Caught in the Convergence Pull

The Cultural Paradox of the Global Village discusses internet immersion and the ability of the medium to surround and pull us in from all directions. Internet has become a culture today and even if we don’t have it, we are surrounded and affected by it. It also discusses the created identity we have in cyberspace due to the bits and pieces of our selves we share with companies, etc. It stresses the importance of realizing that Internet is a “digitization” of who we are and there are no guarantees that this identity is one that we want. In turn, we can create any identity we want in cyberspace and unlike face to face connections, people don’t know if the cyber person is the real one.

The points that stood out in Cultural Paradox of Global Village are:

• “The nature of medium is known by its effect on us and on society” this includes both seen and unseen (children acting violent from interacting with violent games, etc.).


• TV comes to us unlike Internet which drawls us to it and immerses us in its world (our concentration experience becomes immersed into the Internet world).
  Internet is the here and now and creates the ability for “simultaneous relationships” – we can not, not participate.


• Cyberspace becomes an extension of our identities, “digiSelf”
  Convergence Culture discusses “convergence” as an overall process to describe how individuals, society, business, etc. all adapt and discover utilization for the new media and how connection is weaved from people to mediums and from mediums to mediums and back again.

For me the points that stood out in Convergence culture are:

• Convergence is both “a top-down corporate-driven process and a bottom-up consumer-driven process” (p.18).


• “Convergence culture represents a shift in the ways we think about our relations to media” – this may very well shape how we represent ourselves in all social and personal processes.


• Convergence is the process we utilize to transform and transition ourselves to the new media operation and processes.
  

Challenge with this weeks reading:

The challenge for me with this weeks readings was taking the time to see how a connection is weaved between self, Internet and all mediums. It very much reminds me of a spider-web, the internet being the spider, the web the connections to all other mediums and I the victim caught up in it all. For me I was just aware of perhaps one small part of the web. The readings have started my thought process on just how much in my life and others may be influenced by the Internet.
Suggested Questions:

1. To what extent should we make ourselves aware of the webbed connection between life cultures (political, social, etc.) and us turning on the computer?


2. How does convergence influence business and within this concept, is there a danger of dealing with artificial DigiSelfs representing business instead of the real deal and vice a versa?
   

Relating to the Real World:

Considering the readings and the idea that convergence is both “a top-down corporate-driven process and a bottom-up consumer-driven process” (p.18). I just had to reference the Superbowl and the massive amounts of corporate money spent to reach out to consumers and draw us into the world of commercialism and buying product. These commercials will be the buzz long after the Superbowl and they’ve actually become a family past time to pick the best (at least in our house), they are blogged about, reshow via computer, etc. a total process of convergence and example of top-down corporate bottom-up consumer ideology.

NBC sells out Super Bowl ads for record $206M

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090131/D962BAF00.html

Homework Questions for Introduction, Convergence Culture

1. What is convergence? Why does the author dismiss the understanding of convergence as a technological process? How does the technological process make convergence possible on the other hand? Please use some examples in your life to illustrate the convergence process.

The flow of content across multiple media platforms; because he feels it includes industrial, cultural and social entities and by providing a distribution tool. Please see my first blog for my hands-on example of the convergence experience.

2. Why does the author claim that convergence is “an old concept taking on new meanings” on page 6? Is the new media going to replace the old media? How does the concept of convergence play out in the relationship between the new and old media?

Because old and new mediums mix and work together, newspapers now provide on-line editions for quick and easy access and envir0onmental friendly choices; change in production and consumption of medium.

3. Please use some examples to discuss how participatory culture helps drive the process of convergence.

While doing my homework, I’m typing, blogging, researching, answering my telephone, having the TV playing and having conversation with family members. We participate in every aspect of our lives. As individuals we are constantly communicating and utilizing all types of media to do it. Toy manufactures make toys based on movies, games are created and sold or accessed on the internet for the same movie, blogs are created to discuss the movies, etc.

4. On page 15, the author cites the report from Cheskin Research, “…What we are now seeing is the hardware diverging while the content converges.” Please use the media ownership concentration happening in today’s society to discuss how the media conglomerates take advantage of convergence.

Movies are not just on the big screen anymore, they are accessed and marketed through TV, computers, newspapers, etc. I in turn after being exposed comment on, start a blog, write a fan fiction, etc. and become part of the web. They take advantage of reaching the largest width possible of geographic region to gain the greatest number of consumers they can to their product.

5. Convergence also takes place in our every-day life besides in the media industry. We are in the age of convergence culture. How do we define convergence culture?

For me it’s being connected at any time to anything; from e-mail to my cell phone.

Questions for Cultural Paradox article

1. What is the “intriguing paradox” the author refers to?

The digitalization of us, the consumer; it is becoming so entwined with our lives.

2. According to this article, how is the internet often compared to TV, and how are they different?

The material looks like TV Internet movies, news, shows, etc., however they differ because the Internet is global and connects us all with shared information. TV is individual and individualized at the moment and does not allow us to share information while it’s being shared with us.

3. Discuss what the author means by television’s centripetal force and the Internet’s centrifugal force?

TV brings society event toward us as viewer, the Internet takes us into the world of cyberspace - we go out there.

4. What does the author mean by DigiSelf, and how is it related to the Greek Narcissus myth identified by McLuhan?

The extension of our identity into cyberspace, databases, and my space type pages, etc. This identity can be totally different then our physical identity. We can create our own identity in cyberspace. It relates to the consequences of our extension of self into other mediums above our physical selves and it can disrupt lives.

5. Comment on the following: “Like acoustic space we cannot shut out the effects of the Internet on our culture and society even if we choose not to use it.”

It is all around us, everywhere we go, even if we don’t personally own it; we can’t not be exposed to and influenced by it.