Response 1 – JamesA

What is New Media was a helpful reading. It was successful in bringing me around to a way of thinking that I agree with and makes sense to me. I especially liked the travel allegory. I was kind of scratching my head until I got to that point of the reading. I had never really considered just how much more successful new media has been at getting people involved, and it’s because of the interactivity aspect. Newspapers, television and radio are very limited in comparison to the scope of the internet. Where much of what we experience on the internet is highly personalized, niche, and selected by us, broadcast media feels impersonal because it is by its very nature impersonal. A small group of people selects what is said, and you can either listen or not listen. On the internet you are able to respond. You can watch a live stream of someone and be able to write a text comment that they will respond to on video. For me, it’s just fascinating to watch new forms of interactive entertainment come into existence.

The internet revolution created hackers. At their core, I think a lot of hackers just want to have their voice be heard. For all of human history we’ve been stuck listening to authority figures: a one-to-many relationship that just doesn’t do it for us anymore. I think the combination of networked systems and corrupt organizations makes hacking almost unavoidable, from the United States government to the Westboro Baptist Church. People want to take back some modicum of power, and hacking is a way to do that. It can be quite heroic. Like anything, it can be abused, but I think it’s wrong to label all hackers as criminals. Unfortunately, this is what usually happens. Especially in the early days of hacking – as we saw with Captain Crunch and the Phone Phreaks – media outlets are quick to paint a terrifying picture. Sadly we, as a culture, have shown that we are willing to arrest these people. Under the banner of Anonymous, people encourage others to speak out against corrupt governments. Unfortunately, those who do blow the whistle are threatened with prison. The Yes Men, who are very similar to heroic hackers in their desire to embarrass and take control from authority, find themselves in court for doing amazing things. People who use the internet for good sometimes find themselves persecuted more harshly than those who use it for evil. That’s really just not right. Without the internet, however, without hackers, and without whistle blowers, none of those incredible things would’ve happened in the first place.