Remix & Convergence: The Essence of a Global Culture

Since the dawn of man we have searched for ways to better ourselves, new ideas and everything in between. Our entire history is full of revolutions leading to higher and more advanced technologies, freedoms and ideas. From the advancement of science to the equality of all humans, some ideas have taken thousands of years to come to fruition. But with the internet came a way to encapsulate all these ideas and freedoms. Along with the creation of the internet at CERN in 1989 came many other new ideas and events, a couple examples being the cell phone and the end of the Cold War. So in the 1990s there was truly a new era dawning on us.

With the popularity of all and every different type of music and the exploding industries of cinema in America there is no surprise to me that many people who had ideas like those presented after them, even the ancestors of those who had created the like idea or object came to want credit for the abstracted ideas in movies, music, other advancements in technology and new freedoms. Here in the West more than ever, in particular, did people clash over intellectual and real properties. With global communication and the internet starting to seep into the cultures of the world, people had no idea that all this was going to have to change. In essence, the internet was as much of a new technological idea as a new freedom, allowing for all those who had it to access a wealth of information (instantly today).

This is also the essence of the digital divide. The internet will, for now, always cost something, and there will always be people with nothing. More than that, there will always be people who see no need for it though they are in the minority.

There is a duality within our culture being nurtured by globalization and the internet. As we come to know the truth of the world with better forms of communication and the less passive acts of the consumer in an easier-to-act environment (the internet), we can see this. It is the clash of the consumer versus corporations and capitalism, old media versus new media, those who have and those who don’t, but not necessarily a violent or aggressive clash.

This is the Convergence culture, two opposing sides converging to become one; this duality is a symbiotic relationship. But there is more to these converging sides. There is what they produce. With the dawn of YouTube, blogs, new open source software, even Facebook, we have been given the chance to become the authors, artists and directors of whatever we choose and be able to share it with the world. This product of the convergence culture is the remix culture; we are given the chance to remix old and new culture into something completely new, to alter media to our own liking. It also involves taking existing forms of culture and media and modernizing them.

I think the real reason there has been so much dispute over the creation of new ideas is because before the advent of the 20^th century, the spread of ideas had occurred much slower. With globalization and the internet, we need to start realizing that what is original has probably been created already; being authentic is what’s important.

The Social Network: A Brief Analysis

The Social Network is revelatory in many different ways, probably the least of which was the frustration that all the supposed “founders” felt. In the past when an idea was created we usually give credit to one man or one group. I think we fail to realize the scope of knowledge that can influence others; what is important is that one gets recognition first. Einstein’s theory of Relativity was also created by another scientist at the same time, but since Einstein worked at a patent office he had the chance to get there first.

The Social Network shows a part of our culture that changed the way we communicate. But it also is an interesting commentary on Auteur Theory; throughout the movie there were snippets of the multiple depositions Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) had to go to because he retained that Facebook was all his idea. Granted, he was the genius and creator behind the website. The Winklevoss twins did spur his creative process though, as well as his best friend Eduardo putting in the money (which technically was not even his but his father’s) to begin the website. All this leads to a question: Are ideas or money more important in today’s world?

Another one of the ways that this movie is unique is that in past disputes that changed the social structure of society never happened so fast, much less without any war or violence. If the creation of Facebook involved people from more than just one country who knows what could have happened? Other than that, Facebook spread over the internet literally like a virus. I had a Facebook by the beginning of my senior year of high school after getting an invite from a friend, which was in the end of 2005; about two years after the actual idea was conceived. What happened in those two years seemed to be happening so fast because of the acceptance of the idea itself. In the past the people who had certain ideas had to fight, go into exile and even die to prove their efficacy. Then there was the tasks of letting everyone else in the world know these genius’s/prophet’s/what-have-you’s deeds and ideas. But in today’s world of grand technological communication and more educated population, the good ideas seem to be accepted more easily. Those who stood in the way of the idea of “Facebook” can be likened to the Winklevoss brothers. Eduardo’s depositions with Mark (in the movie) only showed more depth to the story itself and how Mark had made himself more recognized for the idea. In this way Mark Zuckerberg can be seen as an “asshole” the way the film portrays him as.

The Movie itself is fun to watch, while the storyline is frequently interrupted by rooms of lawyers holding depositions of the main people trying to sue Mark Zuckerberg. These can be seen as modern day battle grounds. The more I think about it, the more the idea of Facebook stems all from a girl; the girl that breaks up with Mark in the very beginning of the movie. I do like the socks with sandals though; I wear the same thing often.

Response to #3

In the past, there were many of the same modes of social interaction that we have today. We can communicate with phones and have been for a over a century. The advent of industry brought us faster and faster ways to travel and interact with different people. And the internet has given us instant communicative abilities, much less instant gratification for whatever we want. In today’s world, technology rules over us in a way because mostly everything we do, every social interaction that takes place is thanks to the technology of our time.

The spread of technology can have both positive and negative effects for all of us, but for me it has not changed much of my social interaction. The kind of technology that affects me most is probably the use of my cell phone and the internet. It is positive in the way that family and friends that live far away can connect with me, and I with them. This is done with Facebook, Skype, email and the many apps of the Iphone. There is another positive thing about all this technology. It can keep me occupied with information and entertainment for as long as I want; there is no time limit to one’s use. There are negative effects of this technology though. It can be a huge distraction at times, as well as give us the ease to send things and say things that maybe we should think more about. Our face to face interactions are needed if we are to get past the ease of the internet.

Generally, people have the same type of problems. They can be way more extreme than my thoughts on technology and social interaction, but for most part it is them same. People can almost live their lives on the internet, as the ease and choice among the internet is so vast.

