Compulsive blogging... :P

Hey everyone.

I thought my posting in here was getting a bit excessive, so I tried to lay off for a little while, but now I've come across some cool stuff and I can't help but share it with you! Heh.

Alright. So, first and most recently-come-across, we have the ultimate manifestation of online identity construction: the bot. See SexyGrrl16, created and controlled by Triffid_Hunter, for an example. (Bots per se aren't new to me, but this link to share with you is.) Notoriously found in chatrooms, bots are little programs designed to appear like fellow online users. Bots serve various functions; for example, to moderate real (whatever "real" means) users' behaviour in a chat room, to log and statistically analyze chat room content (example here), or to "interact" with, or at least respond to, other chatters -- this last function is usually primarily for the bot creator's amusement, and is exemplified in the case of SexyGrrl16.

And here we have a blog about female gamers, or women in gaming at least.

I thought there was something else I had stumbled across and wanted to show you but I can't find it now. Nevermind. :)

Hope we're all having a very enjoyable study break.

Ciao!

Greetings, fellow cyborgs.

A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of this essay, which I thought would be good for us all to read.

It starts off by suggesting to the reader that all creations are laden with the values of their creator(s), and that this is not always immediately apparent to the creator(s) but becomes so when excluded populations are discovered. From here the discussion develops into one of gender (female) representation in computer games.

I particularly like the way the author discusses real examples very closely and doesn't stray into an abstract argument based on opinions and potentialities. If you ask me for any negative criticisms I have about this essay, I'll need a while to think.

If you can't be bothered reading the essay itself, I think it's worthwhile reading the comments at the bottom of the page.

Cheers.

Matthew Soar's 'The First Things First Manifesto and the politics of culture jamming'

Main points of Soar’s article
1. Commercialism and advertising have taken graphic design to a slave/subordinate status level. The oppression of graphic design by advertising.

2. This oppression has effected the compromising or loss of values and purposes in the graphic design industry. Graphic design being used to promote consumer-capitalism, a means/tool used to push the “eyeballs” (audience) (p. 224 of reader, 577 of article) into buying non-essential products: social (ir)responsibility.

3. Graphic designers are largely unhappy with this social function; they do not identify with persuading people into consumerism (p. 224 of reader, 577 of article) – such persuasion is referred to as “sinning” (p. 223 of reader, 576 of article and 226 of reader, 579 of article). Designers are calling for a renewal of design’s values – a reintroduction of the First Things First Manifesto, seeking an ethical revolution.

4. Somewhere in the middle of the discussion Soar downplays the enemy status of advertising by voicing its side of the story: he interviews Richard Wilde, an “ad man” who mentions that advertising pays for many public service announcements (p. 226 of reader, 579 of article). Soar also points out that advertising is powered by societal values to begin with, and this is a running theme throughout the article. It is touched on that “Helfand thought that ‘intrinsically there’s nothing wrong with advertising’ – although she did feel that ‘marketing might be [the enemy]’.” e.g. “market research, focus groups and brand-building.” (p. 227 of reader, 580 of article). Soar also suggests that while graphic designers are uneasy about the ethics of their commercial work, this commercial work does provide for non-commercial and personal/expressive work.

5. This last point turns around into graphic designers having some degree of power in influencing/changing these societal values that can be used to 'clean out the cycle' and allow for graphic design to be put to 'better' use, e.g. “‘Consumerism is running uncontested; it must be challenged by other perspectives expressed, in part, through the visual languages and resource of design’.” (p. 219 of reader, 572 of article). Ideal instances of where this could take place are nominated in the Manifesto, "Many cultural interventions, social marketing campaigns, books, magazines, exhibitions, educational tools, television programs, films, charitable causes and other information design projects" (p. 239 of reader, 592 of article).

6. Education as an arena for manifestation/experimentation of the implications of the Manifesto (p. 229 of reader, 582 of article).

What was missing from Soar’s article
1. More voices from advertising’s side of the argument. Many “ad men” are also all about community benefits, charitable causes, the greater good, and so on; although, I suppose they’re not of the commercial variety, which is Soar’s and the Manifesto’s/designers’ target.

