automation as a property of new media describes the automotive processes that modern technology can do which could lead to a 'perfect' realization of Immediacy,

"Other computer programs can automatically generate 3D objects such as trees, landscapes, human figures and detailed ready-to-use animations of complex natural phenomena such as fire and waterfalls. In Hollywood films, flocks of birds, ant colonies and crowds of people are automatically created by AL (artificial life) software." Manovich (p.53).

 

If the perfect realization of transparent immediacy is a state where the user does not recognise using tools at all, then in order to grant that illusion automation and variability have to reach a point where the options provided along with cause and effect are virtually limitless. For example, if we were to take a basic program such as 'Paint' and say wanted to seamlessly use it as if we were actually painting, what would happen if I wanted to take a drink of coffee? In order to provide actual seamless and total transparency we should be able to pick my coffee off the table and take a sip and place it back down without for example, deselecting the pencil tool. In order to do that, the computer would need to recognise the fact I have a coffee on the table and not render anything in the space it occupies and would also need to acknowledge the physicality of the object for manipulation of any images.

 

Ultimately the idea of completely transparent immediacy is impossible, as it would require instantaneous physical manifestations of objects. Physicality is a requirement of transparency defined as not breaking immersion.

 

 

 

Bibliography

Bolter, J.D., (2000). Remediation: Understanding New Media New Ed., MIT Press. (P.20-50)

Manovich, L. (2001). The language of new media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Transparent Immediacy

“Virtual reality, three dimensional graphics, and graphical interface design are all seeking to make digital technology transparent.” (Bolter, J. 2000. P23)

Immediacy refers to the phenomenon that where something is happening in front of us in an immersive environment makes it seem more important to us as users.  This has lest New Media historians like Bolter to reference this in their work, of course referring to technological advances in computing.  These advances can be minor, such as the ability to create high quality digital images, to more advanced programming, such as the designing of operating systems or the realness of a computer game.  Computer interfaces are becoming more immersive and responsive, images can be completely edited in minutes, and films can be entirely animated and will star voice actors.  One of the main struggles of computer designers is making the experience more enjoyable for the user, make computing processes feel more natural than clicking on buttons to do what they want.

“What designers often say they want is an “interfaceless” interface, in which there will be no recognizable electronic tools…” (Bolter, J. 2000. P23)

An example of this “Interfaceless” interface beginning to be implemented, could be illustrated by the changes in windows operating systems over the years.  We all know what windows 98 looks like, its boxy, pixelated, but its initial layout was so efficient that it became the norm for windows OS’s up until windows 8.  Windows 8 is created for touch screen, it visually looks brilliant, however users have gotten accustomed to the layout and style of windows 98 through to windows 7, and many find windows 8 very confusing to work, and there is a steep learning curve to switch from windows 7 to a touch screen windows 8.  Never the less, designers are clearly making efforts to further their software in accordance to Bolters theory of Transparent Immediacy.

Bibliography

Bolter, J.D., (2000). Remediation: Understanding New Media New Ed., MIT Press. (P.20-50)

Humans or TechnoBodies?

If we are to believe that "human is unthinkable without technology" (Shaw, 2008, p81) then we would have to believe that, in everyday living, we would be unable to achieve the simplest of tasks, without the assistance of technology. Something as simple as getting up in the morning would be near impossible and basic needs like eating and exercising wouldn't even be a thought. Is this the way it has always been or has New Media made it so we have other factors to relay on for the everyday, mundane tasks? The way in which we have consumed new technology could confirm this statement.

As technology has developed through the years, industry has found ways to make ordinary tasks seem that much easier. Looking at something as simple as a universal remote eliminated the need to have multiple remotes around the living room, meaning that they couldn't be lost as easy and you wouldn't have to get off the sofa to get another remote for example, to turn on the DVD player. This kind of ideology spread to other outlets and New Media has now found a way into our hands through our smartphones, tablets and laptops, all of which are carried around day to day, by the general public. Everything that someone needs and more can be accessed from your smartphone. Emails can be checked, video calls, any form of social media, online shopping and even checking the weather. As the consumption of these products and ideas expands, they gradually become an even bigger presence within everyday life, "We may have made these 'machines' but not, in a very real sense, they make us" (Shaw, 2008, p88)

In order to make the statement at the beginning redundant, humans have to be able to show that they can exist without the need to use technology to make life easier and cut down on its consumption, but now with humans using maybe two different technologies at the same time, for example, tweeting on their phone while watching TV, maybe what Shaw says in Technoculture: The Key Concepts has some truth to it. Maybe humans have been "cyborged by our own machines" (Shaw, 2008, p95) and humans really are becoming "TechnoBodies"?

Bibliography

Shaw, D (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts: Oxford Berg Press

A cyborgian encounter

Within this post-human age, the relationship between man and machine has completely changed with the increase flow of new media technologies.  Debra Shaw discusses in her book the extent of the constant consumption of new media and how it have changed its consumers, into cyborgs. "we are not 'minds' that observe and process an informational world that includes our own bodies but complex systems that reproduce themselves in connection with their environment." (Shaw, 2008. p82) 

The relationship between consumer and technology has changed into the environment around them. The huge influence that new media has on consumers on-line interactions. Media such as social networking sites allows people to stay in touch on a global level, making the media their environment. This 'on-line' environment is produced by the activity of the consumers and helps produce cyborg consumers that reply on it. "Technology should not be considered an adjunct to the body or in opposition to it but as a determinant of its ontology". (Shaw, 2008. p81)

Norbett Wiener coined the word cybernetics to refer to how humans are becoming more like the technology their depend on. Wiener's theory uses the comparison between human DNA and computer coding to show how we humans are becoming more machine like. This theory of what if humans were more like machines and 'transmit' signals. instead of sound waves and transmitting light, we 'transmit' ourselves through the new media available to us. Pointing out how the technology can consume an individual until it is a piece of their daily regime. This is the digital zombie/cyborg age we live in were new media has become the environment which we as consumers can never be satisfied with. 

