From Telegram to Instagram

ARTS 2090: Final Task 3, Topic 4

From Telegram to Instagram: A photo essay connecting two technologies that revolutionized social communication

By Catherine Ratelle, z3410081

Author's note: In this photo essay, I incorporated my personal photographic work into a thorough analysis of two publishing technologies, one pre-1900s and one post-2000s; both have transformed publishing, and in turn, changed society. This essay attempts to capture the remarkable impact of the telegram compared to the current photo-sharing boom marked by mobile apps like Instagram. Most importantly, this essay will focus on how the two technologies have revolutionized society, specifically communication. All of the photos below were pulled from my photography archives, past and present portfolios. I enjoyed manipulating my personal photography and intertwining the photos with the research. Each original photograph was taken with my DSLR camera (Canon Rebel T3i) or my Smartphone camera (iPhone 4s) and then manipulated with Instagram. Using the app on my iPhone, I applied filters and effects to enhance each photo, then uploaded each image to my Instagram account. Each photo is constricted to a square shape, a distinctive style element of Instagram. The consistency of the my photographs' shape gives the essay an essential cohesive element.

To view more of my photography, visit my official portfolio website.

 

Everyday communication and connectivity. Everyday, all day.

 

Camp Nakanawa. Crossville, Tennessee, USA. July 2010.

Tom Standage (n.d.), author of "The Victorian Internet" and Economist editor, would agree that the social practices that govern today's Internet and mobile-oriented world date back to the telegraphic tradition of the early 19th century. The dawn of social telecommunications media evolved from Morse code, telegrams, telegraph poles and wires. According to Gomez (2012), it developed from typewriters, telephones, beepers, pagers, fax machines, and the interactive World Wide Web. Everyday, we engage, contribute, and share. Everyday, we network. Everyday, we connect through this advanced medium of communication utilizing all the precursor technologies of the past century. 

In a personal review of his book, Standage (n.d.) explained that telegraphy was the first empire of social communication, therefore, the first technology that shrunk the world via instantaneous communication. The consequences of the telegraph network are strikingly similar to the impact of the modern internet. The buzz that once existed around telegrams is parallel to the social media explosion dominating Web 2.0, but more importantly, the shift of social media from desktop computers to hand held mobile apps via Smartphones.

When publishing changes, so does society. This photographic essay will explore the radical pre-1900s publication technology of the telegram in comparison to the post-2000s development of mobile photo-sharing and the craze surrounding apps like Instagram. This essay will also summarize the ways these publication technologies have impacted society, more specifically, revolutionized communication in the last century.

The electric telegraph: the spark that started the communication fire

West Texas, USA. 31 December 2011.

The technology behind telegraphy sparked a communication revolution in the 19th century that resulted in a globally connected world. It became the first global system for exchanging information, and thus created the first mass communication empire (Redfern, n.d.; Hill, 2012). Standage (n.d.) declared that,“The telegraph unleashed the greatest revolution in communications since the development of the printing press.”

Bray John (1995, as cited in Wikipedia, Electrical Telegraph) explained that telegrams greatest achivement was the way the telegraph network allowed information boundaries to expand. Telegraphy allowed data to reach its destination while it was still pertinent to the current even. Telegrams existed as one of the first uncontrolled liberated forms of communication.

 

Fort Worth, Texas, USA. October 2011.

In 1838, Morse successfully demonstrated the technology by transmitting a message across two miles of wire. US Congress then funded Morse to install a line of communication between Washington D.C. and Baltimore; it was determined that the wires must stretch between the two cities above ground connected by telegraph poles (McNamara, n.d.). In 1844, the first telegraph was successfully transmitted and received. 

Fort Worth, Texas, USA. November 2011.

The telegraph poles soon connected entire countries; in 1861, the overland telegraph connected the west coast of the US to the east. These poles allowed electrical telegraph operators to transmit telegrams, a telegraph messages, long distances without the physical exchange of an object (Wikipedia, Electrical Telegraph). A system of cables strung on telegraph poles spread quickly throughout the US and Europe (Redfern, n.d.). Telegram technology exploded across the world and by the end of the nineteenth century, the globe was wired for a new kind of communication. By the time Abraham Lincoln was elected US President, telegrams were a normal means of communication in American life. In 1861, President Lincoln’s first state of the union was transmitted over telegraph wires. (McNamara, n.d.)

The world wired in: How telegram's revolutionized communication

Coogee Beach, New South Wales, Australia. March 2012.

