Category: Participatory Culture

Not a Gadget- Nor a Crystal Ball of Data

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People are more important than data.

I just finished Who Owns the Future by Jaron Lanier and although economics is in no way my area of expertise- he makes interesting points about the future of economics and society in the Information Age. His previous book You Are Not a Gadget provided insight into digital culture and this new book is a warning about the increasing risk of losing the backbone of modern civilization- the middle class. The following notes come from Lanier’s perspective and are worth contemplating.

who_owns_the_future

Who Owns the Future by Jaron Lanier and although economics is in no way my area of expertise- he makes interesting points about the future of economics and society in the Information Age. His previous book You Are Not a Gadget provided insight into digital culture and this new book is a warning about the increasing risk of losing the backbone of modern civilization- the middle class. The following notes come from Lanier’s perspective and are worth contemplating.

We have this crazy illusion that data is sort of magic – that “data came from the heavens instead of from people.” Inanimate data holds no promises for the future — only people hold promise. Our fascination with technological gadgetry (also a theme in his prior writing) puts emphasis on the data instead of the people who create it.

A highlight of Who Owns the Future was an excellent analogy about current TOS (terms of service) contracts and how we completely ignore them in the numerous apps and sites we download and take part in daily. Most are written in complex jargon that would take hours to analyze. Lanier presents the terms of service of a lemonade stand (page 80) in a child’s front yard! In the lengthy legalese statements to the parents of the lemonade stand entrepreneurs, he include such items as:

“A percentage of up to 30% of revenues will be kept by StreetBook.

Limited free access to StreetBook’s curb in front of your house is available in exchange for advertising on your body and property. The signage of your lemonade stand, the paper cups, and the clothing worn by your children must include advertising chosen soley by StreetBook.

If you choose to seek limited free access to use of the curb in front of your house, you must make available to StreetBook a current inventory of items in your house, and allow StreetBook to monitor movement and communications of individuals within your house.”

That is a small fraction of the contents of the terms of service for the lemonade stand. His point is that we simply cannot keep up with the fine print on these TOS agreements, so must of us simply click “agree” and get on with it.

Lanier calls Google, Facebook, and other online giant information providers “siren servers”. Lanier believes the biggest threat to our economic future is big data networks (siren servers) getting all online profits rather than individuals who create or program digital content. “One giant siren server (Facebook) should not own an individual’s online identity (p. 250).” He proposes a revolutionary payment system on the Internet, which includes possibly linking monetary payment for creative skills and service into the data transfer.

His digital “golden rule” could be stated– Pay others the way you would like to be paid.

Today, it is easy to access and copy information for use in multiple formats. Why not copy when it is convenient? “If you copy a file, you don’t know where it came from, if it’s been altered, or what other information might be needed for it to make sense (p.221).” Meaning depends on context and the copy/paste/share mentally of digital participatory culture erodes context.

With the vast information landscape we navigate daily, Lanier proposes another idea called “decision reduction services” (p. 270). That reminds me of librarianship! The acquisition of high quality resources that have been evaluated for specific criteria sounds rather familiar. I suppose I am a “decision reduction service provider” for my patron community. (Lanier highly values libraries and librarians. I heard him praise them at the American Library Association convention last summer in Chicago).

For the past decade, I have been hearing the notion that information should be free. Lanier says that the “lure of free” beckons (e.g. MOOCs- massive open online courses) and the future of education could be grim if seduced by siren servers. As I currently research information literacy needs in MOOCs, his perspective illustrates some of the problems higher education is facing. He answered a question at the ALA convention with a humorous exclamation that “MOOCs are moronic!”

Online “creepiness” due to being spied on or having personal data collected is nothing new but Lanier illustrates the idea that we may not share the same “augmented reality” in the near future. Each of us will live in a personalized world and that loss of shared experience might be “creepy” and isolating (p. 315).

His prediction of The Future of the Book. (p. 356) was certainly full of insightful points. I can agree with Lanier’s hypothesis that books will merge with apps, video games, virtual worlds. He says, “Many readers will read what is put in front of their eyes by crowdsourcing algorithms, and often will not be aware of the identity of the author or the boundary between one book and another. This is similar to Barlow and Leston’s warning about the Internet becoming a book of sand.

Lanier points out that “There will be much more information available in some semblance of book form than ever before, but overall a lower quality of standard”. I heard Roy Tennant make that same prediction back in 2008 at the Texas Library Association Conference when he said that today “convenience trumps quality”.

My personal take away from Who Owns the Future is that embedding intellectual property identification and a small monetary token of appreciation into data could solve both information literacy issues and help strengthen a shaky economic future for civilization. Information is actually never free (even though many want it to be)- just as life is never free. Open access to information and projects that promote free information and books benefit society but certainly have costs involved somewhere. Acquisition and organization of high quality resources takes time and effort, which are as valuable as dollars and cents. Respect for people in both the physical and digital world is the bottom line. You really are not a gadget and you are not made of code.

Lanier, J. (2013). Who Owns the Future?. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Privacy Died and Nobody Mourned

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We are moving toward a “hypervisable age” where individual privacy is a relic.  Sean Parker (in an argument about the death of privacy) said, “Today’s creepy is tomorrow’s necessity”. Parker, one of the founders of Facebook, is certainly no stranger to the hypervisable trend of social media.

Keen (on page 57 in #digitalvertigo) says, “…the death of privacy is no different, in principle, from the retirement of the horse and cart or the disappearance of gaslights from city streets”.

tombstone

This is my second post about #digitalvertigo (first post is linked here) and I, for one, am mourning the death of privacy.  Is anyone else? Couldn’t we meet and have some sort of memorial? Perhaps we could light candles and reminisce about the days that shall be no more.