Bibliography

Shaw, D. (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts; Oxford Berg Press.

New Media as a Cyborgian Encounter

Technology has become such a massive part of our everyday lives that it's hard to imagine a world without it. As Stiegler said:
"The human invents himself in the technical by inventing the tool-by becoming exteriorised technologically" (Stiegler in Shaw, 2008, p.81). 
Technology allows people to communicate, create and distribute, however to do this, people need to buy it. New Media allows different methods of consumption-for example, previously it was necessary to go to the cinema or buy a DVD to see a film or watch a program on a set night at a set time; it is now possible to watch it from your sofa without having to go out or, for the likes of Netflix with a monthly subscription, pay for each film. This does impact the social element of going to the cinema with other people and defeats the water cooler idea as there is no need to wait till the next day to talk about it. Instead, there are social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and forum boards or blogs (Pintrest, Reddit, Tumblr, Blogger)  for discussing media while it is still on the TV. 
Twitter during the Alan Carr: Chatty Man chat show, can be used to tweet about the show with the hash tag #AlanCarrShow, which brings a community of people together while the show is on. People with a smartphone or tablet can then get a running commentary on what is happening so that they will be up to date. Without this technology, they would be behind on the latest news and would be unable to socialise with people who have watched the show. 
With regards to social media, the ability to "like" pages of musicians, TV characters, actors/actresses, films etc. on Facebook and have it appear on the Newsfeed allows us to access any new information about the subject. For example Thor: The Dark World is out in cinemas today, but on the Amazon Facebook page, they are advertising the DVD and Blu-Ray which won't be for about 6 months. This gives the impression that it is a massively successful film if the advertisements are suggesting a pre-order. The user is then redirected to the Amazon page where the Blu-ray/DVD is posted, as well as having access to reviews to find out more information about it. After purchasing, you can then "share" the purchase on Facebook with others-which let's others know that the user purchased this, and it's worth shouting about. The idea that we need to know every little thing about a product or film comes hand in hand with New Media and the ability to use multiple devices at the same time.

 "We are, in effect, constantly 'plugged in' to the technology through which this information is disseminated while we employ increasingly elaborate technological solutions to keep ahead of the game" (Shaw, 2008, p.86)




Bibliography

Shaw, D. (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts; Oxford Berg Press

Amazon Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=875943229119808&set=a.444830632231072.85944.136154403098698&type=1&theater date accessed- 30/10/13

Thor:The Dark World-http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1981115/ date accessed 30/10/13

New Media as a Cyborgian Encounter

"The destructiveness of war furnishes proof that society has not been mature enough to incorporate technology as its organ, that technology has not been sufficiently developed to cope with the elemental forces of society."

(Benjamin 1936/1969, p.232)

Shaw and Benjamin interestingly draw parallels almost immediately of the machine to war, "A well disciplined army, in fact, can be compared to a well oiled machine." (p.82). Note how Benjamin (p.232) explicitly refers to technology as an organ, and not a tool. The idea of technology as an extension of the self is very well demonstrated in warfare, the "disciplined body" as Shaw refers to it as (p.82) does not refer to itself as an individual but instead classifies itself in relation to it's discipline. For example, an artilleryman does not refer to himself as a "person who uses artillery." At the very base level of language and communication the individual has inseparably identified themselves in unison with their tools.

You can go one step further in this war based analogy and even say that an army demonstrates a few of the properties Manovich (p. 18) defines for New Media;

1. Numerical Representation - instead of numbers, each artifact of a military can be debased to the raw human element. Humans serve as the binary.

2. Modularity - Instead of a picture in a webpage, you can take a tank from the context of a battlefield, a person from the context of a tank, and so on.

3. Automation - The homogenized training regime for every unit results in a population of people with the exact same skill sets. 

4. Variability - Different battlefield arrangements, an battle fought in a desert environment will not have the same arrangement as one fought in an urban environment.

The underlying structure is similar, the properties of automation and variability of New Media serve as the barracks, serving content and training an individual based on their interests. The result being an individual who uses New Media as an extension of identity, no longer a "person who partakes" but a participant. Ultimately however, a question still lingers, are we mature enough as a society to integrate technology as our organ? 

Bibliography

Benjamin, W. (1936/1969). The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction (H. Zohn, Trans.). In H. Arendt (Ed.), Illuminations (pp. 217-251). New York, NY: Schocken Books.

Shaw, D. (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts; Oxford Berg Press (P.81-102)

Manovich, L. (2001). The language of new media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

iHuman

In our current culture, nearly any task is completed via, or with the help, of some technological appliance. We no longer seek to do things ourselves, opting to utilize our computer based skills. We live in a culture constantly seeking to upgrade things, and this even means ourselves.

