WS798: Revised Research Proposal

Revised Proposal:
After doing a little research and looking through articles, my revised proposal is pretty similar to my original one. In my paper I will define all terms I intend on using including the following list:
vlogging - video blogging, usually personal home videos posted on the internet for others to view on a regular posting schedule.
YouTube - the most popular video sharing website and home to many personal vlog channels and social communities.
symbolic interactionism - the theory that people will perform certain behaviors according to the perceived meanings of those behaviors, and the meanings are formed from social interaction and can be changed through interpretation.
looking-glass self - a tool for self reflection; people see themselves how they perceive others to see them.

I am still writing my paper with the assumption that, although vlogging may have begun as a private way to keep a video diary or track progress on a task, etc, it has evolved into a medium of communication and is currently the means by which many users interact on a daily basis and form personal relationships. Communities develop when a group of people create and view vlogs of interest and engage in discussions based on the vlogging topic. I think it is important to extract and observe the relationship between the vlogger and the viewer.

I also think it is important to survey the outcomes of vlogging--whether it weakens our already existing community (face-to-face interactions), enhances community (by creating space for online interactions and communities), or transforms the nature of community (a new definition incorporating online interaction with face-to-face interaction). I personally hypothesize that our world is always evolving and we must learn to adapt to new social situations; as technology becomes an integral part of social relationships, human social interactions and social communities will evolve to incorporate technology.

I realize that this topic may still be a bit broad and I am looking into making it more specific to one community, but this is just a general overview of what the specific topic will cover.


Annotated Bibliography:
Bell, Vaughan. "Online Information, Extreme Communities and Internet Therapy: Is the Internet Good for Our Mental Health?" Journal of Mental Health 16.4 (2007): 445-57. Print.

Bell's article is mostly focused on how the internet affects our mental health in general, but does go into specifics in certain sections. The section regarding internet therapy especially relates to my paper. Bell questions whether the internet can be used as a form of therapy for some users, especially those who may be dealing with extenuating circumstances. Bell introduces "extreme communities", which are used as support networks for people with a multitude of disorders. Extreme communities mentioned by Bell include pro-anorexia, pro-suicide, pro-amputation and likely-psychotic groups. Bell concludes that these communities are effective in helping some people and it may even be beneficial for mental health professionals to actually create online groups as a form of treatment and to provide additional resources to their patients.

Lange, Patricia G. Fostering Friendship Through Video Production: How Youth Use YouTube to Enrich Local Interaction. Proc. of International Communication Association Conference, San Francisco, California. 2007. Print.

Lange discusses the current debate of whether avid internet use weakens community, enhances community, or changes the nature of community. She states that while social networking sites, such as YouTube, connect people on a global level, they are also used to foster local relationships between users. Lange also argues that this form of media can be used to facilitate new social ties or enhance existing ties between people of one local area. Other scholars have argued that relationships that are created over the internet lack emotional cues and, therefore, create an inappropriate atmosphere for emotional exchanges. Vlogging, however, consists of personal videos created by vloggers, which allow for certain visual emotional cues to be disseminated. Lange also states that it is important not to ignore key social particulars that are crucial to understanding how interaction functions in specific contexts.

Lange, Patricia G. "Publicly Private and Privately Public: Social Networking on YouTube." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13.1 (2008): 361-80. Print.

Lange pays particular attention to how YouTube users form social networks by creating and allowing access to their personal videos. Lange also studies the social relationships that are created among youth by sharing their videos online. As the title of the article suggests, public versus private content is brought into question. Lange describes "publicly private" behavior as "video makers' identities were revealed, but content was relatively private because it was not widely accessed" (Lange, 361), and describes "privately public" behavior as "sharing widely accessible content with many viewers, while limiting access to detailed information about video producers' identities" (Lange, 361). Lange suggests that membership in different social networks is determined by what content is made publicly private, or privately public.

Nardi, Bonnie A., Diane J. Schiano, and Michelle Gumbrecht. "Blogging as Social Activity, Or, Would You Let 900 Million People Read Your Diary?" (2004). Print.

The Nardi, Schiano, and Gumbrecht article reports the results of their study focusing on individual or small group-run blogs with limited audiences. They discuss different motivations for blogging, including in response to requests from their friends, as well as the relationship between the blogger and their audience. Some people leave comments on their friends' blogs and others post their response as a new entry in their own blog. This article is interesting in that the blogger-audience relationship is recognized and analyzed thoroughly. Nardi et al look at whether bloggers reply to comments, how long conversations can go on in the comments, whether the commenting on blogs is reciprocated, as well as who is "following" anothers blog. Nardi et al don't directly address vlogging (which is the focus of my paper), but they speak particularly on blogging. I am using information from this article to provide evidence of the benefits of online communities and relationships that can develop from posting a "diary" online--whether it is in video or text form.