When the telegraph poles and cables were finally installed across the world, Europe could send Australia a message in a day; what used to take 45 days could be easily transmitted within 24 hours. (Redfern, n.d.). US Associated Press workers stationed in Nova Scotia were able to intercept telegrams from European boats and telegraph the news to New York, where it could appear in print days before the boats would reach the New York harbor (McNamara, n.d.). When President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, the telegraph spread the news across the nation with efficiency and speed. The telegraph made it possible for the nation to share its grief for the first time, as well as unite in respect for their country and President (McNamara, 2011).

UNSW Main Library, Sydney, Australia. May 2012. 

The telegraph network crossed oceans to every continent expect for Antarctica. Global communication became, for the first time in history, instant and accessible (Wikipedia, Electrical Telegraph). Communication was given the gift of speed with the birth of the electric telegraph. According to BBC news reporter, Redfern (n.d.), the world would never be the same again. Governments could be more effective authorities for their oversea colonies. Merchants could supply cargo ships based on the latest demand and prices. Newspapers could share recent information and publish fresh stories. The publishing technology of telegraphy revolutionized society because it transformed how humans communicate with one another. For the first time, an individual could exchange a message with friends or family across the world (Redfern, n.d.). 

Tag me: The photo-sharing movement and the platforms that fuel the craze

 Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. March 2012.

Sharing photos has evolved from a popular trend to a distinct social movement in the interactive Web 2.0 world. Jenny Grove (2010), Mashable Tech contributor, broke down the history of the online photo sharing movement into three phases.

In the early 2000s, uploading and distributing photos online generated a need for online photo-sharing platforms. According to Grove, the widespread user interest in using the web to share photographs resulted in the creation of Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket etc. In the late 2000s, photo sharing via social networks increased dramatically; Facebook and Twitter alone served as a medium for the second phase of photo-sharing (Grove, 2010). The third phase of the photo-sharing movement is centered on mobile photo-sharing apps like Instagram. Grove (2010) said the developers of these photo sharing apps are strategically focusing their energy on the mobile market first in an attempt to, “capitalize on both the ever-improving quality of Smartphone cameras and the user’s desire to take photos and instantly share them.”

Instagram: The rise of the visual-telegram

Hiwassee River, Reliance, Tennessee. July 2010.

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger co-founded Instagram, the free mobile photo-sharing app, in October 2010. The Instagram app is a photo-sharing social network that enables users to alter photos by adding filtered layers and retro-looking effects (Ashpari, 2012). Co-founder Kevin Systrom (2010) wrote on Quora about the genesis of Instagram; he said, “We felt [the name] captured what you were doing [right now]—an instant telegram of sorts.” Instagram was designed around the theme of live-streaming photos similar to the way Twitter streams text. Photos posted to Instagram serve as real time status updates like snapshots in a timeline. It emphasizes what people are taking photos of right now (Snow, 2011). Simplicity is the main feature and biggest attraction of the app; its emphasis on limited features allows for a better user experience (Snow, 2011).

Camp Nakanawa. Crossville, Tennessee, USA. July 2011.

Grove (2010) wrote that Instagram is grounded in “the instantaneous point-and-share functionality of Smartphones while providing users with filters to fancify and enhance photos and the tools to share them with the world.” Instagram allows immediate distribution and instant publishing while simultaneously providing seamless social integration with the user’s other social networks (Snow, 2011).

St. Moritz Hotel, Queenstown, New Zealand. May 2012.

The biggest trend fueling the Instagram fire and the third wave of the photo-sharing movement, according to another Mashable contributor, Shane Snow (2011), is the ubiquity of high quality camera phones. Not only do Smartphones have increasingly impressive image quality and advanced editing capabilities but all of these features stem from the same platform (Carter, 2011). With mobile photo-sharing apps there is no time commitment or need for equipment; Grove (2010) references this design as a closed loop approach as users take, share and view photos entirely from their mobile device. 

Masai Mara, Kenya, Africa. June 2009.

As cited by Carter (2011), Damon Winter, New York Times staff photographer, claimed that Smartphones are more practical than DSLR cameras, especially for journalists working in the field. Damon (as cited by Carter, 2011) explained that using DSLR cameras can create unwarranted attention because they often raise suspicion not only in war zone situations but any environment involving security officials, police and ordinary people passing by. Small, discrete and connected, Smartphones can send pictures and video around the world in seconds (Carter, 2011).

Sydney, Australia. February 2012.

