Twilight of The Leaders

“When we forge a link… What are the ripples?”

The above question is the origin of my research. The video “Twilight of The Leaders” is a representation of what I discovered. My original focus for research surrounds the social movements and revolution that occurred within Egypt. New forms of social media are establishing platforms for collective action. As I watched the occurrences in Egypt, I began to ask another question. “Where are the leaders within the social movement?” My scope for social movements had to be broadened historically. The video I have created is developed through a historical study about forms of “medium” and how we us said medium for social movements.

Through my research, I discovered a trend that moves toward the disappearance of a single ‘unit' leader. My blog develops the historical instances in which medium shifts the agency of individuals. If the medium changes, then so does the approach. We are truly redefining 'how we operate and how we make decisions' as individuals and groups. This new dynamic has fantastic outcomes, but it also has its caveats. Through a systems comparison, I attempted to depict a representation of social media change and its effects on agency.

“Theory suggests that the accuracy of a decision often increases with the number of decision makers” (Conradt).

“However, there are three caveats about the benefits of decision sharing. First, if the abilities of potential decision makers vary widely, it might still be better to listen to one 'expert' (List). Second, there is the danger of information cascades, whereby decision makers no longer contribute independent information but instead amplify shared misconceptions (Sumpter and Pratt). Finally, in many decisions, the goals of individual decision makers differ: that is, different members of the decision-making group favour different outcomes” (Conradt and Roper).

Sources:

Abstracting Reality by Mark J. Wolf

Beyond Boundaries by Miguel Nicolelis

Collapse by Jared Diamond

The Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer

Democracy in animal groups: a political science perspective by Christian List

Group decision-making in animals by Larissa Conradt and T. J. Roper

Mediated by Tomas De Zengotita

The Medium is The MASSAGE by Marshall Mcluhan

Quorum responses and consensus decision making by David Sumpter and Stephen Pratt

Revolution and War by Karl Marx

Smart Mobs by Howard Reingold

When it Pays to Share Decisions by Larissa Conradt

Wired for Chang Remix: Session 2 - Dispatches From the Wired World: Technology for Social Good

Academic Vaccination Draft 2

Update to VOST2011 Project:

Quote from Parker Palmer's "The Courage To Teach": The mythical dominant model of truth-knowing and truth-telling has four major elements.

1. Objects of knowledge that reside "out there" somewhere, pristine in physical or conceptual space, as described by the "facts" in a given field.
2. Experts, people trained to know these objects in their pristine form without allowing their own subjectivity to slop over onto the purity of the objects themselves. This training transpires in a far-off place called graduate school, whose purpose is so throughly to obliterate one's sense of self that one becomes a secular priest, a safe bearer of the pure objects of knowledge.
3. Amateurs, people without training and full of bias, who depend on the experts for objective or pure knowledge of the pristine objects in question.

Remix My Video Link

Academic Vaccination Draft 1

Video Project for Digital Ethnography:

Remix My Video Link

The Script

Below is the tentative script for my Mediated Culture Video:

• (0:00-0:15) Introduce concept of Revolution with multiple edits from CC revolution video
• (0:15-0:30) Past images and explanation of successes
• (0:30-0:45) Show current images of revolution movements
• (0:45-1:00) Place "Knock Your Head Off Idea" in an elegant form
• (1:00-1:15) Explore the new revolutions... possible losses and successes due to new media techniques of revolution
  
• (1:15-2:00) Discuss "group decisions" and scientific data for "group collaborations" through new forms of communication.
• (2:00-2:30) Where are the leaders today? Is it important to have leaders?
• (2:30-3:00) Create final question and possible intro into next collaboration video of Egypt group.

This is a video from "60 Min" about the Egyptian revolution and Wael Ghonim:

KYHOI: New forms of Media = Shifts in Leadership Dynamics

My research has been currently focused on past revolutions (both successes and failures). My previous blog post for Mediated Cultures is my actual KYHOI proposal. I intend to further this study with the book resources that I am currently reading. Ultimately this is an update on my research and further support of my thesis.

Recently within class we have been discussing the Twitter revolution in Iran. Neda's death on camera was the initial spark for the fire of the online movement. This first video acts as a story for the actual events that took place.



And this is the real event (Be Aware: Video is blocked due to youtube flagging of inappropriate content. You will have to provide your age to view the video.)



