"The tale was quickly told, but it awakened various trains of reflection."

So the time has come. The semester has come to an end and we reach the point where we think back and evaluate everything we've learned and progressed in over the course of just a short four months or so. Below is my personal reflection on my involvement and experience in Digital Culture:

1. Self-directed Learning / Personal Blog Posts
   In the very beginning of the semester, my main focus in digital culture was on how it can be used to improve human relations. I read books such as The Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution Will Change Our Lives (see my review on Goodreads) as well as some of Community Without Community in Digital Culture by Charlie Gere, and Bloggerati, Twitterati by Mary Cross. However, when we came to the point of deciding on a personal project that we'd like to pursue for the semester, I became interested in a website that I stumbled upon called http://www.informationdiet.com/ and the topic of moderation and balance in media consumption as well as the concept of "Create, Consume, and Connect" and actively giving meaningful contribution to digital culture, rather than just passively consuming. In conjunction with the website, there is also a book entitled The Information Diet: a Case for Conscious Consumption. (See also my blog posts on this subject: Digital Diet and Nothing New Under the Sun). Later on, however, I merged into the Monster Mashup (or remix/copyright) group, and began a new vein of self-directed learning there. I began to research on how remix can be used to further education, particularly in the field of classical literature. In the process I found some great sources such as this blog called "Literacy Journal"  about what makes good literary remix. I additionally sought out and discovered some "primary sources," I guess you could call them, of actual remixes that were used for productive artistic or educational purposes (see here and here.) I also viewed a film entitled The Five Obstructions which I feel represents one of the most interesting and sophisticated representations of remix that I have seen, and helped me realize even further how beneficial remix can be to see something in new light--both for the creator as well as the consumer. My independent research also extended further into a book entitled Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy by Lawrence Lessig (see the book's website/) which further expanded my view and knowledge of remix and how it relates to copyright. There are plenty of other things a researched and studied on my own, but to do a play by play of everything I've studied on my own throughout this semester would take another whole semester itself. But as some side notes, I did also do a little dipping into the topics of transmedia and also using digital media for missionary work, some of which I have displayed on Google+.
   
2. Collaboration
   I contributed to my group through much of the research mentioned above, but in addition to that, I complied some of our initial ideas in a Prezi to share to the class for social proof. One of my primary assignments was to take the time to read through Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to focus on the classic literature portion of our project and locate quotes that coordinated with the scenes that we were portraying in our project. I also contributed to a large portion of my group's research on Copyright and Fair Use, and wrote the portion on my group's blog relating to that topic for our Group Overview. I additionally wrote the  "Why Does Remix Matter?" tab on our blog. I furthermore arranged for an appointment with Sharon Swenson of the Theater and Media Arts department for us to come and present our project to her class on the History of the Moving Image, in order to receive some further social proof. Many of my own personal blog posts also served my group's blog as well, helping to add research there and also to show the progress of our project to some degree. I also participated in presenting our project to Carl Johnson in the Copyright office at BYU, with my portions focusing particularly on giving the general background of the project, why we selected Frankenstein for the project, and how it connects (especially metaphorically) to remix and copyright. I played a similar role in the final video clip we made as a group to summarize our project.
   As far as contributing to other groups goes, I was able to help out the Education Badges group with information about Copyright and Fair Use, something they had been seeking help and information on. I also tried to find wards where the Digital Sweet Home group could give their fireside (though unfortunately it didn't end up working out.) I gave social proof and feedback to the Little Big Planet group, and also attempted a shot at getting a badge myself for the Mormon Badges group.
   In contributing to the class in general, I attended class every day (except for once when I had a doctor's appointment) and really tried to be engaged and contribute to class discussion with personal insights and experiences, as well as to pose questions to hear the thoughts and ideas of others in the class. I tried to bring in points that I had discovered in my own self-directed learning as well.
    
3. Others’ assistance
   Please name others in the class who have provided you inspiration or motivation, or who have in any way contributed to your learning about digital culture. If relevant, provide links.
   
