McLeod

Music sampling, after reading McLeod's piece, I realized is something I probably come across nearly everyday. Although I have never referred to the combined mix up and borrowed beats as 'sampling', it has since become a familiar concept. In his article, McLeod talks about how music and the laws following it have evolved. During the beginning of these "mash-ups" it is explained how bits and pieces of songs were extracted and put in different orders amongst other melodies and a NEW song was created. It was not seen as being replicated, however Bob Dylan is quoted in McLeod saying,

"I got a new one, it's called 'Emmett Till.' I stole the melody from Len Chandler. He's a folk singer, uses a lot of funny chords. He got me to using some of these funny chords, trying to teach me new chords. He played me these, said, 'Don't they sound nice?' So I said, 'They sure do'. So I stole it, the whole thing." (p.77)

Here Dylan is describing how he comes up with these 'new' hits, when in reality the different version is no more than a duplicate that has been slightly modified. Even though this was dubbed legal at the time, it was challenged some time later when copyright issues became a concern for music makers. This art of sampling then started becoming a problem.

With today's laws changing, it seems as if the copyright and potential "theft" of music or even lyrics is a big deal. But is it really? Is the borrowing of a mere few words going to offend someone so much that there is an actual need to sue for infringement? Or do these issues only arise because of our money-hungry society and culture that will find any motive to earn a few extra bucks? McLeod points out how these money-hungry companies, like Time Warner and Disney (already mentioned by other classmates), have called dibs on certain music and characters. Which in my opinion isn't ridiculous, but still leads to many other situations where copyright and stealing becomes an issue.

Even movies today have to deal with these issues, it's not just in music. For example, I read a different piece of work explaining how the movie Fight Club had to pay a woman to use her name in order to prove the movie wasn't about her. That to me seems absolutely ridiculous.

The point is stealing something is obviously wrong, we get that. However, the different copyright and trademarking laws that are applied to music and various other forms of media may be going to far in my opinion. Sampling and borrowing bits and pieces is merely a modification, and unless the pieces are completely unchanged, these companies that are out to make a few extra thousand a year clearly need something more to do. They need to quit wasting their time on labeling what is NOT able to be used by others and allow the creativity and free expression to happen on its own, without having to worry about getting sued over something so petty.

Lessing

Loading...

Lessig

This article had a lot of points and interesting aspects that I had never thought about. I was interested in the Kodak camera talk. Who would have known that such a simple thing that someone invented could someday be so popular. We all take pictures of our selves and our friends and put them on facebook, using a kodak camera. Images play a lot in what we think. I personally get magazines just to look at the pictures not to read the articles. Pictures say just as much as words. We can write with visuals such as in People magazine and we see a picture of Brad and Angelina and they have another baby in their hands, we automatically know that they must have adopted another child. We dont need to read the whole article because pictures talk louder than words alot of the time.
Talking about the 9/11 blog was a good idea. Blogging is very new to me but I know that it is a way to get our feelings out to others. We can turn to blogs to let our emotions out. because most likley other people are having the same emotions. Also, pictures were important to us who weren't in New York. We heard about all the devistating news and wanted to know what was going on. Watching the media and news was a way for us to stay connected to all the horrific things happening in New York. We turned to the internet to watch youtube videos of what was happening because no matter where you are the media and internet will have pictures of what is going on around the world.

Lessig

Lessig begins chapter 2 by mentioning Louis Daguerre and the invention of the first “practical technology,” photography. The technology began as a very expensive and complicated process, like most emerging technologies. However, as the demand for this medium exploded, so did the desire to make the technology more accessible and affordable. Then the Kodak camera was invented which used a roll of flexible film to print the negatives onto, avoiding the long tedious processes that the glass plate negatives required.

This revolutionized the camera industry and allowed for lower class participation as well as amateur expressionism through this medium. The product was marketed for its ease and the availability to any common man who “has sufficient intelligence to point a box straight and press a button (2).” This allowed anyone without experience in art to express their creative side. People could now document their visual lives without any interpretational biases, and camera usage exploded along with amateur photography. Now that this technology was put into the hands of the common man, growth in democratic technology was in full force.

The second section on the technology filled “Just Think! buses” was very interesting, because I had never heard of such a thing. Although these buses are holistically expensive, the technology they carry is actually somewhat cheap. This definitely reminded me of the way that when digital cameras first came out, they were pretty expensive and I can only remember my friends’ parents owning them. Now, I see kids as young as elementary students carrying around the inexpensive devices. If these Just Think! buses can be replicated across the country, I have a feeling our students have a much better chance of media literacy. This term refers to the ability to comprehend and interpret the media around us, rather than just the ability to read and write like the term ‘literacy’ used to mean. This means that it is not necessarily the access to the technologies but the difficulty to comprehend them that may prove to be the biggest barrier in the expansion of our media literacy.

The third section from the chapter begins with a somewhat bittersweet note, the way in which September 11^th was broadcast on news stations everywhere, with a certain level of “entertainment,” even when that entertainment is tragic. This reminds me of when I was watching MTV after the planes had crashed, and in the aftermath they were interviewing celebrities on what they thought of the event. The only thing that I thought was, “I could really care less what Ja Rule and P Diddy have to say about this sort of thing.” But that is exactly the point, it’s not about the content of the news anymore, it’s more about the way it’s presented and the way it can appeal to its audiences.

The format of the news when people would get it on-line was much different though as the emotions seemed to be rawer along with the content of the news it was bringing. This online format allowed for instantaneous exchange of not only pictures but opinions and perspectives, all which add to our collective view on the way this news affects us. This open forum of blogging and building upon others views let us expand our democratic processes and public discourse as internet users were free to comment and discuss any matter they chose.

Now that the political discourse is isolated though, it also becomes more extreme. Blogs allow for public discourse without the public ever needing to gather in a single public place, and not only that, but we all can choose to be anonymous in most cases, leaving little repercussion for comments. I liked the example of how blogging affected the 2004 campaign for Howard Dean. After he was leading at the Iowa Caucus, Dean gave a speech where he let out an overzealous cheer to rally on his supporters. This, however, only created problems, and before long, this cheer was all over the Internet with negative comments to match. There is now even auto-tuned song versions of the infamous cheer.

As blogging becomes more and more ubiquitous, we will also see a difference in the dialogue that we each create as well. Since there isn’t a single controller or “gate-keeper” of the Internet, our understanding of public issues will change as more and more citizens express what they think and defend it as well. Personally, the more I read about politics and argue certain points with my peers, I come across new perspectives that sometimes alter the way in which I think and state my opinion. As Lessig puts it, “Of course, it is a rare human who admits that he has been persuaded that he is wrong. But it is even rarer for a human to ignore when he has been proven wrong (6).” I think this is an interesting way to put it, for we all know the compromise in our dignity when we are proven wrong, but I don’t know anyone who proceeds to maintain a self-aware incorrect thought.

