In the first discussion of Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins, the question of the day was
whether or not these “knowledge communities” discussed in the text were
effective. This question alone led
us to a varied array of discussion topics from knowledge communities to ethics.
In regards to the effectiveness of knowledge communities, I feel like they
genuinely are. This efficacy is, however, limited in some capacity by not only
the knowledge of their members but more importantly the desires and flaws of their
constituents.
In an attempt to analyze the efficacy of the knowledge community, we found it necessary to identify the knowledge community’s goal before we were able to truly decide whether or not they were effective. This proves to be very difficult, as the knowledge community itself is comprised of many different people, all with their own individual goals. As we saw in the first chapter of Convergence Culture, the members of the Survivor Sucks community didn’t feel vindicated by ChillOne’s predictions being somewhat accurate. They felt let down and even went as far as to say that he “ruined” the season (Kindle location 1009, just before the “Monitoring Big Brother” sidebar). This directly contradicts the community’s self-proclaimed goal of “spoiling” the survivor results for themselves because that is exactly what ChillOne did – he spoiled the ending of the entire season by telling the community with a fair degree of accuracy what was going to happen. This raises the question, “If they didn’t want the show spoiled, then why go through all the work to spoil it?” Jenkins alludes to the fact that this community in particular was more interested in the process used to spoil the show rather than the actual spoiling. While I think this is partially true, I think looking at the goals of Anonymous provide a much better example of why the Survivor spoilers were so upset.
In our discussion of Anonymous and whether or not their goals are being accomplished, I came to the conclusion that they didn’t really have “goals” in the traditional sense. There was no grand scheme or overarching agenda to their actions; they simply did whatever they felt like at the time and did so until they were successful or got bored. Upon reflection, I began to wonder if this is actually the case with similar knowledge communities. There are definitely strong parallels to be drawn between Anonymous and the Survivor spoilers, both in their seemingly limitless access to information and organizational structure (or lack thereof). I initially thought that the reason the spoilers were so upset after ChillOne’s predictions turned out to be largely true was because they were confused as to what their true goal was. Upon reflection, however, I’m starting to think that each member of the knowledge community has a different goal. Some, obviously, were in it for the thrill of the hunt whereas others were there to genuinely find the answers before the rest of the world and be happy with that. Perhaps in these knowledge communities there simply isn’t a shared goal. It might even be wrong to consider these knowledge communities cohesive wholes and more accurate to consider them as a sort of amalgamation of individuals with widely varied goals. I believe the mathematical concept of a “line of best fit” might explain the goals of these groups as opposed to something more concrete like an equation. Normally this lack of a common goal would result in nothing being accomplished, but perhaps these knowledge groups work like a Ouija board in some way, where no one person drives the change, but rather the collective consciousness of the individuals drives the group toward an end.
As with many other concepts we’ve analyzed in this class so far, truth and understanding regarding these knowledge communities that Jenkins brings to light seems to lie somewhere in between our understanding of the individual and of organized groups. Much like a riot or a mob they seem to move in bizarre and often unpredictable ways while still maintaining efficacy and a semblance of rationality. Understanding these knowledge communities will, as I see it, prove to be very important in the coming days. Obviously, most corporations and even the governments themselves are ill-prepared for the potential power groups like these hold and understanding them will be invaluable to dealing with them and/or placating them. I also think understanding this strange form of mob mentality will be very important to the future of advertising. As communication between individuals becomes more efficient on the Internet with services like Twitter and Facebook, companies are quickly (if awkwardly) spreading their influence through these media. As Jenkins discusses in the second chapter, the masses can just as easily do your advertising for free as they can spread dissent about your product and kill it before it hits the shelves. Engaging the audiences of social networks will undoubtedly be very important to generating revenue for the companies of the future. Overall, I feel the proliferation of groups like these is quite uplifting. It seems the Internet, through easing mass communication between large numbers of different people, may finally be putting power back in the hands of the people.
Questions for continued discussionIn an attempt to analyze the efficacy of the knowledge community, we found it necessary to identify the knowledge community’s goal before we were able to truly decide whether or not they were effective. This proves to be very difficult, as the knowledge community itself is comprised of many different people, all with their own individual goals. As we saw in the first chapter of Convergence Culture, the members of the Survivor Sucks community didn’t feel vindicated by ChillOne’s predictions being somewhat accurate. They felt let down and even went as far as to say that he “ruined” the season (Kindle location 1009, just before the “Monitoring Big Brother” sidebar). This directly contradicts the community’s self-proclaimed goal of “spoiling” the survivor results for themselves because that is exactly what ChillOne did – he spoiled the ending of the entire season by telling the community with a fair degree of accuracy what was going to happen. This raises the question, “If they didn’t want the show spoiled, then why go through all the work to spoil it?” Jenkins alludes to the fact that this community in particular was more interested in the process used to spoil the show rather than the actual spoiling. While I think this is partially true, I think looking at the goals of Anonymous provide a much better example of why the Survivor spoilers were so upset.