Wesch, Michael. YouTube and You: Experiences of Self-Awareness in the Context Collapse of the Recording Webcam. Hampton Press, Inc., 2009. 19-34. Print.

Wesch's article most directly related to the original idea that I had for my paper. He explores how people use YouTube to experience both self-awareness and self-reflection. Wesch's article directly mentions vlogs (accounts of user's personal lives, short for video logs) and different outcomes or goals when users create, view, and respond to them. Wesch proposes that this process uses a symbolic interactionist framework, as it is globally connected and allows people to share their moments of self-reflection with others, creating community. The premise of the theory is that people will perform certain behaviors depending on the perceived meanings of those behaviors, and the meanings are formed from social interaction and can be changed through interpretation.

WS798: Alexis Pauline Gumbs: "We Are Not Machines!"

After leaving the event with Alexis, I found myself repeating her words, "We are not machines." The event really made me think about how sometimes (perhaps subconsciously) people think of themselves as a machine in terms of doing our day-to-day jobs, or as one part of a machine in terms of our purpose in the greater society. People get so wrapped up in power and capitalism that we begin to only see ourselves as having a purpose in completing an overall task. For example, the women in my sorority can be seen as each holding specific chair positions that are essential to the overall success of the sorority and if one woman is not doing her job, the rest of the sorority will suffer. This trivializes the raw beauty and natural essence that each woman possesses individually. People no longer see themselves as a strong body, energized and ready to play. We think of ourselves and one another as part of a mechanical whole, with only one task to complete.

Another concept that Alexis pushed was "information overload." From what I understand (and this might be a bit off), information overload refers to people being bombarded with information that may be conflicting or repetitive, but received from all around nonetheless. By receiving too much information it is difficult for people to make sense of it and understand it, and therefore not being able to provide an adequate response or make decisions. Making use of the internet, it is very easy to experience information overload, and that is exactly what new users are experiencing, whether it be youth or middle-aged folk who are being introduced to the internet for the first time.

I found it extremely refreshing to hear Alexis' point of view on this topic. She wasn't necessarily a guest speaker for our class, but I somehow felt she was speaking directly to our class because of the content in her presentation, and I felt it to be overwhelmingly related to the subject matter that we've been discussing throughout the semester.

WS798: Research Paper Proposal

In the past couple of months I have familiarized myself with vlogging and have been very interested in watching other people's vlogs. Vlogging refers to video blogging, that is, videos posted by an individual to a blog with regular entries. To date, the most popular video sharing website is YouTube, the home of millions of user vlogs. People who vlog keep a sort of online diary over a certain period of time and they vlog for the purpose of initiating dialogue between them and their viewers, via the comment tool. People vlog about a multitude of topics, usually whatever is happening in their life at the time of the post, good and bad. Some vlogging gets very personal and people share what is closest to their hearts, including gender identity disorders, a list of what they've done that day, this week's crush, discrimination they've experienced recently, an update on any changes in their personal relationships, any recent news they've received, a new job they've gotten, they're current playlists, etc. After these video diaries are recorded they are posted into cyberspace, where millions of YouTube users can watch it and potentially leave their comments, questions, advice, etc. Taking advantage of these feature, YouTube users often use vlogging as a form of self-therapy.

I'm going to observe how YouTube reinforces the “looking glass self” and serves as a tool for self-reflection. Unlike on ChatRoulette, people can choose what content their viewers see because it is recorded before it is uploaded and users can view it before submitting it to their vlogs. By watching their videos beforehand, they can see how their viewers are going to see them, thus determining what content they're going to allow their viewers to see. Vlogs are self-produced and self-distributed, defining the “looking glass self”—people see themselves based on how others see them and respond to them. These people enter cyberspace because they're feeling a disconnect with the “real life” people in their lives. They use YouTube as an attempt to connect with other people and form a community—an ultimate attempt to reconnect with humanity. I'll also touch on how people tend to express human values in their vlogs that are not necessarily prevalent in society. Other areas I am considering looking at include how vlogging has changed ideas of community, how vlogging has changed social interaction and integration, and how vlogging helps shape identity.

WS798: AVATAR: A Movie About the Na'vi Clan, starring a human.

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As Lisa Nakamura points out in Digitizing Race, "...the massification of the Internet has not damaged the market for traditionally racialized representations of people of color... White people are still depicted as the users that matter in these narratives that are so influential among popular audiences, especially young audiences" (208). This holds true for James Cameron's 2009 science fiction film, Avatar. The movie takes place in 2154 when humans discover a valuable mineral, unobtainium, on Pandora, the home of the Na'vi clan who are non-technological and worship Eywa, a mother goddess. While scientists have created avatars for humans to observe and learn about the Na'vi and the biosphere, the RDA of the military plots to send a former marine to Pandora via an avatar to persuade the Na'vi clan to move away from Hometree, the clan's dwelling, which sits on top of a particularly rich mining site for unobtainium. Obviously, a war ensues between the Na'vi and the military, and guess who saves the day? The White male human--and former marine--who befriended the Na'vi through deceit and manipulation.