   • Casey Deans (referred us to Sharon Swenson)
   • Tara Pina, for her excitement and interest in Digital Culture in general.
   • Curtis Jenkins for his knowledge in the areas of copyright and fair use and getting me interested in that. Also, for his ideas in the beginning regarding the Media Fast which sparked my research and interest in the "Information Diet." 
   • Gwendolyn Hammer and Mikhaela Tait for their motivation and encouraging the group and the project to go forward, even when we were struggling. 
   • Greg Williams inspired me with his interest in using digital media for productive uses such as education. 
   • I was also very inspired by a lot of the blog and Google+ posts from Audrey Blake, Allie Crafton, and Rebecca Graham, as well as the presentation by the Mormon Badges group in discussing how digital media can be used to benefit the family as well as the Church. I think the class lectures in we discussed such things, were also some of the most intriguing for me (among many others, but this, I feel, is especially relevant to my life.)
4. Digital Literacy Explain how you have developed your digital literacy during this semester. Use the categories of A) Consume; B) Create; and C) Connect. Please do more than list tools or services you’ve learned to use. Describe how your understanding of literacy has evolved or how you have become more conscious of and taken more control of your digital life.
   As a Consumer, I feel that I've learned a whole lot more about how to consume wisely and in a balanced manner (like I learned from "Information Diet") rather than just to consume aimlessly or only use my Internet time for browsing random YouTube Videos, or spending hours on Facebook. Interestingly enough, my time on Facebook has actually decreased significantly this past semester. Now I use Facebook with more specific purposes, such as asking questions for my friends to answer to get social proof on various things, or staying in touch with friends who live far away, rather than simply browsing my feed to see what random Memes people have posted or whatever else. My consumption has been based more off of Google+ and the more issue-related topics that come up there, which then further lead me to search a topics based off of the discussions there. Having a niche or focus of Digital Culture in my media consumption has made me more aware and conscious of items related to that topic. This has also helped me in being able to find more purpose and focus in my media consumption. Furthermore, rather than merely being a passive consumer, this Digital Culture class has given me a greater desire to be an active Creator and Contributor to the world of digital media, particularly in aspects relating to digital media and the Church. For example, I've been looking on the Vineyard for opportunities there of how to take part in their crowdsourcing and being an active contributor. Beyond crowdsourcing aspects, I have increased my use and knowledge of blogging this semester, something that I hadn't really participated in much before. I loved how this provided a way for me to become an active part of the digital community and share and publish my own personal ideas, not just reading other people's ideas. Doing this has also helped me Connect more with people, not just as people, but also their ideas. I've loved using Google+ for this purpose and being able to connect and discuss ideas with people. Even better, it's allowed for me to have more to talk about with them when I see them in person, because I know some of the interesting, more intellectual ideas they're interested in, rather than just the superficial social aspects.

Questions, questions, questions

Below is my list of individual questions for the final exam:

1) What 3 traits describe a good classical literature mash-up? (select all that apply):
a. It maintains the core integrity of the original in terms of plot, character, and narration.
b. It uses direct citations from the original.
c. It adds something new to the original.
d. It makes the original text more approachable.
(Find answer here: here.)

2) Audrey Blake reports that, in an interview with her fifteen-year-old brother, she learned that for some  teens the most effective forms of digital media that can bring families together are ________________ and ________________. (Answer)

3) What is one objective of remix, which was also one of the original objectives of the Monster Mashup group (based off of this: Prezi):
a. To apply the principles of Fair Use.
b. To get the present generation interested in classic literature by making it relevant to them.
c. To allow other people to contribute to the creative process.


Essay "questions":

1) Although some people think that remix is a negative thing because it often can infringe on copyright laws, remix can however prove beneficial to education and increased creativity, and can even be legal under Fair Use. (See my blog)

2) Despite Curtis Jenkins' argument that society today is much too reliant on technology and digital media, I argue that, it's not so much the quantity of our technology and media consumption that needs to be given attention, but rather the quality of it; that we need to put more focus on actively and productively contributing to positive aspects of the digital sphere, rather than just passively consuming. (See Curtis' blog).

So... what exactly are Copyright and Fair Use? Ever wonder?

Often working against the idea of remix is copyright. Copyright is a law that gives the original creator of a work the exclusive rights to reproduce that work, and determine who else may use and reproduce that work. Imagine that you work for hours on a paper for school and post it on Digital Dialogue. When you gather together as a class to critique each others' work, you find that other students in the class have taken parts of your paper and put them into their own paper, some changing it slightly, some using it word for word, but not citing your paper in any way. How would you feel? Most of us seem to agree situations such as this or plagiarism are wrong, so why do we often forget copyright?  Though these two things aren't exactly the same, they do both involve the same principles: using someone else's work--and legally protected work, in the case of copyright--without permission. So to hardcore copyright believers, remix is often an abomination.

The mediator between these two worlds is fair use. Fair use puts some restriction and limitation on the exclusivity of copyright, allowing for people to have a limited use on things that are copyrighted. This includes uses such as for news reporting, education, research, criticism, and other things. However, just because your use falls into one of these categories doesn't mean you're automatically given free-reigns to pull the fair use card. To fall under fair use, your purpose of using the content must match four categories: 1) Is it being used to make money or any other forms of business or not? 2) It sometimes depends on the kind of copyrighted material actually is. 3) How much/what portion of the work you're actually using. 4) How/how much your use of the copyrighted material will affect its value or how much the owner could potentially make on it.If your purpose checks out okay with all of these points, then you're most likely good to go. And as we discuss here and portray in our interactive remix of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, you can potentially use or remix certain materials for good, even educational purposes--even to educate about copyright.

Remixing theater: Skype theater

Part of what my initial focus was on this blog was showing the benefits of Skype, then later on my focus has become remix and copyright. Tying these two together, I have come to think of how remix can pertain not only to re-using or re-making content, but also remixing the media themselves. For example the media of  books is being remixed into e-books. In conjunction with this, I recently encountered another remixed media: Skype theater: http://www.tv2fyn.dk/article/383045?autoplay=1&video_id=57079
I know it's in Danish so there's probably not too many of you who can understand it, so I'll give the brief of it. So basically, there is a theater group in Denmark that is going to start showing their productions via Skype, allowing people to view and participate in the production from all over. The director even wants to include a webcam onstage showing the actor's perspective, as well as another camera backstage to help give the public a feel of what it's like to be a part of the production, not only a viewer. They're even reaching into the world of crowd sourcing, with discussion of including the public in the writing of the script. Like other forms of remix, this takes something old and traditional and applies modern digital culture to give it new life and make it more accessible to today's digital audience.

