MediaPsyched.com

Continuing with Andrew Keen’s book “The Cult of the Amateur: How the Internet is Killing our Culture”….on page 161 Mr Keen addresses the virtual Second Life phenomena. Again, on the surface Second Life sounds fun: creating an avatar and creating identities and creating an alternative life.  For the visually driven person it is a dream.

However, as with anything there is a darker side:

And because, in true Web 2.0 fashion, Second Life is virtually unregulated and unsupervised, it has become a channel for all kinds of social and ethical vices. Though there are (largely unenforced) rules against inappropriate behavior in public (virtual) spaces, users can act out all of their most base or prurient instincts in virtual privacy.  For 220 Linden dollars, one can even act out virtual rape fantasies; options include “rape victim,” “get raped,” and “hold victim.”

Delightful.  I wonder if those who are so active in Second Life, especially those channelling their real dollars into play money (another way to mask the reality and pretend it is just a game and make-believe) comprehend that they are supporting and condoning this type of behavior by their participating in a virtual society that permits this behavior?  Or is rape between two avatars a private choice that society as a whole should not judge?

I am feeling my efforts are redundant! So much of what I envisioned addressing on this blog has been succinctly addressed in Andrew Keen’s The Cult of the Amateur. Mr. Keen is a Silicon Valley pioneer and had a cultural awakening during an exclusive retreat at Tim O’Reilly’s (who coined the term “Web 2.0″) FOO Camp.

Back in June, I first became aware of this book after reading, what I felt, was a rather condescending review in the LATimes. This was enough to grab my interest because the reviewer attempted to minimize Mr. Keen’s efforts. Since then I have come across other references.

The book was shorter than I expected but an interesting read that can be finished in a day or so non-stop.  It is impossible for anyone to write without some of their personal ideology seeping forth, and although I may disagree with Mr. Keen on some issues, he has written a very even-keeled treatise on the negative implications of Web 2.0 and not trumpted his personal views in an effort to win converts to the right or left.

All media psychologists, as well as anyone who has even heard of the Internet, need to read this book. Mr. Keen’s recurring point is that Web 2.0 allows the “amateurs” to become the expert.:

What the Web 2.0 revolution is really delivering is superficial observations of the world around us rather than deep analysis, shrill opinion rather than considered judgment…(we) are being seduced by the empty promise of “democratized” media.

I am not Chicken Little in promoting this book.  But as media psychologists, we are under an obligation to consider all aspects of what affects behavior, good and bad.

I leave off today (I definitely am writing more about the thoughts considered in this book) with a quote in the book attributed to Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman PR, the world’s largest privately owned public relations firm:

In this era of exploding media technologies there is no truth except the truth you create for yourself.

Psychologically chilling!

This article on CNETnews.com is on how universities are now turning to the “me” part of Web 2.0 in order to secure commitments from accepted students and once enrolled keeping the students engaged.  On the surface there are many positive aspects in utilizing an additional mode of information exchange. 

Good teacher education stresses the need to provide learning in three different modes: visual, audio and tactile.  This ensures that the learner grasps the content in the method they are most proficient. Online experiences can incorporate all three.

However, something troubles me with this obsession with tailoring everything to Web 2.0 formats.  Web 2.0 breeds narcissism.  It is a very singular experience -despite the allusion that one is networked into a huge group of others- and the “how I want it” aspect feeds the narcissism of self-importance.  The environment has become one of narrow definition determined by the user.  The benefit of any group activity or process is ignored for the desire to create individual self-realities.

I am finally finishing the book Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen.  I will be discussing this book over the next few posts.  Mr. Keen critiques the negative parts of the social implications of Web 2.0. Even if a technological development has positive aspects, don’t we still need to consider at what point the detriments outweigh the benefits?

Found this article about the online site MyDeathSpace. The article goes into detail so I recommend reading it. This site is basically the virtual graveyard for pages of dead MySpace users.

Is the perusal of this site one of a healthy awareness of our imminent end no different than reading the local death notices in the newspaper?  Or does it take it past a respectful acknowledgement to one of voyeurism enticed by the titillating headlines?

If anything, an interesting reminder that, once online, our photos and words exist forever beyond our death.  And that once we die those pages can be manipulated by others.  In our zeal to exist online, do we need to consider the arrangements for our virtual funerals?

On the surface, the recently released movie “Arctic Tale” appears to be an authentic animal documentary about a baby polar bear and walrus coming of age in the Arctic.  How could this possibly be anything than a feel good movie for both adults and children?

The filmmakers have taken creative liberties with the editing and enhancing of the footage in order to make a propaganda film on global warming for children.  As stated in a review in the LATimes:

IN the age of infotainment, Ravetch and Robertson’s [the filmmakers] methods are not unique. Doctored movie moments have existed since the genre was born, when filmmaker Robert Flaherty scripted scenes for “Nanook of the North” in 1921. But Ravetch and Robertson are among a new group of filmmakers inspired by the commercial success of Michael Moore and interested in experimenting with hybrid forms of dramatized documentary (my italics).

