Dr. Michael Wesch "Mediated Culture: Libraries and and Librarians in New Media Environments"

Mediated Culture:
Libraries and Librarians in New Media Environments
by Michael Wesch Kansas State Universitymediatedcultures.net

If the conversations of our culturenow happen here ...

toward ...
Ubiquitous computing
Ubiquitous communication
Ubiquitous information
At unlimited speed
About everything
Everywhere
From anywhere
On all kinds of devices

which makes it “ridiculously easy” to
Connect
Organize
Share
Collect
Collaborate
Publish

What do we need to know for this test?
How long does this paper need to be?
How many references do I need?
Can I use Wikipedia?

Fair Use
Net Neutrality
RSS
Social Bookmarking
Codec

from knowledgeable

from knowledgeable to knowledge-able

What’s at stake …

Media are not just tools.

Media are not just means of communication.

Media mediate relationships

Media change

Media relationships change change

the conversationsof our culturehappen here

the conversationsare controlled by few

the conversationsare controlled by few
and designed for the masses

the conversationsare always entertaining

the conversationsare always entertaining
(even the serious ones)‏

the conversationsare punctuated by
30 second commercials

the conversationscreate our culture

the conversationscreate our cultureof irrelevanceincoherenceand impotence

“What steps do you plan to take to reduce the conflict in the Middle East?”

“Or the rates of inflation,crime, or unemployment?”

“What do you plan to do aboutNATO, OPEC, the CIA, etc.?”

“I shall take the liberty of answering for you: ...

“You plan to do nothing.”

“You plan to do nothing.”- Neil Postman

“The public has adjusted to incoherence and been amused into indifference.”- Neil Postman

“in the midst of a fabulous array of historically unprecedented and utterly mind-boggling stimuli ...

“in the midst of a fabulous array of historically unprecedented and utterly mind-boggling stimuli ...whatever.”

“in the midst of a fabulous array of historically unprecedented and utterly mind-boggling stimuli ...whatever.”
- Thomas de Zengotita

A brief history of “Whatever”
pre-1960s: "Whatever. That's what I meant."
Late 60s: "I don't care. Whatever."
1990s: MTV Generation – the indifferent "Meh."

It's a one-way
conversation

You have to be on TV
to have a voice

You have to be on TV
to be significant

A brief history of “Whatever”
pre-1960s: "Whatever. That's what I meant."
Late 60s: "I don't care. Whatever."
1990s: MTV Generation – the indifferent "Meh."
Late 90s - present: "Whatever. I'll do what I want."

the search for identity and recognition

need“critical thinking”

need“information literacy”

“User-Generated Content”

User-Generated Content
User-Generated Filtering

User-Generated Organization

User-Generated Organization
User-Generated Distribution

$1,000,000.00

$12.79

$2,600,000.00

$2,600,012.79

a ubiquitous, context-aware, semantic, socialnetwork ofthings,people,andinformation

Why this matters ...
not controlled by the few
not one-way
created by, for, and around networks, not masses
transform individual pursuits into collective action

Why this might deeply matter ...
We know ourselves through our relations with others.
New media create new ways of relating to others.

not a one-way conversation

beyond“information literacy”

weforum.org

we-forum.org

“the social imagination”
- Maxine Greene

“the social imagination”
“the capacity to invent visions of what should be and could be in our deficient society”
- Maxine Greene

move from “information literacy”to“Digital Citizenship”- Gardner Campbell

Freedom

Freedom
Control

Community

Community
Isolation

Participation

Participation
Distraction

This is what we make of it.

What these walls say ...
To learn is to acquire information
Information is scarce
Trust authority for good information
Authorized information is beyond discussion
Obey the authority
Follow along

Knowledge-ability

To learn is to acquire information
Information is scarce
Trust authority for good information
Authorized information is beyond discussion
Obey the authority
Follow along

How do we change the message?

Technology (alone) is not the answer.

786,432 points of light

from knowledgeable

from knowledgeable to knowledge-able

knowledge-ability

knowledge-ability
is a practice.

Toward a new future of “whatever”
60s: “I don't care. Whatever (you think).”
90s: “Whatever. (I don't care what you think).”
Future: “I care. Let's do whatever it takes ... by whatever means necessary.”

bymichaelweschassistant professor of cultural anthropology Kansas State Universitymore information, including videos viewed over 20 million timesand translated in over 20 languages ...mediatedcultures.net

http://realia.typepad.com	101
http://www.realia.typepad.com	15
http://www.typepad.com	3

Dr. Michael Wesch "Mediated Culture: Libraries and and Librarians in New Media Environments"

by Northeast Kansas Library System on Aug 03, 2011

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

3 Embeds 119

Statistics

Dr. Michael Wesch "Mediated Culture: Libraries and and Librarians in New Media Environments" — Presentation Transcript