Blog 10

In ‘Our metrics, ourselves: A hundred years of self-tracking from the weight scale to the wrist wearable device’, Crawford et al. discusses how wearable, self-tracking devices are marketed as instruments of self-knowledge. By obtaining measurements of the self, it is said that one will be able to lead better lives. Some issues linked to this moral epistemology is that of privacy and consent. Through these devices, one’s body is tracked and data is collected, with or without prior consent, and may be exploited by groups like health insurers or employers.  

Indeed, the lack of control that users of self-tracking devices have over their data is quite problematic. Most of the time, users are unaware of not only how their data is sold, but also the fact that it is even being sold. However, in the present-day, people seem to be becoming more and more concerned about their privacy. This is evident in how Apple markets their products and applications to be highly protective of the user’s privacy.

According to Apple, they will not be able to obtain users’ personal information (e.g. your location, searches, messages, transactions, health information, etc) unless permission is given by the user. This shows how privacy has become a marketing tool for Apple, whereby its products are marketed to be superior than others because they protect users’ privacy, even though privacy should in fact be a right and not a privilege. 

Nevertheless, all the privacy functions are embedded in the popular self-tracking device, the Apple watch. The device is therefore supposed to aid in self-tracking, whilst ensuring users’ privacy. In addition to this, Apple has smartly incorporated many other functions to the Apple watch, such that it is not just a self-tracking device, but more like a miniature smartphone worn on the wrist. From answering calls, to listening to music or reading texts, the Apple watch is seen to be a continuously advancing self-tracking device that is slowly taking on certain functions available on the iPhone. These added functions are particularly useful for athletes, who are unable to carry their phones while exercising. 

However, unlike the iPhone where most users can only choose one particular colour or design, the Apple watch allows users to customize the straps and swap them out for other designs when they want to (people need not buy the straps from Apple, as other websites such as Shein offer many strap designs at affordable prices). This brings in the idea of the self-tracking device simultaneously being a fashion item, as mentioned by Crawford et al. But more interestingly, the Apple watch further utilizes the idea of gamification, where users are able to reap rewards for the fitness goals they reach on the LumiHealth app. Hence, the idea of self-tracking for a better life is morphed with the ideas of convenience, fun and fashion-- people, by buying and wearing the apple watch, can lead better lives through self-tracking, while they simultaneously keep up with their social lives, have fun, stay stylish.

Blog 9

In ‘Intimacy, Cosmopolitanism, and Digital Media: A Research Manifesto’, Lambert highlights three main themes: the ambiguity of intimacy, the metaphysics of intimacy and cosmopolitanism, and how the aforementioned two aids in developing new research opportunities. More specifically, Lambert analyses how ‘intimacy’ is a dynamic term that continues to develop in meaning, especially with the advent of new technology that alters the way people experience different kinds of intimacy. In addition, the current world system has resulted in the interweaving of intimacy and cosmopolitanism, including a ‘dark side’ to intimacy.

The article’s assertion that intimacy is both highly ambiguous and dynamic closely relates to the technological world we live in today. Indeed, the most common understanding of intimacy revolves around close bonding between human to human; be it online or offline, people often think of intimacy as primarily close relationships between two people. However, with the advent of technology, the term’ intimacy’ has become more packed with meaning. No longer is intimacy only restricted between people, but also stretches to include intimacy between a human and non-human being. A notorious example of this is Akihiko Kondo, who is known to have married a hologram of Hatsune Miku (a vocaloid software). Akihiko ‘lives’ with Hatsune Miku, who is projected through a Gatebox device that equips her with basic artificial intelligence (e.g. simple greetings, switching on and off lights). Presently, this situation is likely to seem bizarre to many people. How can there be intimacy between a human and a non-feeling hologram? This seems to go against the conception that intimacy should involve physical presence and emotion.

