Speeches, like plays, are sometimes more interesting to read rather than see live.
So I have spent some time staring at the words of a speech recently given by Danah Boyd, from the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society, titled "The Not-So-Hidden Politics of Class Online."
In the speech, given to the Personal Democracy Forum, Boyd picked up utopian views of technology, pinned them against a wall and asked them for a little more than their name and rank.
"For decades," she said, "we've assumed that inequality in relation to technology has everything to do with 'access' and that if we fix the access problem, all will be fine."
She then used the example of Facebook and MySpace to suggest that perhaps people's behavior online absolutely mirrors enduring social divides.
Many Americans use Facebook and MySpace, she said. But which Americans?
Using teens as the indicators of where the world is heading, Boyd described some of her research among them and took the words of one 14-year-old, Kat from Massachusetts, to describe her central thesis:
"I'm not really into racism, but I think that MySpace now is more like ghetto or whatever, and Facebook is all...not all the people that have Facebook are mature, but its supposed to be like oh we're more mature...MySpace is just old."
For Boyd, the sites we go to reflect our idea of what "people like us" do. Another teen, 17-year-old Craig from California, put it extremely baldly (especially for a Californian):
"The higher castes of high school moved to Facebook. It was more cultured, and less cheesy. The lower class usually were content to stick to MySpace. Any high school student who has a Facebook will tell you that MySpace users are more likely to be barely educated and obnoxious."
Boyd, who is also a researcher at Microsoft Research New England (Microsoft being a prominent investor in Facebook), described the migration from MySpace to Facebook as being akin to white folks setting up their own communities. Yes, the places that spawned the allegedly desperate housewife. This wasn't that Facebook was newer or cooler. This was "modern day 'white flight.'"
Clearly written by a highly educated American tourist in London.
(Credit: CC Bitterjug/Flickr)The wealthier, the whiter, the more suburban left MySpace and, if they went anywhere, they went to Facebook for a "more peaceful, quiet, less-public space."
In an observation that might echo the private views of quite a few who might be watering their lawns on a summer's evening, Boyd noted far greater condescension by Facebook users toward MySpace users than vice versa.
Here's the fear as Boyd sees it: governments, commercial organizations, and others will see the likes of Facebook as being the whole community, whereas in reality they are representing the status quo, traditionally occupied by "educated, wealthy, white, straight men." (Although, some would say that both political parties have certainly shown that at least one of those descriptors is a myth.)
Speaking to a mainly white, liberal audience, some of whom are involved in politics through their work, Boyd challenged them to go to MySpace, try to log in, and see if they could make any sense of it. She then asked her audience to imagine how some outsiders might feel when confronted with Facebook or Twitter.
The issue of race and class defining certain social-networking spaces online is not limited to the U.S. In India, Boyd noted, Orkut and Facebook users represent very distinct professional and caste memberships.
Two years ago, Boyd began developing these themes in her work, describing MySpace members as "'burnouts', punks, or alternative-scene teenagers whose parents likely didn't go beyond a high school education."
But the more important point that she makes is surely that when we go online we are propelled by assumptions about the world, ones we don't bother articulating. Our behavior is automatic. It was learned in a few instants, sometimes from others in our immediate social world.
We somehow fool ourselves that we're looking and participating in one big, happy world family. We're not.
When we go to Digg, for example, to see what's worth reading today, do we stop to think "worth reading by whom"? Do we wonder who actually are the 250 people who thought an article was worth Digging? Do we notice, for example, just how male Digg's front page seems to be? Do we care?
And that's what Boyd is ultimately getting at. While we talk of the Web being the great equalizer, the uncontrollable stage upon which democracy happens before our very eyes, whose version of democracy are we really looking at?
Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic voice to the tech world. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.
"The blogging committee has emerged as a powerful force. We need more of you to focus on the war issue. Continue to do what you do. Corporate media is out. The New York Post was asking lobbyist to come to their event recently. The Blogosphere is what's happening. EVERYBODY is paying attention to bloggers!"
That's what Congresswoman Maxine Walters opined while speaking out about the war in Iraq, U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, health care, media and other hot political issues July 2, 2009 at Brave New Studios offices during an interview with Robert Greenwald.
The story continues here:
USC Annenberg / Getty Arts Journalism Program
The USC Annenberg School for Communication and The Getty Foundation are pleased to announce the 8th annual USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellowship to be held November 1-22, 2009. Applications are now available, click here to apply. DEADLINE TO APPLY IS JULY 14TH!