2. The choice designers have re: who they work for. Statistics perhaps. How and why has design gained this alleged synonymity with advertising? It takes two to tango. e.g. the Manifesto (p. 239 of reader, 592 of article) reads, “Commercial work has always paid the bills, but many new graphic designers have now let it become, in large measure, what graphic designers do.” – how did it come to be this way?

3. Not only do “ad men” provide charitable ads but also, for example, Ronald McDonald House, Channel 9 Appealathon, Channel 7 Telethon, etc. Commercial advertising can be promoting charities too. Soar does not address this.

Tutorial questions from unit guide (answered with reference to Soar's article)
Is there space to resist the top-down domination of cultural capital?
Not really, but graphic designers will make room to do so.

If people are going to be reduced, in part, to a logo, they should have some agency in (re)designing those images.
Yes – this is implicit in designers’ attempts to renew standards: the Manifesto is their logo.

Does culture jamming succeed as a voice/platform of resistance?
Yes. e.g. “When power and control are foremost, moral purpose is reduced to whatever is popular . . . rather than to what is right.” (p. 219 in reader/572 in article) – culture jamming is aimed at realigning graphic design/advertising with what is right rather than (and so resisting against) what is popular. (Relates to Socratic philosophy.) Also, “graphic design ‘is a true guerilla art form’” (p. 227 of reader, 580 of article).

What does the controversy around the revival of the First Things First Manifesto say about the advertising and graphic design industry?
Industry or industries? This revival indicates that there are different and conflicting ideologies/sets of values in play. The advertising industry is allegedly socially irresponsible (although perhaps the finger should be pointed at marketing, not advertising per se).

Is there a relationship between digital activism such as culture jamming and face to face activism such as crowds protesting?
Naturally. The latter can be thought of as inspiring the former: face to face activism includes writing, signing and reviving the manifesto; digital activism includes the Adbusters’ 46ft billboard, insistence on putting graphic design to non-commercial use. Also “the promotion of activities such as Buy Nothing Day and TV TurnOff Week” (p. 219 of reader, 572 of article) .

Does the fact that culture jamming relies on the news media as a source mean that these forms will always be reactionary, never proactive?
That’s a chicken/egg question: Which came first? They’re both reactionary – to each other.

Other key quotes:
“Personal and non-commercial projects, often indirectly funded by income from business clients, appear to provide a more reliable means to creative fulfillment.” (p. 218 of reader, 571 of article)

“the manifesto proper and Adbusters’ framing of both First Things First and culture jamming . . . identify designers in particular as potent agents of positive social change.” (p. 219 of reader, 572 of article)

“‘[graphic design] is not an industry in which you need to purify the practice, but there might be some basic understandings, some general context in which we can define the values we bring to our work’.” (p. 222 of reader, 575 of article)

“‘there is an area of ambiguity about what is harmful, what is not, and so on’.” (p. 223 of reader, 576 of article)

“Bierut praised Adbusters in particular for ‘see[ing] design as an active tool in creating social change’.” (p. 224 of reader, 577 of article)

“it is through this kind of realization [of their role as mediators] that designers can come to a more grounded epiphany about the potential harm – or good – they can effect through their work practices.” (p. 225 of reader, 578 of article)

“[Kevin Lyons’] work is ‘informed by culture and politics’.” (p. 227 of reader, 580 of article)

“if graphics, ads and commercials are often so abundant in ideological cant, why not pay attention to the activities and beliefs of the highly skilled group that created them – the cultural intermediaries – with the ultimate aim of training and using such talent more responsibly . . . ?” (p. 233 of reader, 586 of article)

“cultural economy . . . holds the premise of opening up a critical space in which to further develop our understanding of the intermediaries and, by extension, contemporary culture.” (p. 233 of reader, 586 of article)

Related links:
1. Adbusters, http://adbusters.org/home/

2. Culture Jamming, http://www.levity.com/markdery/culturjam.html

The internet as a means for exploring the facets of humanity

Hey everybody.