The last section in chapter two discusses “Open Source Software,” and the way in which this software is building a better collective knowledge that can lead us to improved computer formats. This open source style allows everyone to build off of each other, not only in thoughts but in actual coding of web formats. Once one person has come up with a section of coding, others can change small things to it to try and improve on the coding. This is just like receiving other people’s inventions and trying to build upon them and make them better. This “open source becomes a major apprenticeship platform. The concrete things you tinker with are abstract. They are code. You are tinkering with a community platform. You are tinkering with other people’s stuff. The more you tinker the more you improve (9).”

This reminds me of the popular NCAA football games on gaming consoles. Every year, they come out with a new edition of the game, but it is not as if they start from scratch every edition. They merely have to build off of the previous year’s technology, which means the entire year can be spent on simply improving the product. This is the same way for the internet and coding, and if we keep building upon others’ ideas, who knows where we could end up. The freedom to do this however may not always be granted, and even now we are seeing ways in which this power is attempting to be controlled. Many Eastern nations like China still have very harsh censorship laws which greatly constricts the amount of creative and intelligent thought created. If only we could unleash every nation into this democratic process and shared though, then we could see how much further the Internet could actually take us. This censoring is really only hurting our potential to educate even the poorest countries. Technology is booming and we have more mediums of technology than ever before, but unfortunately the law is preventing us from realizing that full potential.

Lessig

This article first started off talking about Kodak, the camera and that's when my attention was instantly caught. Just reading this article and reading about how much work one man put into creating just a small simple device that we all use today blows my mind. I honestly can't imagine the world without cameras or pictures. The world is beautiful, but with the help of cameras and pictures we are able to catch the beauty of the world and express it. In this article he also expressed why he named it Kodak "You press the button, we do the rest." I find that so true because that's what cameras do they save the pictures on film or in a memory card, then all you have to do is to go and get them printed out.

I love Just Think! Imagining a school bus filled with all different types of mass media supplies, but especially that of camera film is awesome. I feel that it's important in the early years of a child's life to understand what type of technologies there are out in the world today and how to use them correctly. I also find it very, very cool how these mass media supplies are put in school buses that are painted in out-going and fun colors because when you see school buses the first thing that usually comes to mind are children or elementary school so I also like the irony in how it's on school buses for children.

After the events of 9/11 the blog got very important where people could go and disclose all they wanted because people were in a time of distress and agony so the blog was a way to have conversations, but you weren't necessarily tying all of your conversations together. The blog was made simply to help people ease the pain. It also talks about how blogs are the most important type of discourse that we have today, and I totally agree with that because everyone reads blogs and everyone criticizes a blog and adds to them.

Open-Source/Free Software is free shared software that anyone is able to use and if they don't understand anything about it they are able to tinker with the code and to get themselves aware of what it is. It sets a platform for a new kind of learning because you are able to understand and learn different things about a certain type of technology which I think is really cool, because they are offering up a learning experience for free, just to understand it better.

All in all, I actually really liked this article probably because I actually could understand it and I have a very big interest in technology of any kind. I feel that all of these connected together mainly because it enabled everyone to have a new kind of learning experience to get themselves more aware of the technologies around them and work with them as much as possible.

LESSIG

I think the four parts of the chapter have been summarized beyond summarization (beating a dead horse), so I’ll spare you that, and just share with you what I got out of the reading.

Imagine how those early photographers must have felt? I bet it felt magical to them (literally). It was new and amazing, as well as an outlet for creativity. I honestly think the internet is just as “magical”. We live in a world where a college student can create something in his dorm, and by the time he graduates, be a millionaire. Just like the people who called photography “irrelevant”, some people underestimate the power of the online world. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t “Bieber fever” start with some kid putting his videos up on Youtube?

I remember Bush Sr. sending troops into the desert (older than most of you). In junior high, a friend and I got into making funny videos. Eventually, after much haggling, CFU let us put our shows on public access. I remember going to the studio, handing the guy our VHS tape, and watching him edit it on his room full of equipment. It looked like the NASA launch control……..knobs and buttons everywhere. I can’t tell you I don’t feel a little jealous when I hear about those buses setup for video editing, driving around to schools.

As I read the section about blogging, I thought to myself, when we blog and debate online, in a way we’re deliberating like a jury. A person can throw an idea out for discussion, and within hours (minutes in some cases) you’ll know if it’s acceptable or highly opposed. That politician could have saved himself some grief by discussing online whether or not it’s wise for someone in power to praise segregation.

Ok, finally, a bit on open source. By now it’s been explained, and examples have been given, but did you know that this philosophy isn’t just thriving online? Pen and paper roleplaying games (think Dungeons and Dragons) started using rules that different creators could share. This opened up all sorts of doors for indy publishers. Check out the D20 system

All that talk about tinkering with photos………..made me think of all the things that come from manipulating original things. Isn’t a lot of modern music made from sampling old songs? How bout this: yea....

I say let people play with stuff!

Lessig

I enjoyed this article, it had a lot of memories and places to help me reflect back on to understand Lessig's argument/meaning. The sections of this article, Kodak, Just think!, 9/11 and open source software, relate to one another in more than a specific way than technology, but in a way of connection to a deeper meaning of our intelligence. They reflect off ways of us figuring out our universal way of democracy in today's and yesterdays way of learning. Lessig traces ways of enhancement of imagery, appearance, education and awareness through the sections in his article.
"A growing field of academics and activists sees this form of literacy as crucial to the next generation of culture." That quote by Lessig shares a common feeling in a true democracy in today's people because how unaware someone maybe to the experiences they get to enjoy.
Kodak captured the moments of our life's on the cheaper end of the wallet, while still reflecting interest and experiencing access to something with no ground rules or restrictions. Eastman's invention was a true meaning to one's freedom of expression. I liked the story of Kodak, because it takes you back to when things weren't so complicated in some form of technology.
Just Think gave children a sense of formality to help them learn and be guided through technology. When everywhere else in America already tries to tell children what to think, Just think allowed them to do it on their own with their way of using the media and technology to gain access to what they want to say.
9/11 Story not only touched base on a time where everyone remembers where they were, or what they were doing, but who they are as an American and what technology did to help us be apart of history. Blogging, TV, Internet, news, papers, articles, radios, where ever you were at the time those planes hit you where somehow aware of that devastating news. The "public consciousness" as Lessig calls it. So when we are all "public conscious" we take form in some kind of democracy towards the rule of the peoples right. That day had everything to do with discussing Americans right in fighting for our own democracy. "It was a beginning," As Lessig stated in the article.
Open-Source Software creates a completely new kind of learning platform for most. From projects to concepts in codes to software's. This is a free way of expression or in ones advantage to provide feed back on something that may help build our society. I like this concept in a way it helps us get more connected to anyone or any source out there to help further my knowledge on an interesting topic. Technology today is all around us, it's how we use it that determines the way of success of not. I use an email account to help connect to relates or friends around the world, but also to have a connection to stores, schools, work and different sources that now a day require it to be more a part of something.
Freedom is not how you see it, but how you earn it. If we don't take the time to reflect and be educated on all the opportunities technology has to offer then we can't be apart of a bigger democracy.