The internet is great tool though. We can not only communicate with people we know, but meet people we don’t. The only thing it does not provide is the sense of another person or group being there with you; it is a weak tie. From dating sites to forums, there can be many kinds of relationships over the internet. My older brother actually met his wife on a dating site, and I don’t think that show To Catch a Predator would exist without the internet. We can become comrades with people over an internet game and get a quick laugh or piece of advice from the vast amount of forums out there.

We cannot forget the value of face to face relationships though. The internet has only begun its time here on earth compared to us, but one can see the rapid expansion and seemingly infinite variety becoming more than a tool. The fact that so many people use the internet and soon more will is scary. We cannot live our lives with only weak-tie relationships. But thanks to the ever increasing technology we use and create, it is possible to see that soon the internet itself will transform into a more real public sphere. We just cannot forget our personal responsibility in all the commotion.

My Media Diet

I recorded my media diet from 10/19-10/25, and the results were both revealing and common:

10/19
5 hours of TV; mostly comedy and a couple movies, also comedy
2 hours of reading; all for school but Arabic fiction, Philosophy and an article for this class
Less than 1 hour on the internet; mostly for school but checked email too
10/20
4 hours of TV; a couple action movies, one comedy show
2 hours of reading; all for school (Philosophy)
2 hours of internet; doing homework, email and just messing around
10/21
3 hours of TV; all comedy shows
Less than 1 hour of reading; all for school (Arabic fiction and history)
Less than 1 hour of internet; just messing around and checking email
10/22
3 hours of TV; all Arabic film (documentary and fiction)
No reading
Less than 1 hour of internet; checking email, responding to blog and camino posts
10/23
Less than 1 hour of TV
No Reading
No Internet
10/24
3 hours of TV; some comedy some drama shows
4 hours of reading; all for school (Philosophy, articles for this class and Arabic history)
Less than 1 hour internet; checking email
10/25
4 hours of TV; all comedy shows
2 hours of reading; all for school
Less than 1 hour internet; email and messing around

Most of the shows I watched weekly were and are comedy shows like South Park, The Office, Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Community. Other than those and a few other random shows, I watched movies which were also mostly comedy. This is saying something about not only my favorite genre of media, but America's in a way; Most of the TV shows that are on at the "prime time" are divided between drama and comedy. This became apparent to me after going through this whole process. Even action and mystery shows now are mostly drama. 

It is also interesting to see my reading schedule. The more I have to read for school the less I read for my own benefit, though reading itself is always good. I also found that I have set times when I do read, either in the middle of the day or later at night. I do wish I could change my reading habits though; if I could read all the books I wanted while going to school it might help school and myself. Now it is simply a matter of time.

What I am the most surprised with is my internet and computer usage. Over the summer I used to use my computer so much more, but now I seem to only use it for checking email (multiple times a day some days), messing around news sites and doing homework. Given our talks and articles about the digital divide, this highlights how those who have the ability to be on the internet or on a computer use them less than those who don't have computers or the internet. I do wish I used my computer more, but honestly internet phones seem to be taking center stage.

Response to #2: Making Room for a Revolution

There were a lot of things talked about in the last class as well as in the reading that spurred my thought about social networking and privacy. Everything from our privacy ever-changing due to the internet, with Facebook at the forefront, to the very structure of society is affected by our internet lives. These days, there is hardly a hole out there that5 the internet has left empty. Many of us, including those with eccentricities, have an outlet in the internet to go shopping, surfing and even set up our own individual blogs and websites. If we forget our own privacy, we are susceptible to the pitfalls of an increasingly dangerous internet. An example of this “increasing danger” is that most computers and laptops nowadays have cameras in them. One program that this allowed was called “chat roulette” where anyone could be connected to another computer with a camera. One can imagine the possibilities…

The age of chat roulette has passed, but it has opened another door I think. Another door to numbing our objective privacy standards, allowing us to see where our world is heading; a place where every individual will have to watch their virtual self as well as their physical self.

You see, to me what Facebook is doing is not all that bad. In an increasingly global world, we are going to have to start dealing with more and more different types of people. For example, there are already many shows making fun of our connection to India regarding customer service (Outsourced, NBC). There are and have been hundreds of movies portraying what is, what can be and what could have been with our technology and privacy (Eagle Eye, The Matrix, etc.). The bottom line is that we cannot necessarily stop technology, so we must learn to grow with it; we must know it takes personal responsibility to participate in Facebook and everything like it. Our privacy is challenged in globalization, and to know our own limits will help us in the future when more change comes.

There are some benefits that can come from this entanglement though. Other than the obvious (people can connect instantly even if they are across the world), the relationship between us and our technology can get us information faster, taper to our likes and dislikes (sometimes this is a bad thing) in and out of advertising, and even remind us things we would have otherwise forgot. This is exactly what technology should do for us, be the helper that we always need. There are drawbacks though. Other than growing dependent on our technology, we can come to grow obsessed with it. We have all had friends that will seem to be on Facebook for hours. I am embarrassed to say I have done this before, bored with nothing to do.

It is useful to worry about our Facebook; after all, it is a part of ourselves we are just putting out there. But it is something that has to do with our personal responsibility. I have worried about this in the past, but a couple years ago I just grew out of it. Maybe it had something with the length I had had Facebook (2005), maybe not. Either way, I still can see the good weighing more than the bad which is why I never deleted my Facebook. For me, it is useful keeping in touch with a sister who lives in Germany and a Dad who lives in England. Everyone is different though. This is the Social Networking Revolution.