I'm sorry if I didn't make much sense when I talked about "the documentary on SBS some time in the last week" in our tute today. I looked it up and found that the doco was broadcast at 10pm on Friday night. I haven't yet found an especially informative webpage about it to share with you, but I did find this short blurb about it:

10:00 pm DOCUMENTARY - THE CLITORIS - FORBIDDEN PLEASURE
Topics about female sexuality are growing in popularity. Magazines and talk shows all discuss it. Yet a fair percentage of women are said to suffer from female sexual dysfunction. While male sexual problems have traditionally received the most publicity, only recently has research begun into the problems that plague female sexuality. This film looks at the medical, cultural, psychological and relational reasons for women's dysfunction and explores female arousal and its anatomical basis. (From France, English subtitles) MA (S,N,A,) (Rpt)

The doco addressed the issue of sexuality, women's sexuality in particular, and argued that, in this day and age, there's not much point in trying to suppress or deny women's sexuality, as all humans are sexual creatures (although this conflicts with another doco aired on ABC that proposed some people's brains are more wired for religion than sex, but that's a whole other kettle of fish -- I wish I could find a more informative page than this). Women's sexuality, like so many other facets of humanity, does exist, and suppressing or denying that isn't doing us any favours.

Point being, as far as ethics on the internet are concerned, perhaps the internet is an ideal medium for exploring, revisiting, and expanding our ideas, including those ideas that aren't traditionally socially acceptable. For me, the real controversy lies not in the content of online material, but in the ramifications this content may have offline, and this raises the question of morality. For example, graphic images of a brutal murder online may be perfectly ethical, particularly if these images are completely synthesised; what is non-ethical, however (in my mind, at least) is a person's enactment of the murder scenario in the physical world.

This is what I was getting at when I said that the ethical soundness of the effects of online material come down to individuals' morality -- it's a matter of what the individual chooses to do with the ideas presented to them. Personally, I think it's important to not suppress or deny any facet of our humanity; to acknowledge, accept and deal with every facet in whichever way we see moral, and I think the internet is a suitable medium to explore these facets (as long as otherwise 'unethical' things do not find themselves in the physical world).

I hope this makes a bit more sense than my incoherent babble in the tute.

Peace out.

Diary of a Webdiarist - Margo Kingston

In a refreshingly personal piece, Kingston talks about the ethics, politics and decisions that frame her webdiary. In spaces such as this, the internet serves as an effective medium for the reader and the mass media to communicate. It is an open space with "no censorship, no boundaries" where people can openly air their views and comment on other people's opinions. Yet, as raised by the article, several issues come into consideration precisely because of the anonymity, boundary-free zones of internet and the ethics involved in publishing it into existence.

Being used to internet chatting software, i must admit that i found no problem with anonymity and using a nickname for all posting purposes. It was my 'online identity' However, in the case of more serious discussions, that may pose a problem. Nobody can take an individual with a nickname such as 'rainman' seriously. Yet, as Kingston brings to our attention, "journalists quote anonymous sources all the time". Whether it is to protect the identity of the individual or to warp our perception of events, the media makes the executive decision on the editorial of the article. It is definitely not ethical to present an article whose original meaning is different from the old, but does it cross the boundary when the sources contributing to the article are anonymous? In the article, it is mentioned that "Knowing how to use power responsibly is the essence of ethics" I thought that it was probably the most well written line in the whole article. The editor has a responsibility to present at least an unbiased factual account of events for the reader to make up his mind, not make up the mind of the reader for him. Web-ethics therefore actually refers to the professional ethics of the editor/ moderator. A slight transgression of this can be found in which the moderators of the site allows similar discussions on the leaders and politics of Australia with people using pseudonyms.(kingston,166) With this kind of anonymity, i would think that the public would be more inclined to 'let loose' with their posting.(Kingston,162)

Another aspect of the internet as a bridging medium is the 'doorless' feature where everything is accessible to anyone with the correct URL, and anyone can do and say anything they want. And the best part is that the individual can choose to metaphorically run back into his home and slam the door whenever he want by disconnecting from the internet and never responding to the same nickname again. Ethics here therefore not only lie on the onus of the moderator, but it takes two to clap. As Kingston repeatedly mentions, trust is feature of her website. Ethics is about fair play. Can the media then be considered ethical on that grounds considering that they shy away from making a channel of communication between the reader and themselves, which leaves the reader feeling powerless?(kingston,163)Do they have something to hide? Kingston further enforces the notion of a borderless community when she says that she says that she is not worried about the requirement of the code of ethics on the offensive material as "it is a deliberate choice [for the user] to log on". The user can choose not to log on, and when he/she does, that choice becomes their responsibility.

