This afternoon I borrowed out the book Everybody Hurts - An Essential Guide to Emo Culture by Leslie Simon (the managing editor at Alternative Press) and Trevor Kelley (a leading contributor to AP).
From my initial skimming through of the earlier chapters, this book looks like an entertaining and insightful read, with particular emphasis about what Emo means to teenagers in today's society.
One chapter of great interest to my assignment is focussed on the Internet - an accessible place where Emos can hang out if they feel exiled out in the suburbs, according to the authors.
Of the activities Emos enjoy online, posting journal entries on their blogs, logging onto online community websites, checking out their own and other people's profiles, viewing the "Suicide Girls" for adult entertainment and conversing on instant messengers are listed.
The section on a History of Emo Online Communities describes the progression of five main sites that emos visit - Friendster, Myspace, Flickr, Buzznet and FriendsOrEnemies.
These sites provide various means of entertainment and are ways to communicate not only with their peers, but their favourite bands also.
Listening to music on Myspace, promoting themselves through constructing online profiles, sharing photos and reading exclusive journals by promient bands from the scene are all possible.
The authors believe that blogs have been embraced in a huge way by Emos over the past five years.
Livejournal.com is where "everyday emotional purging is not only encouraged, but also embraced." Everything from insignificant details about their lives to deeply personal ones are recorded. Livejournal appears to the more popular site on which Emos blog (compared to Myspace, Blogspot and Xanga), and had enormous social networking capabilties.
An interesting point made by the authors when discussing AOL Instant Messenger is that "Much like the number of friends you accumulate on Myspace, Emo followers are often judged by the size of their Buddy Lists. Your Buddy List could be a collection of message board friends, Myspace friends, or Livejournal friends; in other words, they are virtual friends that you have not, nor ever will have a face-to-face conversation with."
First of all, it implies that socialising and being seen as having lots of friends is something highly valued by Emos. Secondly, it raises the question of whether relationships formed online are meaningless or not.
The T-Mobile Sidekick is a hand-held device which combines a phone, web browser, camera and email server, which Emos apparently addicted to, because it is "an outlet for well-nurtured neuroses like obsessive-compulsivenes, insecurity and paranoia."
According to the authors, Sidekicks are so important in the lives of Emos because they allow the user to be constantly available, and are a means of telling others how they are feeling and doing almost instantaneously. These devices, much like the other websites and blogging platforms mentioned, appear to be popular among members of this subculture because they are easy and accessible ways to express themselves and keep in contact socially with other subcultural members.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
What's New about 'New Media'?
The book chapter What's New about 'New Media'? by Terry Flew, which is one of the final readings for this semester, proved to be useful in my assignment research.
It addresses some important points about the social and cultural context of technology use and its impact; something I believe is crucial to consider when writing about how my chosen subculture engages with digital media.
Digital media is defined as "forms of media content that combine and integrate data, text, sound and images of all kinds; are stored in digital formats; and are increasingly distributed through networks such as those based upon broadband fibre-optic cables, satellites, and microwaves transmission systems." (p. 10).
This definition illustrates the incredible range of opportunities to communicate with one another and exchange information. On the internet for example, subcultural members can interact via message forums, video channels like youtube and social networking and media sharing sites like Myspace.
Given that groups of Emos enjoy socialising in public areas (e.g. the Queen Street Mall), the Internet provides an alternative environment where they can interact not only with local subcultural members, but on a global level also.
Flew's chaper cites the results of a study by Ryder and Wilson (1995) which found a range of affoardances of the Internet, which I believe allows the Emo subculture to thrive online (p 16):
1. Freedom and personal control: unprecedented access to information from multiple sources, and opportunities for free expression.
2. Cultural forms and status: possible barriers to participation based upon gender, age, race, nationality disability or economic status being less relevant in online environments.
4. Hypertext web structure: ability to access multiple and interconnected information sources.
6. Dynamic information: online information sources are current and timely.
7. Intimacy and locality: possiblity of 'safe' communicative and other relationships conducted online and over distances.
I have been exploring several websites that are centred on the Emo subculture, and in a future entry I will provide examples from these sites which relate to the above points.
Other key issues discussed in this chapter are 'virtual reality', virtual communities and virtual identities.
Of particular relevance to my assignment is virtual communities. Howard Rheingld is cited as defining these communities as 'social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions [using the Internet] long enough, with sufficient human feeling to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace' (p. 26).
These virtual spaces and their modes of participation are thought to reinvigorate sense of community-building and citizen participation in public life. This statement reinforces my argument that the Emo subculture has crossed the boundary from 'real life' into cybespace, as subcultural members are able to freely interact with eachother through online networks as well as face-to-face.
It addresses some important points about the social and cultural context of technology use and its impact; something I believe is crucial to consider when writing about how my chosen subculture engages with digital media.
Digital media is defined as "forms of media content that combine and integrate data, text, sound and images of all kinds; are stored in digital formats; and are increasingly distributed through networks such as those based upon broadband fibre-optic cables, satellites, and microwaves transmission systems." (p. 10).
This definition illustrates the incredible range of opportunities to communicate with one another and exchange information. On the internet for example, subcultural members can interact via message forums, video channels like youtube and social networking and media sharing sites like Myspace.
Given that groups of Emos enjoy socialising in public areas (e.g. the Queen Street Mall), the Internet provides an alternative environment where they can interact not only with local subcultural members, but on a global level also.
Flew's chaper cites the results of a study by Ryder and Wilson (1995) which found a range of affoardances of the Internet, which I believe allows the Emo subculture to thrive online (p 16):
1. Freedom and personal control: unprecedented access to information from multiple sources, and opportunities for free expression.
2. Cultural forms and status: possible barriers to participation based upon gender, age, race, nationality disability or economic status being less relevant in online environments.
4. Hypertext web structure: ability to access multiple and interconnected information sources.
6. Dynamic information: online information sources are current and timely.
7. Intimacy and locality: possiblity of 'safe' communicative and other relationships conducted online and over distances.
I have been exploring several websites that are centred on the Emo subculture, and in a future entry I will provide examples from these sites which relate to the above points.
Other key issues discussed in this chapter are 'virtual reality', virtual communities and virtual identities.
Of particular relevance to my assignment is virtual communities. Howard Rheingld is cited as defining these communities as 'social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions [using the Internet] long enough, with sufficient human feeling to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace' (p. 26).
These virtual spaces and their modes of participation are thought to reinvigorate sense of community-building and citizen participation in public life. This statement reinforces my argument that the Emo subculture has crossed the boundary from 'real life' into cybespace, as subcultural members are able to freely interact with eachother through online networks as well as face-to-face.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Research Topic
A couple of weeks ago we recieved our assignment task sheet for our final assignment (however, I have been thinking about the essay and doing some research since I last blogged). We have to:
Develop an original research question that examines the relationship between one of three topics and a specific subculture or scene. The topic I have chosen is:
1. New Media and/or Digital Technologies
(E.g. you might investigate how file sharing is affecting a particular subculture or how the emergence of online technologies changed a particular culture or helped another to flourish.)
I am interested in researching what motivated members of the Emo subculture to engage in online interactions in virtual communities and forums. Issues such as identity expression and socialisation are sure to be explored.
Develop an original research question that examines the relationship between one of three topics and a specific subculture or scene. The topic I have chosen is:
1. New Media and/or Digital Technologies
(E.g. you might investigate how file sharing is affecting a particular subculture or how the emergence of online technologies changed a particular culture or helped another to flourish.)
I am interested in researching what motivated members of the Emo subculture to engage in online interactions in virtual communities and forums. Issues such as identity expression and socialisation are sure to be explored.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)