The Online and the Offline. Identities in the Specular Economy.

New Media is saturating the world. It has become routine for many of us to check our social media accounts daily. Albrow (1990) as cited by Rantanen theorizes the “world (being) incorporated into a single world society, global society” (Rantanen, T 2005). Social Media can be seen as a testament to this theory. It allows people via the Internet to communicate to others all around the world, sharing information & personal images. And from its humble beginnings has become integrated into our lives and daily routine.

Image Citation: http://favim.com/orig/201107/01/boy-coffee-cup-facebook-laptop-man-Favim.com-89578.jpg

A cup of coffee in the morning and a quick scan of Facebook has replaced the routine of reading the newspaper for many. Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube act as a global flow of information connecting users & followers around the world.

P. David Marshal argues that social media use allows for the construction of online personas, in what he describes as the “specular economy” (p.498 2010).

The specular economy can best be described by drawing parallels with celebrity representation and the celebrity economy. 

Think of celebrities as a commodity, a commodity that sells products, places, and ideas. Celebrity appearances can cause immediate advertisement and thusly can be seen as a product; this is part of the celebrity economy. Because of this economy, Celebrities need to be careful of how they are presented in public. 

Celebrities are the “the product of media representation” (Duits, L & Van Romondt Vis, P 2007, p.4) and should be considered to have duel identities. There is the actual person behind the celebrity and then there is the persona of the celebrity. The persona being “the distinctive image of a person built up by their mediated appearances” (Evans, 2005: 19), and in-between what we see of a celebrity, there is a make-up artist, a camera, a photographer and an editor, all there to maintain that persona. What we know of a celebrity comes “though a collage of mediated texts like film, concert performances, or video clips… celebrity documentaries and gossip magazines” (Duits, L & Van Romondt Vis, P 2007, p.4).

Image Citation: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcjvBhrYOT0OIQXZZxgt1b4CfcRRlo535snJLS_q1Af00Rs1d3PtIBVKRy6cfE_pUpfxGXDyi4Nf2SlcDs6HJNaq6amHviAYp2v4sSS8nBwhsQbEEnP_VeJQf_zxs6TPllFoIzQEBTk9g/s1600/Miley-Cyrus-We-Cant-Stop-video.jpg

An example of this celebrity mediation can most recently be witnessed with the Miley Cyrus Video Music Awards incident. Ever since her rise to stardom in the Disney series Hannah Montana the artist Miley Cyrus has been struggling to change the perception of her Disney innocence and be seen by the public as an adult. Her Video Music Awards performance was an outlet to change the public’s perception of her innocence and was achieved through the over sexualisation of her choreography. According to Miley Cyrus “It definitely went as planned” (Cyrus, M 2013) showing the effectiveness of mediated celebrity performances.    

From this we can understand that Celebrities pose and present a metaphorical mask of the self for the public intake. Mediated celebrity representation parallels public participation in social media in which “collectively we are becoming more conscious of how we present ourselves and how others perceive us and this change is migrating to the epicenter of our knowledge economy” (Marshall, P. David 2010 pp.498-499).

In this instance the specular economy is referring to how we are becoming progressively aware of our identities and how people perceive us in public. This extends into the online realm in which the ability to mediate and fabricate our identity occurs.

So how does the public use social media to perpetuate the specular economy?

Before we leave the privacy of our houses for the outside world, it is habitual to check the mirror to make sure we are properly presented. To ensure that we are well dressed, composed, all in attempt to avoid scrutiny and to change “our outward behaviors” (Marshall, P. David 2010 p.499).

Image citation:http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Fblogs%2Fpictureshow%2F2012%2F08%2F07%2F157743116%2Fdoes-the-mirror-reflect-how-you-feel&h=0&w=0&sz=1&tbnid=ALARD8Uarc54aM&tbnh=190&tbnw=266&zoom=1&docid=6E2jU-18OkedJM&ei=iZNUUufuDorQkwXlw4HQBQ&ved=0CAEQsCU

I know when I wake up in the morning my daily routine takes me past the mirror several times, whether it is brushing my teeth, putting on my clothes, straitening my hair, and always the final check before leaving the house.

A mirror helps us “to imagine a better version of ourselves” (Marshall, P. David 2010 p.499) and allows us “strike poses for future deployment in the outside world” (Marshall, P. David 2010 p.499).

