There are currently two songs around on the same theme: Ebay. One track is simply called "Ebay", was released last year and is a cover of "I want it that way" by the Backstreet Boys. The other one is more catchy; I simply cannot get "On Ebay", on the new album 'un' by Chumbawamba, out of my system. I catch myself humming it constantly. But beneath the stirring tunes lie serious intentions. The song is a critical remark on how the US deals with the situation in Iraq. It can also be seen as a concern for the risk of finding Iraqi treasures on Ebay.
"Stuff happens, freedom’s untidy and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of this stuff cropped up for sale on Ebay at the weekend.", band member Alice says in an interview on rock-city.co.uk (where the reporter repeteadly misspells the name of the band). Well, let's hope that her misgivings don't turn out to be justfied.
And while I'm at it, I'll recommend a great band, though of a less political nature than Chumbawamba: Nightwish and their new album Once. Superb!
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Blog struggle
One can find interesting stuff at the bottom of one's drawer. 
Last night, I found an article I wrote last summer, while working as a news reporter at the local newspaper. It's about a blogger and his three different blogs in three languages. I can't help smiling when reading as the birth of the article comes to mind. I had been trying to evoke an interest in blogging as a news worthy topic amongst my colleagues for quite some time. Some agreed with me that it was something worth writing about, but my idea never made it to the top priority-list. But one day, in the midst of August, I managed to get an interview with this blogger and the editors didn't decline. I was thrilled to bits, and he seemed pleased too.
The blogger, Panu Petteri Höglund, states in the interview: "The weblogs cannot replace newspapers but I can well imagine that they will become an important channel for recruiting journalists and columnists. There will probably be a vivid collaboration between the weblogs and the newspapers. The boundaries between them are becoming less fixed.".
More on the collaboration between these two actors here.
Last night, I found an article I wrote last summer, while working as a news reporter at the local newspaper. It's about a blogger and his three different blogs in three languages. I can't help smiling when reading as the birth of the article comes to mind. I had been trying to evoke an interest in blogging as a news worthy topic amongst my colleagues for quite some time. Some agreed with me that it was something worth writing about, but my idea never made it to the top priority-list. But one day, in the midst of August, I managed to get an interview with this blogger and the editors didn't decline. I was thrilled to bits, and he seemed pleased too.
The blogger, Panu Petteri Höglund, states in the interview: "The weblogs cannot replace newspapers but I can well imagine that they will become an important channel for recruiting journalists and columnists. There will probably be a vivid collaboration between the weblogs and the newspapers. The boundaries between them are becoming less fixed.".
More on the collaboration between these two actors here.
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Midsummer feast
I'm off to celebrate Midsummer now, which means that the blog won't be updated in a couple of days.
For those of you who are not familiar with this celebration of summer solstice (the photo above is taken at 00.30 a.m.), one crucial thing to know about it is that love is strongly connected with Midsummer. Since the Midsummer night is magic, a woman can see her future husband in her dreams. Where I come from, girls pick seven different kinds of wild flowers, during complete silence, and sleep with the flowers under the pillow. The husband to be will appear in their dream.
When I was younger, I faithfully undertook this procedure. The hope of getting a glimpse of my future husband remained, until the year I dreamt of Donald Duck. Nonetheless, there's no need for such methods anymore :)
Glad midsommar!
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Just another manic Monday
Even though First Monday was born in May 1996, I've never heard of this peer-reviewed journal on the Internet. Perhaps the fact that I hate Mondays has something to do with it.
Anyhows, the journal's solely devoted to the Internet and the global information infrastructure. In the current issue, David Huffaker discusses the role of weblogs in class room settings. "Weblogs provide an excellent opportunity for educators to advance literacy through storytelling and dialogue", he concludes.
Anyhows, the journal's solely devoted to the Internet and the global information infrastructure. In the current issue, David Huffaker discusses the role of weblogs in class room settings. "Weblogs provide an excellent opportunity for educators to advance literacy through storytelling and dialogue", he concludes.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Backlash?
Anne Beaulieu, a senior researcher with Networked Research and Digital Information at Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science, writes about blogs as fields for ethnographic work (Meditating Ethnography: objectivity and the making of ethnographies of the internet. Forthcoming 2004).
In the section about blogs, she refers to the paper on weblogs by Torill Mortensen and Jill Walker and states that the blog is experienced as "a context and a mode of communication, a hybrid tool for making, presenting and reflecting on the object that is furthermore exposed in a new way.".
