By Lauren Balotin and Alex Kass “Collective Intelligence” and “Competitive Photography and the Presentation of the Self” By Lauren Balotin and Alex Kass

“Collective Intelligence” Collective intelligence refers to all those situations in which an aggregate of individual actors manifests a capacity for intelligent behavior that exceeds the individual capacity of the actors alone For instance, termites build complex structures by reacting to the work of their neighbors A practical application of collective intelligence is the Page Rank algorithm for Google's search engine, which calculates the relative authority of a given site based on the authority of the sites that link to it; also, Wikipedia Other research – Digital media relates to collective intelligence: discussion sites, such as Yahoo! Answers allow Internet users to exchange views on a topic, as with Wikis

“Competitive Photography and the Presentation of the Self” A highly skilled and highly aesthetic art practice also known as photographic art; sophisticated but conservative; exists in a “borderless international medium” i.e. Instagram Not amateur, but not avant-garde either; transcends class Posted online to “compete” for likes and followers’ attention Selfie vs. antiselfie: of all photos on Instagram only 10% are selfies Competitive photography: “Conscious and educated, aesthetically sophisticated activity, and its practitioners are well aware of the cultural context and meaning of their work. The images are explicitly made for public display and critical evaluation of their technical and aesthetic qualities. vs… “home mode” – non-competitive: relies on sharing photographs of traditional personal events such as holidays, birthdays, etc. Kodak culture: users know the followers personally “…they use Instagram for documentation and communication with people they know (Fig. 3). They may be happy if their photos get many “likes” and they do not mind getting more people to follow them and comment on their photos—but this is not their primary purpose.”

Competitive Photography: exploring the distinctions between photography’s past and present… The anti-selfie genre: showing something other than one’s face “anti-selfies on Instagram are not photographs of something out there; they and author’s life are supposed to be the same in terms of values, interests and aesthetics” http://manovich.net/index.php/projects/competitive-photography-and-the-presentation-of-the-self

Relationship Between the Essays Non-competitive photographers have become so well-known because they can easily reach more people through social media platforms, such as Instagram, even though their photography is not competitive. The essay on "Collective Intelligence” suggests that collective intelligence occurs in websites, such as "Wikipedia, Google, and Yahoo! Answers" because the Internet has the ability to reach millions of people and group their knowledge together. There are also different uses for each site based on the user’s preferences The main similarity between these two essays: the ability of digital media outlets to globally reach as many people as possible, in addition to offering various forms of use.

Excerpts “Collective Intelligence”: "The idea that aggregates of individuals might collectively behave in ways that transcend, in an emergent fashion, the intention and intelligence proper to each of their individual action is, of course not new. Indeed, such an assumption lies at the heart of the liberal tradition; Adam Smith's 'invisible hand' for instance, describes a process by which the pursuit of private advantage in the market by many individuals increase the general welfare" “Competitive Photography”: “What is likeable? The answer will be different for different audiences. In general, the peer review process seems to prefer well-crafted, aesthetically accomplished photographs whose content is generally positive and affirmative of certain taste or style.” “But for competitive photographers on Instagram, “how” is equally important as “what.” When they include selfies in their feeds, these images are supposed to make also an aesthetic statement. These Instagram users aim at being recognized by their peers for their skillful and creative photographic work, not only for the autobiographic or anecdotal content of their selfies. This marks a distinction between selfies made by competitive photographers and selfies made by celebrities, models, and reality TV stars.

Questions to Consider Would platforms, like "Wikipedia, Yahoo! Answers, and Google" work without collective intelligence? What are some other examples of collective intelligence in the real world? Do you engage in competitive or noncompetitive (home mode) photography whenever you share a photo on social media? Do your selfies and Instagram posts aim to make an aesthetic statement about photography or provide autobiographical content? According to the essay, “To make likeable pictures, you must follow the rules.” Do you follow a set of your own rules whenever you create an Instagram post?