Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 is to appear in theaters next Friday. Say what you want about Moore (i certainly have issues with his work), but get out there and support the film. His battle to get it to theaters has been rife with censorship and unnecessary drama due to the radical anti-Bush content contained in the film. Supporting a film on opening weekend is a political statement; it says to distributers and the public that this movie matters so much that we are willing to put our dollars where our mouths are. For that reason, i believe that everyone should get out there next weekend, see it and make up their own minds. Do not let censorship reign.

I’m utterly fascinated with the CaPiTaLiZaTiOn that i see coming out of teen Friendster profiles and blogs in Singapore. But i so desperately want to know more. Does anyone know?

1) How does this work? Do people use the shift key to get that or is it somehow built in?
2) Why is it used? What does it mean?
3) Who all uses it? Age, location, etc.

There are two researchers who i think absolutely everyone doing social anything should know: Stanley Milgram and Erving Goffman. Thus, i was overjoyed when i learned that there’s a biography on Milgram (tx David). Many folks know Milgram for his work on small worlds (later called “6 degrees” by others). Milgram also developed a set of psychological experiments (written up in Obedience to Authority) that helped show how people will always follow any orders they are given and that those in power are so removed from the situation that they can demand horrifying tasks that will then be executed (think Nazis… or maybe a prison scandal). In some of his lesser known work, Milgram wrote about ideas like familiar strangers where people who recognize each other build up a very interesting social bond. Some of his short essays are collected in The Individual In A Social World

Oh, do i understand Lessig’s circumstance. I made a decision that having a life is more important to me than getting to all of my email and blogs. It’s summer. I want to go outside. I want to have interesting conversations. I can’t do my work without having a life and i can’t have a life if i’m only working. I must strike a balance. I always think it’s a bit odd when people purport to be social scientists who never leave their office or cultural theorists who never watch mainstream media.

On Friday, NewFangle will be doing its big opening with some fantastic artwork from some great folks (including my friend Spot Draves).

Also on Friday, my friend Ben Chun will be spinning at to help support TrueDemocracy.US and JustVote.org

And on next Tuesday, there will be a benefit for Kerry at Sno-Drift (1830 3rd Street).

It’s time to get political.

I will (most likely) be speaking at four different events this summer, some of which may be relevant to folks:

Supernova – June 24-25, Santa Clara (CA, USA)

CMU Alumni Panel: “The New Phenomenon of Social Networks: Social, Commercial, and Political/Civic Implications” – July 22, Mountain View (CA, USA)

BlogOn: The Business of Social Media – July 23, Berkeley (CA, USA)

American Sociological Association – August 14-17, San Francisco (CA, USA)

[Note that staying in California thing!]

If you do the business thang and want to hear me discuss what’s relevant, Supernova is probably best. If you want to hear the academic side, ASA. If you want to hear me discuss with other thinkers, BlogOn. If you want to hear me discuss with business folks, CMU Alumni Event. If i drive you nuts, why are you still reading?

My hair curled over a blog entry entitled Again with the “women and blogging” meme (in response to two entries). The tone is insulting, arguing that the topic of women and blogging has been done to death. It is precisely this kind of post that reminds me of how the blogosphere solidifies misogyny and prejudice rather than acknowledging that people are trying to process. Dismissing discussions about gender inequality permits the marginalized subjects to be dismissed.

There is no doubt that blogs can be clustered by gender, class, race and age simply by clustering based on subject or style. Guess what? Most knitting blogs are written by women and women make up the majority of personal blogs are written by women. Recognizing that style and topics are dividing factors, i’d still argue that the difference has more to do with audience relationships. How are people constructing expression for their audience? How are they seeking to attract/manage an audience?

Move away from the blogosphere. How many women do you know that seek to be heard concerning their political opinion ever anyhow? Proportionally fewer. Why? That’s a damn fine question. Men do not dominate the political arena; they dominate a certain aspect of the political sphere, and that’s often the most vocal. Go to Capitol Hill and you will see many fine women engaging in change. I remember asking my mother why she didn’t run for office; she told me that she wouldn’t want to put us through the ringer, having our past dredged up.

Marginalized populations have different issues at risk when they voice their opinion. And damn do you have to be strong when you have an audience who feels the need to berate you just because. That’s hard for anyone, but imagine how it feels when you look around and feel like you’re one of few, when you feel marginalized from the get-go.

Are women more protective of their stories than men? More protective of their voice? Do they have good reason to be? Cause damn it feels shitty to be told that your concerns are written to death.

[Also on Misbehaving]

Does anyone have an MP3 voice recording device that they like? I was hoping to record into an iPod, but aside from my current pissyness with the iPod, i don’t think it can record using a standard microphone (which is essential for good quality interviews).

My needs are simple:
– good sound recording with microphone
– records at least 2.5 hours at a time, preferably much more
– straight to MP3 and easy to download onto Mac OSX
– compact and decent interface preferred

Anyone have something that they love and want to recommend?

A friend of mine wrote me, bemused that upon looking at her logs, someone had found her page with the following Google search: “what did danah boyd contribute to sociology?”

I’m not quite sure how to take this. And i’m curious who is at fault for folks thinking that i’m a sociologist. (Barry – can i blame you?) As for being at a point in my career where i’m contributing to any intellectual community in a meaningful way, please be patient. I’m trying. But for goddess’ sake, i’m a bloody PhD student who once again jumped fields; i’m still trying to fill in the holes in my knowledge!

Last week, i went to see Word Wars – a documentary on Scrabble competitions. A friend of mine helped make this fabulous movie and it is well worth seeing, whether because you love Scrabble, you appreciate documentaries, or you identify with anyone who has a compulsion towards the thing that they love. Also, if you saw Spellbound, you’ll especially appreciate Word Wars because it’s like what happens when obsessive kids grow up.

San Franciscans: it’s playing through this week at the Roxie.
New Yorkers: it’s opening mid-June.
Everyone else: ask your local art theatre to bring it.