Now, let's for a moment imagine that Jake Sully(the ex-marine) hadn't joined the Na'vi clan. How would this movie have ended? Well, presumably the Na'vi clan would have been wiped out or forced to relocate when the military waged war on them, attacking them with tanks, guns, and other advanced weaponry, and leaving the Na'vi to defend themselves with bows and arrows and an apparent defeated response to their home being destroyed. So basically, the only reason that the clan survived and overpowered the military is because they had an alpha male human on their side to tell them what to do. I also must add that even though most of this racism isn't only through human races/ethnicities, it is between species, that the actors and actresses who play the main Na'vi characters (the lead Na'vi female--Neytiri--whom Jake falls in love with, the clan chief, Neytiri's mother, and the Na'vi male that is skeptical of Jake) are all played by Dominican, African American, or Native American people. No White people. And the main human characters (Jake Sully, the head scientist and doctor, and the military men--the colonel, corporal, and private) are all played by White actresses and actors. Now, that's interesting. How stereotypical is it that they cast a Native American man to play the Na'vi chief? And the only main human character who is not White is Trudy, the Hispanic female pilot who turns against the military and steals a helicopter--like a true criminal (which is a typical stereotype of Hispanic people, in case you didn't catch that).

In Avatar, it is clear that the White humans are the superior race and species, as they have the access to all the technology--they have advanced military weaponry and robots and advanced scientific technology to create the avatars and mentally link them to humans. The Na'vi are so obviously depicted as being primitive, non-technological, and sexual. The Na'vi's only weapons are bows and arrows! They of course have to add a sex scene (although not human sex, it is still sex) between Jake in his avatar body and Neytiri, the lead female Na'vi. Even before the actual scene where they have sex, Neytiri is portrayed as being sexy and one can see how she is slowly seducing Jake although it is meant to appear that she does this unintentionally or subconsciously. Right.

Lastly, I want to discuss the title of this post. Avatar is geared towards a variety of audiences, but is clearly meant to be enjoyed by young people, as it is rated PG-13. Most people, but particularly young people may watch Avatar and only see a movie about the Na'vi clan who live on Pandora, deal with their home almost being destroyed by humans, but ultimately surviving and then living happily ever after. I watch Avatar and see a movie about White guilt. It is a movie that is perceptively about the Na'vi clan, but ultimately stars a human (hence, "A Movie about the Na'vi, starring a human"). This movie could have done without having Jake Sully as the hero for the Na'vi and especially being the praised Na'vi clan member like they all owe their entire species' survival to him. James Cameron could have easily had one of the Na'vi be in the lead role and save their own species from obliteration without the help of any humans. But sadly, he would have rather portrayed the guilt that White people have from being superior to other races (and causing them oppression and distress) and casting that into the movie in the form of human guilt of being superior to the Na'vi, which is why Jake Sully switches sides in the end and betrays the military (and ultimately all humans) to help the Na'vi. Oh, and Jake also gets the perks of being allowed to permanently living in the Na'vi clan and having the daughter of the clan's spiritual leader as his mate.

WS798: Individuality or Conformity?

So, check out the picture on page 145 of Lisa Nakamura's Digitizing Race: Visual Culture of the Internet. The picture has the caption: "Beaner Dreamers avatar group portrait". Just looking at this picture stirred up so much conflict and contradiction for me.

This picture is supposed to portray all the ways that people can manipulate their avatars to express their different social identities on the internet, because users are able to change the avatar's clothing, hair color, skin color, add limited piercings and tattoos and add that little baby bump to signify pregnancy--and this is supposed to be a better expression of their individuality than plain text on the internet. Well, news flash for the people creating these avatars: changing your avatar's skin color does not signify race or ethnicity. The choices that avatar programs have are extremely limited--there are about 3 choices of skin tone: very dark brown, medium brown, and pale peach. Maybe a small percentage of people can pick a color that matches their skin tone, but even then what does that tell you about your race or ethnicity? Does that medium brown tone translate to light-skinned African American? Hispanic or Latino? Indian? Egyptian? What color does a person who is of mixed races with Irish and recessive African American genes (they have light skin and red hair) choose? And what the hell is pale peach? There are many different shades that would be needed to actually portray how a person looks, and even then it doesn't actually show specific races or ethnicities.