What does “hybrid forms of dramatized documentary” insinuate? Something that isn’t really what it appears to be.

Lynn Davidson expounds on the film’s propaganda tactics in full on her blog.

Finally, the description of the children giving suggestions of how to combat global warming while the credits roll  on how to “make” their parents behave brought back to my memory an ironic moment regarding the social commentary that sometimes occurs during the credits.

Several years ago I saw the film “Dogville” in Cannes (it never really hit in the U.S.).  During the rolling of the credits, the European director had a multitude of still shots of homeless, poor people in the U.S. (which had nothing to do with the film’s storyline).  After watching the musically enhanced denunciation of the state of U.S. society, I departed from the theater and was faced with having to step across several unconscious men sprawled about on the sidewalk. The filmmaker attempted to tarnish the U.S. while ignoring the same in his own backyard.

One of the obstacles to online written communication has always been deciphering the emotion behind the words.  In face-to-face discourse we are able to discern much of the message from the other person’s mannerisms, facial expression, and voice inflection. 

Now comes ABC: Avatar-based communication. It expands from text-only based chat to incorporate an avatar to relay the missing body movements, etc.

I believe there is a vast opportunity for research focused on the psychology of avatar development and use.  Does a person’s true self come forward in avatar use?  How true is communication content when delivered by avatar? Is ABC content authentic or posed communication?

All questions pertain to diminishing line between our personal realities and our virtual realities.

When someone mentions support for the parent of a newborn, it is easy to immediately think of the new mother and the struggles she may be facing.  However, an Australian man - realizing he was completely unprepared for life with his newborn - developed a DVD specifically for fathers.  In an upcoming second DVD, Troy Jones profiles the different struggles and and challenges of 60 fathers as they face various situations including the death of their wife in childbirth.

I think that a DVD is an excellent medium to use when targeting a man.  It is easy to carry on a trip, privately watch on a computer at home or inflight, and provides a combined video/audio experience. Being able to hear the experiences of their fellow fathers can alleviate the support void that men tend to have since they don’t talk among themselves or read self-help books as readily as women tend to do.

What a great solution to an overlooked problem! Naturally there’s already a U.S. television series in the works!

A study regarding the link between viewing Internet child pornography and actual child molestation has been pulled from being published in a peer-reviewed journal. The study’s results indicate that up to 85% of those convicted on Internet child porn crimes have actually performed some form of sexual abuse on a child.

This is startling and relevant.  The Internet has facilitated the business of pornography - both adult and child - and it is now astronomical in terms of numbers of viewers and the dollars spent.

But why are the results of such an important survey being withheld?  It appears that because some offenders may not be molesters, then the safety of society needs to be forfeited.  The 15% hypothetical chance trumps the 85%.

Yet others say that the results, while significant, risk tarring some men unfairly. The findings, based on offenders serving prison time who volunteered for the study, do not necessarily apply to the large and diverse group of adults who have at some point downloaded child pornography, and whose behavior is far too variable to be captured by a single survey.

The words I bolded frighten me.  The relativism evident in this statement is chilling.  Why would anyone outside a police investigation be downloading child porn? Again, it is an indicator of our society’s continued dilution into a pool of no censure on any behavior. True, one survey does not necessarily establish a truth. But in this case the results DEMAND attention.

It only makes sense that the playground languages we used to create ingroup-outgroup memberships have transformed into online argots.  One of most prolific versions of online argot is the language developed for the Lolcats phenomenom. Lolcats are online postings of cats with statements in large white font text using LolKitteh language.

Besides being entertaining (and indicative of wasted talent and too much time on people’s hands), this Internet meme has become an interesting example of language evolution.  The author of ICanHasCheezBurger.com has written an extensive lesson plan on learning to write LolKitteh as a second language.

Although a long discourse, David McRaney’s take on the development of online argots such as LolKitteh speak is extremely interesting in the dynamics involved in establishing  ingroup online speech and how it can eventually expand into the common spoken word. McRaney states:

The great thing about all of this is how we can see new languages forming out of a new medium, and since the pace is abnormally fast, we can watch it evolve over weeks instead of decades.

There will always be ingroup-outgroup dynamics whether face-to-face or in an online community.  With the rapid expansion of Web 2.0 activities ingroup techniques such as LolKitteh will emerge as a natural response to creating communities.

The article in the NYTimes today on CEO of Whole Foods John Mackey’s deceptive online persona questions why top level executives and professionals would risk their reputations by sock-puppetting.  What is sock-puppeting? Quoting directly from that article:

This digital-age deception has a name, “sock-puppeting,” and a precise definition — the act of creating a fake online identity to praise, defend or create the illusion of support for one’s self, allies or company.

I have always posited that the Internet has created an environment that enables narcissists to “act out” in a wider arena than with just those in their physical presence. Psychologically, narcissists rank up there with sociopaths (antisocial) and borderlines as the cream of the personality disorders bunch. Hard core they are and dangerous.

