Society and Information Technology in Second Life

Wednesdays, August 29 - December 12 , 2007, 4-6, SLT/PT, 7-9 pm ET on Berkman island in Second Life

Course homepage - http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com

 

Instructor: Scott MacLeod (not on Harvard's faculty) = Aphilo Aarde (in Second Life)

http://scottmacleod.com/papers.htm

 

 

Oct 31 07 Soc and Info Tech class transcript

http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com/

 

 

[16:01]  Boston Hutchinson: Hi Aphilo

[16:01]  You: Hi Boston!

[16:02]  You: Treat :)

[16:02]  You: to see you

[16:02]  Boston Hutchinson: :)

[16:02]  Ralph Radius is Offline

[16:02]  Rain Ninetails: :)

[16:02]  Boston Hutchinson: There are avatars at my RL door tonight

[16:02]  You: Are you wearing a costume to greet friends to the door?

[16:02]  Boston Hutchinson: no

[16:02]  You: Hi Rain!

[16:02]  Rain Ninetails: hi!

[16:03]  Ralph Radius is Online

[16:03]  Boston Hutchinson: just my boring old self, but we have candles and other decorations

[16:03]  You: I wonder if any of us will change into scariness? :)

[16:03]  Boston Hutchinson: Hi Rain

[16:03]  You: A SL related Halloween video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRD6OJCoiTc

[16:03]  Rain Ninetails: Hi Boston :)

[16:04]  Boston Hutchinson: Halloween doesn't seem to be happening here

[16:04]  You: Hi Andromeda!

[16:04]  Boston Hutchinson: Hi Andromeda

[16:04]  Rain Ninetails: Hi Rommie!!

[16:04]  Boston Hutchinson: Hi Nauka

[16:04]  Andromeda Mesmer: Hi folks -- I lost my landmark somehow -- Hi nauka.

[16:04]  You: If the sim isn't too full, visit the place Draxtor mentions in the video today or tomorrow!

[16:04]  You: It's very halloweeny :)

[16:04]  Nauka Umaga: Hi Boston, Andromeda, Rain, Aphilo n all :)

[16:05]  You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRD6OJCoiTc

[16:05]  Rain Ninetails: :)

[16:05]  You: That is Draxtor Despres' Halloween in SL journalist's report

[16:05]  You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRD6OJCoiTc

[16:05]  You: Hi Ralph

[16:05]  Boston Hutchinson: Hi Ralph

[16:05]  You: Nice to see you.

[16:06]  You: It mentiones a sim which might scare you!

[16:06]  Nauka Umaga: Hi Ralph :)

[16:07]  You: So let's wrap up looking at some of the empirical studies of the Internet's effects on sociability when it was become broadly popular

[16:07]  You: And, as usual, please share your observations, and ask any questions from previous classes

[16:08]  You: and bring to the table your knowledge

[16:08]  Geda Hax is Offline

[16:09]  Geda Hax is Online

[16:09]  You: So looking at the two studies (out of 110) that showed evidencethat the internet creates alienation

[16:09]  You: they both have their limitations.

[16:10]  You: Bob Kraut's study of 167 new users which showed alienation upon first use is flawed because it didn't control for the variable of first use, and how challenging that can be

[16:11]  You: And the other study, by Nie and Erbring at Stanford, which showed a small percentage of heavy users report alienation, in a large sample . . .

[16:11]  You: Their main finding was that "The Internet creates alienation and loneliness" and this was reported around the world in the media

[16:12]  You: That study has data to support it for that small group

[16:13]  You: But the majority of respondents reported taht they were less lonely than before, with heavy internet use, and that study

[16:14]  You: also didn't control for professional use of the Internet, vis-a-vis personal use.

[16:14]  You: So what we know more or less is that there are

[16:14]  You: some situations where diminishing sociability occurs

[16:14]  You: And beyond that , by and large, there is no relationship.

[16:15]  Boston Hutchinson: Do these studies pre-date wide use of virtual worlds? Is it possible that virtual worlds might produce totally different results from the old Internet?

[16:15]  You: And most studyes show a positive relationship btween sociabilitiy and internet use

[16:15]  You: Well, we haven't looked yet at DDS

[16:15]  Nauka Umaga: DDS?

[16:16]  You: de Digital Staad - the very first digital world, which started in holland in the early 1990s

[16:17]  You: but the studies I've mentioend all touch on Internet use, mostly in the US and Europe, and concerning common and often used applications,

[16:17]  Sean18 McCarey is Offline

[16:17]  You: so by and large, they do pre-date the virtual world use

[16:17]  Nauka Umaga: Do the studies include MMORPGs?

[16:17]  You: I'm looking for data concerning these

[16:18]  Andromeda Mesmer: Aphilo -- there have been stories about the Chinese govt. worried about internet addiction -- has to do more with games I believe.

