Networks, Communities and Public Space COM 300 Kathy E. Gill 4 May 2005

Agenda  Reminder: extra credit option on Assignments 1 and 2  Discussion Leaders  Additional Lecture Recap earlier discussion Bridge to communities  Lab

Networks of Remediation (1/2)  “A medium is that which remediates”  New media change the “older” media  How do we separate technology from its social use? Can we? Technological determinism : says technology causes social change … Social determinism is the converse Can new media technology offer us transparent democracy?

Networks of Remediation (2/2)  Postman: “the uses made of technology are largely determined by the structure of the technology itself”

McLuhan  Believed media (technologies) affect cultural (social) change  If, as he suggests, print media created individualism and nationalism … what might networked communication technologies create? Tribal behavior or welcoming behavior?

Recap  There is an intrinsic relationship between content and technology: both contribute to meaning  So what does this mean for community networks and public space?

GNU Project (1/2)  Start of open source philosophy (1985) “The word `free’ in `free software’ pertains to freedom, not price” … think free speech, not free beer!  Four principles … Freedom to: Use the program as you wish Adapt the program Distribute copies to help your neighbor Improve the program and share it with the public to benefit the entire community

GNU Project (2/2)  Technologists developing social networks to develop new software … by using communication (technology) networks  Subsequently … Linux, Apache, TCP/IP  Visit Slashdot.org to see this community in actionSlashdot.org

Cluetrain  Markets are networks composed of people … and people like to talk (communicate)  Companies can impose barriers to this communication (or not)  Reducing barriers means a community of like-minded people has better chance of forming

WiFi (1/2)  Until recently, all communication networks were “wired” (copper, then fiber optics)  Satellite, mobile telephony, now wiFi  Less-developed countries can bypass the cost of wired infrastructure and go straight to wireless Voice and Internet (may be the same – VoIP)

WiFi (2/2)  Negroponte: “lily pond effect” Maps (Phil Howard’s Fall Class) Maps Networks: Freenetworks.orgFreenetworks.org Wardriving Software: MacStumbler, Stumbler.Net, MiniStumbler (pda) Software

All Networks are Vulnerable  Networks are a form of “commons” WiFi: using open bandwidth is illegal in the US Shirky: social software lacks needed automation features  People stop allowing comments on blogs  Forums: no anonymous posts Protect against (virtual) litter in a public park, graffiti

Community, Politics, Public Space (1/2)  Through participation in associations, citizens both receive an education in public affairs and create centers of political power independent of the state. Essential to participation in an association is participation in a forum, a communication space that allows for many-to-many communication in which citizens can “treat of public affairs in public” (Tocqueville, 1945, p. 109). Hans K. Klein, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology; The Information Society, 15:213–220, 1999

Community, Politics, Public Space (2/2)  Political discourse is essential for functioning democracy  Thus, one definition of public space:one definition Where we debate what is legitimate and illegitimate in a democracy  Blogosphere as political public space

But what else is public space?  Anything owned by “the public” (parks, government buildings, roads, etc.)  Anything not “private” (ie, our homes or private spaces within public space such as bathroom facilities)  The forum in which we play out our “public” lives

The opposite of public space …  Only truly public if it is openly accessible and welcoming to ALL members of a communityopenly accessible and welcoming Gated communities TV’s “big three” … versus cable “Radio” … versus Sirius (yet it’s podcasting, starting 13 May)it’s podcasting  Clear Channel Communications Inc. has been reducing the number of commercials A registration ($) restricted web

How to Preserve Commons  Commons = Public Spaces  Social Mores As Constraint Behavior Language  But Whose Mores? Goes back to “welcoming to all”

In Summary …  Technology shapes us; in turn, we shape it  Open Source software movement is shaping business practices and tools Has also nurtured new forms of social software (blogs, wikis, phpForums, etc)  Critical to a functioning democracy: relevant public spaces for discourse among and across communities