Digitized Lives: Culture, Power, and Social Change in the Internet Era Pt. 1

T.V. Reed's book titled, Digitized Lives: Culture, Power, and Social Change in the Internet Era explores issues of digital technology and its impact on culture. Chapters 1-5 specifically deal with understanding this digital culture and the confusion that surrounds this evolving cyberspace, as well as the advantages and disadvantages technology poses within our culture.

Reed begins by breaking down the terminology into fluid and easy to understand rhetoric in chapter one titled, "How Do We Make Sense of Digitized Cultures?". As understood by Reed, culture is defined as "values, beliefs and behaviors that are typical and defining of a group...Cultures are fluid, not neatly bounded entities. Recent anthology argues that 'cultures' are always fictions, are always artificial constructions of observers" (Reed 2). In referencing technology, he argues that within culture, the introductions of technology are leaving a profound impact on culture. Asking questions about the impacts of technology on individuals, and how to utilize these new technologies in a positive way is consistently addressed as Reed explores issues of community, identity, and social justice in online realms. Reed consistently refers to technology as a tool, arguing that it can be used for good as well as evil in reference to issues of cyberstalking or sex trafficking, which are issues explored later in chapter five. Within chapter one, the subtitle of the text is fleshed out, defining the terms culture, power, and social change in reference how they pertain to the utilization of digital technologies. This attempt to explain and articulate digital technologies influence and presence in these three discourses of economic and social justice is the first main point I believe Reed aims to address in the first half of the book.

Reed begins by defining culture, power, and social change and their relationships between one another. From there, the different genres of digital and cultural analyses are addressed. One that caught my eye specifically was the notion of textual analysis in digital spaces. According to Reed, textual analysis examines the following:

The verbal (written and spoken words), visual (colors, layout, still and moving images), and aural (voice, music, and other sounds)…Much digital text analysis focuses on what we most often mean by text, the written word, examining the verbiage on a web page or the conversation in a chat room, doing the close reading associated with literary analysis. (14)

This is an aspect of digital technology and culture that is particularly interesting to me as a scholar and a teacher. Examining technology and multimedia works allows us to view technology under a more critical lens, understanding its form and process, rather then just using its features. In the composition classroom, I feel as though textual analysis through a digital lens can have a profound influence on the composing process both written and through multimedia projects.

The end of chapter one focuses on divides and how the real world vs. digital can have intense separation based on economics and user access. Lastly, the notion of digital terminology and the study behind this discourse is introduced, offering what I believe to be Reed’s second main objective in the first half of the book: “the culture surrounding and embedded in the devices and processes” (28).  

Chapter two titled, “How is the Digital World Made? The Dreamers/ Workers/ Users Production Cycle” digs deeper into the understanding of the history of the Internet where Reed notes, “the Internet is more of a process than a thing” (31). From initial military use, to open access, chapter two takes us through the transitions from a military and scientific origin of the WWB to the radical hippies of the 1960’s and 70’s which created Silicon Valley, one of the largest technological innovation centers in the world. To me, chapter two really begins to tie in these ideas of culture and social justice through the theme of access. Throughout the history of the Internet, the transitions of user-access raise questions of geographical and social limitations, and the access barriers people often face as a result of these limitations. From moving to different Internet “hosts” such as Netscape and Internet Explorer, the Web 2.0 is born, which is an attempt to “commercialize digital spaces” (37). These technologies transcend from the computer to other interactive devices such as smart phones to digital tablets and video games. Through the development and evolution of the Internet, Reed begins to explore globalization and how digital production and competition is fueled by an attempt to surpass and compete with other companies at the cost of poor labor conditions and excessive electronic waste. The last portion of the chapter focuses on the wastes and conditions of the lower class workers in these massive technological companies, noting that often times women and young children are often exposed to harmful chemicals and long, labor-intensive work.

Chapter three titled, “Who Are We Online? Digital Masquerade, Privacy, Anonymity, Community and Cyborg Dis/Embodiment” centers around the theme of digital identity. Questions such as “Who are We Online?” and whether or not we create fake identities is presented. Reed argues “cultural identities in our postmodern era are less stable, more malleable than they have been historically, and that ICT’s are playing a role in that destabilization” (54). The role of technology then provides a “mask” for users to hide behind, which Reed argues isn’t necessarily a bad thing. By utilizing these digital spaces and playing with identity, people are able to form communities and interact in a way that they may not feel comfortable in “real life” spaces.