Why Does Remix Even Matter?

Remix is a way of giving new life to something old, just like Dr. Frankenstein gave new life to an old body. Beyond mere parody and entertainment, remix can be used to help give younger generations a greater appreciation for old classics, by presenting them in a way they can better relate to.

Another important issue surrounding remix is that of copyright. Originally copyright law was mainly exercised on large corporations, and its purpose was to protect creativity, not impede it. But today, copyright targets amateur artists as well, and could potentially hinder the world of remix. There are two ways this could go. The first one we refer to as "Read Only" in which a few elite are the creators and everyone else simply views it, as if in a museum. The second we refer to as "Read/Write," where people in general are actually encouraged to contribute to the creating process and add on to and develop off of other people's ideas.

This becomes a question important to our future generations as well, as to whether common everyday behavior (such as downloading music or attaching pictures from Google to a personal blog) will be considered "legal" or "criminal" behavior. In his book Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, asks, "How is it changing how [our kids] think about normal, right-thinking behavior? What does it mean to a society when a whole generation is raised as criminals?" 
 
Here we seek to find the balance between a democracy of creativity and participation while protecting the creative rights of others and preventing a generation of criminals. This is the topic of Fair Use. (more to come.)

Quotes for Final Scene

"I stepped fearfully in: the apartment was empty, and my bedroom was also freed from its hideous guest. . . . I became assured that my enemy had indeed fled."

"How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?"

"Alas! I had turned loose into the world a depraved wretch, whose delight was in carnage and misery."

One of these quotes, or a combination of them could be used to describe the final scene in which the monster escapes.

Quote for Scene 4

"It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet."

Potential quotes for scene 2 of our project

These are some potential quotes that we could use (or combine together) to serve as the text for the first part of scene two, before it switches to the graveyard scene:

"I delighted in investigating their causes. The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine. Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they were unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensations I can remember."

"It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world."

"The next morning I delivered my letters of introduction and paid a visit to some of the principal professors. Chance—or rather the evil influence, the Angel of Destruction, which asserted omnipotent sway over me from the moment I turned my reluctant steps from my father's door—led me first to M. Krempe, professor of natural philosophy. He was an uncouth man, but deeply imbued in the secrets of his science. He asked me several questions concerning my progress in the different branches of science appertaining to natural philosophy. I replied carelessly, and partly in contempt, mentioned the names of my alchemists as the principal authors I had studied. The professor stared. "Have you," he said, "really spent your time in studying such nonsense?"I replied in the affirmative. "Every minute." "

The professor stared. "Have you," he said, "really spent your time in studying such nonsense?"

(Haha, no, I don't actually think this is entirely nonsense; I was looking as I read for a good quote about study and research from Frankenstein that I could use as the title, and I found this one somewhat comical.)

In my revisiting of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, (I've only reached the letters and beginning chapters thus far) one thing that particularly stood out to me in the terms of remix was the use of  the captain's letters at the beginning. These letters don't necessarily pertain to remix in the sense of remaking something already done into a new version, but rather in the sense that it pieces together different media to tell a story, something which remix also does. Having the two different perspectives of the captain's letters and then Dr. Frankenstein's firsthand account adds a greater depth and texture and meaning to the story than it would if it was just Dr. Frankenstein's perspective or just the captain's letters. I think remix has a similar effect in that combining multiple pieces of media together give a new and different feel and meaning to the combined piece than any of the pieces have on their own.

I see this for example in my personal favorite remix, which I know I've mentioned in class before, but have never actually posted or showed to you. Here it is, the U2 music video to "Window in the Skies" which remixes countless examples of other music video footage to make something completely new and wonderful. I never get tired of it:

In combining each of these videos together, we get a completely different story and feel than each of the other music videos would have separately. Frankenstein does the exact same thing. Furthermore, this video shows that remix can be used  for things beyond often stupid parodies, but rather can be used for beautiful art.

As I  branched out further in my research, I encountered another remix video which I  also really like and which fits in quite well with our theme of remixing classic literature. This is a beautifully done remix combining footage from the PBS TV mini-series called "The Dust Bowl" with text from Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.

It helps to bring Steinbeck's words to life and makes the text more accessible to a wider audience, and in turn his text adds greater meaning to the images that it's juxtaposed with. Again, this shows how remix can be used for something positive, useful, and even educational instead of just for comic entertainment.

Digital Missionaries

One of Dr. Burton's lectures that I have personally found most fascinating was the one on technology and the Church, particularly in regards to sharing the gospel via digital culture. As a personal little side project, I've decided that I want to start researching that more and find out how digital culture furthers the spreading of the gospel. I personally have some of my own experiences that I'd like to share in future blog posts. But first, I wanted to hear from others about how they use digital media to share the gospel. Here's the response that I got:

I'd like to hear actual specific stories on any results that may have come of this so I'm going to inquire further. But until then, I want to reference the first post here: http://inhisownlanguage.com/.  This is something I have recently discovered, even prior to this post. In His Own Language is a series of gospel webisodes developed by some members to strive to fulfill the promise in D&C 90:11 that "in that day, every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue." The site currently holds webisodes in Danish, Italian, Romanian, Swedish, English, with French, Dutch, Hebrew, Armenian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Norwegian, and German soon to come. This is just one example of LDS members being proactive and finding their own new ways to use new media to share the gospel.

