“Network literacy is not merely knowing about this, it is doing it. It is in this doing that we can understand that literacy is an applied knowing, or if you prefer a knowing through doing… It is being comfortable with change and flow as the day-to-day conditions of knowledge production and dissemination, and recognising that all of this may change, and appear differently in six months. What underlies such change, however, are the principles of distributed content production and sharing, folksonomies, trust networks and having access to skills that let you collate and build with these varieties of content and knowledge… Network literacy means recognising that there are no longer canonical sources and having the skills to find what it is you think you want, of being able to judge it, and then of being able to incorporate this, in turn, into your knowledge flows. Finally, networked literacies are marked by your participation as a peer in these flows and networks — you contribute to them and in turn can share what others provide.”

Miles, Adrian. “Network Literacy: The New Path to Knowledge.” Screen Education Autumn.45 (2007): 24–30.

The aforementioned topic problem addresses several different theories, arguments, and discussions revolving around the subject of network media and network literacy. Network literacy is defined as “being able to participate as a peer within the emerging knowledge networks that are now the product of the Internet” (Miles, 2007), while media is commonly seen as “the main means of mass communication” (Landow, 2006).

Examples of the issues that are explored are the seemingly ever changing and never ending development that society has witnessed with media and technology, as well as the importance and relevance of promoting oneself online in todays predominantly digitally based consumer market. This raises several questions as to what will happen later, what does this entail for the future of media and technology? Based on current trends, what can we assume and predict will happen? Will the Internet ever die out or be replaced?

To answer these questions, I will be looking at the Meta Company and their recently released Meta 1 Developer Kit. This is a pair of glasses that provides the user with an augmented reality, a technology whereby a computer-generated image is superimposed on the user’s personal view of the real world. To put it more simply, it provides one with the ability to “experience a room full of interactive 3D holograms” (Spaceglasses.com, 2014). With this in mind, what could the future of the Internet and things such as social media look like?

Firstly, we must look at an already “dying” technology, one that has been around far longer than the Internet has, and appears to be used less every year since the birth of the online world and digital technology in the 90s. Books have been around since the first century, and have been used for education, entertainment, and to enhance the general idea of “sharing” amongst society. As mentioned in a theory by Douglas Yellowlees, “what can (we) do to mechanically improve a book?” (Yellowlees, 2000). Thus, the creation and implementation of new digital technologies allows humans to easily and freely manipulate and create new ideas, but what more can or needs to be done to improve a simple book? Because of this, books are being replaced instead of reinvented.

We can see evidence of this in today’s world with never-ending new releases of electronic products by major corporations. The amount of competition has forced companies to release a “new” phone every year, each with additional applications that were previously unheard of, or with improvements being made to already existing services.

This music video explores the notion that this rapid development of technology can be seen negatively, and that this digital period is ultimately unnatural. George Landow also touches on this with his theories on hypertext and how important media has become. Landow goes on to say that “all individual texts will electronically link to one another,” (Landow, 2006) suggesting that hypertext will eventually take over and dominate the ways in which we are presented with text. Books and physical pages are a thing of the past, and the consistently new ways to communicate with people that are being introduced must be adhered to, should one want to succeed in the digital world and not be left behind in what many consider to be “the stone age”.

However, Not only have these releases encouraged more sales, but they have completely changed the way in which humans consume media. It would appear that nowadays the trend is to retrieve information as fast and as easily as possible, and this has inevitably lead to a significant decrease in the use of books. For example, people do not want to read through an entire newspaper, they only want the main news and want to be able to choose what they can read at a moments notice. Technology in the form of smartphones and the Internet in general has given us this luxury, and enables us to surf a wide range of sources on the web with speed, convenience, and accuracy. Why bother conducting research in a library with books when you can access an online database and find exactly what you are looking for within seconds?

