Response 2—MitchF

Jennicam:

Jennicam was an innovative concept at the time it started. Jenni set up a series of cameras where she lived and allowed viewers to watch whenever they pleased, witnessing her most intimate parts of life. It eventually got to the point where she had three to four million people logging onto her site a day to view. Once numbers grew, she incorporated a subscription-based system in which she actually profited by having people watch her by using PayPal. This lasted for about seven years until PayPal cancelled her account for adult content.

This added a new and strange mirror in a very literal sense in the fact that people were always watching her. Everyone knows the feeling when you think someone is watching you. She dealt that all day, everyday, with hundreds of thousands of people watching at a time. I have to imagine it psychologically changed her and the way she went about some things.

This didn’t necessarily create a new self in the way she was manifested, but made Jenni’s life practically omnipresent in our world in a sense. She could be watched from anywhere via the Internet.

The technology used wasn’t crazy. It was simply web cameras and the Internet. It was more so the concept that was so new and captivating. It shaped her in a raw and open example for people to watch. I don’t think race, gender, class, culture, age, etc. had too much impact at the time in people being interested in the idea. I think it was more so the concept of being utterly vulnerable. She lived a very average life, and even started this in a dorm room. In fact, I think part of the appeal in some way was how ordinary her life was, but the complex subtleties that are in everyone’s “normal” life. However, I’m sure that through being this vulnerable, things such as her political stances, things she supports, ideology, etc. were transparent and shaped the way she was perceived for sure.

The society that would be proliferated by this new self she created reminds me a lot of the book “The Circle” by Dave Eggers. It takes away all privacy and allows anyone to witness anything. I personally think the idea of this sounds creepy and horrifying. I don’t like the idea a bunch of people watching me all the time.

Life Sharing:

Eva and Franco Mattes turned their home computer into a public exhibit, allowing anyone to search the contents of their computer including emails, photos, bank statements; you name it, via the Internet. Not quite to the extent that Jenni did in my opinion, but this very similarly created a new and strange mirror for the world to see. It took away a sense of privacy from Eva and Franco, and shared it with the world. When we look at people, we see their physical appearance, the way they dress, and their mannerisms. But we don’t know all of these other things that this idea of life sharing reflects in it’s strange mirror.

Much like the last project, there isn’t a drastic use in technology here, but rather in communication. The difference isn’t in how things are communicated, but what is communicated. Eva and Franco used common technology to openly share details of their lives that are intimate and typically kept private.

One thing that came to mind the more I thought about both of these projects is the way the world perceives and assumes things about someone when they know their wealth and social class. As humans, we have such a tendency to compare and presume based off of what we know. I think the idea of “Life Sharing” would totally change the way that people look at you. I think that race, gender, class, culture, age, bank statements would absolutely influence these new selves, because three years worth of data will reveal all of these things about you, including your perception of these things

I think viewers in today’s world would be quick to find dirt and expose the person who participates in “life sharing” the first chance they got. All in all, I think this concept would result in chaos and conflict because everyone could see every flaw in every person without even having a conversation and getting to know that person.

Again, both of these ideas remind me of “The Circle,” where more and more privacy is gradually taken away till the point of being completely open. People start to live in fear and reserve when this happens. It’s a bit spooky in my opinion.