Lessig

There is little doubt that we are currently living in a time where technology reigns supreme.  As technologies progress and change, we progress and change with them; it is a necessary response.  Technology will continue to advance, and if we do not stay up to date then we will left behind.  Technology is discussed in length throughout Lessig's chapter two: "Mere Copyists."  Specifically, he addresses the demand for new technology as well as technological skills, the free expression changing technology allows us, and even democracy and the legal restrictions surrounding this digital age we live in.


The chapter starts with a simple story: the progression of photography.  The demand for photographs, or "daguerreotypes (par. 2)" as they were originally called, was huge.  This is not surprising, for, as Lessig explains, it allowed the public to document their lives, their families, their passions, it allowed for keeping a visual and semi-permanent record (par. 7).  When George Eastman invented the Kodak camera and its rolls of film, the demand and interest in photography expanded to an even greater level.  It allowed the individual man or women, despite their social standing and/or class, the freedom of creative expression (par. 8).  


This idea of creative expression via technology is seen in the various stories Lessig tells in this chapter.  The "Just Think!" buses are a perfect example of both this creativity and the demand presented with advancing technology.  The "Just Think!" buses presents a different sort of demand than that of photography, instead of a consumer demand we have an educational demand for "media literacy (par. 16)."  Lessig explains how the term literacy has changed throughout the years; it has changed in order to accommodate for the changes in technology.  No longer is it simply reading and writing, but it is understanding the sequence of digital stories, understanding and analyzing digital images, and the ability to create images and other works using various technology (par. 17-19).  While kids have a need to know how to work with and run this technology (video, music, ect.), it is more than just a practical tool.  As with the invention of the Kodak camera, the digital tools used on the "Just Think!" bus also are a great aid to creative expression.  Lessig gives a fantastic example of this with the class put on by Daley and Stephanie Barish.  The class allowed poor inner-city kids a chance to express themselves through digital media.  Not only did it allow for this, it did so with a topic which hit so very close to home for many of these kids: gun violence (par. 27).  Just as the Kodak camera "empowered" the general population to document their lives and the lives of their families, this class "empowered" students to understand themselves and the issues that surrounded them (par. 29).  This transfers into non-digital writing, it reveals the practice as more than a chore: 


"[They write] Because they needed to.  There was a reason for doing it.  They needed to say something... (33)"


As for expressing oneself, the events of 9/11 exploded this need on a national level. Thus, the blog became an extremely popular and important form of communication (par. 39).  These electronic logs of feelings, facts, opinions and more rose to new heights to meet the demand of a nation troubled by recent events.  As with the kids in the inner-city school, the general population of America needed to speak and discuss what had just happened and what it meant to them personally.  Both demand and creative expression meet and merge within this digital platform.  Along with these two, also comes advances or at least changes in democracy.  


Democracy originated in ancient Greece, and it began basically as a public forum.  Blogs allow us to return to that primal form of democracy;  they act essentially as a public forum where the population can participate in "democratic deliberation (par. 43)."  It gives the general public a chance to participate in debates and express their own feelings without fear of great retaliation/consequence.  "Blogs allow for public discourse without the public ever needing to gather in a single public place (par. 44)."


All of what Lessig discusses has some connection to democracy/government.  The next portion of the chapter discusses one of the most debated digital platforms in regards to legal rights: open-source/free software.  These programs/software stretch along the range of all possible softwares available, from a email systems (eg. Mozilla Thunderbird and Neomail) to an impressive amount of games, to calendars, photo editing platforms and more.  This technology allows for even greater expression and even greater learning.  People can add, change, share, tweak, delete nearly everything and anything with this type of technology.  This learning has become hindered, however, by the extreme restrictions placed upon the many different softwares available (par. 63).  This is not  the only instance that Lessig refers to legal restrictions or democratic issues.  Along with the democracy presented in the network of blogs, he makes note of the legal issues surrounding photography when it first emerged (par. 9).  Similar to the issues brought up with open-source software, photography was seen as something that "took" from another person or subject matter (par. 10).  It seems that as quickly as new technologies arise, laws arise to hinder it  (par. 67).


Regardless of laws and debates and possible changes, technology is fully integrated in our day-to-day lives now, and I can only see it becoming even more essential as time goes on.  It currently allows the greatest freedom of expression, something invaluable in our present society, and something we cannot afford to lose.

Lessig

I think you classmate pplz who already wrote about this article have gotten a pretty good summary worked out.

(I, for one, was simply excited that Lessig's article didn't include any HUMDINGERS like that one phrase from Benkler's masterpiece: "numbers of individuals several orders of magnitude larger than" or, as I like to say it: "more people than," but of course that ain't sound as smart.)

So yeah, as you ppl have already summarized, the Kodak situation let more people get creative, without worryin if taking a picture meant they were "stealing" something (becuz the law just decided it wasn't stealing). So good, widespread creativity and freedom in photography. That happened.

Ok, and then you got the "Just Think" situation, where kids are learning about multimedia and film by actually using it. Which sounds good. I like the thought process behind this, that kids are growing up in a world saturated by media (film, tv, commercials, radio, youtoob, etc) but nobody is teaching them the skills to deal with all this information--and those skills are crucial, because MEDIA works real hard to tell us what we should be thinking (mostly so we know what we should be BUYING) and if we aren't able to consciously decipher these messages and become aware of how loaded our entertainment/information is, we might not even notice the ways in which our perception of reality is shaped by such media. (we get played, son.)

It seems like (at least Lessig argues) this sort of youth program works real good, but honestly I'm at the point where ANYTHING--any kind of education about media/technology/INTERnet--is better than nothing.

Um, then Lessig says some junk about political stuff, but really he's just talking about blogging, and how it allows more ppl to talk, and so more pplz=more democracy, and less bias and whatever. Kind of standard stuff.

Then he talks about the open source stuff, which is kind of interesting (i think Will covers it pretty good, so y'all can check out what he said). Cuz basically it allows, like, extreme collaboration (and democracy or whatever), but what's cool to me is that there's no freaking out about "HEY THAT'S MY CRAP YOU CAN'T HAVE IT, IT'S MINE YOU R STEALIN MY JUNK MAN QUIT IT" which I think is kind of annoying and counterproductive a lot of the time.

BECAUSE this attitude, the obsession with "ownership," is stifling to creativity and (apparently) education. And this attitude is becoming more and more standard, even expected: "If you've created something YOU GOTTA PROTECT IT MAN."