Here's a sample of the first English episode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLIzJWUAtR8&feature=youtu.be

Don't kill the messenger...

So yesterday in my interview with Dr. Burton, he was commenting on how our group seems to lack motivation, excitement, and/or passion behind our project. Perhaps it's just me, but I think I have to agree. (Or is it just me? What do you guys think?)

He posed the question to me, "If you could start over from the beginning and you were in charge of picking the project, what would you do?" I thought this was an interesting question, and would like to pose the same question to all of you group members. What would you do?

He suggested that perhaps we should start over and could perhaps even break up into different groups. Now, I know this might sound extremely painful to have to start over completely, but don't kill the messenger, I'm just relaying what he said to me. And it's not necessarily saying it will happen. But just think hypothetically, and ask yourself what would be something you really want to do if you could do it from the beginning?

What if we all just post on our blogs individually and hypothetically what we each would do if we could do a project that we were really excited about and actually want to do. That way we can see what really truly interests all of us, and see if we want to take a different route.

I have my own idea, but don't want to impose it on anyone, so I'll wait to post until later. So let's just all see what each of our personal interests really are, even if it's not something we're going to end up doing. Just so we can get a better idea of what would motivate each of us.

It just seems like we need something that we all care a little bit more about to help get everyone more motivated and excited about the project. Perhaps I'm just speaking for myself, but right now it kind of feels like we're lacking in that area and aren't making much progress because of it.

If you're all just completely in love with our current project, that's fine too, and we can keep going on it if we all want. Like I said, don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.

Self Evaluation

This class has truly been like no other class that I've ever had, and I've enjoyed learning many new concepts and applications, combined with various fascinations as well as frustrations.

Perhaps the hardest thing for me has been trying to establish a focus along the way. I began, thinking  I would focus on digital culture's influence on human relations and interactions. I read the non-fiction book The Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution Will Change Our Lives, with this focus in mind. However, this book expanded my view of digital culture beyond just this original purpose. I learned more about the wide-reaching effects digital cultures, that it goes beyond just human relations, but rather can even affect the quality of the human condition, influencing issues such as medicine in third world countries for example. This made me realize even further all of the positive influences of digital culture and that there are many ways that it can be used for good, rather than mere entertainment.

My reading of Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried further aided me in my study and contemplation of this topic, particularly in that it helped realize even more the importance of having a worthwhile purpose when using digital media; to be active contributors rather than merely passive consumers. The Things They Carried helped me in thinking about this digital culture concept because of its theme of wandering aimlessly, and things losing their necessity if they don't have a clear purpose behind them. The soldiers wander aimlessly, and discard seemingly necessary supplies, regarding them as unnecessary, because of a lack of clear purpose of why they're in Vietnam and why they're even fighting the war. This made me think of the digital world and how many people just use it passively, and often pointlessly, simply wasting time, like these soldiers wasted supplies. For this reason, there are many critics in the world who assert that digital culture in general is a waste of time. However, I realized that this is only the case when people fail to recognize the numerous beneficial forms and functions of digital culture and social media. Viewed in this light--having a clear, meaningful purpose--digital culture actually becomes a necessity rather than a mere pleasure or simply a waste of time. This concept of comparing "Consume, Create, and Connect" has been one of the most intriguing to me.

It caused me to start thinking and researching ways in which I could promote this concept. That's when I developed the idea of having a media diet--a balance between the good, "healthy" media consumption/contribution and the more "junk food"-type media. At this point, I feel that my self-directed learning increased a lot, because I had found something that really interested me and was excited about. But then I found out that we had to do group projects instead, and as I melded into another group, most of these original ideas got dissolved because they didn't really relate to other peoples' purposes in the group. That was fine, I tried to find new things to be excited about and ideas to contribute to the group; however it seems that these ideas keep failing to take root with anyone else, and no one is really interested in them, so they just get dissipated. After awhile of this, I start losing motivation to come up with ideas or do further self-directed learning, because I don't feel as much purpose or passion behind it, or that what I do has much consequence. I'm still working towards this and will do my best to find the same excitement in this as I had in some of the other topics I was studying. I do nonetheless greatly appreciate the help of my classmates, both in my group and in earlier topics as we have engaged in conversation on our various topics, and exchanged ideas and their interest and excitement often spreads to me.

Mashup Mocumentary

I mentioned in a post on Google+ a few days ago the concept of doing our mashup project somewhat like a mocumentary in which we can show the process of creating our mashup project and then show the final mashup project at the end, in a similar manner as the mocumentary, The Five Obstructions .

The Five Obstructions is a very sophisticated mashup. Back in 1967, Jørgen Leth directed a short film called "The Perfect Human." 