            The next notion that Reed introduces in chapter three deals with issues of privacy, and how much access the government has to material on the Internet. The statistics presented in this section are shocking and troublesome. As a Facebook user, I was uncomfortable at the limitation of privacy that users have, even if one sets their preferences to “private”. Reed also sheds light to the notion of disclosure, and how digital spaces provide a safety for individuals to disclose personal information that they might not otherwise share with one another in a face-to-face setting. As users of the digital interface, we are also afforded certain legal rights, which are listed and explained within the chapter. From there, Reed touches on the idea of cyborgs, and how interconnected individuals are with technology, noting, “What all posthumanists have in common is the sense that computers are prosthetic, and like the prosthetic devices used by amputees, they give us capabilities we would otherwise lack” (67). This addition of technology to our lives is surely a benefit, but to how much are we dependent on it? As a result of this dependency, Reed discusses cyberbullying and that “Eighty percent of young people interviewed about bullying said they were more likely to bully online than offline” (71). Cyberbullying has become such a problem in our society the rate of suicide as a result of bullying has dramatically increased. In contrasts, Reed discusses the notion of virtual communities, and how the Web can be a place for people to connect for all intentions (political, romantically, socially). Though critics of online communities note that “some authentic human relation is lost when people connect only through online media” (74). This quote brings us to the topic of how much is too much? Though online communities are a great way for people to interact, Reed discusses language and how important verbal language is to human interaction. Lastly, the notions of cultural hegemony and imperialism are addressed, and how people can become oppressed in online realms and spaces.  

Chapter four titled, “Is Everybody Equal Online? Digitizing Gender, Ethnicity, and Dis/Ability” discusses equality in online spaces. Cynthia and Richard Selfe discuss the terminology associated with technology, and how one can argue that the terminology such as “desktop” or “interface” can speak to a specific population that is typically dominated in online realms: the white upper-middle class male. This can largely be attributed to the fact that this population was primarily responsible for the creation of the WWB, however, it’s interesting to consider these precedents, and how technology and user access is largely catered towards a specific population. Reed argues “the most effective way to overcome these cultural biases has been to bring greater gender, class, and ethnic/racial diversity into the design and implementation of digital devices and processes” (87). Offering ideas such as, creating more racially diverse avatars in video games, and perhaps making a more gender-neutral packaging for the games themselves can begin to combat these discrimination's present within technology. I found the story of the women who was attacked in a video game because the participants were male and recognized her voice as female to be very disturbing. Reed poses the question as to whether or not the Internet is a man, and I can see some validity to this argument based on the stories like the one discussed in the chapter. Consequently, the feminists’ movement has made a deep online presence in advocating for women’s rights on the Web. Issues of racial equality are fleshed out by Lisa Nakamura to which she refers to newer digital versions of racial stereotypes as “cybertypes” arguing, “the shift to real identities online helps get rid of racism” (97-98).  By making your racial identity known online, Nakamura believes it makes online users more aware of their language and their racial commentary. Lastly, Reed discusses disability and how digital spaces can be a safe place for disabled people to interact, without the emphasis or attention on their disability as identifying who they are as individuals. The issue of technology in regards to disability poses a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the text offers that it breaks down the “otherness” often present within disability. In contrast, Reed argues that it then makes disability invisible, which isn’t necessarily a good thing because it should be a “choice by people with disabilities online, not something foisted on them by putatively able-bodied folks who’d rather not know” (103).

The last chapter in this summary is chapter five titled, “Digitizing Desire? Sexploration and/or Sexploitation”.  In this chapter Reed makes the argument that “ the problem with the Web is not that there is too much sex on it, but that there is not enough” (109). Virtual sex education and a way for individuals to gain awareness about sex is a complex issue to which parents have to monitor and people decipher between. Within issues of sex, cybersex refers to “sexual acts performed through the medium of digital technology” (111). Whether this is through wanted or unwanted sexual performance, Reed notes that there is a definite sexual presence in online spaces. Pornography, which is largely dominated by female executive roles, is a medium to which is easily accessible. As a result of the porn industry, Reed touches on the issues of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation and how technology has provided a way for this oppression to easily occur. In reference to queer identities online, Reed notes that “the Web has provided safe spaces with a degree of anonymity that have allowed some people whose sexual orientation is unwelcome or treated with active hostility in their home communities to find each other, share knowledge, and offer support” (118). However, there is also a very negative presence online that leads to gay bashing and oppression to queer individuals because as noted previously the “mask” of hiding behind a computer screen allows those individuals who have something homophobic and oppressive to say the success of saying it anonymously.

The image I chose depicts several different themes I believe is represented in this segment of reading. Perhaps the main points are user accessibility and dependency, but I hope we get to touch on these images and explanations more in class J