I especially like Lessig's statement that "this tinkering with culture teaches as well as creates. It develops talents differently, and it builds a different kind of recognition. Yet the freedom to tinker with these objects is not guaranteed." It seems pretty evident that the ways in which we USE other people's "creations" (whether it be writing, film, music, etc) are more and more frequently being limited by copyright, which is basically about MONEY. Copyright, the way I understand it, is not about creativity (or anything else). (It kind of REMINDS ME OF HOW DOGS, LIKE, PEE ALL OVER THE PLACE TO MARK THEIR TERRITORY)

And when you have people who are afraid they might be infringing upon someone else's (copyrighted) junk, their creativity is limited. That's what that fear does. People are gonna be less likely to sample someone else's song if they think they're gonna get a big fat fine.

BUT I do understand where this attitude of extreme protectiveness comes from, and YEAH, I wouldn't wanna get screwed over either. If I had just written a novel, and then someone copied and pasted that novel and printed it out and sent it somewhere and it became a best-selling novel and they got to GO ON OPRAH--I would be pissed (BECAUSE I WANT THAT MONEY DUH I WANT THAT FAME GIMME THAT).

But that's the human part of me that grew up in a society where that's JUST WHAT YA DO. And all I can see (as a non-rich, non-famous, non-author) is that my creativity is being stifled by copyright. So who knows. I certainly think that a lot can be learned by messing with (I'm sorry but I HATE the word "tinker" it is so lame) "sources" provided/created by others--by taking things apart and putting them back together in some different way--and this in itself is a form of creation that is valuable (a remix is NEW).

I guess I can see both sides.

So, HERE is an interesting article about copyright and writing (I am an English major, and in all this internet-ing and technologizing, I still like those book things). I just like the idea that starting with something pre-existing and then taking it apart and examining it and integrating it with other previously created "things" (or completely "new" things) RESULTS IN SOMETHING NEW--a product that still requires creative thought. I haven't read those books the article mentions, though. So maybe they're just crap.

Lessig

The Kodak article was extremely informational. I love photography, whether I am the one taking the pictures or looking at other’s work. I just love it and reading this article explaining how it all began was fascinating. I think that Lessig wanted to give his readers the background information on where “technologies of expressions” started. Today, we are all about making things simple, easy, and quick and with the new Kodak camera and film, this idea was born. Anyone could use this equipment with or without formal training and that’s why this invention took off like it did and still is today. I was really interested in the part about the legal battles with capturing images back then. I started thinking about how different my life would be just because of a camera. I thought about how many memories probably would have been forgotten without pictures to record them.

I was actually very surprised that I had never heard of the Just Think! Program, considering my parents have both been teachers for 50+ years combined. I guess these busses just haven’t made their way to Iowa yet. This program is excellent! I worked in a middle school for a year as a teacher’s aide in a Level 1 Special Education classroom, so I have seen the problems that kids have learning when the instruction is so traditional. I loved Daley’s quote about giving these students ways of constructing meaning. This program gives them something to look forward to. Young kids today are much different in the sense that they are constantly surrounded by distractions. Teaching from a book isn’t going to cut it anymore; the students need other ways of understanding. Feeding the information in a way that is familiar to them or letting them “tinker” with it in order to improve their understanding will be much more successful. Just Think! is a perfect name for this program because it is asking students to open their minds to create new ideas.

The news is something I usually do not pay attention to, but when something big happens I am glued. After reading the section on blogging, I can see why September 11 played a large role in the beginning of blogging. Personally, I have never blogged anything, unless it was school related, but I do enjoy reading some of the things that people post. The reason people are able to be so open in a blog is because there is no one to tell them they are wrong. Blogging perfectly defines freedom of speech in all issues. Lessig’s quote, “We say what our friends want to hear, and hear very little beyond what our friends say”, really made me think. In a social, public setting that statement is 100% correct. We are afraid of not being accepted or excluded. With blogging there is no constraint, say what you want to, and read what you want to.

I really do not know much about Open Source software, and I feel like in this article, Lessig used it as a way to tie all four topics together. Each is allowing people to express themselves through creative thinking and through some kind of technology. I had no previous knowledge of FS/OSS so I made a visit to Wikipedia and it told me a few examples such as Mozilla Firefox, the internet browser, and the GNU/Linux operating system.

Lessig

I found this piece to be a much easier read then Benkler piece. I enjoyed reading about how Kodak started and the purpose of it. Several interesting points where brought up in the chapter. Kodak is very significant to society. People can capture important events of their lives. Back before Kodak and the camera people had to record events on pen and paper. A photo can have more meaning then just words. Sometimes we can get more information from a picture then words. Like they say. “a picture can be worth a thousand words”. The camera industry has grown significantly. Today, many people own digital cameras and carry them with them on a regular bases.

I believe the Just Think! Program is an amazing program. Like it mentions in the chapter. It enables kids to make films, as a way to understand and critique the filmed culture that they find all around them. Not every child learns the same way as the rest of the children in this class. Just think! Gives those children a different opportunity to learn. This is also a good way for children to learn how to use technology. Before we know it everything will be digital video. We might as well start learning how to use the new technology now.

It was mention in this chapter that Winer is optimistic about the future of journalism infected with blogs. He says, “it’s going to become an essential skill.” I find this very interesting because I interpret this as blogs and blogging will quickly become the new and improved source of news. Individuals are getting bored of the typical way of gathering news from the newspaper and television. What is so unique about blogs and blogging is people can share their viewpoints and opinions. People can post when they want to post, and people read when they want to read. I believe that is why many are turning to blogs.

Lastly, brown believes that we learn by tinkering. He believes that the best example of this kind of tinkering is from free software or open-source software. Any one has accessibility to this technology. This is a great opportunity to create a new kind of a learning process. This type of learning is very similar to the Just Think! Program for children. I believe both of these types of learning are great and can be very beneficial for individuals.

Lessig

I enjoyed reading the Kodak story. I think that the photo has been a good thing, especially when it comes to expression. Think of all of the amazing, beautiful photographs that we have today all because cameras are easily accessible to us. I do think that there should be a word of caution to this tale though. Expression in terms of film have led to things that aren't always positive. People strive to claim ownership over these images. With the ability to express ourselves comes the awkwardness of Facebook. It becomes difficult to look at images on Facebook where ladies dress in...less than appropriate (yet expressive) clothing and pose as though it's an audition for Playboy.

I believe that Just Think! is really essential to children because if they understand the media, they are more likely to be able to make a critical analysis of what's going on in the world. It will give them the courage to not only understand how things become media, but to create their own.

I never watch the news. Ever. I find it outrageously depressing, as if the writers search for the most down-hearted stories they can find. I do appreciate the Internet in more ways than one, but one of the reasons I like it so much is that anyone can post anything. This means that you get more than a few nutters, but you also get people who actually have something meaningful to say, and it allows for feedback! Unless you want to take the time to call CBS, you pretty much take your anger with you, but online, you can agree, disagree, or just share your own opinion with the author.