The 2009-2o10 Iran revolution movement provoked global awareness. Twitter became the tool for revolution. Yet, it is important to discuss what the tool was actually used for. Jared Keller wrote an article stating, "But it was the critical role of Twitter as a lightning rod for international attention that established it as a tool for political communication rather than outright organization. Iran's post-election unrest was the micro-blogging service's baptism by fire as a means to observe, report, and record, real-time, the unfolding of a crisis." Keller is developing an interesting insight, and it challenges the online-offline dynamic. Is the realm of online truly a depiction of the offline movement?

Even Twitter's actual role was questioned by Charles Krauthammer, "Twitter cannot stop a bullet. There was a lot of romantic outpouring here thinking that Facebook is going to stop Revolutionary Guards. It doesn't. Thuggery, a determined regime that is oppressive, that will shoot, almost always wins." This challenges the uprisings that we are seeing today, and it provokes detailed exploration of social media and its use in social movements. Social media today has become much more dynamic. The composition of video/text/audio/mapping/real-time/etc. creates a rich equation for social movement. Yet, I argue that the focus on a leader (person or idea) establishes a focus for change.

Without a focus... are the social movements of today a result of chaos? Can a structure change if it is tossed and turned? Or does change arise from finding a weak beam within the structure and targeting a collapse (a focused change)?

The Future of Ed Reform?

What is the future of education reform? How are we being educated today? What can we do to improve? There is a major dialectic evolving from the clash between the industrialization form of education and todays "linked information" education. Neil Postman's list that defines the academic realm in his 1969 book, "Teaching as a Subversive Activity", is still relevant to the university setting we see today.

• Passive acceptance is a more desirable response to ideas than active criticism.
• Discovering knowledge is beyond the power of the students.
• Recall is the highest form of intellectual achievement, aand the collection of unrelated "facts" is the goal of education.
• The voice of authority is to be trusted and valued more than independent judgement
• One's own ideas and those of one's classmates are inconsequential.
• Feelings are irrelevant in education.
• A subject is something you "take" and, when you have taken it, you have "had" it, and if you have "had" it, you are immune and need not take it again.
• There is always a single right answer.

The video at the top of this post exposes the redundancy of education reform. The author is correct in asking: Will education reform be any different this time? I would argue that it already is. Education is already within flux due to its dependency on material culture. Technology is slowly invading the college campuses, and the students are manipulating the tools to achieve academic standards. The standards are starting to become irrelevant, and a students success in the world, outside the campus, is hinging on their capacity for new media literacy.

It is no longer purely "what you know."

It is "what you know, and how you learn more."

The infrastructure of the barrel is changing (Environment -> Infrastructure -> Social Structure -> Superstructure). The infrastructure change is causing cracks in our "Academic" model. The superstructure components (Values, Ideas, Concepts) are solidified in old perceptions of academia. Reformation is necessary and already happening. What can we do to solidify the structure?

What can we do to update an old system?... This

Where Are the Leaders?

The major question that I have created within the Mediated Culture project deals with forging links and the ripples that arise from connections. The best approach for understanding the process of the Egyptian revolution is to study the leadership dynamic. I am attempting to understand this dynamic starting at the origin of movement. I am currently studying other social movements for comparison, and I routinely find the prevalence of a leader. Mahatma Gandhi was a prominent leader during the Indian civil rights movement (1893-1914) and struggle for independence from the British during (1915-1945). The direction of the movement was dictated by its leader in both form and goal.



The above example is just one of many. Another arises from the civil rights movement with the leader known as Martin Luther King Jr. These are movements for rights of a people, and they are not so different in purpose from the Egyptian revolution.

The medium is the major contrast between movements then and movements now. An example of a new media movement arises out of Burma VJ. This is one of the first major examples of video in the hands of the people, raw footage, real image, a lens into reality.



Burma VJ is a starting point of change in revolution. The lens of a video camera changes the focus. The definition of a leader becomes skewed, and the focus on an individual becomes more variable. Burma VJ starts with a leader (Aung San Suu Kyi) and the movement shifts to the leadership of Buddhist Monks. This shift is descriptive of the individual-to-masses movement. During the shift process, videographers are continually placing power within the people. I believe that this is the development that arises within the Egyptian Revolution. New forms of social media are placing power within the masses.

The leadership dynamics have completely changed, and they are descriptive of the development of a new medium. I have been researching the leader figures within the Egyptian movement, and one major figure is Wael Ghonim. Yet, his leadership is not manifested within the old form of discussion. He is leading through twitter and Facebook. His statements are confined to 140 characters and manipulated by the links we forge. He works for Google. He is composed of the masses.