About the Fellowship
The USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program is a three week, mid-career education Fellowship for six arts, culture and entertainment editors, producers and writers from online, print, radio and television. Typically one to two of the Fellows come from outside the United States. Journalists who cover the visual and performing arts, architecture, literature and pop culture – and who own these beats either as generalists or specialists – are welcome to apply. Staff, freelancers and self-employed Web journalists are are also encouraged.
Based in Los Angeles, the Fellowship is a total immersion experience that includes attending as many as 23 performances, art exhibitions and architectural sites. Participants will visit artists’ private studios, rehearsal rooms, architectural firms and art schools. The idea is to provide unusual behind-the-scene experiences that engage the USC Annenberg/Getty Fellows in frank and often off-the-record conversations with artists and the people who produce, curate, report on, and/or write policy on arts and urban culture. Click here to read more about the program.
By PC Mac's Chloe Albanesius
Broadband adoption is on the rise, but so are monthly bills, according to a Wednesday report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
About 63 percent of American adults now have broadband connections at home, up 15 percent from the same time last year. Unfortunately, an increased customer base has not prompted a drop in price from providers. The average monthly price for broadband in April 2009 was $39 – up from $34.50 in May 2008.
Despite the price increase and the recession, people are twice as likely to cut cell phone or cable TV service before they get rid of broadband, the study found. In the last 12 months, 9 percent of Internet users have dropped Internet service, but 22 percent have cut cable and another 22 percent have shut off the mobile phones.
For the first time, Pew also weighted the Internet's effect on civic involvement. About 55 percent of respondents said they had used the Web to engage with the community, contact government officials, or contribute to economic growth.
What services are people using? About 34 percent of users subscribe to premium service, up 29 percent from last year. Monthly prices for premium are up from $38.10 to $44.60. About 53 percent still have basic Internet service, a number that stayed relatively flat from last year. Prices for basic are up from $32.80 to $37.10.
Not surprisingly, the more providers in the area, the lower the prices. About 21 percent of people only have one provider in their area and they pay an average of $44.70 per month. The majority, or 69 percent, said they have more than one provider from which to choose, and they pay $38.30. The 17 percent of people with four or more broadband options pay $32.10 per month.
Pew noted growth in broadband adoption in several key demographic groups. Adoption among senior citizens, for example, spiked 58 percent to 30 percent of all those 65 and older, while 46 percent of rural Americans now report having broadband, up 22 percent from last year.
Among low-income Americans, people who make $20,000 or less saw a 40 percent increase in broadband adoption, while those making between $20,000 and $30,000 saw 26 percent growth. Overall, those making less than $30,000 annually reported 34 percent growth in home broadband adoption.
African American households, however, did not fare as well. Though adoption increased from 43 percent to 46 percent, that marks the second year that African Americans reported growth that was below average, the study said.
Interestingly, report author John Horrigan found that Internet use on mobile phones was on the rise among African Americans.
"African Americans are less likely to have broadband at home, but are more likely to be engaging with digital resources on mobile devices," Horrigan said.
Pew will explore that subject more in a mobile Internet report expected in the coming weeks, Horrigan said.
But what about those Americans who have eschewed broadband, or have no Internet service whatsoever?
Remember dial-up? About seven percent of Americans still enjoy listening to the screeches and hums of a phone-based connection before logging on. The majority of people, or about 32 percent, are still hooked on dial-up due to price issues, but 20 percent said that nothing would ever convince them to abandon the bounties of dial-up.
About 17 percent of dial-up fans do not have access to broadband services, while about 16 percent just have no idea why they're sticking with the antiquated technology.
Among those with no Internet service at all, about 22 percent simply have no interest in getting online, 16 percent have no access where they live, and 10 percent said it was too pricey. Other reasons included the lack of a computer, the belief that the Web was too hard to use, and not having enough time to devote to the Internet.
Horrigan released his study at a Washington, D.C. broadband symposium hosted by the Internet Innovation Alliance. Also at the conference was Scott Wallsten, a senior policy fellow at the Technology Policy Institute, who suggested that getting broadband to lower income areas was probably more economical beneficial than building out to rural areas.
"The economic benefits of connecting people probably isn't that big, partly because most of the productivity benefits come from businesses connecting [to broadband], not necessarily households," Wallsten said.
The main way expanded broadband creates jobs is the need for people to build the infrastructure, he said.
"If you want to help broadband improvement, you should put that money to helping low-income people," Wallsten said.
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