Keen, A. (2012). #digitalvertigo: How Today’s Online Social Revolution is Dividing, Diminishing, and Disorienting Us. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Think Before You Speak or get #digitalvertigo

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My mom used to remind all of her kids (and grandkids) that “everything you think does not need to come out of your mouth”.  You can keep some ideas and words to yourself.  If you don’t think first, you may regret it later.

A new way to phrase this idea might be, “Think before you post”.  As social media sites urge everyone to share life in digital formats, many rush to the opportunity.  The idea, like most ideas, is not new.  Napoleon Hill was one of the first to say “Think twice before you speak” and also one of the first “motivational self-help” proponents of the modern personal success genre.

Here’s another book on the topic that cautions us (think Sherry Turkle and Nicholas Carr) about the pleasures of sharing our lives online.
Title:  #digitalvertigo: How Today’s Online Social Revolution is Dividing, Dimishing, and Disorienting Us Author:  Andrew Keen

digitalvertigosmall

I like the clever use of a hashtag in the title.            

Notice all the post-it notes sticking out the side of my copy?  On a side note, I really like physical books because I can put those tangible notes inside!  Sure, I can highlight on an ebook, but going back to find my notes is not as “obvious” to me and I end up forgetting I even have an electronic copy.  (More on that another day.)

Many ideas for blog posts can be seen in the numerous post-its.  But I will only share one because I have learned that the chance of anyone reading a long blog post is nil.

Participation in social media has changed the way we live, think,  and interact.  Jonas Lehrer states, “While the Web has enabled new forms of collective action, it has also enabled new kinds of collective stupidity”.  Lehrer is a contributor to Wired magazine.  He cautions that we are moving from “the smart group” to “the dumb herd” and reminds us that real insight means “thinking for oneself” (Keen, page 51).

Following the crowd has always been dangerous but #digitalvertigo gives some real world examples about how the phrase “think before you speak” is taking on new meaning in digital culture.  We all have digital voices now.  We all can speak and can be heard.  The keyword that we mustn’t forget is…..THINK.    

#clmooc and my summer learning begins

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A colleague from online virtual communities encouraged me to participate in #clmooc. Learning at the speed of light! That’s been my mantra for the past few years and I realize that we have to make choices in where and how we learn because the options are increasing exponentially.  Our students will have an incredible number of learning opportunities to choose from in participatory digital culture.  So I begin my summer of learning by asking a few questions of myself.

Who will I learn from?

It can be serendipitous when we collide in online spaces. I often run into the same individuals in networked spaces (Youtube, Vimeo, twitter, virtual worlds, or others) because of shared interests. An example: I ran into Mal Burns, who lives in the UK, several times in virtual spaces, realized he followed me on youtube, and learned how to use scoop-it through his example.  We don’t live on the same continent but kept bumping into each other!  I believe that is an example of connected learning, as I have never met Mal Burns in the physical world. Identifying our personal interests is a good starting point.

How will I connect and collaborate?

Zoe (the colleague I mentioned earlier) suggested I meet with others in the virtual world of Second Life at the Community Virtual Library. As a digital archivist and museum curator in Hawaii, Zoe (Monika Talaroc) specializes in physical librarianship but also in virtual librarianship. Her goal for the #clmooc is to create a virtual archive of the Berlin Project (a role play simulation). I met another colleague today, Cynthia Davidson, who teaches writing at a university and shares similar goals for creating immersive learning environments through collaboration this summer.  Finding others and choosing collaborative tools is critical to learning in our networked global world.

Discussing the #clmooc
Discussing the #clmooc

What will I learn?

I really want to learn more about augmented reality. Perhaps I can use #clmooc to find a network that can teach me best educational uses.  I also want to share my knowledge and skills of virtual world learning with others.

What will I make?

As I brainstorm what I might make this summer, I want to branch out beyond my comfort zone. My initial ideas are: creating virtual books at the UW Island of Seasons (a metaphor of learning through the life cycle), working with Zoe to create a virtual exhibit, and collaborating with fellow #clmoocers as I peruse spaces I may not yet have encountered.

Meeting colleagues virtually

Summer time and the learning is easy!





4 Tips for Building Your PLN (from Howard Rheingold)

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Online life has merged with physical life for most of us, according to sources like the PEW Internet Report. Learning how to avoid drowning in the information flood has been the focus of my blog for over six years. Currently, I am almost finished reading Howard Rheingold’s book  Net Smart: How to Thrive Online which may be considered old news with a copyright date of way back in 2012. (We seem to think anything written last week is out of date.) The book is powerfully packed with insight but written in a friendly inviting tone.

Rheingold illustrates the “networking” literacy skills every single of us must acquire and includes tips for building a personal learning network.

4 Tips for Building Your Personal Learning Network

1. Know the Territory When you first enter an online community (twitter, Ning, Second Life, wiki, etc), take it slow and get a feel for the way members interact.

2. Assume Goodwill Ask friendly questions if you encounter negativity and assume misinterpretations may arise due to lack of social cues in new media formats.

3. Jump in where you can add value Participatory culture (example: Wikipedia) brings advantages to a community through collaboration. No single individual can learn or do everything, but collectively we accomplish a great deal. If each person contributes, even in a small way, the outcome can be significant.

4. Reciprocate A willingness to help others builds trust, respect, and reputation. Rheingold brings a positive, knowledgeable, authentic perspective on how to thrive in our changing online world.    

Rheingold, Howard. Net Smart: How to Thrive Online. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2012.