MDST110 Electronic Coursebook for Students
Information Technology and Digital Media Studies
Prof. David Golumbia
University of Virginia
Fall 2004
 
MDST110 main page — MDST110 syllabus

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21. Digital Selves: Homepages, Blogs, Genealogies, Romances

Mon Nov 21, 2004

Presenting the self (or not) to others (or not) in the digital realm. A guest lecture by Jim Cocola.

Digital forms such as homepages, blogs, social networks and matchmaking services allow for new manifestations of identity. Might these forms re-shape our notions of individuality and self?

I. Homepages

Predecessors: Advertisements, Analog Bulletin Boards, Brochures, Buttons, Car Bumpers, Dorm Room Walls, Photo Albums, Posters...
Look For: Code, Content, Design, URL, Use of Images and Links...
Purposes: Advertising, marketing, proselytizing,Êself-aggrandizement, self-effacement, self-expression, self-promotion, spreading the love (or the luv), staying in touch...
Things to Wonder About: Who's the public? What's the purpose? What information is priviliged, and why? What's the difference between a homepage and a start page? Why do you / don't you have one? What do homepages do to community? What does it say that we can learn more about a given community by culling homepages than we can by belonging to that community?
See Also: Alexa's Global Top 500 Web Sites

II. Blogs

Predecessors: Debate Clubs, Diaries, Digital Bulletin Board Postings, Editorials, E-Mail Forwards, Letters, Journals, Photo Albums, Stump Speeches...
Look For: Blogroll, Content, Homepage, Interface, Political Style, Prose Style, URL, Use of Images and Links...
Purposes: Converting the masses, defending the masters, hatching conspiracies/conspiracy theories, preaching to the converted, proselytizing to the unconverted, self-aggrandizement, self-effacement, self-expression, self-promotion, spreading the love (or the luv), staying in touch, testing the waters....
Things to Wonder About: Who's the public? What's the purpose? What information is priviliged, and why? What's the difference between a blog and a homepage? When does a blog start to function as a homepage, or as a singles ad? What's the difference between the discourse on a blog and the discourse on a digital bulletin board?
See Also: Armenoush Aslanian-Persico on political blogs; Courtney Daly on the blog medium; Gloria Huang on blogging communities; Joseph Shaver on blogs in the workplace; Bryan Smith on types of weblogs
Coca-Cola
Friendster

III. Genealogies

Predecessors: Alumni Organizations, Blacklists, Classified Ads, Fraternal Organizations, Fraternities and Sororities, Social Clubs, Tapped Phones...
Look For: Access, Clustering, Interface, Membership, Privacy, Use of Images and Links...
Purposes: Getting your swerve on, Hatching conspiracies/conspiracy theories, poking and/or flirting, self-aggrandizement, self-effacement, self-expression, self-promotion, spreading the love (or the luv), staying in touch, styling and profiling, testing the waters, watching other people get their swerve on....
Things to Wonder About: Who's the public? What's the purpose? What information is priviliged, and why? What's the difference between a dating service and a social network? What kinds of digital geneaologies might exist beyond those that are visible to the public?
See Also: Defne Gunay on [thefacebook]; Caroline Henze-Gongola on [thefacebook]
group of singles
lavalife.com
couple
ldssingles.com

IV. Romances

Predecessors: The Bar Scene, Blind Dates, Brothels, Classified Ads, Company Picnics, Church Socials, School Reunions, Spin The Bottle, Square Dances...
Look For: Access, Clustering, Interface, Level of Autonomy, Membership, Privacy, Use of Images and Links...
Purposes: Getting your swerve on, finding a life partner, finding a partner, low-cost psychoanalysis, poking and/or flirting, self-aggrandizement, self-effacement, self-expression, self-promotion, spreading the love (or the luv), staying in touch, styling and profiling, testing the waters, trolling for fish in the sea, watching other people get their swerve on....
Things to Wonder About: Who's the public? What's the purpose? What information is priviliged, and why? What does it mean to 'use' one of these services? What sorts of economic, cultural and political dynamics are at work in 'adult,' singles and matrimonial services? What sorts of gender and sexuality dynamics are at work (or at play) in 'adult,' singles and matrimonial services? And what, after all, are the differences between an 'adult' service, a singles service, and a matrimonial service? Is it always possible to distinguish between the three? To the extent that distinctions can be made, to what extent should 'adult' services be regulated? Do singles and matrimonial services facilitate alterity and/or commonality? Do they fetishize alterity and/or commonality? How do parameters set for various criteria shape membership? What's a 5'9" 25 year-old to do? What's a girl from the Ukraine to do?
See Also: Matt Boucher on Online Dating; Mark Bruner on Mail Order Brides; Kyle Estep on Finding 'Adult' Friends

Study Questions

  1. What is the self? Is the digital self somehow less unitary than the "real life" self?
  2. What can the formats of homepages, blogs and social networks teach us about the selves who create and inhabit them?
  3. How might blogs and social networking and monitoring tools affect the political realm?
  4. How do social networking and matchmaking technologies amputate and/or extend social skills?

Reading for next class


Last Modified by Jim Cocola 2004.11.22 12.30