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LAI Kuan Jung 13:51, 30 Jul 2004 (EST)
ENTRY 1
Siemens, G. 2002. The Art of Blogging. Available: http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/blogging_part_1.htm (accessed 5 August, 2004)
Subject: Definition and overview of blogs.
This article explains that the defination of blogging is difficult to define because of its many different attributes that can be offered to people. However, the author has presented some of the definations of blogging by others, and through utilizing the characteristics of new media, the author explores the uses, implications, the art of blogging, benefits that include communicating and interacting, and the different purposes which blogging serve to individuals.
ENTRY 2
Wilbur, S.P. 2000. An Archaeology of Cyberspaces: Virtuality, Community, Identity. In The Cybercultures Reader, ed. Bell, D., Kennedy, B. M. pp. 45- 55. London:New York Routledge, ISBN 0415183782
Subject: Definitions of virtual communities; individual identity; social relationships.
Wilbur describes the definitions of virtual communities in response to the material carried by the different concepts and ideas, from ‘an experience of sharing with unseen others a space of communication’ to the ‘people all over the world gathered around television sets to watch a World Cup match.’ He explores the dislocation in time and space in cyberspace and how it affect individuals to see their own identities in two different perspectives. This chapter offers an understanding on how the elements: community, virtuality, mediation, and commerce are articulated within the Internet culture, and the relations between the real and the virtual.
ENTRY 3
Castells, M. 2000. Materials for an Exploratory Theory of the Network Society. In British Journal of Sociology, vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 5-24.
Subject: information networks; social structure; social theory.
This article’s objective seeks to propose some elements for a grounded theory of the network society by examining the interaction between relationships of production/ consumption, power, and experience that constitute cultures. Castells presents some social theories like symbolic communication and explores the social structure in the information age and how the old forms of social organization are now empowered by new communication technologies.
ENTRY 4
Wellman, B. 1997. An Electronic Group is Virtually A Social Network. In Culture of the Internet, ed. Kiesler,S. pp. 179 – 205. Mahwah, N.J. : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, ISBN 0805816356.
Subject: Social networks; social relationships.
This chapter examines social networks and discusses how it can be useful for understanding how people relate to each other through computer-mediated communication, using a range of concepts, findings and methods in the social sciences. Wellman offers an insightful account of some major studies undertaken to analyze the patterns of social structure, the impact they have on other variables, and also the characteristics of network members and their social relationships.
ENTRY 5
Sproull, L., Faraj, S. 1997. Atheism, Sex, and Databases: The Net As a Social Technology. In Culture of the Internet, ed. Kiesler,S. pp. 35 – 51. Mahwah, N.J. : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, ISBN 0805816356.
Subject: Social relationships; social technology.
This chapter discusses the uses of the Internet as always seen as a technology for providing access to information and information tools. The author looks at the Internet from another perspective as a social technology, and providing the view of people on the net as social beings who are looking for affiliation, support, and affirmation, allowing people with common interests to find each other, gather and sustain connections over time.
ENTRY 6
Feenberg, A. 2004. Virtual Community: No ‘Killer Implication’. In New Media and Society, Vol.6, issue 1, pp. 37 – 43.
Subject: Social relationships; benefits of online communities.
This article discusses the concept of communities through communication and by looking at the importance of media in determining the different styles of communication. Using examples like the radio and television as reciprocal communication, Feenberg applies the same idea to how the Internet work, in which similar impulses contend. The author describes how the Internet offers flexible communicative social space that can be construed and bent in several ways for people to associate with each other, which is what forms these online communities. Feenberg’s discussion primarily promotes the uses of online communities, outlining several benefits which it can bring in social relationships, indicating that fears like isolating effects by some pessimists are exaggerations.
ENTRY 7
Castells, M. 2001. The Internet Galaxy – Reflections on the Internet, Business, and Society. pp. 116 – 133. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, ISBN 0199241538.
Subject: Social relationships; social theory; individual identity.
