Excluding the Ordinary

Lessig opens with an anecdote about the great composer John Philip Sousa and his advocation of increased copyright laws that "gave him an exclusive right to control the public performance of his work" (23). According to Lessig, Sousa was trying to limit the copying of his and others' music and its distribution to wider audiences without his consent. Lessig says that Sousa's fear was that society's "vocal chords" would be taken away and a "read only" consumeristic society would be created, taking away the amateur nature of music and limiting creativity as well as production. He paraphrases Sousa as being concerned that "we would become practiced in selecting what we wanted to hear, but not practiced in producing stuff for others to hear" (25). 

While I certainly share Sousa's appreciation for creativity, especially musical creativity, and understand the importance of intellectual ownership and copyright laws, I do not think that Lessig's interpretation of Sousa's motives (or Sousa's voicing of his motives) accurately address the larger issues at hand. Sousa spoke to Capital Hill and advocated for copyright laws to protect amateur artists, saying "it will be simply a question of time when the amateur disappears entirely" (qtd. in Lessig 26). What I keep seeing, though, in Lessig's article are words like "ordinary citizens," (24, 28, 29, 39, 100, 103) "ordinary society," (29) "ordinary consumers," (37) and "ordinary use(s)" (100) juxtaposed against "extraordinary" citizens, society, creators, and uses. He refers to Henry Jenkins (a trained academic) as writing an extraordinary book, Convergence Culture (28); he refers to his own observation of the hybrid RO/RW society as an extraordinary economic opportunity (34); he refers to jurors as having "extraordinary" power (87); and he says "it takes extraordinary knowledge about a culture to remix it well" (93). (These extraordinary examples continue throughout the selection). What I think Sousa was ultimately advocating for is taking production away from the ordinary (amateurs, especially pre-amateurs or those not being trained by the extraordinary) and keeping it in the hands of those trained or especially gifted - the extraordinary.

In Chapter Three, "RO, Extended," Lessig points out that copying media was previously much more difficult due to its analog nature and the difficulty of obtaining and using equipment that would provide decent quality copies. He makes this statement regarding the ordinary users: "any (consumer-generated) copy was inferior to the original; [...] and the technologies to enable a consumer to copy an RO token were extremely rare" (Lessig 37). Then, regarding the extraordinary, he says "no doubt there were recording studios aplenty in Nashville and Motown. But for the ordinary consumer, RO tokens were to be played, not manipulated" (Lessig 37). In contrast to this, Lessig points out that taking pieces from writing and doing nothing more than citing them is to be expected: "the cite is always sufficient payment" (52). He explains that this is because "we teach everyone to write - in theory, if not in practice. We understand quoting is an essential part of that writing. The freedom [of quoting] is perfectly natural in a world where everyone can write" (Lessig 53). So, "ordinary society" is expected to take parts of one another's speech and quote it without payment -- because they are taught it. The written word is more available and accessible because it is considered more ordinary because it has been taught to the majority of ordinary society. Lessig confirms this by writing, "While writing with text is the stuff that everyone is taught to do, filmmaking and record making were, for most of the twentieth century, the stuff that professionals did" (54).

What Lessig points out well is that the creativity involved in remixing works - whether they be the written word, music, film, television, or something different - is "complementary, not competitive" (56). He does not advocate for an unregulated form of remixing; rather, he advocates for one that will foster greater creativity and produce positive results for all involved parties. He also explains the similarities between today's society that is attempting to keep the power and knowledge in the hands of the elite and the trained and older society in which the elite kept their power by speaking Latin, a language that was inaccessible to them. He shows, though, that the internet has helped to change society into a more read/write culture by "open[ing] these media to the masses" (69). The crucial element of remixing is that something new is produced. As Lessig describes, "The quotes thus get mixed together. The mix produces the new creative work - the 'remix'" (69). He goes on to borrow from Don Joyce of Negativeland and describe remixing as a form of collage. He also explains that the power of the remix lies in the reference, which is why something completely new cannot just be created; it would not have the same effect and power.

