Virtual Communities; At the Forefront of Communication
by Carmen Hamilton
The media’s representation of social interaction via the internet is not a positive one. With headlines on the tragic suicide of cyber-bully victim, Megan Meier and reports on cyber stalkers, hackers, and angry parents who claim it is the cause of their children’s poor marks, many people are unaware of the bigger picture. As such, they regard this new form of communication as dangerous or simply a waste of time. In this essay, it will be argued that social networking sites serve a greater purpose than simply fulfilling the recreational pursuits of Generation Y. They offer valuable virtual communities that benefit users of all ages and backgrounds. The key terms relevant to this argument will firstly be defined. The advantages of social networking sites will then be outlined. Finally, a variety of virtual communities will be explored.
It is first necessary to define the key terms that are relevant to this argument. For the purpose of this essay, social networking sites are defined as ‘web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system’ (Boyd et al, 2007). Generation Y is used herein to refer to the children of the baby boomers, born between the early 1980s and late 1990s, who have been “heavily immersed in a digital world” whilst growing up (Yan, 2006). http://www.oberlin.edu/stupub/ocreview/2006/12/08/features/Understanding_Generation_Y.html
For the purpose of this essay, virtual will mean computer mediated and communities are in the nature of a Gesellschaft society, where links are impersonal and temporary, yet functional and more flexible to suit our modern lifestyle and constantly changing circumstances (Memmi, 2006).
http://foster.20megsfree.com/544.htm
There are a number of advantages associated with the use of social networking sites. These advantages go beyond those linked to previous means of communication, such as the telephone. They allow people to send larger amounts of information, over greater distances, with greater speed, for a smaller cost. As discussed by Di Maggio et al (2001), another advantage of a social networking site is the possibility to combine text, image and audio in a single medium to achieve a more complex interaction. Furthermore, social networking sites allow users to connect through common beliefs, hobbies, backgrounds and interests (Memmi 2006). In some cases, these interactions can prove to be more beneficial than interaction with a friend in real life, as the relationship is based on a clearly expressed common interest.
Although Generation Y are the predominant users of social networking sites, there are also large communities of adults, who find them very beneficial. A poll conducted by Myspace, a popular social networking site, has revealed that adult users regard their time online as ‘time out’, whilst allowing them to reconnect with the adult world. Other respondents stated that these sites help them to overcome the isolation of motherhood by acting as an online coffee shop which is convenient in busy times when meeting up with friends in real life is too time consuming (Healy, 2008). Also included in Healy’s (2008) work is the story of Tanya Nielson, mother of a son with Asperger Syndrome, who keeps a blog to share her experiences with other parents in her situation. For her, a blog is a useful tool, as it provides a space for discussion for a wider community and allows those involved to share news on therapies and support groups.
There are also numerous virtual communities that cater for people who suffer from a disability or illness, as well as for their family and friends. Saidi gives one example of such a community titled ‘Naughty Auties’, a virtual resource centre for people with the condition, Autism, in a virtual world called Second Life.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/28/sl.autism.irpt/index.html
Computer mediated communication is particularly beneficial for people with Autism, as they often have difficulty with social interaction. Communities like ‘Naughty Auties’ allow them to socialize and observe how others interact from the comfort of their own home, rendering the whole process much less daunting. It also allows them to construct everyday situations that may occur and practice how to cope with them. It is for these reasons that psychologists believe that these virtual communities may one day be used to assist in treating such disorders (Saidi, 2008). http://motherofshrek.blogspot.com/
With an ever increasing user population, minority groups are able to connect with others who share similar interests. Social networking site, Facebook, offers an extremely wide variety of groups. The site allows users to create their own group and invite people to join. This creates a network of people with something in common, and this “something” can be as serious or light-hearted as users want it to be. For example, a group called, ‘A Cup of Tea Solves Everything’ currently has 147202 members. They discuss nothing but ‘tea’, with members writing comments such as, ‘Going to drink my tea and have a good read! Here's to tea! c\_/ *raises mug*’. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2211762009
Throughout history, new technologies have fuelled passionate debates, bringing with them a wave of hype and hysteria. Social networking sites are no exception, and have been the subject of much criticism. Studies conducted by Kraut et al (1998) raised the issue that ‘the Internet may induce anomie and erode social capital by allowing users to retreat into an artificial world’. To the contrary, research has proven that the internet compliments offline socialization, as opposed to replacing it (Di Maggio et al, 2001).
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23675950-5007191,00.html
Numerous claims have also been made, implying that social networking sites are an invasion of privacy and are therefore, extremely dangerous. Thurlow et al (2004) rebuts this by explaining that technology itself is not damaging, but our application of it can be. Furthermore, social networking sites give the user control over what information is entered about them, making the user’s safety and privacy dependent on their own common sense.