I enjoyed the open source piece because it boasts of a sort of "hands on" learning experience. Much like photography, and filming, you have to practice to be good. It takes time and dabbling to really get the hang of software.

I think that the point that needs to be made is that all of these things lead to progress in both positive and negative ways. You can express yourself in a positive, "appropriate" way, or you can send off a message that isn't viewed in such a positive light.

Lessig

I feel that in chapter 2 Lessig hits on his points in each of his four sections. He starts off by talking about the success that Eastman got when he found a cheaper and more efficient way for the photos to be printed off. He developed a flexible film paper that these photos could be printed on. Lessig also points on that photos can help people present their past experiences in a visual form instead of a written form.

I feel Just Think is an excellent program that definitely shows the importance of technology in today's society. The kids are not only getting to play around with cool new "gadgets" and "electronics", but they are learning at the same time! They are learning how to produce their own videos, images, and other forms of media. This program is grabbing the attention of the kids that don't like sitting in a classroom and taking notes and is bringing the most out of them. Lessig gave a great example of this when he told the story about the school in downtown L.A that was struggling with kids attending school, with the addition of the program that allowed the kids to express themselves with film turned the problem around with the kids not attending school. The students were coming to school at 6 AM and wouldn't leave until 5 PM sometimes.

Blogging is a great way to see and read peoples point of views rather than trying to remember what people say. Also, I'd like to say that I feel that many people would rather blog and read blogs rather than watch the local news at night. With blogs they can keep up to date with new stories and can get people's feedback at the same time.

Open source software is becoming more and more popular everyday. I use tons of open source materials to do numerous tasks for my website, so I feel open source is great. Even if I didn't use open source material alot I feel it is great because it gives people the chance to express themselves. For example, wordpress, it's totally free and enables people to create blogs and start discussions with their friends, family, or even students like blogger is enabling us to do with this class. One of the biggest open source contributions I feel available to this day is mozilla firefox, it enables users to search the internet with protection, it also uses a ton of add on applications. Also, another open source freeware that I really like is "Notepad++", it's a code editor that is very convenient and FREE for web programmers!

Lessig

I believe the Kodak story is about how the invention of film started free expression or made it much simpler. Pictures can be interpreted in different ways and if someone takes a picture they can say that this is what they saw or thought of when they took the picture. Kodak paved the way for free expression in terms of pictures being worth a thousand words. Just Think is a program that helps youth expresses themselves. Today there are so many ways to express yourself, however is seems that most of them take writing or typing of some kind. With Just Think it is a program that children and teens can use to show that they have good ideas. The invention of the camera started this trend and has let people who are not great with words express themselves. The story about September 11th to me is all about how fast the internet is and how people often get their information from the internet. I liked this quote “There was ABC and CBS, but there was also the Internet.” This quote seems very true to me it used to be that when you wanted to see the news you would have to wait until a certain time when the news was on TV. With the invention and the speed that people undated the internet if you see something big happen you will see it on the internet within minutes. This leads me into blogging. Blogging is one of the most important stories because I believe that it makes a lot of the other things possible With blogging people were able to express their feelings it was like the internet was a place where people could mourn and comfort people with their words without ever meeting the person during 9/11 people could blog about their feelings. Blogging is the same thing as Just Think, but they are different forms of free expression. Blogging is the typing and writing side of free expression while Kodak’s camera’s and the Just Think program are about the visual expression.
Open source to me is the freedom. Open source lets people express how they feel about certain things freely. I can create an account to ESPN.com and I can blog about basketball or football. Or I could create an account for a free book club or write reviews of what I think of different books. This freedom lets me express how I feel about certain things and the great part about it is I can’t be wrong because it is what I think about the given topic.

Lessig

Lessig makes several interesting points in this chapter about the media, internet and how things have evolved over time. In the first part of the chapter, Lessig describes the evolution of Kodak and the importance of it. Kodak made a significance impact on the society because people finally had the ability to capture their lives in a new way. Lessig also brushed on the fact that taking images meant less ambiguity in recording the lives of others. Basically, before photographs, people wrote about their lives and that was subject to interpretation by others, but with photographs, it was a clear-cut way to record events.

Just Think! Is an interesting program focused on teaching kids about media literacy and allowing them to experience how videos, images and media are produced. I thought this was an interesting contrast to the Kodak story because not only has media and technology come this far, but it has developed so much since Kodak that children need to learn how the mass media works and attempt to make media themselves in order to understand the images that they are exposed to. Before Kodak, literacy bias’ were an issue when recording an event, and now we have media literacy bias’ that have become an issue.

Next, Lessig describes the world of blogging with an interesting example of 9/11. To me, this section illustrated how the Internet is quickly becoming a new and different source for news, images and media. The mass media often puts out the same story, over and over, and people get tired of hearing about the same thing. But blogging allows individual’s to share different viewpoints to the story, different images of the event, and different information to learn.

Lastly, Lessig discusses open source software as a different way to gain information and learn about the media and technology. Instead of gathering gossip and information from media and/or Internet, open source software is something that helps people understand how the internet, computer programs, etc. work. It’s similar to Just Think! in the sense that “tinkering” is essential to gaining knowledge. I feel as though open source software is on a different level than the rest of the topics discussed in the chapter. Although I have never used or played with open source software, I have heard of many examples such as Mozilla Firefox, OpenOffice and wordpress. 

Lessig

After reading this chapter, I felt that it all could have been said in a lot less words. It was very drawn out and had a lot of repetition. I suppose that is probably the point of the chapter though, the author is just trying to make sure that people can see the connections between all of these points. One of the main themes of the reading was that people should be allowed to create their own realities.

The Kodak gave people the opportunity to be their own photographer and to develop their own idea of what creativity was. It was a great invention and an excellent idea, today cameras sell from very cheap to very expensive depending on one's "interest" level in the area. Also different is how today, people even have the chance to edit and develop their own photos being as much of this is done through computers. This advancement in photography and technology in general leads directly into the idea of Just Think! in that it brings kids the technology to create.

Just like the chapter says, the Just Think! project gives kids the chance to be creative in various ways. They may not be able to express themselves through words, but they are able to by using varying media mediums. It also enables them to become more technologically savvy and to learn how the industry works and how to best deliver a certain type of message. The best part about it is that there really is no wrong way to express oneself which can be empowering for these kids.

Next, the 9/11 amateur journalism bit can be linked to the development and the Just Think! project because these journalists were not following social norms in photography or journalism and the way the media portrayed it. I believe that some of these journalists may have made greater impacts on people than the mass media because their material was more "raw" than others. 9/11 in turn, gave blogs their "big debut" even though it was surrounded by negativity.