I agree with Lessig that remix is important, creative, and new. Placing constraints on other forms of literacies that are not currently present on written literacies is another attempt at keeping voice and power away from the "ordinary" and in the hands of the "extraordinary." While I think that those who create the original versions of media should certainly be compensated and acknowledged for their creation, I do not think that other people should not be allowed to enter their discussion and create from their works.

Sketching My Experience

In most of my posts, I tend to gain insight based on a broader scope of what was read; however, in reading this section of Buxton's Sketching User Experiences, one phrase in particular stuck out to me: "being able to articulate the reason for your decisions" (147).

Throughout my time in RCID 805, which I'm not over halfway through, we have been making project after project. My focus - though not where it should have been - has primarily been on learning the technologies so that I could complete the projects for class. Don't get me wrong; I certainly have been thinking about the rhetorical situation and the process involved, but that has not been at the forefront of my mind as much as trying to figure out which buttons to press, which boxes to click, and which options to drag to get the technology to work with and not against me.

Reading the above phrase, though, really keyed me in on where my focus needed to be instead: on the why. Why am I even making these projects? Why am I doing  them in a certain way and not another? Or, as Buxton puts it, "Do I want this rather than that, and why?"

I am pleased with the timing of this reading. All along, I've known the importance of asking these rhetorical questions but have not done a good job listening to the voices in my head that were telling me to actually ask and answer them. Today, though, I finally have a skeleton of a website up so that I can place my projects on "display" - though hidden from most of the world as they are certainly not - or hopefully won't be anyway - my finest achievements. In setting up the website, we were asked to create multiple sections wherein we could discuss our rhetorical process and decisions. Now that this space is "up and running," I can kind of hear it speaking to me and beckoning me to fill in those spaces. I feel more of a need to ask and answer rhetorical questions regarding the projects we are working on.

In determining the questions and in answering them, I want to keep in mind much of what Buxton has been saying, namely the importance of creating a literacy of sketching. I want to really do well with showing and explaining the process by which these projects were made. For, the projects in and of themselves, for the most part, are not going to display well. However, the thought that went into them and the ideas that they represent certainly have meaning and value - value that I would like to return to when creating similar projects in the future.

Weighing the Worth

Kaplan and Sullivan each present multiple sides of integrating computers into the teaching of composition. Reading these articles was enlightening as I could not possibly imagine composing without a computer. I do 99% of all "writing" on a computer/electronic device - papers, communication with friends, notes, lists, etc. So, reading about the history of computers being brought into the composition was interesting, though not entirely surprising as academia is generally slower to adopt newer technologies and ideas than industry.

Something that they both bring up is the fact that composing via a computer provides writers with a greater amount of control than was previously available, paying particular attention to how computers increase what writers can do with their works in terms of publishing and revision. I think this is possibly the greatest benefit available now.

Kaplan, by way of Ohmann, though, brings up the issues of elitism and access. He quotes Ohmann as saying, "I see every reason to expect that the computer revolution, like other revolutions from the top down, will indeed expand the minds and the freedom of an elite, meanwhile facilitating the degradation of labor  and the stratification of the workforce that have been the hallmarks of monopoly capitalism from its onset" (23).   I agree that using computers to teach composition could certainly further separate the elite from others; however, I do not think that this is necessarily required to be the case.  I think that recognizing this as a great possibility can open up ways to provide more access to people who may not otherwise have it. If we, though, assume that people have access and expect them to need electronic access in order to complete the necessary tasks of day to day life (which, currently, we often do), then we are doing as Kaplan suggests and helping the elite to become more elite while positioning "the others" in an even lower class position and making it more difficult for them to make headway in society.

Experiences

The context for this week's reading, for me, is the websites we are creating for our online portfolios. I think that they serve as a wonderful example of Bolter and Grusin's remediation. We are filling these websites with several different types of media and are using much old media to create new media. The cyberpoem in particular comes to mind as many of us will likely be using poems that were written hundreds of years ago before "new media" was even an idea. What I'm not sure about how to help create, though, is a transparency among the website. And, though Bolter and Grusin seem to think otherwise, I don't think that total transparency will ever be psosible. Certainly, we can try - and web designers who are skillfully trained can come close to - making objects and concepts in media seem like reality; however, even if everything were holographs, there would still be a way of knowing and recognizing that some things simply must be experienced.

