Digital Culture Videos

New study doesn t distinguish between flaws and healthy behavior I ve long believed that the Internet exists solely because of our ego. Everything we do publicly online is an effort to be acknowledged. This week, two stories pointed out the frighteningly obvious: That students who use social networks are narcissistic and that a center for Internet addiction has opened up in Washington. Please researchers, enough with the leading questions The first story should be filed under the category of Trees are made of wood and other stuff we already knew that didn t require the expense of a university s resources. Regardless, bringing up the issue of what motivates students to use social networks makes us all realize why we re using the Internet. And that s to be acknowledged and to get recognized. The problem is the study lumped in divergent traits narcissism, self-promotion, and attention-seeking as being synonymous. Self-promotion and narcissism are two very different things. Nobody seeks or admires someone who is narcissistic, but we admire people who effectively and non-offensively self-promote. The study created many leading questions which has been a chronic irritation I ve had with organizations such as Forrester and IDC that conduct social media research (Read Social media research is chock full of leading questions ). In my critique, IDC asked leading questions as to what advertising people would be willing to see online and Forrester asked leading questions about trusting corporate blogs. No one wants to see ads and the brand of corporate blogs is like that of a used car salesman. No one wants either, but we use both. We have stereotypes, and in the cases I pointed out, research firms are just confirming existing stereotypes. They re not revealing how one goes around the stereotype or what formed the stereotype. In the case of the students that social network are narcissistic study, it s not revealing. We all knew the results before the study was even conducted. What would have been more interesting is asking people to dig further. Why do you feel the need to self-promote using social networks? Would you self-promote if you didn t have a social network at your disposal? Do you consider yourself as attention-seeking or narcissistic? What about your friends? Do you feel that some are truly narcissistic or are they just healthy self-promoters? That s the story we really need to know. Don t give us the lazy leading question answer we already know, but investigate. Take what we know and reveal to us something we don t know. What s truly a flaw and what s actually healthy behavior? How do you manage your Internet Addiction Disorder? Then there s the story this week of the Internet Addiction Disorder center, reSTART, that opened up here in the U.S. Upon reading the story, many of us laughed, mocking the people who are diagnosed as Internet addicted. But once you actually start reading the nine questions to determine if you are truly Internet addicted, you realize that many of those statements pertain to you. Just look at the first two: Have a strong desire or impulse to use the Internet. Decreasing or stopping of the Internet leads to withdrawal symptoms. I can t think of one person those two statements don t apply to. If that s the case, we re all Internet addicted. But then again, I think we re also addicted to our phones, television, and reading. These studies were so popular this week because they all made us question our own behaviors. Don t you feel a little self-centered or maybe even narcissistic when you re on a social network? And have you ever been on a vacation yet were still eager to check your email? Did you question your own behavior when you saw these stories? Did you question the research and the results of the social networking/narcissism story? Discussing Internet addiction and social networking narcissism with Curtis Sliwa on WABC Radio Curtis Sliwa on WABC Radio Last night I discussed these topics with radio personality and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, host of a very popular late night radio program on WABC Radio. He joked that his phone screener, Goldbrick, was heavily addicted to the Internet and was shotgunning Redbulls just to stay awake so he could stay online longer. Listen to or download the funny and engaging 13-minute conversation. Download audio file (curtis_sliwa_082509_post.mp3) David Spark helps businesses grow by developing thought leadership through storytelling and covering live events at Spark Media Solutions. He blogs at The Spark Minute and can be heard and seen regularly on ABC Radio, Cranky Geeks with John C. Dvorak, and KQED in San Francisco. See his business profile, contact David, or leave a comment below.

Ethics of cultural collaboration from JD Lasica on Vimeo. Rita J. King, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Council and CEO of Dancing Ink Productions, talks about the ethics of cultural collaboration in this 10-minute video interview immediately after her appearance at the 140 Character Conference on Twitter in New York on June 17. Our conversation was generally at a 50,000-foot level, looking at the Internet and its role in the development of an ethical culture. Rita uses the model of a Johari window, a square divided into four parts: How I see myself accurately; how I see myself inaccurately; how others see me accurately; and how others see me inaccurately. Participating in the digital culture shakes all those things up, she says, and new technologies are enabling people are able to parse out how they feel about the rituals and traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation which both illuminate the human spirit and shackle us to outdated systems. During the panel and in our conversation, Rita questioned whether the efforts in the West to help the street demonstrators are helping or hurting if the tactics are based on deception, such as changing one s Twitter profile to say you live in Tehran as an expression of solidarity. Is it putting people on the ground in Tehran in jeopardy if they can t find each other? Deliberate deception seems like a step backward to me. And that s symptomatic of other things that will continue to manifest in the digital culture, with a debate over how best to achieve a social good. The most exciting thing about the Internet is that it offers us an opportunity for transparency, accountability, fearlessness. Rita J. King Rita believes that creative identity construction is a very powerful force. We re in the process of telling the global story of what it s like to be alive in 2009, and we re doing it together. The most successful members of the digital culture are people who facilitate the ability of other people to tell their stories. It s always been about storytelling. I feel I woke up one day in a world where the level of candor has just exponentially increased — and it s wonderful. New technologies have increased the potential for storytelling. Now the use of multimedia to tell stories is so powerful: video, images, immersive environments, augmented reality, telepresence — we ve only just seen the beginning of this, she says. As people become more proficient with mobile devices, life itself becomes a sort of a game, she says. You learn how to navigate the dashboard of your life. What s for sure is that we have the capacity for the first time in human history to be connected with each other. I believe wholeheartedly in the capacity for the evolution of human consciousness, she adds. The most exciting thing about the Internet is that it offers us an opportunity for transparency, accountability, fearlessness. And more truth. Greater ethical behavior. Watch or embed video on Vimeo Watch video in original magical H.264 on Ourmedia Download video on Archive.org JD Lasica works with major companies and nonprofits on social media strategies. See his business profile, contact JD or leave a comment.