[16:18]  You: MMORPGs also involved a small fraction of use in the early popularization of the Internet

[16:18]  Andromeda Mesmer: The online role playing games.

[16:18]  You: so these studies also don't focus on these

[16:19]  You: And while Massive Multiplayer Online Role playing GAmes

[16:19]  You: have been around for a while, these tend to increase sociability.

[16:19]  You: These studies do touch on Internet addiction, but addiction is a litlte hard to define,

[16:20]  Nauka Umaga: MMORPGs increase sociability? RL or online?

[16:20]  You: and the studies that I've mentioned aren't looking specifically at Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing games,

[16:21]  You: MMORPGs increase onlyine sociability, and correlate positively with RL sociablity

[16:22]  Boston Hutchinson: I wonder if learning to be sociable on-line causes people to transfer that learning to RL? Young people seem to be more sociable as a result of text messaging and other connectivity

[16:22]  You: So, beyond a limited number of situations where decrease sociabiltiy occurs, there is by and large, no relationship.

[16:22]  Boston Hutchinson: and Facebook seems to increase sociability, but maybe that hasn't been studied yet either...

[16:23]  Nauka Umaga: Boston - based on anecdotal evidence, have to agree about facebook

[16:23]  You: Good question - Let's look at the Netville 2 at some point - I ahven't read it yet

[16:23]  You: for some data

[16:24]  You: Wellman's (at Toronto) first Netwville study did show correlations between online and RL sociaiblity, positively.

[16:24]  You: So the bottom line is that what technology does to life depends on the changes that individuals make

[16:25]  Sean18 McCarey is Online

[16:25]  You: There are two general frameworks and hypotheses that frame these questions, revolving around technological determinism questions

[16:25]  Andromeda Mesmer: And I suspect that the basic personality of the person is the same online as off -- if I get an unpleasant and demanding customer at the store, well I suspect that she treats staff in a rude way in RL.

[16:26]  You: The first says that Technology shapes us through forming information 'structures' in society

[16:26]  Nauka Umaga: Has anyone else run into folks who are very sociable online, but claim to be shy IRL? Sorry to interrupt. :( I think the inhibition lowering nature of online stuff helps some shy folks come out of their shell, so not eeryone who's gregarious here is necessarily so IRL.

[16:26]  You: which then shapes our subjectivity.

[16:27]  You: I agree, Nauka . . . it schanges the social psychology - see Turkle's work

[16:27]  Nauka Umaga: Turkle citation in online notes?

[16:27]  You: But IT offers differetn ways of expressing oneself, A

[16:28]  You: Sherry Turkle - "Life on the Screen

[16:28]  Champler Snook is Offline

[16:28]  You: "

[16:28]  You: And the other version relating to questions of technologcial determinism

[16:28]  Nauka Umaga waves to Geda

[16:28]  Geda Hax: sorry , I am late

[16:28]  You: says that people capture technology and can become super people

[16:28]  Geda Hax waves back to Nauka

[16:28]  You: or it gives us more control

[16:28]  You: Hi Geda

[16:29]  Geda Hax: Hi all

[16:29]  Boston Hutchinson: I don't know very many people in SL, Nauka, but I bet that's true. I wonder if developing friendships on-line could increase the ability to be sociable in RL, or just cuse people to escape into SL.

[16:29]  Geda Hax: good evening

[16:29]  You: And the reality is that people are part of society

[16:29]  Boston Hutchinson: Hi Geda

[16:29]  You: Taht Interaction depends on which kind of social interaction one is focusing on.

[16:29]  Nauka Umaga: Boston - I think either could happen, depends on the person

[16:29]  Geda Hax: Hey there Boston , hope you all are good

[16:30]  You: In may of the studies I've mentioend

[16:30]  You: the focus has been on the family

[16:30]  You: And the following criteria was used to measure these relationships

[16:30]  Geda Hax: just to catch up ....what are you guys talking about now ( I hate to get late to classes and bother like this ... soo sorry )

[16:30]  You: Hi Carlo

[16:30]  Nauka Umaga: Hi Carlo :)

[16:31]  Carlo Darkstone: hi everyone

[16:31]  You: Family - in terms of close and divided

[16:31]  Boston Hutchinson: Hi Carlo

[16:31]  Nauka Umaga: Anyone got a chat log to give Geda? I don't :(

[16:31]  You: Friends in terms of weak and strong friendship

[16:31]  You: Acquanitances

[16:31]  You: and neighbors

[16:31]  Geda Hax: great , thanks guys ...

[16:31]  Geda Hax: please go on

[16:31]  Diego Ibanez is Online

[16:31]  Boston Hutchinson: I have it I guess, but don't know how to share it

[16:31]  Andromeda Mesmer: I'll get one to her in a moment.