This book clarifies the history and the culture of the Internet, and presents various aspects of the operation and contribution of the Internet to the society, summarizing on areas including e-business and the new economy; virtual communities; civil society; and globally. The author offers account of some aspects on social relations in Chapter 4: Virtual Communities or Network society?, explaining that the Internet has been commonly accused of gradually enticing people to escape from the real world, in a culture increasingly dominated by virtual reality. Castells proposes a few hypotheses on the patterns of sociability emerging in our society, and dispelling the common errors recognized by some, concerning social behavior associated with communication on the Internet. Further more, Castells discusses some research findings that outline the benefits which virtual communities can bring for people in terms social practice.
ENTRY 8
Boyd, D. 2002. Faceted ID/entity: Managing Representation in a Digital World. Available: http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/danah/thesis/danahThesis.pdf (accessed: 3 August, 2004)
Subject: Social theory; social interaction.
This thesis by Boyd contains theories on social interaction covering several areas including identity, self-awareness and identity management, applying them to both the physical world and digital world, but focusing primarily on the digital world. While some of these theories apply to both online and offline, the author also highlights the differences in which people present themselves and interact with each other in these two situations. In Chapter 3: Recognizing Social Interaction for the Digital Ream, Boyd presents some of the differences between physical and the digital, focusing on those that impact on social behavior. She discusses the power of architecture and the value of embodiment in social interactions, where people who interact online are forced to articulate their performance in different ways, making it difficult to present oneself to another.
While presenting oneself to another online is difficult, in Chapter 5: Digital Identity Management, Boyd explains the differences between identity management and impression management, and the importance of these components in order to engage in more meaningful social interactions.
ENTRY 9
Green, L. 2002. Technoculture – From Alphabet to Cybersex. pp. 43 – 60. St Leonards, N.S.W:Allen and Unwin, ISBN 1865080489.
Subject: Social relationships; Applying Maslow’s hierarchy to online behavior.
Green examines the technologies of communication through the rapid world of cyberspace, and what drives technological change, also exploring how a wide range of technology cultures interact. Focusing more on Chapter 3: Domestication of Technologies, this chapter discusses the domestication of the Internet when adopted by one, and examining community building in virtual life and how these two components relate to each other. Green then analyses how the Internet plays such a big role in many of our lives, applying it to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and showing the importance of this technology to individuals, but to different levels depending on personal needs and goals.
ENTRY 10
Barnes, S. 1999. Developing A Concept of Self In Cyberspace Communities. In The Emerging Cyberculture – Literacy, Paradigm, and Paradox. ed. Gibson, S. B., Oviedo, O.O. pp. 169 – 199. Cresskill, N.J : Hampton Press, ISBN 1572731958.
Subject: Performance; information age.
This chapter provides comprehensive information on communication technologies and the shift that change how people manage information, covering areas including issues of the constitutions of the communication environments and the challenges to held paradigms and concepts of self that leads to the constant technology and cultural shifts. It provides detailed insights of virtual communities and theories of performance arts and communication in steps, where each step is outlined theoretically.
ENTRY 11
Kahn, R., Kellner, D. 2004. New Media and Internet Activism: From the ‘Battle of Seattle’ to Blogging. In New Media and Society, vol. 6, issue 1, pp. 87 – 95.
Subject: Political issues; social relationships.
This article discusses the use of the Internet to promote ideas in consumer society, using political issues as their main examples. The authors suggest that the Internet plays a major role for many in expressing interests and opinions, which are the main features in web cultures like blogs and wikis. Not only do bloggers take part in ongoing debates and form a commentary central that make the idea of a dynamic network, but the authors also discuss some of the other notions which bloggers have expanded on, for example, posting not only text, but also pictures, audios and videos. Finally, this article discusses how these uses of blogs and wikis contribute to forming new communities and subcultures, and also help produce new social relationships.
ENTRY 12
Seipp, C. 2002. Online Uprising. Available: http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=2555 (accessed 4 August, 2004)
Subject: Media coverage; political issues.
In this article, Seipp touches on subjects regarding the mainstream media versus blogs as a source of information, and the effect they have on political issues. Seipp discusses the future of blogs, where trends slowly change which could possibility lead to people relying on them as a place for discussion and as their main source of information, instead of the mainstream media, which are disliked by big government fans.
LAI Kuan Jung 16:01, 12 Aug 2004 (EST)