However, as Lambert states, technology has led to the transformation of intimacy; such situations of intimacy between human and robot is predicted to be more common in the future. Although people in the present-day may reject this idea of intimacy, it remains an undoubted fact that the term will gradually come to encompass increasing forms of closeness. In Akihiko’s case, the closeness and affection he feels for Hatsune Miku stems from the holograph’s therapeutic effect--having been suffering from depression after being bullied by his female co-worker, Hatsune Miku aids in this aspect by serving as a form of therapy. From this, not only can we see the dangers of a relationship being devoid of intimacy (e.g. the relationship between Akihiko and his female co-worker was one of antagonism, rather than intimacy, leading to his depression), but also how the definition of intimacy is no longer static. Hence, as technology continues to advance, so will the kinds of intimacy that exist. Given the huge reliance on media platforms as a form to build intimacy nowadays, those who are barred from using media like others will definitely be left behind.

References

Jozuka, E. (2018, December 29). Beyond dimensions: The man who married a hologram. CNN. Retrieved from: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/28/health/rise-of-digisexuals-intl/index.html

Blog 8

In ‘Reconfiguring Interactivity, Agency and Pleasure in the Education and Computer Games Debate’ by Pelletier, Zizek’s concept of interpassivity is used to analyse educational play. Using Zizek’s works on subjectivity in cyberspace, the article overall examines how educational play, in the form of educational games, impacts interactivity, agency and pleasure. Pelletier accomplishes this by putting forth four versions of cyberspace, with each version aiming to explain a different aspect of how educational play configures pleasure and agency. 

In particular, in version 3, Pelletier uses Gee’s argument that games are effective classrooms that enable students to develop projective identities as through the manipulation of their online avatars. According to Gee, the behaviour of these online avatars reflect one’s real-life identity and behaviour. However, Pelletier raises doubts about the extent to which one’s online identity extends to the development of their real-world identity; she argues that games impose limits on identity formation, as users are ‘forced’ to commit to a sole identity, which prevents them from realising their desires through the game. 

In regards to this, I agree with Pelletier’s doubts and side with the belief that one’s online identity and behaviour has minimal impact on their offline identity and behaviour. One of the most glaring examples to illustrate this idea is that of shooting games-- as players of Call of Duty manipulate their online avatar to shoot other players, this does not imply that they are violent or aggressive in the real-world. Instead, this example shows how games tend to limit players’ ability to explore different aspects of their identity. It is undeniable that games are bounded by a set of rules, whereby players have no choice but to conform if they want to clear the game; due to the rules of the game, players are given an identity to take on, instead of being allowed to explore an identity they desire. Hence, just like Call of Duty players have to shoot others to survive in order to win the game, educational games also enforce on students the identity of learners for the duration that they play the game. As such, this seemingly forceful nature of identity construction through games are likely to have little impact on real-world identities, since these online identities created through the rule-bounded manipulation of avatars are temporary and manifest only within that game. Offline, people are not bound by the same rules of the game- instead they are constricted by other laws and social rules that in turn lead to another set of identity or behaviours. 

Even so, it is acknowledged that games such as Second Life or Grand Theft Auto present players with the freedom to manipulate their avatars without setting a strict set of rules. This freedom enables players to explore identities without being unrestrained by real-world laws and its consequences. However, even so, online identities are unlikely to trespass its virtual borders. As stated above, the real-world is still governed by its own set of laws and social rules that deem certain online behaviours immoral or a crime. With the fear of social isolation, or being ‘cancelled’ by others, people are therefore likely to segregate their online and offline behaviours, according to the rules that bind them.

Blog 7

In chapter 2 (Cultural field and the habitus) of ‘Understanding Bourdieu’, Webb et al elucidates Bourdieu’s definitions of key terms such as cultural field and habitus, using sports as the primary reference to explain they operate in the real-world. In particular, Webb et al introduces six concepts relevant to the cultural field, such as misrecognition and symbolic violence, and also objectivist and subjectivist perspectives to expound on the notion of the habitus. In essence, all these concepts of Bourdieu are interwoven with those of Webb et al to present how one’s tastes and preferences are formed, and how these tastes may relate to social class. 