Then 36 years later in 2003 Leth along with another renowned Danish director, Lars von Trier did an interesting project to remix "The Pefect Human." In this mocumentawry, von Trier challenges Leth to remix his original short film five different times, each time based on a certain set of restrictions. For example, in the  first obstruction, von Trier sends Leth to Cuba and sets his first seemingly impossible rule: to make a film with shots that are no longer than twelve frames at a time.

We see the mocumentary portion, but then also the actual products that Leth makes. Meanwhile, in the process of showing this film-making process, the film actually tells a story with a point and meaning behind it, bringing you to realize that this film isn't actually a straight-out documentary but rather a scripted mocumentary. Here's the trailer for the film to get more of the general idea:

Now, how does this relate to the Monster Mashup?

Dr. Burton suggested the notion that our project of mashing up Frankenstein is in a way like the monster of Frankenstein itself: it's taken from various sources and put together in a new way to give it new life. Thus, we, in a way, are like Dr. Frankenstein and could potentially do a mocumentary of our process of creating Frankenstein (i.e. our project/video) in order to show the same themes and principles that Dr. Frankenstein learns and that we learn from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, applied to our modern audience.

This would allow us to be true to the themes of the original Frankenstein while additionally presenting our own mashed up monster video of Frankenstein, however we decided to do it.

I'm not saying that this is necessarily what we need to do, but it's just a thought.

What makes a good classical lit mashup?

In my research of  remix and mashup culture, particularly of classical literature, I encountered this excellent blog http://eskymaclj.blogspot.com/2012/09/mashing-up-literature-rap-fairy-tales.html that discussed what makes a good remix of classical literature.

I particularly liked this definition of a good classical lit mashup:

"To be read in my classroom, a mashup must maintain the core integrity of the original in terms of plot, character, narration (although this may change from the original) and complexity.  It must also add something new to the original that, because of the creative and interpretive nature of the mashup genre, makes the original text more approachable.  A remix is meant to be read with the original."

This blog also led me to discover this man called Baba Brinkman, a "rap troubadour" who does raps of classical literature, adhering to the above definition of a good classic lit remix. Here's a preview of his "Canterbury Tales" rap:

You can find his website here: http://www.bababrinkman.com/

I  think this info will prove very beneficial for our own Monster Mashup group, in helping us know that we need to adhere to the original themes of the classical text, but can still creatively break quite drastically from the original form to make it applicable to a modern audience.

He proposed... in binary code!

Haha, no not really, but he did propose last Saturday! (though he did actually give me a paper with a binary proposal just as a joke afterwards. :P) . Anyway, that's why I  haven't been updating my blog as regularly. I've been a bit busy and distracted with making plans this past week, but I'll work on getting back into my regular posting routine.

Feedback for LBP Group

Well, I keep trying and trying but for some reason I can only watch your video up to 0:57, so unfortunately I don't feel like I can give much valid feedback, but I'll do my best. I think it's fascinating that you want to combine video games with educating people in how to actually use and create the game itself. I think doing so will make video games a lot more purposeful, allowing people to actually contribute instead of just consume.
At the beginning when you used the word "edutainment" I thought the project was about using video games for educational purposes (i.e. to help kids learn school-related things) but as the video continued I began to realize that it was more about educating how to use the game itself. I don't know if you say this later in your video or not, but one thing that might be beneficial is to specify your target audience, particularly your targeted age group. And what do you think about also using the program more for educational purposes and teaching various school subjects? Is that possible with this program? Here's a website that I found that you might be able to use to bounce of for some social proof: http://www.etceteraedutainment.com/. Also, why is it important for people to know how to use this game?I'm sorry it's not much, but hopefully that helps to some degree. Keep up the good work, I'm excited to see how it turns out!

Sanctuary, Sanctuary: My Semi-Media-Fast

I sent a text out to my friends and family at 11:33pm on Friday night announcing that I was participating, yes, in a Media Fast for the next 24 hours. I then immediately set my cell phone to "airplane mode" so that I would no longer receive any texts anyone tried to send me.

I arranged earlier that night when my boyfriend would pick me up for work, and when my roommate would pick me up from work (since I don't own a car), so that we wouldn't have to worry about not being able to coordinate with a cell-phone.

I awoke the next morning (using my cell phone solely as an alarm clock.) My natural instinct as I was getting ready was to reach for my laptop since I usually listen to General Conference talks or music in the morning while I'm getting ready. But I refrained.

I had already established for myself that this fast excluded anything work- or school-related as I can't afford to fail a class, and especially not to lose my job. But actually, in many ways my job worked in my favor. You see, I teach Danish at the Missionary Training Center--a hub for media-deprived people: no cell-phones, no music, no Facebook, etc. Yet even this media-deficient center relies significantly on technology and media. The entire outline schedule of what we as teachers are supposed to do with missionaries that day is on the MTC's website, as are the displays we use for teaching the language, the necessary  "Preach My Gospel" video-clips that we use for training, emails about meetings from my supervisor, etc. So from the very beginning of my day I did, unfortunately, have to use some media technology.
(I realized even further how dependent my job is on technology just earlier today when the entire server was down for a bit. We had no idea what to the plan for the day was, what grammar we were supposed to teach; and we couldn't even teach the Preach My Gospel Fundamental properly. Until to our relief, the system came back to life again.)

