tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48819618963896971482024-02-19T08:18:44.411-08:00Bravely Becoming Part of the New WorldAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-17957239592292381542012-06-13T19:49:00.000-07:002012-06-13T19:49:21.199-07:00Webinar Experience<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It was wonderful to have a couple of friends join the live webinar and ask some questions pertaining to what I have poured my soul into for the past 7 weeks. Getting to present was fun, but I loved getting to field questions behind the scenes. There were so many ideas flowing around and I really think that this webinar will have a positive influence on people's perception of digital culture and how it relates to literature. Now that is all finished, I sigh and wish we could keep going. My research has been tied to so many other individuals in the class and it will be hard to see them go as this term ends.<br />
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I was intrigued by some of Jeff's questions about whether digital scholarship is something good or bad. I was able to say that researching people rather than texts has opened by world up to a new level of information that will greatly influence by writing in the future. It has been an awesome experience. One person who joined the webinar was my former high school band director. He sent me a link to a blog that greatly influenced some of my thoughts about control in the digital world and how it related to Orwell's novel. Getting to have him hear my thoughts made me really appreciate our emphasis on social proof during the course. It is sad that the sun is setting on this course, but the good thing is that we will continually be connected through digital media.<br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-18133192062826759892012-06-13T15:58:00.003-07:002012-06-13T15:58:40.834-07:00Standing at the Brink<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
As my English 295 is coming to a close, I feel that I am standing on the edge of a great chasm, looking over the edge, and wondering how I will make it to the other side. This chasm represents my future in academia and my approach to researching and writing about literature. I have come so far from where I was at the beginning of the semester with my apprehensions about the digital world and using social media to research literary topics. My apprehensions have vanished as this new digital world has become more familiar to me.<br />
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I think that this "leap of faith" that my class has taken is an event that many people need to experience. There are so many wonderful opportunities in the digital world to meet new people and experience new ways of thinking about literature. The concept of social proof allows for ideas to be tested and improved upon.<br />
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A recent experience I had with social proof was sharing a rough draft of my final paper with a co-worker from Deseret News. I was terrified at the prospect of sharing some of my rough ideas with him, but I knew that he would be able to help me have a better focus in my paper. After sharing my paper with him, he texted me multiple ideas about how my paper should be focussed and even some questions of his own that he wanted to have answered about the how technology companies can be viewed as Big Brothers. This experience gave me a confirmation that the process of social learning bears good fruit and is a leap of faith worth taking.<br />
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I plan to continue using the skills I have learned this semester and expand them to other fields of knowledge as I continue my education. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-82879273149519729842012-06-11T12:45:00.002-07:002012-06-11T12:45:47.542-07:00Learning Outcomes: What I've Learned, in Summation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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These are some things that I learned this semester:</div>
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1. Learn and Follow the BYU-I Learning Model</div>
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During the semester, I have done my best to follow the guding principles of the BYU-I Learning Model. Before every class period, I have tried to complete the assignments that have been given and also prepare myself for the class discussion that day. I am usually afraid to give comments or ask questions, so I took some time to think about the discussion that we were going to have before class and note things that might contribute to the class that I could talk about. Another form of preparation that I have tried to do this semester is spiritual preparation. I think this was more manifest when the drafts of my paper were due. I made a point to say my prayers and ask Heavenly Father for guidance concerning how my paper should go. I also asked him for a lot of strength to be able to tackle the many tasks I had to get done this semester so I could balance my studies with work. </div>
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Along with personal preparation I have sought to teach others along the way and learn from my fellow classmates. Through the many discussions with my cohorts that we have had this semester, I have made a point to listen to my fellow students and learn from them about how I could improve my research. An example of a learning experience that I had was when I met with Jen Winterton and Ashley Lewis as a cohort on the roof of the JFSB. We sat and discussed the directions of our papers and decided that we wanted to have a Google hangout to continue to discuss our ideas. Throughout these meetings, both Jen and Ashley were full of ideas of where my topic should go. They really helped me organize my first idea about how blogging can influence politics and social development, as evidenced in this post, "<a href="http://hickeyalan-eng295.blogspot.com/2012/05/records-of-rebellion-annotated.html">Records of Rebellion</a>..." Most of these sources were recommended by my cohorts. Their added knowledge helped me to create more.</div>
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I also remember one day that Jen and I were trying to figure out where her topic of collaboration should go. We were throwing around a bunch of ideas and I brought up some ideas about how online pornography and gambling were sucking the life out of people just like the main antagonist of her book of study, <i>Dracula</i>. With those ideas we had a great discussion about the possibilities of where her paper could go. Even though this did not end up being the final idea she ran with for her paper, she was able to go deeper into the power of collaboration and create a really good <a href="http://wintertonjen-eng295.blogspot.com/2012/06/collaboration-in-digital-age-fighting.html">paper</a>. </div>
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The last part of the learning model talks about pondering and proving. I think one moment where this really hit me during the whole research process was when I had to make a trailer of my idea for the class. I remember thinking about my topic and wondering why Orwell's book, <i>1984</i>, was important to me. As I thought about all the research that I had been doing, my thoughts focussed on Winston, the main character, and his journal writing. Winston wrote to express himself and his ideas about the world around him. He was able to experience freedom through his act of creation. Those thoughts made me tie together a lot of ideas that I had been receiving from Dr. Burton and my other classmates and I was able to make this video on YouTube. It was a great experience for me to share this video with others and find out how much they liked it. This really proved to me that the research I was doing had worth. </div>
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<a name='more'></a>2. Write Substantially and Publically About Literature<o:p></o:p><br />
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Having to produce material every day for this class has made it easy for me to be able to write substantially and publicly about literature. I have enjoyed getting to blog this semester and come up with new material for each class period. Getting to create my blog, "<a href="http://hickeyalan-eng295.blogspot.com/">Bravely Becoming Part of the New World</a>," really helped me find a way to write a lot of concise material about my feeling on the literature I was studying. Also, writing on <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/102669003224646078178/posts">Google+</a> in response to my classmates has helped me to expand my understanding of the relationship between literature and the digital world because of the varied topics we were researching. </div>
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3. Develop Research Skills<o:p></o:p></div>
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I guess one of the greatest adjustments that I experienced this semester was having to develop new forms of research skills. From my previous college classes, I had been taught how to do <a href="http://hickeyalan-eng295.blogspot.com/2012/05/records-of-rebellion-annotated.html">traditional scholarly research</a>. It entailed going to the library, searching the library website for articles on other databases, using JSTOR for everything, etc. We had a fun day in class dedicated to these forms of research when we went to the library and had one of the librarians give a guided tour of the Harold B. Lee Library's online catalog. </div>
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Dr. Burton then opened our eyes to the vast world of knowledge that exists in the digital world, from <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/">Goodreads</a>, to <a href="https://twitter.com/">Twitter</a>, to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a>, to <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/102669003224646078178/posts">Google+,</a> to <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">SlideShare</a>, to <a href="http://prezi.com/">Prezi</a>, to <a href="http://youtu.be/fcIE0ruImCY">YouTube</a>, etc. This list goes on. I felt that this less traditional research opened my world up to social proof. I was amazed at the different blogs that I looked at, like the <a href="http://theosproject.blogspot.com/2010/04/1984-by-george-orwell.html">Theos Project</a>, which gave me ideas for my paper. Another thing that really made me think differently about research was the focus on not just searching for research on our topics, but focussing on people who were interested in our topics. This led to a lot of interesting social discovery with enthusiasts on my topic and some back and forth discussions that helped flesh out my ideas. </div>
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4. Perfect Ideas Socially<o:p></o:p></div>
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Everything about our class has been geared to perfecting our ideas socially. Researching in a box shuts out so many possibilities. Throughout the term I have done my best to give feedback and accept constructive criticism on my own topic. An example of this came when I received some feedback from Jonathan Erdman about a post I had done concerning the article, "<a href="http://hickeyalan-eng295.blogspot.com/2012/05/pseudo-modernism-conformity-of.html">The Death of Post-Modernism and Beyond</a>." We had some good discussion back and forth about our different ideas. </div>
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Something else that I tried to do was always have meaningful discussion with my classmates about my topic. Greg Bayles gave some really great feedback on my paper after I linked the draft on <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/102669003224646078178/posts/4cKdSiFSp1H">Google+</a>. I have some many other wonderful discussions with others in my class, especially with Jen Winterton and Ashley Lewis who were in my cohort. In fact, we even tried to have a public Google+ <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/102669003224646078178/posts/69f15q3d5GK">hangout</a> to put out some of our ideas socially and it was a crazy experience. The most recent experience I had trying to perfect some of my ideas socially was giving a draft of my paper to<a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/102669003224646078178/posts/9R1q5iH3zBK"> the assistant editor that I work with at Deseret News,</a> Matt Hartvigsen. It was a bit intimidating allowing him to look at my paper, but he was happy to look it over and he gave me some great feedback that helped me organize the final draft of my paper. </div>
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5. Gain Digital Literacy<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p>I think that the greatest thing I have gained from this semester is becoming digitally literate. With all the links I have given earlier, it shows that this class has expanded my view of the ways I can interact with literature. In fact, I downloaded a Kindle App to my computer and have started reading ebooks of some of my favorite classic literature. I love using Google+, something I had never used before this class and I also have started a blog. This class really has helped me in this area. </o:p></div>
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6. Address Changes to Literary Study<o:p></o:p></div>
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I think this post of mine shows how digital media is affecting literary study. It is titled, "<a href="http://hickeyalan-eng295.blogspot.com/2012/05/seeking-to-create-fellowship-of-ideas.html">Seeking to Create a Fellowship of Ideas</a>." The world is changing around us and the ways that we do research need to evolve with the way that the world is changing. We can't just use traditional methods of research anymore to find all the valuable, timely knowledge that exists in the world. I felt that I have been exposed to so many different mediums of how to experience literature. Holly from my class wrote a great paper titled, "<a href="http://boudholly-eng295.blogspot.com/2012/06/drum-roll-please-presenting-social-text.html">The Social Text</a>," which gives great incite into how our perception of literature is changing with the prevalence of movies and other forms of media that classic works are translated into. </div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-51155417720056487372012-06-10T01:10:00.000-07:002012-06-10T01:10:00.787-07:00Looking back...to look forward.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yesterday was a long day. I hadn't slept well the night before because I was full of anxiety about the final draft of my paper<i> </i>for my English class. I spent the day trying to tweak my paper and find a way to bring all my ideas into a cohesive order before my grading conference at 2:45 pm. I finished right in the nick of time and ran from the library to the meeting with Holly, Anna, and Dr. Burton. As we read each others' papers, I felt like my paper, even with all the work I put into it, was a shadow of what it needed to be. After the grading conference finished, I stumbled out of the JFSB and walked heavily to my car. I had tried to put my heart and soul into my paper. It was the final product of all the research I had been doing this spring. And in the end, I felt that it didn't manifest the raw intensity of the thoughts I had been sharing with my friends and acquaintances through social media.<br />
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For me, the transition from thinking strictly about research through the use of social media and then having to compose a traditional paper was a bit difficult. Blogging, tweeting, and commenting using Google+ allowed me to relax and get out my thoughts in a raw way that reflected exactly what I was thinking. I could sit and just type away and ideas would flow like a river from my mind. When I started working on my traditional research paper, I felt that the flow of inspiration was crimped. Writer's block set in like a sickness. My way of thinking felt restricted because I had to turn my ideas that were stylistically informal and the many discussions that I had with people and put them into a formal paper. Traditional writing is also much more stressful than writing blog posts and tweets because a definite form is expected for your paper. Ideas have to gel the entire way through. I feel there is more freedom in blogging and other forms of social media because a definite form is not expected. <br />
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I feel that writing through the medium of social media and also writing traditionally both have their place. I have learned so much interacting with others to find research for my paper. It made my work feel like something living rather than something static. I loved getting feed back from people like my friend Matt at Deseret News. The concept of researching people rather than just topics also helped me view research in a very different light as opposed to just going to the library and looking up articles and books. Writing the traditional paper made me think more deeply about the topic I was writing on and helped me form a solid argument. The social media created a way I could network with others and get their opinions on my thoughts. I will definitely never approach a research the same way as I have in the past. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-63038668700184654162012-06-08T15:27:00.001-07:002012-06-11T13:39:56.185-07:00Final Draft. It is a relief to have this finished.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Hickey 1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Alan Hickey<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Dr. Burton<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">English 295<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">8 June 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Thoughts on Control: Hegemony and Choice
in the Digital Age<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">After clicking on a blue lollipop on my
Facebook page, a video began to play showing an eerie corridor in what seemed
to be a dilapidated psychiatric ward. The camera moved down the hallway and turned
into one of the rooms. In the room sat a man with a grubby, white tank top and
greasy hair. He was sitting in front of a computer searching some website. As
the camera moved closer to the man, I was shocked to see pictures and
information from my Facebook page on the screen of his computer. He searched
through my pictures and I cringed as his dirty hands stroked the mouse as a
sign of crazed pleasure. After searching my photos, he input my information
into a search engine and brought up directions to my home. The man then slowly
turned his head from the screen and looked directly at me with crazed eyes and
a wicked smirk. From outside, I heard a car door slam, and I jumped with terror
thinking that I was about to die (Jameson).