But this part in Beaulieu's paper fascinates me the most: "The informality of this mode of writing, researching and communicating has been the object of backlash in some academic circles (though none, as far as I could tell, were ethnographic), and some scholars have reported that their blogging activities were considered too ‘journalistic’ by their peers (Glenn 2003). These protests may be signs of changing values in the wake of novel forms of scientific communication."
If some consider blogs to be a backlash today, what will the opinions be in a couple of years? And what will the role of the blog, when it comes to academic research, be? Blogging has in fact already matured from link-driven sites to moblogs, hobby weblogs, diary weblogs and some weblogs focus on one single matter. And within a short period of time, too. But what about the role of the blog in academia: will the scientific communication develop in unexpected ways, or will the claimed backlash continue? I definitely hope Beaulieu is right when saying that the criticism may be a sign of changing values in academic communication.
In the section about blogs, she refers to the paper on weblogs by Torill Mortensen and Jill Walker and states that the blog is experienced as "a context and a mode of communication, a hybrid tool for making, presenting and reflecting on the object that is furthermore exposed in a new way.".
But this part in Beaulieu's paper fascinates me the most: "The informality of this mode of writing, researching and communicating has been the object of backlash in some academic circles (though none, as far as I could tell, were ethnographic), and some scholars have reported that their blogging activities were considered too ‘journalistic’ by their peers (Glenn 2003). These protests may be signs of changing values in the wake of novel forms of scientific communication."
If some consider blogs to be a backlash today, what will the opinions be in a couple of years? And what will the role of the blog, when it comes to academic research, be? Blogging has in fact already matured from link-driven sites to moblogs, hobby weblogs, diary weblogs and some weblogs focus on one single matter. And within a short period of time, too. But what about the role of the blog in academia: will the scientific communication develop in unexpected ways, or will the claimed backlash continue? I definitely hope Beaulieu is right when saying that the criticism may be a sign of changing values in academic communication.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
"Serial blog murder"
Blogging pioneer Dave Winer suddenly closed his free blog-hosting service, Weblogs.com , a couple of days ago. Some bloggers got upset when denied access to their blogs, others took the news more calmly.
Sometimes I've questioned the idea of keeping one's research memos, collection of links etc on a free blog-hosting service, like I do. Can I expect any guarantees that my blog won't be shut down? And what if it is, how will I feel about it?
Naturally, this is not the only place where I store my thoughts and links to papers etc, still I think I'd better update the back up of the content in this blog, just in case...
Sometimes I've questioned the idea of keeping one's research memos, collection of links etc on a free blog-hosting service, like I do. Can I expect any guarantees that my blog won't be shut down? And what if it is, how will I feel about it?
Naturally, this is not the only place where I store my thoughts and links to papers etc, still I think I'd better update the back up of the content in this blog, just in case...
"The net is only halfway"
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was yesterday granted the recently founded Millennium Technology Prize in Finland. This means that the founder of the web is a one million euro richer man today.
According to the Swedish newspaper in Finland Hufvudstadsbladet, he says that the net is only halfway.
"The net is nowadays seen, or should be seen, as a helper when one wants to do other things. It should be working without us noticing it. The time has past, I hope, when people surfed the net just for the sake of surfing."
According to the article, Berners-Lee condemns the hardware centered attitude that shines through certain programs, and he also dislikes proprietary software. "The most important is the information that people share. The rules regarding how you share this information must be general enough, in order to prevent that you're tied to a certain program or hardware. Hardware must not become an obstacle."
For those of you who are not familiar with the Millennium Technology Prize: it is the largest technology prize in the world. The prize money is donated by the state and private sponsors. The prize will from now on be awarded every other year to a prominent person within technology.
According to the Swedish newspaper in Finland Hufvudstadsbladet, he says that the net is only halfway.
"The net is nowadays seen, or should be seen, as a helper when one wants to do other things. It should be working without us noticing it. The time has past, I hope, when people surfed the net just for the sake of surfing."
According to the article, Berners-Lee condemns the hardware centered attitude that shines through certain programs, and he also dislikes proprietary software. "The most important is the information that people share. The rules regarding how you share this information must be general enough, in order to prevent that you're tied to a certain program or hardware. Hardware must not become an obstacle."
For those of you who are not familiar with the Millennium Technology Prize: it is the largest technology prize in the world. The prize money is donated by the state and private sponsors. The prize will from now on be awarded every other year to a prominent person within technology.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Addicted to computers?
Therese lists three things that might indicate too heavy usage of computers and she hopes for some computer free time.
