The Electronic Culture - Essay Example

Major Essay Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date: Question 2: Does ‘digital culture’ facilitate an enhanced opportunity for ‘cultural citizenship’? Indicate examples in your answer. Introduction Within the realms of media theory, there has been widespread documentation of the gradual paradigm shift from the print culture in the 19th century to the electronic culture in the 20th C and eventually to the more contemporary digital culture in the 21st C. This latest development has been confronted by extensive amplification and accelerated growth which has been spearheaded by the heightened awareness and popularity of multi-user software, networked computers as well as the internet which have been subjected to elevated investigation (Deuze, 2006, p. 63). It is also imperative to be cognizant of the fact that these latest trends as embedded in the digital culture have been credited for the increased entrenchment of cultural citizenship in various societies. In this regard, cultural citizenship is related to the inherent right by individuals and collectives to be different in terms of language, ethnicity among other tenets with respect to the norms of the larger dominant national community without particularly endangering the latter group (Uricchio, 2004, p. 146). Nonetheless, other proponents have argued against the preceding presumption in regard to the integral role of digital culture in facilitating the improvement of cultural citizenship. Against this backdrop, this paper is an effort to explore whether digital culture plays any role in facilitating an improved opportunity for cultural citizenship in diverse regions of the world. This will be done through analyzing the core tenets of the digital culture and engaging in a profound assessment of whether they have resulted in the entrenchment of the cultural citizenship in different regions. Discussion It is imperative define both of the aforementioned concepts in order to gain a comprehensive insight into how they are interrelated in the contemporary world. At a very basic level, digital culture has been perceived as an emergent set of practices, values and expectations in regard to the way people ought to act, behave and interact in the context of the contemporary network society (Deuze, 2006, p. 63). On the other hand, cultural citizenship has been perceived cultural citizenship has been perceived as the right to be different in aspects like language, ethnicity and race with extensive respect to the norms of the national community which is dominant In a certain region, without posing any danger to the right to belong, in the sense of participating in the democratic process of the nation-state (Uricchio, 2004, p. 146). According to anthropologist Lok Siu (cited in Maira, 2004, p. 222), cultural citizenship entails the behaviors, practices and discussions which are central in giving sense to citizenship as lived experience in the context of a society which is characterized by structural inequalities and mazes of power relations which culminates in the realities of inclusion or exclusion. The methodological approach of this paper will entail an inquiry into the basic components which characterize digital culture and then proceed to critically analyze whether they foster the enhancement of cultural citizenship in different parts of the globe. It is important to recognize the fact that the concept of digital culture had been conceptualized in prior periods, for instance, by Manovic (2001) who instigated the generic concept of information culture which is exhibited in the generic convergence of the media form and content , characters and susceptibilities, cultural and national traditions, and not forgetting the integration of culture and computers. In regard to the Deuze (2006, p. 63), the chief components of digital culture can be captured in three rudimentary concepts which are participation, remediation and bricolage, all of which ought to be viewed as having an inherent linkage. In the context of participation, Deuze (2006, p. 67) determined that participation ought to be viewed as a defining tenet of digital culture which has been instigated by the emergence and eventual development of independent media centers which have a deep commitment towards open publication whereby all individuals are empowered to post or upload various contents in the websites. On the other hand, there has been increased collaboration in production between online and offline media, for instance, in the production of print newsletters, videos and websites as well as decision making which is founded on open sourcing which is availed through mailing lists which are accessible in the public domain and chat channels. On the other hand, other scholars, for instance, Schudson (1995) and Hartley (1996) have pointed to the fact that participation in the digital culture is also endowed with a political dimension in the sense that it is closely linked to the paradigm shift in citizenship identity in the elective democracies in the Western countries from a confined passive ‘informational’ citizenry to a more active, monitorial, right-based citizenry. This trend has in the recent past over spilled to other regions in the world, most notably in the Muslim countries in the Middle East whereby the increase of the participation as entrenched in the digital culture has culminated in the citizens monitoring the government processes and being increasingly informed and involved in the governance processes. Thus, the increased centrality of participation as embedded in digital culture has seen a trend towards the increased claims of the citizens for the right to be heard as opposed to being spoken to, which characterized the traditional models of mass media broadcasting. This can be seen as being fundamental in the political revolutions in the Muslim countries like Libya, Egypt and Syria among others. At a very basic level, Deuze (2006, p. 68) noted that the elevation of the participatory culture has been prompted by the heightened popularity of internet connections and networked computers in households as well as the increased utility of the handheld mobile devices among members of the population. In regard to the remediation component of the digital culture, blogs in the website have been considered as a robust example of remediation in the sense that blogs tend to encourage the feeling of time based on the chronological arrangement of the weblogs posts. Thus, remediation in digital culture has been perceived as inferring to being submerged in the system while there is concurrent attribution of credibility and legitimacy to the definition of self of working outside the system as well as conducting reformations from within. In relation to the above, commentators like Matheson (2004) and Platon and Deuze (2003) have determined that the maintenance of indymedia websites and sometimes editing or filtering or else management of these websites is usually through processes of decision making which pose close similarity in terms of evolution to those which are evident in the average corporate newsroom. Against