Our online manner is the same, a performance for public consumption. The metaphor of the mirror is a representation of the self that is false from its actuality.

“Mirrors parallel what actors do with their dressing room as they compose their look, their mask, for the next scene and the next performance” (Marshall, P. David 2010 p.499). An example of this behavior can be witnessed through uploaded photos on social media sites. The user can mediate photographs that are presented on social media. The user chooses which photos to upload, most frequently being one that portrays the desirable or unique attributes of them selves. Additionally thanks to increased accessibility to technology the public has access to photo editing software and phone apps like Instagram that make image editing easy, allowing for increased mediation of uploaded photographs. This is just one example of how the public changes their identity for public scrutiny as an “online identity facilitates persona adoption” (Bullingham, L, & Vasconcelos, A 2013 p.2).

The images we present on social media are apart of our online identities, which can differ greatly from our offline identities. We facilitate our own online identities and release only the positive features/information we want the public to receive. Our online identity is the image that we release to the public via our own mediated online responses. Bullingham and Vasoncelos argue that “the distance between performer and audience that physical detachment provides makes it easy to conceal aspects of the offline self and embellish the online”. In this instance, social media sites allow for the separation of the self and persona we want people to see.

 Image Citation: http://www.kelleher-international.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/onlinedating.jpg

Because of the anonymity available on the Internet “online deception is prevalent” (Huang, C, & Yang, S 2013 p.2). Frequently this occurs on online dating sites in which the users construct false identities in hopes of forming relationships.

Imagine for a moment that you have been active in an online dating site and you are finally meeting the man/woman you’ve been interacting with at a local café.

You arrive at the café only to find the person has lied to you about their age and appearance. According to Huang & Yang in their online dating studies “subjects reported younger ages, falsified pictures (including retouching pictures to present themselves as more attractive, thinner, or prettier), and falsified hairstyles and skin qualities” (2013 p.2). This online misrepresentation is relevant to the specular economy as participating in social media is a “kind of public performance of the self that we all engage in as we exit into the public (online) world” (Marshall, P. David 2010 p.500). It gives users the ability to fabricate certain details of their identity and portray embellishments of the personality and the physical appearance.

Advances in technology and “new media have produced this expanded specular economy and its production of an industry of persona construction” (Marshall, P. David 2010 p.500).

Personally I am guilty of online misrepresentation at times. The photographs I post are often staged, my status updates are grammatically correct to convey a sense of finesse (completely opposite to my offline and private self) and I always let people know of my good grades from tertiary studies, all in attempt to portray myself differently to my actuality. Do you misrepresent yourself online, or is your online identity identical to your offline identity? Do you have a façade?

David Macardy

Citations:

Bullingham, L, & Vasconcelos, A 2013, “The presentation of the self in the online world”: Goffman and the study of online identities, Journal of Information Science, 39, 1, pp. 1-12, Business Source Complete.

Duits, L, & Van Romondt Vis, P 2007, 'Girls Make Sense: Girls, Celebrities, and Identities', Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, pp. 1-23, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2013.

Evans, J. (2005) ‘Celebrity, media and history’ in J. Evans and D. Hesmondhalgh (eds) Understanding media: Inside celebrity, pp. 12-55. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Huang, C, & Yang, S 2013, “Study of Online Misrepresentation, Self-Disclosure, Cyber-relationship Motives, and Loneliness Among Teenagers In Taiwan”, Journal of Educational Computing Research, 48, 1, pp. 1-18, Education Research Complete.

Marshall, P. David 2010, ‘The Specular Economy’, Symposium: Celebrity Around the World, Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2010 pp. 498-502. 

Miley Cyrus: The VMA Performance Went According to Plan/ Variety. 2013. Miley Cyrus: The VMA Performance Went According to Plan/Variety. Available at: http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/miley-cyrus-the-vma-performance-went-according-to-plan-1200702296/

Hollywood: An American or Global Film Industry?

image citation: http://scripteach.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Richard-Lund-hollywood-sign-at-night.jpg

When we think of Hollywood we conjure images of red carpet, bright lights and celebrities on every corner, well at least I do. The film industry in Hollywood has produced many blockbusters throughout America and it has produced many celebrities that are icons of our attention. But how does Hollywood fit into Globalization? Hollywood can be seen as a representation of the American film industry, which “no longer addresses a national audience” (Wasser, F 1995, p.1) as such the films that Hollywood produce have a global audience. So how does Hollywood appeal to the different audiences around the world?