[16:32]  You: (This is the wiki for this class - http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com and I've posted all the transcripts there)

[16:32]  Geda Hax: A , you are the best classmate ever

[16:32]  Geda Hax: :)

[16:32]  You: (And will continue to post them there.

[16:32]  Geda Hax: Boston thanks for the offering

[16:32]  Geda Hax zips now

[16:32]  You: So, what have been changes in sociability patterns at large in society?

[16:33]  You: As a baseline the people you seek physically are most important

[16:33]  Nauka Umaga: seek or see?

[16:33]  You: And historically, the extended family was fundamental.

[16:33]  You: see, and sometimes seek

[16:33]  You: Through industrialization and urbanization

[16:34]  You: sociablity that was place based started to lose importance,s ay over the past 250 years

[16:34]  You: And this shift from the local to selective communities of friends and acquaintances occurred

[16:35]  You: du to technologies like the telephone and transportations

[16:35]  You: And the family also change in that extended family

[16:35]  You: lost importance

[16:35]  You: And the uclear family emerged in importance

[16:35]  Miranda Tibbett is Online

[16:36]  You: In the last 25 years, but particularly in the last 15, a different pattern has been observed

[16:36]  You: > An increasing individualization of social relations

[16:36]  Boston Hutchinson: For my generation (boomer), it has been very hard to keep up with scattered friends. I've lived in many places, but maintained mostly the local friendships... It seems like the current generation is changing that

[16:36]  You: More and more people bill themselves as individuals

[16:37]  You: Yes, Boston

[16:37]  You: And in the braod changes I'm describing big families split up

[16:37]  You: In the U.S., if you had a traditional household pattern

[16:37]  You: e.g. Fa, Mo, and 1.8 children

[16:38]  You: with differetn forms ok - this was the traditional faimily portrait

[16:38]  You: What % does this model represent today?

[16:38]  Diego Ibanez is Offline

[16:38]  You: Just over 20%

[16:39]  You: And 30 years ago, it represented 50% of families

[16:39]  You: It's not that families are disappearing, the are different

[16:39]  Diego Ibanez is Online

[16:40]  You: For example, a family today might consist of a lesbian couple, with an adopted Indonesian chiled and rare dog

[16:40]  You: Sociability is reconstructed around networks of individuals of common interests

[16:40]  You: We have shifted over time from a notion of place-based sociability to a notion of work based sociability

[16:40]  Diego Ibanez is Offline

[16:41]  Luna Bliss is Offline

[16:41]  Boston Hutchinson: I would argue that that's still pretty close to a traditional family--2parents and a child or 2

[16:41]  Nina Ling is Offline

[16:41]  You: Networks of individuals who choose to be together for common interests create networks.

[16:42]  You: (I'll see if I can get you the data later, B).

[16:42]  You: So the Intneret allows people to create networks to be together

[16:42]  Andromeda Mesmer: There was a story -- maybe in the NY Times Magazine -- that people were moving around within and close to a city, to live in those neighbourhoods that reinforced their political and religious belief systems

[16:42]  You: to create networks of flexible association

[16:43]  Rain Ninetails: any sign of non-geographic voting districts yet?

[16:43]  You: And flexible multiple technologies

[16:43]  You: create Network Individualism, not less, not more.

[16:43]  Andromeda Mesmer: The same is true in the internet -- people visit web sites which they find congenial. The bad thing is, they will not learn anything much that is new.

[16:43]  Nina Ling is Online

[16:43]  You: Interesting, A - if you have the citations, I'd love to see it.

[16:43]  You: I don't know of any Rain

[16:44]  Rain Ninetails: :)

[16:44]  You: But I suspect that the role the Internet plays, - blogs, for example - have influence on political processes, that are very far reaching.

[16:45]  Boston Hutchinson: Andromeda--In my experience, the conservative suburbs where I live are gradually transitioning to look more like the city, and nobody seems to be bothered by this change.

[16:45]  You: Yes, A - but the choice and the vast number offers something that transformative.

[16:46]  Sarasvati Kohime is Offline

[16:46]  Andromeda Mesmer: The story was about a region in Texas.

[16:46]  Andromeda Mesmer: May have been Austin.

[16:46]  Boston Hutchinson: That's a diffenrent universe from Massachusetts

[16:46]  You: Growth of cities over the next century may be one of the most signficant trends, an the internet allows for kinds of telecommuting which transforms spatial patterns, but we'll look at this later.

[16:47]  You: So we've finished with the Internet and People, for the time being.

[16:47]  You: And the Internet was a fundametnal communication technology

[16:47]  You: for these changes.

