Response 2 – JakeB
I don’t think media shape us into one thing anymore. I think media have kneaded us into different shapes to the point where the people of my generation are now able to take any shape that a particular media desires. I know multiple people with two Instagram accounts so that they can portray themselves in two different ways. The second account even has a term, a “finsta”. Through many-many interaction, we’ve become able to portray ourselves in multiple ways to everyone.
After scrolling through the posts for a bit, I found these projects that interested me.
Issac S – redirecting my procrastination.
This project is all about how we are how we spend our time. The problem that Issac was running into was that he was not the creator that he wanted to be, he was a procrastinator. This project is all about using the time spent procrastinating to learn and make things. The new self that he seeks to create is one that he sees to be better and more productive. My main issue with this project is that it’s purely a personal project rather than a new media project. So instead of writing about how this project does affect others, I’ll write about how it could if it were a social movement. There is no new tech involved unless a person chooses to learn about a new technology. Theoretically, this project could reach anyone with access to the internet with no bias towards race or gender. Assuming the complete success of this movement, society would become one in which we all produce work we’re proud of and develop skills we want. we would no longer be a lazy society.
UPDATE: It’s 12:00 AM and I just realized that we weren’t supposed to review past autobotography approaches. As a compromise, I’ll talk about one of the projects which we talked about in class.
Nobody Here has been particularly interesting to me because it’s not an autobiography of the person who made it. Instead, the user is the subject of the biography and the process one takes while exploring the site is the biography. I only noticed this after discussing it with my classmates. Each of us had a completely different experience that revealed a lot about who we are. This mirror it offered showed us who we were by calling to attention the simple words we deem interesting enough to click on. It uses existing tech in an uncommon and relatively confusing way to get people to experience themselves. I think the only influences that the experience of Nobody Here would have would be those you bring to it. Everyone is going to have a different experience no matter what. I think that Nobody Here has missed its chance to change society, but those who do use it and think about it are left with a better understanding of who they are.
One thought on “Response 2 – JakeB”
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Jake–Hah! I love the 12:00 AM interjection 🙂 Your observations about society having been “kneaded [ ] into different shapes” are original and spot-on. That goes double for your observation regarding Nobody Here. Excellent work. And regarding Isaac’s piece–don’t get distracted by a focus on technology. (Remember the Renovating the Fountain example in Response 1? No new tech anywhere in sight, and yet an excellent many-many example.) Why is Isaac distracted? Likely because of our new technologies! (Just like all the rest of us.) And Isaac is using “new tech” to tell us his story. By positing a social movement started by Isaac’s ideas, you’ve given him a platform, and ultimately I think your conclusion is again on the mark. Nice work.