Comments on: woah…. omg. reflections on mega-viewership

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 14:38:02 +0000

I just have one observation about all this: Danah, I hope you’re celebrating.

Any durable system (electronic, social or otherwise) responds when it perceives a vital error(s). Danah will always get a traffic spike on articles like this one for exactly the same reason why rank beginners can’t get published in peer-reviewed journals and new bloggers can’t get a press pass. She’s famous for being an expert on youth culture. If she says something that isn’t precise — if she writes in public and without citations — she’s gonna get whooped. Just look up negative feedback in your favorite encyclopedia.

So Danah: this kind of brouhaha may be one of the bigger compliments your peers and your subjects ever pay you. And as long as you mostly write with precision and support from your academic diaphragm, you may be able to call up this kind of debate again. Huh. Innaresting. And almost… tactical.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 14:36:06 +0000

I just have one observation about all this: Danah, I hope you’re celebrating.

So Danah: this kind of brouhaha may be one of the bigger compliments your peers and your subjects ever pay you. And as long as you mostly write with precision and support from your academic diaphragm, you’ll be able to call up this kind of debate almost at whim. Huh. Innaresting.

And almost cool.

By: Andreah

Andreah — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:31:25 +0000

Wow. “DARA” is a bitch. Bitch. Bitch. Bitch. And what a great range of comparison…Lindsay Lohan. Hah. Oh and it’s just great when people have to bring someone’s APPEARANCE INTO ACCOUNT — because that REALLY helps us gauge judgment !!!! HOWEVER — in the end it helps judge those who do compare someone’s lOoKs to their actions/demeanor/thoughts …idiot. At least danah acts like a college graduate.

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 14:48:39 +0000

danah, the essay’s unfinished state (and the vulnerability you showed by posting it in that state and the obvious care you took with caveats) contributes a lot to its approachability; so that that level it probably contributes to the activity level to some extent … This kind of storm often happens whenever there are insightful observations of hegemony and other forms of privilege: some people immediately deny it and try to find all kinds of ways (including distortion) to attack and discredit the message, and at the same time others for whom the message resonates get really excited and jump into the discussion in more positive and proactive ways. Well done!

McKenzie, if you look around Facebook you’ll find quite a few members of the ruling class, very often with accounts using their corporate e-mail addresses. Especially with the level of indirection and control over information visibility a profile gives you, an environment that feels “safe”, the advantages of being glimpsable often outweigh the disadvantages.

jon

By: alan p

alan p — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 11:42:07 +0000

I read the original essay…understand that its draft and so on, but I do think the structure of the essay and the way the MySpace demographic was expressed facilitated the misunderstanding / misinterpretation etc etc….I’m hoping to be constructive, I assume that was not deliberate.

Anyway, was at a very interesting talk yesterday where a (semi) alternate view was put, that the insane risk culture is forcing youth to socialise online – hence the rise of social nets – and that MySpace is popular with kids as abn out there self expresion tool, Facebook is popular with parents and preppies because its…safe and square.

Article is here on http://www.broadstuff.com

ps noli illegitimi carborundorum etc etc

By: Robin Reid

Robin Reid — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 15:22:52 +0000

Here from Henry’s post about your work–I am fascinated by the short bits I’ve read so far and look forward to reading more!

By: McKenzie Wark

McKenzie Wark — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 23:06:31 +0000

Great paper, revealing discussion. Whether it is academic or not is just academic. An argument has to stand on its own. And this one does — until, of course, there’s new data.

Very interesting how talk about class collapses immediately into talk, not so much about race as about status. And depressing that for a lot of people being (accused of) working class affiliation can only be connected to stigma. For a lot of people there’s no positive way of marking it.

Only one thing i would take issue with. Strictly speaking the college student working in the coffee shop for 14K and the immigrant janitor are both working class. The basis of class is the wage relation. Yes, of course, the college kid has a shot at escaping form *this kind* of labor, but mostly just into other kinds of labor. Its about intra-class distinctions, for the most part.

Are the ruling class on Facebook? I doubt it. Or if so very discreetly. Uniquely, this one rules by not being visible.

By: Javier Sanchez

Javier Sanchez — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 08:18:03 +0000

Well, yes. Without our critical thinking and communication skills, we’re just hairless apes.

By: Steve Price

Steve Price — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 13:14:38 +0000

You should be congratulated on actually going out and talking with people. Most researchers (in all fields) are too scared or lazy to actually do that. Of course, statistically and methodologically it is problematic, but the amount of depth and information available in a well conducted interview can’t be gotten by any other means.

Your post on class and FB/MS reminded me of the better insights (ideology aside) in Worlds of Pain: Life in the Working-Class Family by Lillian B. Rubin, which consists of interviews with Oakland working class families.

Steve

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:09:10 +0000

I thought your piece was very thoughtful as well, and most people I talk about it to find it interesting. I’m sure I wasn’t offended because I know you, your work and your tone of voice (which is often lost on the internet). I think people get offended when they’re forced to look at their actions and behaviors from a third-party vantage point, or from an aggregate view. The aggregate view being class or race, or economic status.