Kingston appears to have done a fairly good job with the ethical issue of keeping a webdiary. Coupled with David Davis, she has not only drafted a list of obligations to her readers, but also a list of ethics that she expects her readers to follow. This is more than the average journalist's effort to engage in fair play.

Technology + politics = blog

Hey all.

Some of us may or may not be interested in reading this "Cyborg democracy" blog. I found this entry particularly interesting. It introduced me to transhumanism, and if you're like me and aren't really aware of what that daunting word means, and would like to find out, you can read about it here.

Have a good one.

Webliography Responses

For guidelines on making your Responses to your peer's Critical Annotated Webliographies, please see details here.

critical webliography

Critically assess the ways in which constructions of identity have been extended and/or altered by information and communication technologies.


Identities are social constructs that define our everyday existence. We may represent the role of a companion to some, or a child to our parents. In addition to that, identities are part of our existence. Identities define who we are in our everyday lives. Whether an individual is selfish, exuberant, talkative or kind, who he/she turns out to be affects his/her personal identity in the world.

With the introduction of information and communication technologies, a whole new world of interactions was born. People didn't have to meet in person to interact with one another [1]. Some individuals saw it as an extension of their brains in their everyday lives [2] and others took it as a whole new world and thus formed a new identity as they saw fit. (As cited by Howard Rheingold in “Personal homepages and the construction of identities on the net.”) Information and communication technologies also apply to television and the various types of media. As Mark Dery puts it, media essentially fabricates and manipulates images where "the prime directive is social control [3]" and becomes the "mouthpiece of the government[4]". Our identities may thus be selectively influenced by the representation of information in our experiences.

In Forrest's article , the delights of the world web are highlighted, as well as how small the world has become because of it and how much children can learn with the help of technological media. Without a doubt, the world has gotten smaller with the introduction of the web. However, as we increasingly rely on the Internet to conduct our everyday learning and online interactions, our identities become built around an online-offline environment where the individual can choose which self to present. This dual personality can further extend to selective representation where certain characteristics of an individual like race or sex can be conveniently changed to suit the situation. This altered identity almost always occurs with online interactions with other users of this form of information and communication technology. Forrest’s article fails to consider what would happen to the identity of an individual if one spends too much time online or interacting with the computer, and is merely a biased discussion on the uses of the Internet.


Computers as technologies themselves are capable of holding a realm of information[5] using their massive storage capabilities. Students of today are transformed into cyborgs with their large dependency on computers. In her article, Boese briefly outlines the identity split with both virtual and real worlds. Her article is merely a ledge, from which one steps off into a discussion of information and communication technologies and it’s interaction between the constructions of self. The students in the article view computers as part of their everyday existence. Cyborgs essentially represent another type of identity where human and machines are fused to create an ideal self/other (eg. pace-makers, artificial limbs). How are these identities thus altered? Would the individual be able to function without these technologies? In a more comprehensive paper, Hawthorn's article[6] argues among other things that cyborgs are 'a redundant notion of stripping us of politically useful categories'. I agree with her on the same reasoning that since there is no clear line between being labeled as being a cyborg or not, and that because the virtual space is not 'real', virtual bodies tend not to be real too, and also, that the term 'cyborg' does not represent a certain group of individuals. Her article represents a cynical look at the virtual phenomena of self from someone who is sure who her real self is. She makes a convincing argument on the separation of both worlds and provides a well-rounded argument for the reason or lack of, diversion of identities with information and communication technologies.

With the initial emergence of digitally crafted beings on the net for dating, we start to see the resemblance of the cyber world to our real life. Then confusing this notion, online dating sites like Lavalife try to merge both worlds into one; or at least use the accessibility of information and communication technologies to make our lives easier. Depending on the individual, the experience of dating can take on a whole new dimension. And dating is not the only online activity one can find. If the individual wanted, he could conduct his whole life while in front of his screen in his home with a credit card - from ordering groceries to looking for entertainment.