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Although this video’s purpose was
directed to educate people about the physical dangers of putting too much
information on the Internet, it raises many questions about how personal
information can be used that is on the Web. Companies like Google and Facebook
are able to amass hundreds of pages of personal information on users, from
which items people are searching for, to even addresses and private
conversations (Humphries). This control over personal information has given
many technology companies the clichéd title of “Big Brother,” coined from
George Orwell’s novel, <i>1984</i>, where
Big Brother is the political figurehead of a totalitarian government that
controls almost every aspect of peoples’ lives<i>. </i>A great concern echoing throughout today’s digital world is over
the access allowed to personal information and how this information is used. <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The issue of the control of information
makes people wonder how much influence technology companies have on
individuals. A question that persists is: Are these companies “Big Brothers”
that seek to control consumers’ lives?
The argument of this paper is: not really. Although many believe that the world of digital
media is being controlled by contrived ideological hegemonic systems created by
technology companies, such as Google, Facebook, and Apple, this control is
mostly imagined because consumers of digital media are able to control the
actions of companies through acts of creation and the use of purchasing power.
These acts inspire competition and disavow companies of dominance and control. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">First, in order to understand
how technology companies use types of hegemony to try and control consumers, it
is important to understand the basics of hegemony. While in prison for 11 years,
Antonio Gramsci, a member of the Italian Communist party and an intellectual,
wrote volumes of criticism against the fascist regime of Mussolini through the
guise of literary and cultural criticism (Burke). Gramsci’s criticism presented
in his <i>Prison Notebooks</i> contains
theories of hegemony describing how hegemonies can be enforced through two
distinct ways: coercive means, usually by the “political society,” or
“spontaneous” consent given by the masses in reaction to the ideology of the
“dominant fundamental group” (Gramsci 145). Gramsci prefaces his description of
these two forms of hegemony by putting it in the context of how intellectuals
are bred and developed through educational systems. According to Gramsci, a
person’s intellect is determined by how well they are educated and influenced by
a school (143). Accordingly, the success of a hegemonic system is based on how
well an ideology is promulgated and followed by the masses. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Although technology companies
are not all powerful entities like the totalitarian regime of the Party in <i>1984</i>, they exhibit aspects of the second
form of hegemonic control, or ideological hegemony, as they seek to advance the
holdings of their individual companies. In the novel, Orwell plays with
different theories of how totalitarian regimes control their subjects: through
mass presence, control of the media, social interaction, and compliant
dependency. These ideas apply to any type of ideological or coercive hegemony
and are applicable to today’s digital world. Massive companies like Google, Facebook,
and Apple are accused to use similar means of control, as described in Orwell's
book, to influence a society of consumers to place trust in their products.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In <i>1984,</i> one
method used by the Party’s hegemonic system to keep party members in line is
through the use of mass presence. In the book, every Party member’s home has a
piece of technology known as a telescreen. These screens provide a way for
Party members to constantly be fed propaganda by the Party and also constantly
be observed. This constant observation keeps the subjugated citizens of
Orwell’s world mostly in submission to the decrees of the government. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Winston Smith, the protagonist, only finds ways to rise against
the hegemonic system by being able to get away from the all-seeing eye of Big
Brother. He does this by finding places that are out of sight of the
telescreen, such as the small alcove in his room where he writes in his journal
(Orwell 9) or the room he rents above Mr. Charrington’s shop in run-down London
where he rendezvous with Julia for their sexual escapades (113-116). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">This idea of control by constant
observation, or presence, translates to the digital world and the means by
which technology companies seek to control consumers. For example, Google, by
amassing rights to be the default search engine on many Internet browsers, has
been able to create a vast presence on the Web that has even led to the
addition of "google" as a verb in the dictionary (“Google”). Tim Wu,
in a lecture about his book, <i>The Master
Switch</i>, explained that the reason people use Google so much is because of
this presence. Google being accessible almost everywhere makes it convenient to
use and logically people would ask themselves, “Why not use Google” (Wu).
Though this convenience makes it seem that Google is monopolizing the market as
an Internet browser, their overwhelming presence does not mean they directly
control which mode of consumption consumers use. The existence of competition
between other search engines such as Yahoo and MSN with Google adds evidence
that convenience does not equate to control (Baker). Google may remain as one
of the top grossing Internet companies, but that does not show it controls
individual’s ability to branch out from Google because there are no
restrictions to the contrary. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The hegemony of <i>1984 </i>is
also continued by the Party's ability to modify the past and control the
information that is consumed by individuals. Winston describes this constant
flux of truth by using the Newspeak word "doublethink," which means,
according to Winston, “[t]o know and not to know, to be conscious of complete
truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously
two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and
believing in both of them…” (Orwell 23). The idea of changing or controlling
what information people are privy to is part of the reality of the digital
world. Google has certain algorithms that modify searches to personalize
them for each of their individual customers based on their search history and
perceived interests (Levy). This in effect censors the kind of information you
are able to view when surfing the Internet. Though this algorithm can in theory
limit the kinds of search results given according to individual preferences,
Google does not have the ability to control how this information is used by
each consumer. Google is unable to dominate the potential for creation of
individuals who use its product, and therefore the company does not maintain
complete control. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Another aspect of control
that is part of the hegemony in Orwell’s book is the Party’s attempt to control
individuals through social interaction. As a way to imprint their ideology on
party members, the Party organizes certain club organizations for youth, like
the Spies. The Spies organization is specifically organized to instill
principles of loyalty to the Party in youth by teaching them how to recognize
potential dissension from party policies by others. The narrator describes them
as “being horrible…by means of such organizations as the Spies they were
systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produces
in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party” (Orwell
24). These clubs go on group hikes and other communal activities to create
bonds of familiarity with its members that would grow into a feeling of being
part of something greater than each individual alone. This social interaction
used by the Party is also a method that is used to invite consumers to
willingly consent to use a product.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In the digital world, and
example of how social interaction is used to try and control consumers is Facebook.
The company uses social interaction as one of its products and also as a way to
promote itself. Facebook is a social networking site that allows individuals to
create individualized profiles and share information with friends for free.
This product was made popular because of the ability to easily connect with
those that you know and communicate with them freely about almost anything. The
popularity of Mark Zuckerberg’s product was bred on the “club” mentality of
social interaction, as described with the Spies previously. This mode to
establish ideological hegemony has appeared to be successful and has brought
millions of users under the umbrella of Facebook, but that does not mean that
Facebook is able to control these consumers’ decisions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Facebook’s lack of control
has recently been revealed with the company’s decision to go public. Many
investors have tried to jump ship as the price of shares fell below the
estimated $38 per share (“Facebook IPO…”). These consumers with investments in
Facebook were not tethered to the company just because of the opportunity for
social networking. They had personal interests in the company that were not
met, and they chose to act on these interests for their personal welfare. This
shows that Facebook did not have enough control over investors and consumers of
its product to stop them from losing faith in the company’s direction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">One last aspect of
ideological hegemonic control used in <i>1984</i>
that is applicable to digital media is the process of how the Party made its
members dependent upon its services for basic necessities and wants. Throughout
the text, Winston uses products controlled and distributed by the party.
