And thus begins my first blog-post of the 2016 Spring Semester, for ENG 5085, New Media Studies. The first book we are looking into this semester is Howard Rheingold's Net Smart: How to Thrive Online. My immediate reaction to this book was excitement, as I have learned that Rheingold is one of the pioneers of the internet, having been an active enthusiast and participant since the 1970s. I personally believe that my generation (heyy 90s babies!) were among the first to truly explore the established internet, but Rheingold was a part of it since it put the typewriter out of business. In my opinion, that's pretty cool.
Delving into the book, I was immediately drawn in by the Introduction. Right off the bat, Rheingold establishes his background and addresses the fears that people have upon our entrance into the digital age. To pretend that that the new technologies we have at hand aren't something totally new and understandably daunting would be foolish. Students now know more than their teachers about ever-emerging technologies, and children know more than their parents about a world that is totally new. My generation fell into this new world at an odd time, because I can remember both sides-- I remember getting in trouble for passing paper notes, as well as texting in class. For this reason as well, I can see the benefits of the old as well as the new. I grew up experiencing the firsthand excitement of the next astonishing technological development (from the Nokia 3310 to the iPhone 6, from overheard projectors to white boards). At the same time, when I look back, I am blown away, and wonder how it all happened so fast. For this reason I certainly agree with Rheingold that it is crucial to be aware and mindful of the new world.
Chapter 1, "Attention!", focuses largely on mindfulness: re: not allowing the digital world to only serve as a series of click-bait article and rabbit holes. I really enjoy reading about psychology, and I liked that Rheingold spent a lot of time talking about the mental drive behind attention, memory, and the things that distract us. I spend a lot of time getting distracted by the digital world, and it was interesting to read the scientific facts behind distractions. For example, the waste of time that happens when your attention shifts between tasks, and how much potential productivity gets thrown to the way-side.
I also found Rheingold's use of historical tie-ins to be utterly fascinating. He cites Claude Fischer as noting that 100 years ago people were worried about the societal implications of the telephone and, even further back, Plato's Phaedrus from the fifth century, wherein Plato noted people's fears of transcribing spoken word to written form. As it has happened in the past, people must learn where to focus their attention in order to make the most out of these new tools. There is, indeed, nothing new under the sun.
That brings us to Chapter 2, "Crap Detection," or, as I like to call it, "Everybody Lies" (thank you, Dr. House). To be perfectly honest, as a person who has grown up in the 21st century, this chapter didn't strike me as anything hugely revolutionary. There is a lot of nonsense on the internet, and it is much easier to be satisfied with a surface level search, than to put in the work required to confirm that the facts are correct. However, it is very true that facts must be verified, and many things are hugely biased, innocently mistaken, or unapologetically false. I found his facts on search engine optimization to be interesting, as well as all the work that goes into securing a first page search result. I will also be using some of the websites he mentioned when I need to confirm the reliability of facts found online.
Once again, I was interested by Rheingold's ties to the past. He cites the writing of Denis Diderot, wherein Diderot speaks of the necessity for the categorization of written information (spoiler alert-- this leads to the encyclopedia). In this world too, we have have a wealth of knowledge and must learn how to deal with it, and that progress is happening.
In the final chapter for this entry, Chapter 3, Participation Power, Rheingold once again pulls from the past to set a juxtaposition against the current digital world. He looks back as recently as 1991 to show how much power there is to be had in the ability to participate via the digital world. Something like video making, which was once restricted to a set group of people, is now something that anyone with enough creative talent and technological know-how can access. This point also made me consider on a larger scale. Right now we are facing another presidential election and, prior to Obama, social media presence was not required or even expected of a potential candidate. Now, it is expected. How our values have changed!
I greatly enjoyed reading the study of internet culture from a scholarly perspective, and I found Rheingold's two communities, friendship and interest, to be exceedingly accurate. One line I thought to be well stated was, "All the cool kids and wannabes are likely to be found in a friendship-driven community. Interest-driven participation, however, is full of people who are not popular or mainstream in their local youth culture" (118). This is a very accurate summation of internet culture and struck home for me- I'm still friends with a girl in California that I've never met in person, I met 8 years ago on a Facebook fanpage for Twilight (and hush, I was 14 and Twilight was very popular)! It is a very different world than it once was, and whether is it for the sake of friendship, interest, or rallying behind a cause, the power of participation cannot be taken for granted.
I look forward to discussing further throughout the semester. See you in class!
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