It was argued in this essay that social networking sites serve a greater purpose than simply fulfilling the recreational pursuits of Generation Y because they offer valuable virtual communities that benefit users of all ages and backgrounds. Firstly, the key terms were defined. The advantages of social networking sites were then stated and a variety of virtual communities were explored. As new technologies are pioneered, it is likely that these sites will become more popular and prove increasingly beneficial for an even broader audience.
Bibliography
1. Bradner, S. (2004). The Internet As Us. Network World; 21, 10. Retrieved 17th May, 2008 from the ProQuest Computing database.
2. CNN. (2008). Is the Internet the Future of Community?. Retrieved 19th May, 2008 from http://edition.cnn.com/
3. DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, W., Neuman, R., Robinson, J. (2001). Social Implications of the Internet. Annual Review of Sociology; 27, 307-336. Retrieved 19th May, 2008 from the JSTOR database.
4. Healy, S. (May, 2008). Reality of An Online World. The Sunday Mail; 60.
5. Healy, S. (May, 2008). Time Out Means A Trip To Cyberworld. The Sunday Mail.
6. Lister, M. (2003). New Media: A Critical Introduction. New York: Routledge.
7. Memmi, D. (2006). The Nature of Virtual Communication. AI & Soc; 20, 288-300. Retrieved 17th May, 2008 from the ProQuest database.
8. Pfeil, U. (2007). Online Social Support for Older People. Centre for HCI Design. Retrieved 17th May, 2008 from the ACM Digital Library.
9. Roush, W. (2003/2004). Networking’s Next Level. Technology Review; 106, 10. Retrieved 17th May, 2008 from the ProQuest Computing database.
10. Saidi, N. (2008). CNN. iReport: ‘Naughty Auties’ Battle Autism With Virtual Interaction. Retrieved 19th May, 2008 from http://edition.cnn.com/
11. Silver, D. (1990-2000). Resource Centre for Cyberculture Studies. Introducing Cyberculture. Retrieved 19th May, 2008 from http://rccs.usfca.edu/intro
12. Thurlow, C., Lenges, L., Tomic, A. (2004). Computer Mediated Communication: Social Interaction and the Internet. London: Sage Publications.
13. Watts, D. (2007). A Twenty First Century Science. Nature; 445, 7127. Retrieved 17th May, 2008 from the ProQuest Psychology Journals database.
14. Weaver, A. & Morrison, B. (2008). Social Networking. University of Virginia; 41, 2. Retrieved 17th May, 2008 from the IEEE Explore database.
15. Wellman, B., Salaff, J., Dimitrova, D., Garton, L., Gulia, M., Haythornwaite, C. (1996). Computer Networks as Social Networks: Collaborative Work. Annual Review of Sociology; 23, 213-238. Retrieved 19th May, 2008 from the JSTOR database.
16. Yan, S. (2006). Understanding Generation Y. The Oberlin Review. Retrieved 19th May, 2008 from the JSTOR database.
17. (n.d.). (2006). When Opinion Leaders Blog. ACM. Retrieved 17th May, 2008 from the ACM Digital Library.
Friday, May 30
Saturday, May 3
Week 8 - Part 2: Entering The World Of The Unknown
A crappy comparison of Second Life (3D) and MSN Messenger (2D) written by a naive and inexperienced user of 3D worlds! Bet you can't wait to read on!
Ever since we watched the Episode of 4 corners about Second Life, I have had a negative outlook on 3D worlds. This may be because I haven't had enough personal experience with them, maybe because Im narrow minded, or maybe because I dont like change - probably a combination of all three. The people who spoke on the show seemed like crazy geeks who need to find A life before they try and get a second one.
So for this weeks task, we were asked to get some first hand experience in a 3D cyber world... Second Life was the one I chose. Although I thought it was all very preeeetttyyy, after roaming around for a bit and trying to have weird/meaningless/awkward conversations with random people, i got over the novelty of 3D pretty quickly.
I still think 2D chat, MSN in particular, is much more beneficial for users LIKE ME, and I have a good reason for making this claim! I use the internet for 2 things: to research or find info and to allow myself unlimited social interaction with my friends that I don't have to pay for. This alone takes up way too much time in my life, so I can't see the point in wasting time on meeting strangers on the net when I know nothing about them, I cant be sure if they're telling me the truth about themselves or lying, and our conversations are never straight to the point - theres alot of beating around the bush so nothing is achieved quickly. MSN is convenient and I only have people on my contact list who I know. Their are many benefits of MSN - like right now I'm studying with a friend via MSN, discussing and sharing our notes! Hooray!
However, I do want to note that I said MSN is more beneficial for users LIKE ME because I do beleive 3D worlds have their place. Whilst researching for my essay for this subject, I read a number of stories about people who use 3D worlds to interact with others because they find doing so in real life very hard. I think these worlds have a lot of potential to do great things but only time will tell what we make of them!