Products like cigarettes, razors, gin, and even chocolate are produced and
controlled by the direct influence of the regime and competition is
nonexistent. This form of Communism creates a narrowed society where each
individual’s options of consumption are limited. This compliant dependency that
Party members have with the regime of Big Brother is similar to the
"walled-garden" that Apple has created for hardware users (Burton). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The world of Apple products
includes iMacs, iPads, iPhones, iPods, and MacBooks. These products each have
the capacity to sync with one another and have software that can only be used
between Apple devices. For example, iTunes limits users to how audio media can
be played and shared due to copyright and certain restrictions Apple places on
the sold content. Further, Apple's apps can only be purchased from the Apple
store and are not freely open to users of Apple products. These forms of
product control create a niche for consumers that invites them to become
compliant with their dependency on the company for their products. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Even with this “walled
garden” of exclusive use, Apple can be controlled depending on the actions of
consumers to buy their products. Steve Jobs, the former CEO and co-founder of
Apple, stated in an interview that his whole goal was “to create the best
product possible for consumers” (Jobs). Because Apple has based its marketing
strategy on free market principles, resistance to its ideological hegemony is
simply a matter of consumers understanding their right to purchasing power. The
competition that continues to exist between PCs and Apple’s Mac products shows
that complete dominance of the hardware industry is currently out of Apple’s
grasp. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In the digital world, there
is no one dominant hegemonic system vying for complete control over the lives
of consumers. Rather, there are many smaller divisions of hegemonies that seek
to control only certain aspects of consumers’ lives. The examples used previously
demonstrate that technology companies seeking to control consumers will use
many avenues to discriminate their ideologies, as represented by their
products. It is left to the consumer to choose whether they are going to be
controlled or not. Greg Bayles, a student studying literature in the digital
age, commented, </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">“I feel like people DO have
the power to escape the control and influence (for now) o[f] large companies
like Google, etc., but it seems that most people are completely content within
their walled gardens…if people are willing to hold on to (or unable to let go
of) things that they hate, what is to discourage people from using services
that actually help them but make them dependent upon large media corporations”
(Bayles)?</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">This dichotomy that Greg
highlights is difficult to address, but the example of Winston in </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">1984 </i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">gives some answers. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Throughout <i>1984</i>, Winston resists the Party’s
ideological controls, such as the Two Minutes Hate and other propaganda of the
Party, through his act of keeping a journal (Orwell 14). In the story, Winston
purchases an illegal journal from a small shop outside of the Party’s constant
surveillance and begins to record his thoughts and feelings about his life and his
understanding of the negative influence of the Party. In reaction to the
Party’s mode of oppression, Winston pens repeatedly the phrase, “DOWN WITH BIG
BROTHER” (19). In this act of creation,
Winston reveals that he is not completely controlled by the domineering eye of
Big Brother. The whole of act of journal writing in the novel represents
humanities ability to have freedom of will no matter what modes of hegemony are
used to control them. Not only does this form of creativity allow Winston to
not be controlled, it gives him a voice to call known and unknown others to
embrace their unalienable freedom of choice. Winston writes to these others by
saying:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">To the future or the past, to
a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not
live alone—to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone: From
the age of uniformity, from the age of solitude, from the age of Big Brother,
from the age of double think—greetings! (26-27)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">This statement is a symbol of how hegemony, both ideological and
coercive, can be resisted and an individuals freedom be maintained through an
act of creation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Along with Winston’s
resistance through acts of creation, his acts of purchasing products outside the
reach of Party control correlate to a consumer’s ability to step outside the
supposed brick walls of brand names and main-line technological products and
individually break down the burgeoning technological monopolies. As mentioned
before, Winston first stumbles upon a small shop outside the domain of the
Party, and he buys a small journal. This shop, mentioned previously, is
frequented by Winston throughout the novel and on another occasion, he chooses
to buy a small glass paperweight with coral at its center. Winston notices the
paperweight for its beauty, which drastically contrasts with the utilitarian
mindset of the Party. This beauty attracts Winston’s attention, but is not the
complete reason why he chooses to buy the item. According to the text, “what
appealed to [Winston] about it was not so much its beauty as the air it seemed
to possess of belonging to an age quite different from the present one” (Orwell
81). His reasoning reflects a sense of rebellion in the act of purchasing the
item because it represented something different from the world of Big Brother. Just
like Winston, the monopolized products of corporate giants can be
circumnavigated if individuals choose to walk outside the walled gardens. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In today’s digital world
there are many companies that exhibit hegemonic tendencies. These companies do
not represent an overpowering totalitarian regime as described in Orwell’s <i>1984, </i>but do represent entities that
seek to control aspects of peoples lives. Through acts of creation and also
exercising purchasing power, individuals can remain untethered by the grasping
hands of technology companies and maintain autonomy in the digital world. It is left to individuals to choose to bridle these companies by keeping them in
check. I would invite all who read this paper to evaluate how controlled you
feel and seek to liberate yourselves by following some of the ideas presented. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Works
Cited <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Baker, Loren. “Yahoo and MSN
Prove Competition for Google.” <i>Search
Engine Journal</i>. Search Engine Journal. 2012. Web. 7 June 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Bayles, Greg. Weblog comment.
<i>Bravely Becoming Part of the New World</i>.
Alan Hickey. 4 June 2012. Web. 7 June 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Burke, Barry. “Antonio
Gramsci, Schooling and Education.” <i>The
Encyclopedia of Informal Education</i>. YMCA George Williams College. 2005.
Web. 6 June 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Burton, Gideon. “Can an Apple
Addict be an Advocate for Openness?” <i>Digital
Civilization</i>. Gideon Burton. 3 February 2012. Web. 7 June 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">“Facebook IPO Mishandling
Hurt Investor Confidence – TD Ameritrade.” <i>Reuters</i>.
Thomson Reuters. 7 June 2012. Web. 7 June 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">“Google.” <i>Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary</i>.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012. Web. 6 June 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
<div style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Gramsci, Antonio. <i>Selections from the Prison Notebooks of
Antonio Gramsci</i>. Eds. Quentin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith. London:
Elecbook, 1999. Web. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: 200%; text-indent: -0.5in;">Humphries,
Matthew. “Facebook Stores up to 800 Pages of Personal Data per User Account.”</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Geek.com</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">. Ziff Davis Inc., 28 Sept. 2011. Web. 7
June 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Jameson, Bobby. “Take this
Lollipop.” <i>Takethislollipop.com</i>.
Bobby Jameson. n.d. Web. 8 June 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Jobs, Steve. “Steve Jobs Full
Interview at 2010 D8 Conference w/Mossberg.” Youtube, 8 Oct. 2011. Web. 7 June
2012. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Levy, Steven. “Exclusive: How
Google’s Algorithm Rules the Web.” <i>Wired
Magazine</i>. Wired.com, 2012. Web. 7 June 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Orwell, George. <i>1984</i>.
New York: Penguin Books, 1984. Print. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Wu, Tim. “The Master Switch.”
Berkman Institute for Internet and Society. Harvard Law School, Boston. 11 Jan.
2011. Lecture. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-24404281326550710292012-06-06T11:49:00.003-07:002012-06-06T11:49:31.971-07:00Rough Draft with New Intro<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thoughts on Control: Hegemony and Choice
in the Digital Age<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
period of human history currently playing out has been deemed the Information
Age. With a simple click, a seemingly infinite amount of information is
accessible to practically anyone for free, or reasonable prices. This
information ranges from nonessential facts amassed on sites like Wikipedia, to
personal profiles created on Facebook detailing the basic aspects of peoples’
lives. A great concern in the digital world of today is the access allowed to
personal information and how this information is used. Companies like Google
and Facebook are able to amass hundreds of pages of personal information on
users, from what search items people are looking for to even addresses and
private conversations. This control over personal information has given many
companies the clichéd title of “Big Brother,” coined from George Orwell’s novel
<i>1984. </i>For example, Facebook has been
accused of selling personal information of consumers to marketing companies and
ad agencies in order to make more profit. In today’s digital world, companies
appear to be vying for control of this personal information amassed from
consumers and also the means by which to use it to make profit. The mode by
which these corporations seem to control consumers is by creating ideological
hegemonies, which make consumers compliant to these privacy risks. Although
many believe that the world of digital media is being controlled by these hegemonic
systems created by companies such as Google, Facebook, and Apple, this control
is mostly imagined because consumers of digital media are able to control the
actions of companies using capitalistic ideals to inspire competition and
disavow them of dominance and control. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In George Orwell's dystopian novel, <i>1984</i>, the subject
of governmental control and the perpetuation of a coercive and ideological hegemonic
system are examined using the totalitarian regime of the Party with "Big
Brother" at its head. Orwell plays with different theories of how totalitarian
regimes control their subjects: through mass presence, control of the media,
social interaction, and compliant dependency. These ideas apply to any type of ideological
or coercive hegemony and are applicable to our digital world today. Massive
companies such as Google, Facebook, and Apple are accused to use similar means
of control as described in Orwell's book to influence a society of consumers to
place trust in their products.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Even with these supposed controls placed on consumers, this does
not mean that these companies actually control individuals. While I was reading
through <i>1984</i>, I was impressed by the
main protagonist’s resistance to the Party’s ideological controls, such as the Two
Minutes Hate and other propaganda of the Party, through his act of keeping a
journal (Orwell 14). In the story, Winston purchases an illegal journal and
begins to record his thoughts and feelings about his life and the negative
influence of the Party. In reaction to the Party’s mode of oppression, Winston
pens repeatedly the phrase, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” (Orwell 19). In this act of
creation, Winston reveals that he is not completely controlled by the
domineering eye of Big Brother. The whole of act of journal writing in the
novel represents humanities ability to have freedom of will no matter what
modes of hegemony are used to control them. Not only does this form of
creativity allow Winston to not be controlled, it gives him a voice to call
known and unknown others to embrace their unalienable freedom of choice. Winston
writes to these others by saying:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">To the future or the past, to a time when thought is free, when
men are different from one another and do not live alone—to a time when truth
exists and what is done cannot be undone: From the age of uniformity, from the
age of solitude, from the age of Big Brother, from the age of double
think—greetings! (Orwell 26-27)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">This
statement is a symbol of how hegemony, both ideological and coercive, can be
resisted and an individuals freedom be maintained. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Fiction is not the only realm where writing has been symbolic of
resistance to hegemony. While in prison, Antonio Gramsci wrote volumes of
criticism against the fascist regime of Mussolini through the guise of literary
and cultural criticism. Just like Winston, Gramsci was able to maintain his
impregnable freedom of will and thought until his death in 1937 after 11 years
in prison (Burke). Gramsci’s criticism presented in his <i>Prison Notebooks</i> contains theories of hegemony describing how
hegemonies can be enforced through two distinct ways: coercive means, usually
by the “political society,” or “spontaneous” consent given by the masses in
reaction to the ideology of the “dominant fundamental group” (Gramsci 145).
Forms of this second kind of hegemony, or ideological hegemony, are being
employed by the mega-technology companies of today to convince people to use
their products. Examining the methods of the Party in Orwell’s novel in
comparison to the methods employed by companies will help explicate this form
of hegemony used by these companies, and also help reveal why these methods do
not actually control individuals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In <i>1984,</i> one method used by the Party’s hegemonic
system to keep party members in line is through the use of mass presence. In
the book, every Party member’s home has a piece of technology known as a
telescreen. These screens provide a way for Party members to constantly be fed
propaganda by the Party and also constantly be observed. This constant
observation keeps the subjugated citizens of Airstrip One mostly in submission
to the decrees of the government. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Winston,
the protagonist, only finds ways to rise against the hegemonic system by being
able to get away from the all-seeing eye of Big Brother. He does this by
finding places that are out of sight of the telescreen, such as the small
alcove in his room where he writes in his journal (Orwell 9) or the room he
rents above Mr. Charrington’s shop in run-down London where he rendezvous with
Julia for their sexual escapades (113-116). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">This idea of control by constant observation, or presence,
translates to the digital world. Google, by amassing rights to be the default
search engine on many Internet browsers, has been able to create a vast
presence on the Web that has even led to the addition of "google" as
a verb in the dictionary (Merriam Webster Online). Tim Wu, in a webinar about
his book, <i>The Master Switch</i>,
explained that the reason people use Google so much is because of this
presence. Google being accessible almost everywhere makes it convenient to use
and logically people would ask themselves, “Why not use Google” (Wu Webinar). Though
this convenience makes it seem that Google is monopolizing the market as an
Internet browser, their overwhelming presence does not mean they directly
control which mode of consumption consumers use. The existence of competition
between other search engines such as Yahoo and MSN with Google adds evidence
that convenience does not equate to control (SEJ). Google may remain as one of
the top grossing Internet companies, but that does not show it controls
individuals ability to create and branch out from Google because there are no
restrictions to the contrary. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The hegemony of <i>1984 </i>is also continued by the
Party's ability to modify the past and control the information that is consumed
by individuals. Winston describes this constant flux of truth by using the
Newspeak word "doublethink," which means, according to Winston, “[t]o
know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling
carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled
out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them…” (Orwell
23). The idea of changing or controlling what information people are privy to
is part of the reality of the digital world. Google, for example, has
certain algorithms that modify searches to personalize them for each of
their individual customers based on their search history and perceived
interests (Levy). This in effect censors the kind of information you are able
to view when surfing the Internet. Though this algorithm can in theory limit
the kinds of search results given according to individual’s preferences, Google
does not have the ability to control how this information is used by each
consumer. Google is unable to dominate the potential for creation of
individuals who use its product, and therefore the company does not maintain
complete control. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Another aspect of control that is part of the hegemony in Orwell’s
book is the Party’s attempt to control individuals through social interaction.