According to Ronald Gomez (2012), Lens Diaries contributor, a new photographer is born the minute someone purchases a Smartphone due to the increase in Smartphone ownership and photography apps that are inspiring the creative eye in everyone. Due to the size and complexity, DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) cameras lack the spontaneity provided by camera phones. More importantly, connectivity is the main reason camera phones are running traditional camera lenses into the ground (Carter, 2011). 

The art of the photo-telegram: the heart and soul behind photo-sharing

Camp Nakanawa. Crossville, Tennessee, USA. July 2011.

Ashpari (2012) explained that Instagram is not replacing photography but transforming the art of photography by making it more accessible to the masses. In a sense, these mobile photo-editing tools are creating a new art form within the overarching category: the art of sharing photography.

 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. April 2012.

New York Times blogger, Holly Ojalvo (2012) references Karen Rosenberg’s “Everybody Lives in Pictures,” as an analytical approach to the Instagram phenomenon. Rosenberg cites Susan Sontag’s essays, “On Photography,” and her accurate prediction of how humanity slavishly depends on the visual confirmation of photos. Sontag explained this dependence as an “aesthetic consumerism” that we are all addicted. 

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. April 2012.

In today’s social app-orientated society, simply snapping the picture to confirm reality and enhance experience is not enough; sharing is the only aspect of photography that gives us validation. Not only are we addicted aesthetic consumers, Sontag said, we have also become aesthetic producers, obsessed with turning our photos into distributable content. Sontag observed, “The “image-world” is becoming virtually indistinguishable from the world at large” (Ojalvo, 2012). 

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. April 2012.

Though primarily utilized for self-motivated social network purposes, these new photo-sharing technologies have transformed our social relationships between individuals and between society at large. Fred Ritchin (n.d.), contributor and media producer for the Smithsonian Photography Institution, suggested that mobile photography has given rise to citizen journalism, emphasizing the ‘sharing’ in photo sharing. “We are seeing increasingly more images from people without photographic training who primarily attempt to capture information, not create symbolic images” said Ritchin (n.d.). The idea that all humans have the ability to contribute to the news gives people an underlying sense of community with purpose.

Queenstown, New Zealand. May 2012.

Unlike Instagram and other mobile-oriented apps, Facebook, Picasa and Flickr represent digitized versions of photo albums from the computer desktop as opposed to uploading from a Smartphone screen. According to Snow (2011), online photo-sharing from desktops focuses on "archiving memories and immortalizing artistic scenes."

 

In April 2012, Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, made a bold move in attempt to shift from predominately desktop to mobile device. Facebook purchased Instagram for $1 billion in cash and stock (Wikipedia, Instagram). Facebook is attributed as the biggest repository of photos online, said Gomez (2012). Gomez also explained that the telegram society of yesterday has transformed into today's Instagram world; the social visionaries of Facebook are betting on that new technology.

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. January 2012.

The photo-sharing craze can be understood as a manifestation of archive fever, which Carolyn Steedman (as cited in Howard, 2007) described as a, “desire to recover moments of inception: to find and possess all sorts of beginnings.” When we share a photo online via social media, it is auto-archived. Our Facebook timeline or Instagram photo-stream exist as digital scrapbooks and personalized . Steedeman described the human relationship to archives as a place “where the past lives” and a place of nostalgic dreaming (Howard, 2007). 

Insta-gram brings tele-gram technology full circle

Tamarama Beach, New South Wales, Australia. February 2012.

History tends to repeat itself, but more importantly, all things in history come full circle. We end our journey in the same spot we started it just with a different point of view. And, here we are. One could even argue that the pre-1900s gram technology lay the foundation for the post-2000s gram technology. Instead of sending a telegram with Morse code, we are sending photo-telegrams with visual graphics (Muscat, 2012).

Just as the telegram was a platform of distributing information via text, Instagram is a platform of distributing information via photo. Instagram represents a new means of communication, specifically a photo-medium of communication, according to PC World assistant editor, Alex Wawro (as cited in Asphari, 2012). 

The big idea: Connecting the world one gram at a time

Masai Mara, Kenya, Africa. June 2009.

Bringing the world together, one upload at time. All communication technologies, from the telegram to instagram, are grounded in the principle of connectivity across the world. Time Magazine's Lev Grossman (2006) summarized the social media revolution as an opportunity to build a new kind of international understanding, not politician to politician, great man to great mean, but citizen to citizen, person to person.

North Texas highway I-30, USA. January 2012.