Are humans of the 21st Century cyborgs? Is the idea of the “natural body”, without the shaping and development that technology has had on contemporary bodies, an absurd one? According to Stelarc, an Australian performance artist, “The body is obsolete” (Shaw 2008, p81). Sharing this view, philosopher Bernard Stiegler also argues that “The human’, invents himself in the technical by inventing the tool - by becoming exteriorised techno-logically.” (Stiegler, 1998, p.141) 

 Michael Foucault builds on the idea of the “docile body” (Shaw 2008, p82) in his book “Discipline and Punish: The Birth of Prison (1977)”. In his writings, he compares the  well disciplined army to “a well oiled machine” (Shaw 2008, p82). This means that all the parts are smoothly in effect only once the “individual parts have been tailored to fit an exact function” (Shaw 2008, p82). Thus the human body, and its material, are crafted via the dictation of governments, whom exercise their global power through the control of the soldiers bodies. Likewise, the soldiers themselves are also governed by the technologies of war, meaning that human and technology equal a soldier. A distinct comparison can also be made with the body of a worker and the regimes of industrial capitalism. According to Marx himself, “machinery is put to wrong use, with the object of transforming the workman, from his very childhood, into a part of a specialized machine” (Marx 1990 [1867], p.547)

Wiener offers the observation that “we are not stuff that abides, but patterns that perpetuate themselves” (Wiener 1950, p96). DNA is essentially our bodies code, and information can be transmitted the same way that email is transmitted globally. As new media has now created a participatory audience and collective intelligence, is it any wonder that N. Katherine Hayles wrote “it is not for nothing that “Beam me up, Scotty” has become a cultural icon for the global information society” (Hayes 1999, p2)

Bibiliography

Shaw, D. (2008) “Technoculture: The Key Concepts’; (Oxford Berg Press)

Stiegler, B. (1998) ‘Technics and Time, 1: The fault of Epimetheus’; (Stanford: Stanford University Press)

Marx, K. (1990) “Capital: Volume 1: A Critique of Political Economy’; (Penguin Classics; Reprint edition)

N. Katherine Hayles (1999) “How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature and Informatics”; (The University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London)

Technology and Us

Are we already cyborgs? in this modern age people interact with more technology than ever before and thanks to new forms of technology on the go e.g. I phone or the smart phone people are always linked to technology in some way or form. Stelarc suggests that ' human evolution is aided and determined by technology' (Shaw D,2008,p82)

Google class is the latest form of technology on the go. Google glass are a pair of glasses that can be worn on the go. These glasses come with many features but one of the most important ones is that it is linked directly to the internet and it itself could be seen as a computer. Figure 1 is an example of Google glass.

Figure 1

These shows that technology is becoming so advanced that it is already in front of us in every way but ti is also becoming even bigger and even more personal to us. this shows that Stelarc is right that the human body is becoming obsolete that are body's re becoming dependent on these technology's. 'Stelarc's work de-organizes the body by drawing attention to the way that technology extends, amplifies, invades and shapes contemporary body's'. (Shaw D,2008,p81)

This coincides with the next topic that is what could be? for one technology has advanced so far and at such a fast passes it shows no signs of slowing down. This also means that medical technology is not slowing down ether. medical technology has become so advanced that people with lost limbs can now have them back as if they were never gone in the first place. below is a link to a video of  the latest version of robotics that have been connected threw the nervasystem.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppILwXwsMng

bibliography/ webography

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppILwXwsMng

Shaw, D. (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts; Oxford Berg Press

Is an age of cyborg's upon us?

Stelarc, an Australian performance artist introduces the theory that “the concept of ‘human’ is unthinkable without technology”, is aided by the example of William Harvey’s early seventeenth century circulatory system discovery which David Shaw discuss’ as “…our idea of what a fully functioning body is.’ He uses this complex idea of the use of technology to enable affection and examination of the body to illustrate the theory that without technology and adequate tools our understanding of how it works, development of the body and medical productions needed to keep it active would not be where it is today.

Michel Foucault believes that the human body is manipulated and changed in accordance to the technology it consumes, therefore believing technology is in control and can consume and discipline a person.

The constant bombardment of media imagery and enhanced technology create an ideological appropriation of fitness, health, gender, race and sexuality etc. People can allow this to discipline their being and can base their way of life around this creation, ultimately shaping and controlling who they are today.

“Control may take the form of exercises, punishments and regimes…” Shaw states this in relation to a well-disciplined soldier or army; however, this is evident in today’s society with the regimes of information technologies such as social networking sites, i.e. Facebook and Twitter etc. where consumers of these technologies are now being consumed by the technology itself, with examples of online identities and so on.

Cybernetics is defined by Shaw as “the relationship between a mechanism and its environment.”  It is overall a theory of the existing environment being ‘produced by’ positions of the body but also being the ‘producer of’ these.

When discussing this Shaw relates to human’s being the mechanism and New Media Technology being the environment. For example, the same way radio and television transmit sound and light patterns, due to DNA within the human body, humans to an extent transmit their own ideological ‘pattern’, open to manipulation and control by the surrounding, enhancing ‘environment’.

Wiener discusses these ‘patterns’ as ‘characterized activities’ produced by humans, which could be duplicated by machinery through mechanical feedback and could overall adapt to the idea of the machine age and cyborg bodies.

“They refer to the ideal body, which corresponds to a suitably organized mind, as ‘molar’.”

Overall, through human’s relationship with technology and the cultural consumption of today’s post-modern society it is evident that technology is both produced by and the producer of the human body. Both technology and humans coexist, but alongside this also depend on each other for feedback and feedforward to transmit and generate enhancements, however, with the enhancements of technology today, there is no doubt that a cyborg age is upon us. 

Bibliography 

SHAW, Debra (2008). Technoculture: the key concepts. Oxford, Berg Publishers.

