Superstreng

I still find it utterly uncomfortable to talk on radio. But you know, I guess the practice is valuable. Or rather, I don't find it very uncomfortable to talk, but to listen to myself afterwards. A couple of weeks ago I visited Eirik Newth's "Superstreng"-show, and we were of course talking about social networking services, especially Facebook. Kind of common sense stuff. Here's the podcast. It's in Norwegian of course.

Facebook is highly profiled as vicious by the mass media these days. They apparently exploit all your personal information and intend to use your private photos in commercial campaigns. Or something. If you know Norwegian, you might want to read Ove Skåra's answers to readers of the Norwegian tabloid VG. Skåra represents the Norwegian Data Inspectorate.

I don't have the time to comment. Obviously, I have read Facebook's terms of service. My short answer is that mediated practices are experienced as so meaningful that they outweigh the perceived threats to privacy.

narrated memories

It's hardly too late yet to search for books and anthologies I still need to read, or at least browse, in order to be able to finish my thesis? Don't think so. Besides, some are really short, like Annette Kuhn's Family History. Acts of Memory and Imagination.

I am of course already familiar with relevant literature. Literature, which indicates that the relatively long history of documenting experiences, interactions and thoughts through journals, photographs and letters imply that subjects appear to embrace possibilities to create traces of life and social relationships. Personal media, such as mobile phones, instant messenger and social network sites, are similarly useful machines, facilitating interaction and the active creation of narrated memories.

Some of these are essentially ephemeral, such as telephone conversations, usually not recorded for the future. Others are, at least claimed to be, for better or worse, digital traces for eternity. The increasing potentials to document all aspects of life through textual, visual and audible traces, and additionally to archive these traces in private, semi-public and public digital spaces, can clearly be seen to have consequences for our individual sense of self, both present and past. It seems so significant that I easily forget that most people in the world do not have very extensive online presences.

networks

This week I aim to finish a part of my thesis concerning subjectivity in network societies, I need to have a first draft ready for a newspaper comment about ephemeral connections (working-title, who knows where I'll end up), and I need to start thinking about my presentation for a conference next week, working title "social competence in network societies". No wonder I kept waking up tonight, frantically thinking about networks.

What is a paradox?

I'm sometimes puzzled by how I apply certain concepts and then realise I might be using them all wrong. For instance how I use "paradox" in a work-in-progress (which will be part of a mighty interesting Norwegian anthology to be published in the fall):

The opportunity to design personal performances through edited pieces of textual, visual and sonic elements denotes that the individual has control with her or his own presentation, but only to some degree. As such online personal practices are characterised by a control-paradox: on the one hand individuals can construct filtered yet accurate and beneficial self-presentations (both socially and professionally); and on the other hand, once published, users have little control over content and little chance of preventing abuse such as republishing without consent.

Considering actual definitions of "paradox" I am not at all sure this is the concept I should be using.

Paradox: an argument which seems to justify a self-contradictory conclusion by using valid deductions from acceptable premises.

Other definitions.

By the way, the actual article concerns digital dilemmas: briefly summarised:

Users of social network services experience that having a publicly available online presence is meaningful. However, sharing texts, photos, videos, communicative acts and visualisations of social networks with known and unknown others may contest issues of privacy. Users consequently face a dilemma with two unfavourable options: protecting one’s privacy by not using social network services, despite potentially undesirable personal and social consequences. Or, alternatively, choosing to have an online presence and hence put one’s privacy at risk.

Personlige medier. Livet mellom skjermene

Our book about personal media
Originally uploaded by Marika.

Lin, Terje and I have edited an anthology about the social and societal significance of personal media. Lin and I also featuring as cover-girls, very appropriate considering the theme of the book. It is, as you can see, a Norwegian anthology. Still interested?

Table of contents:
Jo Helle-Valle: Kontekstualiserte medier, kontekstualiserte mennesker - et annet blikk på mediebruk

Beathe Due: Viktige overraskelser. Ideer om uforutsigbar teknologibruk

Kristin Ørjasæter: Det skriftlige møtet. Om privatbrevet som en potensiell offentlig samtale

Lin Prøitz: "Alle har sitt familietre - og her er mitt:" Å skrive sin egen historie, en studie av familiebildepraksis via familiealbum til mms

Knut Ove Eliassen og Yngve Sandhei Jacobsen: Hvor var media før Samuel Morse?

Susanne Nordbakke, Randi Hjorthol, Mona Hovland Jakobsen og Rich Ling: Det mobile hverdagsliv. Kommunikasjon og koordinering i moderne barnefamilier

David Brake: Personlige bloggere og dere publikum: Hvem tror bloggerne at de snakker med?

Anders Fagerjord: Å skape fra en mal: preskripter i personlige medier

Gunnar Sæbø: Fleksible medier og kontrollert kommunikasjon. Om unges bruk og forståelse av peer-to-peer (p2p)-teknologi

Rich Ling: SMS og hvordan eldre blir utestengt

Marika Lüders: Private subjekter i digitale miljøer: iscenesettelse i endring?

Terje Rasmussen: Nettverksintegrasjon og personlige medier