According to Standage, the modern internet, dominated by social media networks, can be classified as an "information superhighway." He also highlighted the 19th century precursor, the telegraph, as the "the highway of thought." Standage suggested that current internet users have inherited the telegraph's "highway of thought" and are applying it to their modern technologies, thus shaping the "information superhighway." The two publishing technologies stream together into the same lane of traffic on the superhighway of the digital future.

 

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia. March 2012.

We often forget the most timeless aspect of the mobile social communication craze. The stage on which the entire production of social networking is set--the one and only, you, me and every other individual user. The larger dynamic at work amidst the obsession of photo-sharing is the celebration of the self, according to Time contributor, Brian Williams (2006). If it has to do with you and your life then it is important enough to tell someone, according to Williams (2006).

Telegram messages and Instagram photos are both suited for the real-time streaming of information passing through. Each update is only to be replaced by the next one. These technologies have existed and will continue to thrive as social communication channels. While grams of information may come and go, the channels that direct the distribution of this information with never fade, no matter how thick the Instgram filter.

References

Arthur, C., 2012. Instagram and Facebook: the next tech bubble. Guardian.co.uk Technology [blog] 10 April. Available at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/10/instagram-and-facebook-another-tech-bubble> [Accessed 28 May 2012].

Ashpari, Z., 2012. Why is Instagram so popular. PCworld.com [Blog] 7 April. Available at: <http://www.pcworld.com/article/253254/why_is_instagram_so_popular.html> [Accessed 30 May 2012].

Carter, J., 2011. How Smartphones are changing digital photography. Dpreview.com [online] 5 Oct. Available at: < http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9890146101/how-smartphones-are-changing-digital-photography> [Accessed 26 May 2012].

Gomez, R., 2012. Social photographers are the most creative—and Facebook knows this. Lens Diaries [Blog] n.d. Available at: < http://www.lensdiaries.com/photo-tips/social-photographers-are-the-most-creative-and-facebook-knows-this/> [Accessed 30 May 2012].

Grossman, L., 2006. You-yes, you--are TIME's person of the year. Time Magazine [online] 25 Dec. Available at: <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570810,00.html> [Accessed 26 May 2012].

Grove, J.V., 2010. The mobile photo sharing boom is here. Mashable.com [Blog] 6 Dec. Available at: <http://mashable.com/2010/12/05/mobile-photo-sharing-boom/> [Accessed 26 May 2012].

Hill, P., 2012. Instagram vs. the telegram. Philhill.net, [blog] 9 April. Available at: <http://www.philhill.net/instagram-versus-the-telegram/> [Accessed 27 May 2012].

Howard, S., 2007. Reposted: archive fever (a dusty digression). Early Modern Notes [Blog] 25 Sept. Available at: <http://emn.sharonhoward.org/2007/09/reposted-archive-fever-a-dusty-digression/> [Accessed 6 June 2012].

Johnson, B., 2007. What’s the most important technology. Guardian.co.uk Technology [Blog] 27 June. Available at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2007/jun/27/whatsthemost?INTCMP=SRCH> [Accessed 30 May 2012].

Long, B., 2011. Why we love Instagram, Hipstamatic, and the lo-fi photo trend. Macworld.com [Blog] 5 Aug. Available at: < http://www.macworld.com/article/1161514/whywelovelofi.html> [Accessed 31 May 2012].

McNamara, R., (n.d.). The invention of the telegraph changed communication forever. History1800s.about.com [online] n.d. Available at: < http://history1800s.about.com/od/inventioninnovation/a/telegraph01.htm> [Accessed 26 May 2012].

McNamara, R., 2011. Lincoln’s murder shocked the nation. History1800s.about.com [online] 14 April. Available at: <http://history1800s.about.com/b/2011/04/14/lincolns-murder-shocked-the-nation.htm> [Accessed 6 June 2012].

Muscat, F., 2012. Why Facebook bought Instagram. WSI Adcademy [online] 27 April. Available at: < http://www.wsiacademy.com/why-facebook-bought-instagram/> [Accessed 28 May 2012]

Ojalvo, H., 2012. Why do you share photos. Blogs.nytimes.com [Blog] 24 April. Available at: < http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/24/why-do-you-share-photos/> [Accessed 6 June 2012].

Redfern, M., 2005. Wiring up the ‘Victorian Internet.’ News.bbc.co.uk [online] 29 Nov. Available at: < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4475394.stm> [Accessed 26 May 2012].