Machines 'R' us

Stelarc is an Australian performance artist, who introduces the idea that technology plays a huge part of the evolution of human. (Shaw 2008, p.81) He states, ‘we have always been prosthetic bodies’, (Shaw 2008, p.81), and Stelarc was not the only one to have views such as this. Bernard Stiegler, a French philosopher, also thought that the notion of being human without the aid of technology is impossible, but ‘we act as if it is’. (Shaw 2008, p.81)

Michel Foucault considers in his book, Discipline and Punish:  The Birth of the Prison (1977), the ‘docile’ body in the example of a soldier. (Shaw 2008, p.82) He talks about how the soldier is part of a ‘well-oiled machine’. (Shaw 2008, p.82) It is manipulated and controlled but is ‘only achieved because the individual parts have been tailored to fit an exact function.’ (Shaw 2008, p.82) This is not dissimilar to the workers of industrial capitalism, where they are used and exploited. ‘The worker’s body is a commodity’ (Shaw 2008, p.83) according to Marx.

‘Nostalgia for the worker’s body is exploited in the service of eroticized consumption.’ (Shaw 2008, p.85) Foucault brings forward the idea that the capitalist consumers can buy fitness to be part of certain social classes in. Along with new ideas of what is found attractive and healthy, this has made it a want for a lot of our contemporary culture.

‘This body is socially produced.’ (Shaw 2008, p.94)

Cybernetics is ‘concerned with the control and communication and the relationship between a mechanism and its environment.’ (Shaw 2008, p.89) Shaw discusses the idea that the ‘body is both produced by and the producer of the environment in which it exists’. (Shaw 2008, p.101) Today the technological advances such as smart phones along with social networking sites help to create a culture which is constantly documenting every part of their lives. The technologies are part of us and as Shaw states, ‘we are, in effect, constantly “plugged in”’. (Shaw 2008, p.86) Because of this terms such as Citizen Journalism have come about.  Our culture can now see things that they have produced on things like the news and internet.

This technology could be seen as a threat to what we believe the word human to mean. Consumers can either see it to be an addition of the body where the body and technology work in accordance with each other.

The concept of the Body without Organs was thought of by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guarttari. It is an anti-Oedipal body which is thought to be the ideal body. (Shaw 2008, p.93) This body ‘forces us to question why we accept limits to how we understand our bodies’. (Shaw 2008, p.94) Through this exploration ‘we produce ourselves’. (Shaw 2008, p.94)

___________________________________________________________

Bibliography

SHAW, Debra (2008). Technoculture: the key concepts. Oxford, Berg Publishers.

Technological Community

“The concept of ‘human’ is unthinkable without technology but we act as it is.” 

We cannot live without technology in our everyday lives. Shaw writes in Technoculture that technology defines whom we are as people from how we interact with technology. Shaw writes about the body doesn’t put thought into media and technology it coexists along side it. I can say growing up with technology around me has definitely influenced who I am as a person and what I am interested in.  It has also let me adapt to new software easily from all the imbed codes that I have from years of technology consumption. 

Shaw writes how handwriting was replaced with typescript and word processing. Another example is how learning skills has became so much easier by just looking it up. Creating time for people to do new things and push the body forward. Shaw talks about how the community before the advancement of technology was a machine. In the industrial age people went to factory jobs like well oiled machines it reminds us that we don’t need technology. Those jobs have now been replaced by machines that where made by machines.

It doesn’t mean that the body can’t live with out machines it means that because we are so used to it we became dependent on it. Some people cant even dream not having technology in everyday life. It has advanced so much it is hard to remember a time with out it. 

In the digital age now we can see how the community is the technologic machine. Communities are now creating technology like the internet, then other communities are seeing this and improving it then sending it back out for other communities to see it. So this is a never-ending cycle that has no ending. This is why shaw talks about the techno bodies because we are the technology. 

"the concept of 'human' is unthinkable without technology" (2008 pp.81)

Humans are the technology 

D. Shaw (2008). Technoculture: The Key Concepts. Oxford: Oxford Berg Press. 81-102.

Cybernetics

Stelarc invites us to consider the absurdity of the ‘natural’ body and to consider the idea of human evolution as supported and determined by technology. He is not the only one to believe that we need to distribute the idea of the human body as a sacred structure, enclosed in skin and being something that produces but, never itself is produced by the technologies that it requires to sustain its presence.

‘The concept of ‘human’ is unthinkable without technology but we act as if it is.’

Hard to escape technology because it is something that surrounds us no matter where we stand. The human existence is hard to imagine without the advancement on the technological world we live in.
Cybernetics is, essentially, concerned with control and communication and the relationship between a mechanism and its environment. Norbert Wiener, the ‘father’ of cybernetics, was generally keen about the idea of the human nervous system and the means of communication between the exterior senses and the muscles. The DNA in humans is compared with the coded information that can be communicated through technological devices. So our understanding of cybernetics is the relationship between a mechanism and its environment. Shaw believes the human species are produced by the environment they live in, but they can also produce the environment they live in. For example, new media technologies such as Facebook. Consumers can create their own personal identities online.

What it means to be ‘human’? A bloodstream is part of the main understanding of what it means to be human. It is a large part of the understanding of how a system works both circulatory system and a technological system.

Shaw, D (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts (Oxford: Berg Press)

Become a Cyborg: Humans are outdated.

Image simulations or computer manipulation is suspect to the concept of “truth.” Simply framing a composition manipulates an image through the process of interpretation and authorship; cropping out surrounding imagery to anchor the semiotics. However, how has this manipulated our cultural understandings online? Furthermore, how do 'we' as a culture '[re-]invent' (Shaw, 2008, p.81) previous conceptions of embodiment in order to participate in an uprising online cultural development? Stiegler suggests that the 'human' (Stiegler, 1998, p.141) has re-appropriated social linguistics as he “invents himself in the technical by inventing the tool – by becoming exteriorised techno-logically.” (Stiegler, 1998, p.141) Contemporary culture is pivoted by upgrade; an unwearying perception of never becoming the 'ideal.' We continue to develop knowledge and understanding, continuously improving previous work; the 'previous work' of Shaw's influence being the body. In opposition to what is referred to as the 'docile' body; one of which is manipulated, shaped [and] trained' so that it 'obeys, responds, becomes skilful and increases forces', (Foucault, 1991 [1977], p.136) Western culture recognizes media as a cultural object - we don't want the physical exertion of repetitious work, instead we wish to work with computer based skills.