A significant factor in appealing to a global audience is the choice of actors. For instance, a film that incorporates Asian film stars like Jackie Chan & Jet Li will appeal to an Asian Market. Film stars in this regard can be seen as a commodity for international marketing. The same goes for Australian actors like Hugh Jackman, and his ability to attract an Australian audience.      

Hollywood can also appeal to global markets through the use of particular genres. “Hollywood’s embrace of martial arts …(and) many forms of Asian culture,” (Klein, C 2004 p.2) appeal to a larger international Audience. This can also be done from Asian film studios that seek to gain western audiences. Ponyo, an animated feature from Japan utilizes American celebrities as voice actors in the ‘English’ version of the film. In this regard both countries are cross-pollinating their unique film industries leading to “denationalization of individual films and film industries on both sides of the Pacific” (Klein, C 2004 p.2).   

Hollywood once represented the American film industry, but now Hollywood “no longer privilege a special relationship with the American audience,” (Wasser, F 1995 p.1) and instead offers films that appeal to global audiences.

This raises another question, what will the future of the worlds film industry look like? When considering the ever-amalgamating genres, film stars and cinematography… will all films in the distant future be hybrid representatives of culture?    

Reference: 

Klein, C 2004, ‘Martial arts and the globalization of US and Asian film industries’, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. P

Wasser, F 1995, ‘Is Hollywood America? The Trans-Nation of the American Film Industry’ Critical Studies in Mass Communication 12 (1995), 423-427.

Celebrity Personas: a global façade.

image citation: http://www.sadmuffin.net/cherrybam/graphics/graphics-celebrity/celebrity009.gif

Celebrities are a cultural phenomenon. In todays modern society many of us idolize them. They are indicative of a lifestyle we all strive for. While most of us don’t actually know a celebrity in person, we know of them “through a collage of mediated texts like films, concert performances, or video clips… celebrity documentaries and gossip magazines” (Duits, L, & Van Romondt Vis, P 2007, P.4) and exposure to other global media forms.

But how much of these celebrities are we actually seeing? Celebrities are “the product of media representation” (Duits, L, & Van Romondt Vis, P 2007, P.4) and should be considered to have dual identities. There is the actual person behind the celebrity and there is the persona of the celebrity. “A persona is the distinctive image of a person built up from their mediated appearances” (Evans, 2005: 19) and because of this, how much can we really know about the person behind the persona?

Let’s say you have clicked ‘like’ on a celebrity’s social media site. You now believe you have a greater glimpse into this celebrities life, however this is not the case. What we see and share on these sites is not a true representation of the celebrity. In between what we see of these personalities, there is a makeup artist, a camera, a photographer, and an editor. In this context it can be said that celebrities pose and present a metaphorical mask of the self for public intake. The more we pull away the layers of these ‘so called’ identities, the more we can see how new/social media can create a public representation that is completely false from its actuality.

But it doesn’t stop there. Are we not all guilty of this form of representation? Personally when I upload an image on social media, I ensure it portrays my worthy features. When we leave our houses, do we not take a look in the mirror to disguise our true identities from societal judgment? What do you think? Do you have a façade?  

Citations:

Duits, L, & Van Romondt Vis, P 2007, 'Girls Make Sense: Girls, Celebrities, and Identities', Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, pp. 1-23, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2013.

Evans, J. (2005) ‘Celebrity, media and history’ in J. Evans and D. Hesmondhalgh (eds)

Understanding media: Inside celebrity, pp. 12-55. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Globalization & the Damsel in Distress (as portrayed in videogame culture).

image url: http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/Content/DynamicMedia/cms-uploaded/Video%20Games.gif

Globalization is a broad term, simplified it can be understood as “theorizing about global interconnectedness” (Eriksen, T 2007). So where do video games become involved? A computer game is a “form of participatory media culture” (Raessens, J) in which the use of multimediality, virtuality and interactivity join together. Multimediality is the amalgamation of images both moving and stationary, sound features and written scripts. Virtuality is the computer-generated world in which the gamer becomes encompassed. Finally, Interactivity refers to the gamer’s ability to navigate the games story and its ending.