[16:47]  Sean18 McCarey is Offline

[16:47]  You: But the Internet is not a technology that determines anything

[16:48]  Jagger Valeeva is Offline

[16:48]  You: But it is extremely powerful

[16:49]  You: And when governemnt and businesses use it, it enhances their missions enormously, through creating new possibilities to organize

[16:50]  Miranda Tibbett is Offline

[16:50]  You: So in examining the Internet and sociablity, its neither a tool of freedom nor a tool of isolation

[16:50]  Andromeda Mesmer: And to spread propaganda :)

[16:50]  You: People use it to strengthen patterns already dveveloped

[16:50]  You: And to share our own knowledge, A -

[16:50]  You: Check out Global Voices

[16:50]  You: which is an aggregator of blogs from aroudn the world

[16:51]  You: And which emerges out of the Berkman Center

[16:51]  Miranda Tibbett is Online

[16:51]  Geda Hax nods

[16:52]  You: It's an attempt to listen to voices of people who are wrting as individuals in coutnries and places which aren't often heard from.

[16:52]  You: So, in a society in which the prevailing mode of behavior is individualism,

[16:53]  You: the Internet accentuates this - and global voices is one example, wikipedia another, as is the extraordinarily widespread use of the laptop

[16:53]  Miranda Tibbett is Offline

[16:54]  You: And because idividualism is the prevailing social pattern, point to point communication - which is the technology that shapes the Internet - fits perfectly.

[16:54]  You: So, now let's look at Social Mobilization and Politics

[16:55]  Geda Hax: Dont know about you guys , I can do without my car but I cant without my laptop .

[16:55]  You: To see how the Internet plays into social mobilization, especially as it was just becoming broadly popular

[16:56]  You: because patterns signficantly inform what is occuring today.

[16:56]  You: Yes, Geda, I wonder how one would whether car use will diminish

[16:56]  You: in realtion to laptop use

[16:56]  You: *measure

[16:56]  You: Or if it has in the past 10 years, for example

[16:57]  You: I think car companies are banking on increased consumption

[16:57]  Geda Hax: yep....being a homeoffice without my laptop I am really in a big trouble

[16:57]  Andromeda Mesmer: I rely on public transit - no car -- but given a choice, I agree with Geda -- having a transit workers strike would not be as bad as having the computer connection gone.

[16:57]  Miranda Tibbett is Online

[16:58]  You: Some observers say that the Internet is a business tool, vis-a vis quesitons of social mobilization - and much of the Intenret is now used for business, which doesn't mean however that it isn't or hasn't been a powerful tool for social action.

[16:58]  Boston Hutchinson: Yes, the Internet connection is crucial!

[16:58]  Geda Hax: hehe and public transportation here in Brazil is not that good , traffic jams are a huge problem Sao Paulo has

[16:59]  Geda Hax: *is

[16:59]  You: So the relationship between the Internet and social mobilization has been complex

[17:00]  You: But I'll try to reduce these connections to a few simple steps

[17:00]  You: All kinds of social movements started to use the Internet early on - in the mid 1990s

[17:01]  You: But let's take a 7 minute break now

[17:01]  You: and return to these questions shortly

[17:02]  Geda Hax: oh ok

[17:02]  Andromeda Mesmer: OK. Time to relog -- guys -- one question -- do I look like I have a black sweather and gloves to you? Or is it just my computer?

[17:03]  Rain Ninetails: *sleeping*

[17:04]  Geda Hax: nope , to me you are wearing a bege outfit and no gloves

[17:05]  Arawn Spitteler is Online

[17:08]  You: Hello

[17:08]  Andromeda Mesmer is Offline

[17:09]  You: Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRD6OJCoiTc later, and visit the SL sim on Halloween, if there's room

[17:09]  Andromeda Mesmer is Online

[17:09]  You: So, all kinds of social movements started to use the Internet early on.

[17:11]  You: The example I'm going to use is the Zapatista movement, a Mexican Indian movement - organized around white intelletuals - in a poor, southern state of Mexico

[17:12]  You: And these Indian were first exploited by Spaniards, then parts of Mexican society

[17:13]  You: IN January 1994, they portested hardships imposed upon them by the North American Free Trade treaty

[17:13]  Arawn Spitteler is Offline

[17:13]  You: And this movement was an armed movement

[17:13]  You: The Zapatistas were attacked, and 100s of poeple were killed.

[17:13]  You: They never intended to be a threat to teh Mexican regime.

[17:14]  You: Why, They didn't have any weaopons or training.

[17:14]  You: But they understood that the way to win in the mid-1990s was to impact public opinion

[17:14]  You: And they had a very sophisticated communication strategy

[17:15]  You: Part of this was symbolic - they wore masks

[17:15]  You: And masks were worn around the world in solidarity

[17:15]  You: Their aim was to explain to Mexicans what was reallying happening to Mexican Indians by the military classes

[17:15]  You: they drew T.V. interest

[17:16]  You: They generated big media coverage, with many interviews

[17:16]  You: In order to organize their support, their main weapon was public opinion - a movement to stop the Mexican Army from killing them

[17:17]  You: They organized around the Internet

[17:17]  You: In 1994-95, they started to use the Internet

[17:17]  You: Someone would take a disk to a computer in Chiapas, which information would then go to Newspapars.