As stated in the reading, an important concept of the habitus is that people’s attitudes or beliefs are often heavily influenced by their cultural trajectories. These result in rules and structures of perception that shape people’s understanding of others’ actions outside the same cultural sphere, and the example used in the reading to expound on this is the western meat-eating patterns, where the consumption of domestic animals like dogs are cats is a taboo. Hence, it is expected that Westerners tend to view people of China, for instance, to be barbaric and uncivilised for eating dog meat. Looking at the recent covid-19 pandemic, social media had seen a huge wave of xenophobia targeting the Chinese - all over apps like Tik Tok, people left videos and comments blaming the Chinese for causing COVID-19, due to them eating ‘strange’ animals like bats. As evident from this outburst, the rules and structures pertaining to such habitus are upheld strongly, and when met with contradiction, creates strife and tension.

From another perspective, this example highlights the Western desire to universalise its values and enforce them on other parts of the world. By degrading the Chinese for eating animals such as dogs, they are essentially putting forth the belief that they belong to a higher social class since they do not partake in such activities. Such beliefs are then reinforced and spread through the media, where news reports and social media content are skewed to portray the Chinese as lower class citizens with bizarre eating habits (probably made worse with Trump’s addressing of Covid-19 as the ‘Chinese virus’). With such media bias, others around the world are blinded to the fact that even within one nation, habitus is not uniform throughout all individuals; as a result of different subcultures, people have differing habitus even within the same geographical boundaries. For instance, people often do not take note of China’s efforts to ban the consumption of non-livestock (in Shenzhen and Zhuhai), and the changing attitudes of Chinese youths disposed towards saving these animals and wildlife. Indeed, it seems that the combination of technology and habitus can create negative effects, where people compete to prove their culture as superior over others.

Blog 6

In chapter 2 of Ravenelle’s ‘Hustle and gig: Struggling and surviving in the sharing economy’ (2019), in which she delves into the sharing economy, which encompasses the technological-based gig economy. Albeit acknowledging the varying definitions of a sharing economy due to the , Ravenelle first acknowledges  she defines a sharing economy as “a collection of app-based technologies that focus on the lending/renting of assets or services either for profit or for a higher good”. Instances of such apps include private car hiring platforms like Grab, or Airbnb platforms. Principally, Ravenelle explores various themes of the sharing economy in order to understand the experiences and skill sets of workers that contribute to the sharing economy.

One principal idea that Ravenelle explores is the sharing economy’s claim that it is the solution towards re-creating “village life”, where there was a sense of community and trust among its members. However, in her findings, Ravenelle discovers that rather than fostering trust or community, the sharing economy is in fact leading to the ultimate Gesellschaft, where people remain anonymous and only interact briefly with others; rather than forming communal connections, people are focused on the money-making aspect of the sharing economy, and most relationships remain as business ones. Using Tonnies’ definition, Gemeinschaft is defined as a community where relationships are naturally created and focused on collective-consciousness, while a Gesellschaft is defined as a community where relationships are complex and imagined, respectively. 

I agree with Ravenelle’s argument that the sharing economy leads to quite extreme cases of Gesellschaft, and will illustrate this by relating the gig economy to the rise in sexual harassment cases. Taking for instance private car hiring services like Grab, there has been multiple coverage of Grabhitch as ‘the new Tinder’, due to the multiple accounts of Grabhitch drivers asking out their passengers. While this may seem innocent (like people are just “shooting their shot”), there has been cases of sexual harassment of passengers, especially females, as Grabhitch drivers could attain their phone numbers through the app’s service. This posed a serious problem, and it was recently in 2019 that Grab introduced ‘number masking’ in order to protect the privacy of passengers. Aside from Grabhitch, there had been many other news reports of many different cases of sexual violence against both female passengers or drivers across the years--from attempted rape to forced physcial contact and other atrocities, these incidents prove the “dark side” of the gig economy. 