Lastly, open source software has emerged as a conglomeration of all technologies and sharing going on around the world. As many people reach for individualism, they are also reaching for a community of sharing ideas and perfecting things for the sake of society. I do not know a lot about open source software other than those that use it really enjoy it. I myself do not know how to read or write any sort of coding and would be too afraid to try it out for fear of messing something up. For those who are capable, more power to them! Some examples include an operating system called Linux, OpenOffice.org, Mozilla Firefox, and Gimp photo editor. Many people find that these free software alternatives are even better than programs that others pay for including Windows, Windows Office, Internet Explorer, and Adobe Photoshop, all of which are the alternatives to the above stated.

Overall, all these advances in technology have put creativity back into society and gives people the opportunity to express themselves in so many more ways than they were previously allowed to. Today, people have the chance to create more than they ever thought was imaginable.

Lessig

After reading this chapter I feel that the four groups are in a way grouped in pairs. When you stop to think about it with out the invention of the Kodak camera to instantly capture pictures events such as 9/11 could not be captured and be instilled memories. The same goes with the just think project. Without the transformation of the bus with recent technology equipment it gives freedom of expression of own individuality. I realize that these buses are in San Francisco but I feel that this is a trend that could move across the the country and especially into New York where victims of loved owns lost will be able to express their hurts and joys. Since the Just Think project has not quite caught onto the whole country the opportunity to blog has helped create the freedom. It is an outlet for those to reach out and express their beliefs on certain topics and have others out there who may feel the same way that they do. The joy of blogging though is that you don't always have to agree with others. It seems to be almost more of an excitement to either read or you yourself get involved and disagree to help make other points valid. They all in a way weave together if you are able to pull bits and pieces out of each group.

With open source I believe that it is open to all to use for free. There is not membership fee to join. You are able to hop onto Internet Explorer and go to blogger to post a blog for free. Going to Wikiepedia it says that Open Source Software is source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright are provided under a software licence that permits users to study change and improve software. This gives users such as CNN or KWWL to post information on their website that has copyright behind it and offering free software to the public.

Lessig

I feel the overall point of this article is information and expression of information is free, accessible, and democratic. Information that is free and democratic is being threatened by legal issues. The article not only explains this overall point it goes beyond it and expands the thinking of it within the four examples.

Lessig writes about Kodak as increasing people’s ability to express themselves and Just Think! enabling children to explore film as a means of understanding and exploring culture. Over the past 30 years media has dramatically come into the lives of children and young adults. Just Think! assists in the teaching of this media and further decreases the barriers to expression. This knowledge about media encourages kids to further get involved with it. The internet increases the democratic information and the media controls their information content. I think it takes discipline to remember this. When I turn on the television I assume that representation of information is fair. It is difficult to remember that information is controlled and the news does not necessarily provide the most important or correct information. Blogs assist in breaking down the barriers from the media. They open dialogue between people everywhere and engage readers. Blogs serve another purpose: they increase the life of information. I think this is important because it enhances expression by allowing people to discuss an issue as much as they want. Also, it increases empowerment of people’s opinions. Ward Churchill and his article Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens is an example of the life of information and how the life of information can have an impact. I agree with Lessig when he writes about how the different media allows us to triangulate the truth. Open source software, software whose source code is shared, further expands learning and the ability to teach and create culture. According to Wikipedia, Mozilla Firefox and GNU General Public License are examples of open source software.

This article is also about empowerment, understanding media, and creating empowerment within children. Empowerment comes from the ability to express oneself and the knowledge that is gained. This empowerment causes children to get involved with their lives and the community beyond being just a consumer in order to create their own culture as active participants in life. However, the law that is being written is threatening the empowerment, free information, and the ability to learn and create culture.

Benkler

Although Benkler was quite repetitive and it made the article kind of hard to read. I enjoyed getting his perspective on things. It opened my eyes. I also enjoyed reading classmates posts.
I was able to relate to Benkler point about how manufacturing and how we automatically see the significance of a swoosh on a shoe. Meaning Nike. "Networked information economy" is what we are turning into he is right. He was also right about how it has its ripple effects. I mean I had facebook and then my brother got it and then my parents and now my grandma. Once people see the positive in it they want some too. He was also right when saying " Individuals can reach and inform or edify millions around the world. Through facebook and even email we can chat and keep in touch with people in other countries.
*There are CEO's of huge companies who don't even have to leave their house to meet with people from China or wherever they are doing business from. They can have a video chat from their home office and only need to dress in a shirt.
I think that we are increasing the freedom to be individuals and express our thoughts.

Lessig, "Mere Copyists"

After reading Lessig's chapter describing the four mentioned sections, I think it is relatively easy to see how they relate to one another. It seems to me as if the sections of Kodak, Just Think, Blogging, and Open-source software is a timeline progression of the ways in which we use images. For example the camera and discovery of Kodak film was the very beginning in how we were able to capture an image and use it to look at the things we photographed. It was a way to express feeling and emotion. That revelation was taken to the next level when these "Just Think" busses were stocked with equipment that allowed kids to imagine and form different messages using different types of media (i.e. images, sound, and text). Just the same, Blogging after 9/11 occurred to express an opinion and share with the public a certain thought or emotion that a person was feeling at any given time. And lastly, Open-source software is a type of code apparently ( I am not very familiar with this term, is anyone else?), that again allows free expression and that ability to expand a specific medium and manipulate it in ways that allow others to view it and modify it as well.

Overall, the four sections, to me, represent a form of expression and way to send out a message for others to view. It has taken on many forms over the years and has developed in miraculous ways that allow this "tinkering" and cognitive learning to develop among those who use and are aware of the possibilities images, text, opinion, and sounds can communicate.

I can't really think of any examples of Open-source software, since the definition is unclear to me and I am not 100% positive about what it actually is. Any insight is greatly appreciated!

Benkler

Unfortunately, this post is late, but I'll do my best to bring some originality to the table in my response to chapter one of "Wealth of the Networks." Most obviously, there is definitely an overall optimistic tone to Benkler's writing concerning social development and the incline of technologies. Benkler title's his first chapter of this book as "a moment of opportunity and challenge,” and that is precisely what he makes the present feel like. He makes us feel the potential we all have with this vast technology at our hands.

He starts off by realizing the great way in which our technologies are constrained and regulated by the powers at large, and the next decade of battles over these very regulations will inevitably shape our future mediums of information as well as the information consisted within those mediums. This reminded me of one of the first conflicts I ever read about dealing with the Internet, the peer to peer network of music file sharing, Napster. The creator had started a simple music file sharing website and program that would let you trade audio files with any other user signed onto the network. This meant massive amounts of file sharing, and massive amounts of copyright laws being broken. This was the initial push that set off the rolling stone that is now ‘file sharing.’ Rock star musicians and record executives alike would love to hault this perpetual phenomenon, but it only seems to grow stronger. Within the last few years, I have even come across ‘torrenting a file,’ which is basically downloading larger sized zip files that can contain whole albums of music or even audiobooks. This allows everyone to access every creative format out there. There are files available for games, books, audiobooks, music, art galleries, basically any creative medium you can think of, all at the click of the mouse.

