Blog 7 – Network Culture

Towards Digitally Exploring the Technocultural History of Networks and Feedback

This blog contains information which I have gathered from the week 6 lectures and readings poster on Blackboard. One of the important points covered were that networks are one type of internet which is connected by computers. “A network can be defined as a collection of links between elements of a unit.” – (The Network Society P.24). The internet was originally used in the 60’s by the military, then known as Telegraphy used for sending signals. The start of telecommunication began in 166 where they lay cables all over the world; this was the official start of Network Culture. The internet being short for interconnected computers. We look at the network culture now and think its most people’s lives, they have jobs, social lives, hobbies, education and love based on it but all it really is are cables and computers, it is nothing that can be physically held, the idea of it is absolutely genius.

“Networks are appropriate instruments for a capitalist economy based on innovation, globalization, and decentralized concentration; for work, workers, and firms based on flexibility and adaptability; for a culture of endless deconstruction and reconstruction; for a polity geared toward the instant processing of new values and public moods; and for a social organization aiming at the supersession of space and the annihilation of time”   
                                                                                                                          -(Castells, 2001, p. 502).

The bolded sentence means that he pace and time is imploded. Space distance takes a time to cross but thanks to telecommunications space disappears and communication is instant abolishing space. Were now living in the post-industrial stage of information superhighway.

Internet sites now depend on feedback like products to improve; feedback is comments or opinions from the customer to give back to the managers. It’s a never ending process where they will improve their site and audiences will give more feedback and so forth.

To become an active member of most sites you have to register, now when you register you write down your basic information and wallah online profile is born, you have a Data Double. Now if you ask yourself, who is most popular? You; the physical person or you on the internet which is made up by letters, photos? Because the reality is there are online celebrities on social networking sites who are famous for just being famous on the internet. I myself prefer to keep my Facebook friend list to an absolute minimum where it actually contains the people I’m most closest to, whom I feel comfortable sharing embarrassing pictures and thought going through my mind etc. I prefer to keep the friend list to a minimum because I don’t want to be defined as the person whom I am online and therefore I keep online time limited because I don’t want communication to be through a screen – I’d rather it be face to face where I can see the company laughing and hearing the sound of their voice. Like it or not we all have a Data Double, the bank can tell how much money we spend and what we spend it on – if it’s by card. The university server can watch what programmes the students are going on. The police have records of everyone who’s caused an offence and the list is never ending. The point I’m trying to make is that we start to lose control over the privacy which we choose to share or not. Our information is valuable and so is our privacy.

“Privacy concerns revolve around the challenging of the distinction between public and private life. Such matters bring to light issues of maintaining public inaccessibility to parts of our lives, the right and capacity to be left alone and the extent to which we can determine both what is held about us and the accuracy of such data”
                                                                                                                                      -(Larose and Rifon, 2006).

In this week’s reading the author claims that social networking between humans has always been, even when we were living in small tribes thousands of years ago.

“Our distant ancestors created a social solidarity within small bands by talking together, and exchanging information and goods. Furthermore, bands interacted and communicated with each other, if only sporadically”                                                                                                                - J.R and W McNeill (2003)

The author to Network society states that the McNeill’s believed that there were 5 world-wide webs and that “The extension of these webs was not only driven by biological necessity, but also by the need and desire to make new discoveries and material conquests to improve the conditions of life. In these webs, not only speech and information in general were exchanged, but also goods, technologies, ideas, crops, weeds, animals and diseases.”  - (The Network Society P.22)

1.       ‘The first World Wide Web’ 1200 years ago. The spread of humans in order to hunt, gather tribes, cultural, technological and gene evolvement.

2.       ‘Metropolitan and City Webs’ 6000 years ago. Migrated to cities and towns, communities and neighbours began to be strangers.

3.       ‘Old World Web’ 2000 years ago. Improvement of transportation.

4.       ‘Cosmopolitan Webs’ 1450 years ago. Improvement of overseas travel.