This brings forth a selection of epistemological questions: Is access to infinite amounts of information on the web instead of the 'human' mind (Stiegler, 1998, p.141) “dumbing down” culture? Is this perhaps artificial intelligence? Marx insists '[m]achinery is put to a wrong use, with the object of transforming the workman, from his very childhood, into part of a specialized machine', (Marx, 1990 [1867], p.547) however surely using online sourcing as an influence can be seen as less derivative with 'participatory culture'; (Jenkins, 2006, p.) 'increased levels of audience participation, creative involvement and democracy.' (Creeber, 2009, p.20) 'Bodies are obsolete.' (Shaw, 2008, p.87) Instead of enforcing outdated repression against New Media as a propitious 'tool', surely it would be more valuable as a cultural to embrace it as a 'virtual body'? (Shaw, 2008, p.86) Data needs a new discourse; new rules and new conventions.

'By observing people who suffered from varying forms of ataxia – a breakdown in this communication resulting in a loss of control over the simple actions necessary to respond to stimulus from immediate environment', (Shaw, 2008, p.89) Weiner observed how machinery can now mimic the 'characteristic activities' (Wiener, 1948, p.8) of the body. Images can become completely constructed from pixels with no truth, indexicality or authorship. This has developed from manipulation of an image to simulation of an image. Images become remodelled, rendered and structures according to no substantial origin; for example user avatars need no aesthetic source. There is no documentary evidence that is pure of source; and this can furthermore become enforced for the 'user', giving attributes to an online experience which may not be 'truth' or physically possible outside their 'virtual body.' (Shaw, 2008, p.86)

Bibliography:

Creeber, G. (2009) Digital Theory: Theorizing New Media & Cubitt, D. (2009) Case Study: Digital Aesthetics in Ed. Creeber, G. & Royston, M. (2009) 'Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media'; (Maidenstone: Open University Press)

Foucault, M. Burchell, G. Gordon, C. Miller, P. (1991) 'The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality'; (University of Chicago Press)

Jenkins, H. 2006. 'Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide'; (New York University Press)

Marx, K. (1990) 'Capital: Volume 1: A Critique of Political Economy'; (Penguin Classics; Reprint edition)

Shaw, D. (2008) 'Technoculture: The Key Concepts'; (Oxford Berg Press)

Stiegler, B. (1998) 'Technics and Time, 1: The Fault of Epimetheus'; (Stanford: Stanford University Press).

Wiener, N. (1948) 'Cybernetics, Second Edition: or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine'; (Cambridge: The MIT Press; second edition)

New Media as a cyborgian encounter

In a post human, cyborg age, consumers and technology are being seen as one. Consumers are considered as cyborgs because of their constant consumption and interaction with technologies. A Australian performance artist, Stelarc suggests that "human evolution is aided and determined by technology"(Shaw D, 2008. p82). Cyborg is a hybrid of machine and organism working together.

Cybernetics is a term coined by Norbett Wiener (1950). Cybernetics refer to the relationship between a mechanism and its environment and compares humans to machines. Wiener's theory also explains how humans are made up of patterns, similarity to how technologies have codes. DNA is the pattern of a human being which defines physical characteristics. Other characteristics such as personality is shaped by the environment which an individual is exposed to. Wiener contemplated what would happen if humans were to transmit themselves, the same way as radios and televisions transmit patterns of sounds and light. Humans can 'transmit' themselves to a certain extend through New Media technologies. Using New Media technologies such as Facebook or Twitter, individuals can create themselves online, which is seen through computer and phone screens.

Human beings are produced by their environment, however they can also produce the environment they are in. For example, media technologies influences consumers interactivity. Social networking websites allow and encourage individuals to communicate with lots of people, in different places at the same time. "We are not 'minds' that observe and process an informational world that includes our own bodies but complex systems that reproduce themselves in connection with their environment." (Shaw D, 2008. p92) Consumers use the Internet as an environment to create a version of themselves online. Consumers produce their online environment through how they choose to represent themselves and how they use the sources they have.

Consumers can either see technology as a threat to their bodies or they can celebrate it as an extension of the body. "Machines are not simply prostheses that we 'add on' to our minds or bodies in order to facilitate and extend our capabilities but part of the environment out of which we produce ourselves" (Shaw D, 2008. p92) Humans and technologies, working together as one body, is seen as a type of cyborg culture. Humans are using the machine part of themselves to do analogue tasks in digital ways. New Media technologies are not taking over but are helping people to easily communicate with others, gain information and live.



Bibliography

Shaw, D. (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concetps; Oxford Berg Press (p81-102)

Cybernetics and its cultural impact

 “Cybernetics is, fundamentally, concerned with control and communication and the relationship between a mechanism and its environment.” (Shaw, D. 2008. P89)

According to Shaw in the above quote, cybernetics is the relationship between a mechanism and its environment.  This means that an example of cybernetics could be the relationship between a technological advance, and the consumers who use it.  The relatively new social networking websites such as Facebook and twitter are a staple of the cultural impact of cybernetics and our ever changing relationship with technology.

Shaw compares the biological coding in our DNA and how our bodies work to how “radios transmit patterns of sound and televisions transmit patterns of light.” (Shaw, D. 2008. P89) To explain, humans have DNA which defines their physical attributes and characteristics, while technology has coding principles which control how it works.  But New Media has introduced an age where humans and technology are combining to create what some theorists are referring to as ‘cyborgification’.  As humans, we currently use technology in our lives to further enhance our experiences, for example we use Facebook to talk to and meet new people whom we would never be able to communicate with without technology.

