In the introduction of Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, Henry Jenkins says that "Each of us constructs our own personal mythology from bits and fragments of information extracted from the media flow and transformed into resources through which we make sense of our everyday lives" (3). This statement is directly related to the key points from Weinberger. Weinberger, with the help of German philosopher Martin Heidegger, says "The meaning of a particular thing is enabled by the web of implicit meanings we call the world" (170). Both Jenkins and Weinberger note that we use implicit and explicit meanings to make sense of our everyday lives and things.
Convergence is also a key point in the introduction (see title of book) and Jenkins offers some unique insight. Jenkins says that convergence is an old concept taking on new meanings (6) and this also relates to the key points from Weinberger because Weinberger talks about how people are becoming a huge part of the internet and contributing to its content. Jenkins says, "Convergence occurs within the brains of individual consumers and through social interactions with others" (3) and Weinberger would most definitely agree. These social interactions create "buzz that is increasingly valued by the media industry" so collective intelligence comes into play (Jenkins 4). I would say that collective intelligence is also a key point from the introduction and is directly related to the key points of Weinberger as well. Weinberger discusses metadata, the way it is collected, and how it impacts the web, pointing out that the information is highly valuable and necessary for social interactions.
I think the quote "Convergence occurs within the brains of individual consumers and through social interactions with others." is probably the best quote you could have used here. I almost used that one in my blog as well and I'm pretty sure it was mentioned in class today too. It really sums up Jenkin's ideas of "participatory culture" and "convergence culture" because it is essentially saying the participation of users and every day interactions are helping to create and dictate what direction technology is heading. And you're definitely right in that it is very similar to Weinberger's theories involving metadata.
ReplyDeleteHighly agree with Dani ^^. You do a very good job of incorporating quotes quotes and using them in your explanation. I like how you made the connection between Jenkins and Weinberger about implicit and explicit meanings. I realized this as well and probably should have included it in my blog but you did a very good job of it none the less.
ReplyDeleteNice post. You do a great job w/ quotes and support (however, on the flip side I'd like to hear a bit more of your voice along w/ the quotes and support. Dani is right, that's a great quote and I think helps to sum up his black box fallacy--that is, convergence isn't just the tools of technology, it's also in our heads. It is who we are and how we think and make sense of media.
ReplyDeleteNice quotes and good job explaining on them. I like how you made collective intelligence a key point also. Almost like participatory culture in my eyes. I would have to say that was the biggest connection to weinberger and you nailed it right on the spot. I also used that. The power of the people is whats driving new meda and technologies forward. We are basically making the internet this "great" because of it.
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