5.       ‘Global Web’ 160 years onwards communities thickened rather than continuing to widen. ‘The volume and velocity of communication increased markedly. The number and use of new means of transport and communication exploded with trains, automobiles and aeroplanes, together with telegraphs’. - (The Network Society P.23)

But with today’s network, is it true that we waste our lives staring at a non-existent image on a screen. How has it come to be that people are most willing to invest their time doing this? How much do we need the internet? How much do we trust the internet? Could we now go back to living without it?

“The use of communication networks does not only rely on vulnerable technology, but also of typically social and mental phenomena such as trust, commitment and richness of information exchanged. A lack of these characteristics also makes network communication insecure and is able to lead to its break-down.”
                                                                                                                - (The Network Society P.41)

 

Blog 6 – Consumer Cultures

This week’s reading was Consumer Cultures; I will involve relevant quotations and thoughts into this blog as I study advertising. Only the BBC received public funding, the other channels are dependent on advertising alone. The mass media depends on advertising to exist. So what is advertisement? Well advertising is promotion of a product or an idea. Its persuasive communication to the public – paid for media space.

"the nonpersonal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media”
                                                                                                             - (Bovee and Arens, 1992, p. 7).

There is personal type of advertising which can be identified by the type of communication and then impersonal advertising which is identified by the tone of communication. For example an advert for New Look is personal because it targets young women like myself, a sort of impersonal advert is a product like Sure deodorant its targeting men and women of all ages.

The oldest types of advertising has always been word of mouth, but as time went on in human history, in order to reach the majority of the people posters were put up, followed by advertisements in newspapers, radio, television and most recently the internet.

The industrial revolution is a key in advertising due to mass production, better technology and new inventions – hence business. Urban living was due to city development, large numbers of the population migrated into the cities in search of jobs in these factories. After the ability to improve the quality of goods how did they market them? The producers needed to communicate with the mass public to sell on their goods. They needed to advertise.

                                       “Public needs to consume to get the economy back on track”                                       
                                                                                 - (Mervin King – Head of the Bank of England)

“Advertising now permeates American culture and has affected in profound ways, everything from our food preferences and our body shapes to our politics.”                                                                                                                       - Consumer Cultures

Mervin King believed that it is our role as a citizen to spend our savings, to give our money back to the country. It’s how businesses succeed and people gain jobs, luxury items is a sign of a healthy economy. This brings up where does needs become wants?

Brands are a part of advertising, it is the face or the logo of products, they also represent the company, brands can be owned by companies that own other brands, see images below of famous brands;

A hundred years ago if not more, these brands grew into powerful entities e.g. Coca-Cola which remains strong. They keep strong by updating and adding new product e.g. Coca-Cola zero, cherry, lime etc. One thing I’ve learnt during the last few weeks are not only is media dependant on advertisement but advertisement is dependent on the media

Advertising was believed to have to power to sell personality, popularity and wealth.

The first televised advert as SR Gibbs Toothpaste in 1955 which aired on ITV, when watching this advert I found that there is no big difference in the advertising effects back then to what it is now. I believe that this first advert has created the techniques many adverts use today e.g. narrations, animations, scientific evidence etc.

‘The consumer experiences his distinctive behaviour as freedom, as aspiration, as choice. His experience is not one of being forced to be different, of obeying a code. To differentiate oneself is always, by the same token, to bring into play the total order of differences, which is, from the first, the product of the total society and inevitably exceeds the scope of the individual. In the very act of scoring his points in the order of differences, each individual maintains that order, and therefore condemns himself only ever to occupy a relational position within it’
                                                                                                                                        - (Baudrillard, 1968: 62).

Baudrillard believed that consumption is forced upon us and that we have no choice but to obey a code of advertisement. When reading Consumer Culture it stated “success is defined as being the person who has the most toys” and I think everyone can relate to that sentence.