As a way to imprint their ideology on party members, the Party organized
certain club organizations for youth, like the Spies. The Spies organization
was specifically organized to instill principles of loyalty to the Party in
youth by teaching them how to recognize potential dissension from party
policies by others. They Spies were even known to turn their own parents into
the Thought Police for crimes against Big Brother (Orwell 24). These clubs went
on group hikes and other communal activities to create bonds of familiarity
with its members that would grow into a feeling of being part of something
greater than each individual alone. This social interaction breeds brotherhood
that not only bonds the Spies together, but also binds them in commitment to
following the party. This social interaction used by the Party is also a method
that is used to invite consumers to willingly consent to use a product.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In the digital world, Facebook embodies a company that has used
social interaction as one of their products and also as a way to promote their
product. Facebook is a social networking site that allows individuals to create
individualized profiles and share information with friends for free. This
product was made popular because of the ability to easily connect with those
that you know and communicate with them freely about almost anything. The
popularity of Mark Zuckerberg’s product was bred on the “club” mentality of
social interaction, as described with the Spies previously. This mode to
establish ideological hegemony has appeared to be successful and has brought
millions of users under the umbrella of Facebook, but that does not mean that
Facebook is able to control these consumers’ decisions. Facebook’s lack of
control has recently been revealed with the company’s decision to go public. Many
investors have tried to jump ship as the price of shares fell below the
estimated $38 per share (Bloomberg). These consumers with investments in
Facebook were not tethered to the company just because of the opportunity for
social networking. They had personal interests in the company that were not met,
and they chose to act on these interests for their personal welfare. This shows
that Facebook did not have enough control over investors and consumers of its
product to stop them from losing faith in the company’s direction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">One last aspect of ideological hegemonic control used in <i>1984</i> that is applicable to digital media
is the process of how the Party made its members dependent upon their services
for basic necessities and wants. Throughout the text, Winston Smith uses
products controlled and distributed by the party. Products like cigarettes,
razors, gin, and even chocolate are produced and controlled by the direct influence
of the regime and competition is nonexistent. This form of Communism creates a
narrowed society where each individual’s options of consumption are limited. This
compliant dependency that Party members have with the regime of Big Brother is
similar to the "walled-garden" that Apple has created for hardware
users (Burton). The world of Apple products includes iMacs, iPads, iPhones, iPods,
and MacBooks. These products each have the capacity to sync with one another
and have software that can only be used between Apple devices. Many products
like iTunes limits users to how audio media can be played and shared due to
copyright and certain restrictions Apple places on the sold content. Further,
Apple's apps can only be purchased from the Apple store and are not freely open
to users of Apple products. These forms of product control create a niche for
consumers that invites them to become compliant with their dependency on the
company for their products. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Even with this “walled garden” of exclusive use, Apple can be
controlled depending on the actions of consumers to buy their products. Steve
Jobs, the former CEO and founder of Apple, stated in an interview that his
whole goal was “to create the best product possible for consumers” (Steve Jobs
interview). Because Apple has based its marketing strategy off of capitalistic
principles, resistance to its ideological hegemony is simply a matter of
choice. The competition that continues to exist between PCs and Apple shows
that complete dominance of the hardware industry is out of Apple’s grasp.
Consumers dictate how companies fair on the market are able to control
companies’ actions through purchasing power. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment--></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-58518478241912093152012-06-04T13:06:00.001-07:002012-06-04T13:06:21.567-07:00Thoughts on Control: Hegemony and Choice in the Digital Age<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7820635414682329"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thoughts on Control: Hegemony and Choice in the Digital Age</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Humanity, as a whole, desires to rise above oppression and embrace principles of liberty that enable them to have freedom of expression. In today’s digital world, there are many companies that appear to be vying for control of the information presented on the Internet and also the means by which to access this material. The control manifested by these corporate giants is sometimes assumed to seep into the lives of individual consumers and strip them of their ability to choose what kind of media they consume and create. The mode by which these corporations seem to control consumers is by creating ideological hegemonies as opposed to using coercive means. Although many believe that the world of digital media is being controlled by these hegemonic systems created by companies such as Google, Facebook, and Apple, this control is mostly imagined because consumers of digital media are able choose which media they consume and create freely.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In George Orwell's dystopian novel, </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1984</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the subject of governmental control and the perpetuation of a coercive and ideological hegemonic system are examined using the totalitarian regime of the Party with "Big Brother" at its head. Orwell plays with different theories of how totalitarian regimes control their subjects: through mass presence, control of the media, social interaction, and ideological brainwashing. These ideas apply to any type of ideological or coercive hegemony and are applicable to our digital world today. Massive companies such as Google, Facebook, and Apple are accused to use similar means of control as described in Orwell's book to influence a society of consumers to place trust in their products.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even with these supposed controls placed on consumers, this does not mean that these companies actually control individuals. While I was reading through </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1984</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I was impressed by the main protagonist’s resistance to the Party’s ideological controls, such as the Two Minutes Hate and other propaganda of the Party, through his act of keeping a journal (Orwell 14). In the story, Winston purchases an illegal journal and begins to record his thoughts and feelings about his life and the negative influence of the Party. In reaction to the Party’s mode of oppression, Winston pens repeatedly the phrase, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” (Orwell 19). In this act of creation, Winston reveals that he is not completely controlled by the domineering eye of Big Brother. The whole of act of journal writing in the novel represents humanities ability to have freedom of will no matter what modes of hegemony are used to control them. Not only does this form of creativity allow Winston to not be controlled, it gives him a voice to call known and unknown others to embrace their unalienable freedom of choice. Winston writes to these others by saying:</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To the future or the past, to a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not live alone—to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone: From the age of uniformity, from the age of solitude, from the age of Big Brother, from the age of double think—greetings! (Orwell 26-27)</span></b></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This statement is a symbol of how hegemony, both ideological and coercive, can be resisted and an individuals freedom be maintained.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fiction is not the only realm where writing has been symbolic of resistance to hegemony. While in prison, Antonio Gramsci wrote volumes of criticism against the fascist regime of Mussolini through the guise of literary and cultural criticism. Just like Winston, Gramsci was able to maintain his impregnable freedom of will and thought until his death in 1937 after 11 years in prison (Burke). Gramsci’s criticism presented in his </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prison Notebooks</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> contains theories of hegemony describing how hegemonies can be enforced through two distinct ways: coercive means, usually by the “political society,” or “spontaneous” consent given by the masses in reaction to the ideology of the “dominant fundamental group” (Gramsci 145). Forms of this second kind of hegemony, or ideological hegemony, are being employed by the mega-technology companies of today to convince people to use their products. Examining the methods of the Party in Orwell’s novel in comparison to the methods employed by companies will help explicate this form of hegemony used by these companies, and also help reveal why these methods do not actually control individuals. </span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1984,</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> one method used by the Party’s hegemonic system to keep party members in line is through the use of mass presence. In the book, every Party member’s home has a piece of technology known as a telescreen. These screens provide a way for Party members to constantly be fed propaganda by the Party and also constantly be observed. This constant observation keeps the subjugated citizens of Airstrip One mostly in submission to the decrees of the government.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Winston, the protagonist, only finds ways to rise against the hegemonic system by being able to get away from the all-seeing eye of Big Brother. He does this by finding places that are out of sight of the telescreen, such as the small alcove in his room where he writes in his journal (Orwell 9) or the room he rents above the prole’s shop where he rendezvous with Julia for their sexual escapades (113-116).</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This idea of control by constant observation, or presence, translates to the digital world. Google, by amassing rights to be the default search engine on many Internet browsers, has been able to create a vast presence on the Web that has even led to the addition of "google" as a verb in the dictionary (Merriam Webster Online). Tim Wu, in a webinar about his book, </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Master Switch</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, explained that the reason people use Google so much is because of this presence. Google being accessible almost everywhere makes it convenient to use and logically people would ask themselves, “Why not use Google” (Wu Webinar). Though this convenience makes it seem that Google is monopolizing the market as an Internet browser, their overwhelming presence does not mean they directly control which mode of consumption consumers use. The existence of competition between other search engines such as Yahoo and MSN with Google adds evidence that convenience does not equate to control (SEJ). Google may remain as one of the top grossing Internet companies, but that does not show it controls individuals ability to create and branch out from Google because there are no restrictions to the contrary. </span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The hegemony of </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1984 </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is also continued by the Party's ability to modify the past and control the information that is consumed by individuals. Winston describes this constant flux of truth by using the Newspeak word "doublethink," which means, according to Winston, “[t]o know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them…” (Orwell 23). The idea of changing or controlling what information people are privy to is part of the reality of the digital world. Google, for example, has certain algorithms that modify searches to personalize them for each of their individual customers based on their search history and perceived interests (Levy). This in effect censors the kind of information you are able to view when surfing the Internet. Though this algorithm can in theory limit the kinds of search results given according to individual’s preferences, Google does not have the ability to control how this information is used by each consumer. Google is unable to dominate the potential for creation of individuals who use its product, and therefore the company does not maintain complete control.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another aspect of control that is part of the hegemony in Orwell’s book is the Party’s attempt to control individuals through social interaction. As a way to imprint their ideology on party members, the Party organized certain club organizations for youth, like the Spies. The Spies organization was specifically organized to instill principles of loyalty to the Party in youth by teaching them how to recognize potential dissension from party policies by others. They Spies were even known to turn their own parents into the Thought Police for crimes against Big Brother (Orwell 24). These clubs went on group hikes and other communal activities to create bonds of familiarity with its members that would grow into a feeling of being part of something greater than each individual alone. This social interaction breeds brotherhood that not only bonds the Spies together, but also binds them in commitment to following the party. This social interaction used by the Party is also a method that is used to invite consumers to willingly consent to use a product.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the digital world, Facebook embodies a company that has used social interaction as one of their products and also as a way to promote their product. Facebook is a social networking site that allows individuals to create individualized profiles and share information with friends for free. This product was made popular because of the ability to easily connect with those that you know and communicate with them freely about almost anything. The popularity of Michael Zuckerberg’s product was bred on the “club” mentality as described with the Spies previously. This mode to establish ideological hegemony has appeared to be successful and has brought millions of users under the umbrella of Facebook, but that does not mean that Facebook is able to control these consumers’ decisions. Facebook’s lack of control has recently been revealed with the company’s decision to go public.