Notes From Henry Jenkins Talk January 10, Concordia University
The Transmedia Generation : Spreadable Media, Fan Activism, and Participatory Learning
political implications of new media
understanding the political lives of American youth in relation to participatory and new medias
zombie as an important icon for thinking about the protest – the metaphor is effective (affective) (undead, soulless, capitalist corruption)
visual attraction that grows interest
example: “occupy sesame event”
people embracing, on their own, commercially produced culture, but then reflecting on it with ownership
online activism/on the ground activism and back again (hybridity)
example: remixes, mash up made of the pepper spray cop from the occupy movement (created a global awareness)
process of pepper spray cop is the basis of book – Spreadable Media
“bottom up circulation” + grass roots circulation
example: Winnipeg health minister wanting to eat his cookies, remixed – memes circulating led to his resignation
memes become powerful and give mainstream media little choice to ignore them
circulation vs. distribution
circulation = hybrid and emerging, people are shifting how media flows
networked circulation of material
Neal Stephenson – viral media (“self-replicating information”)
Viral + language that surrounds us, gives up a sense of control, individual agency (deeply disempowering)
People gaining power to control the circulation of media content and culture
Not talking exclusively about Web 2.0
Participatory media is more expanded
Web 2.0 is a business model, it commodifys participatory media – we should be critical of the neo-liberal agenda that governs the Web 2.0 business
Distinction between participation in media vs. participation through media – the tensions are what we have to think about
Resources: Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Dream by Stephen Duncomb, Participatory Culture Handbook, Commodity Activism by Roopali Mukherjee and Sarah Banet-Weiser
Youth and Participatory Politics (website)
Case study – Invisible Children and KONY 2012
Scale of grassroots communication is global and huge
Focused flow of content, if it’s not picked up by mainstream media
“above all share this movie online”
culture makers / policy makers (headshots for KONY 2012 – look it up!)
social flow data-mapping
decentralizing where messages come from
passing a video along does not make you an activist, it gets you involved in the conversation and allows for a teachable moment
“it was spreadable, but not drillable” – politics of dispersal
digital natives vs. digital immigrants – highlyloaded words, a problematic metaphor (in a post-colonial society) – it erases value of the differences in experiences
“a more participatory culture” – we must think about those groups that are being left out
adults and youth interact with each other as a collaborative, non or less hierarchical way, adults can “watch youths backs” – to say a adult has no role to play online erases their wisdom and undermines youth’s respect for their experiences
“transmedia storytelling” – video games, podcasts, comic books, etc all support the same franchise (ie. Buffy)
"So You want to change the world? Okay, what do you want to change about the world?"
‘cultural acupuncture’
Example: 4CHAN
history of appropriation, reappropriation, appropriating the appropriated, etc.
Malcolm Gladwell’s critique of Twitter revolution was wrong
Technology and communication in social revolutions
All groups turn about all communication channels to their own use (not just one technology is used to spread ideas)
Those behind the digital divide are still innovative about their own use of technology
Example: I Am Undocumented
There are limits to the activist model presented here
Youth and Participatory Politics website says that 84% of youth say they would benefit by learning to how to vet online
Resource: Designing With Teacher
Resource: PLAY! Participatory Learning and You
Spreadability (spread wide) vs. drillability (dig deep) - Jason Mittel
Depth of content makes information relevant and meaningful
Hopefully the result of spreading would be that more people dig deep, more people have access to (and interest in) the information that is out there
All of the languages around these ideas are rooted in the language of Web 2.0
“authentic” – ambivalence, branding (as in marketing speak) has become the dominant language
what are the impacts without mass market circulation?
Tactics?
There are a lot of choices we make that indicate acts of agency (what to communicate, what platform to communicate with, who to communcate with, etc.)
The authour controls his or her story until it’s been put out into the world, the artist gives his/her creation to the public and gives up control (fair use, open culture)
The remix is very different from piracy, remix usually increases value for a creative production / rights’ holders
Central paradox with bringing participatory learning into the schools is that it is risky to undertake in the public system
Schools are the great equalizer (Dewey) but that are also regulated by the state
Participatory learning practices are risky for teachers
We wire the classroom to have online access, but hinder the computer (by banning social media sites, and network culture) – a good example is an English class studying Moby Dick, but not being able to do research online because the title says “Dick”
Focus on after school!!!!!
Create conversations with teachers about participatory learning
Can’t have a one size fits all model for this sort of thing
Example: The Dream Act (Obama)
Causal vs. conjectural impacts of activism online and social change (they can only be measured conjecturally)
Discursive exchanges, opening curiosity, intrinsic motivation
Common space, common interest, shared activites, being able to bring people together
The academy is traditionally strong on critique and weak on imagining possibilities
Turning politics into popular culture we can access the analogies and move into the deeper discourse
People use the language of popular culture to talk about their concerns
“digital networked politics”
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