Digital Media Production Ecologies

With so much cheap, powerful media technology finally making its way into the hands of the "average" consumer, we should be in a explosive time of peer-to-peer media production. But we're not. At least not quite. Every year, people take millions of photographs of the Effiel Tower and share them with the world, but fail to photograph the more significant small details of their lives: sure they have a photo of the Effiel Tower, but what about a photo of their home?

In short, cheap, easy, powerful media production can transform and preserve the mundane as well as glorify the exceptional. But the exceptional (i.e. the Effiel Tower) is made mundane by its mass repitition. I wish to advocate for media production that expands and enriches a global archive/network of media content by presenting the unique angles and experiences of individuals, not just reproducing the views of mass society (a la the 20th century). If, as Time magazine said, the Person of the Year is "you," why are "we" doing more to present and document ourselves.

Reading List

 * Cognitive Surplus - Clay Shirkey
 * "The Web is Dead" - Chris Anderson
 * You Are Not a Gadget - Jaron Lanier
 * Useful Work vs. Useless Toil - William Morris

Interlocution

 * Shirky
 * Lessig
 * Nicholas Carr
 * Chris Anderson