Therefore it is evident that for the meantime, society wants to maintain this need to be entertained with new gadgets. The idea of hypermediacy and experiencing several different types of media all at once is now fashionable, and the Meta Developer 1 Kit is no exception. Not only did the developers create these glasses with the idea of gaming in mind, but the company also hopes to contribute to the education and healthcare industry (Spaceglasses.com, 2014), something that books used to accomplish.

But why has the Internet become so popular? What is it about this network that has attracted and joined users together from all over the world, and is something that inevitably ends up being accessed by all sorts of electronic devices? According to George Landow, it is the concept of hypertext that is responsible. Hypertext is defined as “text displayed on an electronic screen with references to other texts that the reader can access immediately” (Landow, 2006). A common example of this would be a hyperlink on a web page, whereby clicking it takes you to another address on the Internet. It is due to this convenient nature of hypertext being used within the Internet that facilitates the easy and free exchange of information across the world. The Internet is an open source of a ridiculously large amount of information, and Landow emphasises this importance with hypertext when he says that anything you post online is “in the presence of other texts” (Landow, 2006). This means that opinions and thoughts from anyone can be expressed in this online network, and being able to see what people from different countries and cultures have to say so easily has triggered this viral pop culture of posting everything that happens in your life online.

This opens up the door for several possible functions to be implemented with the Meta Developer 1 Kit glasses. Perhaps initial releases will refrain from having Internet access so as to see what sales are like without the option of going online. However, who knows what later models will look like and what functions they will boast. It may be possible that new trends that enhance this idea of sharing could even be started with the introduction of this new media appliance, similar to Twitter and the birth of the idea of hashtags.

Additionally, we must remember that the Internet is only twenty-five years old (Webat25.org, 2014). Compared to the rest of human history, that is obviously an absolutely minute amount, yet it seems to rule a majority of what society experiences every day. It is estimated that three billion people will have online access by the end of 2014 (Internetlivestats.com, 2014), from this we can deduce this it is still very much a growing trend and the room for potential for the future is great. When you combine the Internet with products such as the Meta Developer 1 Kit, it will most definitely sell in large amounts, it will be another “function” that is not a new experience, but it will be witnessed on something that was only thought possible in the Iron Man movies.

This image introduces another interesting perspective to consider. What implications does this new media platform being released by the Meta Company entail for the future in terms of having a cultural impact on society? An example is provided by Lisa Gitelman, who reminds us how “telephony includes the salutation “Hello?” the monthly billing cycle, and the wires and cables that materially connect our phones” (Gitelman, 2008). Therefore, the Meta Developer 1 Kit has the potential to influence new cultural traits upon society, exactly what has been done with new technologies such as the telephone and the Internet. Additionally, should the Meta Developer 1 Kit be utilised for the reasons mentioned by the company such as education and healthcare (Spaceglasses.com, 2014), it is inevitable that defining cultural traits surrounding this new technology will rise. Education and healthcare are things that we see as vital to our existence and life, and if younger generations are to be exposed to, and taught with this new device, it is only logical that its presence amongst society will grow and the importance of its roles will thrive. Consequently, technology will continue to evolve along side us.

In conclusion, the recently released augmented reality glasses, the Meta Developer 1 Kit, aids the future of digital and network media and technologies in several ways. When the ability to browse the Internet and network with others around the world as society has been able to do with computers and smartphones (which is what has arguably been one of the many deciding factors that has made them so popular) is combined with the Meta Developer 1 Kit, the amount of room for potential for the future is great. Not only in terms of making improvements to the glasses functionality, but also to culture, and starting revolutionary trends in the youthful digital world.