With sharing economy services like Grab or Airbnb, it is indeed hard for companies to vet through the history of every driver or host in detail since these platforms hail those working for them. Grab, for instance, boasts about being a Grab driver in four easy steps, in which they simply require that you be of age, have the needed driving licenses, and have a suitable vehicle. No interview or character check is required. With such entry rules being common in the gig economy, it is no wonder that it is difficult for trust within the gig economy. 

Blog 5 (Anthea)

In Fuch’s “Social Media as Participatory Culture”, he principally argues that Jenkins’ and Carpentier’s discussion of participatory culture has overlooked the aspects of ownership, capitalism and class, in which Fuch describes as a case of cultural and political reductionism. As part of his own argument, Fuch writes that the internet culture, while linked to the political economy, is also to a large extent controlled and by companies.  

I agree with how Fuchs refutes Jenkins’ notion of participatory culture, which revolves around user expression and experience, but ignoring how these practices are interlocked with companies’ aim of capital accumulation; in other words, participatory culture is inexplicably tied to contemporary culture’s political economy. Taking Youtube for instance, on the surface, it seems like a ‘free’ platform with low barriers to entry that welcomes all users to participate. Ideally, it is purely a platform for co-creation, and for users to express their ideas while seeking out others’. However, what users often ignore is the way Youtube makes use of user’s participation to pursue its capitalist goals. While many people think Youtube is a free platform, it actually makes users ‘pay’ through primarily watching advertisements. This ties the participatory culture of users to the company’s capitalistic goals in more subtle ways. In ways less subtle, Youtube recently came up with Youtube Music, where users can pay to enjoy listening to music ad-free. This mirrors Spotify, where users have to pay for Spotify premium in order to attain an ad-free experience. Hence, with these as evidence, although Jenkins’ arguments on participatory culture is not wrong or irrelevant in any sense, I agree with Fuchs that his definition may have overlooked these key factors of the global capitalist world we live in today. 

Furthermore, as Fuchs pointed out, Jenkins tends to put participatory culture on a pedestal without acknowledging the downsides of the Internet, such as the exploitation of users or privacy violations. Taking for instance Twitter, who admitted that they had “unintentionally” made use of users’ personal data for targeted advertisements in 2019, we realise that users are especially vulnerable to such violation of privacy. While engaging in participatory culture on the internet, users simultaneously face serious violations of privacy, where these instances may occur even without their knowledge. This problem highlights that the more we participate, the more we divulge, the more we express ourselves on the Internet, we are also risking our privacy; it seems that we may be giving free data to these large media companies that mercilessly use it to serve their own capitalist goals. Therefore, I agree with Fuchs that there are some serious downsides to participatory culture that Jenkins’ had ought to consider.

Blog 4 (Anthea)

In Media and Cultural Studies, Horkheimer and Adorno argue that mass culture, being led under the monopoly of several industrial giants, has led to the production of sameness; under these quasi-monopolies, media creations are produced in the name of “art”, though they are all either identical or very similar. As a result, genres of media are stagnant and predictable, allowing the neat categorization and policing of consumers’ tastes and preferences.

However, the claims made by Horkheimer and Adorno do not seem to be as applicable to the premise of the present media and culture industry. With the popularization of social media, consumers are simultaneously producers; though they are still often bound by social norms, consumers of media can also produce their own content without being restricted by factors such as budget or scale of production. However, even with social media, it may be true that a portion of media content may be similar and therefore still categorizable. For instance, YouTube content can be categorized into specific genres (gaming, fashion & beauty, sports, and so on). YouTube creators often follow trends set by popular YouTubers, leading to mass production of similar content. I saw this phenomenon occurring through the popularization of ASMR videos--the term was originally coined in 2010 but gained popularity in recent years, which led to the boom in mass production of ASMR videos featuring “ASMRtists” playing with slime or other objects that can help listeners “tingle”. However, having said so, I do not believe that all such content are identical, as Horkheimer and Adorno claims, which is too extreme an assumption. Going back to ASMR videos, I notice that although triggers are generally used across various videos (e.g. tapping, eating, etc), creators simultaneously inject their own creativity into their videos to make them different from others. For example, I noticed with interest that ASMR videos that feature role-playing often produce unique and creative storylines, from Sci-Fi ASMR where the listener immerses herself in a auditory adventure as a space agent, or to massage ASMR where the listener becomes a customer at a massage parlour, the ideas are endless. Hence, I believe that there is a wide spectrum of different choices even within a fixed category. 