However, our DNA may be our genetic code for how we look, our physical attributes, but our behaviour and personality is shaped by the environment in which we live.  Coding in technology controls how it works, but it cannot control what it is used for, that is down to its environment; us as consumers.  In this technological age consumers can change how technology is used, what it is used for, and even shape how it is updated.  For example ‘hashtags’ on Twitter were implemented first off by the Twitter community, and were later written into the code as an official function, recently Facebook has seen an update which facilitates the use of hashtags in the same way they are used in twitter.  These functions were never originally written into the code of these websites, but consumers implemented them regardless, thus, the technology changed due to the consumers.

  

Bibliography

Shaw, D. (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts; Oxford Berg Press (P.81-102)

Digital Theory: Theorizing New Media

In the 20th century, society had started to change as a result of modernism and industrialisation. The main concept of modernism is the scientific progression which occurred at the time- "modernism tended to challenge and revolutionise the religious mysticism of the pre-industrial world". (Creeber, 2009, p.11) During the mid 20th century, after the two World Wars, people were sick of light hearted media products such as comedy films that would have done well before the world wars, instead they turned to the likes of Film Noir. Art as well as film suffered a change as modernists "attempted to reflect the chaos and dislocation at the heart of the modernisation process." (Creeber, 2009, p.12) Mass production due to the industrial revolution was a target for modernist's views-as if it was denying any individuality. Henry Ford and his T. Fords were all exact copies- "any colour-as long as it's black". These were the first mass produced item and the idea of the factory line is still apparent today in technology- mobile phones for example. The iPhone 5 comes in black or white, the only way to personalise it is to get some sort of skin or case for it to make it your own. The Frankfurt School however, didn't think that it was just technology or Henry Ford's cars were mass produced to the point of standardisation, they applied it to all forms of media; "...where every television show, film, pulp novel, magazine, and so on were all identical." (Creeber, 2009, p.13)
Mass production led to a consumer society which in turn led to a "service-based economy" rather than a "manufacturing-based" (Creeber, 2009, p.13) This meant it was entirely based on consumption and so the media had a massive part to play in this. Instead of society blindly accepting whatever was given, they were now able to participate in the media. Henry Jenkins mentions this when he talks about convergence culture- "the term participatory culture contrasts with older notions of passive media spectatorship" (Jenkins, 2006, p.3)
However, this term has been the subject to argument- "To declare a system interactive is to endorse it with a magic power" (Espen Aarseth: 1997 p.48 in Creeber, 2009 p.20). 
There is still a lot of speculation with regards to New Media and whether it is all it appears to be, the only thing to do now is wait and watch as it unfolds.  



Bibliography

Creeber, Glen (2009) Digital Theory:Theorizing New Media, Open University Press

Film Noir- http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

Jenkins, Henry (2006) Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, New York University Press.

Digital Culture: Old and New

When looking at Digital Culture, Creeber approaches the matter from both side, old media and new media. Placing old media and modernism as a responds to the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century and new media or postmodernism after that.

In terms of modernism, Creeber links it back to the works of the Frankfurt School, "a group of European Marxists who were struck with how American mass culture shared many similarities with the products of mass production" (Creeber, 2009, p12) Discussing their concept of standardisation, referencing Adorno's work on popular music, Creeber states how the concept of standardisation can be relevant to all aspects of the mass culture, keeping the masses "deluded in their opression by offering a form of homogenized and standardized culture" (Creeber, 2009, p13) If this were indeed the case then, culture as it was, was simply a repeating pattern with slight changes every time, similar television shows, films, magazines and novels. Also through the use of semiotics, signs could help unravel how the audience were being manipulated and also to "reveal whose realities are privileged and whose are suppressed" (Chandler, 2004 a:15 in Creeber, 2009, p14) Since most forms of media were "standardised" semiotics was a good way to analyse social standing, judging by how the signs were read.

Postmodernism, on the other hand, when focusing on semiotics, calls upon the idea of polysemy, meaning that texts could posses multiple meanings, rendering the modernist belief of one ideological meaning void, focusing on the signifier and the signified. Creeber focuses on the elements of new technologies like artificial intelligence and virtual reality, also on the aspect of "DIY citizenship" (Hartley, 1999: 177-85 in Creeber, 2009, p18) The ability to have a second identity, built on different conventions, allows the user to have themselves defined in different ways, contrasting with Creeber's view that "identity is primarily a matter of heritage" (Creeber, 2009, p18) Taking on Jenkin's view of participatory culture, websites like Youtube and Facebook highlight how the media is now open for interpretation, "the hypertextual 'cut' and 'paste' culture of New Media" (Creeber, 2009, p19)

Although there have been some changes from modernism to postmodernism, the idea behind postmodernism and new media still needs to be developed and explored more, in order to truly understand its influence and effect on other mediums.