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some argue that the establishment of hegemonic systems is a potential reality because of the ignorance and consumerist nature of individuals. Alan Kirby..;As consumers interact with literature on the internet, they are able to create meaning for themselves from their intimate relationship with material. Kirby argues that this will make individuals ignorant and cause them to conform. In light of these thoughts, I would add that this ignorance and conformist mentality can be used by companies to control individuals in a hegemonic system. By using different forms of advertisement and creating different portals to create interactive content or pleasurable online experiences, companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple are enabled to influence users and steer them in the direction they see best.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My ideas have been greatly influenced by the posts of Jonathan Erdman and his blog, </span><a href="http://theosproject.blogspot.com/2010/04/1984-by-george-orwell.html" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the Theos Project</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. We have been able to have many discussions explaining our concerns with the control that different companies have over peoples' lives and the possibilities of too much power being exercised by these mega-technology companies. We feel that it is necessary that consumers not be ignorant and take a stake in protecting themselves from being constantly controlled by being aware of these companies influences.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By the end of </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1984</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Winston has been completely brainwashed and pronounces that he loves "Big Brother." His ideas become twisted because of the forceful means used to curb his creativity and free thought. He is controlled by the different means employed in hegemonic systems. Today, the digital world is controlled by companies that seemingly control our lives without our complaint. We sometimes ignorantly consume products, both hardware and software, and are joyed because easy access to the great World Wide Web of information floating in the ether that is at our finger tips. Sadly, if we are not careful, we may be dragged into a world where information and accessibility to the great information and social interaction on the Web could bring us into a compliant subjection to the whims of companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple. People need to be aware of themselves on the Web and need to be protected from these possible hegemonic systems. Being able to be informed about the attitudes of these companies will help get us out of this ignorant, conformist mindset and not perpetuate a possible dystopia as described in </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1984. </span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-55838754280386394972012-06-01T07:00:00.000-07:002012-06-02T22:13:26.519-07:00Thoughts on Control<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is my trailer for my upcoming paper about the ideas of control in Orwell's <i>1984</i> and how they overlap with the digital world. The writing of Winston became my voice for the paper. I would love to hear what you think.<br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-46926506348602867822012-05-30T12:12:00.000-07:002012-05-30T13:32:04.265-07:00Companies of Control: Hegemonic Systems from Orwell to the Digital Age<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The development of society has been based around ideas of utopias and dystopias. From Thomas Moore to George Orwell, the state of society has been weighed and measured. The premise for these theories of the formation of society is founded in a great power struggle over the allowance of creativity of the individual and the control of the state, or acting controlling party (i.e. religion, education, or government). Althusser's theories of control concerning the controlling natures of ideological state apparatuses (ISAs) and repressive state apparatuses (RSAs) give a great introspection into the means of how hegemonic systems can be perpetuated in society. In Orwell's dystopian novel, <i>1984</i>, the subject of governmental control and the perpetuation of a hegemonic system is examined using the totalitarian regime of the Party with "Big Brother" at its head. Orwell plays with different theories of how totalitarian regimes control their subjects: through observation, through control of the media, and through ideological brainwashing. These ideas apply to any type of hegemony and are applicable to our digital world today. Massive companies such as Google, Facebook, and Apple use the same means of control as described in Orwell's book to influence a society of consumers to place trust in their products and be influenced by which information is promulgated on the Web by said companies and the means to acquire this information.<br />
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In <i>1984,</i> the hegemonic system created by the Party is kept in line by a system where the eyes of the party are ever present, the past is rewritten, and citizens are brainwashed to think certain ideas. In the book, in every Party members' home, there is a piece known as a telescreen. These screens provide a way for Party members to constantly be fed propaganda by the Party and also constantly be observed. This constant observation keeps the subjugated citizens of Airstrip One mostly in submission to the decrees of the government. Winston, the protagonist, only finds ways to rise against the hegemonic system by being able to get away from the all-seeing eye of "Big Brother." This idea of control by constant observation, or might I say presence, translates to the digital world. Google, by amassing rights to be the default search engine on many internet browsers, has been able to create a vast presence on the Web that has even led to the addition of "google" as a verb in the dictionary. Facebook has connected its services to millions of websites making it possible to critique the Web presence of companies and the ideas of millions of individuals with the simple click of a "Like" icon. Apple products, such as the iPhone, iPad, iMac, iPod, and assorted laptops sync together connecting a Mac user in a "walled garden" of hardware that allows for limited control.<br />
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The hegemony of <i>1984 </i>is also continued by the Party's ability to modify the past and control the information that is consumed by individuals. Winston describes this constant flux of truth by using the Newspeak word "doublethink." To garner more understanding about what this is, see this<a href="http://hickeyalan-eng295.blogspot.com/2012/05/doublethink.html"> post</a>. The idea of changing or controlling what information people are privy to is part of the reality of the digital world. Google, for example, has certain algorithms which modify searches to personalize them for each of their individual customers based on their search history and perceived interests. Thin in effect censors the kind of information you are able to view when surfing the Internet. A different example of this kind of control can be viewed from Apple's "walled garden" of hardware which isolates consumers.<br />
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The possible establishment of hegemonic systems is a possible reality because of the ignorance and consumerist nature of individuals according to Alan Kirby in his <a href="http://www.philosophynow.org/issues/58/The_Death_of_Postmodernism_And_Beyond">article</a>. I have examined his ideas in a previous blog post of mine found<a href="http://hickeyalan-eng295.blogspot.com/2012/05/pseudo-modernism-conformity-of.html"> here</a>. As consumers interact with literature on the internet, they are able to create meaning for themselves from their intimate relationship with material. Kirby argues that this will make individuals ignorant and cause them to conform. In light of these thoughts, I would add that this ignorance and conformist mentality can be used by companies to control individuals in a hegemonic system . By using different forms of advertisement and creating different portals to create interactive content or pleasurable online experiences, companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple are enabled to influence users and steer them in the direction they see best.<br />
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My ideas have been greatly influenced by the posts of Jonathan Erdman and his blog, <a href="http://theosproject.blogspot.com/2010/04/1984-by-george-orwell.html">the Theos Project</a>. We have been able to have many discussions explaining our concerns with the control that different companies have over peoples' lives and the possibilities of too much power being exercised by these mega-technology companies. We feel that it is necessary that consumers not be ignorant and take a stake in protecting themselves from being constantly controlled by being aware of these companies influences.<br />
<br />
By the end of <i>1984</i>, Winston has been completely brainwashed and pronounces that he loves "Big Brother." His ideas become twisted because of the forceful means used to curb his creativity and free thought. He is controlled by the different means employed in hegemonic systems. Today, the digital world is controlled by companies that seemingly control our lives without our complaint. We sometimes ignorantly consume products, both hardware and software, and are joyed because easy access to the great World Wide Web of information floating in the aether that is at our finger tips. Sadly, if we are not careful, we may be dragged into a world where information and accessibility to the great information and social interaction on the Web could bring us into a compliant subjection to the whims of companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple. People need to be aware of themselves on the Web and need to be protected from these possible hegemonic systems. Being able to be informed about the attitudes of these companies will help get us out of this ignorant, conformist mindset and not perpetuate a possible dystopia as described in <i>1984. </i><br />
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-54625493623110585522012-05-29T07:32:00.002-07:002012-05-29T07:32:45.804-07:00Somedays I Feel Like I am Slow Dancing in a Burning Room<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Waking up this morning, I stared at my ceiling wondering where I am headed in life. I feel that I am happy having a million things to do and never letting myself breathe. What am I trying to prove? Who am I trying to impress? As I fall deeper into stress and pain, I lose touch with what is happiness. In French, happiness, or le bonheur, is something found when we find ourselves. Today I feel like I am slow dancing in a world that is burning with information and events that I can't control or am helpless to take part in.<br />
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I think the mass companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple have sparked an age where information is accessible at the touch of a key. Google searches tell me what I need to know for my classes. Facebook updates inform me of my friends' lives, their troubles, and their joys. My Mac is the tool that I use to access these wondrous social networks and information centers almost instantly. But really, where do I fit in all of this? It makes me wonder about what is controlling my life. Am I in control, or am I letting technology integrate itself into my person and make me into a Borg? This is just some more brainstorming for the a mini-paper I have to post tomorrow about how the control of Google, Facebook, and Apple affect our lives almost like the control Big Brother and the Party have on Winston's life in Orwell's <i>1984. </i></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-56571529158003865292012-05-25T03:55:00.001-07:002012-05-25T03:55:57.170-07:00Seeking to Create a Fellowship of Ideas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
For part of our creative journey to create our research papers, Dr. Burton has asked us to create an annotated contact list of people we would like to contact for social proof and receive feedback from on our ideas. I call this part of the process "creating my fellowship."<br />
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Here are some of the ways that I have sought to experiment with social discovery:<br />
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I asked my friends what they thought about Orwell's <i>1984</i> in relation to <i>The Hunger Games</i> on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alan.hickey.10/posts/3997457980605">Facebook </a>and received multiple responses.<br />
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My friend Jon Oliver responded to my Facebook plea for help and sent me a link to a <a href="http://theosproject.blogspot.com/2010/04/1984-by-george-orwell.html">blog</a> written by Jonathan Erdman, a blogger who focuses on theological topics and branches out occasionally to do book reviews, with a review of <i>1984</i> and I started a conversation with him.<br />
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Jonathan Erdman sent me a link to an <a href="http://www.philosophynow.org/issues/58/The_Death_of_Postmodernism_And_Beyond">article</a> written by Alan Kirby, a Ph.D. in English Literature from Exeter College that studies about the effects of technology on the death of postmodern thought, and it would be great to get in touch with him.<br />
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I googled Alan Kirby and found his <a href="http://www.alanfkirby.com/">website.</a> I will do my best to get in touch with him and ask about his feelings concerning our consumerist society and how companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple are connected with the death of postmodernism.<br />
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Holly Bound, from our class, found Prof. Graham MacPhee, who studies modern British literary history and teaches at West Chester University, when she was looking at literary conference programs. He is giving a presentation at a literary conference in London this year, so I found him on Academia.edu and looked up some of his research. I found an <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/04/20/secret-british-colonial-archive-finally-released/">article</a> written by him and emailed him about it and he responded to me shortly after that.<br />
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Dr. Burton sent me a link to a <a href="http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2011/01/wu">webinar</a> that was given by Tim Wu at Harvard Law School concerning his book <i>The Master Switch</i>. Dr. Wu is a professor at Columbia Law School and his book delves into how technologies go through cycles of control. He applies these cycles to companies like Google and Apple. After watching the video and reading a little about the book, I sought to find <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/superwuster">Tim Wu</a> on Twitter and I started following him and sent him a tweet.<br />