Word count: 1,520

Bibliography

• Gitelman, Lisa. Always Already New: Media, History, and the Data of Culture. Cambridge, Mass.; London: The MIT Press, 2008. Print.
• Internetlivestats.com, (2014). Number of Internet Users (2014) – Internet Live Stats. [online] Available at: http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/ [Accessed: 19 Oct. 2014]
• Landow, George P. Hypertext 3.0: Critical Theory and New Media in an Era of Globalization. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2006. Print.
• Miles, Adrian. “Network Literacy: The Path to Knowledge.” Screen Education Autumn.45 (2007): 24-30.
• Spaceglasses.com, (2014). Home: Meta Company. [online] Available at: https://www.spaceglasses.com [Accessed: 18 Oct. 2014]
• Yellowlees, Douglas J. The End of Books – Or Books Without End?: Reading Interactive Narratives. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000.
• YouTube, (2014). Pearl Jam – Do the Evolution. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDaOgu2CQtl&spfreload=10 [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014].
• Webat25.org, (2014). [online] Available at: http://www.webat25.org [Accessed 18 Oct. 2014]

Catalyst: “Network literacy is not merely knowing about this, it is doing it. It is in this doing that we can understand that literacy is an applied knowing, or if you prefer a knowing through doing.… It is being comfortable with change and flow as the day to day conditions of knowledge production and dissemination, and recognising that all of this may change, and appear differently in six months. What underlies such change, however, are the principles of distributed content production and sharing, folksonomies, trust networks and having access to skills that let you collate and build with these varieties of content and knowledge….. Network literacy means recognising that there are no longer canonical sources and having the skills to find what it is you think you want, of being able to judge it, and then of being able to incorporate this, in turn, into your knowledge flows. Finally, networked literacies are marked by your participation as a peer in these flows and networks — you contribute to them and in turn can share what others provide.”

The following extract addresses several concepts and arguments related to the idea of network media and literacy. For example, the seemingly ever changing and never ending development that society has witnessed with media and technology, as well as the importance and relevance of promoting oneself online in todays predominantly digitally based consumer market.

Firstly, network literacy is traditionally defined as “the set of skills and competencies related to understanding how networks, particularly the Internet, function”, while media is commonly seen as “the main means of mass communication”. The evidence suggesting that the importance of practicing network literacy and understanding how the Internet functions as a media platform is overwhelming. Ever since the start of the 90s, we have witnessed the birth and rapid growth of the online and digital world, namely, the Internet.

This then raises several questions as to what will happen in the future. If digital technology and media are growing at such an extensive rate, will the madness ever end? How can I use what I know about network media to effectively “advertise” myself online? Will the Internet survive, or will it eventually die out?

Why this image? With respect to the idea of the Internet potentially dying out, I thought of a current situation where this theory could be applied. As noticed by several people, books and “physical” text documents are gradually being replaced by digital text and webpages. This idea was touched on in The End of Books – Or Books Without End? : Reading Interactive Narratives by Douglas Yellowlees. Books are ancient; I am sure any young person would agree with that. We live in an age of Kindles and online webpages, who has time for books? I can simply Google what I want to know, I do not have to sift through umpteen pages of otherwise unimportant information. In today’s world, time is money people. Read a novel you say? Why? I will just download a movie for free in high definition.

When all of this is taken into account, the future of media is inevitably uncertain. Books have been around for centuries, but there is undoubtedly a significant decrease in their use and importance, particularly amongst the younger side of a population. Seeing as all of this attention has been shifted onto the Internet where so many things are easily available online to people all over the world, this must be taken into account by a network media professional. If you want to gain recognition and build up this “online persona”, there are several ways to go about it for free. People all around the world attempt to make viral Internet videos that spread amongst a community at an unbelievable rate. A recent example can be seen with a phone reviewer showing YouTube how easy it is to bend the new iPhone 6 Plus, receiving over 20 million views in just one day.

Humans are all about progression and change. Douglas suggests looking at book as “a highly refined example of a primitive technology,” (Douglas, 2000) yet the new ways in which we consume media are seen as “primitive examples of a highly refined technology” (Douglas, 2000). These seemingly contradictory labels co-exist with one another because the Internet and digital media are still seen as a new trend. For the vast majority of our existence, we have not had to rely upon the importance and use of technology, yet so many people can’t imagine a world without it. In fact, it has been around for such a short time that many people still consider modern technology to be “still at the icebox stage” (Douglas, 2000), suggesting that there is undoubted a great amount of potential room for improvement and innovation in the future.