I think back to my summer trip to Poland and how we visited Auschwitz. I'd read about Auschwitz in books and online, seen websites discussing it, watched videos about it, and even seen actual footage of many of the goings on of the Holocaust in Night in Fog. But none of that compared to being there in person. I was able to take in the place with all of my senses and was able to see it surrounding me, not simply on a screen in front of me. I could have a conversation - a genuine conversation - with people in my party about it and with the experts who were the tour guides. It was a real experience that could not be duplicated by media.

Though Buxton may argue that perhaps had the design of the media I'd been interacting with prior to my trip to Auschwitz been better, perhaps I would've had more of a transparent meeting with the sites, I believe that some things are just meant to be experienced in person. That said, though, I agree with Buxton that design plays a large role in helping to create a better user experience. Certainly objects that are innovative in their functions and also in their design are more appealing to consumers - they certainly are to me. Why else would I have spent the last several hours trying to perfectly match the color of the banner on my portfolio site to the container color? (I was unsuccessful thus far). I think that providing a well-designed product not only increases aesthetic pleasure but also increases usability due to a better organization and interface.

Courting the Casuals

In Henry Jenkins's Convergence Culture he discusses the difference between different types of television viewers, putting them into three categories: zappers, casuals, and loyals. He then explains how reality television (American Idol specifically) has been specifically designed to "support and sustain multiple levels of engagement" (77). He discusses the way that Idol reaches out to these viewers. One way that it reaches out to the in-betweeners or casuals is to provide recaps of the show's previous airings. He notes that "as they move into their final weeks and more casuals are drawn [in], [...] shows may devote an entire episode to the season's highlights, designed to provide an easy entry point" (77).

This entry point  idea is something that I would like to carry over into the library's use of social media. From what Micki said when she visited the class, there is already a good amount of social networking and blogging available for the library. What she wants, though, is both an increased numbers of interactive users and a higher level of interaction. She wants people to go to the library's social media to find out information and to ask questions/provide feedback concerning current library practices and research. She mentioned that the library already has a fair number of followers on Twitter and several friends on Facebook. What I don't know whether has happened yet or not is whether she/someone has determined the type of users present among the site. My guess would be that most of them would be casual users rather than loyals.

If the students who are already following/friends of the library via social media, then what Micki is likely looking to do is increase both the volume and quality of the social media interactions.  If, though, these users are casual users, they are going to need entry points in order to have these interactions. Jenkins points out that one thing Idol did was to have a full show devoted completely to highlights and recaps. I think something like this might work well for the library - depending on what exactly they wish to get across to viewers. For example, they could highlight past effective Twitter "conversations" wherein users received positive retribution from interacting with the library. Having this sort of "highlighting" occur regularly - perhaps every other Friday - would provide entry points for casual users to understand how to become more involved.

Making the Most of the Cognitive Surplus

Source: f3llas.com

In his TEDTalk, Clay Shirky discusses the potentiality of the world's cognitive surplus. He uses the example of people pulling together to use their time and talents to create Ushahidi in the aftermath of the Kenya elections in 2007. He compares this use of time and talent to the use of time and talent it takes to make a lolcat, which though cute and sometimes entertaining only provides value to a specific community whereas the creation of Ushahidi created civic value. 



source (left): technologyreview.com; source (right): wired.com

According to Shirky, there are 1 trillion hours per year of participatory value available, yet what often comes of these participatory hours is not civic but communal value. His example of Ushahidi shows the large civic value that can come from a pooling of resources and talent. 