Of course, this belief can be proven beyond ASMR content, and can be applied to any other platforms where creators often inject their own creativity into their content. Thus, overall, I believe Horkheimer and Adorno’s claims are too harsh and outdated, since the arrival of digital media is increasingly supporting differentiation in content within genres. 

Blog 3 (Anthea)

In the text, Ito et al puts forth the argument that portable devices, i.e. information and  communication technology (ICT) helps people build up an identity and mediate relationships with other people and infrastructure. They mainly analyze three main concepts—cocooning, encamping and footprinting—which all work towards understanding how mobile media impacts human relationship with urban spaces and services.

In particular, the concept of ‘cocooning’ caught my interest. 

In relation to the concept of cocooning, Ito et al points out that ICTs work to create a private territory within the confines of urban spaces for individuals. This private space is referred to as a ‘cocoon’, which acts like a temporary shelter against local social interactions. With the plethora of functions built into modern mobile media, the cocoons individuals construct can be said to be able to take the form of any space; imagining a cocoon as a private sphere, the functionalities of mobile media allow for the transformation of the virtual space within one’s cocoon. For instance, besides being advanced mediums that are easily mobile, smartphones or tablets provide users with many functions— from supporting online communication, internet banking, or the downloading and storing of work documents, the list is endless. From this, we see how the spatial contexts of cocoons can be virtually transformed into offices, stores, private chatrooms, or anything else depending on individuals’ interaction with the ICTs. In other words, portable ICTs similarly bring about portable spaces. Places such as offices or boutiques are no longer confined to its geographical distinctions; with ICTs, spaces come to be able to hold a variety of activities for cocooning individuals (to some the space becomes a bank, and for others an office).    

I believe that the above-mentioned portability applies not only to places, but people. In this age of the rise of mobile ICTs, the notion of “portable friends” becomes seemingly possible. Taking for example smartphones that support texting and video chatting, individuals now have the ability to cocoon themselves and indulge in a private conversation with absent others, all while being in a public space. In such moments, individuals and their online communication partners can be said to be sharing a cocoon, shielded from real life interactions. This brings me to imagine cocooning in a larger context, such as when a vlogger makes use of mobile ICTs for live broadcasts. Vloggers who stream live while in public, speaking to their online viewers, seem to be forming a shared cocoon. 

In sum, the notion of being able to cocoon oneself anywhere and anytime, in addition to the ability of ICTs to virtually transform spaces into different contexts, can be argued to blur individuals’ perception of space and time. As stated by Ito et al, places are increasingly being reduced to spaces we pass through without much real interaction. While we cannot say that physical space will lose its significance, it also seems to be becoming more symbolic in nature.

Blog 2 (Anthea)

Spigel explores in her paper how the television, in merging reality with the virtual and reality, impacts and shapes the spatial geographies in people’s lives. The television plays a symbolic central role in living spaces— aside from being telling of a household’s background, such as societal status or tastes and preferences, it also plays a role in the construction of the social world by emphasizing naturalized social norms such as gender power dynamics. With the emergence of more advanced digital technology such as smartphones and the advancement of traditional television towards smart technology, spaces have become increasingly mediatized.

Have you ever browsed through the section of a household retailer selling television? If you have, you would have noticed the wide selection of television models up for selection, with each set ranging in terms of price, size, resolution, or whether it is "smart". In today's world, although the television has primarily been viewed as a mass medium for information dissemination, television companies have continued to compete with each other through quality improvements and added functionality. This points us to the fact that despite the emergence of alternative mediums such as the smartphone, people are still consuming television. This points to the fact that the television remains an important symbol in the home that cannot be outmoded; its presence tells of the household who owns it. One notable aspect is that of social class: the bigger, the higher resolution, and the more "smart" the television is, the more likely the owner will be perceived as of higher social standing.  