the foundation of the above tenets, Deuze (2006, p. 68) posed the question of if participation and remediation are central concepts in the digital culture, in what ways are individuals and collectives empowered with the capacity of recognizing each other, attributing legitimacy and quality to their actions, and what is different in the production and consumption processes of the digital as opposed to the print or visual culture? This prompts an analysis of the third and final component of digital culture which is bricolage. According to Hartley (cited in Deuze, 2006, p. 70), bricolage can be perceived as the making of objects using materials to hand, the re-use of artifacts which are in existence as well as incorporation of bits and pieces. In the web at the world wide spectrum, bricolage has been perceived to be evidenced through the ways in which individuals click, publish and link their way online. This culminates to the ability to rearrange and reselect elements in the virtual medium until there is the emergence of a pattern which offers a greater satisfaction to the restraints of the task as well as the user’s current purposes. Thus, all these elements are linked to the digital culture in different countries around the world. This leads to the question of whether in way digital culture facilitates enhanced opportunity for cultural citizenship. Results and analysis It is worth noting at this juncture that there is a robust correlation between the digital culture in a certain region as well as the enhancement of cultural citizenship of the individuals and collectives in that particular region. This is best epitomized by Latino studies scholars, like Renato Rosaldo, Rina Benmayor and William Flores who took a novel approach to immigrants and civil rights, a social movement-based approach. In their inquiry using cultural citizenship, they analyzed how the cultural phenomena – from practices which play a central role in organizing the daily lives of collectives, individuals, families and communities as well as linguistic and artistic expressions are entrenched in the political spectrum and play a key role in contributing to the processes of molding and affirming an emerging Latino identity as well as socio-political consciousness (Maira, 2004, p. 222). Based on the above study, participation as embedded in the digital culture can be perceived to be central in the efforts towards enhancing the cultural citizenship among this group, mostly in countries where they form a small sub culture in a wider and dominant national culture, for instance, in the USA. In this regard, they reaffirm their cultural identity, linguistic and artistic expressions, political rights and socio-economic concerns through various online mechanisms like blogs as well as more recent developments in the social network industry which has empowered people to update each other on current happening and the course of action when confronted by common impediments. This can be perceived as one strong aspect of digital culture among the Latinos in various regions of the world where they form a significant sub-culture. This is also evident in other sub-cultures, mostly among the Muslim populations in Western countries who are confronted by diverse challenges which include but not limited to terrorism suspicion, mostly after the 9/11 terrorist attack in the US. Thus, digital culture among these groups plays a central role in enhancement of cultural citizenship which is related to the advancement of rights, concerns and sentiments of individuals of these sub-cultures in terms of language, ethnicity and religion while at the same time respecting the norms of the larger dominant national community without particularly endangering the latter group. In addition, participation as embedded in digital culture has been perceived as being key to the development of gaming activities among the youths in diverse regions which is related to the creation of software which enhances or modifies games. This has not only resulted in the development of a unique language among this sub-group but has also signaled the emergence of these players as ‘co-creative’ media producers (Karaganis, 2007, p. 115). This can be attributed to be a robust opportunity of enhancing the cultural citizenship in this particular cohort in the larger population of different countries. This has been evidenced by the increased attention on the digital open source movement in the recent years which has highlighted the imperative role as well as the long-standing tradition of these developers who are unpaid in the innovation and creation of computer technologies. When viewed from the perspective of participation as embedded in the digital culture, this can be seen as being paramount in facilitating an enhanced opportunity for ‘cultural citizenship’ among this category of youths around the world. Lastly, remediation as entrenched in digital culture has also been perceived as being central in nurturing cultural citizenship. This is whereby blogs which tend to encourage the feeling of time based on the chronological arrangement of the weblogs posts foster the interaction, information dissemination, and the members of various sub-cultures reaffirm their identities, champion for the recognition of their rights while at the same time respecting the norms of the wider society. Conclusion The above essay has defined the concepts of digital culture and cultural citizenship, as well as proceeded in outlining the various components of cultural citizenship. No major shortcomings were encountered in these efforts and the essay has ensued to analyze the robust role of digital culture in enhancing the opportunity for cultural citizenship. This has been through giving different examples, for instance, the Latino and Muslim sub-cultures in Western countries as well as youths in computer technologies. References Deuze, M., 2006, ‘Participation, Remediation, Bricolage: ConsideringPrincipal Components of a Digital Culture’, The Information Society, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 63–75. Hartley, J. 1996, Popular reality: Journalism, modernity and popular culture, Arnold, London. Karaganis, J., 2007, Structures of Participation in Digital Culture, social science research council, New York. Maira, S., 2004, ‘Youth Culture, Citizenship and Globalization: South AsianMuslim Youth in the United States after September 11th’, retrieved 1st October, 2012, . Manovich, L, 2001., The language of new media, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Matheson, D., 2004, ‘Weblogs and the epistemology of the news: Some trends in online journalism’, New Media & Society Vol.6, No. 4, pp. 443–468. Platon, S. & Deuze, M. 2003, ‘Indymedia journalism: A radical way of making, selecting and sharing news?’, Journalism Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 343–362. Schudson, M., 1995, The power of news, Harvard University Press , Cambridge, MA. Uricchio, W., 2004, ‘Cultural Citizenship in the Age of P2P Networks’, in I. Bondebjerg and Peter G, (eds), Media Cultures in a Changing Europe, Intellect Press, Ltd, Bristol, pp. 139-164. Read More

