Finding My Sense of Personal Democracy

For the past two days, I was lucky enough to attend the Personal Democracy Forum - a conference in New York City focused on the intersection of technology, politics and transparency.

There were two presentations that really provoked me. The first was by danah boyd (purposefully lower case), titled "The Not-So-Hidden Politics of Class Online." The  presentation is based on a controversial essay she wrote two years ago that attempted to locate divisions between MySpace and Facebook. Here is a particularly telling passage from danah's speech:

MySpace was first; arguably, some people got sick of it and, when Facebook came along, voila! This is certainly true for many teens (and adults), but this explanation would only work if MySpace was dead or if users of MySpace thought of it as uncool. The fact that MySpace is still quite popular among a certain segment of the population...

Herein lies the reality that makes all of this quite messy to deal with. It wasn't just anyone who left MySpace to go to Facebook. In fact, if we want to get to the crux of what unfolded, we might as well face an uncomfortable reality... What happened was modern day "white flight." Whites were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. The educated were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. Those from wealthier backgrounds were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. Those from the suburbs were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. Those who deserted MySpace did so by "choice" but their decision to do so was wrapped up in their connections to others, in their belief that a more peaceful, quiet, less-public space would be more idyllic.

This dynamic was furthered by the press, an institution that stems from privilege and tends to reflect the lives of a more privileged class of people. They narrated MySpace as the dangerous underbelly of the Internet while Facebook was the utopian savior. And here we get back to Kat's point: MySpace has become the "ghetto" of the digital landscape. The people there are more likely to be brown or black and to have a set of values that terrifies white society. And many of us have habitually crossed the street to avoid what is seen as the riff-raff.

The fact that digital migration is revealing the same social patterns as urban white flight should send warning signals to everyone out there.

It's a lot to digest, but I really enjoyed how danah used her time on stage for consciousness raising about how social networks can essentially amplify existing racial and class divisions - we are not networking in a social way, but joining these sites to serve as a visible manifestation of our pre-existing social networks and personal biases. However, in amplifying the divisions, we also have a rare opportunity to review them. This struck a chord with the work I've done in terms of studying the gender attitudes of sites such as Digg and Wikipedia. Finally, I really enjoyed the fact that danah spoke to over 1000 people about the importance of looking at the online space with a critical eye toward diversity. This is important work. Thank you, danah.

Additionally, another presentation I greatly enjoyed was by Dr. Michael Wesch, from Kansas State University, who is dedicated to exploring and extending the possibilities of digital ethnography. Dr. Wesch presented a shorter version of what can be viewed in the following YouTube video and received a standing ovation from the crowd after he spoke:

What was most inspiring about Wesch's presentation can be found in the final 12 minutes of the video. So skip ahead if you really want to get jazzed about the new language of video and how YouTube, with more than 20 hours of video uploaded everyone minute, is changing the way the world communicates to each other. Additionally, I really enjoyed the part of his presentation about the evolution of "whatever" and I do believe in his final message:

The word "whatever" has morphed over the years.

Pre 1960s: Whatever meant: Whatever, that's what I said.
In the 1960's: Whatever was a call of rejection: "Whatever man."

In the early 1990's: Whatever was a term of indifference. "Meh, whatever." Also captured in Nirvana's "Whatever, nevermind."

In the late 1990 to now: Whatever has become a term of self indulgence "Whatever" from Clueless

The question is if the internet can create a sense of "whatever" that implies: “I care, let’s do whatever it takes by whatever means necessary.”

Over all the conference was a really great experience. I thought that conference organizers, Micah Sifry and Andrew Rasiej, worked hard to balance the panels in terms of gender, but it would be nice to see more people of color at next year's gathering.