VIRTUAL LIVING LIBRARIES

An exploration of Social Media as places of cultural and knowledge exchange

Alexandra Bal, March 12th, 2009Presented at Ryerson, FCAD SRC Seminar

SOCIAL MEDIA ARE DIFFERENT FROM VISUAL MEDIA

PARTICIPATORY CULTURE (JENKINS) Peer based production and consumption of media

Facilitate users’ participation

new tools and technologies enable consumers to archive, annotate, appropriate, and recirculate media content.

Mediate human relationships

Do It Yourself (DYI) media allows Individuals and groups to participate to conversations

This presentation explores manifestation of this participatory culture within Youtube and Second Life

THE YOUTUBE PHENOMENON

For Wesch, it celebrates new forms of

Expression Empowerment Identity Global Community

Which generate new forms ofCulture, learning and Social and economic Life

FANDOM: POP CULTURE JAMMING

Remixing existing media messages to create new ones

Stars war kidViews: 11,904,270

• Star Wars kid Drunken Jedi Views: 6,294,606

• Star wars kid VS Yoda: Views: 2,453,195

• South Park

CULTURE JAMMING TO FAMILY FOOTAGE

Charlie bit me: Views: 85,240,780

Charlie remix: Views: 1,439,409

Charlie reenacted: Views: 1,050,415

The public has become a performer

COLLECTIVE PUBLIC PERFORMANCE

This informal participatory culture is influencing other social spheres.

OBAMA POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS USED CJ

Yes we can songViews: 16,594,825

MR OBAMA DOES NOT WORK AS WELL

Why?

SOCIAL MEDIA = FOLK CULTURE Folk Culture respond to the need of people to be

activesocial participants in the creation of their culture (Bakan and Nolan, 2009)

To share To create (Janick, 2009)

To perform (McLuhan, 1967)

Their own stories, experiences and knowledge

The network is a public sphere

Creation and participation to public discourse and culture

FOLK CULTURE EXISTS IN MULTIPLE FORMS

Cartesian social form: Youtube: conversation = co-creation of content

Embodied form: Real world : Living libraries Virtual Worlds:

conversation = co-action + co-creation of content

Social Media gas facilitated the emergence of informal communities where culture emerges out of informal conversations

REAL WORLD LIVING LIBRARIES

SECOND LIFE IS NOT A GAME

A sociological space Avatars: Embodied peers meet

in space and converse without geographical constrains.

Tele-collaboration Tele-Performance environment

ladyhawke365's photostream

SOCIAL MEDIA ARE FORMS OF LIVING LIBRARIES

Informal Learning Environments Where people are part of

self organizing informal

communities and

institutions

INFORMAL COMMUNITIES OF INTERESTS Peers are learning within informal social

networks based on their interests.

Learning happens by informal sharing of experiences (Freire, 1978) with members of communities of interests.

Social Constructivism: Peers learn from their own and other's experiences and social contexts (Vygotsky, 1978).

Cancerland

LEARNING WITHIN INFORMAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICES

Livedexperiences

+ Action create

learning.

Constructionist learning driven by discovery and experimentation (Papert, 1992).

SOME FORMS OF INTELLIGENCE BECOME COLLECTIVE

Connective Intelligence (de Kerckhove)

Collective Intelligence (Levy)

In both cases:Culture and knowledge results from• Conversations between peers• Activities between peers

Knowledge is the result of • Lived experience = expertise• Authentic and personal narratives • Co-creation by peers• Peers interests’

SHIFT IN MEDIATED EDUCATION CULTURE

Visual media: Authored Story Telling An author formally tells a

story via a scripted experience

Social media: Story Sharing: Peers

informally share authentic and lived experiences

Experiential Media: Story Living Peers build experiences

together

Information = knowledge Authored knowledge An expert educates via a

scripted presentation

Social media: Knowledge Sharing: Peers

informally educate each other

Experiential Media: knowledge building Peers learn by building

experiences together

WHAT DOES THIS MEANS TO INSTITUTIONS Digital natives are growing up in these alternate social

realities.

Since education = social reproduction, which values should it now promote?

Different communication models influence different educational models which in turn are a reflection of current capitalist industrial frameworks (Boltanski and Chiappello, 2001) .

EDUCATIONAL INDUSTRIAL FRAMEWORKS

Behaviorism: Taylorist Industry

Socialize to - Institutional hierarchies- Standard use of time and space- Passive behaviours and routines- Competition

INNOVATION INDUSTRIES

Cognitivism: Hierarchies lessen.

The individual has value

Innovating workers share knowledge to advanceprogress within the institution.

Professional communities from multiple discipline within Institutions.

Socialize to: - Standard use of time and space- Active behaviours and routines- Professional Social Networks- Collaboration

NETWORK INDUSTRIESSocial Constructivism:

Institutional boundaries soften.

Value is created and shared by members of a network instead of by individual companies (Kelley, 1998).

Creation of professional communities tied to discipline instead of organization.

Socialize to - autonomy,- Coo-petition (Brandenburger and Nalebuff, 1997),- virtual space.

PEER 2 PEER INDUSTRIES

Social constructionism:Delocalized and self-organizingcollectives are creating their own industrial frameworks.

- self-directed education, supported by social relations, in fluid, informal arrangements (Illich, 1971).

Informal communities of practice are - rationalizing production processes

Peer socialization:-work is mobile, -- Time and relationships are fluid- public spaces become workspaces,-- co-creation, co-production, -- co-working (Forlano, 2008).

INFORMAL ORGANISATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS

Others are building informal institutions

Carleon Open University: synthetic Art,

• Volunteers tenured faculty

• Emerging artists

- Collectives are formalizing the status of their collectives in order to gain legal protection of their processes (creative commons) and organizing into rights to be non profit oriented.

HYBRID SOCIO-CONSTRUCTIONIST INSTITUTIONS

Hybrid institutions:

Fragmentation of institutions lead toacceptance of peer culture within Institutional boundaries are fluid.

Creation of learning networks tied to interest and practices outsideprofession, discipline and organizations.

Socialization:- work that combines personal-informal-professionalnetworks of conversations,- mixed-space,- co-learning,- innovation exits outside of institutions.

PROFESSIONAL INFORMAL KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION VIA CULTURE JAMMING

Professionals educators are participating to these collectivesMichael Wesch

Institutions are starting to use culture jamming to disseminate their knowledge

Cern Large Hadron RapViews: 4,423,967

Informal Virtual Living Libraries

Social Media: Short-circuit the traditional authorities of diffusion of culture and change the nature of institutional territories.

Institutions are already moving towards deschooling some parts of learning. Carleon has succeeded in becoming an informal arm of universities as envisioned by Illich.

A broader participation will require rethinking of how we support informal learning.

Will be participate to these emerging living libraries?