The Internet has become the new marketplace, where arguably rules that apply in real life do not apply there. Perhaps this will eventually lead to its downfall, and what has happened to books several times throughout history as seen with the Nazis and the Soviet Union era will repeat itself. People will do anything in their power to silence the spreading of free ideas and different opinions, the start of which can be seen with the ongoing battle to stop online piracy.

This music video explores the issues of how technology can be seen as a bad part of our evolution, and that this digital period is ultimately unnatural. I feel that George Landow and his theories on hypertext and how important media has become with modern education echoes these points further. Having laptops in schools was unheard of and ridiculous! Now if you don’t have one, you’ll probably fail and be left far behind. Landow goes as far to say, “all individual texts will electronically link to one another,” (Landow, 2006) suggesting that hypertext will eventually take over and dominate the ways in which we are presented with text. Books and physical pages are a thing of the past, and the consistently new ways to communicate with people that are being introduced must be adhered to, should one want to succeed in the digital world and not be left behind in what many consider to be “the stone age”.

I was born in 1994, so I have been able to see and experience the beginnings of old and new technology and media. I only got my first mobile phone when I was 13 years old, and the best thing it had to offer was a colour screen, not even a camera. Nowadays, you see kids playing around with iPhones and iPads as if it is no big deal. More high tech phones come out every 6 months with useless applications like a 70% chance of success rate heart rate monitor. When is this madness going to stop? However, these crazes can be seen as a positive thing for people in the media industry as the creation and viral promotion of these new fads and trends open up the possibility for completely new projects to take place (like the hash tag for example). Therefore, keeping up to date with this “online fashion” allows one to understand how the digital market operates, and how to effectively promote and maneuver oneself around this vast, public system. It is as if networked media has become “a fact of life so basic that we cannot imagine being without it” (Watts, 2003), comparable to every day basic tasks such as showering or eating food.

“Internet 3D” by Giuseppe1999 – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Finally, this is when the literal “networking” idea within media is brought into context. Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age by Duncan Watts fascinated me, and reminded me about what my drama teacher told me when I was in year 8. She told us about a game people played called six degrees of separation, where you name people you know who name people they know and so forth. Eventually, the trace may end at someone famous or noteworthy. After hearing about this, I went home and told my Mum who then told me that the nephew of a family friend of ours was dating the lead singer of Wheatus (Teenage Dirtbag FTW).

It is amazing how connected we all are in the world thanks to the Internet, but with such power to publicise yourself comes great responsibility. Anything you post online or store on a device is there forever, cyberspace is a complicated thing but there are people out there who know what they are doing. Any comment you leave on any page will remain there, and any photos you upload are available to people all over the world. Media professionals must keep this in mind with regards to their online portfolio, and the potential desire to strongly keep their professional and personal life separate. Any future employers can Google your name to see if he or she can surface any unwanted secrets…so be aware! However on the other hand, we should most definitely be abusing this potential for sharing to its full extent! Create free accounts on services that can help you out like blogging websites that aim to exercise your potential. Being so connected and having such a high level of involvement in the online world has never been more important as it is now, get out there and utilise these free services to your advantage. Who knows…maybe you have a hidden talent that awaits your recognition?

In conclusion, there is a lot to take into consideration when entering the digital world and predicting what shape the future will adopt. By looking at past and current trends that people, accurate predictions of the future of media start to take shape. Although the more “seasoned” readers may maintain that it was better in their day and that books are good and technology and digital media is bad, it has allowed an enormous amount of potential and room for development. Regardless of whether or not the Internet will be around for as long as books, it goes without question that any form of future media will uphold significant similarities with the system we are currently using. The Internet is one of the most ingenious ideas to ever be executed, and this seemingly simple and innocent online space where people from all around the world can share anything with one click has lead to large-scale events, such as overthrowing a government. The future of the Internet remains uncertain and ever changing, and by constantly immersing yourself into it and taking the time to read, research, collaborate, and share ideas, new areas for growth can be unleashed and explored.