We are truly redefining how we operate and how we make decisions. The concept of agency is changing. Everyone has a say in the choices we make, and the focus shifts from a leader to the people. Is this a beneficial dynamic? Can we operate within this new realm?

More to come on decisions within groups...

Re/Revolution

This is a trailer for my research project in a Mediated Cultures class Anth522. I would like to thank Al Jazeera for the Creative Commons video. I would also like to thank Tryad for the music titled Alone.

I have been watching videos online about the revolution within Egypt. The video that I constructed is an attempt to create a conversation starter for how new media has Re/mediated Revolution. This video is a proposal and it contemplates the questions:

• What do we touch with mouse buttons?
  
• Within the interwebs, What ripples are created by a link?
• What actions are we endorsing/inhibiting through new social media?
• How invasive is social media today? And is that a good thing?

Thought Stream:
If we know all that we know... Does that give us the ability to take action? Or do we stand idly by? While feeling act-less emotions...

The world is in constant flux, and our new media awareness resolves the ripples. Yet every ripple we try to change... another begins

(On-Off)Line

Video Research: This video does well to depict the origin of the Tunisia revolution and the rise of the Egyptian movement. There is a lot of youtube video that will be useful for our project concept. During my group library meeting today, we discussed ideas for our movie trailers. Our technique consisted of attempting to confine a research idea/interest/area into a single word or set of words. We each created the subject of our individual study, and the major themes that we developed are:

• Origin of Revolution Movement
• Use of Anonymity within Revolution
• Interview of individuals on the ground for cultural perspective and comparison to mediated perspective (What is happening offline?)
• Twitter and Technology manipulation to establish useful tools for revolution movements (How does the social movement dictate the technology?)
• Changes in brutality due to the glass dots (Revolution can be seen globally and it can be difficult to isolate)
• Mouse clicks start a revolution

Book Research: I have found a book titled "Abstracting Reality: Art, Communication, and Cognition in the Digital Age" by Mark J. P. Wolf. It does an awesome job at targeting this concept: "First, the individual has a new role, as a participant rather than mere observer, and finds himself or herself dealing with others in a similar role" (pg 183). This is an exact description of what is seen for the revolution movements. Individuals are now participating! The participation that is evident online is also occurring offline, and it establishes a new form of mediation. This book also targets how "Community-structured media does not replace audience-structured media, it displaces it, competing for a person's time, and as a venue for news, entertainment, education, and so forth" (pg 183). The acts of revolution have completely changed because of the community-structure. I am excited about this book because it is the perfect description for abstracting reality with relation to (Art, Communication, and Cognition), but it will be great for a framework of depicting the revolution movement. How does a Revolution fit into abstracting reality?

Re/search

My research professor always says: "Research is built upon repetition. Otherwise, it would be called search." So let the adventure begin!

I am currently in the process of contacting College Unbound. I would like to involve them and their vision in the VOST2011 project. It would be interesting to see their success and student comments about the program.

Research Plan:
Week 1 (Feb 21-27): What are the boxes on campus? How far do they extend and what do they enclose? Delve into the book "Mediated".

Week 2 (Feb 28-March 6): Understand the concepts behind un-schooling and determine if I want to represent it within my video. Determine if Ken Robinson is applicable for video voice-over. Start mixing music if audio cannot be found.

Week 3 (March 7-13): Read "The Saturated Self" by Kenneth Gergen and "Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity" by Charles Taylor. Manipulate concepts within my thesis.

Week 4 (March 14-20): Design video clips that represent box schooling and extend it past the department walls. Finish previous week's readings and music mixing.

Week 5 (March 21-27): Focus on video design and craft a solid storyline.

Please feel free to add any ideas for my future research!

War Going On For Your Mind

Motion Design!!!!! This is the medium I intend to use for further expression of my student vision. Not only is this video mesmerizing, it also has the perfect music!

There is a war going on for your mind.



Ideas:

• Questions professors are asked
• Questions students "want" to ask
• Hierarchy of courses
• Ideas of great minds
  

Beginning Tunisia Revolution

From the beginning, my group for Dr. Wesch's Mediated culture class has been interested in studying social movements. We want to know the extent in which online movements become offline. Originally the plan was to study mediated culture within England because we have a known contact with a background in that location. Although, the pervasive concept of studying "social movement" drastically warped our original plan of research.