Dove has recently said that they want to “make a real change in the way women and young girls perceive and embrace beauty. We want to help free ourselves and the next generation from beauty stereotypes”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei6JvK0W60I

Take a look at this amazing advert. I praise Dove for the anti ‘sex sells’ believes. I am constantly reminded that I don’t have Media’s idea of a perfect face and body; in their eyes I am ugly and overweight. I am 5’5 and 8.5 stone. Should I pressurise myself into being something that I’m not, unfortunately it is a constant reminder for women that they’re not perfect. The worst part is that the media is so powerful that they have forced men to believe that all women should be model looking hence women trying to be these young models so they’re good enough. Why do the media target women more than men? Are men just as self-conscious as women? One thing I hate is when my friend complains she’s ugly, in fact she isn’t – she is absolutely beautiful and who is constantly reminded by the people around her, but for some reason she’s in denial she will only believe she’s beautiful once she makes it in the media industry. Now I think that sad. Because the truth is no one in the media is genuine, even celebrities and models are self-conscious, if perfection is models and celebrities then it doesn’t work because they’re fake them. We should stop supporting the likes of Lynx adverts, the ones where they advertise beautiful women – the annoying part is, it works and they adverts sell. But the way I look it at it is that I hope those vain men get disappointed when they receive no beautiful women but a musky strong deodorant stench.

As we see, within 20 years advertising on the internet has surpassed television.

Audiences are now often enough targeted e.g. The Times targets the rich and Real People target the poor. So how do these companies target the audience, here is how I believe they target them

-          Gender

-          Age group

-          Demographic

-          Geography

-          Sexuality

-          Hobbies

What effects do advertising use? Here are some I believe to be common techniques used:

-          Sex Sells, where they exploit sexy women or men and tie it in with their product.

-          Hop on the bandwagon effect, all the cool people have it, why don’t you?

-          Scientific Research, if the scientist says its good then I better do it…

-          Luxury items, you will feel and be so much better when you get this.

-          Perceived benefits, this product will make you beautiful.

I believe that consumption can be related to the worship of religion because instead of us going to the charity shop to get clothes we will go to New Look or Bench to buy a certain brand. Religion and brands have no facts just faith from those who follow. Religious Holidays = Big sales. Devotion = Brand Loyalty.

The author to Consumer Cultures believes that we don’t concentrate on what we have but only on what we don’t have because advertisement constantly reminds us of that. My favourite quotation from the reading is below; it speaks absolute truth.

 “Needs are finite, desires are infinitive”

Refrences:

Lynx photo:
http://novelspaces.blogspot.com/2010/10/so-sex-sells-huh.html

Coca-Cola logo: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.infobarrel.com/media/image/280.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.infobarrel.com/The_History_of_the_Coca_Cola_Bottle&usg=__72URsL529EeOI2-YasIUhUb2IDM=&h=413&w=1181&sz=111&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=a6ooWxz0gnfccM:&tbnh=66&tbnw=188&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcoca%2Bcola%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1345%26bih%3D573%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=455&ei=MS3cTKqFEIG1hAeHm-H-Dw&oei=MS3cTKqFEIG1hAeHm-H-Dw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=109&ty=42

Brands photo:
http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dbrands&w=657&h=561&imgurl=www.jonevan.com%2Fimages%2Fbrands_logos_panel.gif&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jonevan.com%2Fbrands.html&size=130KB&name=Brands+worked+on...&p=brands&oid=7f3414785266a574c30a8688c1f7ce11&fr2=&no=10&tt=2230000&sigr=112j07u97&sigi=11d37dkss&sigb=11lc0ldju&.crumb=BFnWduu9Kjr

Blog 5 – (Post) modern Culture

During this week’s learning we were given a variety of information, some of these being-

Modernism means “truth and rationality” in other words it’s an abstract, a truth of life. Modernism was believed to be an objective and knowable world, that there was believed to be something positive out there. Modernity is the search for definite truth in society.