Word count: 1,588

Bibliography

• Douglas, J. Yellowlees. The End of Books — Or Books Without End?: Reading Interactive Narratives. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000.
• Landow, George P. Hypertext 3.0: Critical Theory and New Media in an Era of Globalization. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2006. Print.
• Watts, Duncan J. Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age. London: Vintage, 2003.

If you have not seen videos of this on the Internet yet, you obviously haven’t been online recently. Basically, it’s when you pour a bucket of ice and water over your head if you get nominated by a friend to donate to charity. I know what you’re thinking, yes, you either pour the water over your head OR donate to charity if you don’t complete the task within 24 hours. The point is to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) if you’re in America, and the Motor Neurone Disease Association if you’re in the UK.

Homemade video recordings of people drenching themselves in icy, cold water with their friends went viral during July and August of 2014. As with anything described as “viral”, viruses for example, there has to be a patient zero. People seem to not realise that this fad has been around since the middle of 2013 (according to some). However, it has been used as a “charitable catalyst”, a way that people could donate money while having some harmless fun. The earliest version of the challenge being used to donate money for a charity is said to be originally known as the “Cold Water Challenge”, where people would either have to donate money to cancer research or jump into cold water.

So…how did this get so popular? Well, let me first point out that the participants who underwent the very first “Cold Water Challenges” in mid 2013 recorded and posted their efforts on social media. This eventually blew up in North America and received growing news attention due to the sudden spread of such a unique idea. It is said that the challenge was brought to mainstream attention when television anchor Matt Lauer did the Ice Bucket Challenge on July 15th on NBC. Soon afterwards, the challenge made its way to golfer Chris Kennedy, where his beloved family member has been suffering with ALS for the past 11 years. This was when the Ice Bucket Challenge first made its way into ALS territory, and became associated with the disease.

Ever since then, media all around the world has been swamped with videos of people completing this Ice Bucket Challenge and more than $88.5 million US dollars has been raised for ALS. In a way, I found this extremely rapid spread of media somewhat of a scary thought. I remember seeing the first video on my Facebook newsfeed a few weeks ago and thinking “what is this guy doing?”. The next thing I know…everyone is doing it and even I got nominated. I found it scary because the fact that an originally small idea grew into a worldwide movement within such a short amount of time just goes to show you how many people are online nowadays.

It was as if the initial social media aspect of it was just the beginning, it was the virus slowly rooting itself in your body, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Now when it got to television, boom! The virus has entered your entire bodily system and the infection has begun. It is everywhere, no matter where you look, where you go, or what you do, you are reminded of this every day. Social media has promoted the Ice Bucket Challenge even more after the recognition from television, and there is evidence of it taking place in a huge variety of countries. Being able to connect to the Internet has become such a ritual for everyone in today’s world, and people have argued that this has removed the charitable and originally selfless gesture that was meant to be undertaken. Now it is as if people just do it for attention, a few minutes or days worth of fame amongst your friends, and that’s it. Not because you care, but because you can do what everyone else is doing online too.

As evident from what I just said, there are several criticisms associated with the Ice Bucket Challenge. I won’t go into too much detail about that, but please allow Australian news anchor Lincoln Humphries to do it of it for me (technically, I am also guilty of encouraging the spread of something online…this video):

We’ve seen this happen before with Gangnam Style, Justin Bieber, Rebecca Black, Joseph Kony, the list goes on and on. Unlike television, you do not need a special contact to get you connected. Anyone can access it, and anyone can post anything they want to. Inevitably, there are ongoing legal disputes between what happens in the material world as we know it, and the online world. The potential audience for something you post on the Internet is much larger than any other media platform, the idea of a “public audience” is greater. However, when combined with these other platforms such as television and radio, the spread is even faster as can be seen with the people’s current favourite, the Ice Bucket Challenge.

I just can’t wait to see what people will think of next.