Video Games can be comprehensively associated to Globalization. This can be witnessed through console distribution, for example the Sony PlayStation originated in Japan and is now disseminated around the world (the very same for Nintendo consoles). Online gaming can also be linked with Globalization theories as it connects people from different parts of the world into the single realm. Gaming has saturated the globe and with it storyline tropes that offer damaging representation of woman characters and their identities.

The damsel in distress trope has been reproduced throughout history as “developers have consistently chosen to place female characters such as Princess Peach and Zelda into passive, almost always unplayable roles” (Carpenter, N 2013). The damsel in distress trope refers typically to a female character in a perilous situation that must be rescued by the male protagonist. In the gaming realm this can be seen as disempowering woman as they are represented as trophy presented at the completion of the game. Because of this, it can be argued that developers “demonstrate how they continue to perpetuate negative gender stereotypes” (Carpenter, N 2013).

However, in opposition to this representation there are two video games that immediately spring to mind; Tomb Raider & Mass Effect. Both games offer female protagonists that break free from the typical gender roles of society. Lara Croft from Tomb Raider (despite having over developed female features) can be seen as an empowering representation of woman. Jane Shepard of Mass Effect is the embodiment of masculinity as she fights to save the galaxy. What do you think, has gaming perpetuated negative gender stereotypes?        

Carpenter, N 2013, 'Tropes vs. Women in Video Games [Online Video Series]. Part I: Damsel in Distress (2013)', Women & Language, 36, 1, pp. 97-99, Humanities Source, EBSCOhost, viewed 5 September 2013.

Eriksen, T 2007, Globalization: The Key Concepts, Oxford: Berg, eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost, viewed 5 September 2013.

Raessens, J “Computer Games As participatory media Culture”, retrieved Thursday 5^th September 2013. URL: <http://www.hum.uu.nl/medewerkers/j.raessens/Publicaties/raessens_c24.pdf>

Blogosphere, Public Sphere & Politics.

Image Source: http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2010/02/05/1225827/280954-kevin-rudd.jpg

At this very moment, while you are reading this, you are avidly participating in globalization. The content that you are now scanning with your eyes, curiously wondering as to where I’m going with this topic, is a blog. A Blog is an online document filled with opinions, ideas, information and it is quickly becoming one of the most prominent forms of online communication. The collection of all the Blogs metaphorically drifting in space is known as the Blogosphere, and it “constructs space for public forum such that anyone can participate” (Lee, J 2006). This concept is suggested to work within Jürgen Habermas’s idea of a public sphere, in which a forum exists that allows the expression of public opinion and is available to all (Habermas, J 1989). But is the blogosphere this ideological public sphere?     

The interesting thing about Blogs is that frequently the subjects or topics are focused on world events, with numerous Australian Blogs containing a “strong focus on politics” (Bruns, A., Burgess, J., Highfield, T., and Nicolai, T. 2011). This is more relevant then ever, as we approach the Australian Election for 2013: Rudd vs. Abbott. 

As identified by Jae Lee in his analysis, “blogosphere’s attention and focus” (2006) switch to political events at times of elections similar to the news media coverage throughout the current election campaign. The public sphere in this instance is a “universally accessible space where informed citizens engage in the political process through rational- critical debate” (lee, J 2006), but just how informed are these citizens and what classifies as rational?

Personally, I do not care for either the Liberal or Labour party. Tony Abbott on the topic on the rights of woman has been quoted “I think it would be folly to expect that women will ever dominate or even approach equal representation”. Does this sound rational? Whilst Kevin Rudd was quoted “we have a prime minister, I'm the foreign minister, I'm trying to get on with the job of doing Australia's foreign policy,” informing the public of his dishonesty, as he eventually took over Julia Gillard’s role of Prime Minister.

On the topic of politics, it raises the question as to whether or not the blogosphere could possibly be the miraculous public sphere defined by Habermas. The idea of the public sphere is that informed people can discuss rationally, but blogs are accessible to everyone, and like Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott, not everyone is rational and or well informed. Do you think the Blogosphere could be the Public Sphere?

Citations: 

Lee, J 2006, 'The Blogosphere and the Public Sphere: Exploring Possibility of the Blogosphere as a Public Sphere', Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, pp. 1-23, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 September 2013.   

Bruns, A., Burgess, J., Highfield, T., and Nicolai, T. 2011 ‘Mapping the Australian Networked Public Sphere’, Social Science Computer Review, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 277-287.