Next, I noticed they all have the same facial features, body types, hair types, and height. How expressive is that! There are no overweight avatar options, no options for people that don't have big doe eyes or petite noses, no options for girls without curves, or who don't have a D cup bra size. As far as I can see, the only thing that someone can actually learn about another person from looking at their avatar is the person's name that is stamped next to it. By offering such a narrow scope of "customization options," people are actually being told to conform to societal expectations of what women should look like, which is very limited. It is socially acceptable for women to have small waists, curvy hips, perfectly done up hair, blemish-free skin, fashionable clothing, a prominent jaw line, big breasts and an innocent stance--all for an overall feminine appearance. This picture is a giant contradiction in and of itself. People make avatars so they can express their individuality, but they're actually being molded to fit into a narrow socially acceptable box.

WS798: Technology vs. Sustainability

How often are people really sick? I guess it depends on our definition of “sick”. In the introduction of Gender Circuits (pp.29-31), Eve Shapiro makes the point that we, as humans, only acknowledge that we are sick because technology says so, not simply because our bodies say so. Think about it. We have a multitude of new tests and body scans to tell us what is wrong with our bodies and we have plenty of pills, liquid medicine, lotions, and gels to aid us when we are sick. None of which are natural to the human body. Shapiro describes an article written by Donna Haraway, who argues that humans have become cyborgs because of all of the technology we put into our bodies. She talks about many intentional modifications that we make to our bodies, including tattoos, tanning salons, and hair dyes, but what about the unintentional modifications?

Since we first learned that chemicals had the power to kill insects and weeds, we have been spraying them as insecticides and herbicides over farms and gardens to kill the insects and weeds to maximize fresh fruits and vegetables for crop. To make a point, Ester Hernandez's Sun Mad Raisins illustrates a box of Sun Maid Raisins modified to read “Sun Mad Raisins unnaturally grown with insecticides, miticides, herbicides, and fungicides” with the maid portrayed as a skeleton holding the basket. This image symbolizes the harm that we are doing to our bodies by consuming the crop or meat from animals that have been exposed to harmful chemicals. This is a vicious cycle brought on by technology. We have so many ideas for new technology that is supposed to save us time and make our lives easier and more efficient, but it is not at all healthy. What good is having an easy, stress-free life if we're all sick and dying?

Chemicals from the insecticides and herbicides that remain on the food we eat are digested in our bodies. Human bodies today are filled with too many unnatural substances that were never meant to be there, hence Haraway's term “cyborgs”. We are a technology centered society that favors convenience and efficiency over health and sustainability. We cannot sustain ourselves or our earth if we keep producing new technologies that not only create unnatural changes, but that cause harm to us and the environment as well.

 

Eve Shapiro's Gender Circuits
Preview: Gendered Bodies and Identities in a Technological Age
Biomedical Technology as Mediator between Physical and Mental Life (pp.29-31)

WS798: Human evolution has gone digital. What's next?

In his latest book and YouTube video, Mark Bauerlein claims that the current generation of young Americans is the "dumbest generation". Are we the dumbest generation? Or are we just doing what people have been doing for years? I will have to disagree with Bauerlein and say that we are trying to survive in this new world of technology, and we need to learn and keep up with the hype in order to survive. It's the latest form of human evolution and, evidently, survival of the fittest.

There is no doubt that people who are equipped with computer skills entering the competitive job market are going to get hired over people who have yet to face a computer screen. Questions related to computer knowledge are showing up on an increasing number of job applications and sought out on resumes. Some jobs even require specific computer skills that a person must have to be hired or that they be extensively trained on as soon as they are hired. This may mean that the concept of “intelligence” is also changing. While reading classical novels may have been an indication of intelligence in the past, people are now more impressed with skills such as creating websites, maintaining online databases, using basic word processing or record keeping software, and handling new forms of communication. All of this is a result of a new culture forming—cyberculture—and fusing with existing American culture to become the norm for younger generations.

Then people may ask: Will digital communication be the only communication? New generations are becoming addicted to the ever-growing technological hype. Texting, social networking websites, instant messaging, Skype, and yes, blogging have become the norm for communication among youth. Verbal and written communications have been sideswiped by this new wave of technology. While Bauerlein may see these advances as distractions for youth, they are becoming necessary to learn. From a young age if people are effectively taught time management skills, they can learn to get their work done and still be able to learn and play with the new technology. Honestly, can you imagine not using or learning these new forms of technology and still being able to keep up with your friends, family, school and work? I think not. At my age, my friends expect me to write on their Facebook wall when it’s their birthday, they expect me to reply to their text messages within the hour, and they were even surprised that I didn’t have a webcam on my computer up until last year. Most professors require that papers be typed and printed, jobs require that a resume be typed and printed, and when I become a professional photographer I will need Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom skills to enhance my photos!

In the end, I can’t agree with Bauerlein and say that I am growing up as a member of the dumbest generation. I don’t think that being easily distracted detracts from a person’s intelligence—it is how the distraction is handled. With new technology comes new responsibilities and the younger generations need to learn to adapt given the new and advancing resources.