Unintentionally, my house has been computer free these last four, five days. Last Friday, we were too fed up with the noise the fan in our computer made so we decided to get a new, better one. And after the installation of the fan, it was quiet alright. Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. So, we rushed to a computer pundit, pleading for a quick antidote.
I was sure I wouldn’t survive the weekend without my combined radio-tv-newspaper- calender-archive. But I did, brilliantly. I don’t miss it all that much. I check my e-mail and read the latest news headlines at work, that’s enough. And this morning, I was told that my computer is cured and I can pick it up. It is late afternoon now and I still haven’t. I figure I’ll go tomorrow, and catch a movie tonight instead. The book, Girl with a Pearl Earring, was quite ok so I’m eager to see the cinema version of the story.
Unintentionally, my house has been computer free these last four, five days. Last Friday, we were too fed up with the noise the fan in our computer made so we decided to get a new, better one. And after the installation of the fan, it was quiet alright. Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. So, we rushed to a computer pundit, pleading for a quick antidote.
I was sure I wouldn’t survive the weekend without my combined radio-tv-newspaper- calender-archive. But I did, brilliantly. I don’t miss it all that much. I check my e-mail and read the latest news headlines at work, that’s enough. And this morning, I was told that my computer is cured and I can pick it up. It is late afternoon now and I still haven’t. I figure I’ll go tomorrow, and catch a movie tonight instead. The book, Girl with a Pearl Earring, was quite ok so I’m eager to see the cinema version of the story.
I love to hate it
I love page design! I love to edit, do layout and think of creative, unconventional ways to present text, photos or figures.
A couple of summers ago, I worked as a journalist at a newspaper. Up until then, PageMaker had been my little helper but now, I had the opportunity to work with the layout program InDesign. I enjoyed it and sometimes I miss those times when playing with colors was actually paid work!
As I do now, when I’m editing a bunch of SPSS charts and text blocs in a Word-document. A reason as good as any to go nuts! I’m not a member of the Word Fan club and now I get a reason to dislike this witty software even more. But if this Master’s thesis of mine is ever going to be published, my struggle must continue.
A couple of summers ago, I worked as a journalist at a newspaper. Up until then, PageMaker had been my little helper but now, I had the opportunity to work with the layout program InDesign. I enjoyed it and sometimes I miss those times when playing with colors was actually paid work!
As I do now, when I’m editing a bunch of SPSS charts and text blocs in a Word-document. A reason as good as any to go nuts! I’m not a member of the Word Fan club and now I get a reason to dislike this witty software even more. But if this Master’s thesis of mine is ever going to be published, my struggle must continue.
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Intertwingled communities of interest
A couple of reflections on the peer reviewed paper on weblogs, written by Edmonds, Blustein and Turnbull. The authors believe that, in the future, everyone will use tools derived from the blogs to structure, search and share personal information, but also to engage in shared discussion.
I'm not saying that they are too optimistic but some facts cross my mind when I read this. The informants in my study (20-29-year olds) are very keen on ICT:s as 85 % claim they wouldn't want to live without the Internet. However, they proved quite sceptical to sharing personal information on the net. Three out of four,and especially women, consider it dangerous to share personal information. Of course, this is not the same as sharing links and information on one's interest for example, but still.
"In our vision, people will be able to connect with huge, Web-scaled or small circle-of-friend groups who share a common interest." the authors write. I asked my informants whether they have discussed their interests in a fora or a chat and 74 % answered that they never have. And 72 % have never asked someone unknown on the Internet for advice. In this study, I was interested in what Castells and Wellman write about the common interest replacing the local as a base for friendship and social relations. It turned out that most of my informants didn't have friends that they've met on the Internet and where a shared interest, and not a common time or space, is the base.
I'm not saying that they are too optimistic but some facts cross my mind when I read this. The informants in my study (20-29-year olds) are very keen on ICT:s as 85 % claim they wouldn't want to live without the Internet. However, they proved quite sceptical to sharing personal information on the net. Three out of four,and especially women, consider it dangerous to share personal information. Of course, this is not the same as sharing links and information on one's interest for example, but still.
"In our vision, people will be able to connect with huge, Web-scaled or small circle-of-friend groups who share a common interest." the authors write. I asked my informants whether they have discussed their interests in a fora or a chat and 74 % answered that they never have. And 72 % have never asked someone unknown on the Internet for advice. In this study, I was interested in what Castells and Wellman write about the common interest replacing the local as a base for friendship and social relations. It turned out that most of my informants didn't have friends that they've met on the Internet and where a shared interest, and not a common time or space, is the base.