Ritchin, F., n.d. Photography changes the way news is reported and distributed. Photography.si.edu [online] n.d. Available at: <http://click.si.edu/Story.aspx?story=543> [Accessed 27 May 2012].

Snow, S., 2011. Six factors behind the mobile photo sharing boom. Mashable.com [Blog] 3 June. Available at: <http://mashable.com/2011/06/02/mobile-photo-app-trends/> [Accessed 26 May 2012].

Standage, T., n.d. The Victorian Internet, Tomstandage.com, [Blog], n.d. Available at:

<http://tomstandage.wordpress.com/books/the-victorian-internet/> [Accessed 27 May 2012].

Systrom, K., 2010. Instagram: what is the genesis of Instagram. Quora.com [Blog] 8 Oct. Available at: < http://www.quora.com/Instagram/What-is-the-genesis-of-Instagram> [Accessed 26 May 2012].

Williams, B., 2006. Enough about you. Time Magazine [online] 25 Dec. Available at: <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570800,00.html> [Accessed 26 May 2012].

Wikipedia, 2012. Instagram [online] 7 June. Available at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instagram> [Accessed 26 May 2012].

Wikipedia, 2012. Electrical telegraph [online] 5 June. Available at: < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_telegraph> [Accessed 26 May 2012].

The Social Media Revolution: Expanding Platforms

YouTube video: The Social Media Revolution 2012

 

Even before watching that clip of information, we all know how powerful social media has become. In lecture we discussed the idea of ubiquity as omnipresent, being everywhere all at once. We evaluated the presence of social media and computer-human interaction in our daily lives through the theory of 'ubiquitous computing.'

There is no doubt that humanity is fully integrated into technology and computing, and with that said, Joe Salvo believes the information age to be over. Wesley Dodson (2009) posted Salvo's ideas on Collective Imagination to Science Blogs in his article, "The Dawn of the Systems Age." Dodson references Salvo explaining that the information is, "a period of history [that] can be characterized by the dominant technology that separates the leaders from the followers." Salvo claims that we have a reached the point where that separation no longer exists, which is why he suggests the "systems age" is next. The systems age involves sensing, collecting and manipulating data in real-time with minimal regulation and human supervision. Salvo postulates a bold but noteworthy idea: artificial intelligence will become the keepers of the digital sphere.

So if we are entering the systems age, it is important to consider what we are doing within these systems. The information age might be coming to an end, but it is still information that the systems are distributing and circulating. Hubert Guillard, Truthout blogger, reported ideas about "What is implied by living in a world of flow." Guillard references sociologist Danah Boyd who explains why living in a world of information is a powerful notion. Boyd says this idea suggests that we exist inside the living stream of content: we add to it, we consume it and we redirect it. Essentially, we are the system. Boyd, as cited by Guillard, explained that we have transitioned from broadcast media to networked media, which has fundamentally transformed the way information flows. Guillard supports Boyd's ideas and goes on to explain that internet technologies dismantle and rework the structures of distribution. If distribution changes, information circulates differently. The question everyone is trying to answer, is how.

Personal involvement in the social media craze

Here is a word web of the online platforms and media systems that I currently (or at some time in the past five years) have engaged in:

The mind map illustrated above shows my social media usage in isolation from the network. Once networked together, each individual web would connect and look something like the image displayed below. Imagine an infinite series of these webs, all connected.

Click here for outside image source.

After watching the Social Media Revolution You Tube video and considering the amount of time I spend interacting with each of these platforms, I am reminded that I am just as much a part of those statistics as the person sitting next to me, as the person sitting next to them and so forth. Even in another country, half way around the world, it still does not take many people to find a mutual interest or friend inside the intricate social webs of the internet. 

Sources:
ARTS 2090 lecture slides, see week 10

Dodson, Wes (2009) ‘Dawn of the Systems Age’, Page 3.14

Guillaud, Hubert (2010) (on Danah Boyd) ‘What is implied by living in a world of flow?’, Truthout

Worb-web and mind-map creator, text2mindmap.com

Science of Earth: Visualized

Wired posted an article by David Mosher entitled, "The 16 Best Science Visualizations of 2011," exhibiting the top designs from the 2011 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge. One of the competition judges, Thomas Wagner, a cryosphere scientist at NASA, commented on the development of science visualization. He said, "I think because information technology tools and visualization tools have advanced, people have found ever-increasingly clever ways to display difficult scientific concepts."