[17:17]  You: there was a connection to San Francisco

[17:18]  You: An organization in SF, called the Institute for Global Communicating has techies in it, who donated time

[17:19]  You: Also, in 1993, a women's group focusing on computers formed

[17:19]  You: They called themselves "La Neta"

[17:19]  Beyers Sellers is Online

[17:19]  You: They were a network of Mexican women using resources in Berkeley, supported by the Catholic Church.

[17:20]  You: From this, the Zapatista movement developed computer acces

[17:20]  You: And the Internet became a matter of Life and Death.

[17:20]  You: IN Feb 1995, they sent a message of emergency and solidarity to the White House

[17:21]  You: which got more than 1 million hits per day, on the basis of a real time connection

[17:21]  You: The idea is that the Internet is a powerful instrument and social movments used it successfully as it was becoming bradly popular, and continue to use it today.

[17:21]  You: Political activism, and fights take place on the internet.

[17:22]  You: Another Example:

[17:22]  Andromeda Mesmer: If anybody wants to read more about the Zapatistas, there are great stories and archives here : http://narconews.com/ -- and also at narcosphere

[17:22]  You: In a skirmish between Israelis and Palestinians, Palestianian hackers stole isreali credit cards and published them.

[17:23]  You: Thanks A!

[17:23]  Boston Hutchinson: Thanks!

[17:23]  You: And in the Kosova war, Serbain hackers and pro-Kosovans struggled online

[17:23]  You: Russian Hackers vs. pro-Chechen hackers also fought online

[17:24]  You: So, any political fight NOW provokes craking -

[17:24]  You: A typical attack consists of taking over a web site and posting contray propoganda

[17:24]  You: The Internet is a political battleground - very muhc so - and more than everyday life.

[17:24]  Andromeda Mesmer: During the opening days of the iraq war, somebody brought down the Al Jazeera TV web site.

[17:25]  You: This notion reflects a change in the environment where

[17:25]  You: Politics and the Internet = politicas and the Internet

[17:25]  You: Some of the most important factors shaping this:

[17:26]  You: there are 3 basic connections between social movements and the Internet

[17:26]  You: 1 social movemetn / social protests have new opportuites on the Internet

[17:27]  You: 2 Citizen Networks and community participation have new opportunities on teh Internet

[17:27]  You: And 3 "Formal" politics and the Internet is newly significant

[17:28]  You: Vis-a-vis social movements and the Internet - there are three key points

[17:28]  You: A - the role of values and symbols is key

[17:28]  You: B - the role of networks in social change is transformative

[17:29]  You: C - there is a new relation between the global and the local

[17:29]  You: 1 Social movements

[17:29]  You: collective protest is increasingly organized around changing people's minds

[17:29]  You: rather than taking over institutions

[17:30]  You: e.g. change the way people think about the economy, the environment, nature, and you change effects on it

[17:31]  You: The most effective way, for example, to make change in the environmental movement is to change minds

[17:31]  You: Then the boycott

[17:32]  You: With thte women's movement, the smae thing holds - change the way women think about themselves - in women's minds - and change occurs

[17:32]  You: The most important forms of soical mobilization are built around a change of values

[17:32]  You: Therefore technologies of commucation are essential

[17:33]  You: And they make these processes much more flexible

[17:33]  You: They offer the ability to diffuse vaues

[17:33]  You: values

[17:33]  You: And this is at the center of the process of social change

[17:34]  You: Therefore the ability to use the Internet is dircetly connected to changing values of society

[17:34]  You: Social movements depend on forms of organization

[17:34]  You: This is critical to understanding change

[17:35]  You: e.g. in the 19th century, the widespread exploitation of industrial workers

[17:35]  You: occurred - it still does -

[17:35]  You: but in the 19th centure workers weren't organized

[17:36]  You: The process of building unions, based on commonality of interests depended on the ability to organize

[17:36]  Miranda Tibbett is Offline

[17:36]  You: And this process was dependent on an organizational form called teh factory.

[17:36]  You: The factory created a commonality of interests and a ground for organizing.

[17:37]  Boston Hutchinson: I wonder if the Internet empowers labor as much as globalization empowers capital?

[17:37]  You: E. Thompson showed that the factory and the pub accentuaed this, which is why Britain closed pubs at 9pm in the 19th century.