Furthermore, accompanying the advancement in digital technology, television has continued to upgrade its function—the result is the creation of smart TVs that is becoming a staple in more and more households. As stated by Spigel, the convergence of television with the internet has allowed for a hybrid spatial experience that allows higher social connectivity. As if having a jumbo sized smartphone placed in the room, people that own smart TVs can surf the net or download and use apps, just like one would do on their phones. This has arguably resulted in the television and its surrounding space becoming a symbol of global connectivity.

However, the advancement of digital technology does not only apply to television—television supported “accessories” are also upgrading. The most notable examples are video game technology such as the Playstation, Oculus, or Xbox. Such technologies that thrive on the use of television have found itself into homes, reviving the role of television as a connective force that works not only within the space it is placed in (for example, a family congregated together in the living room, playing a multiplayer game on the TV), but also globally (for example, a man can play a multiplayer game on TV with others from different countries). To further expound on this example, the popularizing of these new video game technology has also reinforced the notion of gender power dynamics. Aside from the general observation that most gamers are male, it is also observed that the majority of video games are action or shooting games. This is likely to result in higher male domination of television spaces that have been territorialized with video game technology. This gendered demarcation of space may lead to a divisive force that could ruin intimacy or connectivity in certain households. Thus, we see how the television remains both a possible connecting or dividing force, even with its changes and advancements.  

Overall, the television remains an integral part of our living spaces even today, with the proliferation of smartphone usage around the world. Whether we use it actively or not, the television continues to remain as a demarcation of space, providing a false sense of completeness and domesticity to our homes.

Blog 1

In Mediated Construction of Reality, Couldry and Hepp theorise about how our social world, comprising various domains that are both differentiated and weaved together through media, is built upon continuous human performance of ‘everyday life’ and communication. They point out that communication is a crucial process in the social construction of reality that helps set up practices and ascribe meaning to them so as to make sense of the world. This brings us to reflect: how has the increasing ‘mediatedness’ of our experience in the social world affected our understanding of reality? 

With the increasing mediation of communication, the notion of the social world as being intersubjective has grown increasingly pertinent; the emergence of various media forms have allowed for humans to transcend time and space, communicating and maintaining social relationships with those who are physically absent. Schutz’s simple binarily of having  face to face communication as opposed to other contemporary forms of communication texting is refuted by Couldry and Hepp who points out that mediated communication have come to be interwoven into our face to face practices in many ways. In other words, face to face communication has taken on a different reality- for example, digital technology in the form of video calls have allowed for the conducting of face to face communication through virtual means. 

The introduction of mediated communication into face to face interaction constructs our perception of reality such that we believe that distance and time are not hindrances to communication. For instance, to communicate with a friend overseas, we can just send a text or call them if the time difference permits. When we compare this to the realities of the literary or oral epoch, where people were largely constrained by geographical distances that both limited one’s potential communication partners and determined the time taken to deliver a message, there is a stark difference in the social realities we face compared to people back then.

Aside from the increasing mediation of communication, Couldry and Hepp also argue for the deepening of ‘mediatedness’. One instance is through multilevel communication, where we use media as a resource. For example, whilst engaging in face to face communication, we can share images with our friends. Also, video calling platforms like zoom often incorporate other communicative tools such as text messaging into their platform.This deepening of ‘mediatedness’ arguably allows for the enrichment and improvement of the quality of communication, which in turn contributes to the social construction of reality since communication is viewed by Couldry and Hepp as they key to allowing people to better able to make sense of the world. 

Overall, the social construction of reality is influenced by both increasing and deepening mediation of communication, with communication being a core process of building meaning behind the practices that constitute the social world.