The merger between the real world and virtual reality is even more apparent when companies like DoubleClick and Abacus Direct merge. Symbolic in the merge is what happens when these two companies combine and millions of online user profiles will be matched with their real-life offline profiles to build a comprehensive database of the individual for advertising purposes. In this report[7], clicking on a weight loss site could mean a link to a host of weight loss banners, and that insurance companies would refuse an individual henceforth insurance because they have purchased his/her online profile and discovered a history of heart disease. The individual would then have no choice but to have one universal identity online, as well as offline. Though this profiling is about to become illegal for Canadians, the report doesn’t say if it will be about to become illegal in the rest of the world too.

For those who see the online world as a parallel universe where a new identity can be constructed, Chandler[8] exemplifies with his discussion on identity construction on web logs. He discusses the different types of representation of selves in the many web logs out in the net as well as the dangers of being represented digitally on the net. He then concludes ominously that ‘virtual homes provide no shelter for anyone[9]' which leads us to think about the boundaries of self representation when we realize that internet has no security and doors, that anyone and everyone may come across an individual’s personal page and participate in his/her life without even having met that person. Chandler’s article takes us through the processes of identity constructions and the reasons it may be altered/extended beyond ‘real’ life but involves a rather personal/informal style. Otherwise, it cites a host of sources but fails to consider the aspect of cyborgs and how identities change as a result of the processes/reasons he outlined.

The influence of media (information technology) in our lives also serves to alter our construction of identity. Though Dery points this out in the early part of his article, the article mainly considers the influence of media on our lives. The article is generously littered with references to the somewhat ‘evil’ influences in our lives and is generally only useful as an example of how powerful media can be.

Of the sites reviewed, there was a range of suitability for the guiding question. Chandler’s proved most useful, though Hawthorns’ appeared more credible. This was partly due to the fact that it was available in print form too. The other sites catered to more specific reading preferences and were generally not ideal for constructing an essay if it were required.



Footnotes listed.

[1] Dave Forrest, “The world is smaller still”, (August 1997), http://www.soleil.com/english/theworldissmallerstill.html (accessed 31/08/04).

[2] Christine Boese, “The screen-age: Our brains in our laptops.” CNN (August 2004), http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/08/02/school.internet/ (accessed 31/08/04)

[3] Mark Dery, “Culture jamming : Hacking, slashing, and sniping in the empire of signs.”, http://www.levity.com/markdery/culturjam.html (accessed 31/08/04)

[4] Mark Dery, “Culture jamming : Hacking, slashing, and sniping in the empire of signs.”.

[5] Christine Boese, “The screen-age: Our brains in our laptops.”(August 2004).

[6] Susan Hawthorn, “Cyborgs, Virtual bodies and organic bodies : theoretical feminist responses” , p11. http://80-cmo.library.uwa.edu.au.ezproxy.library.uwa.edu.au/04155.pdf (accessed 31/08/04).

[7] Gordon Coleman, University of British Columbia site.(September 1999) “Online tracking – Personally identifying information”. http://www.slais.ubc.ca/courses/libr500/fall1999/www_presentations/g_coleman/idinfo.htm (accessed 31/0/04)

[8] Daniel Chandler, “Personal Homepages and the Construction of Identities on the Net”, http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/webident.html (accessed 31/08/04)

[9] Daniel Chandler, “Personal Homepages and the Construction of Identities on the Net”.

Attempt at a Critical Annotated Webliography

3. Critically assess the ways in which constructions of identity have been extended and/or altered by information and communication technologies.

Introduction

Constructions of identity have been extended and altered by information and communication technologies (IT and CT), and identity can now be constructed in ways like never before. Free availability of site content and online chat mediums make it easier for users to expand their exposure to new things and reconsider their identities. In an effort to thoroughly cover the related issues, this webliography presents sources addressing inter-connected issues relating to identity construction in the following order: the digital revolution and new (techno-) culture, tools for interpersonal communication, chat identities and the mask of text-based communication, women’s online identities, electronic communities, and weblogs.