The proliferation of self-topic blogs, personal social websites, and 24-hour live cams enable narcissists to create and self-validate their importance in an unrestrained manner. Sock-puppeting is one of the clearest examples of how those we place in powers of confidence can be morally and ethically flawed and corrupted.  It is a serious symptom of a problem that pollutes both our business and social structures.

Tomorrow is D-day for the Fire the Grid frenzy.  It is absolutely amazing to read the various posts on this one designated hour (designated by “light beings”) that everyone in the world is supposed to stop and channel themselves into changing and healing the earth.  This has to be one of the largest media-induced lemming fests ever!  What it indicates to me is that the lost souls of our world are far more than I ever imagined.  This is the virtual version of the insipid chain email that people just can’t keep from passing on for fear of missing out on something.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently published a memo on cyberbullying and online teens. One in 3 teens has experienced some form of a negative experience while online. This includes threats, forwarded emails that were assumed private, embarrassing photos or fabricated rumors.

Bullying has entered the digital age. The impulses behind it are the same but the effect is magnified. In the past, the materials of bullying would have been whispered, shouted or passed around. Now, with a few clicks, a photo, video or a conversation can be shared with hundreds via email or millions through a website, online profile or blog posting.

There have been quite a few high profile incidences recently regarding photos placed on social network sites that have proven quite embarrassing and even life changing for the subject.  Many teens think just because they have their site access marked “private” it will prevent anyone with bad motives from accessing their site content.  What they fail to realize is that those who are allowed into their site can then pass on the site’s content to others.  Teens - and adults - still don’t grasp that once that send or enter button is pressed, that content exists forever. There is no privacy on the Internet. There is no real “delete.”

This leads me back to the cyberbullying e-thugs.  The playground bullies we adults experienced were at least out in the open and could be dealt with face to face.  However the today’s e-thugs can remain anonymous while spreading rumors or photos to millions before the subject of the rumors even catches on!  How easy it can be for someone to detach from the reality of their maliciousness when all that is necessary is to press a button while in hiding.

In terms of emotional/moral development, what are going to be the repercussions of this unmonitored environment where any person can say anything about anyone and not have to own up to it? 

Over the next decade we will be seeing sociological changes that we can’t now imagine as our media savvy teens who have been raised in the cyberworld reach adulthood.  Are we taking into consideration if their moral characters will be as developed as their technical skills? What is the impact of their cyberworld on what we are trying to teach them?

I only became aware of HotGhettoMess.com after reading an article in today’s LA Times.  The uproar is over an impending show of the same name on BET.  Many people are condemning the show (as they have the website) for showing the products of the “ghetto” culture and perpetuating racial steroetypes.  More importantly, once you get past the conversation-inducing pictures, you need to read the website founder’s (Jam Donaldson) comments on the purpose of the site.

Ms. Jameson articulates the profound change in our societal design that explains why such outlandish exhibition and behavior has proliferated.  She explains that there is now economic segregation which isolates populations into small, limited groups trapped by only those who model for the group. 

Previously, when neighborhoods were miniature societies, there would be a range of characters, from the poor town drunk to the teachers and doctors.  Daily exposure to good, successful role modeling was visual and real. Children and adults had to live up to standards.

Once our society shifted to being isolated by economics, the standards became defined by the confines of the group.  Therefore, it was and is easy to target these individual economic groups with messages or to manipulate their lives. They have nothing to compare to the messages they are receiving.

I provided the fill in the blank in my title to insert whatever ethnicity because, while HotGhettoMess.com is targeted to the Black population, this economic isolation is found in any ethnic group (for instance, “white trash”).  The lack of live face-to-face role models has been replaced by audio and visual input that, when repeated over and over, mentally traps the members of the group.

This observation of mine is definitely not a suggestion to return to segregated racial or ethnic neighborhoods as some may accuse me.  But it is an attempt to shed some light on why some groups “just don’t get it.”  It’s because we’re the ones who are “just not giving it.” What used to be across the board standards for any race to aspire to has been replaced with a lack of expectation of anyone escaping the confines of their ghetto and messages designed to keep them trapped there.

The implications of online social networking has evolved into unlimited subcategories which will over a period of time be discussed on this site.  But an article in the New York Times on social websites for preteens and tweens raises some important concerns.  I already question what the ability to create alter-personas in Second Life does to the reality of personal development.  Now this has spread to the younger set.  Even if it’s just penguins they are dressing up, it still becomes a non-reality reality.  Do children even be children anymore?  Letting children park themselves in front of a computer and create different personas is preferable than creative live play? The Internet and electronic media is great but it should not serve as a cradle to grave substitute for real living.

Welcome!  This is the first post of, I hope, many to come.  My objective is for this blog to serve as a conversation place on how media (all forms) can have an effect on our behavior and subsequently on society.  Sounds simple at first but it starts getting complex when you realize just how many messages we receive and process constantly.

I’ll always touch on current mainstream topics just to get my opinion in on what is making headlines, but I will also post article links and summaries of exciting research being done in this area.  Thanks for looking and please bookmark me.  Comments for future observations are welcomed!