In our discussion of Anonymous and whether or not their goals are being accomplished, I came to the conclusion that they didn’t really have “goals” in the traditional sense. There was no grand scheme or overarching agenda to their actions; they simply did whatever they felt like at the time and did so until they were successful or got bored. Upon reflection, I began to wonder if this is actually the case with similar knowledge communities. There are definitely strong parallels to be drawn between Anonymous and the Survivor spoilers, both in their seemingly limitless access to information and organizational structure (or lack thereof). I initially thought that the reason the spoilers were so upset after ChillOne’s predictions turned out to be largely true was because they were confused as to what their true goal was. Upon reflection, however, I’m starting to think that each member of the knowledge community has a different goal. Some, obviously, were in it for the thrill of the hunt whereas others were there to genuinely find the answers before the rest of the world and be happy with that. Perhaps in these knowledge communities there simply isn’t a shared goal. It might even be wrong to consider these knowledge communities cohesive wholes and more accurate to consider them as a sort of amalgamation of individuals with widely varied goals. I believe the mathematical concept of a “line of best fit” might explain the goals of these groups as opposed to something more concrete like an equation. Normally this lack of a common goal would result in nothing being accomplished, but perhaps these knowledge groups work like a Ouija board in some way, where no one person drives the change, but rather the collective consciousness of the individuals drives the group toward an end.
As with many other concepts we’ve analyzed in this class so far, truth and understanding regarding these knowledge communities that Jenkins brings to light seems to lie somewhere in between our understanding of the individual and of organized groups. Much like a riot or a mob they seem to move in bizarre and often unpredictable ways while still maintaining efficacy and a semblance of rationality. Understanding these knowledge communities will, as I see it, prove to be very important in the coming days. Obviously, most corporations and even the governments themselves are ill-prepared for the potential power groups like these hold and understanding them will be invaluable to dealing with them and/or placating them. I also think understanding this strange form of mob mentality will be very important to the future of advertising. As communication between individuals becomes more efficient on the Internet with services like Twitter and Facebook, companies are quickly (if awkwardly) spreading their influence through these media. As Jenkins discusses in the second chapter, the masses can just as easily do your advertising for free as they can spread dissent about your product and kill it before it hits the shelves. Engaging the audiences of social networks will undoubtedly be very important to generating revenue for the companies of the future. Overall, I feel the proliferation of groups like these is quite uplifting. It seems the Internet, through easing mass communication between large numbers of different people, may finally be putting power back in the hands of the people.
1. From the examples we have seen (Anonymous,
Survivor Sucks), most of these knowledge communities have been forming around
message boards. To what extent do Twitter and Facebook also constitute a
knowledge community? Could members of Twitter possibly organize to accomplish
similar feats as Anonymous or the Survivor spoilers?
2.
There was a lot of discussion in the text about
the communities centered on “spoilers” and how the interests of major content
producers and their audiences are sometimes opposed. Sometimes other members of
the audience not only spoil the content for themselves, but also for others (as
we see with ChillOne as well as various other instances such as the Harry
Potter books). To what extent do audiences have the right to experience the
unfolding of events or a story for themselves? To what extent should producers
of this content limit the availability of knowledge that could “spoil the
ending”?
3.
In many modern science fiction and fantasy
works, the antagonist is some form of “hive mind” that generally seeks to
destroy the individuality of humanity or human society. Often protagonists are
victorious solely because of their individuality. In what ways are these
knowledge communities also like the hive minds that are so reviled in fiction,
and how are they different?
Annotated Links
This is a FOX news video on Anonymous before they "grew up" and began being politically active. Interestingly enough one of their
“invasions” was spoiling the Harry Potter books, which I think not only ties Jenkins and our discussion together but also raises issues I mentioned in my second question above.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/internet-awash-in-inaccurate-anti-acta-arguments.ars
The first link is an article regarding the social change and
awareness that Anonymous has become the mascot for, if not the cause of. The second is an article explaining
that not all the information that Anonymous is proliferating is actually true.
Does spreading misinformation make them less effective?
A small article tangentially related to the concept of a
system needing an antagonist to grow, specifically digital security mimicking the
human immune system.
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