Questions for Geert Lovink

Christopher Diaz-Mihell

David Cox, DAI227

March 24, 2011

"The colonization of real-time and other trends in Web 2.0"

1) In his introduction, Lovink quotes G.H. Mead who describes "Sociality" as what?

           

­- As “the capacity of being several things at once.”

2) Where did Silicon Valley find inspiration in the post 9/11 reconstruction period? (two things)

           

- “During the post-9/11 reconstruction period, Silicon Valley found renewed inspiration in two projects: the vital energy of the search start-up Google (which successfully managed to postpone its IPO for years), and the rapidly emerging blog scene, which gathered around self-publishing platforms such as blogger.com, Blogspot and LiveJournal.”

3) With tools to oversee national IP range, it is possible for countries to do two things with these technologies. What are they?

           

- “To block users outside the country from viewing, for example, national television online, or visiting public libraries (such as in Norway and Australia, in the case of new ABC online services). They can also prevent citizens from visiting foreign sites (mainland Chinese residents are not able to visit YouTube, Facebook, etc.).”

           

4) Lovink argues top-down considerations with Web 2.0 are less interesting than 'bottom-up' ones. What does he mean by this?

            - “Top-down considerations” with Web 2.0 simply refers to simple knowledge regarding web demographics, such as usability requirements and what application to use in what context. Lovink mentions it is less interesting than “bottom-up ones” for it lacks the excitement of people or activists beginning to utilize their own Web 2.0 tools.

5) What is the function of profiles abstracted from 'user generated content' - how is it then used?

            - They are then sold to advertisers as direct marketing data, in turn users don’t experience the parasitic nature of Web 2.0 immediately.

6) What is 'massification'

            - The phenomenal and sheer number of users and the intensity with which people engage with the Internet.

7) Geert Lovink describes the Internet as an 'indifferent bystander' as a revolutionary tool in the global recession. What does he mean by this?

            - The Internet “does not lend itself easily as a revolutionary tool. It is part of the Green New Deal, but it is not driving these reforms.”

8) Lovink says that power these days is not absolute but ________ ?

            - “dynamic”

9) "Managing complexity" is the aim of authoritarian uses of the Internet such as the Great Chinese _______________?

            - “Firewall”

10) What are "organized networks"?

            - Lovink offers the idea of “organized networks” as the only way to challenge the administrative approach. He notes that “social change is no longer techno warfare between filters and anti-filters, but a question of “organized networks” that are able to set events in motion.”