That day I had to work both the 7:30am-11:00am and the 5:30pm-9:00pm shifts because my co-teacher was out of town. Being a person who strives to optimize efficiency and lacking a car, I determined to just stay and work on homework at the MTC my entire break time. This did require me to use my laptop and the internet--there was no way I was going to sit around for six and a half hours doing nothing when I had a ton of homework hanging over me, the majority of which required computer usage. However I did strive to minimize my internet-use as much as possible. I was working on a PowerPoint presentation for my Danish class, and here are the only sites I used in working on that: BYU Learning Suite, danmarkshistorie.dk, Google Translate, and Google Images.

I was amazed at how productive my homework time was without having any emails, texts, or other social media forms of interruption. I actually haven't used Facebook much at all since the semester has started, so I realized that the only things that were really different in this "fast" than what I usually do were texts and my gmail (most of which is related to school and work stuff anyway.) Yet not being constantly interrupted by these things  made it even easier for me to me effective.

I did have to go to the BYU site as well in order to put money on my Signature Card so I could buy lunch at the MTC cafeteria (that's the only way they'll take payment--yet further evidence of how our society demands the use of media.)

But other than that, my day was quite media-free. Yes, perhaps I had it a bit easier being in the sanctuary of the MTC, but I still learned a lot from the experience nonetheless. The next day after the "fast" I didn't even use my phone as much, and my mom asked me if I was still fasting, wondering why I still never responded to her texts.

While I was "disconnected" from the world, my cousin got engaged, I received a text from an old friend, plus another cousin I hadn't heard from in a long time. The interesting thing was that, since I didn't respond right away to these messages, once I finally did respond, I never heard back because I guess it was somehow too late. I suppose in some ways that shows that media is such an important part of society to keeping and building relationships and not being rude or anti-social.

All in all, an interesting experience. Yet I know I couldn't have managed at all if I had gone for complete abstinence from computers.

Nothing New Under the Sun

Well, it turns out that others have already started on this idea I've had of a Digital Diet. Or something similar at least. It's called "Information Diet" which seems to have started out as a book, and now has a whole website devoted to it: http://www.informationdiet.com/

I've even started formulating an idea in my brain for a website where people could track their media consumption. At first I thought informationdiet.com did this, but as I've been browsing around the website, I don't think it does. Rather, they suggest some software you can download in order to make your information consumption on the internet more efficient, such as AdBlock and SaneBox. So perhaps there still are a few new ideas I could contribute to this discussion after all. In addition to simply focusing on monitoring what we consume, I would also like to focus on monitoring what we contribute, with a focus on using the internet for meaningful contributions to society. Maybe I'll even contact the author Clay Johnson for his thoughts and a little "expert social feedback." But I should probably actually read his book first. :P I'll update you more when I do.

Until then, I recommend watching this video clip that explains a little bit more about Information Diet:

Digital Diet

All this talk of a media fast has got me thinking.

About the thoughts and ideas I've been developing in this class in conjunction with "The Things They Carried;" about my focus on having purpose on the internet and being an active, creative contributor rather than a passive consumer; about the discussions I've had with Audrey Blake, Curtis Jenkins, and others about identity and the internet.

And I've especially thought a lot about a general theme that seems to reoccur in lots of my comments and posts: that there needs to be balance and moderation in all things; that the internet isn't inherently evil, nor perfectly utopian, but rather that the best option is not to go to one extreme or the other, but rather to find a balance.

After reading about the proposed "media fast" last night, I interviewed my cousin who had done her own media fast just a week or so previously.I asked her what she thought of it, what she learned from it, and if she would recommend it. Here's what I got from this media fast interview:

When I asked her how it went, she said that she felt "isolated" and kind of lonely. She said it was harder to do research for her homework, because her natural reaction now is to go to the internet, which she says has become our main source for problem-solving or finding answers. When trying to find a friend's house, she realized she didn't have their address, and then didn't have a phone to try to call them to find out where she needed to go. So she just ended up not going. "Nowadays we don't think of bringing a quarter for a pay phone, or memorizing addresses and phone numbers," she said. She hadn't realized how "debilitating" the media fast would be. Computer abstinence wasn't required because of  homework (just social media, etc., which I personally think would be a good rule to have for our media fast), but she chose not to use it anyway because she knew she would inevitably find herself on gmail or Facebook, because her fingers are so programmed to automatically type in those URLs when she gets online.

But would she recommend it? Her answer was, "Yes. Yes, for a learning experience. It's a good thing to analyze how much you're using, and how much is really necessary."

This answer of hers got me thinking even more. About the purpose of media fasts. If the purpose is to analyze how much we're using and how much is really necessary, I think there is a more effective way of doing this:

Rather than a Media Fast, what about a Media Diet? Just like we need a balanced diet for food, I assert that we also need a balanced media diet--not to an extreme, one way or another. Just as somethings are better for us to eat than others, some media things are better for us than others. But just as it's okay to eat a brownie every once in awhile, it's also okay to indulge in a few minutes of mindless games or Facebook-stalking every once in awhile. Balance in all things, my friends, balance in all things.

