Companies of Control: Hegemonic Systems from Orwell to the Digital Age

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, 1984, 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.

In 1984, 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.

The hegemony of 1984 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 post. 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.

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 article. I have examined his ideas in a previous blog post of mine found here. 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.

My ideas have been greatly influenced by the posts of Jonathan Erdman and his blog, the Theos Project. 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.

By the end of 1984, 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 1984. 

Somedays I Feel Like I am Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

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.

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 1984. 

Seeking to Create a Fellowship of Ideas

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."

Here are some of the ways that I have sought to experiment with social discovery:

I asked my friends what they thought about Orwell's 1984 in relation to The Hunger Games on Facebook and received multiple responses.

My friend Jon Oliver responded to my Facebook plea for help and sent me a link to a blog written by Jonathan Erdman, a blogger who focuses on theological topics and branches out occasionally to do book reviews,  with a review of 1984 and I started a conversation with him.

Jonathan Erdman sent me a link to an article 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.

I googled Alan Kirby and found his website.  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.

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 article written by him and emailed him about it and he responded to me shortly after that.

Dr. Burton sent me a link to a webinar that was given by Tim Wu at Harvard Law School concerning his book The Master Switch. 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 Tim Wu on Twitter and I started following him and sent him a tweet.

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 author of the review, Timothy B. Lee, because he specializes in writing about technology, copyright, and internet privacy. I also started following him on Twitter.

I looked on goodreads.com and found this book about Google. After finding the book, I searched for the author, Steven Levy, and found his website. Levy is a journalist that writes about technology and has published many other books than just In the Plex, like his book Hackers. I hope to contact him and see what his thoughts are.

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. 

Entrepreneur or Big Brother?

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.

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 international brands turn the company into the next Big Brother, with the ghost of Steve Jobs at its head?

I was very interested in a blog post that was written by my professor, Gideon Burton, 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 1984. In examining this thought further, I can see how this dabble in doublethink could actually go deeper.

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.

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.

Records of Rebellion: An Annotated Bibliography About the Power of Blogs to Change the World

Here is a shot at my thesis:

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.

Amir-Ebrahimi, Masserat. “Transgression in Narration: The Lives of Iranian Women in

Cyberspace.” Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies 4.3 (2008): 89-118. Print.

http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/10.2979/MEW.2008.4.3.89

This is a scholarly article printed in the Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies. 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.

Bryan, Alexander. The New Digital Storytelling: Creative Narratives with New Media.

Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2011. Print.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0313387494/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

            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. 

Drezner, Daniel W., and Henry Farrell. “Introduction: Blogs, Politics and Power: A

Special Issue of Public Choice.” Public Choice 34.1/2 (2008): 1-13. Print.

 http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/27698207

            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.

Dwan, David. “Truth and Freedom in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.” Philosophy and

Literature 34.2 (2010): 381-393. Print.

http://search.proquest.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/mlaib/docview/758415612/fulltext/136D52283B73204C373/13?accountid=4488

            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.

Esarey, Ashlely and Xiao Qiang. “Political Expression in the Chinese Blogosphere:

Below the Radar.” Asian Survey 48.5 (2008): 752-772. Print

http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/10.1525/AS.2008.48.5.752

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.

Farrell, Henry, and Daniel W. Drezner. “The Power and Politics of Blogs.” Public Choice

134.1/2 (2008): 15-30. Print.

http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/27698208

            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.

Kirby, Alan. “The Death of Postmodernism and Beyond.” Philosophy Now. Philosophy

Now Magazine, Nov./Dec. 2006. Web. 20 May 2012.

http://www.philosophynow.org/issues/58/The_Death_of_Postmodernism_And_Beyond

            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.

Rettberg, Jill Walker. Blogging: Digital Media and Society Series. Malden, MA: Polity

Press, 2008. Print.

            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.

Somulu, Oreoluwa. “’Telling Our Own Stories’: African Women Blogging for Social

Change.” Gender and Development 15.3 (2007): 477-489. Print.

http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/20461231

            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.

Trilling, Lionel. “George Orwell and the Politics of Truth.” The Moral Obligation to be

Intelligent: Selected Essays. Ed. Leon Wieseltier. Evanston, IL: Northwestern

University Press, 2008. 259-74. Print.                      

           

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 1984. This essay is about another work of Orwell’s, Homage to Catalonia, 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 1984.

My Reflection:

            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. 

Pseudo-Modernism: The Conformity of the Collective

In my efforts to experiment with social discovery, I was chanced to be sent a link to Jonathan Erdman's blog, The Theos Project, by a friend of mine. After I commented on a review he did of George Orwell's 1984, he responded to my comment and sent me a link to and article by Alan Kirby titled, "The Death of Postmodernism and Beyond."Kirby's ideas revolve around his argument that postmodern thought is being subverted by a new paradigm, the period of pseudo-modernism.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

My Story, His Story, Our Story

As I've been reading 1984 again, I was really touched by the introduction that Winston writes in his journal. Here is what he said:

"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:"

"From the age of uniformity, from the age of solitude, from the age of Big Brother, from the age of double  think—greetings!"
--George Orwell, 1984, 26-27

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.

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?

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 North Africa and mobilize activists in support of causes like the Kony 2012 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?

Many questions...looking for many answers...that is the blessing of living in a world where truth exists and thought is free.