The methodological approach of this paper will entail an inquiry into the basic components which characterize digital culture and then proceed to critically analyze whether they foster the enhancement of cultural citizenship in different parts of the globe. It is important to recognize the fact that the concept of digital culture had been conceptualized in prior periods, for instance, by Manovic (2001) who instigated the generic concept of information culture which is exhibited in the generic convergence of the media form and content , characters and susceptibilities, cultural and national traditions, and not forgetting the integration of culture and computers.

In regard to the Deuze (2006, p. 63), the chief components of digital culture can be captured in three rudimentary concepts which are participation, remediation and bricolage, all of which ought to be viewed as having an inherent linkage. In the context of participation, Deuze (2006, p. 67) determined that participation ought to be viewed as a defining tenet of digital culture which has been instigated by the emergence and eventual development of independent media centers which have a deep commitment towards open publication whereby all individuals are empowered to post or upload various contents in the websites.

On the other hand, there has been increased collaboration in production between online and offline media, for instance, in the production of print newsletters, videos and websites as well as decision making which is founded on open sourcing which is availed through mailing lists which are accessible in the public domain and chat channels. On the other hand, other scholars, for instance, Schudson (1995) and Hartley (1996) have pointed to the fact that participation in the digital culture is also endowed with a political dimension in the sense that it is closely linked to the paradigm shift in citizenship identity in the elective democracies in the Western countries from a confined passive ‘informational’ citizenry to a more active, monitorial, right-based citizenry.

This trend has in the recent past over spilled to other regions in the world, most notably in the Muslim countries in the Middle East whereby the increase of the participation as entrenched in the digital culture has culminated in the citizens monitoring the government processes and being increasingly informed and involved in the governance processes. Thus, the increased centrality of participation as embedded in digital culture has seen a trend towards the increased claims of the citizens for the right to be heard as opposed to being spoken to, which characterized the traditional models of mass media broadcasting.

This can be seen as being fundamental in the political revolutions in the Muslim countries like Libya, Egypt and Syria among others. At a very basic level, Deuze (2006, p. 68) noted that the elevation of the participatory culture has been prompted by the heightened popularity of internet connections and networked computers in households as well as the increased utility of the handheld mobile devices among members of the population. In regard to the remediation component of the digital culture, blogs in the website have been considered as a robust example of remediation in the sense that blogs tend to encourage the feeling of time based on the chronological arrangement of the weblogs posts.

Thus, remediation in digital culture has been perceived as inferring to being submerged in the system while there is concurrent attribution of credibility and legitimacy to the definition of self of working outside the system as well as conducting reformations from within. In relation to the above, commentators like Matheson (2004) and Platon and Deuze (2003) have determined that the maintenance of indymedia websites and sometimes editing or filtering or else management of these websites is usually through processes of decision making which pose close similarity in terms of evolution to those which are evident in the average corporate newsroom.

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