A similar Wired article, also posted by Dave Mosher, illustrated another example of complex scientific data made visual through, "Video: 10 Years of Fires on Earth Seen from Space." Over the past decade, NASA has recorded tens of millions of fires that burned all over the planet using a pair of earth monitoring satellites. NASA engineers took the ten years of data and created animated visualizations demonstrating the Earth's cycle of vegitation, weather, ocean systems etc. It is through these animated visualizations that this data becomes relevant to the general public. In a sense, accessible visualization tools have given complex scientific topics relevance again in the public sphere.

There is more and more discussion about ways to collaborate these visualizations. So much buzz is generating new projects for collective thinking and creating. The goal of many of these platforms is to archive not only the final presentation but to accurately archive the thought process humans are exhibiting whilst interacting with nonhuman machines. It is through the complexity of visualizations that researchers and theorists can begin to explore the methods of thinking and brainstorming that internalized within each research topic.

The Dynamic Media Network posted an intriguing article: "Assembling Collective Thought," by Anna Munster and Andrew Murphie. Munster and Murphie define the assemblage for collective thought (ACT) as, "an ongoing conceptual and aesthetic collaboration" and further as, "an assemblage of technologies and techniques for collaboration." They assert that ACT enables participants to 'think' collectively and conceptually; ACT considers the type of thought that is produced "in the middle of the very act of collaboration, when DJing, VJing, dancing in front of a camera." Munster and Murphie said that because so much new media composition and production concern itself with technological conduits and infrastructure, ACT fashions a kind of assemblage that explores new media to produce new concepts.

For more information about ACT and its development processes: Check this out!

Sources:
http://dynamicmedianetwork.org/publications/assembling-collective-thought-anna-munster-and-andrew-%20murphie

http://vogmae.net.au/vlog/

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/tag/science-visualization/

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/10/wildfires-space-nasa/

Information Graphics: A Vareity of Perspectives

A philosophical introduction: The Society of the Spectacle, by Guy Debord

The idea of the degradation of human life governed much of Guy Debord's writings in, The Society of the Spectacle. According to Wikipedia, Debord argues that social life can be seen as, "the decline of being into having, and having into merely appearing." Although very dense and challenging material to navigate, Debord offers a unique perspective on modern society, and his notion of 'the spectacle':

"The spectacle, like modern society itself, is at once united and divided. The unity of each is based on violent divisions. But when this contradiction emerges in the spectacle, it is itself contradicted by a reversal of its meaning: the division it presents is unitary, while the unity it presents is divided." (Chapter 3, Sec. 54)

Throughout the text, when Debord uses the word 'spectacle', he is referring to the mass media, our consumer economy or sometimes our advanced systems of government (Wikipedia). Debord wrote, about the notion of the spectacle stemming of our consumer oriented "economy of abundance." He claimed that products of the over-abundant economy dominate the market, or the spectacle. 

An example of information graphics in publishing:

In the opening of The Virtual Window: From Alberti to Microsoft, by Anne Friedberg, she declares:

"As we spend more of our time staring into the frames of movies, television, computers, hand-held displays--"windows" full of moving images, text, icons, and 3D graphics--how the world is framed may be as important as what is contained within that frame."

The Vectors Journal Editorial Staff praise Friedberg's expansive survey of visual culture over the past 500 years and suggest that her work offers an opportunity to think deeply about the entangled forces that contribute to the evolution of technologies of vision. Friedberg collaborated with Erik Loyer to develop an interactive counterpart for her book called, "The Virtual World Interactive." Friedberg, with the help of Loyer, constructed enactments of the critical concepts she discusses in her work. One of the central tenants of the book is the paradigm of the "split optic" which she defines as a form of parallel vision that views the past and present simultaneously. The Vectors Journal writes, "The Virtual World Interactive' invites us to think critically about the past in light of present sensibilities, while using the past as a vehicle for thinking critically about the present." For instance, at one point, a user can watch excerpts from I Love Lucy in the frame of a Renaissance era stained glass window. And that is only one example of Friedberg's eclectic range of sources and ideas. The Vectors Journal concludes that this kind of constantly-shifting and expanding design technique is arguably the most powerful development of digital publishing.