Shirky's talk was motivating and was something that I find difficult to disagree with. Obviously, we do have the capability to have large positive effects on society. I tend to latch onto ideas such as these rather easily and often idealistically, not looking into exactly how difficult it can be to pull off an effort such as Ushahidi. What seems to be a trend is that a huge disruption must occur first before people begin pooling resources of time and talent towards a greater cause such as Ushahidi. What I think would be great - again, here is the idealist in me speaking - is if we didn't have to wait for such disasters to occur before we started using the means available to us to provide civic value.

In Shirky's TEDTalk, he quotes Dean Kamen as saying, "free cultures get what they celebrate," and Shirky says that "to the degree that we can use cognitive surplus to create civic value, we can influence society." In Here Comes Everybody he shows the ability of free cultures to call attention to their values through social media, specifically weblogs. In one example, he notes that the "group attention" of bloggers brought to light segregationist comments that Trent Lott made at Strom Thurmond's birthday party that the press overlooked because the occasion they were covering was "salutary," not "political" (Shirky 62). By paying close attention and by refusing to allow the media to overlook something that these bloggers saw as important, they were able to bring to light something that could've very well been completely brushed over and not noticed by much of America. Rather, as Shirky notes, these "amateur reporters" transformed the story "from 'not worth covering' to 'breaking news'" (62). 

So, Shirky has clearly laid out examples of how the cognitive surplus has been used in the past to benefit society as a whole. He has demonstrated that it is at least possible and has shown the largeness of benefits that can come from such activity. Taking this idea to the next level requires looking at how it can be done. Howard's Design to Thrive  helps readers understand the "how to" aspect. In the latter section of his book, Howard provides a recapped version of his RIBS strategy and focuses on the idea that as social media become more "successful," they also take on more of a desire to be controlled - thus putting them at risk for later failures. In this section, Howard brings a focused reality into play, highlighting the idea that the more effective social media turn out to be, the more that governments/political forces wish to have control over an item. He mentioned how the US asked Twitter to delay an update to their software that would cause an interruption in service during the Iranian unrest. He then went on to show the top four areas he thought would be future battlefields in terms of controlling social media.

As I was thinking through these readings and the video, I began to think about our current assignment for the RCIT course: to help Clemson University's Cooper Library develop their social media. This task at the moment is a bit overwhelming to me because the library is already so involved in social media and seems to be doing a fairly good job thus far. So, I thought, "what else can be done?" From reading Howard's book, I think the first step is to go through and assess first: are all of the RIBS in place? If so, are they doing what they are intended to do? If the RIBS are doing their job, then the community/network will be healthy and thriving; if not, then they likely need to be amended. Howard mentioned many strategies for providing renumeration, influence, belonging, and significance inside of networks and communities, but they won't all work for all media. And they won't all work forever. So, changing these could be positive - but only if they're not working (or not yet in place).

After checking for the RIBS in the library's social media usage, the next thing I'd like to look for is their level of involvement with society. Are they creating a positive experience for the Clemson community as a whole? or just students? faculty? Are they doing anything that is impacting a larger portion of society, and are they doing anything to help people in the Clemson community pool their resources and cognitive surplus to create civic value? If so, I would like to find a way to highlight this and then to make it more effective. If not, perhaps that is the buy-in that the library needs in their social media to get more people involved in their efforts. I think that the library could really use their social media to help create a deeper social media literacy among students, first teaching them how to interact within the Clemson community. They need to show them how they want them to respond - what kind of responses they are looking for within these communities/networks. As they teach students how to use social media for more communal purposes, perhaps there will then be more civic engagement like that mentioned in Shirky's TEDTalk on cognitive surplus. 

TheSwagGuy Eats RIBS

The meat of Howard's Design to Thrive comes in the form of RIBS. Chapters four through seven focus on his four key elements of designing lasting social networks or online communities: renumeration, influence, belonging, and significance. In these sections, Howard not only defines these terms for his readers, but he also debunks myths of what others have termed them to be. What I like best, though, about the format of these chapters in particular is the practical nature of it and the straightforward "how-to"s he suggests for each principle.