[17:38]  You: Boston, the Internet changes so much, and in so many interesting ways, and we'll address these questions specifically later

[17:38]  You: You might also read Manuel Castells - the first chapter in "the Rise of the Network Society"

[17:39]  CivilE Writer is Online

[17:39]  You: Both the factory and the pub are places of work and communication

[17:39]  You: and ulitmately these led to key institutions in industrial society

[17:40]  You: Now, people get together on teh basis of networks

[17:40]  You: Example - the movement against globalization

[17:40]  You: People opposing the development of free trade, and the global economy.

[17:41]  You: The movement is saying that what's good for corporations and countries, is not good for the the environment and ethnic minorities, etc.

[17:42]  Valentine Munson is Online

[17:42]  You: The biggest challenge for corporations has been the anti-globalization movement

[17:42]  You: How has this movement been organzied?

[17:42]  You: Mostly through symbolic protest - in Dec 1999 in Seattle, for example

[17:43]  You: labor, grass roots,in solidarity - blocked a meeting of world trade organization which

[17:43]  You: was trying to liberalize trade

[17:43]  You: , to open the borders to capital, and free trade

[17:43]  You: This led to a big debate through media coverage

[17:44]  You: There was a clash with police

[17:44]  You: People understood that a few radical groups can't stop it.

[17:44]  You: The movement was organized around the Internet first

[17:44]  You: People built online forums

[17:44]  You: They shared differetn perspectives

[17:45]  You: They agreed on a central slogan

[17:45]  You: "No globalization without representation"

[17:45]  You: Who decides globalization? A few delegates in a room

[17:45]  You: The result of these protests was debate over months and months

[17:46]  You: During a Seattle meeting, an "independent Media Center" was set up

[17:46]  You: A connection producing video and real time new over the Intenret

[17:47]  You: While we have youtube today, think back to how remarkable as an commuication tool this was

[17:47]  You: Professors at Universities distant form Seattle received emails from Seattle

[17:47]  You: "After being beaten by police . . ."

[17:48]  You: Protesters would go to the Internet and email them

[17:48]  You: Everybody was being his or her own reproter in real time.

[17:48]  You: Everybody can create their own independent media center - and as a forum

[17:48]  You: All that is needed is a password

[17:49]  You: And the Independent Media Center is a NETWORK

[17:49]  You: where individuals can go on and offline

[17:49]  You: After Seattle, similar cetners in Washington DC, Melbourne, Prague, Davos, Switzerland, etc. were set up

[17:50]  You: The notion is about fundamental change is movements themselves

[17:50]  You: More than that, serous attempts to stop protests - thorugh arrests - were transformed.

[17:50]  You: How can you stop a network?

[17:51]  You: This movement swims like a fish in a net

[17:51]  You: In the history of revolutionary movements, there is a famous Lenin pamphlet which says

[17:52]  You: "When students go on vacation, now more activity in our party"

[17:52]  You: But the Internet revolution never stops, because it allows in and out.

[17:52]  You: Thse movements don't have structure, - there isn't a political party

[17:53]  You: Movements have moved from vertical structures, which are card carrying and involve a political party

[17:53]  You: to a network of mobilization

[17:53]  You: This is a decisive change in the context of the Internet

[17:54]  You: So the most important this these days is the globalization of movement

[17:54]  Annette Paster is Online

[17:54]  You: not the movement against globalization

[17:54]  You: This holds true for the women's movement, the environmental movement and nationalist movements

[17:55]  You: Aore importantly is that all kinds of social movements are going global:

[17:55]  You: labor, women, environemnt, church

[17:56]  You: So movements are going global. Rather than fight locally

[17:56]  You: people are trying to affect the casue of the movement

[17:56]  You: E.g. global warming - requires coordinated effort from people around the world.

[17:57]  You: This reverses the old maxim: "Think Global, act Local"

[17:57]  You: What happens is that more and more

[17:57]  Jon Seattle is Offline

[17:57]  You: rather than thinking globally, peopl think from their own angles

[17:58]  You: Most people try to change what affects them

[17:58]  Sysku Mayo is Online

[17:58]  You: To address major social problems, movements have to address sources of power where they are and the Internet makes this possible.

[17:59]  You: So power is global now.

[17:59]  You: If power is global and you are local, you aren't going to make much change.

[17:59]  You: The empirical reserach shows that people organize at local levels and then act globallay.

[18:00]  Joe Petrel is Online

[18:00]  You: By organizing locally, and acting globally, people find they can make a difference.

[18:00]  You: To fight networks you, have to beocme networks

[18:00]  You: So let's close here

[18:01]  You: Observations, thoughts, questions?

[18:01]  Andromeda Mesmer: Just add one thing -- an example --

[18:01]  Geda Hax: Good class Ap , thanks.