If this sort of creative swap keeps happening and growing, I imagine we will be in a place where creativity and innovation in all areas will not only be celebrated but it will be distributed through the masses. I am not necessarily saying that this is a good thing, because I am certainly glad that I don’t have a huge amount of crappy music that I have to thumb through in order to find bands that I like. There would have to be even sub-genres of the genres we have now for music in order to even classify a type of music. I digress, but I am just pointing out the way I see the authorities attempting to constrain the distribution of knowledge and creative thought.

The “networked information economy” Benkler refers to is the Internet and the pervasive linked network of users across the world. We each have decentralized individual action that has been brought about by the cheaper models of Internet devices we all have. I see half of the kids walking to class with their heads down looking at their phone, and I would bet that quite a few of them are accessing web on their phones. They have websites at the touch of the fingers everywhere they go. My mother would have never believed that was possible at my age. This allows us to have SO much potential for knowledge not only by looking up terms or phrases we are unfamiliar with in everyday life, but also debating points of view and creative ideas with each other. There is a video online titled “Did you know?” and it goes over the exponential expansion of the internet and the dramatic incline of information that is being put out into the world.

One assertion Benkler makes in the chapter and the one I most firmly believe in is that there will be a “rise of effective, large-scale cooperative efforts—peer production of information, knowledge, and culture (5).” This reminds me of a group my friend is in on Facebook called “Global Conscious.” It is a group with over 30,000 members that all are agnostic and feel as though we are on the horizon of a new kind of collective consciousness. I even read on their board the other day that they believe the whole “2012” end of the Mayan calendar thing is actually the mark of the new wave of consciousness. I indeed think it is extremely out there but it does show the fascinating way in which proximity shows no bounds for the creative thought and collective voice of the people. I feel as though the Internet is the only way in which we would have the potential to rise above a certain authority in order to accomplish the peoples’ goals.

Overall, I really like the chapter and thought that Benkler did a great job of reflecting the ways that our “networked information economy” has potential to shape the scope of our future concerning the sharing of creative thoughts and knowledge.

Benkler

After reading Benkler I noticed that he is an advocate of the social networked sphere and feels that it brings about many positive developments for democratic communication. I think that it is a good means of communicating collectively with one another and it is like he said becoming more readily available. It is becoming a very important part of our society to be able to communicate with one another and not even necessarily on just a local level. It is very good to be able to spread knowledge, opinions, and ideas throughout the world.
One example of a social network that I think is really good would be Youtube, because I feel that it coincides with Benkler's social networking aspects. It can be used for a variety of things sucha as sharing videos on a multitude of different topics. Although there is a lot of useless videos on it it also has its upside, in recent years musicians, artists and other people are taking advantage of it and using it to advance in their career. Also the fact that everyone in the world will have access to your video posts and be allowed to post comments and feedback makes it a very sociable and useful site. You can now even create channels and pages where people can subscribe to you and you can keep in contact or even just chat.
From my experience with Youtube, I can say it was very useful in social networking in regards to my family. A couple of years ago I went to Mexico and some of my family was not able to attend. I also have family in Texas, Florida, and California. And they wanted to know how our vacation was. So what I did was make a video and added pics to it and posted it on Youtube for them to see. I thought it was very helpful to be able to share the experience with my family, but what surprised me the most was that a lot of other people that are from San Luis Potosi, Mexico (where I'm from) living in the U.S. also viewed my video. I had a bunch of posts from my family and even from people I didn't even know.

Benkler

Benkler

Benkler discusses ways of promoting ourselves in a positive development for communication. Its focuses on making things easier by just doing it ourselves without professional help. In that way we will be more connected to our views or requirements of the different opportunities provided to us. He focuses on how easy those connections our to surveys and influences within our lives of social networking. I believe that social networking has its ups and downs, unlike Benkler thinking of social network always as a positive influence. The increase in capital constraints are shown in more of a negative to me because they have to much of an excessive control on what we do, show, or learn. I see the need for less capital because of individuals that seem to just use the network for a friend base rather than a connection to everyone you once knew. Benkler states that feedback and access to anything on a network is a positive thing, but in some occasions less is more.

I agree when things are written they can be more expressive than when they are spoken to another person because of the over all meaning that its visible rather than mental. Benkler would agree with this that in chapter one he spoke on how it gives individuals a right to voice their true opinion on certain information. I believe that social networking, like Benkler, has a positive outlook on reaching people all around the world, and to read information that is uninterrupted from another.

I would have to agree that I use social networking on a daily basis because it helps me connect to others I can not connect to every day without it. I would read the posts and distribute my opinion. I feel that when Benkler said, “How we make information, how we get it, how we speak to other, and how others speak to us are core components of the shape of freedom in any society,” (Benkler 7). That is true based on my true feelings of any opportunity on a network rather than in person. In contact you have less of an ability to argue ones true feelings. It gives one a freedom to communicate their voice.

I use face book, cell phones and email as a way to connect to others. I have not been able to use those for more of a productive way of events or fundraising. I have not felt the need to unlike others who have more of a stronger message to get across. I am more supportive member than a leader with the social networking. If there is a chance to participate in a stronger way to pass a message, as I believe in social networking to spread the word a lot faster thru the world.

Benkler

Benkler explains very much in depth how over the times between the twentieth century to now, there have been very many new practices rising from the depths, and having great success in very many ways. Such as the development of software all the way to online gaming. He also explains how it's a new informative environment where people nowadays take on a more active role then they ever did in the twentieth century with a new sense of freedom where they get to voice their own opinions through the Internet and in many other ways. With this more active role and new sense of freedom it creates a much better platform for democratic participation. I really liked how he explained the cultural and social aspects of the networked sphere through the Internet and where the Internet itself gives us new freedom where we are able to create new information and knowledge, meaning the Internet democratizes.

Throughout reading ch. 1I was thinking a lot about the other social networks that I have founded throughout the Internet and the one that definitely made me think the most about while reading this chapter was Twitter. Twitter is a way where you can chat face to face through web cam, and also through something like AIM. With twitter everybody knows everything about your everyday life depending also if you twitter everyday. Where you can blog and people can keep up with your blogs, and get to know the real you.

The social network that I use the most is Facebook, because it's a way that I can get in touch with really anyone that I need to, because as cliche as it sounds everyone has a facebook, and I feel other than email it's the easiest way to get in contact with someone. Through facebook its also very easy to set up meetings, parties, etc. and to send the specific people that you would want to invite. I know that especially over the month of May I am constantly being invited to graduation parties and also many other events. I have created a party for my sorority because this year is our 45th anniversary of being seen on the UNI campus, so myself and my partner worked together to create a group/invitation for facebook to send to those who we knew would get the invitation if it was only given through facebook. Facebook is a fast growing social network, that everyone uses to there own benefit to get to know other people and to keep up with TV shows, music, actors, etc.