Big ideas about a small design feature: The dashed line in all its glory

Timo (2006) published his ideas about "The dash line in use" to Touch, a research project that investigates specific technologies, namely the technology that enables connections between mobile phones and physical things. Timo expresses his affinity for the dashed line in information graphics and design. He claims there is no tool more effective to illustrate borders or seams. Although it emerged from the designer's shorthand and from the limitations of printing techniques, the dashed line has "a simple visual magic, the ability to express something three- or four-dimensional in two dimensions." The interactive article incorporates examples from over fifty years of information design history. Timo references the dashed line as a hidden geometry, as an expectation, as border or seams, and as used in instructional design. Colin Ware (1999, as cited in Timo, 2006) defined the dashed, dotted or wavy lines as linking lines. He said that linking lines between things indicate a relationship between them. Adjusting the waviness or colors of the line can represent an attribute or type of relationship. The dash line can be seen as movement, indicating temporal positions of things. Similarly, it can be used to represent the path itself (Timo, 2006).

Information graphics in daily life: A personal reflection

Have graphics and design become more important than simple text itself? The internet itself is one large information graphic. Its one giant graphic design project, an infinite work-in-progress of visualization. We are not simply reading black text on white HTML pages. We are digesting the design of the information as well as the presented ideas themselves. Its all about the presentation. 

We are visualizing the information through its design; we do not just read words, we have design-literate as well. In a single skim of a website we see the font, text size, headline, spacing, icons, photographs, and captions. Without it? We would blow it off and move onto the next page. We subconsciously search for information with sophistication. Website credibility is held to a high design standard. In fact, we have become so info-graphic savvy that we respond to icons instantly. We read icons and graphics as if they are words. The iPhone home screen is a platform of icons. We have ascribed names, words and meaning to each app (and thus, icon) downloaded from the Apple AppStore.

What would the Iphone home screen be like if it used words instead of icons or graphics? It wouldn't be half as sleek and appealing. The lack of text adds a level of sophistication to the device. Below is an example of how chaotic my Iphone home screens would appear if they used words rather than information graphics. (Create your own word cloud here!)

Through its use of information graphics, we feel tech savvy by simply using it, navigating the home screen pages and knowing how each icon operates. And that fact that we can personalize these screens to our satisfaction makes us information graphic snobs. And that's not a bad thing. In fact, its respectable.

Click Here for Image Source

That everyone can identify what all of those icons mean? We like that. But no denying that the information graphics/icons that make up the commands of the internet and social media application or website exist because of fundamental words and language. The icon cannot exist without words that give it meaning, otherwise it would just be a "graphic" rather than a graphic with information. 

Designing relevant information graphics for future projects:
Marti Trewe contributed an article on the matter to the AGBeat blog, a site centering on business intelligence content. Trewe reviews and summarizes Piktochart and 16 other do-it-yourself information graphic generators online for the busy business professional. Its a fascinating article documenting why some infographics dazzle the audience and others just flop. Check out the list here and consider them for future presentations in the academic or business world:

 

Image source: see article reference below, screen shot of page

Sources:

Arnell, Timo (2006) ‘the dashed line in use’   

Debord, Guy (n.d.) ‘Unity and Division Within Appearances’, The Society of the Spectacle

'The Society of the Spectacle,' Wikipedia

Editors and Friedberg, Anne (2007) ‘The Virtual Window Interactive’ Vectors, 2(2)

'The Society of the Spectacle,' Wikipedia

Trewe, Marti, 'Piktochart: simple infographic creator online for the busy professional,' AGBeat 

Piracy (vs. Privacy): Part 2 of 2

Privacy vs. Piracy. Both boil down to one concern: regulating the internet. To control or not control the online world. Ideas, research and reflections. 

piracy  |ˈpīrəsē|  noun.
1. File sharing software like BitTorrent and others that enable individuals to download movies, songs, and other creative works without paying for them. Lecture Notes, Week 6
2. The practice of attacking and robbing ships at sea. A similar practice in other contexts, esp. hijacking : air piracy.
3. The unauthorized use, reproduction of, or appropriation of patented and/or copyrighted material : software piracy.
 
SYNONYMS: Freebooting, bootlegging, copying, illegal, plagiarism, infringement, robbery
Other definition information found at Dictionary.com

Well geez, when you put it like that I want to avoid admitting that I've ever downloaded something without authorization... but if everyone is a 'pirate' then what's the big deal?

The ubiquitous nature of piracy: A personal reflection on illegal downloading and other internet crimes we have all committed

I get it. Piracy is bad. It has been equated with the word 'hijacking.' Don't do it to avoid being considered a cyber-terrorist. Blah blah blah. Similar to underage drinking in the United States, can something this ubiquitos truly be a crime? Not only is everyone doing it but society is making it easy. If drinking before the age of 21 really is illegal in the States, then wouldn't there be cops in every college campus bar and strict fake ID scanners at every liquor store/restaurant/club entrance. I know damn well my friends and I looked about 15 when we started using our first fake IDs at the beginning of college. But really, where is the law enforcement? For every minor that gets busted for drinking under the age limit, the other ten thousand high-school kids across the country are not. For ever pirate busted for illegal downloading, the other five billions people on the planet are not.