Bibliography

Creeber, G (2009) Digital Theory: Theorizing New Media & Cubitt, S (2009) Case Study; Digital Aesthetics in Ed. Creeber, G and Royston, M (2009) Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media: Maidenstone: Open University Press

The Digital Divide

During the industrial revolution, modernism helped to ‘challenge the theocratic and God-centre notion of the world that helped to define human society in the past’, (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.11), and it was said that this was said to oppose ‘free thought and individuality’. (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.12) Modernism created an anxiety filled culture which was conveyed by many artists at the time through movements such as surrealism and abstract expressionists. (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.12) The Frankfurt School was a group of Marxists scholars, who also agreed with this idea and they would often relate ‘mass culture with aspects of Fordism’. (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.12) Henry Ford manufactured mass-produced cars which were affordable for the everyday American. This ‘Fordist philosophy’, (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.13), supported their view that this new mass culture was no longer offering ‘avant-garde’ (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.21) and high class society that they were once used to. These ‘industrialized products were designed to keep the masses deluded in their oppression by offering a form of homogenized and standardized culture’. (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.13) The audience during this era was said to be subservient, passive and susceptible to believing anything the media through at them. This was referred to as ‘the hypodermic needle model’ which the Frankfurt School completed research on. (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.13)

The ‘Structuralist movement’ argued that the ‘individual is shaped by sociological, psychological and linguistic structures’ (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.14) Backed up by Jacque Lacan, who states that, ‘language is an underlying structure, consisting of ‘signs’ and rules which govern the combination of sounds’, (Craib 1989, p.117) Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce used the idea of semiotics so that any text could contain certain signs that could be denoted by an audience in a certain way. The concept of semiotics is used to influence an audience to think a certain way about a text.

Postmodernism shows a cultural change where the audience are now consumers and ‘consumption and leisure now determine our experiences rather than work or production’, (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.15), much like that of the modernist society. This consumer society is now revealing new ways of using media and with the help of technological advances; there is a transformation from a passive culture of voyeurs to a much more engaged participatory society. The ‘Hypodermic needle model’ is no longer relevant as audiences now ‘resist ideological meaning’ (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.15) and texts are now becoming more ‘polysemic’. (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.15)

‘The production of meaning between text and its audience’, (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.16), is now re-imagined. This participatory culture remixes and redesigns the idea of personal identification, as seen on social networking site such as Facebook, where each person can ‘create our own complex, diverse and mainly faceted notions of personal identity’. (Creeber and Martin 2009, p.18) This New Media culture is interactive and part of a democratic society where everyone can have their say.

However, as Espen Aarseth advises, ‘to declare a system interactive is to endorse it with a magic power’. (Aarseth 1997, p.48)

___________________________________________________________

Bibliography

AARSETH, Espen J. (1997). Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Maryland, Johns Hopkins University Press.

CRAIB, Ian (1989). Psychoanalysis and Social Theory. London, Harvester Wheatshead.

CREEBER, Glen and MARTIN, Royston (2009). Digital Theory: Theorizing New Media. In: Digital Cultures: Understanding the Media. Maidenstone, Open University Press, 11 - 22

Digital Culture: Theorizing New Media

Modernism and postmodern contexts alongside with theorist and methodologies of new media coincide, to attempt to define the development of old and new media throughout time. There is no set definition or definable split between Modernism and old, and Postmoderism and ‘new media’. Glen Creeber has taken the approach of analysing Digital Theory and the series of events which have taken place throughout this time which have contributed to the development of the media, technologies and overall cultural condition, giving a general rise to this postmodern, ‘new media’.

Creeber discusses how modernist’s believe industrialisation to be the enemy to individuality and unique cultures within society as the emergence of new technologies and sceientific theories within the media industry create a banal and derivative world, whereas with the example of art and the individuality artists create find a unique place in the market and take away the stain of an everyday, mass culture.

“As the growth of technology and science transformed our conception of society and ourselves, so artists and intellectuals sought new ways to represent and articulate the fragmentation of this ‘brave new world’.” (Creeber. G, Digital Theory, 2009. P12)

With reference to David Harvey’s take on this transformation being a ‘struggle’ for a unique or distinct creation within the world, he stated that this“…had to be an individual effort forged under competitive circumstances’ (emphasis in the original, 1990: 22). And it was partly modernism’s belief in the power of art and the artist to transform the world.” (Creeber. G, Digital Theory, 2009. P12)

A European Marxists point of view demonstrated during the early development of the media by ‘The Frankfurt School’ explored the mass culture and mass production within the media within America and concluded with media becoming a standardized product of industrialization and the culture industry becoming just as standard with no stimulation for individuality or uniqueness for audiences and a ‘Fordist’ mass production being a corrupting influence of mass culture. Everything these Marxist theorists analysed about the media appeared to becoming more and more identical such as TV shows, magazines etc.

“In particular, the context of modernism gives us a theoretical insight into the way in which the media was understood and the ideological impulses which inevitably influenced its critical theories.” (Creeber. G, Digital Theory, 2009. P14)

Structuralism and semiotics have let theorists understand the encoding and decoding of images and texts but more importantly enlightened how audience manipulation by these texts and through research has shown audiences as powerless and bombarded with mass media, making their wants and needs undefined and clouded by the constant injection by the messages of producers.

In conclusion, Creeber has shown a number of events to illustrate how the theories and methodologies associated with old and new media and by organizing modern and postmodern contexts has clarified that their indeed is no rupture between old and new media but simply a series of events giving rise to new media.

Bibliography

Creeber, G. (2009) DIGITAL THEORY: Theorizing New Media & Cubitt, D. (2009) Case Study: Digital Aesthetics in Ed. Creeber, G. & Royston, M. (2009) Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media; Maidenstone, Open University Press

Digital culture and theory

The rise of the Digital culture of today was and still is a development and reaction of certain events throughout the life span of 'new' and 'old' media. Glen Creeber discusses how the effects of the development of old media and modernism to the rise of new media during a post-modernism period, which has lead to the Digital age being a product of all past cultural revolutions and is merely a stepping stone to the next cultural and media change. Looking at the events that inspired change between modernism and post-modernism Creeber shows how the technological changes and cultural conditions of the time periods made new media inevitable.