Response to Alan Levine's (aka Cogdog) call for Amazing Stories of Openness.

Instructional video from artists John O'Shea and Neil Winterburn video related to the "balloonascope" device which is a giant interactive diagram composed of balloons.

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed I may not look it, but I am 35 years old. This means I grew up with things like Merlin, Speak n Spell, and Atari! I surround myself with toys even to this day, including on the Internet. There are people my age, however, who don t use mobile devices or even the Internet. In this day and age, that s unheard of! We are now living in a digital age - the age of information. I ve been online since 1992, and doing so professionally for 12 years now. This IS my life. I received an email from a guy named Chris, who is taking a course named Digital Culture. They are learning about how digital culture is changing every arena of human experience. For their final project, they were creating a website devoted to digital culture and its influence. One component of the site features thoughts of people like myself, who are immersed in the digital lifestyle. They wanted to know what exactly digital culture means to me. I think that digital culture is pervasive technology. What I mean by that is just assuming a solution is going to be there. Back in the days of dial up when I would travel, I would have to carry with me some type of telephone cable. I had to dial in to the Internet, and usually pay for the time I used that line. These days, you take it for granted. If you go to a hotel, you expect you can get online. It s a given, right? You know it s there! Could you sit in front of a computer today and use it without an Internet connection? You could - but what would you do? The Internet unlocks so many experiences. It s there, and it s pervasive. It actually helps with the flow of things. Imagine not having email, or knowing someone who doesn t have it. It s frustrating. You ve potentially grown up with it, and you re just used to the convenience of it! When I think of digital culture, I think of it as a part of ourselves, and an extension of society. What it means to me is a step in mental evolution, and social responsibility. The phrase that explains the idea that technology connects us as humans which I coined is Human Circuitry - which is now the theme of my Gnomedex conference. Digital culture is amazing to me today as it was back when I first began my journey. It gives rise to a different kind of relationship between people - and it s one that I treasure. Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video: object width= 425 height= 350 param name= movie value= http://www.youtube.com/v/64-K6DVVXyQ /param param name= wmode value= transparent /param embed src= http://www.youtube.com/v/64-K6DVVXyQ type= application/x-shockwave-flash wmode= transparent width= 425 height= 350 /embed /object br / a href= http://chris.pirillo.com/ Chris /a | a href= http://live.pirillo.com/ Live Tech Support /a | a href= http://media.pirillo.com/ Video Help /a | a href= http://feeds.pirillo.com/ChrisPirilloShow Add to iTunes /a Could you Live Without Email or the Web? The Difference Between The Internet And The World Wide Web Stop Spam from Reaching Your Computer Is DSL Really Broadband? How to Use Chat Room Etiquette Internet Karate - Defending Your PC Against Malware How do You Manage Your Email Inbox? What Email Client do You Use? How Many Emails Do You Get Every Day? How do you Know your Friend saw your Note? Chris Pirillo | YouTube | Twitter | Geeks | Coupons | Blogs | Shopping What is Digital Culture?

Digital culture in Cuba is a tangle of overlapping spheres of expression and experiences. These zones form interconnections made up of individuals, commerce, and the state. The resulting geography reveals the movement of capital, the power of stakeholders, and spaces of intimacy. It is a map of interrelated consciousness. As such, Cuba s digital culture depends on local histories and characteristics, and responds to transnational exchanges and relays. By examining artifacts, like old Soviet Radar Base in the Cuban province of Lourdes, media infrastructures, popular adaptations of inaccessible channels of communication, and cross-media digital production, the talk explores questions about the nature and location of Cuba s digital environments, and what they tell us about ways of living and learning that develop despite controls on information and activity. Cristina Venegas is Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies at UCSB. Her research focuses on international media with an emphasis on Latin America, Spanish-language film and television in the U.S., and digital technologies. Her forthcoming book is titled Digital Dilemma about Cuba s digital media since the 1990s.Originally recorded May 8, 2008 at UC Santa Barbara.

Originally recorded December 5, 2003. Stephen Travis Pope teaches in both the Music and Media Arts and Technology departments at UC Santa Barbara. Technology, culture, and the arts have been intimately intertwined for as long as there have been technology, culture, and arts. That being said, there are several aspects of modern technology and culture that have significant impacts on this relationship. This examination of the issues will be delivered in rondo form, and the presentation style of performance art. Beginning and ending with short excerpts of Dr. Pope's musical compositions, and consisting largely of quotes from deep thinkers taken out of context and "retargeted," the talk raises many questions about the role of technology in the arts (and music in particular), and the roles or art and entertainment in culture and commerce. The most important take-home message will be the quote from computer visionary Alan Kay: "The computer revolution... hasn't happened yet!"