Our first group meeting occurred last week, and during our conversation we became captivated by the Egyptian Revolution that was stimulated by the events in Tunisia. Through our research, we discovered this article that describes how the Tunisia Revolution began. One of the major factors in the revolution was breaking the barrier of the media blackout. This article provides a perfect description of the origin, and we intend to further study the development/cause/effect. There now exists a research wiki and a diggo group for this project.

We live in a world where the online/offline dynamic can create this:



What does it really mean to be mediated? What does the click of a mouse button do?

Enclosed Thought

My first video, Class/Room Mediated, is an experiment with how the classroom is formated. "Enclosed Thought" is an idea that I approached while walking home from school one day. As I was walking, I realized that the university has its own structure outside of the classroom. I asked the question, "What does a wall do in a campus setting?" My mind exploded with a new video concept!

The audio of this video was the true adventure. I found that my interview with another collaborator did not retain the idea that I intended to express. I basically had to interview myself, which is why this video is also the culmination of my first vlogging experience.

As I began to vlog, I realized that talking to a video camera is near impossible! I can talk to a friend, to a mentor, to a class of 20 students/peers, and even to a lecture hall of 200 students/peers. The video camera acted as an arrow, and it had the potential to pierce my deepest thoughts. This intimidated me and caused me to continually criticize myself. I attempted to work with the camera and treat it like a peer, but I eventually had to improvise.

I have this Beanie Baby lemur that my mom gave to me and his name is Peepers. Peepers became my peer and through him I was able to vlog. It is interesting how conversation is embedded within human interaction. The other day, my philosophy teacher asked us about the masks that we wear. Is there a mask for vlogging? Because I could not find mine!

Thanks to Stereofloat for the awesome music titled Crashed!

VOST2011 Chronicle Teacher/Student Talk

The VOST2011 project was mentioned in The Chronicle on January 26, 2011. As I was perusing the recent blog posts of my fellow collaborators, I realized that pataphyz was having awesome dialogue within the comments of the Chronicle article. I began to comment on her blog and complement her for taking the initiative. Although, as I was about to hit save I realized that I was playing the role of a passive observer. I AM a part of the VOST2011 project, and I too have a say in its criticism. I decided to take a role in the conversation! I decided to take a role at 4:18 am. Slightly ridiculous time for commenting, but you can now see my post as dbn777 on the Chronicle article. A movement cannot move if we continue to stay idle.

Remix!

This is the first example of a remix for the VOST2011 project. It is a trailer for what we intend to create. We currently have some great video to mix, but it would great so see others join the conversation! Feel free to add any clip that displays your vision as a student. Just upload the video to youtube and tag it with VOST2011. Here is the REMIX! Get excited for more!

Class/Room Mediated

"The most important intellectual ability man has yet developed - the art and science of asking questions - is not taught in school. Moreover, it is not "taught" in the most devastating way possible: by arranging the environment so that significant question asking is not valued." - Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner

This video is a composed of both question and solution. It is easy to witness the problem proposed by Postman and Weingartner. The problem perpetuates when a student opens a lecture hall door and sits down to be a passive observer instead of an active creator. We, as students, do not have to continue to observe! We need to initiate questions in the lecture setting. We need to help dictate our learning. Questions exist with every individual, and it is important to establish a platform for the pursuit of solutions. I believe that the university needs to be the platform.

Contrary to what most think, students are not looking for entertainment in the theater seating of a lecture hall. When students enter the room, we are searching for meaning. We can find entertainment with the click of a button and the vibration of a phone. Instead, students are looking for purpose in a subject. It is easy to see that purpose exists in a classroom, but for some reason it has become routine and structured on point rankings. Success within a class is determined by the number of scan-tron bubbles accurately filled in. We can do better.

Create a meaningful platform for discovery. A teacher becomes one because of their passion for learning. A teacher stands at the front of a lecture hall for a reason. Teachers teach because they find meaning in their subject. Show the students why you stand there! Show the students what you found! Give us your questions! Let us chase solutions!

The Visions of Students Today - Call for Submissions

The story starts with a vision of the students.



Now it is our turn. This is the beginning of my Digital Ethnography project for 2011. I have already started brainstorming video concepts for the student's point of view. Here is the call to action!



So please join me in telling the story. Below is my current list of concepts for video:
• Lecture Hall Structure
• Slides are continually replaced on a screen, creating an overlapping memory
• Spending time reading information that is already taught in class
• Learning in the lab
• Library
• What a powerpoint is to me
• Multiple Choice Scantron
• Students Texting