Ever since we watched the Episode of 4 corners about Second Life, I have had a negative outlook on 3D worlds. This may be because I haven't had enough personal experience with them, maybe because Im narrow minded, or maybe because I dont like change - probably a combination of all three. The people who spoke on the show seemed like crazy geeks who need to find A life before they try and get a second one.
So for this weeks task, we were asked to get some first hand experience in a 3D cyber world... Second Life was the one I chose. Although I thought it was all very preeeetttyyy, after roaming around for a bit and trying to have weird/meaningless/awkward conversations with random people, i got over the novelty of 3D pretty quickly.
I still think 2D chat, MSN in particular, is much more beneficial for users LIKE ME, and I have a good reason for making this claim! I use the internet for 2 things: to research or find info and to allow myself unlimited social interaction with my friends that I don't have to pay for. This alone takes up way too much time in my life, so I can't see the point in wasting time on meeting strangers on the net when I know nothing about them, I cant be sure if they're telling me the truth about themselves or lying, and our conversations are never straight to the point - theres alot of beating around the bush so nothing is achieved quickly. MSN is convenient and I only have people on my contact list who I know. Their are many benefits of MSN - like right now I'm studying with a friend via MSN, discussing and sharing our notes! Hooray!
However, I do want to note that I said MSN is more beneficial for users LIKE ME because I do beleive 3D worlds have their place. Whilst researching for my essay for this subject, I read a number of stories about people who use 3D worlds to interact with others because they find doing so in real life very hard. I think these worlds have a lot of potential to do great things but only time will tell what we make of them!
Week 8 - Part 1: I <3 WORD.
Word. Word. Word.
I <3>
Not meaning to boast, but for someone who's been using word since they were 10, and also studied a Business/Computing class in grade 11 AND 12, this weeks task was a bit of a walk in the park.
BUT! I must admit, it was good to touch up on old Mail Merge, because that's something I haven't done in a while and, yes, I can see that one day, it could come in very handy!
Also, track changes have changed my life. Let me tell you how.
When I was in high school, I had never been told about writing "clearly and concisely" or words being "redundant" (redundant means not necessary). So there I was, happily writing away, 1000 words of bullshit! Over time, I developed quite a good nack for writing bullshit, and I thought it was great because it was getting me the goooood grades............
UNTIL! I came to uni. Then eeeeveryone was all about "clear and concise", "get as many points into the short word limit", "there has to be a logical flow of your ideas so its easy for the reader to follow"..... and warning bells started to ring. What was I going to do? I had gotten into the habbit of padding every little idea up with all of these big, impressive words, and now they want me to take them all out?????? And then, suddenly it dawned on me, I have a sister who is at uni in Brisbane, studying law and business, who is an ABSOLUTE GENIUS! Why not make use of her? So in the end, I write my assignments (trying to be as clear and concise as I can) and then I send them to my sister, who has alot of fun with those red lines in the track changes! The beauty of track changes is that she doesnt change what I had, because then I wouldn't be able to see what she's changed! She just makes the suggesstions, so they're there in red and I can choose if I want to use them or not. BRILLIANCE!
On the whole, I think Word is a life saver. I <3>
When I was working last year, I had to use a different computer for a few weeks that didn't have Microsoft Office, it had 'star office' - this program is so shit that it doesn't even deserve capital letters. It's a wanna be Microsoft Office. At first glance, it seems the same, but when you're working with it you realise its no where near as user friendly as Microsoft Office. I spent so much time just looking for basic buttons like "columns" and "bullets".
I think we take Word for granted.
I <3>
Not meaning to boast, but for someone who's been using word since they were 10, and also studied a Business/Computing class in grade 11 AND 12, this weeks task was a bit of a walk in the park.
BUT! I must admit, it was good to touch up on old Mail Merge, because that's something I haven't done in a while and, yes, I can see that one day, it could come in very handy!
Also, track changes have changed my life. Let me tell you how.
When I was in high school, I had never been told about writing "clearly and concisely" or words being "redundant" (redundant means not necessary). So there I was, happily writing away, 1000 words of bullshit! Over time, I developed quite a good nack for writing bullshit, and I thought it was great because it was getting me the goooood grades............
UNTIL! I came to uni. Then eeeeveryone was all about "clear and concise", "get as many points into the short word limit", "there has to be a logical flow of your ideas so its easy for the reader to follow"..... and warning bells started to ring. What was I going to do? I had gotten into the habbit of padding every little idea up with all of these big, impressive words, and now they want me to take them all out?????? And then, suddenly it dawned on me, I have a sister who is at uni in Brisbane, studying law and business, who is an ABSOLUTE GENIUS! Why not make use of her? So in the end, I write my assignments (trying to be as clear and concise as I can) and then I send them to my sister, who has alot of fun with those red lines in the track changes! The beauty of track changes is that she doesnt change what I had, because then I wouldn't be able to see what she's changed! She just makes the suggesstions, so they're there in red and I can choose if I want to use them or not. BRILLIANCE!
On the whole, I think Word is a life saver. I <3>
When I was working last year, I had to use a different computer for a few weeks that didn't have Microsoft Office, it had 'star office' - this program is so shit that it doesn't even deserve capital letters. It's a wanna be Microsoft Office. At first glance, it seems the same, but when you're working with it you realise its no where near as user friendly as Microsoft Office. I spent so much time just looking for basic buttons like "columns" and "bullets".
I think we take Word for granted.
Friday, April 25
No Classes! No Task!!
Horrible Holidays
At the risk of sounding like a uni loving loser, I am going to admit that I don't like how many holidays we've had lately. I never thought I'd say something so terribly outrageous as that, but I have many reasons for doing so, and they're GOOD reasons at that!
My Top 3 Reasons For Why I Am Being A Party Pooper And Wishing We Had Less Holidays This Semester!
At the risk of sounding like a uni loving loser, I am going to admit that I don't like how many holidays we've had lately. I never thought I'd say something so terribly outrageous as that, but I have many reasons for doing so, and they're GOOD reasons at that!
My Top 3 Reasons For Why I Am Being A Party Pooper And Wishing We Had Less Holidays This Semester!
- MOTIVATION & SELF DISCIPLINE - Having had last year off before I started uni after I finished school, when uni started I was fully motivated and the first couple of weeks I tought myself to be very self disciplined. Then we had a weeks holiday, just as I had gotten myself into a work routine and that all went out the window! And now I don't know where it went... so I can't find it....
- MONEY - Being a uni student has made me poor. This means I can't afford to go out, and more importantly, I can't buy myself a new outfit to wear out every freaking long weekend! Whats the point in having a holiday if you can't afford to have fun?
- THE DETERIORATION OF BRAIN CELLS - Long weekends usually mean Mondays off. Which usually means Fishos or some sort of Sunday session. One of these every now and then is ok.. But 2 in a month has done permanent damage! Not only have I lost brain cells as a result of these elaborate long weekends, I've lost sleep, which harms my health, which limits my energy levels, which effects my study (so mum, if you're reading this, I'm sure you'll understand that bad grades are seriously out of my control this semester)
The underlying message here is that holidays can be harmful if not enjoyed in moderation. Who ever is incharge of holidays should think about the long term effects these holidays and long weekends could be having on today's society!
I suppose what I'm really trying to say here, is that I'm pissed off because I missed out on our New Com. Tech. tutorial as it really is the highlight of my week.
Does that earn me a High Distinction?
Wednesday, April 16
Tutorial 6 Task
Wikipedia – the free (unreliable) encyclopedia!
When you type something into a search engine like Google, often, the first result is found on Wikipedia (the name being a combination of Wiki meaning “a type of collaborative website” and Encyclopedia). Due to this high position in the ranking of search results, uninformed internet users assume that it is an accurate, reliable and creditable source so they don’t bother to look any further to ensure the information they’re getting is real. People intending to use information they find on Wikipedia in important documents should be aware that Wikipedia is open to a large contributor base and allows anyone to edit what has been written. This means that the articles do not have to be written by an expert on the chosen topic, or even someone with any form of acknowledged study at all! Therefore, information is often unreliable and biased. However, Wikipedia does have certain programs designed to resolve these problems like the “editorial dispute resolution process” which allows people to discuss their knowledge and beliefs to try and determine a neutral agreement.
If you are a frequent Wikipedia user and would like to know more about its problems and faults, some interesting websites to look at are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About#Strengths.2C_weaknesses.2C_and_article_quality_in_Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Why_Wikipedia_is_not_so_great
After reading the above articles, I decided to search a few topics of interest to me to test out these theories and accusations of incorrect or misleading information, unreliability and bias. There I was, happily searching along, until I found Wikipedia’s article on my favourite supermodel of all time:
The first sentence of Wikipedia’s biography on this Australian beauty states, “Miranda May Kerr (born20 April 1983 or 1985[1]) is an Australian model, best known as one of the Victoria's Secret Angels.” There are two main things wrong with this sentence. Firstly, there are two years given for her date of birth that are two years apart – two years makes a great difference! To set things straight, Miranda Kerr was born in 1983 which makes her 25 years of age this year. Secondly, the sentence continues to say, “Australian model, best known as one of the Victoria’s Secret Angels”, which is clearly a personal opinion. Objective description (where the writer is impersonal and factual) is the kind of description that should be used on Wikipedia. The phrase, “best known as” makes this article a subjective description because it includes the writer’s opinion and can be biased. Kerr is also well known as the face of swimwear label, “Seafolly”, and women’s clothing chain store, “Portmans”. She has also recently been selected as the new face of David Jones, which is a major career highlight that is not mentioned on Wikipedia.
Personally, I also believe that this article is missing a most important part of information that would be necessary for a completely uninformed reader to gain a substantial understanding of Miranda Kerr. The article tells of all of her accomplishments as a model, but it does not give any kind of description of what she looks like. When discussing someone in a modeling profession, I believe it is essential that the general aspects of their appearance (hair colour, eye colour, skin tone, body, height) is explained.
When you type something into a search engine like Google, often, the first result is found on Wikipedia (the name being a combination of Wiki meaning “a type of collaborative website” and Encyclopedia). Due to this high position in the ranking of search results, uninformed internet users assume that it is an accurate, reliable and creditable source so they don’t bother to look any further to ensure the information they’re getting is real. People intending to use information they find on Wikipedia in important documents should be aware that Wikipedia is open to a large contributor base and allows anyone to edit what has been written. This means that the articles do not have to be written by an expert on the chosen topic, or even someone with any form of acknowledged study at all! Therefore, information is often unreliable and biased. However, Wikipedia does have certain programs designed to resolve these problems like the “editorial dispute resolution process” which allows people to discuss their knowledge and beliefs to try and determine a neutral agreement.
If you are a frequent Wikipedia user and would like to know more about its problems and faults, some interesting websites to look at are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About#Strengths.2C_weaknesses.2C_and_article_quality_in_Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Why_Wikipedia_is_not_so_great
After reading the above articles, I decided to search a few topics of interest to me to test out these theories and accusations of incorrect or misleading information, unreliability and bias. There I was, happily searching along, until I found Wikipedia’s article on my favourite supermodel of all time:
The first sentence of Wikipedia’s biography on this Australian beauty states, “Miranda May Kerr (born
Personally, I also believe that this article is missing a most important part of information that would be necessary for a completely uninformed reader to gain a substantial understanding of Miranda Kerr. The article tells of all of her accomplishments as a model, but it does not give any kind of description of what she looks like. When discussing someone in a modeling profession, I believe it is essential that the general aspects of their appearance (hair colour, eye colour, skin tone, body, height) is explained.
Having said this, I must add that Wikipedia is not always wrong, infact, in most cases it often has correct factual detail, and the best part about it is its quick and easy to use. Any piece of writing is going to be biased in some way, but the good thing about having a large contributor base is that many people get to have their say, and the majority can be heard. Apart from the Miranda Kerr article, when creeping around Wikipedia I found that almost every other topic I searched for had an accurate and useful result.
One article I thought was particularly helpful was on Burleigh Heads, QLD. If you search for our beautiful beach in Wikipedia it will give you a map, a paragraph that states specifically where the beach is situated, history of the area, a description of the scenery and links to articles about its landmarks and tourist information.
However, when using Wikipedia for research, although not every article has an obvious fault, there is always a possibility that the person who wrote it has got it wrong or written what they believe or want to beleive is true. Wikipedia is ok to read when informing yourself of a topic and attempting to broaden your understanding of it, but it is not recommended for using in academic writing. These days, there are endless sources we can gain information from, so why take a chance on Wikipedia?
Tuesday, April 8
Tutorial 5 Task
Introducing the New and Improved Artist... Technology!
(with reference to Walter Benjamin's article, The Age of Mechanical Reproduction)
In the picture above, lots of people (who I'm assuming are tourists) are taking photos of The Mona Lisa. My first thought on this image, was that if I were to print a picture of The Mona Lisa off the internet and put it on the wall in a frame, I can garuantee that hardly any (if any) people would stop by to take a photo of it. So what is so special about the original? As Walter Benjamin explains in his article, "The authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its substantive duration to its testimony to the history which it has experienced" which he referes to in one word. Aura. Due to my studies as a visual art student, I appreciate Benjamin's ideas and conclusions on The Age of Mechanical Reproduction, and can easily apply them to contemporary digital media.
My second thought on the image above was that if all of the tourists taking the photographs now have a copy of The Mona Lisa, that allows them to take it away and edit it (no matter how little knowledge they have about the image, its concepts, media or the artist who created it), make as many copies as they like and place it somewhere where its ties with tradition and ritual are not understood, forgotten and nonexistent! The result of this, in Benjamin's words is, "the quality of its presence is always depreciated". The Mona Lisa loses its aura in these copies so they cannot be considered as 'Art'.
Now before I go any further, I think I should discuss what I personally consider is 'a work of art'. If you've ever stood infront of an original painting and felt it spark something inside you, or change how you're feeling somehow, however small your reaction may be, the artist has done their job effectively. Artists are able to target your 'mirror neurons' through their choice of subject and use of media, colours etc. Your mirror neurons are evoked by your 5 senses, they are what trigger this feeling or reaction that you have to a piece of art. A real artist is someone who can create an image that shows the viewer something new or makes them see the image in a new way, which triggers something inside the viewer. It is an image that reflects some aspect of the artist, their background, feelings, beliefs etc. An authentic work of art will portray all of this with the most accuracy and, therefore, it has an aura. This aura cannot be photocopied.
Having said this, I do beleive that mechanical reproduction is useful and definitly has an important place in our world today. Technology is advancing so rapidly, that society has become impatient as they are getting used to everything being so accessible and fast with the internet (and the list goes on) and "the desire of contemporary masses to bring things "closer" spatially and humanly" (Benjamin, 1936, III) has grown in proportion. Obviously, not everyone can get to Paris to see the original, so if for some reason they need to see what it looks like (maybe to write something about Leonardo Da Vinci or the painting itself) then a printed copy off the net would be sufficient. The advantage of mechanical reproduction is that it makes things accessible for more people, but it is not art and it does not have an aura.
Photoshop - When technology really turns arty farty!
These days, anyone with a decent computer can create pictures, music and movies, but are they creating art? The simple answer is, no. It is hard to explain why in a few sentences, but I'll do my best. The easiest way is to compare the works of a man like Gotye, who made made every song on his award winning album by himself in his bedroom (singing and playing numerous instruments at once), with the work of someone recording themselves singing a cover of Mariah Carey's, "Hero" on their computer at home. If you have heard Gotye's album, it is easy to understand why it is a work of art. As I mentioned before, a true artist will use their chosen media to its full potential in order to connect with the audience somehow.
But there was one question on this weeks task that I really had to think about. Although my views on art created by digital media have been pretty negative so far, there is one exception that I must mention. The question asked, "Is a photoshopped image authentic?" Obviously, in most cases, I would have to say no. To me, photoshop is like a program that lets you plagiarise other people's images, EXCEPT if it is done effectively. When I was studying art in my senior year, our teacher showed us the work of an A grade student from the year before ours which she had done in Photoshop. It was amazing. It's many layers and the precision of images was something that couldn't be achieved by hand. What I liked so much about it, was that it really told a story. Even though this girl had used alot of images that weren't her own, she had altered them and used them in such a way that it completely reflected her own ideas and concepts. This is what made her photoshopped image authentic. An example of this can be seen below.
This is an image someone has created. Although they've added something to it, I don't beleive that makes it authentic. It still holds the same concept and ideas of that behind the original.
I do, however, consider this to be an authentic piece of art. Although it is still clear that it's using the same concept of the Mona Lisa, the artist has taken the image and used it to portray his own ideas and to make a statement through the image.
So What Does This Mean For Art?
With artistic computer programs like photoshop being able to replica almost every artistic technique (spray paint, mosaic etc), what will become of real art in the near future? Sculptures that were once carved by hand using tools can now be done much quicker and neater by machinery so will art slowly be taken over by technology like many other things these days? Sadly, I beleive it will. As Benjamin said, today's culture are willing to accept these reproductions so there's nothing to stop technology taking over art aswell because it can do things faster, neater and in much higher quantities!
So are we going to be using the Paint program on computers to teach our kindergarden students how to colour inside the lines soon? For real art's sake, let's hope not!
(with reference to Walter Benjamin's article, The Age of Mechanical Reproduction)
In the picture above, lots of people (who I'm assuming are tourists) are taking photos of The Mona Lisa. My first thought on this image, was that if I were to print a picture of The Mona Lisa off the internet and put it on the wall in a frame, I can garuantee that hardly any (if any) people would stop by to take a photo of it. So what is so special about the original? As Walter Benjamin explains in his article, "The authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its substantive duration to its testimony to the history which it has experienced" which he referes to in one word. Aura. Due to my studies as a visual art student, I appreciate Benjamin's ideas and conclusions on The Age of Mechanical Reproduction, and can easily apply them to contemporary digital media.
My second thought on the image above was that if all of the tourists taking the photographs now have a copy of The Mona Lisa, that allows them to take it away and edit it (no matter how little knowledge they have about the image, its concepts, media or the artist who created it), make as many copies as they like and place it somewhere where its ties with tradition and ritual are not understood, forgotten and nonexistent! The result of this, in Benjamin's words is, "the quality of its presence is always depreciated". The Mona Lisa loses its aura in these copies so they cannot be considered as 'Art'.
Now before I go any further, I think I should discuss what I personally consider is 'a work of art'. If you've ever stood infront of an original painting and felt it spark something inside you, or change how you're feeling somehow, however small your reaction may be, the artist has done their job effectively. Artists are able to target your 'mirror neurons' through their choice of subject and use of media, colours etc. Your mirror neurons are evoked by your 5 senses, they are what trigger this feeling or reaction that you have to a piece of art. A real artist is someone who can create an image that shows the viewer something new or makes them see the image in a new way, which triggers something inside the viewer. It is an image that reflects some aspect of the artist, their background, feelings, beliefs etc. An authentic work of art will portray all of this with the most accuracy and, therefore, it has an aura. This aura cannot be photocopied.