General impact of IT and CT on identity constructions

Kelly proposes that technological advances have created a culture separate from, but not independent of, science and art: A “third culture” which seeks and values novelty as opposed to truth (science) and expression of the human condition and beauty (art). He presents this third culture as inherently reforming nerd status – from unappealing to highly desirable and respectable – bringing into question the (re)construction of the nerd identity. Kelly suggests the components of nerd culture, and therefore nerd identity also, such as the contribution of new words to the English language, the pursuit of novelty, online expression, and experience in virtual reality (VR). It is these components that have altered the construction of the nerd identity, and that provide ways for information and communication technologies (IT and CT) to extend individuals’ identity construction.

London's book review of Negroponte’s 1995 Being Digital briefly explores the translation of the physical to the virtual in a discussion of the impact of the contemporary technological revolution-turned-culture on “the future of human social life, work, entertainment and commerce.” He sheds light on the digital areas of “electronic communities”, the growing prevalence of e-mail, and the generational social divide caused by the techno-culture revolution and its unequal distribution of the commodity that is information, of which the younger generation enjoys more. This divide inherently involves a change in identity construction – i.e. our constructions of identity have been extended to include our relationship with technology, and, hence, the prevalence of IT and CT have altered sociological dynamics, redefining generational social differences and interpersonal communication.

The mask of electronic text-based communication

Carlstrom thoroughly explains the construction of text-based worlds (MUDs). She explains the things that can be created in these worlds (namely rooms, objects, character names and descriptions, and pets), how they are created, and what they (can) do. This article illustrates the potential of CT to extend and facilitate identity exploration and construction through freedom of expression. The construction of MUD characters is a means for exploring and experimenting with interaction via different characters that may or may not be accurate representations of the actual user. This exploration and experimentation leads the user to new experiences which may affect their identity.

Baker reports a study of 18 couples, the comprising partners of which had their first encounters online. Baker’s aim was to trace the process that begins with meeting in cyberspace and later offline. Baker reports differences perceived by participants between their partners’ online and offline identities and appearance; namely, shyness and physical appearance. Implicit in the differences between online and offline impressions/identities are the constituents of a user’s online identity; for example, a picture of themselves, their username, user-profile, and so forth. Depending on the extent of internet use, the empowerment of the user and their increased ability for self-determination and control over what is presented of themselves to others may result in dramatic identity shape-shifting as increasingly more of the user’s identity may be constructed in, and derived from, cyberspace.

Kearns reports the online felony committed to a 14 year old boy by university student Galen Baughman in Bloomington, Indiana, USA in 2003, and the ensuing investigation and arrest of Baughman. An undercover investigator assumed the boy’s online identity in interactions with Baughman, who mistook the investigator for the 14 year old, and sent him pornographic material. The undercover investigator assuming the 14 year old boy’s online identity highlights the fundamental aspects of constructing an identity online: reportedly the investigator signed in to the chat medium (unspecified in the article) with the boy’s username and password, and mimicked the boy’s language responses. This illustrates that text-based communication provides an easily manipulated mask behind which may be a user (e.g. an undercover investigator) who is vastly different from the identity purported (e.g. a 14 year old boy). CT thus enables easy construction of different identities, interactions under which may facilitate identity-altering self-exploration.

Arnold and Miller offer an insightful report of a small study which investigated female academics’ online identities, referring to issues of authenticity (the ‘person factor’), credibility (of work) and authority (of their voice and perspective). An influential overtone was the acceptability of the online female identity construction to both the viewer and creator. That acceptability of women’s online representation is an issue reflects online gender struggles; i.e. reactions to the legacy of women’s oppression. The research uncovered participants’ perception of the internet as empowering and providing new freedom; for example, building homepages reportedly allows for exploration, expression, and renewal of respondents’ identities. Respondents reported an increased sense of security, worth, and control in expressing their work and opinions online, suggesting that the internet is altering female academics’ identity constructions. Also, the internet extends expressions of identity, by way of increased accessibility of academics’ work, which was previously restricted to conferences and journal publications. “Women who have been struggling not to be in the minority or invisible in their positions in academia, can now become visible” as a result of a building of confidence that occurred online behind a text-based mask.