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While searching on more about Tim Wu, I found a review of his book and it would be great to get in touch with the <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2010/12/ars-book-review-the-master-switch-by-tim-wu/">author of the review</a>, Timothy B. Lee, because he specializes in writing about technology, copyright, and internet privacy. I also started following him on Twitter.<br />
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I looked on <a href="http://goodreads.com/">goodreads.com</a> and found this<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7841446-in-the-plex"> book</a> about Google. After finding the book, I searched for the author, Steven Levy, and found his <a href="http://www.stevenlevy.com/">website</a>. Levy is a journalist that writes about technology and has published many other books than just <i>In the Plex</i>, like his book <i>Hackers</i>. I hope to contact him and see what his thoughts are.<br />
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This is just the beginning. I hope that my fellowship of web friends continues to grow. Social discovery is really propelling my work forward because these other people's excitement feeds my own. Their enthusiasm spurs my own and because their thoughts on issues are very current, I am able to continually reshape my thoughts and improve them as my dialogue with these enthusiasts and experts continues. Social discovery makes my work feel like it is actually important. I hope to be able to add more individuals to this list as I go. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-20045792336381345012012-05-23T10:19:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:22:08.843-07:00Entrepreneur or Big Brother?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Coming home from my mission in West Africa, I was faced with a Frostian decision. Rather than choosing which path to take, I had to decide whether to continue being a PC man or jump ship and swim to the island of Apple. I consulted the best source I knew: my younger sister. She had been using a MacBook Pro since her first year of college and could only tell me that there was nothing better than seeing the glow of the Apple insignia in a dark room. She cajoled me into turning away from my PC heritage (I had used a Dell XPS laptop my first year of college) and embrace the world of Apple products.<br />
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Now that I have been converted to the wonderful world of Mac, I have been immersed in a world full of the imagination of Apple's former CEO, Steve Jobs. This world is filled with iPods, iPads, iPhones, iMacs, iTunes, and laptops the size of a manilla folder. Those that are avid Mac users buy multiple products and are able to sink them together and share data from their desktops at home to their iPod Touches, MacBook Pros, or iPads. The hardware allows for you to be connected at all times (if internet is available) to a vast global community. My question is, will Apple's broad reach and ascent to the top of the most valuable<a href="http://www.millwardbrown.com/brandz/2012/Documents/2012_BrandZ_Top100_Chart.pdf"> international brands</a> turn the company into the next Big Brother, with the ghost of Steve Jobs at its head?<br />
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I was very interested in a blog post that was written by my professor, <a href="http://digitalcivilization.blogspot.com/2012/02/can-apple-addict-be-advocate-for.html">Gideon Burton</a>, where he examines the operations of Apple and how their restrictive practices may be the future of creativity in the digital age. Open sharing is wonderful, but also a potential nightmare for uniformity with product design and accessibility. Dr. Burton brings up some good points about how Apple's "walled garden" may be an oasis for creativity because of the level of importance placed on keeping Apple's products uniform where application sharing spans all of their products. He also says something interesting about how "sometimes, the way to be open is to be closed,"and relates it to Orwell's <i>1984. </i>In examining this thought further, I can see how this dabble in doublethink could actually go deeper.<br />
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The world of Apple is a niche community that is vastly expanding throughout the world. Those that own Mac products do feel like they are part of a club, as Dr. Burton suggests in his blog post. I can see how this club could develop into an elitist group that is constantly connected by some form of "telescreen" (using Orwell's terminology) that could lead to privacy issues. Mac products are the hardware that may one day connect us all and keep us connected to the line of some "Big Brother" figure.<br />
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This would be an interesting avenue to explore more. Dr. Burton suggested to me that I should look at Google and how their expanding presence in our lives could be related to how Big Brother was able to control the party members of Airstrip One. The same ideas might be applied to the world of Apple which is creating forms of control in their "walled garden" which keep people in and always looking for another upgrade to their hardware. Their restrictive policies draw people into the Apple community and once in, many people do not seek to leave.<br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-87494470092535884002012-05-21T11:04:00.002-07:002012-05-21T11:50:29.272-07:00Records of Rebellion: An Annotated Bibliography About the Power of Blogs to Change the World<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Here is a shot
at my thesis:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Although
blogging is primarily used as a mode of personal expression, this type of social media is becoming a tool for political activism and social change because it can reach a wide audience and is not heavily censored. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Amir-Ebrahimi, Masserat. “Transgression
in Narration: The Lives of Iranian Women in <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Cyberspace.”
<i>Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies</i>
4.3 (2008): 89-118. Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><a href="http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/10.2979/MEW.2008.4.3.89">http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/10.2979/MEW.2008.4.3.89</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">This
is a scholarly article printed in the <i>Journal
of Middle East Women’s Studies</i>. The author of this article discusses how
Iranian women have been breaking free of oppression in a society dictated by
Sharia law through the renouncement of socially accepted modes of dress, such
as veils, and also through the use of blogs as a way to openly discuss their
lives. This article was sent to me by my cohort in crime, Ashley Lewis, from
JSTOR. This article fits into my research because it gives a real life example
of how blogging has been used as a mode of rebellion against orthodox social
and political norms. Blogging was used by these Iranian women to give a true
depiction of their lives so that people would be persuaded to support their
cause of liberation from antiquated modes of social interaction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Bryan, Alexander. <i>The New Digital Storytelling: Creative Narratives with New Media</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Santa
Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2011. Print. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0313387494/ref=rdr_ext_tmb"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">http://www.amazon.com/dp/0313387494/ref=rdr_ext_tmb</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> This book is written to those
wanting to create literary material using forms of new media. The author talks
about creating ebooks and also blog narratives. I found this book while I was
searching Amazon.com for books related to blogging, and I thought that this
book would tie well into my research because it discusses how blogs can be used
as a medium to create literature that will affect a certain readership. I would
use this book to talk about the power of blogs generally. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Drezner, Daniel W., and Henry Farrell.
“Introduction: Blogs, Politics and Power: A <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Special
Issue of Public Choice.” <i>Public Choice</i>
34.1/2 (2008): 1-13. Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span><a href="http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/27698207?&Search=yes&searchText=Introduction&searchText=Power&searchText=Blogs%2C&searchText=Politics%2C&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3DIntroduction%3A%2BBlogs%2C%2BPolitics%2C%2Band%2BPower%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3D%26f1%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26Search%3DSearch%26sd%3D%26ed%3D%26la%3D%26jo%3D&prevSearch=&item=3&ttl=390&returnArticleService=showFullText"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/27698207</span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> This is a scholarly article that was
sent to me by Ashley Lewis from JSTOR. The authors of this article seek to give
an introduction to the issue of how blogging is affecting politics. They seek
to introduce the issue and talk generally about the questions that blogging is
raising in relation to political change. This relates to my research because
the article is giving a brief explanation of how blogs are being used to enact
change on a broad scale in the political sphere.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Dwan, David. “Truth and Freedom in
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.” <i>Philosophy
and <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Literature</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> 34.2 (2010): 381-393. Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://search.proquest.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/mlaib/docview/758415612/fulltext/136D52283B73204C373/13?accountid=4488"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">http://search.proquest.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/mlaib/docview/758415612/fulltext/136D52283B73204C373/13?accountid=4488</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> I found this scholarly article using
the MLA Bibliography database. The article is about the definition of truth
that Orwell promulgates throughout the book. This article is pertinent to my
research because it relates to the ideas presented in Kirby’s article about the
death of postmodern thought, and it can be related to the use of blogging to
establish truth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Esarey, Ashlely and Xiao Qiang.
“Political Expression in the Chinese Blogosphere: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Below
the Radar.” <i>Asian Survey</i> 48.5 (2008):
752-772. Print<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><a href="http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/10.1525/AS.2008.48.5.752">http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/10.1525/AS.2008.48.5.752<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">This
is a scholarly article that was sent to me by Ashley Lewis from JSTOR. This
article discusses the private political discourse that is occurring in China
through the medium of blogging. Bloggers are able to use satire and other means
of literary form online to critique the government without being repressed.
This fits into my research because the authors of the article describe how
blogging is being used as a medium to affect the public’s view of the
government in China. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Farrell, Henry, and Daniel W. Drezner.
“The Power and Politics of Blogs.” <i>Public
Choice</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">134.1/2
(2008): 15-30. Print. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/27698208?&Search=yes&searchText=Introduction&searchText=Power&searchText=Blogs%2C&searchText=Politics%2C&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3DIntroduction%3A%2BBlogs%2C%2BPolitics%2C%2Band%2BPower%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3D%26f1%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26Search%3DSearch%26sd%3D%26ed%3D%26la%3D%26jo%3D&prevSearch=&item=2&ttl=390&returnArticleService=showFullText"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/27698208</span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> I found this scholarly article on
JSTOR in connection to another article by these same authors, which was
referred to me by Ashley. This article is about how blogging is influential
because the mass readership of blogs is journalists and other social elites
that are able to influence decision-making in the political arena. This ties
directly into my research about the how blogs can be used to influence and
change political and social norms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Kirby, Alan. “The Death of Postmodernism
and Beyond.” <i>Philosophy Now</i>. <i>Philosophy <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Now</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> Magazine, Nov./Dec. 2006. Web. 20 May 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.philosophynow.org/issues/58/The_Death_of_Postmodernism_And_Beyond"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">http://www.philosophynow.org/issues/58/The_Death_of_Postmodernism_And_Beyond</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> This is an article that was sent to
me by a blogger named Jonathan Erdman whom I contacted through by efforts with
social discovery. This is an electronic copy of a scholarly article that
describes how postmodern thought is being replaced by a new pedagogy, called
“pseudo-modernism,” which has taken rise because of new technologies. The age
of no Truth is being replaced by a world where meaning is created by the
consumers of text. This fits into my research because the social media of
blogging is an attributing factor to the shift in thought pertaining to
literature and its use to affect a mass readership. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Rettberg, Jill Walker. <i>Blogging: Digital Media and Society Series</i>.
Malden, MA: Polity <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Press,
2008. Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> I found this scholarly monograph by
searching the Harold B. Lee Library catalog. This book discusses the history of
blogging and its implications in literature, journalism, and history. This book
definitely ties into my research because it gives an overview of blogging and
how it is being used in the world today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Somulu, Oreoluwa. “’Telling Our Own
Stories’: African Women Blogging for Social <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Change.”