Postmodernism is the opposite; “suspicion, problemizing” in other words being that there is no truth to life. In other words its interpretations made by different people with different claims to authority e.g. politicians promise their campaigns to be the best but there is no truth, only versions. It asks ‘whose truth’?

“Truth isn’t out there; it’s something that is manufactured. Truth is created”

Imitation means copying something, in literature imitations means a way of working e.g. write a poem in the same style about something different.

Parody is making fun e.g. Weird Al takes the original song and changes the lyrics.

Pastiche is essentially a compendium of intertextual references, like comedians their jokes depend on situations, people or objects.

Intertextuality takes only one thing e.g. Weird Al, although its parody it takes the original song and changes the lyrics. Or The Simpsons, they normally have 1 guest star. Or take a look at the next two Pepsi adverts, one is pastiche and one is intertextual. The one with Britney alone is intertextual and the one with Britney, Beyoncé and Pink is pastiche.

Remediation means each medium effects the text.  In a book it sounds great, in a film it wouldn’t.

Hyperreality means something which is overhyped into reality e.g. Lapland, where they take children to see ‘Santa Clause’, the place is always hyped up during Christmas, nothing is unhappy outside of it. The place is not realistic, but it is constant. Disneyland is also a good example, I will refer Disneyland a bit later on in reference to this weeks reading.

As a part of this weeks reading the majority of the class read ‘Simulacra and Simulations’ by Baudrillard, in order to understand this difficult reading I had to  break down many of the sentences, I started with trying to understand the meaning of the title, research stated that Simulacra means a likeness or similarity and that Simulations means imitations of real things. They believe today “it is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal”, here is a list of what they believe are the phases of the images;

“1. It is the reflection of a basic reality” e.g. an icon of God
 2. It masks and perverts a basic reality” e.g. politics of God
 3. It masks the absence of a basic reality” e.g. No God
 4. It bears no relation to any reality whatever: it is its own pure simulacrum” Simulacrum of religion.

It was stated that “there is no longer any God to recognize his own, nor any last judgment to separate truth from false, the real from its artificial resurrection, since everything is already dead and risen in advance.”

I do believe that hyperreality exists all over the place, because we have occasions where people get together, and involve themselves in cultural events e.g. Christmas, Halloween, Birthdays.

Each of these has its own traits for example Christmas contains getting a Christmas tree and decorating it, followed by Christmas day, giving of gifts and the traditional turkey dinner. Whilst Halloween contains dressing up in scary outfits during the night, trick or treating, and carving pumpkins. There’s hyperreality through text as well, and can be created through conventions, everyone gathers together doing role-play, TV shows like Big Brother, advertisement – its product is all that matters. Pornography is also a good example of hyperreality because it is always played out perfect, perfect bodies and perfect sex.

This week’s reading has some fantastic quotes about how Disneyland applies to hyperreality; “Disneyland is a perfect model of all the entangled orders of simulation. To begin with it is a play of illusions and phantasms: pirates, the frontier, future world, etc” and “In this imaginary world the only phantasmagoria is in the inherent warmth and affection of the crowd”. “Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real, when in fact all Los Angeles and the America surrounding it are no longer real,, but of the order of hyperreal and of simulation. It is no longer a question of a false representation of reality (ideology), but of concealing the fact that the real is no longer real, and this of saving the reality principle.” A reason why I believe that Disneyland is so popular is because adults remember watching these Disney films come out when they were children and going there “conceal(s) the fact that real childishness is everywhere, particularly among those adults who go there to act the child in order to foster illusions of their real childishness.”