Methodology
I've been meaning to blog this for about a week now, but never found the time. But at lunch, the issue of ethics was brought up so I'll mention some reflections on this.
Eszter Hargittai and two doctoral students ponder methodological questions, especially sampling. This is not so much a problem for me, as the Finnish blogosphere isn't that huge yet. The "theme blogs" that I'm particularly interested in aren't numerous.
My thoughts have been on the issue of virtual etnography. Once I've spotted the blogs or sites of interest, how do I proceed with the study? I, as a researcher, obviously have a great deal of power as I can claim any webpage as public, and therefore researchable without permission of the "owner" of the site. Or can I? Is a posting to a website public or not? Perhaps the notions of public and private are constantly reconstructed in the information society. I suspect that especially when it comes to weblogs, there's a cultural understanding in Finland that a post is public. But suppose that a blogger or someone leaving a comment doesn't agree, or doesn't find it public at all, does that matter? If the informant of my study gets furious when the research is published, should I as a researcher say: Bad luck! Your message is equivalent to a letter to the opinion editor at a daily newspaper, only that you've used another medium.
And the other way around, a person who is eager to discuss, be read and be commented upon, for instance in a weblog, will (s)he get offended if I try to protect him or her, and question whether s)he knows that the opinions might be seen as public? One of the core question is, I guess, that should I reveal myself as a researcher and explain my mission, or carry out my study without asking for the permission? What will that do to the research and, not to forget, will my choice cause the informants any harm?
I feel that absolutely everything posted on the Internet should not be seen as public, and therefore researchable. One should be sensitive regarding to who posted it (teenagers, participants in a news group of women facing domestic violence etc). And I think the perception of the people engaged in a interaction online should be taken into consideration. But I do consider my weblog public and I'm fully aware of the fact that someone might analyze my writings as I write.
Clearly, there are no ethical rules to follow when it comes to virtual etnography, only guidelines. This makes it all so interesting. But how does one know how to proceed, and which method is the best when studying virtual arenas? I think that if you thoroughly discuss the method used, this shows that you've reflected on the pros and cons and reached a decision that you feel is the best for your research. If you do that then you've come far in my eyes. As McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) states in the movie "One flew over the Cuckoo's nest" when trying to escape the mental hospital and fails: well I tried,didn't I? Goddamnit,at least I did that.
Eszter Hargittai and two doctoral students ponder methodological questions, especially sampling. This is not so much a problem for me, as the Finnish blogosphere isn't that huge yet. The "theme blogs" that I'm particularly interested in aren't numerous.
My thoughts have been on the issue of virtual etnography. Once I've spotted the blogs or sites of interest, how do I proceed with the study? I, as a researcher, obviously have a great deal of power as I can claim any webpage as public, and therefore researchable without permission of the "owner" of the site. Or can I? Is a posting to a website public or not? Perhaps the notions of public and private are constantly reconstructed in the information society. I suspect that especially when it comes to weblogs, there's a cultural understanding in Finland that a post is public. But suppose that a blogger or someone leaving a comment doesn't agree, or doesn't find it public at all, does that matter? If the informant of my study gets furious when the research is published, should I as a researcher say: Bad luck! Your message is equivalent to a letter to the opinion editor at a daily newspaper, only that you've used another medium.
And the other way around, a person who is eager to discuss, be read and be commented upon, for instance in a weblog, will (s)he get offended if I try to protect him or her, and question whether s)he knows that the opinions might be seen as public? One of the core question is, I guess, that should I reveal myself as a researcher and explain my mission, or carry out my study without asking for the permission? What will that do to the research and, not to forget, will my choice cause the informants any harm?
I feel that absolutely everything posted on the Internet should not be seen as public, and therefore researchable. One should be sensitive regarding to who posted it (teenagers, participants in a news group of women facing domestic violence etc). And I think the perception of the people engaged in a interaction online should be taken into consideration. But I do consider my weblog public and I'm fully aware of the fact that someone might analyze my writings as I write.
Clearly, there are no ethical rules to follow when it comes to virtual etnography, only guidelines. This makes it all so interesting. But how does one know how to proceed, and which method is the best when studying virtual arenas? I think that if you thoroughly discuss the method used, this shows that you've reflected on the pros and cons and reached a decision that you feel is the best for your research. If you do that then you've come far in my eyes. As McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) states in the movie "One flew over the Cuckoo's nest" when trying to escape the mental hospital and fails: well I tried,didn't I? Goddamnit,at least I did that.
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