Hybrid ni kawatte, iinuketa yo!

Or: Someone set us up the blog.

Or: For great hybrid.

(Or, translation: In the name of hybrid, I'll kinda try to explain something!)

Conversely: Kristin didn't understand a lick of this week's readings, and instead will try to ramble in an attempt to "get" hybrid spaces.

So, the bit I think I did get this week was in de Souza e Silva's "From Cyber to Hybrid" essay.

On page 763, dSeS talks about, basically, the shift from static interfaces to mobile interfaces, and how this shift forces us to take a look at what we consider "digital space." Size determines what we see as static and mobile -- do we have to sit at a computer to go online, or can we go online with our pocket PDA and cell phones? Then, perhaps, because of cultural experiences and the way we have grown up with accessing cyberspace, we see "Internet" as something restricted to static interfaces and solitary experiences, as with the home computer. In some cases, such as with Japanese teenagers who only go online with phones, they don't see it as accessing the Internet because it isn't behind a bulky computer (and, conversely, perhaps it isn't through Firefox or IE). In particular, because it is on-the-go and because it is seen as a component of their social spaces. Did digital space used to be only a static experience, once accessed through a desktop computer? Has digital space merged with social space as a result of our use of mobile media to access the Internet during "in-between" time and incorporating it with our day-to-day activities?

(*reads the rest of the prompt* ...ok... and then... ah!)

It's been a long day. My brain is ready to implode.

And I hear my husband playing "CoD: Modern Warfare 2" in the background, which is only wanting to drag me further away from this blog entry.

I support whatever dSeS said above. Or what I think she said. I think that there is a shift from static to mobile interface with regard to Internet access, thanks in no small part to items such as the iPhone. Or with netbooks and wireless cards.

I know I have resorted to neglecting my desktop unit, in part, because it's easier to jump on my laptop or my phone, do whatever Internet business I need to do, and go. Or handle the Internet business on my iPhone while between classes or in the car with Marcus (the aforementioned husband) at the wheel. I think, in part, this is also because my desktop is a 5-year-old beast in serious need of a video card upgrade. And because having the time to sit down at my workhorse and load it up and casually peruse the Intarwebs is something of a luxury for me, for most of us, in this go-go-go society we live in.

Also, because it is easier to incorporate my iPhone and all its handy apps into whatever I'm doing -- getting coffee, checking my bank account, checking in at WSU Tri-Cities -- than it would be to do all the same on my desktop (or, for that matter, on my laptop).

There is something to be said for the convenience that this shift from static to mobile offers us, and as a society that loooooooooooooves its convenience (same with Japan), it's no wonder that we are ever steadily embracing our mobile-social spaces.

That being said, I've been known to hesitate visiting social spaces if I know their 3G service is less-than-great. How else am I supposed to see what my friends are posting on each others walls, upload photos, how my crops are doing in Papaya Farm, read stories that aren't so average, and battle my generic Pokemans against your generic Pokemans???

With that, I'm out. I'm starting to use "their" and "there" interchangeably, which is never a good thing for a former-editor-turned-designer.

And I'm finding this lolcat funnier every time I look at it.

Enjoy.

Whu?

Huh? What happened? I blacked out there for a moment.

*scrolls down to previous blog*

...Ohhh.. right. Long blog is long. Sorry everyone.

The TL;DR version:

I'm a virtual recluse, choosing to extend my meatspace existence into my online communities (see: Facebook, Twitter) because online people are meanies and cliqueish and I don't want to risk rejection by anonymous doodieheads (see: news forums, web comics, Gawker media services, etc). Also, I like donuts. OM NOM NOM.

Making the comment circle tomorrow. Have a good weekend, everyone!

It takes a community to raise a blogger

Leave it to me, the social networker who relies so heavily on her peers to find out what's going on out there, to blow the deadline on an entry about community.

What is community? Well, it's more than just a fantastic show on NBC starring Joel McHale. It's a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists.

I'm a participating member of a small handful of communities, two in particular: Facebook and Twitter. Of these networks, I'm a participating member of further subcommunities within.

On Twitter, I have my DTC friends, my designer friends and my newspaper friends with whom I communicate -- some of these circles tend to overlap in my little Venn diagram of community.

On Facebook, I'm a part of Mid-Columbia Brides as one of the models, a fan of a couple of bands who I help promote when they come to town, and a follower (and derbier-hopeful) of the Atomic City Roller Derby Girls. Then I have my regular communique with, again, DTC, designer, high school and newspaper friends.

These are not exclusive to the virtual realm. In fact, I would consider these an extension of my "meat space" existence. They act as a way for me to keep in contact (constant or otherwise) with members of these groups when we can't be in a face-to-face environment. Sometimes this is because of schedules; other times it's because of geographical limitations.

If these weren't an extension of my "meat space" (which would make an excellent name for another social networking community), I feel like they wouldn't have as much of an impact on my life as they do now. Specifically, I don't know that I would have a reason to be an active member of these communities without the real-world extensions and implications that they present.

I used to be a member of the virtual World of Warcraft community, with very limited "meat space" interaction with anyone I played with. It was fun, and had some pretty real effects on my life outside of the game, but I began to see that it wasn't a very positive environment for a Care Bear such as myself. It got to the point where I realized that paying $15 each month to be whomped on and made fun of wasn't worth it, especially when, as a young nerdling, I was able to experience that for free in the physical world. (As a poor college student, it also got to the point where it was either WoW or food. And I like to eat. A lot. So my decision to leave a fairly abusive community was an easy one, to say the least.)