In the "R" section, Howard discusses the principle of renumeration, explaining that users of a social network or online community expect a positive investment on time spent in the network or online community. I absolutely agree with this principle and doubt that many would disagree. What I think most people would disagree on, which Howard mentions in this section, is what type of renumeration people are expecting in the network or community. I think this largely depends on the type of site that is being designed. Howard points out that businesses often continuously think from a business mindset, either denying the user experience, adopting it after the functionality has fully developed (leaving little room for a good user experience to be developed), or look at renumeration from a purely business standpoint. Touching on this last point, Howard explains that all users are not looking for monetary renumeration; most are looking for an experience, and it is up to the creators of that site to determine what experience the users want and need and to do their best to not only help create it but to help facilitate it as well. He provides a checklist of techniques with suggestions as to how to increase the renumeration of the site, all of which I think are helpful. The one that I liked the best, though, was number nine: create a regular event.

One of the online communities that I have been a part of is Swagbucks, a group of users who earn "bucks" for searching the web, taking polls, taking surveys, and completing tasks. The Swagbucks staff do a good job of facilitating discussion on discussion boards and placing "codes" on the web for users to find on other networks like Facebook and Twitter to earn extra bucks as well. What they do best, though, I think, is create regular events. Each Friday, they have Mega Swagbucks Day, a day where Swagbucks users have a higher opportunity to earn bucks on searches. On this day, they send out several tweets and Facebook posts reminding users to search for extra Swagbucks, and they encourage other users to post, too. To encourage more user posts, they occasionally reward users with extra bucks just for posting that they won some Mega Swagbucks. (Click here for details on Mega Swagbucks Day).

Swagbucks' regular event - Mega Swagbucks Day - not only increases renumeration for their users, but it also helps to provide Howard's "I" influence element. As users post on sites such as Twitter and Facebook that they are winning Mega Swagbucks, other non-users become aware of the site and go to visit it for the first time. They will also likely be able to see Swagbucks members interacting directly with  TheSwagGuy or TheSwagGal, who will listen to and respond to feedback that users are giving on Facebook/Twitter/SwagBlog. Having this community extend into these social networks allows visitors the ability to see the influence that users are having on the community itself, something that will likely increase the number of users interested in being a part of the site. And, once they get to the Swagbucks site, users are not overwhelmed with what to do - there is a friendly video on the homepage that explains the gist of the community and explains how getting started works - allowing users to start interacting from the very beginning because they will understand how it works. (Click here for homepage with video).

Swagbucks also creates a sense of belonging among its users. While it uses some elements from Howard's book such as corporate branding and the establishment of symbols, colors, and visual identities, the primary way that they create belonging is through the level of communication that occurs between the individual users as well as the SwagTeam. Swagbucks is trying to increase its branding by encouraging members to use their bucks to purchase items with the SwagLogo on it such as T-shirts, mouse pads, desktop backgrounds, etc., but I have not seen much of that catch on yet.

Swagbucks' significance is shown to users through many of the techniques mentioned in Howard's chapter; however, there is a one additional technique that they would likely benefit from implementing. It needs to work on balancing the paradox of exclusivity. Right now, the site is open to anyone, and other users are practically begging people to sign up under them because of a short-term pyramid reward system. This takes away any element of exclusivity and makes the community less appealing. I'm not sure how Swagbucks can balance this better, though, because if they continue to offer the pyramid rewards for getting new users, then Swagbucks users will continue to invite others to join under their names, and it will continue to feel kind of needy. At the same time, this is a key marketing ploy - they have their users doing their legwork and inviting others while at the same time rewarding them by giving them bucks for it. Perhaps this is something that Swagbucks will have to live with as it is already doing many of the other techniques that Howard suggests in the significance section, primarily mobilizing its members and creating contests, games, and videos.

All in all, I think Howard's book provides excellent, practical strategies for providing a productive and enjoyable user experience within social networks and online communities. Those who are creating these types of sites would benefit from reading these techniques and implementing the ones that would best suit their users' needs. TheSwagGuy, I hope you're listening.

And, finally, if you'd like to sign up for Swagbucks, please do so, and by all means, use the following link: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/kbellby.