The Brock University course, New Media Literacy, is coming to an end and I've been asked to reflect on my learning. One of the questions asked is,"What intimations of deprival do you have (if any) regarding the "produsage" that potentially looms before us? It is a phrase from an article by J. Stern about what he sees as passivity in the midst of mass participation.(Stern, 2012).
The phrase 'intimations of deprival' was new to me. I know what intimation means - a sense or feeling or understanding. I know what deprival means - something that is missing, absent or taken away. But what does the whole phrase mean? So, I went to one of those wonderful new media literacy tools, the Google search box. You might think that searching the internet really isn't new, but considering the hundreds of years of print media that some are concerned might end up in the 'dead media' file cabinet, it is relatively new (Lievrouw, L. A. ,2012). Today, all I had to do was type in 'intimation of deprival' when, lo and behold, up came a fantastic article about George Grant, the famous conservative and writer of Lament for a Nation: The Death of Canadian Nationalism (1965). He wrote about his feeling that something fundamental was missing in Conservatism (Robertson, 2004). I might have been taught about this a thousand years ago when I was in high school, but what's so great about new media literacy is that I can use the 'old' literacy skills to keep on learning in the new digital world. But, let's get back to intimations of deprival regarding the new media literacy of 'produsage'. Do I have any sense that something is absent in all these new tools of communication? I think I might.
Something fundamental is missing in current social media 'produsage': the important understanding that social capital is built in co-operation and coordination. Social capital is the social fabric that holds a community together when people or organizations work together for mutual benefit. The 'intimation of deprival' in social media , the sense that something is absent, might be that new media literacies are often simply a means to bring fame (even if only for a moment) and perhaps fortune (but probably not). Why is it that today, 'selfies' seem more popular on the internet than activities promoting a cause or a 'flash mob' with a beautiful sound coming from dozens of people co-operating together to give enjoyment to the whole community? What made news at the Oscars? Ellen DeGeneres and the most widely tweeted selfie.
What about 'produsage' that has a reason more than just seeing myself flashed across Twitter (although to tell you the truth I just might be flattered - nobody's perfect). Can participating in new media bring about a strengthening of the social fabric in spite of my concern that it might be missing now? I am going to take a page from George Grant's book and look for the positive in the negative. He felt that within deprivation came an understanding of what was missing, yet positive outcomes could come about - changes, innovation and looking forward in hope (Robertson, 2004).
So, will I keep producing in social media after COMM 2f00 is finished in April 2014? Yes, I think I will. I will definitely keep my Twitter account going. It is a great tool to find out what is happening in the community and I can be a part of that. Plus, sometimes, it is just fun to send out a tweet about the weather or my favourite pop/rock/folk artist, Jacob Moon. But since more and more literacy agencies and community connections can find linkages within the broader community via social media, I'm in. I hope to keep up this blog site, not for fame and fortune, but hopefully interacting with others in the literacy community.If my community is communicating in social media and using new media tools, then I need to be able to be a part of building social capital by co-operating and communicating with them using the same tools.
What about 'produsage' that has a reason more than just seeing myself flashed across Twitter (although to tell you the truth I just might be flattered - nobody's perfect). Can participating in new media bring about a strengthening of the social fabric in spite of my concern that it might be missing now? I am going to take a page from George Grant's book and look for the positive in the negative. He felt that within deprivation came an understanding of what was missing, yet positive outcomes could come about - changes, innovation and looking forward in hope (Robertson, 2004).
So, will I keep producing in social media after COMM 2f00 is finished in April 2014? Yes, I think I will. I will definitely keep my Twitter account going. It is a great tool to find out what is happening in the community and I can be a part of that. Plus, sometimes, it is just fun to send out a tweet about the weather or my favourite pop/rock/folk artist, Jacob Moon. But since more and more literacy agencies and community connections can find linkages within the broader community via social media, I'm in. I hope to keep up this blog site, not for fame and fortune, but hopefully interacting with others in the literacy community.If my community is communicating in social media and using new media tools, then I need to be able to be a part of building social capital by co-operating and communicating with them using the same tools.
References
Brown, J. D., & Hannis, D. (2008). Community development in Canada. Toronto: Pearson Allyn and Bacon.
Dewey, C. (2014, March 29). Blogs - Ellen Degeneris' selfie. Retrieved from washingtonpost.com: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/03/03/ellen-degeneres-oscar-selfie-broke-twitter-and-world-records/
Lievrouw, L. A. (2012). The Next Decade in Internet Time: Ways Ahead for New Media Studies. Information, Communication & Society. 15:5. pp 616-638. http://bit.ly/14MGMBr
Robertson, Neil G. 2004 George Grant: intimations of deprival, intimations of beauty The Free Library (January, 1), http://www.thefreelibrary.com/George Grant: intimations of deprival, intimations of beauty.-a0120037473 (accessed March 29 2014)
Sterne, J. (2012). What if Interactivity is the New Passivity? FlowTV. 15.10. http://bit.ly/HYGhXY
http://www.jacobmoon.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RobertCornelius.jpg
Brown, J. D., & Hannis, D. (2008). Community development in Canada. Toronto: Pearson Allyn and Bacon.
Dewey, C. (2014, March 29). Blogs - Ellen Degeneris' selfie. Retrieved from washingtonpost.com: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/03/03/ellen-degeneres-oscar-selfie-broke-twitter-and-world-records/
Lievrouw, L. A. (2012). The Next Decade in Internet Time: Ways Ahead for New Media Studies. Information, Communication & Society. 15:5. pp 616-638. http://bit.ly/14MGMBr
Robertson, Neil G. 2004 George Grant: intimations of deprival, intimations of beauty The Free Library (January, 1), http://www.thefreelibrary.com/George Grant: intimations of deprival, intimations of beauty.-a0120037473 (accessed March 29 2014)
Sterne, J. (2012). What if Interactivity is the New Passivity? FlowTV. 15.10. http://bit.ly/HYGhXY
http://www.jacobmoon.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RobertCornelius.jpg