[Networked Publics] [by: Kazys Varnelis]

by Kazys Varnelis

Digital media and network technologies are now part of everyday life. The Internet has become the backbone of communication, commerce, and media; the ubiquitous mobile phone connects us with others as it removes us from any stable sense of location. Networked Publics examines the ways that the social and cultural shifts created by these technologies have transformed our relationships to (and definitions of) place, culture, politics, and infrastructure. Four chapters--each by an interdisciplinary team of scholars using collaborative software--provide a synoptic overview along with illustrative case studies. The chapter on place describes how digital networks enable us to be present in physical and networked places simultaneously (on the phone while on the road; on the Web while at a café)--often at the expense of non-digital commitments. The chapter on culture explores the growth of amateur-produced and -remixed content online and the impact of these practices on the music, anime, advertising, and news industries. The chapter on politics examines the new networked modes of bottom-up political expression and mobilization, and the difficulty in channeling online political discourse into productive political deliberation. And finally, the chapter on infrastructure notes the tension between openness and control in the flow of information, as seen in the current controversy over net neutrality. An introduction by anthropologist Mizuko Ito and a conclusion by architecture theorist Kazys Varnelis frame the chapters, giving overviews of the radical nature of these transformations. Online content including a research blog and lecture videos may be found at Contributors: Walter Baer, François Bar, Anne Friedberg, Shahram Ghandeharizadeh, Mizuko Ito, Mark E. Kann, Merlyna Lim, Fernando Ordonez, Todd Richmond, Adrienne Russell, Marc Tuters, Kazys Varnelis.

Genres: Internet

Hardcover

First published September 19, 2008

Reviews

[Zachary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was honestly kind of a confusing book. The result of a year-long research initiative with a number of authors and thinkers, I can understand how some of the findings may have been visionary at the time of publication but am put off of some of that conclusion by the resoundingly uneven tone of the project as a whole. The authors can never decide if they should be laudatory or condemnatory towards new media and networks, and so the essays just read like a big shrug about it all that feels half-baked and far from argumentative. In effect, it feels like these are long research reports that kind of end before we get to anything of substance. Luckily it's a quick read. Worth noting, though, is that the book's design/form factor are quite beautiful, so it has that going for it, anyways.

[Alexander Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean, I can't say I didn't know better. Anything based upon arguing in the actual of "publics" via Habermas is going to be gravely mistaken about what they're trying to show is true about networks.

There were a couple good sections here though. Particularly Chapter 2 and parts of 3 were interesting as ways to think about how the internet has been evolving.

That said, this book is largely pretty outdated, and the parts that aren't are covered elsewhere better.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came upon this book after reading the concluding essay on a blog a while back. At the time, the essay felt out of context, but full of intriguing ideas, so I tracked back to the author's blog, and found this book at the university library.

The main premise is that cultural production and exchange has shifted beyond post-modern forms into a new mode, anticipated by post-modernism, but characterized by the concept of the network. This idea stems from the new modes of interaction offered by the internet.

These new modes include YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Mobile Phones, and Flickr, to name a few. In short, this book was a study of the technologies and cultural trends of Web 2.0, and how they are shaping the way that the public receives and exchanges information. Net neurality was also discussed as one of the primary conditions of this creative cultural production, and the forces of telecom and cable companies to strap the net even further onto capitalist modes of production/exploitation.

Despite its breadth and scope, at times the analysis felt uncritical, declaratory, overly optimistic, largely untempered in exuberance for the logic of the network (and when this was tempered, it was almost in contradiction). This net enthusiasm was reminiscent of the proponents of the cyberpunk genre of the early 90s. This vision had us all surfing the web in immersive VR, etc, etc. I was looking for the work to resemble more of the final concluding essay, dense with theoretic connections, yet more coherently assembled.

Ultimately, I believe the take home message of the work is that we live in a world with these tools that potentially connect or alienate. Given this choice, we can allow culture to erode back toward the one-to-many model, or we can struggle for net neutrality, accessible broadband, work to develop civilized communities online that reach out to our local communities offline. I think that this final point is one of the major ideas of our time understated (or not explicitly stated) in this book. These technologies should not be considered an end in themselves, whereby our culture dissolves into the net. They should also be viewed as a means to augment and improve the health and connectivity of our local, offline communities.

[Sonia Lavadinho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cette collection hétéroclite d'articles écrits par divers spécialistes investit des points de vue très différents pour aborder la question de l'espace public selon le prisme des mutations induites par les usages des nouveaux réseaux. Un livre qui met le doigt sur les transformations physiques qui résultent de l'interaction croissante avec nos mondes dématérialisés.

[Chris Hamby · Rating 3 out of 5]

short but interesting. Some essays feel more relevant than others, though it's amazing how quickly these type of essays age.