[18:01]  You: Thanks Geda

[18:02]  Geda Hax: yw

[18:02]  Morrhys Graysmark is Online

[18:02]  You: You'd like another example, A? How aobut the IPCC - inter governental panel on climate change (which won the recnet peace nobel), which is networking scientists

[18:02]  Andromeda Mesmer: When there was a demonstration in the province of Quebec in Canada, and the Quebec police penetrated that orgaization, and apparently were going to incite violence against the uniformed police -- the demonstrators were swift to videotape the incident, and it got seen around the world. A few days later, the police said that yes, it had been their guys among the demonstrators.

[18:02]  You: to fight networks of co2 production

[18:03]  You: o good - yes please . .

[18:03]  Boston Hutchinson: I wonder if microcredit is a key force in mitigating the unfortunate effects of globalization.

[18:03]  You: public opinion mediated my the Internet is powerful - also the rodney king case, for example.

[18:03]  Andromeda Mesmer: probably helps.

[18:04]  You: Good question - it certainly is important, and effective - let's look at data to see how it's expanding as a process

[18:05]  Andromeda Mesmer: The thing about the Quebec province incident is that showing that video clip worldwide canot be stopped -- and it lends credence to prevous demonstrators in the US who said they did not commit violence, but outside agitators did.

[18:05]  Joe Petrel is Offline

[18:05]  You: If you'd internet message me your e-mail addresses, that I don't have - I occasionally send out emails.

[18:05]  You have offered friendship to Eveline Nixdorf

[18:05]  You have offered friendship to Rain Ninetails

[18:05]  Eveline Nixdorf is Online

[18:05]  You have offered friendship to matrix05 Infinity

[18:05]  Andromeda Mesmer: Do you want me to give it to you again? I can do that.

[18:06]  matrix05 Infinity is Online

[18:06]  Eveline Nixdorf: thanks Aphilo

[18:06]  Geda Hax: Iming you mine now .

[18:06]  You: Also, here's the course wiki

[18:06]  Beyers Sellers is Offline

[18:06]  You: http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com

[18:06]  You: not if I have it already

[18:07]  You: I wonder how we'll see the possibilities for changing the world to the better grow and change.

[18:08]  You: In the coming decades vis a vis the Internet

[18:09]  You: Well, this sim may be full tonight but check this halloween world out in SL soon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRD6OJCoiTc

[18:10]  Boston Hutchinson: It seems to me that technologies that empower the individual tend to produce the kind of society we can enjoy living in, whereas technologies that empower corporations and governments don't work out so well for individuals, regardless of the (possibly) good intentions of the actors.

[18:11]  You: And these do both

[18:11]  You: :)

[18:11]  Boston Hutchinson: Yes

[18:12]  You: And it depends on which individuals you are referring to, but I agree - it' realisitcally hard to imagine a different system in the context of the network society.

[18:12]  You: And there's lots of room for individuals to change challenges through networking

[18:13]  Boston Hutchinson: Well, I'm thinking of the "individual" as the vast majority of us, or the average person.

[18:14]  Boston Hutchinson: Only a small number of people are so powerful in a corporation or government to prefer the dominance of those institutions.

[18:14]  You: Yes, I think individuals as informaiton producers, a relaitvely recent view the internet, may have more effects - and then the digital divide plays a signifcant role

[18:15]  Andromeda Mesmer: The private people as reporters really seem to irritate the old media -- who believe that interpretation of the news is also needed.

[18:15]  You: And, as corporations as networks are profoundly affected by the distributive and therefore horizontal effects of the Internet

[18:15]  Boston Hutchinson: Don't individuals also need to control capital, their economic destinies, to have a rich life?

[18:15]  Andromeda Mesmer: Define "rich"

[18:16]  Andromeda Mesmer: I can have a "rich" library -- by making use of the public library ...

[18:17]  Boston Hutchinson: I mean full, happy, not financially rich

[18:17]  You: As teh Berkman Center also makes highlights -people as reporters and bloggers is infinitely extensible and very significant

[18:17]  You: (and fascianting)

[18:17]  You: I agree, Boston.

[18:17]  You: And data online - it's potentially very democratizing.

[18:17]  Boston Hutchinson: Also, choice in work is really important, and it seems to be hard to find!

[18:18]  You: yes, society and economies offer only so many roles

[18:18]  Geda Hax: Guys , I am really sorry but I need to go now . Thanks all and see you next wed . Take care .

[18:19]  You: Thanks for coming!

[18:19]  Andromeda Mesmer: Bye, Geda!

[18:19]  Boston Hutchinson: The recipient of a micro loan from Grameen bank may have a richer life in many ways than a succesful banker in New York who hates his/her job.

[18:19]  You: Bye, Geda!

[18:19]  Boston Hutchinson: Bye Geda

[18:19]  You: You're getting into the literature and data on "happiness"

[18:19]  Ralph Radius: bye Geda

[18:20]  Geda Hax: bye bye was just reading Bostons last line ...