In effort to make my point, I will rat out two personal favorite pirating websites. They may not be directly in violation of copyright law but they make redistribution of the song/movie doable and therefore they are the platform for the crime. If piracy, bootlegging, creativity-hijacking yadda yadda is so illegal, then explain why these websites have not been shut down... Channel 131 and YouTube video to MP3 File. And those are just two of the millions that exist like it...

If illegal downloading is SO illegal. Then prove it. Control it. Everyone understands the negative implications around it... the artist don't receiving their fair profit, the creators don't obtain the credit they deserve. Valid points, I agree with that. But when I'm downloading Usher's new hit single from YouTube, converting it to an MP3 file and sending it to my iTunes Library... the farthest thing from my mind is the 0.99 cents that I'm depriving Usher, the billionaire rap artist of earning.

But the government is not as concerned with people like me who merely flirt with the legality of piracy but more so with the trained, tech experts who could hijack an entire network within seconds. There is no way to count, let alone monitor, the astronomical number of websites on the internet. And if the sites themselves cannot be regulated than there is no way in hell that the information downloaded from them can be controlled. But there lies the most fundamental tenet of the internet. Its a free domain. The fact that piracy so easily happens is why the internet exists as such a brilliant network of knowledge, ideas, and people. Because its free. Because its completely open as a shared space.

But that's just it. "Almost impossible to control" are the exact words used to define 'bootlegging' (a synonym and close cousin of piracy). So where is the line drawn? How open can copyrighted information be if its on the internet? How limitless can the web become? Perhaps piracy is its border? Maybe we have found it's boundaries, a limit to the infinite online world. Since internet access has become a focal point of human life in developed countries, we cannot simply ignore the implications of piracy any longer. Something has to be done and I have no idea what will happen next.

George Monbiot, published in the Guardian in December 2010, wrote:

"The internet is a remarkable gift, which has granted us one of the greatest democratic opportunities since universal suffrage. We’re in danger of losing this global commons as it comes under assault from an army of trolls and flacks, many of them covertly organised or trained. The question for all of us – the Guardian, other websites, everyone who benefits from this resource – is what we intend to do about it. It’s time we fought back and reclaimed the internet for what it does best: exploring issues, testing ideas, opening the debate."

But if we reclaim the internet, that means rules and regulations. The freedom of the platform will vaporize quickly with each piece of legislation. If legislation can even be approved... United States Representative, Lamar Smith, from Texas, introduced a bill that yielded a multitude of backlash, called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Check this out for more information on SOPA. The future of SOPA is still in progress and will undoubtedly be an issue in the upcoming US presidential election.

Two sides to the SOPA story:
Paulo Coelho, successful author and writer, captured an interesting perspective on the legislation through posting his thoughts to his personal blog. His bottom line: There is real danger backing SOPA; if the act is made into law, it will affect the whole planet. Coelho begins by saying, "From the Gospels to political manifestos, literature has allowed ideas to travel and even change the world." One would assume an author to be in defense of intellectual property but that is not the case for Coelho. He says the more people 'pirate' a book, the better. He compares it to the way we hear songs on a radio; the more we hear the song, the more apt we are to buy the track. Coelho claims that the same goes with literature. He concluded his thoughts in saying, 

"Pirating can act as an introduction to an artist's work. If you like his or her idea, then you will want to have [the real thing] in your house; a good idea doesn't need protection. The rest is either greed or ignorance."

So... can we have the best of both worlds? Can we have a free, unregulated internet with no restrictions of copyright? Is piracy truly impossible to control? It seems that piracy will exist as long as the internet remains a free, open and accessible commons.

It also seems that I am completely torn between the two sides of the issue... 

But then again, who isn't?

Sources:
Coelho, Paulo, "My thoughts on SOPA," Paulo Coelho's blog accessed via http://www.diigo.com/user/andersand/SOPA

Hildyard, Nicholas, Lohmann, Larry, Sexton, Sarah and Fairlie, Simon (1995) ‘Reclaiming the Commons’ The Corner House

Monbiot, George (2010) ‘Reclaim the Cyber-Commons’, Monbiot.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOPA