Week 3: Grassroot, wiki, casual learning, and democracy

Shirky provided me a new angle from a cost-effective way to view wikipedia as an efficient way to organize volunteers. Altruism and shared wisdom were also be praised.

Wikipedia project was not highly authoritative but was certainly highly informative. It represented Web 2.0's value: user-generate, freedom to contribute and free sharing, which had rich democracy means.

Though in his book Keen focused on entertainment industry, I would like to further extend the discussion to the other aspect of our society: democracy.

I don't know how people America people read "grassroot", but I was surprised to find the totally different explanation of "grassroot" between English and Chinese on wikipedia.org. Part of the explanation goes:

"草根或草根阶层在社会里指平民百姓、群众、消费者或网民。他们的个人势力较弱，但是数量众多。这些特征与政府、统治阶级、大型企业或其它社会强手的特征对立。草根象征着社会低层。"

If translated into English, that is "Grassroot or grassroot class refers to civilians, the masses, consumers or the Internet users. They are on the weak side, but they are in large numbers. These characters are in contradiction with government, the ruling class, large enterprises or other similar influential social groups. Grassroot represents the low class of the society."

You will see this is totally different from the English version you read on wikipedia.

Here is the most recent case on how grassroot class suffered in China: beginning from this month, car owners need to pay extra money when filling gas tank. Ironically, they had to pay for many services they had never heard of nor enjoyed. Such a law could never have been approved but the reality was that it was enforcing now. So far most media (radio, TV, print) are at the hands of the government and such complains will not show up on any of them. But they show up on the Internet. Many of such posts were deleted right away.

So is the Internet destroy our culture or enrich our culture? If, according to Keen's argument, those grassroot, the amateurs, have a chance to voice out?

Concerning learning, I have an example here:

I am taking advanced Flash now, and at times I search for tuturials on the web to learn new tricks. Well, any textbook may cost money, but I do found many high quality tutorials generously provided. Honestly, if I run into problem, I can call for help in many discussion sites and am expect warm hands from Flash users over the world, isn't it amazing? Well, for me, this is a formal learning experience (I am taking course); but for other Flash learners, they are doing informal learning or casual learning.

Since I can't do this without the Internet, I can say that the Internet offers me new opportunity, and, in a larger scope, bring in a new learning culture.

We can back to technology for a while. In the past 20 or 30 years, we relied on computer installed word processors to do office work, but many free online word processor, graphic editor, media convertors are available now. People don't even rely on free distribute software at all, thus avoid ethic problem. You can use google doc, Microsoft Office Live, or other similar products for free.

Free tools (text processor, graphic editor) and free content (Flash tutorials) provide new opportunities for education, while education has close tie with democracy. In this point, the Internet bring in new life in culture instead of destroying culture. Culture is not static so we have nothing to lament.

Week 3: The Cult of the Amateur

The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture

Summary:
Lament over how new media challenge the once dominant media and how everyone (in author's eyes, amateur), who are not professionals and not qualified, can publish.

Thoughts:
"People, and people alone, are the motive force in making of the world history." (Chairman Mao)“人民，只有人民，才是创造历史的真正动力。”

Week 2: Here Comes Everybody

Here Comes Everybody: the Power of Organizing without Organizations (Ch1-Ch6 )

by Clay Shirky

Summary:

Shirky began his book by using a story about how to get a lost phone back to demonstrate the power of group work and collaboration tool -- the Internet. The following chaper (Ch2) sounded more like telling organization and communication theory and principle. Cost / effectiveness were mentioned. Ch3 described the downfall of traditional media. Shirky observed that now everyone could release media (text / audio / video product) on the Internet, challenging current pop culture structure. Ch4 wondered an ethic question: what to release, what not to release, who held the power to check publication on the Internet. In Ch 5, wikipedia story was cited to reveal how people volunteerly contribute to such a mass scale non-profit project, and what technology had helped such a project (work breaking). Ch6 described how collaborative action blowed out Catholic church in Boston, with Internet collaboration.

Thoughts:
With Internet, many used-to-be impossible things happened and the new media is reshaping our world.

Week 1 -- 3 articles

1. As We May Think
by Vannevar Bush, July 1945

Summary:

Bush worried that since human got sharper tool than before to observe and to exploit the world, knowledge was ever expanding, which was hard for individuals to handle with current technology.

Thoughts:
I like what the editor pointed out: "For years inventions have extended man's physical powers rather than the powers of his mind", this was to imply that reasoning is more important than knowledge itself.

Mr. Bush might be amazed by current technology on the way individual communicate and the power of mega calculator (computer, of course) and the future technology is far more striking. If some day all individual can plant in a bio-chip which stores all knowledge of the world, is that a dream?

In that case, man's reasoning power will be highlighted.

2. The Cultural Logic of Media Convergence
by Henry Jenkins, 2004

Summary:
The development and application of new media has changed the shape of our world and culture. However, people hold contradictory view on new media. In a scholar's view, Jenkins listed nine sites where heavy change for media producers and consumer may occur.

Thoughts:
Well this article is about the new media's change on culture. What I pay attention to is the power shift, which I had exchanged with John. You guys perhaps did not think of that current media (TV, radio and newspaper) is at hands of capital and no news which will slam the face of capital would allowed. Consider the high entrance barrier of such media, the Internet provide a cheap way for us to utter "unfiltered voice", as John said. I agree with that. So I applause to the Internet on this point.

I appreciate Jenkins' summary about potential cultural change (some of the points were mentioned by others as well, such as copyright).

3. Toward a Connective Ethnography of Online / Offline Literacy Networks
by Kevin Leander

Summary:
The topic of this book chapter is self-explaining. Leander collected he Internet / off Internet ethnography studies, trying to explain and build up the validity of the mixed Internet / off Internet studies, or Internet environment alone.

Thoughts:
Great, this is the first time I am seriously consider the validity of mixed or Internet alone ethnography studies. To be honest I need to read more and think more on this topic.

Purpose of this blog

To discuss new media's impact + how to use new media in education field at graduate level. New media mention here refer to Internet product such as blog, wiki, discussion forum, and more.

Communication, literacy majors may also interested in discussion here.

Yiyang
Jan 22, 2009