Habermas, J. (1989). The structural transformation of the public sphere: An inquiry into a category of bourgeois

society. Cambridge, UK: Polity.

You are being observed. The Social Media Conundrum.

image citation: http://blogs-images.forbes.com/benkerschberg/files/2011/09/Social-Media-Icons.png

Albrow (1990) as quoted by Rantanen in 2005 theorizes Globalization as the “world (being) incorporated into a single world society, global society” (Rantanen, T 2005). Social Media can be seen as a testament to this theory. It allows people via the Internet to communicate to others all around the world, sharing information & personal details about oneself. All the while giving you the impression that the use of these sites is free.  Although “users do not pay Facebook or Twitter to use the services” (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010) in physical dollars, they are in fact paying with something else. Personal Information.

It has been acknowledged that the “world has been dominated by capitalism” (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010) and Social Media sites & the Internet are successful businesses as they “are fundamentally based on surveillance and behavior control” (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010). With the rise of social media, big businesses have become encompassed “oriented toward finding ways to profit from this new environment” (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010).  They found a way. 

Social media sites such as Facebook compile the information provided by users, “selling (that) information, often for advertising purposes” (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010). Users of these sites are realized as cash cows for they “can be used to generate profit in many different ways, primarily advertising” (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010). Often personalized advertisements can now appear on networking sites as the information provided by users is marketed against them.   

It is a bargain that many users of social media are yet to recognize, as they provide an online environment with which to express ourselves “and in return we unwittingly provide them with gold” (Wilson, S 2012).

So here in lies the social media predicament. Is the usage of these sites actually free? Or are users being exploited by way of their personal information being sold to corporations, so that the corporations can then in turn market individualized advertisements back at the user? What do you think?

This video shows some of the negative effects social networking, among them, marketing exploitation. 

Citations:

Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010 ‘Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital ‘prosumer’, Journal of Consumer Culture, vol. 10 no. 1, pp 13-36.

Rantanen, T. (2005) The Media and Globalization, Sage, London, pp. 1-18

Wilson, S 2012, Social media exploitation is gravest risk Sydney Morning Herald, The, 03126315, Mar 05, 2012

Globalization & the Pirates of the Modern World

http://becausemollysaidso.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/pirateskull.jpg

“The internet has become emblematic of globalization” (Shah, Nisha 2008). While there are numerous reasons as to why this is, it is mainly because the Internet has made the “instantaneous transfer of information” (Shah, Nisha 2008) accessible to many across the globe. But what happens when sharing information across the Internet is a catalyst for piracy? We have all seen the anti-piracy advertisements at the beginning of our movies and television shows, which all the while appear bizarre, as the anti-piracy campaign targets those whom have legitimate hardcopies.   

Piracy is often thought of as the theft of an object, however when something is illegally downloaded there exists the original copy. While the illegal downloading and file sharing of music has “attribute(ed) the recent sales declines in the recording industry” (Fivelsdal, H 2005), this raises additional legality issues surrounding the music industry.

Think of remix artists, and disc jockeys. Have you ever been out at a nightclub when the resident musician has sampled from your favorite song? Without the proper acknowledgement and royalty check this too is stealing. Should these artists have to pay for every sample of music they use? And here in lies the foremost problem with the theft of music. There exist only so many musical notes in the world. Therefore, theoretically, eventually someone will inadvertently play the same notes that some other recording artist has already used. Is this stealing? With the finite amount of notes existing, eventually combinations are going to repeat. So how can this be theft?

The main contention from the music industry is that it “no longer maintains control over music distribution” (Fivelsdal, H 2005), whereas now the Internet has removed their ability to control and restrict access.

It comes down to the rights of the recording artist’s vs. the right of freedom of information, and the amount of blurred lines that occur between them. Ultimately it is up to the consumers morale compass as to whether it is theft, or their right to have access to the music. What do you think? 

Citations

References

Fivelsdal, H 2005, 'Moving Toward a Balanced and Effective Response to Internet Music Piracy', JMM: The International Journal On Media Management, 7, 3/4, pp. 121-126, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 21 August 2013.

Shah, Nisha. "From global village to global marketplace: Metaphorical descriptions of the global Internet." International Journal Of Media & Cultural Politics 4, no. 1 (January 2008): 9-26. Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed August 21, 2013).