I've been a member of various forums online, such as news aggregates and webcomics, but interest waned quickly. I found that I prefer supportive communities, and that it helps to be thick-skinned and quick-witted when dealing with the veil of anonymity -- two things in which I was sorely lacking in my days as a not-so-young nerdling.

One community that I've been wanting to become an active member of, but have settled for trolling on instead, is Jezebel. It's a news blog about sex, gossip, fashion, video games, politics and entertainment with a feminist bend. The men and women who actively comment and argue in the space below stories seem to have formed a tight bond with one another, and I love reading the banter and thoughtful insight that most members have to offer. And everyone seems to come from different backgrounds all around the world, and many have even formed meat-space friendships counterpart to their virtual community, which is awesome for such a huge community. But there's a catch! You have to audition to become a commenter. And if you finally do get past the auditioning process (which, I think, means you have to be approved as a member by several "star commentors") , there seems to be this constant pressure to always be witty or insightful or clever or just plain crap-free. And that's hard to do on a consistent basis! I think I could do it, but sometimes I black out at the keyboard in a fit of feminist rage just *reading* the stories, and when I wake up I have no idea where I am or how many small dogs I've punted or how all these boxes of donuts got into my home. I imagine that, for me, it would be difficult to form a thoughtful coherent comment with all of those donut crumbs clinging so desperately to my face.

More than that, I've observed that while the community of Jezebel tends to be supportive and positive, they take a while to warm up to newcomers, particularly if the newbie's ideas don't mesh 100% with the ideals and aesthetics of the group. Having dealt enough with that in middle and high school, and being beyond all that clique crap on the whole, sometimes it's just easier to play observer instead of being an active participant. (Taking that passive stance is, for the most part, how I managed to survive those seven years.)

And that is a barrier in this community to the greater group of "non-members" that I find in many communities I'm part of or would like to be a part of: the groupthink mentality. It can be really, really hard to gain any ground if even one member of the community isn't hip to your jive. ("Duh, Kristin.") And I think that in a day where everyone can so quickly learn to use the tools provided by platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Livejournal, WoW and others, it isn't so much a matter of "have vs. have not" or being information literate; it's a matter of being "cool enough," "smart enough," "average enough" or "feminist enough" to be a part of that community.

Virtual community isn't just a place where people with common interests can get together and discuss those shared likes and dislikes; it's that group in the corner whispering behind notebooks and peechees, and you're either in or you're out. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, either; that's just the nature of the beast! It's how it is now, and it's how it has been for as long as there has been a need to declare such a thing as being "distinct in some respect from the larger society."

Same cliques, different medium.

Jiving with Cyberspace

The definition of Cyberspace, as given by Benedikt, that jived most with me was the third entry:

Accessed through any computer linked into the sytem; a place, one place, limitless; entered equally from a basement in Vancouver, a boat in Port-au-Prince, a cab in New York, a garage in Texas City, an apartment in Rome, an office in Hong Kong, a bar in Kyoto, a café in Kinshasa, a laboratory on the Moon.

I think of the vast network of connections as a space that literally can be accessed by anyone anywhere, as long as they have the means necessary. And it doesn't even have to be a computer anymore -- your PDA, a handheld gaming system, your MP3 player can all tunnel into this location.

I especially found the part about Port-au-Prince timely, after the earthquake in Haiti. Thanks to the lack of geographic bias found in connecting to Cyberspace, people in Vancouver, in Rome, in Hong Kong are able to connect to friends and family in Haiti, whether it be by phone or Internet. And even though there might be some delay in connecting because of a surge of traffic, it can be comforting to think that, because everyone can enter equally, once you're in, you're in, and you have the same chances of finding that person-to-person connection in Port-au-Prince as you might in Texas City or Kyoto.

There's no height restriction, no age limit, no permit required. Cyberspace could in fact be the last unbiased frontier in our ever-connected global village.

Let's play the blogging game

Umm...

Hm.

Well, I guess it's best to start off by saying hi to everyone. So, hello, class!

What would you like to know?

I'm one of them-thar married folk now (sorry, dudes). I married my high school sweetheart back in September on the last hot day of the year. While fighting the flu. Yep. Makes for interesting stories around the fire pit.

I model part-time for one really long weekend every year. I get paid to play dress-up in wedding gowns!

I'm the president of the DTAC club. PLZJOINKTHX.

I used to enjoy playing video games until I wrote a grad-level dissertation about the imbalance of gender portrayal in games and in the industry. I still enjoy playing games a bit, but I seem to have developed a critical eye toward them. (That being said, I still want to check out the new game Bayonetta. Magic hair and high heel shoe-guns? SIGN ME UP!)

On weekends, I'm a dwarf paladin with my fellow misadventurers in D&D.

I grew my hair out for my wedding and for the fashion show I was just in. I'm cutting it all off next week.

My nickname among some circles at school is "Code Master." I have been designing web pages for more than ten years now, and love tearing apart code and trying to figure out how it works.

What else.

I have three cats. My youngest likes playing with wet tea bags that I've just removed from steeping. I- I guess that's kind of weird, huh?

But other than that, I don't have a lot of free time. When I'm not mastering code or being too sexy for this blog on the catwalk or swatting my cat away from my tea, I'm usually busy slaying dragons while mounted upon my majestic unicorned Pegasus, followed by a night of telepathic blogging and being served sweets by dwarves and haflings and rangers.*


(*Paraphrased from Derek. He's totally got this blogging thing down.)