Benkler: Benkler

Benkler: Benkler: "Benkler explains very much in depth how over the times between the twentieth century to now, there have been very many new practices rising ..."

BENKLER

From Travis

Benkler's article seems to champion the social networked sphere mainly for it's facilitation of the individual's increased freedom in shaping something called the "information economy." Right. And because it was hard to find a straightforward, simply worded definition of this term in Benkler's article, I turned to Wikipedia (which I'm sure would delight Benkler?) and Wikipedia told me an information economy is "an economy with an increased emphasis on informational activities and information industry.  Ok, that makes sense. So it's an economy in which we value information--like facts, right? like stuff that we know? and this economy also values the actual methods themselves that allow information to be obtained and shared? I think that's right.

And Benkler is happy because, of course, a functional and quickly growing social networked sphere lets the individual contribute more to the development of this economy, this shared environment heavily emphasizing the values of information. Benkler further goes on to explain that the individual's greater level of personal contribution to the information economy is (in itself) a "dimension of individual freedom" (which, yeah sure, we have greater freedom to share/access information via the social network) which fosters "democratic participation" (ok sure, I can see that too).  But what really interests me is his assertion that this increased participation in the development of the information economy--and our subsequent individual freedom--also creates a medium that fosters "a more critical and self reflective culture" and "achieves improvements in human development everywhere" (p. 4)

That sounds like a pretty optimistic view to me.

Sure, I can certainly see instances in which we feel greater freedom because of the increased opportunities presented to us in the form of information consumption and sharing. Any time I disagree with someone and eloquently express myself in the powerful literary medium of the "youtube comment," I exercise my freedom to contribute to the information environment, just as in more scholarly settings I reap the benefits of the information economy when I am able to perform all of some type of research (for an essay maybe) in one physical location. From my computer.

So maybe this is what's so great about the internet/"social network sphere," and our constant consumption of and contribution to the information environment creates a more "critical and self reflective culture." Maybe because it is so easy for us to gain information about ANY SUBJECT WE WANT, we are thinking more critically, considering "things" on a deeper level, applying our gathering of information to some kind of active output in the "real world." Maybe because it is POSSIBLE for me to research all political candidates in an upcoming election for local officials I WILL ACTUALLY DO IT, and then I will be informed and be a real good voter and elect someone real good who is gonna do a real good job.

Except I won't do that. I'm not gonna look up those people. It's boring. (no offense if anyone is into any of that kind of stuff. because, yeah, it's totally important. I just don't care.)

And this is why I think Benkler's most important statement comes when he explains:

"There is no guarantee that networked information technology will lead to the improvements in innovation, freedom, and justice that I suggest are possible. That is a choice we face as a society." p 18

OMG that's like the truest thing evr. Because YEAH technology/information networks are AWESOME and they provide is with, like, a bajillion potential opportunities to use all that power for REAL GOOD STUFF (like doctors can share all their doctor-y stuff and cure so much more crap, and politicians can do all their politiciany things and make everyone super educated), but this is all just POTENTIAL. The medium itself doesn't guarantee these positive, altruistic usages. It's just as easy to use all that information, all this potential, for things that help nobody, and contribute nothing (apparently) significant.  

FOR EXAMPLE today I needed to write this blog thing, and so I started to write and look up some information and then OH HEY MICHAEL CERA THAT GUY IS LIKE SO FUNNY oh yeah that is really sad how ppl hate on him :( YEAH THEY SHOULDN’T DO THAT I GUESS THAT‘S TRUE--huh? Canadian superhero?--oh, ok but y’know, actually I din’t rlly like that Scott Pilgrim thing at all, I WONDER whyyyyyy, oh what? Bechdel test? OMG I CANT BELIEVE THERE ISNT A SINGLE SCENE IN BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT WHERE TWO FEMALE CHARACTERS TALK TO EACH OTHER ABOUT SOMETHING NOT RELATING TO A MALE CHARACTER WHOA THAT DOESN’T SEEM RIGHT.

And for some reason (as interesting this whole excursion was for me, personally) I’m not sure how great or vital these specific sorts of benefits are.

And yeah, the social networked sphere can totally be employed as an element of individual freedom, fostering critical self-reflection, and achieving improvements in human development. And it definitely seems to do this, at least some of the time (maybe a lot of the time, I really don't know). But I think it is also possible--both on a personal level and on a greater scale--to squander that potential, combining all of our "informations" and coming up with nothing but noise. Or just nothing.

Travis Landhuis

(also, p.s.: I don't think that any one else's personal positive experience within the social network--especially social/community based--is invalidated by my skepticism about the validity of our ACTUAL usage of the social networked sphere versus the IDEAL usage. some deeply personal experiences can be born out of the context of a shared sense of "community" in any form, and these can be completely genuine and important for certain individuals based on their particular needs. my blog entry ignores the context of community and its relationship to the information economy (mostly because i have so many concerns with the very definition of community in its many fascinating permutations within the "online" information environment)).

Benkler

As a whole, reading this article was very difficult, but I could easily tell that most of what Benkler was saying about the social network sphere was positive. He gave several examples of why he believes that people become more in control of their lives. He or she is able to access or comment on anything they wish to. There is such a wide variety to choose from so this allows people to think creatively. However, sometimes too much creativity will lead someone to the wrong sites. In a way, it can actually give people the confidence to speak their mind in a way that is not verbally executed, but instead through words. I feel like people are much more expressive with what they are trying to say if it through written words and not spoken. Benkler also states that with the social network sphere, people are able to give their own feedback on an issue so that it is visible to others, and in some cases to make their voice be heard without having to go through a long, drug-out process.

I think that this class is an example of the social network sphere. We are contributing our thoughts and ideas to a specific site that is visible to the others in our class and we are expecting feedback. Obviously this is only a tiny part of the social network spectrum, but Benkler said that the smaller sites are still part of the larger cluster of sites related to its functions. Youtube, for example is a much larger social network that has many, many contributors. It gives people the option to expressive themselves through video, and get reactions from their viewers whether it is positive or negative.

I also had a similar experience as EmWilker. A friend of mine accidentally overdosed back in March. A few of his closest friends and mother set up a separate page on Facebook for his friends and family to post stories, pictures, messages to Mitch, or just to say whatever was on your mind. I know that a lot of people were put at ease after reading what was on this page. It was inspiring to everyone because of who this person was. People are still posting comments on this page because it is almost like we are still communicating with him. Last year at Hawkeye I took an American Government class and there were a few times when discussion posts would get a little heated. I think the fact that none of us knew who each other were helped a lot. People were definitely not hesitant to write what they were feeling if they didn’t agree with someone else’s post. When people do disagree, I think it is great that social networking allows us to speak out and at least attempt to be heard.