Having said this, I do beleive that mechanical reproduction is useful and definitly has an important place in our world today. Technology is advancing so rapidly, that society has become impatient as they are getting used to everything being so accessible and fast with the internet (and the list goes on) and "the desire of contemporary masses to bring things "closer" spatially and humanly" (Benjamin, 1936, III) has grown in proportion. Obviously, not everyone can get to Paris to see the original, so if for some reason they need to see what it looks like (maybe to write something about Leonardo Da Vinci or the painting itself) then a printed copy off the net would be sufficient. The advantage of mechanical reproduction is that it makes things accessible for more people, but it is not art and it does not have an aura.
Photoshop - When technology really turns arty farty!
These days, anyone with a decent computer can create pictures, music and movies, but are they creating art? The simple answer is, no. It is hard to explain why in a few sentences, but I'll do my best. The easiest way is to compare the works of a man like Gotye, who made made every song on his award winning album by himself in his bedroom (singing and playing numerous instruments at once), with the work of someone recording themselves singing a cover of Mariah Carey's, "Hero" on their computer at home. If you have heard Gotye's album, it is easy to understand why it is a work of art. As I mentioned before, a true artist will use their chosen media to its full potential in order to connect with the audience somehow.
But there was one question on this weeks task that I really had to think about. Although my views on art created by digital media have been pretty negative so far, there is one exception that I must mention. The question asked, "Is a photoshopped image authentic?" Obviously, in most cases, I would have to say no. To me, photoshop is like a program that lets you plagiarise other people's images, EXCEPT if it is done effectively. When I was studying art in my senior year, our teacher showed us the work of an A grade student from the year before ours which she had done in Photoshop. It was amazing. It's many layers and the precision of images was something that couldn't be achieved by hand. What I liked so much about it, was that it really told a story. Even though this girl had used alot of images that weren't her own, she had altered them and used them in such a way that it completely reflected her own ideas and concepts. This is what made her photoshopped image authentic. An example of this can be seen below.
This is an image someone has created. Although they've added something to it, I don't beleive that makes it authentic. It still holds the same concept and ideas of that behind the original.
I do, however, consider this to be an authentic piece of art. Although it is still clear that it's using the same concept of the Mona Lisa, the artist has taken the image and used it to portray his own ideas and to make a statement through the image.
So What Does This Mean For Art?
With artistic computer programs like photoshop being able to replica almost every artistic technique (spray paint, mosaic etc), what will become of real art in the near future? Sculptures that were once carved by hand using tools can now be done much quicker and neater by machinery so will art slowly be taken over by technology like many other things these days? Sadly, I beleive it will. As Benjamin said, today's culture are willing to accept these reproductions so there's nothing to stop technology taking over art aswell because it can do things faster, neater and in much higher quantities!
So are we going to be using the Paint program on computers to teach our kindergarden students how to colour inside the lines soon? For real art's sake, let's hope not!
Monday, March 31
Tutorial 4 Task
Scavenger Hunt Questions - ANSWERED!
Most people know of or have used search engines such as Google and Wikipedia. But why are these two the most commonly used? Are there better ones out there with more accurate information and less 'crap'? The simple answer is: Yes. Here is the proof.
Q) Who was the creator of the infamous "lovebug" computer virus?
A) Former student of the Philippines' AMA Computer College, Onel de Guzman was the creator that 'spread the love' through a virus sent via email with the heart stopping subject, "ILOVEYOU" which caused an estimated damage of $10 billion. Unfortunately, there was no actual law against .... in the Philippines at the time, so charges against Guzman were dropped. He did, however, admit he may have spread the virus unintentionally - "woops!"
Yahoo Answers - http://computerbytesman.com/lovebug/index.htm
Q) Who invented the paper clip?
A) The paper clip - such a simplistic idea and invention yet so practical and useful! So who was this genius? William D. Middlebrook can take credit for this as he patented the paper clip on the 9th of November in 1899. Just think, Uni would've been a whole lot messier without the paper clip - especially if the stapler wasn't invented.
Idea Finder - http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/paperclip.htm
Q) How did the Ebola virus get its name?
A) This virus was first observed at the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo so it was given the name, 'Ebola virus'. How original!
Dogpile Search engine -http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/qa.htm
Q) What country had the largest recorded earthquake?
A) Chile is the country that has had the largest recorded earthquake to date which occured on the 22nd of May in 1960. This devastating natural disaster scored a whopping 9.5 on the Rhichter scale.
Ask Jeeves - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/10_largest_world.php
Q) In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?
A) There are 1,073,741,824 kilobytes in a terabyte. Not a very easy fact to remember, but who cares about terabytes anyway?
Dogpile Search - http://www.t1shopper.com/tools/calculate/
Q) Who is the creator of email?
A) Ray Thomlinson was the God who created email in 1971. If it wasn't for him, who knows what the business industry would be like today?
Yahoo Answers - http://www.yahooanswers.com
Q) What is the storm worm, and how many computers are infected by it?
A) The so called 'storm worm' is a backdoor Trojan horse that spreads itself through the use of Microsoft opperating systems. As of 2007, it is estimated that the storm worm has come in contact with somewhere between 250 000 and 10 billion computers and we won't even go in to how many $ that is!
