More on the private use of public space...
Last semester, I wrote a paper that focused on the historical roots of blogging which i traced back to the Greek idea of Huppomenata - thank you Foucault (hopefully it will get published sometime in the future). The essential point is that there are two sides of the blogging coin. For many young people, it is a way to feel important in a world that is constantly bombarding them with dramatic imagery and rich, fantastical stories of celebrity life. Often, these spaces are used explicitly because they are public. We are all familiar with this type of blogging as it is what draws the most media attention when something tragic happens.
The second type of blogging is alot more modest - the familial, 'keeping in touch' kind of blog. I think for this sector, the idea of public and private is the most skewed. They know that the space is public because they can share it, but I really don't think they think about any of the ramifications that come with it. It is almost a 'non-issue' to many of this type of bloggers (or flickr users etc.).
Coming back to the idea of posting private pictures in public spaces, sometimes the idea can seem great. This past weekend, I had gone to Nova Scotia to attend my mother's wedding. Many flashbulbs went off and a great time had been had by all. Myself, I had the honor of playing photographer for my mom, so luckily I am not in many of the shots. But a technically apt uncle of mine passed out business cards with a web address on it, offering to host the pictures from everyone who had taken pictures that evening. A wonderful idea - in theory. I mean, a place where we can see the wedding from different perspectives. But I question the use of the internet in this situation. For anyone who has ever attended a wedding in the Maritimes, the drink flows and the dancing can get pretty funky - even it it is to country music!
How is posting the pictures any different than me writing descriptively about it here? (besides the obvious faces/names etc). I wonder if they see the internet simply as a communication tool - oblivious to the moral and/or ethical questions that surround the idea of posting pictures of 100 people on a website for anyone to persuse.
*For more academic work on blogging, check out "Into the Blogosphere"
The second type of blogging is alot more modest - the familial, 'keeping in touch' kind of blog. I think for this sector, the idea of public and private is the most skewed. They know that the space is public because they can share it, but I really don't think they think about any of the ramifications that come with it. It is almost a 'non-issue' to many of this type of bloggers (or flickr users etc.).
Coming back to the idea of posting private pictures in public spaces, sometimes the idea can seem great. This past weekend, I had gone to Nova Scotia to attend my mother's wedding. Many flashbulbs went off and a great time had been had by all. Myself, I had the honor of playing photographer for my mom, so luckily I am not in many of the shots. But a technically apt uncle of mine passed out business cards with a web address on it, offering to host the pictures from everyone who had taken pictures that evening. A wonderful idea - in theory. I mean, a place where we can see the wedding from different perspectives. But I question the use of the internet in this situation. For anyone who has ever attended a wedding in the Maritimes, the drink flows and the dancing can get pretty funky - even it it is to country music!
How is posting the pictures any different than me writing descriptively about it here? (besides the obvious faces/names etc). I wonder if they see the internet simply as a communication tool - oblivious to the moral and/or ethical questions that surround the idea of posting pictures of 100 people on a website for anyone to persuse.
*For more academic work on blogging, check out "Into the Blogosphere"
posted by Kelly at
09:06
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