<i>Gender and Development</i> 15.3 (2007):
477-489. Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/20461231?seq=1&Search=yes&searchText=african&searchText=women&searchText=bloggers&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dafrican%2Bwomen%2Bbloggers%26gw%3Djtx%26acc%3Don%26prq%3Dtelling%2Bour%2Bown%2Bstory%26Search%3DSearch%26hp%3D25%26wc%3Don&prevSearch=&item=3&ttl=100&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/20461231</span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> This is a scholarly article that was
sent to me by Ashley Lewis from JSTOR. This article is about a study that was
conducted about the subjects that African women are blogging about and how they
relate to the social issues that are prominent on the African continent. This
article is related to my research because it explores how blogs are being used
to call for social change and rebel against the social norms of society. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Trilling, Lionel. “George Orwell and the
Politics of Truth.” <i>The Moral Obligation
to be <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Intelligent: Selected Essays</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">. Ed. Leon Wieseltier. Evanston, IL:
Northwestern <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">University
Press, 2008. 259-74. Print. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I
found this book of essays using Google Books. The essay about Orwell was
mentioned in the selected list of bibliographical information and criticism in
my edition of <i>1984</i>. This essay is
about another work of Orwell’s, <i>Homage to
Catalonia</i>, but it describes what influenced Orwell’s perception of politics
and I want to relate that to the form of government he is writing about in <i>1984</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">My Reflection:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> This assignment really helped me see
the importance of collaboration. While we were in the library on Friday, Ashley
and I spent the hour in our cohort collaborating together on sources for each
other’s papers. We both were able to dabble with the BYU library catalogue and
many sites such as JSTOR and Google Scholar that led us to promising sites. Getting
to search for this information helped me gain a clearer direction of where I
wanted to go with my research. The articles that specifically talk about how
blogging has been used for political activism and going against social norms
made me want to discuss how blogging is being used in todays world to make a
real difference in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-5521556800127029602012-05-18T12:41:00.001-07:002012-05-18T12:41:26.948-07:00Pseudo-Modernism: The Conformity of the Collective<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In my efforts to experiment with social discovery, I was chanced to be sent a link to Jonathan Erdman's blog, <a href="http://theosproject.blogspot.com/2010/04/1984-by-george-orwell.html">The Theos Project</a>, by a friend of mine. After I commented on a review he did of George Orwell's <i>1984</i>, he responded to my comment and sent me a link to and article by Alan Kirby titled, "<a href="http://www.philosophynow.org/issues/58/The_Death_of_Postmodernism_And_Beyond">The Death of Postmodernism and Beyond</a>."Kirby's ideas revolve around his argument that postmodern thought is being subverted by a new paradigm, the period of <i>pseudo-modernism</i>.<br />
<br />
Postmodernism is marked by a belief that meaning cannot be derived from anything in the world around us. Truth is something that cannot be defined and beauty is something relative without a substantial definition. Pseudo-modernism, according to Kirby, "makes the individual's action the necessary condition of social product," or meaning found in texts. He goes on to explain that modern technology has made a world full of people that are ignorant because of the easy access to materials on the internet. Kirby takes the position that allowing readers to create meaning and cultural products through interaction with texts and visual media can make society ignorant. Reality is created through interaction, and because of this, Kirby says that material created during this period is "consumerist and conformist" due to globalization and our world revolving around common markets.<br />
<br />
I find his position very interesting in light of my own research into blogging and its affects on the world. Pseudo-modernism and its ideas that seem to subvert depth in the creative process because of the interaction of the masses is a real concern. Many people jump on the bandwagon of the latest fad, or the latest Youtube video that has garnered the highest hits. With this said, I think that the originality of the millions of blogs on the web allows for enough individualism that can create a reality full of deep thought that can keep the intellectual level of academia alive as technology continues to progress.<br />
<br />
I go back to Winston's journal to make my point. The journal he rights in are his personal thoughts against Big Brother and the Party. These thoughts are condemned by the establishment and rejected by the "conformist" populace of London's dystopia. Winston is going against the grain and his words are intended to aid those that will come after him. If blogging is used in this way, original thought will continue to be born and, though reality may seem in flux, people of like minds will have opportunities to collaborate on a more intimate level than ever before to keep our world structured in the way that is right in the eyes of God and noble men.<br />
<br />
I only bring God into this because the Grand Narratives of the postmodern era and the eternal truths they thought could not be answered are held by our Creator.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17ee93db938fujpg/original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17ee93db938fujpg/original.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
So, in conclusion, after having been a skeptic of social media in general, I have a great hope for the genesis of orignal thought and the rise of individuals who will have ideas that were at one time silenced because there was not forum for them to be expressed. Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media networks are mediums where thoughts can be expressed and thoughts can be critiqued and added upon by enthusiasts and peers to make a more perfect product. We should not shy away from the opportunities that new media is giving us, but embrace it and use it to carry the world to a heightened intellectual capacity with the content we post to the web. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-88776459411439111342012-05-16T10:59:00.000-07:002012-05-16T10:59:21.112-07:00My Story, His Story, Our Story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As I've been reading <i>1984 </i>again, I was really touched by the introduction that Winston writes in his journal. Here is what he said:<br />
<br />
"To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not live alone—to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone:"<br />
<br />
"From the age of uniformity, from the age of solitude, from the age of Big Brother, from the age of double think—greetings!"<br />
--George Orwell, <i>1984, </i>26-27<br />
<br />
When I read this passage again recently, I was struck by how Winston realized his journal writing was not just for himself, but for all those that would come after. He sought to write to give a legitimate history of his life, both the good experiences and the bad. His desire was to help someone beyond his time, beyond his periphery.<br />
<br />
Winston's turn to those outside his native time and space is something that is important in this age of social media and discovery. Blogging is a digital conversation medium that is comparable to Winston's journal writing, and Millions of people are sharing their personal experiences to vast audiences of enthusiasts and peers to benefit those that venture to read their words. The world of blogging is a vast one. There are mommy bloggers, star-crossed lovers and romantic bloggers, academic bloggers, etc. The list could go on. What is it that makes blogging such a popular medium where people feel comfortable sharing their personal thoughts? Is it the human need for understanding and acceptance that drives people to share their thoughts online to a innumerable audience?<br />
<br />
Something else about Winston's journal that I find fascinating is that he intended his words to make a difference. Blogging and other forms of social media like Facebook and Twitter have been used as ways to organize revolutions in the Middle East and <a href="http://socialcapital.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/twitter-facebook-and-youtubes-role-in-tunisia-uprising/">North Africa </a>and mobilize activists in support of causes like the <a href="http://www.kony2012.com/">Kony 2012</a> campaign. These new levels of social media are connecting the world in a more intimate way than ever before and they are being used as tools to affect change. How else has social media been used to affect the world at large?<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEn3-e70LU1oJREhawOOzEOBmDOSmAAgPapVbHIz2JVHb4E4SQ5eGnGSkXH68A9fSo5N24SQTfbJqdwP7ZQkvz-3Jdzqp8o0WxNXC_YLKjMho09AiiQBkZH3rMixxtGRLgN4Uyh2H51vI/s1600/blogger+logo+old+illustrations.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEn3-e70LU1oJREhawOOzEOBmDOSmAAgPapVbHIz2JVHb4E4SQ5eGnGSkXH68A9fSo5N24SQTfbJqdwP7ZQkvz-3Jdzqp8o0WxNXC_YLKjMho09AiiQBkZH3rMixxtGRLgN4Uyh2H51vI/s320/blogger+logo+old+illustrations.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Many questions...looking for many answers...that is the blessing of living in a world where truth exists and thought is free.<br />
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-40172926100742770642012-05-14T11:56:00.001-07:002012-05-14T11:56:08.253-07:00Dracula and 1984<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have been thinking about our little speed dating activity from Friday and some of the ideas that Jennifer was toying with for her paper. One point she made was about how good the central characters are and how black and white the fight between good and evil is between the Harkers, Van Helsing, and the others with Dracula. In the end, good triumphs over evil. The conclusion of <i>1984 </i>is not such a happy ending. Winston is broken in the end and becomes a mindless follower of the Party and Big Brother.<br />
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As I was thinking about these points, I was sent a link to a review of <i>1984 </i>by a friend of mine from back East. Here is the <a href="http://theosproject.blogspot.com/2010/04/1984-by-george-orwell.html">link</a>. This blog mainly focussed on the control that government can have over the media and its citizens through enforcing a hegemonic system. These systems are enforced through the use of both ISAs (school, religion, and family) and aslo RSAs (military and police). My focus turns away strictly from how governments can be oppressive, but turns to this fight between good and evil that Jennifer brought up on Friday. I am really interested in examining the connection between personal expression through digital media, like blogging, and Winston's use of the diary throughout the book. Basically, I want to explore how blogging has influenced change, or how it has the potential to do so.<br />
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Along with my studies of how blogging has affected the world, I would like to find examples of print literature where personal views were expressed, such as the ideas of Objectivism in Rand's books, to see how ideologies that are expressed to a wide audience create followers. In the digital age this can be measured by looking at how many people follow blogs and subscribe to websites. I am interested in what kinds of ideas generate the greatest following on the Web and if they are moving our world forward or holding it back. I'm still brainstorming so it will be interesting to see where my thoughts flow next. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-46777195246342991442012-05-11T17:51:00.002-07:002012-05-11T17:51:28.980-07:00Evolution of Language<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today, I had a very interesting conversation with my French professor about the evolution of the French language and how it is being influenced by English and digital media. One example he gave me was how the younger generation in France uses the word "email" to talk about emailing. They have adopted many other English words that are related to the digital world also because the equivalent word does not exist in French.<br />
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The old guard, represented by the group called l'Academie français, has sought to stem the influence of English on the French language by creating words. The word that they created for email is "courriel." This word is a cross between "courrier" and "electronique." The l'Academie français wants to keep the French language as pure as possible and will go as far as to ban the word<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/tech/world/2003-07-18-french-email_x.htm"> email </a>from public places to do so.<br />
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The action of l'Academie français made me think about the Party in <i>1984</i> and how they seek to revamp the English language by converting it to "Newspeak," an abbreviated language that strips English of synonyms and antonyms, giving single words the meaning which multiple words had. By reducing the language, the Party would eliminate the ability to express complete feelings and turn the populace into nothing more than machines, using a slightly more complicated form of binary code. This is just another form of control which Orwell seeks to illuminate in his book.<br />
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How is technology affecting our language? Many people can't help writing LOL, LMFAO, TTYL, BFF, and other texting lingo in there everyday writing. The digital world is responsible for these abbreviations and new ways of expressing thought. It is interesting to think where the digital world will take us in regard to language, whether it will destroy form or create an entirely new style of grammar. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-23790011143012099782012-05-09T12:27:00.001-07:002012-05-09T12:27:52.373-07:00Legal Research: Trading 95 Books for a Laptop<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My senior of high school, I interned at the law offices of
Carter & Howard. I remember walking into their law library on my first day.