Yahoo Answers - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Asz9CdYgvLIAmc9re4Ajv0QjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20071201163655AA8cWhV
Q) If you wanted to contact the prime minister of Australia directly, what is the most efficient way?
A) With so much spam flying around the internet and so many viruses being spread through email, it is understandable that the internet and email are not considered a secure means of communication when attempting to contact 'Kevin 07'. Apparently, Australia Post if the most efficient way to contact our priminister, but if you ask me, I think you've got a better chance of getting his attention if you climb the Q1 and hang a big sign from it saying, "IM GOING TO JUMP IF THE PRIME MINISTER DOESN'T CALL ME IN 1 HOUR.
PH. 0414860896"
Dogpile Search - http://www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm
Q) Which Brisbane based punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School of Arts) a member of?
A) Mr Stockwell played keyboard for The Black Assassins. Respect.
Answers Seach engine - http://www.griffith.edu.au/school/art/staff/stockwell.htm
Q) What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?
A) Web 2.0 referes to a second generation of Internet based networking sites and tools with the main purpose of connecting and sharing. Putting it in 'teenage' terms, that means sites like Myspace and Facebook, Chatrooms, Wikipedia etc. etc. etc.
See... You really do learn something new every day. In some cases (like today), you learn ALOT of new things.
Most people know of or have used search engines such as Google and Wikipedia. But why are these two the most commonly used? Are there better ones out there with more accurate information and less 'crap'? The simple answer is: Yes. Here is the proof.
Q) Who was the creator of the infamous "lovebug" computer virus?
A) Former student of the Philippines' AMA Computer College, Onel de Guzman was the creator that 'spread the love' through a virus sent via email with the heart stopping subject, "ILOVEYOU" which caused an estimated damage of $10 billion. Unfortunately, there was no actual law against .... in the Philippines at the time, so charges against Guzman were dropped. He did, however, admit he may have spread the virus unintentionally - "woops!"
Yahoo Answers - http://computerbytesman.com/lovebug/index.htm
Q) Who invented the paper clip?
A) The paper clip - such a simplistic idea and invention yet so practical and useful! So who was this genius? William D. Middlebrook can take credit for this as he patented the paper clip on the 9th of November in 1899. Just think, Uni would've been a whole lot messier without the paper clip - especially if the stapler wasn't invented.
Idea Finder - http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/paperclip.htm
Q) How did the Ebola virus get its name?
A) This virus was first observed at the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo so it was given the name, 'Ebola virus'. How original!
Dogpile Search engine -http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/qa.htm
Q) What country had the largest recorded earthquake?
A) Chile is the country that has had the largest recorded earthquake to date which occured on the 22nd of May in 1960. This devastating natural disaster scored a whopping 9.5 on the Rhichter scale.
Ask Jeeves - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/10_largest_world.php
Q) In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?
A) There are 1,073,741,824 kilobytes in a terabyte. Not a very easy fact to remember, but who cares about terabytes anyway?
Dogpile Search - http://www.t1shopper.com/tools/calculate/
Q) Who is the creator of email?
A) Ray Thomlinson was the God who created email in 1971. If it wasn't for him, who knows what the business industry would be like today?
Yahoo Answers - http://www.yahooanswers.com
Q) What is the storm worm, and how many computers are infected by it?
A) The so called 'storm worm' is a backdoor Trojan horse that spreads itself through the use of Microsoft opperating systems. As of 2007, it is estimated that the storm worm has come in contact with somewhere between 250 000 and 10 billion computers and we won't even go in to how many $ that is!
Yahoo Answers - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Asz9CdYgvLIAmc9re4Ajv0QjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20071201163655AA8cWhV
Q) If you wanted to contact the prime minister of Australia directly, what is the most efficient way?
A) With so much spam flying around the internet and so many viruses being spread through email, it is understandable that the internet and email are not considered a secure means of communication when attempting to contact 'Kevin 07'. Apparently, Australia Post if the most efficient way to contact our priminister, but if you ask me, I think you've got a better chance of getting his attention if you climb the Q1 and hang a big sign from it saying, "IM GOING TO JUMP IF THE PRIME MINISTER DOESN'T CALL ME IN 1 HOUR.
PH. 0414860896"
Dogpile Search - http://www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm
Q) Which Brisbane based punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School of Arts) a member of?
A) Mr Stockwell played keyboard for The Black Assassins. Respect.
Answers Seach engine - http://www.griffith.edu.au/school/art/staff/stockwell.htm
Q) What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?
A) Web 2.0 referes to a second generation of Internet based networking sites and tools with the main purpose of connecting and sharing. Putting it in 'teenage' terms, that means sites like Myspace and Facebook, Chatrooms, Wikipedia etc. etc. etc.
Yahoo Answers - http://www.yahooanswers.com
See... You really do learn something new every day. In some cases (like today), you learn ALOT of new things.
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