During the 1860-1970’s there was a feeling of a new world, it came around during the industrial revolution, and it was believed that

“Men are the centre of the world- not God”

-Renaissance Enlightenment: Age of Reason

Modernism was believed to be new ways of living

1.       Power of reason over ignorance

2.       Power of order over disorder

3.       Power of science over superstition

The term Postmodernism was created in 1968, it was associated with a student riot in Paris, the cause remains unknown but it was the sense of power that was there was overwhelming. It then spreaded to the USA, Britain etc. It was the first time in modern history when ‘Power lay with few rather than many’. It then followed disengagement over politics. Modern view was questioned over a few. People were conned into believed they were getting a better technology, instead they were given weapons of mass destruction, this is a good example of post modernism. French intellectuals believed that we’ve gone into a new age beyond postmodernism.

F.R. Lewis believed that there was a division between high and low culture. He believed only high culture deserved to be studied. Modernism looks as popular culture whilst, postmodernism looks at low culture and believes that anything goes e.g. pop videos, adverts.

So how does Postmodernism and modernism apply to media culture?

There are believed be text codes in media culture; this being, when we watch TV we know whether the programme is a comedy, documentary, drama etc. We then have extra digetic material e.g. in certain programmes like The Simpsons, in some episodes they reference material to real life e.g. an actor, or a film, etc. We are the ones who determine these links, if we don’t know the films or source of the joke then it doesn’t work. I’ve thought about something that makes these links and I have come up with the perfect example which is Scary Movie films, this film is a parody of existing films, e.g. it will recreate a scene from ‘Scream’ but make it funny, which will then lead to a scene from Blair Witch, and then  to another film. This film was a hit because it was the first comedy which included this style. Due to the vast audience demand, a series of films followed, based on new releases in the year before.  Intertextuality is the language of postmodernism.

Modernism is when we also see symbols the meanings are infinitive. Ronald Bartes believed that there was a structure of looking at symbolism. Symbols are drained from its original meaning e.g. Hitlers pose – he wouldn’t have thought in a few decades time it would represent pure evil.

We also discussed;

Functional value – instrumental purpose.
Exchange value – economic value < getting a fridge for a month’s work.
Symbolic value - a value that a subject assigns to an object < wedding ring.
Sign value – value with a system of objects, no functional value

“Thus the sign (image/representation) bears no relation to any reality whatsoever: it is its own pure simulacrum”

-Baudrillard, 1988, P.170

Due to the mass publishing of images, we get confused with the world around us; one minute we see famine on the news and advertising afterwards for sliming tablets. “How can war and terror be so close to page 3?”

“Media today do not communicate they are building a new equipment for us… electronic reality ….imaginary from the real”

-Christian Kumar

Baudrillard believed that war on TV looks like a war game, meaning is dead and image is everything. Consumptions is a means of being different, social networking – we use it for what is signifies rather than use e.g. popularity.

Reading: J. Baudrillard “Simulacra and Simulations”

Pictures:

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/416730.jpg&imgrefurl=http://chicagoweekendfun.com/2008/12/09/bank-of-america-winter-wonderfest-navy-pier-chicago-christmas-family-events/&usg=__S4700teXIpTadlO3i_IZWu5-kiY=&h=1394&w=2048&sz=546&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=u1NsioOj03SGDM:&tbnh=137&tbnw=189&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchristmas%2Bfamily%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26biw%3D1345%26bih%3D583%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=125&vpy=287&dur=380&hovh=185&hovw=272&tx=201&ty=68&ei=kiXYTMuhEtGEhQez3sDCBQ&oei=kiXYTMuhEtGEhQez3sDCBQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://blog.toto-bobo.com/wp-content/uploads/disneyland-anaheim.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blog.toto-bobo.com/index.php/disneyland-and-california-adventures-los-angeles/&usg=__IcW7zEtvypaWYeM5x1IaB7a9yLU=&h=600&w=800&sz=116&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=t3jLzb04i_9LcM:&tbnh=148&tbnw=196&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddisneyland%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26biw%3D1345%26bih%3D583%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=544&ei=PCXYTP2aCoOKhQfxscXRBQ&oei=PCXYTP2aCoOKhQfxscXRBQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0&tx=147&ty=67