Squirrel Tao » New Media Theory

What Electronic Literature Is and Is Not

Jennifer Elrod — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 02:49:35 +0000

Poet and e-literature teacher Stephanie Strickland, in her article Born Digital, lists eleven things that electronic literature is and is not. Sprinkled throughout her article are links to examples of online works that have the traits she is discussing. They are some good demos of what is possible. The article reminds me how much there is to explore and master, for the contemporary writer who wants to rise to the challenges and fulfill the potentials of the web. As a writer, I have two competing reactions. The first reaction is to ignore this list of criteria and tell my story my way. The second reaction is to wish to experiment with every possibility.

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Citizen Journalism No Longer Just an Interesting Idea

Jennifer Elrod — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 14:08:20 +0000

Citizen journalism has proved it is viable and deserves to be taken seriously. Not that issues of trust and accountability have disappeared, but there is every reason to keep experimenting. Writes Rory O’Connor in OhourNews:

In the wake of such recent citizen-mediated news events as the Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the London train bombings, Senator George Allen’s political suicide, the Virginia Tech massacre, et al, the real question is why anyone would still wonder about the possibility, much less the efficacy, of so-called ‘citizen journalism.’

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Henry Jenkins on Two Approaches to Participatory Culture: Prohibitionists and Collaborationists

Jennifer Elrod — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 10:34:30 +0000

Henry Jenkins, who will soon have a book out called, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, posted an excerpt from his forthcoming book in his blog.

Grant McCracken, the cultural anthropologist and industry consultant, suggests that in the future, media producers must accommodate consumer demands to participate or they will run the risk of losing the most active and passionate consumers to some other media interest which is more tolerant: “Corporations must decide whether they are, literally, in or out. Will they make themselves an island or will they enter the mix? Making themselves an island may have certain short-term financial benefits, but the long-term costs can be substantial.”The media industry is increasingly dependent on active and committed consumers to spread the word about valued properties in an overcrowded media marketplace and in some cases, they are seeking ways to channel the creative output of media fans to lower their production costs. At the same time, they are terrified of what happens if this consumer power gets out of control, as they claim occurred following the introduction of Napster and other file-sharing services….

One can trace two characteristic responses of media industries to this grassroots expression: Starting with the legal battles over Napster, the media industries have increasingly adopted a scorched earth policy towards their consumers, seeking to regulate and criminalize many forms of fan participation which once fell below their radar. Let’s call them the prohibitionists.

To date, the prohibitionist stance has been dominant within old media companies (film, television, the recording industry), though these groups are to varying degrees starting to re-examine some of these assumptions. So far, the prohibitionists get most of the press – with law suits directed against teens who download music or against fan webmasters getting more and more coverage in the popular media.At the same time, on the fringes, new media companies (internet, games, and to a lesser degree, the mobile phone companies), are experimenting with new approaches which see fans as important collaborators in the production of content and as grassroots intermediaries helping to promote the franchise. We will call them the collaborationists…..

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What is New Media?

Jennifer Elrod — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 10:18:17 +0000

Vin Crosbie on Rebuilding Media defines the term new media for us.

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The People Formerly Known as the Audience

Jennifer Elrod — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 10:13:37 +0000

Jay Rosen posts on PressThink a statement that the people formerly known as the audience (also sometimes called “eyeballs”) want to make to media people. It’s a fun read, and there are lots of good comments afterwards.

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