Chasing Passion or Pay?

It’s easy to find oneself swept up in the notion that working in new media will be somewhat of a career holy grail; bohemian, self-directed and intrinsically creative. The reality of course is that very few of us will be lucky enough to carve out a career on our own terms. Even fewer will make good money doing so.

Do we really have to choose one of the other?

Johann Piber

Dreamstime.com

I really valued the insights of Gill’s (2007) research which let me inside the minds of the people who have been there and done that in the world of new media. It is true, the realities pointed out, poor job security, low average pay and prevalent inequalities are food for thought. The flipside however, the overwhelming enthusiasm expressed by the Gill’s interviewees for their field reminded me of the passion that I was chasing when I first enrolled in my degree.

New Media Fridays 9am is a collection of the thoughts and ideas of my fellow students. 24 students of new media, with different skills and different goals, that will find ourselves on different paths within our industry. Gill’s research would suggest that many of us will struggle to build a sustainable career out of our passions, but in the words of the ever wise Oprah (2003):

“One of life’s greatest risks, is never daring to risk.”

I personally feel it’s worth the risk.

Reference List

New Media Fridays 9am. Accessed May 2, 2011. http://fridays9am.blogspot.com/2011/03/welcome.html.

Gill, Rosalind. 2007. "Technobohemians or the new Cybertariat? New media work in Amsterdam a decade after the web." Amsterdam: Institute of Networked Cultures: 1-47.

Winfrey, Oprah. 2003. O Magazine. September Issue.

Just Google It

Just Google It

via TechCrunch

“Just Google it” – three words that have become inseparable from our online information culture, and three words that are increasingly becoming the go-to solution for those of us that are too lazy, broke, cynical or just plain embarrassed to go and see a real doctor. The growing ideology surrounding health, Lewis (2006) explains, is one of self management and personal responsibility. New media empowers us to take charge of our own health, rather than just accepting the doctor’s verdict. Now, while I believe the wealth of experience and advice online is invaluable when it comes to the self-diagnosis and management of basic medical queries, I would argue that health is truly the one area where Google doesn’t have all the answers.

There are some things you should just see a doctor for

Image by Natalie Dee

Online information should be considered as part of a broader approach to health management; an approach that sees the online as a starting point for research and a reference point for discussion with a real doctor. My mother was last year misdiagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. A misdiagnosis made by a highly specialised Neurologist. For me this raises one very significant question. If someone with such expertise can make such a dramatic error, what sort of misinformation can be fed out of an anonymous online profile. There are some instances when “just Google it” really isn’t enough.

References

Lewis, Tania. 2006. Seeking health information on the internet: lifestyle choice or bad attack of cyberchondria? Media, Culture & Society 28 (4): 521-539.

Narrating Me - Both of Me

In my New Media lecture last Friday, I was presented with the following quote:

“Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity”
Mark Zuckerberg, cited in Kirkpatrick (2010)

I fundamentally disagree with Zuckerberg on this point.

My own online presence as it has expanded has grown, naturally, into two distinct online identities: the flippant, unguarded self I reveal to my already known contacts on Facebook, and the more carefully narrated, “worldy” and heavily stylised self I share with the unknown audiences of Twitter and the blogosphere.

Both are cultivated from the essence of my identity, but they present a different version, for a different purpose, and in the hope of resonating with a different audience.

Inconsistent? Yes. But lacking integrity? Definitely not.

Dueze (2011) says that “the potential power of people to shape their lives and identities can be found in the assumption that people produce themselves in media.” I agree with this assumption, and believe the online universe affords people the opportunity to explore who they are, who they want to be, and to narrate themselves as the person or persons they would like to be if only there was an edit button in the “real world”.

While Zuckerberg might consider multiple online identities as a show of weakness, I see it as a fantastic opportunity for self-realisation.

References

Dueze, Mark. 2011. Media Life. Media, Culture & Society 33(137).

Kirkpatrick, David. 2010. The Facebook Effect: the Inside Story of the Company that is Connecting the World. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Social Media and the Queensland Floods

The recent Queensland Floods, devastating though they were, are a strong case study in the political power of social media to encourage large scale dialogue and activism among citizens.

