Dear all, I have absolutely enjoyed the discussion this past month and have
actually shared it with a group of young students in a Visual Culture class
here at Cornell. From the detailed descriptions of new media artists
difficulty in getting tech equipment to the nuanced cultural translations
that you have laid out before us, the discussion has been timely and
informative for all of us. I was fascinated by Isak's post on Saturday about
the young child who will go through life with the name Facebook (?!).
Indeed the reports that I have been following have painted a picture of a
vast network of both technological networks, Facebook, Twitter, Cable
television, cellphone technology, and even UPS, that have allowed incredibly
brave, courageous, and committed citizens to rise up for what they believe
to be injustices. Obviously the younger generation has been inspired to
rise up against years of what they know to be antiquated ways of
governmental abuse. I am incredibly humbled and inspired though not by not
the technological tools being used, but the people who are using that
technology in innovative, creative, and inspiring ways. If there were not
people on the ground willing to confront the regime's they are facing, no
technological innovation would have been or will be successful. The
videotape feeds of Egyptian citizens locking arms to prevent intrusion into
Liberation Square was an image that for me that especially memorable. Here
in the states both Tim and I have been involved in grassroots politics. If
only the citizens of democratized countries such as the US could become as
committed in the process as what we have been witnessing in the MIddle East.
I'm so sad to report that so many neighbors as well as students are
complacent or too busy to become involved in the process.
Many years ago I attended a information panel for an artist's granting
panel. The first item of business was simply a question...Are you
registered to vote? This granting agency wanted all of the attendees to
become actively engaged with a government who would be in control of how
much granting money and support was distributed. My hope is that our Middle
Eastern friends will inspire all of us to remember that active participation
in governmental processes is imperative to keep it relevant and just in
meeting the needs of its people.
Later tonight we will be closing out this month's discussion on empyre and
welcoming Christina McPhee to introduce a new discussion topic tomorrow. I'm
inviting all of you to make wrap up posts and encourage all of our
subscribers to chime in for one more day of discussion, New Media and the
Middle East.
Renate
On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 3:49 PM, Isak Berbic isakber...@yahoo.com wrote:
http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/family-parenting/man-names-his-firstborn-daughter-‘facebook’-blog-17-yahoo-lifestyles.html
A young Egyptian man has decided to call his first-born daughter Facebook
in a tribute to the social media site’s role in his country’s political
revolution.
Even though initial Facebook pages by Google executive Wael Ghonim and
others were a significant means of information dissemination and a rally for
protest, I find it over-insistent that Facebook was the most significant
medium in Egypt and the other recent protests across the Middle East.
I would think that mobile phone text messaging is the more relevant and
powerful catalyst for the organizing of assembly that is occurring. This is
how people came together, and this is also how the Egyptian government
rallied for supporters to go and demonstrate their own numbers.
On the other hand television is major since the whole country came out into
the streets on the day they heard of Hosni Mubarak's resignation on the
state channel. Only at this point did everyone feel the safety of the mass
and the ubiquity of the revolution.
Critical Mass is also an interesting example where text messaging and fliers
are the dominant means of communication. (At least 3-4 years ago it was)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass
In my opinion there is something suspicious about the fact that western
media channels keep referring to the happenings in the Middle East as
Facebook Revolutions. I can assure you that while this kind of title was
mentioned on the television channels in the Middle East, by no means did it
become a constant branded title.
During the winter holiday season of 2010/2011 I was watching a North
American television station: CNN, or MSMBC; and a few times daily they
reported on FedEx and the enormous historical count of packages they are
delivering. They did a story LIVE from a delivery truck. They talked about
the recipients joy as they open the present inside the purple and white box.
These last few weeks, the stories on the snow storms in the US north-east
and mid-west are accompanied by a Home Depot worker (an american hardware
store) telling us how to operate a roof rake and get the dangerous