[18:20]  Boston Hutchinson: I really only intend to talk about personal choice or lack thereof

[18:20]  You: Abject poverty can detract from happiness, but after some measure of financial comfort, more money doesn't lead to ahppiness, I have read.

[18:20]  Boston Hutchinson: It would be nice to know.:)

[18:21]  You: I think choice, too, is correlated with happiness

[18:21]  You: Read Csikszentmihalyi

[18:21]  Andromeda Mesmer: Apparently the children of very rich people can be very unhappy.

[18:21]  You: Seligman, and sheck out wikipedia on happiness

[18:21]  Ralph Radius: Money can get you out of troubles and emergencies that you would have to put up with otherwise.

[18:22]  Boston Hutchinson: I'm really just wondering if the Internet offers economic empowerment & choice.

[18:22]  Diego Ibanez is Online

[18:22]  Boston Hutchinson: Yes, Ralph, that's for sure!

[18:22]  Joe Petrel is Online

[18:22]  You: Great questions, Boston

[18:22]  Andromeda Mesmer: True Ralph, if money can fix a problem, yes.

[18:23]  Boston Hutchinson: If there's only a few big mega-corporations and they only want cheap labor, we all lose.

[18:23]  You: Statistically, the internet correlates with improved standard of living, but that's looking at broad social groupings

[18:23]  Free Radar HUD v1.1 by Crystal Gadgets

[18:24]  Ralph Radius: WB rain

[18:24]  Rain Ninetails: ooof

[18:24]  You: This video of Swedish porfessor Hans Rosling looking at key changes in poverty statisistically, is very engaging and interesting:

[18:24]  Andromeda Mesmer: What I hope to see, is to have script writers and creators break free of the big entertainment companies -- for example, J. Michael Straczynski and Joss Whedon both had a lot of problems trying to get their popular shows on the air. The fans wrote to the networks, but that didn't help much.

[18:24]  You: Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you've ever seen

[18:24]  Boston Hutchinson: Very interesting example.

[18:25]  You: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/92

[18:25]  Andromeda Mesmer: As technology makes producing films and videos cheaper, these creators may have a better chance to share their works with their fans.

[18:25]  Ralph Radius: Yes.

[18:26]  Boston Hutchinson: We seem to have been in the era of the star system--a few people become stars, and the rest cant get a job. Maybe that's changing.

[18:26]  You: Already barriers to access on the internet are very low

[18:26]  Diego Ibanez is Offline

[18:26]  You: It's very easy to sell through amazon, or ebay

[18:26]  You: and it's quite easy to set up online video for sale.

[18:27]  You: For next week please watch the TED talk with Hans Rosling

[18:27]  Ralph Radius: In terms of moves you can make cartoon movies on SL. The quaility of what is possible in that field is headed up fast.

[18:28]  You: Yet the internet amakes it possible for us to become media producers

[18:28]  Sysku Mayo is Offline

[18:28]  You: in unparalleled ways

[18:28]  You: so easily and inexpensively and on a world wide scale, and to network around this!

[18:29]  Andromeda Mesmer: And the language barrier is being broken as well --

[18:29]  You: You still have a few sites which get millions of hits, but we all can be online

[18:29]  Boston Hutchinson: Interesting... I guess in SL, we are all producers and consumers to some degree, not just consumers of mass media.

[18:29]  Andromeda Mesmer: I was able to communicate with a Japanese speaker at the store --

[18:29]  You: that's the internet!

[18:29]  Ralph Radius: If you belive that peoples needs are unlimited -- I do -- then there should be unlimted opertunites for individuals to make money.

[18:29]  You: cool

[18:29]  Andromeda Mesmer: I used Babbler, and she used something different. The communication wasn't of great quality -- but enough to get the ideas across.

[18:29]  Ralph Radius: Satisfying each others needs.

[18:30]  You: And the internet with its developing technologies offers unlimited innovation possibility

[18:30]  Ralph Radius: Yes it does,

[18:30]  You: pretty amazing

[18:30]  Ralph Radius: Yes.

[18:30]  You: So I need to leave SL . . .

[18:31]  You: See you next week!

[18:31]  Ralph Radius: Another very interesting class Aphilo.

[18:31]  Rain Ninetails: :)

[18:31]  Boston Hutchinson: Lots of interesting thoughts and ideas tonight! Thanks Aphilo and everybody!

[18:31]  You: Thanks for participating

[18:31]  Ralph Radius: Next week!

[18:31]  You: !

[18:31]  Andromeda Mesmer: /claps for Aphilo

[18:31]  You: Thanks

[18:31]  Boston Hutchinson: See you all next week.

[18:32]  Ralph Radius: See you then. Nite!

[18:32]  You: Good night

[18:32]  Andromeda Mesmer: Yes. Aphilo -- will a subsequent class be affected by the US Thanksgiving holiday?

[18:32]  matrix05 Infinity: nite aphilo

 

http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com/