Shirky (2011) explains that social media allows “greater access to information, more opportunities to engage in public speech, and an enhanced ability to undertake collective action”.

Social media was used comprehensively by both Government and citizens alike during the flood. We saw the initial dissemination of information through many channels: The Queensland Police Service Facebook and Twitter pages, YouTube videos, and personal anecdotes shared through Facebook. This information was added to and shared continuously throughout the floods, resulting in an overwhelming outpouring of support from around the globe.  Most impressively was the way in which social media was used to enable the coordination and mobilization of thousands of local volunteers in to assist in the prevention and clean up of flood damage.

Hundreds of volunteers begin cleaning up Brisbane

Jeff Camden

Courier Mail Galleries: Brisbane flood clean up pictures

Social media was used to overwhelmingly positive effect during the floods and for myself the experience will never stop serving as a remind of the political power that social media, used well, can hold.

References

Camden, Jeff. 2011. "Hundreds of volunteers begin cleaning up on Bayswater St, Rosalie". Image. Accessed March 27, 2011. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/gallery-e6frer9f-1225987588708?page=104.

Shirky, Clay. 2011. The Political Power of Social Media. Foreign Affairs 90(1), pp. 28-41.

Identity in the Age of Musical Voyeurism

Using music to shape identity and connect with others is not a new concept, but the popularity of social networking platforms like Ping, Last.fm and the now banned Pandora, have allowed us to undertake this self defining process in a much more public sphere. We’ve entered what Levy (2006) describes as the age of musical voyeurism.

This week’s reading by Levy (2006) explored the effect of the “iPod era” on music as a form of identity creation and cultural capital. Important to this reading was the idea that in the same way that we define ourselves through music, new media has allowed our choices to be judged by others. Levy (2006) highlights the elitism surrounding music, explaining that music affects status and reputation; a music library can either “distinguish one as a discerning individual” or as a musical parasite with no personal taste.

These notions of musical elitism and the social implications of making your musical identity public are highlighted well by the Man in the Box Show.



It’s no surprise that the potential for criticism of our tastes can lead to a heightened self consciousness online (Pearson, 2009). But it’s important to remember that new media offers a great opportunity to explore, discover and share music. In an arena as large as the online world, there’ll always be someone who appreciates your tastes.

References

Levy, Steven. 2006. The perfect thing: how the ipod shuffles commerce, culture and coolness, New    York: Simon & Schuster, pp. 21-44.

Man in the Box Show. 2008. “Man in the Box: Music snob.” YouTube video posted July 15. Accessed March 20, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMK3hRsTAs8.

Pearson, Erika. 2009. “All the World Wide Web’s a stage: The performance of identity in online social networks.” First Monday 14 (3-2). Accessed March 20, 2011 via Course Materials Database.

Contructing Our Online "Self"

Week Two in KCB206 centred on how and why we construct our identity online. Social networking sites offer a platform by which we can select, contrive and omit  signals, which come together to form our online identity.

Pearson (2009) uses the analogy of actors playing a role. She says that online the performer is “disembodied and electronically re-embodied through signs they choose to represent themselves”. Donath and Boyd (2004) talk about signalling theory, explaining that each signal we select represents an underlying quality. What differs between the two approaches is that Pearson (2009) suggests our online identity has no boundaries, while Donath and Boyd say the public nature of our online connections creates accountability for our behaviour and encourages an “honest self presentation”.

I believe that the reality falls in the middle ground of these two approaches. Though I don’t construct a false identity, I do censor some aspects, while highlighting other aspects of my identity that I consider the most positive. For example, my Facebook statuses reveal my sense of humour, my “check-ins” reveal what type of social scene I most relate to, and anything that I sense might be damaging to my constructed identity I can delete.  From my own experience of social networking, I see the process of online identity construction more as a personal public relations tool rather than a performance.

Image from Littlejohncomics.com

Reference List

Pearson, Erika. 2009. “All the World Wide Web’s a stage: The performance of identity in online social networks.” First Monday 14(3-2). Accessed March 11, 2010 via Course Materials Database.

Donath, J and Boyd, D. 2004. “Public Displays of Connection.” BT Technology Journal 22(4): 71-82. Accessed March 11, 2010 via Course Materials Database.

http://littlejohncomics.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html. Accessed March 13, 2010.