Comments on: Digital Narcissism? http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/danielg/2011/10/07/digital-narcissism/ part of the MSc in E-learning at the University of Edinburgh Fri, 02 Dec 2011 04:27:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Daniel Griffin http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/danielg/2011/10/07/digital-narcissism/#comment-37 Daniel Griffin Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:40:11 +0000 http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/danielg/?p=179#comment-37 Cheers Jeremy, I'd heard of the deep Web but the dark Internet is fascinating. I've done some reading myself and was surprised (although I suppose I shouldn't have been) to learn that crime networks like spammers or botnets can hide in these places. I like the idea that it is very like a ghost town. It reminds me of my first website, which I religiously updated every week in college... but of course it was buried deep inside the campus network and visible only to local users, if they were even interested enough to go find it. Cheers Jeremy,
I’d heard of the deep Web but the dark Internet is fascinating. I’ve done some reading myself and was surprised (although I suppose I shouldn’t have been) to learn that crime networks like spammers or botnets can hide in these places. I like the idea that it is very like a ghost town. It reminds me of my first website, which I religiously updated every week in college… but of course it was buried deep inside the campus network and visible only to local users, if they were even interested enough to go find it.

]]> By: Jeremy Keith Knox http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/danielg/2011/10/07/digital-narcissism/#comment-29 Jeremy Keith Knox Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:00:18 +0000 http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/danielg/?p=179#comment-29 This idea of noise and chorus is interesting, and I was reminded of Paul Virilio's idea of 'instantaneity' . It seems that web presence has perhaps become more and more obsessed with 'real-time', updates, and status. Narcissism is perhaps linked to being current, being in the 'now'. Virilio, P. (1999). Red alert in cyberspace! The Information Technology, War and Peace Project. Retrieved June 7, 2004 from http://www.watsoninstitute.org/infopeace/vy2k/red-alert.cfm This idea of the 'now' as primal seemed to also be reflected in your comment about search technology, orchestrating a kind of populism. Only what is popular now is acknowledged. I was reading about the Dark Internet and the Deep Web today, and I am also reminded of your previous discussions of ghosts and echoes. Not only has the changing architecture of the Internet excluded older networks, effectively 'killing' them, yet also relegating them to a kind of ghostly inaccessibility, but search engine strategies privilege the popular as you say, disregarding masses of information and banishing it to an unpopulated nether world. The analogy I'm thinking of are ghost towns; pristine web pages, untouched data, yet completely deserted of people. This idea of noise and chorus is interesting, and I was reminded of Paul Virilio’s idea of ‘instantaneity’ . It seems that web presence has perhaps become more and more obsessed with ‘real-time’, updates, and status. Narcissism is perhaps linked to being current, being in the ‘now’.

Virilio, P. (1999). Red alert in cyberspace! The Information Technology, War and Peace Project. Retrieved June 7, 2004 from http://www.watsoninstitute.org/infopeace/vy2k/red-alert.cfm

This idea of the ‘now’ as primal seemed to also be reflected in your comment about search technology, orchestrating a kind of populism. Only what is popular now is acknowledged. I was reading about the Dark Internet and the Deep Web today, and I am also reminded of your previous discussions of ghosts and echoes. Not only has the changing architecture of the Internet excluded older networks, effectively ‘killing’ them, yet also relegating them to a kind of ghostly inaccessibility, but search engine strategies privilege the popular as you say, disregarding masses of information and banishing it to an unpopulated nether world. The analogy I’m thinking of are ghost towns; pristine web pages, untouched data, yet completely deserted of people.

]]> By: Daniel Griffin http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/danielg/2011/10/07/digital-narcissism/#comment-28 Daniel Griffin Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:04:54 +0000 http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/danielg/?p=179#comment-28 Thanks for the comments Carol. You're right, it is a little depressing to think that we might be focusing more and more on style above substance, or listening only to the loudest voices in the room. But I think we can stop that. I think the root of the problem (online at least) is with current search technology and the way that popular trends tend to be self promoting. And while I do agree with you that a little bit of idle distraction can be beneficial, I believe that when it becomes the main focus of a culture, that culture has lost its way. The web offers everyone a voice and it is up to us to listen when something important is said. Perhaps the answer is in smarter search engines or perhaps its just up to us to look further than the tabloid headlines and seek out truth. If we are crushed in the process, at least we die with our eyes open. Thanks for the comments Carol. You’re right, it is a little depressing to think that we might be focusing more and more on style above substance, or listening only to the loudest voices in the room. But I think we can stop that. I think the root of the problem (online at least) is with current search technology and the way that popular trends tend to be self promoting. And while I do agree with you that a little bit of idle distraction can be beneficial, I believe that when it becomes the main focus of a culture, that culture has lost its way. The web offers everyone a voice and it is up to us to listen when something important is said. Perhaps the answer is in smarter search engines or perhaps its just up to us to look further than the tabloid headlines and seek out truth. If we are crushed in the process, at least we die with our eyes open.

]]> By: Carol Jane Collins http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/danielg/2011/10/07/digital-narcissism/#comment-26 Carol Jane Collins Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:19:20 +0000 http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/danielg/?p=179#comment-26 I like the Debord quote....its a bit depressing isnt it? This is most definitely one of the manifestations of the 'threat' that Hand talks about. The trivialisation of culture, seen most recently in how grubby celebrity news can become, is something we all partake in and can't seem to be able to stop. At the same time, perhaps mundanity ISNT a bad thing...the small detail against the larger crushing elements of society? I like the Debord quote….its a bit depressing isnt it? This is most definitely one of the manifestations of the ‘threat’ that Hand talks about. The trivialisation of culture, seen most recently in how grubby celebrity news can become, is something we all partake in and can’t seem to be able to stop. At the same time, perhaps mundanity ISNT a bad thing…the small detail against the larger crushing elements of society?

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