Rather than completely abstaining from media, this project would entail keeping track of the media that you do consume and how much time you devote to the various forms of digital media: how much time you spend on Facebook, playing games, using internet for school, texting, watching TV or videos, etc., etc. More than a mere media fast, focusing on our media diets would help us see where we're using digital media wisely, productively, how much time we spend on perhaps more passive, purposeless digital media activities, as well as how this compares to our time spent on non-digital activities. This will help us analyze our media consumption/contribution, how we can find balance in it, and make changes to make our digital use more purposeful and productive. It also helps us find balance between our digital and non-digital identities.

This is a project that I would like to further pursue and advocate. What are your thoughts?

Meeting Online, Meeting in Person, Living in Both:

I had an interesting experience yesterday in class when we broke up into small groups of three. As we began to discuss what we read and our developing ideas for our papers in connecting a work of fiction with a digital culture-related topic, I witnessed something which I found quite fascinating.

I started discussing Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried," and my approach of discussing it in the light of being active contributors with a purpose in digital interaction, rather than simply being passive consumers. As I mentioned this, one of my group members, Jake, chimed in saying, "Wait, that was you? I commented on that post, I thought it was great..." and we continued in person the conversation that we had started online.

Then it was Audrey's turn to tell about what she had read and is writing. She's focusing on internet identity, honesty, and how people feel they have to portray themselves in a certain way online. This actually fit well with some of the identity issues I'm considering and addressing in my own study. We had a good discussion comparing notes, and determined that we most definitely would have to continue this discussion online as we each developed our thoughts and papers further.

Then it was Jake's turn. As he told about the former student's blog that he had been assigned to read, Audrey said, "Wait--that was my blog from when I had Brother Burton for a previous class!" They then were able to have a great conversation together about that.

This little triangle just fascinated me. In one way or another, we had all connected online, and here we had been sitting together in class without even realizing those connections. But then meeting and discussing in person just strengthened that connection even more. Some would say that this is a sign of the detrimental effects of technology; that we can have online connections, and then be in the same room with those same people and not even have a connection to them.

But I'd like to argue otherwise that digital connections, coupled with in-person interactions actually complement and amplify human relations. Already having some knowledge of each others' ideas online improved our conversations when we were in person because we already had something to go off of. And in mine and Audrey's situation, the things we discussed in person encouraged us to collaborate further together online.

I've often lamented the fact that our time seems to like the alliances that literary minds of the past shared, how they would get together and philosophize and discuss intellectual things. Like Wordsworth and Coleridge. Lewis and Tolkien. I've felt that today we just seem to lack that part of culture, at least in the undergrad sphere. But now,  I'm beginning to sense that perhaps that part of culture hasn't disappeared afterall. That it actually exists...through the internet.

Active Purpose in the Digital World in Conjunction with "The Things They Carried"

In reading "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, I've noticed a connection to something we discussed in class in conjunction with "Consume, Create, and Connect." We discussed the importance of having a specific, active purpose in our internet-use, rather than mere passive consuming. It seems that being active on the internet and driven by a purpose actually creates more of a meaningful identity for the user. The reason we get overwhelmed with too much information on the internet is because we are being passive.

I have found a similar pattern in "The Things They Carried." O'Brien describes the extreme lack of purpose in the march of the Vietnam soldiers within the text saying, "They moved like mules. By daylight they took sniper fire, at night they were mortared, but it was not battle, it was just endless march, village to village, without purpose, nothing won or lost. They marched for the sake of the march" This think this describes well how many people use the internet. They simply surf the net aimlessly; "they surf for the sake of the surf," instead of actually actively contributing to it, because they don't have a purpose.

Furthermore, because the war itself doesn't seem to provide a specific purpose for the soldiers, they begin to redefine necessities and priorities, discarding more vital supplies like rations and weapons, and instead  carry more trivial things. These miscellaneous items do establish a sort of identity for each of the characters, just as the sites we consume from the internet provide a sort of identity for us. But it isn't until the main character, Lieutenant Cross finds a contributing, active form of purpose, rather than being merely passive that he actually makes progress and establishes a real identity for himself. Likewise, it's not until we find a purpose and actively contribute to the digital world that our online identity actually takes on real meaning.

These are just some brewing thoughts I've had in reading and re-reading "The Things They Carried," which I would like to develop and fine-tune further.

A webcam by any other name would smell as sweet.

Jeff had just announced to me that he liked me. But--here's the catcher--he was heading back home to the Midwest the very next day.  So what was the point, right? He would be there all spring and summer and I would be here in Provo, so we couldn't really take things too much further from there. I didn't have unlimited minutes, so that made talking on the phone less of an option. We could text and what not, but that still just doesn't quite serve the same function as talking face to face.

So he said goodbye at the door and headed on his way. I, meanwhile, resigned myself to the fact that this budding relationship would just get snipped before it even had a chance to bloom, and that there unfortunately wasn't much I could do about it.

But later that evening, the doorbell rang.

I opened the door, where I was startled to find the person I expected to be on his way across the country. And there in his hands, he held out...a webcam.