‘Maskless’ personal expression and exploration online

In discussing the development of women-targeted sites, Brown highlights definitions of womanhood: the constituents of traditional definitions, Brown refers to as “fluff” -- a term encompassing beauty, sex and housekeeping tips, horoscopes, and celebrity gossip. An arguably ideal definition includes independence (e.g. DIY tips), worldly awareness, financial capability and autonomy, and intelligence. The essay’s own implicit definition of womanhood is mixed, and reflects the struggles involved in developing a consensual definition. Without the internet this development may have come later or progressed slower, as Brown writes that women have been exposed to issues and ideas they “never really saw before the Web”. The implications of this are alterations of female identity constructions, and the acceleration of these alterations.

Bruckman illustrates the diversity of form and content of internet communities. As identity influences membership to communities, community membership influences identity construction. Electronic communities are yet another means for self-exploration and, hence, another extension to the development of users’ identity constructions. The nature of electronic communities is, in many cases, different from offline communities, in terms of both content and members. Online communities provide new avenues for self-exploration and -discovery, and this is another way in which IT and CT both extend and alter users’ identity constructions.

Blood provides an account of the increasingly prevalent weblog: its origins, developments and purposes. She clarifies that the original weblog was exclusive to the html-proficient internet user, and its purpose was to analytically scrutinize the content of websites and online articles. The exclusivity and the content restrictions of weblogs rapidly receded with the introduction of the free-form interface blogger.com provided and the bandwagon-jumping of a broad clientele. Blood highlights the potential for a weblog to be a facility, not only for self-expression, but also for self-discovery. This is an illustration of the weblog as an extension of identity construction, as it inherently allows for the user to be exposed to issues and ideas they may not encounter offline.

References
Arnold, Jill & Miller, Hugh. Same Old Gender Plot? Women Academics’ Identities on the Web, May 2000, http://ess.ntu.ac.uk/miller/cyberpsych/gendplot.html, accessed 29th August 2004.

Baker, Andrea. “Cyberspace Couples Finding Romance Online Then Meeting for the First Time in Real Life” CMC Magazine, July 1998, http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1998/jul/baker.html, accessed 22nd August 2004.

Blood, Rebecca. “Weblogs: A History and Perspective” Rebecca’s Pocket, 7 September 2000, http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html, accessed 25th August 2004.

Brown, Janelle. What Happened to the Women’s Web?, 25th August 2000, http://dir.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/08/25/womens_web/index.html, accessed 29th August 2004.

Bruckman, Amy. Finding One’s Own in Cyberspace, 1996, http://www.fragment.nl/mirror/various/Bruckman_A.1996.Finding_ones_own.html, accessed 25th August 2004.

Carlstrom, Eva-Lise. Better Living Through Language, 15th May 1992, http://ftp.game.org/pub/mud/text/research/communicative.txt, accessed 26th August 2004.

Kearns, Colin. “Student Arrested for Child Porn”, U-Wire, 17th April 2003, http://www.idsnews.com/story.php?id=16228, accessed 26th August 2004.

Kelly, Kevin. The Third Culture, 26th February 1998, http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/kelly/, accessed 28th August 2004.

London, Scott. Being Digital by Nicholas Negroponte, 1995, http://www.scottlondon.com/reviews/negroponte.html, accessed August 27th 2004.

Ethics in Cyberspace

Hey guys. Hope we're all going well on our current assignment. :)

I've found an article that relates to the question raised in our last tute regarding the ethical issues that arise in using online material for research purposes. Here it is if you're interested (What's Wrong with the "Golden Rule"? Conundrums of Conducting Ethical Research in Cyberspace by Christina Allen). It is quite lengthy - I confess, I haven't read the whole thing - but from what I've gathered, it discusses basic ethical (and moral?) principles and the relevance and usefulness of these principles to the online research arena, and, hence, the article encourages the reader to revisit these basic ethical principles and put them into practice.

Enjoy.

Oh, and happy First Day Of Spring! :D