The smell of must and yellowed pages hit me, and a sense of nostalgia for a
time past flitted through my mind. The walls were lined from floor to ceiling
with bookshelves filled with the Code. These books, some of them as thick as my
neck, contained the laws of the state of Tennessee and the federal laws of the United States. The
library represented the workable knowledge that is needed to survive as an
attorney. I honestly was blown away with how many books there were. It is sad
to think that these books are going to become a thing of the past.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Today, the law offices of Carter & Howard are relying on
a new way to conduct legal research. Instead of thumbing through volumes upon
volumes of law, legal research can be accomplished with the clatter of keys and
the click of a mouse (or a trackpad). Digital databases of legal code are being
compiled and used to make finding case law incredibly simpler. Legal code
publishers such as Westlaw and LexisNexis have digital databases that can be
subscribed to by attorneys. Subscriptions can be purchased according the kind
of access one would want for their database. You can subscribe for individual
state codes, appellate decisions by Circuit, and also Supreme Court decisions. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Imagine 95 law books. They probably have
800-1,000 pages and are over three inches thick. Now, stack them on top of each
other and see how high it goes. Pretty high, right? Now, put a MacBook Air next
to them. It is like a tree looking at a blade of grass, except this blade of
grass contains more cells than the entire tree. Crazy thing to think about. The
digital age has made it possible to access untold amounts of information that
could fill the libraries of the world to overflowing. The mass amount
information that is being gathered in field-specific databases is making knowledge
more accessible and easier to expand</span><!--EndFragment-->
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-41832266144007512512012-05-07T10:44:00.002-07:002013-02-27T14:57:37.539-08:00"Doublethink"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So I was reading a post about how literature is being
replaced by new technologies by <a href="http://boudholly-eng295.blogspot.com/2012/05/this-will-kill-that.html">Holly Boud</a>, and it got me thinking about some
of the concepts that are discussed in George Orwell’s book, <i>1984</i>. One of the terms that the main character uses to describe how
history is continually modified is the word “doublethink.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_2000172728"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7LKv77aKAxbURX4V-ss9d0XgUqqkVanAAcpBzOHYeIt0xAbO8gQPZ4L9RSbVYH7hpZTkuwn9Fn1O6L_7gZ1cqDq2oR5ES3Y3usCDbSC-EMzllApbmUNcDX53nHV0xNH2Lb1S8D3s9ugzL/s320/Doublethink+pic.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/duncan/225963043/"><br /></a></td></tr>
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Winston, the main character, works for the Ministry of Truth
and his job requires him to continually edit backdated newspaper articles to
put them in line with the current platform of Big Brother and the Party. By
doing this, the past is effectively erased and the present is filled with lies
so the truth cannot be discerned. Supposed facts of the past are continually
replaced by false statistics and false statements just to keep citizens under subjugation.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Party’s slogan, “who controls the past controls the
future: who controls the present controls the past,” makes me wonder about how
knowledge can be controlled and censored on the Web. If companies like Google
or Facebook sought to guide individuals to certain avenues of knowledge, or
even replace what has happened in the past by editing the content of the
Internet, how could that affect the world. What is the implication of censoring
information put on the Web? <o:p></o:p></div>
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A great example of how facts can be created on the Web that
do not necessarily reflect reality can be found on sites like Wikipedia. Don’t
get me wrong, Wikipedia has helped me find basic information on a plethora of
subjects during my college career, but if all that people rely on are facts from
Wikipedia, many people could be fed wrong information. Some examples of false
info put on Wikipedia can be found in the article “25 Biggest Blunders inWikipedia History.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wikipedia is just a minor example of how information can be
created that may not be real. People are controlled by the kind of information
that they are able to ingest. I wonder if facts will be replaced by fiction to
control people one day. It is something to think about. <o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-19869144946906518022012-05-04T05:16:00.000-07:002012-05-04T05:16:03.626-07:00Climbing the Mountains of the World<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One summer some years ago, I went backpacking with a group
of my friends in the Appalachian Mountains in east Tennessee. Now, for those
from the West, these mountains would only appear as rolling hills, but for me
they truly felt like mountains as I was climbing them. As we ascended to the
summit of one of these “glorified hills,” my body felt sore and tired. Every
switchback’s end made me think I had reached my destination, yet sadly I was
disappointed as the trail continued upward. I never thought it would end. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The path we followed leading us to heaven (or so I thought)
took us into the clouds. By this time, the day was coming to a close and we
came to our desired campsite for the evening. We couldn’t see much of the world
around us because of the twilight and cloud cover. And not many of us really
wanted to see anything except the backs of our eyelids because of how exhausted
we were. Needless to say, I slept like a rock.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfvwCccuBfNMZ_DF5uPJSB-urS1v9XQHWNOUNVmjIPCbT-LkBRO1vegp_uoOkZ3ON0Yi6qO4-0dVXuA5qLIeNDcmxMINIJoX7Sd0CZonTMj4HidNt6VEM_vYosG2oZQT2_ooWph-UO1Xf/s1600/landingpg_mountains4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfvwCccuBfNMZ_DF5uPJSB-urS1v9XQHWNOUNVmjIPCbT-LkBRO1vegp_uoOkZ3ON0Yi6qO4-0dVXuA5qLIeNDcmxMINIJoX7Sd0CZonTMj4HidNt6VEM_vYosG2oZQT2_ooWph-UO1Xf/s320/landingpg_mountains4.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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The next morning we arose to brilliant sunshine coming
through the trees. I felt rejuvenated because of the warmth. We disassembled
our tents and packed our bags, ready to start out again. We hiked through the
trees for less than an hour and finally reached the summit above the clouds. It
was breathtaking getting to see the vast forest beneath us and see the rest
of the mountains rolling northward. It was a moment when I felt connected to
everything around me, and the beauty I saw made the mind-numbing ascent well
worth the effort.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is how I feel about using</div>
<a name='more'></a> new forms of digital
media. Right now, I am still in the ascent with my brain aching because of the
influx of information that I am taking in. I feel that soon I will break
through the clouds and see the beauty created by a digitally connected world. <o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the elements that I think will make the journey more
bearable is being able to work with others to understand the evolving digital
world. Because my brain is small, being able to tap the intelligence and skill
of others will be necessary to reach the pinnacle of using digital technology
to its fullest potential. The idea of social discovery makes this possible. It
is a real change from the standard epistemology I am comfortable with, but I
feel that I will be able to learn more by opening a dialogue with real people
as opposed to interacting solely with texts. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-49412701649428597522012-05-02T10:58:00.002-07:002012-05-02T10:58:49.699-07:00The Marriage of Pen and Keystroke<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
All of my life, I have had a reluctance to experiment with technology. When I was in 6th grade, it was mandatory for us to take a keyboarding class. During the course, I would say to myself, "This is pointless. I will only need my pen and a good notebook to get by in the world." I thought it was a complete waste of time and I did not invest my time in the class to really learn how to type.<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My world continued to be ruled by the pen until I had a wake-up call my Senior year of high-school. I was forced to take yet another Keyboarding class my last semester. Who really wants to take a class that they don't care about their last semester of high school? I sure didn't. The first day of class we were all assigned a computer and I was happy to be sitting beside the most beautiful girl in my class, Lindsay. I truly was the luckiest man in the world, or so I thought. One thing that I didn't know was that Ms. Lindsay was a typing fiend. She could push out 80 and 90 words a minute. Needless to say, I was greatly humbled by her performance, and with a tail between my legs, I began to really focus on typing. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As time went on, I finally got the knack for it and understood the basic processes of the older Mac computers. I came to find out that these basic skills would save me during my Freshman year at BYU. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In many regards, I feel like Mr. Gu. Printed books bring out a deep nostalgia for the power of the pen and the texture of paper. Books make the English language come alive. The language becomes something tangible. For me, the feel of thick paper and leather-bindings will always be a comfort to me. With this said, I have been forced to live in a world where technology is essential to understand for success. Without being able to understand the basic skill of typing, I would be left behind in my college pursuits. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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For me, I have had to adapt just like Robert Gu. If I stay in the past, I will be forgotten in the flood of technology that is encompassing the earth. My old pens will run out of ink and my paper will burn. A marriage is taking place between my pen and the black keys of my Mac. To do my work, I have to adapt to new tools. </div>
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The poem, "<a href="http://www.wussu.com/poems/shdigg.htm">Digging</a>" by Seamus Heaney depicts the progression in the modes of labor from grandfather to son, and finally to grandson. In our world today, our tools are changing. I once used the pen as my mighty tool. Now, I swiftly glide my hands over a keyboard, tapping out what I find meaningful in my life. </div>
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Who knows where the future will take us.<br /><div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-323820124676924722012-04-30T11:33:00.002-07:002012-04-30T11:41:30.075-07:00Globalization: "No Man is an Island"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Where is this world heading? With the world population burgeoning over 7 billion people, the use of social media is connecting people at an unprecedented level. In political science, one of the great concerns of today is how globalization will affect the structure of government and how politics will change because of it. The Arab Spring is a prime example of how social media is affecting the political world and how it can be used as a medium to change the international dialogue that exists. Young, educated members of society are able to harness the power of the masses through the use of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks and organize nationwide revolutions.<br />
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A recent example of the use of social media to enact change has come from the organization Invisible Children and its movement to stop the leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony. Through their campaign efforts using documentaries posted to <a href="http://youtu.be/Y4MnpzG5Sqc">YouTube</a> and their extended effort to gain people to their cause by using Facebook and other social networks, they have garnered a huge amount of media coverage. The influence of their <a href="http://www.kony2012.com/">Kony 2012</a> campaign can be read about in today's <i>New York Times Article, </i>"<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/world/africa/kony-tracked-by-us-forces-in-central-africa.html?_r=1&hpw">In Vast Jungle, U.S. Is Helping Track a Killer."</a> Political movements are moving from the streets to the Web. This world is going to be changing because of social media, and I hope we are ready for the flood.<br />
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The great metaphysical poet John Donne wrote, "<a href="http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/meditation17.php">No man is an island, entire of itself</a>."<span style="background-color: #f3f2f9; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;"> </span>We are all becoming connected. We are a part of a global society that is no longer separated by seas or borders. Because of this, everyone has an opportunity to lift their voice and let it be heard. The new media will give rise to the Ghandis, Donnes, Washingtons, and Moons of today. We should not fear for the future. All that is left to us is to embrace new technologies and harness them for good.<br />
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I'm optimistic about the future.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Y4MnpzG5Sqc" width="560"></iframe></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-89604653284249609332012-04-28T16:32:00.000-07:002012-04-28T16:34:28.273-07:00Water, Water Everywhere...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
"Drip, drop, drip, drop" is the incessant sound that haunts my dreams. My body is exhausted and chilled laying in my bed, wondering, "Why?!" The last part of my day was spent in my flooded basement trying to salvage what I could of the books that were left on the floor of my office. The tedious job of drying each water-logged page with a hairdryer sent my mind to our class. The printed page could not stand up to Mother Nature's strange jokes of allowing water to fill our home. On the other hand, the words that I've been writing on this blog remain untouched. The digital world is allowing for the inked words we write to remain eternal and unharmed by the disasters of the world. Books can be burned and computers may die, but the Web allows for our words to remain. Authors have sought immortality through their ideas and words and now every person on earth can have their own immortality through blogging and social media. No matter if floods come, fires burn, or tornadoes dismantle, our words can always stand unchanged while books and papers are reduced to pulp, ash, or pieces. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-68705636602117507332012-04-27T12:22:00.002-07:002012-04-27T12:22:27.817-07:00Creative Commons License<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In trying to look at different aspects of the digital humanities, I have really gotten interested in Creative Commons Licenses. They idea of being able to share work with others on the web or other places allows for ideas to continually be enhanced by different individuals who can bring new insights to a specific work. Does anyone have any thoughts on the matter? I understand that for most writers they enjoy copyright laws because that is how they are able to gain a profit from the books they write. I am curious to see how these types of licenses will be used in the future. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4881961896389697148.post-26968724253412360272012-04-27T12:09:00.002-07:002012-04-27T12:10:07.645-07:00Liberation of the Personal Voice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The recurring theme of how new social media, such as blogging, gives authors a voice in their work jumped out at me while I was reading the chapters from <i>Writing About Literature in the Digital Age</i>. In Dr. Burtons's chapter about <i>Moby Dick,</i> he explains how blogging makes writing about literature something personal where students can invest their personal views into their work and make their writing more meaningful. This theme again came up in Ben Wagner's chapter about racism in <i>The Great Gatsby </i> as he explains how literary criticism should include the personal views of the critic. The new forms of media really throw the straightjacket of formality aside during the beginning of the writing process and critical analysis of papers allowing for the character and voice of the author or critic to bleed into their work, making it have more depth and power. Standard research papers are usually written with high-brow language and are stiffly manufactured for the consumption of a sole individual, the professor. The voice of the author can get lost in writing these types of papers because the author's focus would be on impressing the professor as opposed to showing their vibrant thoughts and personal feelings in their writing. I feel that powerful academic writing can only be enhanced by personal insight and passion that are fastened to the cohesive ideas of a research paper or critical analysis. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12804197026033001805noreply@blogger.com0