Every time I tell this story, (particularly to members of the female persuasion) a chorus of "Awww"s and "That's so sweet!" ensue, as if he'd shown up on my doorstep with the largest bouquet of long-stemmed red roses the world has ever seen.

It makes me chuckle a bit to think that a webcam has become something romantic. But I have to admit, it was one of the best gifts I've received. Not simply the webcam itself, but what followed with it. Because of  the webcam and my subsequent downloading of Skype, Jeff and I could now see and talk to each other on a regular basis. In the beginning, we only talked a couple days a week, but before long it turned into a part of the daily routine. We were able to get to know and appreciate each other even better to the point that by the time he moved out here to Provo for school we had come to a point where we were already dating.

So often we hear how technology is detrimental to social interactions and real-life human relationships. But in my case, technology proved beneficial to my relationship. You could even say that it is what made it possible.

Certainly, people have had successful long-distant relationships without technology for centuries. But I feel that having the ability to actually talk face to face (like you do with a webcam) has a greater influence and stronger affect on helping people really know each other as they would in "real life" than if they simply write to each other.

In many ways, people who are apart actually have closer relationships today than they did before we emerged into this new digital culture of ours. My mom, for example, says the fact that we could email each other every week of my LDS mission to Denmark, plus having the chance to Skype me at Christmas and on Mother's Day, kept us closer together and made it not feel like I really lived on the other side of the globe.

In another blog, "Glimmerbomb" addresses this issue even further as she discusses the benefits of  webcams and human interactions. I found her blog while looking on Word Spy, a site the tracks new words cropping up in the English language. There I found this interesting entry:

Skype sleep

v. To create a Skype connection with a faraway partner and then fall asleep together."

This completely blew my mind. I had never heard of such a thing. Personally, I think that Skype sleeping takes it to a bit of a ridiculous extreme. But I guess it just further proves how many aspects of "real life" are propelled rather than halted by technology.

Word Spy included sources where this new word has been found including the aforementioned blog found here: http://glimmerbomb.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/looking-at-you-looking-at-me/

It also led me to this interesting site called Spark 161 which had a podcast talking about Skype sleep. As I looked further, I found that the site is swimming with podcasts all about digital culture, and will likely serve as a great go-to for me and all the rest of you studying digital culture. Check it out here: http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2011/11/spark-161-november-6-9-2011/

Book Review: The Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution Will Change Our Lives

Though a bit outdated, Frances Cairncross’ “The Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution Will Change Our Lives,” serves as an interesting measuring tool for the progress of technology over the past fifteen years. In fact, because of the year in which the book was written (1997) it is also serves as an aid in seeing where the book proved prophetic and where it fell short in the things people then expected to happen in and because of technology in their future. Some things we may even chuckle at as they are things which then seemed so cutting-edge, yet now we take for granted.

The book gives a hopeful outlook on numerous potential benefits of technology and does well in surveying a wide range of areas that technology could potentially affect, from home décor and medicine in third-world countries to legislation and human relationships. While the book has an overall tone of ameliorating and glorifying the internet and technology, it does nonetheless acknowledge some of the shortcomings and potential dangers, though perhaps not as thoroughly as it could. 

Cairncross also approaches the prospects of the future via analysis of the past, which gives the book an interesting dynamic of time, helping you realize that many of the issues at hand are not necessarily new but rather have been an ongoing process of production and progression.

I would not necessarily recommend this book to anyone researching newer media and technologies, since much of the information is no longer current. It does nonetheless provide an interesting background to the progression of technology and the potential that it still has in the various areas that have yet to be reached.

"I wouldn't mind marrying a nerd. Just as long as he doesn't propose in binary code."

Once upon a time, as I sat discussing the peculiarities and wonders of geek-dom, my good friend Katrina Redd made the profound statement, "I wouldn't mind marrying a nerd. Just as as long as he doesn't propose in binary code." This comment gave us all a good bout of chuckles and was immediately voted as quote of the day.

This quote serves as the inspiration for my blog title and actually proves quite fitting for some of the topics I first want to address. We hear so much about the detrimental effects of technology on relationships and social interactions. And while I do admit that my experience of witnessing a group of people in silence because they are all occupied texting someone else somewhere else does support this claim, I have nonetheless witnessed numerous beneficial effects of our digital culture on human relationships.

Here on this blog, I would like to begin a discussion on the connections between digital culture and relationships--the positive, the negative, and otherwise. I kind of surprised myself with the selection of this topic, considering the fact that I traditionally am not one to habitually haunt the check-out lane to see the latest update on Brad and Angelina (or whoever they're with these days); nor am I one to squeal at the mere mention of Mr. Darcy. But I do believe there is a wide field for insightful discussion on the topic of our digital world and human relationships--not just online dating and romantic relationships, but human interactions as a whole. For example, the effects of Skype on personal relationships; maintaining connections via Facebook that might otherwise be lost; missionary work over the internet; growing closer to distant family members; the question of whether one participates more or less in digital culture based on their social life in the non-digital world; and so on.

Of course over time, my blog may venture off onto other topics as well, but for now we'll keep the above heading as the beta title for this blog.

So ladies and gentlemen, welcome to "...As long as he doesn't propose in binary code." And stay tuned for another post soon to follow.