Early nineteenth century modernism was the start of how society reacted to cultural changes after the industrial revolution. This industrialization lead to the growth of mass culture and the tension between modernism and mass culture. Even though both rely on each other, during this modernism period people saw modernism as away to analysis the difference between high cultural society rather than the mass produced standardized society. Drawing upon the work of the Frankfurt school and their approach to mass culture, Creeber used their discussion on the fordist philosophy to show how the same method had effected different mediums and their products. Newspapers and television broadcasting had to adjust after the industrial revolution. BBC's John Reith argued "broadcasting should be used to defend 'high culture' aginst the degrading nature and influence of mass culture." (Creeber, 2009 p.13)

After the Frankfurt school the Structuralist movement used semiotics in combination with the work of Ferdinand de Saussure on linguistics, they helped analysis texts through a system of signs which is still used today. "by 'decoding' these 'signs', Semioticians could gradually unravel the means by which an audience were being manipulated." (Creeber, 2009, p.14) these helped show us how media was understood going into the start of the twentieth century/ post- modernism.

Post-modernism is most associated with the post-industrial economy change from a production-economy to a service-economy. Much like Margaret Thatchers approach to the British economy, this was due to the decline in heavy industry. With the economy changes, society changed to a consumer society which was enforced by the rise in technology and new media, this had its own effect on society. "consumption and leisure now determine our experiences rather than work and production. This means that consumer culture come to dominate the cultural sphere" (Creeber, 2009, p.15)

This shows that the advancement of new technology and the effects they had on culture and society gave way for the growth of new media and in turn has already gave way for more development in certain media branches, for the digital age to come.

Bibliography

Creeber,G. (2009) Digital theory: theorizing New Media. Berkshire. Open University Press.

New Media

Looking back on the history of old media there are a series of events, technologies and cultural conditions which gave rise to the concept of New Media.  Industrialization can essentially be looked upon with various opinions such as “the enemy of free thought and individuality; producing an essentially cold and soulless universe”. (Creeber, 2009, p.12)  Creeber believes that with the significant development and advance on technology it is having brutal effects on human life.
“Consumer culture dominates the cultural sphere that we live in”. (Creeber, 2009, p.14) Cultural changes are accepted as the inescapable due to our consumer society, where both consumption and leisure have become what clinch’s our experiences rather than work and production.
“Some critics have suggested that the differences between human and machine is now beginning to disappear, tending to eradicate the old ‘human’ versus ‘technology’ binary opposition upon which so much off the pessimistic theories of modernism were based” (Creeber, 2009, p.17)
Modernism tends to believe positively when it regards the power of modernity and to revolutionise human life for the better. Then modernism discerned modernity as self-contradictory due to the clash of it celebrating the technological age and an uncivilised disapproval of it.
We can select and approve which identity we want to adapt to. Creeber argues that with the significant increase in interactivity of New Media, consumers get to make their own identities. This is helped through websites like Facebook, twitter and MySpace where the user can create profiles where there is no filter to the content that is published, whereas in the past we were limited to things we do with our lives.
Andy Warhol’s pieces of work can be understood as basically ‘postmodern’. Warhol’s ‘Campbell’s soup cans’ (1962) disorganises the distinction by which we seen as “’art’ and products of ‘mass production’” (Creeber, 2009, p.17)

The Cyberdemocratic Network

“Modernism is the umbrella term we give to the way that human society responded to the changes that took place during the industrial revolution.” (Creeber, 2009, p11)

Through new media, we have changed the way we participate and consume media, in turn increasing the interactivity of audiences. This has caused a “remix culture” to form, blurring the lines between author and audience, original and replica. Creeber views this culture as “The hyper-textual ‘cut’ and ‘paste’ culture of New Media – that seemingly encourages sampling, poaching and remixing ” (Creeber, 2009, p19) this in turn according to him “produces not only copy-right problems, it also further confuses the very means by which we conceive of the media and its relationship with its audience.” (Creeber, 2009, p19)  The treasured “memes” of the internet are a perfect example of this remix culture, each meme is re-contextualised via each author, stemming from the merging of sub-cultures or ideas. The original author is lost, “The people who make and the people who watch are slowly becoming the same group” (Anon, 2011, 0:25) distance is no longer an issue as “things move back forth between different countries all the time, it’s so easy to” (Anon, 2011, 3:40).

“This increased interactivity among the New Media audience has also prompted some critics to suggest that there has even been an increased ‘democratization’ in the nature of New Media compared to old.” (Creeber, 2009, p20) This has resulted in the theory of the “Citizen Journal”. Multiple blogs and social networks document the everyday lives of millions of people portraying just one example of how ordinary people can become actively involved in the production of the media, therefore “moving power away from the ‘author’ into the hands of the ‘audience’” (Creeber, 2009, p20) This would have been the Frankfurt Schools nightmare, and I hardly imagine memes would live up to their idea “that only ‘high art’ (particularly a strain of it known as the ‘avant-garde’) could sustain the role of social and aesthetic criticism.” (Creeber, 2009, p12)

New media has given the consumer not only the ability to become the producer, but also the ability to have a say in the media. It gives each and every person a platform to share ideas and collaborate with others. Creeber even suggests “the Internet provides a ‘Habermasian public sphere’ – a cyberdemocratic network for communicating information and points of view that will eventually transform into public opinion. As voting on the Internet becomes more widespread so it may increase our democratic rights even further.” (Creeber, 2009, p20)

Bibliography

Anon, (2011), “Visual Culture Online, Off Book, PBS Arts” accessible at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL7R9CjkxjY&noredirect=1

Creeber, G. (2009) DIGITAL THEORY: Theorizing New Media & Cubbit D. (2009) Case Study: Digital Aesthetics in Ed. Creeber, G. & Royston, M. (2009) Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media; Maidenstone, Open University Press