#5 Identities in Cyberculture

People have the ability to share their identities and portray who they want to be as a result of cyberculture. Individuals use cyberculture as a source of communication with friends or family, work, or entertainment. The Internet has created a place where people care about their identities online. For example, someone who is quiet and does not have a bunch of friends can make themselves look like they are outgoing, and have the best lives. Many people want to feel like they have value and want others to perceive them like they have a good life. Mostly women and some men want to look good in pictures, have a lot of friends, or have a fun looking life on social media websites.  Cyberspace has allowed people to put up their resumes online through LinkedIn, so employers can view them. This is another way people care about their identities because it is important to have a lot of good connections, and have a great looking resume with internships and jobs. On the other hand, cyberculture has created a place where mostly males can play virtual games online. Gamers can socialize from their chair or on their couch. Again, if you are not very outgoing you can make other gamers believe that you are. You do not have to have face-to-face interactions; it is purely over the Internet. People have also used cyberspace to have virtual sex. David Bell states, “People of all sexual orientations have used the Internet for ‘cybersex’ which involves people telling each other what they are doing to each other…” (Bell, 127). People who are having cybersex are portraying their identity through these websites. You are not only looked at in face-to-face actions, but your identity is constantly being valued over cyberculture. 

Social Structures of the Public Sphere

            Throughout the world, social media is rising at a rapid rate for many different purposes. Social media is a powerful tool where individuals have the ability to get information in a matter of seconds.  Websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube make it easy to connect to other people or businesses. However, places like Egypt, Tunisia, and other countries in the Middle East used Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to advocate protest and revolutions. During the protests or revolutions people would post pictures, videos or “minute by minute” tweets.  The government in Egypt became fed up with the uprising, so they disconnected the people from social media in order to take control. The article states, “Disappointingly, Twitter and Google have also agreed to help the Syrian government and oppressive regimes by enforcing rules that censor tweets or blog posts in Syria by blocking them out within-country”.  I was completely shocked when I read this as the government was disregarding people’s freedom of speech or human rights. In my opinion, this would not stop the uprising; it would make people more upset. Although, the article points out that there were successful revolutions before the telephone; I believe that social media has made revolutions even easier to occur. People have the ability to make things happen faster. They are able to post on Facebook and Twitter a date, time and place to meet. It is easier for people that do not live close to get in touch by receiving photos or videos instantly from the people that are there. Also, social media allows the word to get out to more people than the old-fashioned word of mouth on the streets. Without social media, I do not think that the revolution in any of the countries mentioned would have been as successful. In the world we live in today, people would not survive without social media. People depend way too much on websites such as Facebook and Twitter to get information about anything instantly. 

History of the Computer

In Media Technology and Society: A History from Telegraph to the Internet, it is obvious that the computer has been essential ever since World War I. Reverened Francis Bashforth created the first firing tables in order to understand he ranging of artillery pieces. These tables required numerous calculations, which were mostly done by guessing. During World War II, the military was having the same problems, but they were receiving more tables to be calculated. In 1940, there was a proposal stating that the Atanasoff-Berry Computer is going to be constructed to solve simple algebraic equations and utilize valves. However, the proposal was nowhere to be found, so Goldstine designed a proposal saying that the machine would be completely electronic. Winston states, “The machine was to be sixty times larger than the only valve calculator then in existence, the ABC, and was budgeted to cost twenty-three times as much” (Winston, 168). This was huge news for many people especially the military. The ENIAC created an advanced calculator which stored a great amount of information.  With Britain’s help the computer was created. Clearly, the author believes that the computer revolutionized calculations and many other projects. 

People are more glued to their computers today, but after World War I, the military needed the computers even more then we need them today. Even though computers have positively affected our society, individuals such as college students take advantage of the computer. Majority of a college student’s time is spent browsing the Internet for entertainment purposes. This makes it hard for student’s to get work done and leads to procrastination. Also, computers have created a lot of harmful technology. People are able to hack government websites and so fourth and could cause harm to our country. However, computers have increased efficiency and have provided countless benefits for our society. We are able to get information about anything in a matter of seconds. If we had to research something from a book at a library that would take to long and you would not learn nearly as much in the amount of time.  The computer has instilled more knowledge in this world. As technology and the computer grow, so does everyone else. 

Response to Hacker Ethics

Hacking is parallel to being addicted to any type of activity in life, as it becomes a certain way of life consuming every single aspect and second of your time. It is who you are as a person, how you act, and how you want to be perceived. “The Hacker Work Ethic” by Pekka Himanen shows how hackers find pleasure out of hacking into software such as electronics, music, and programming their own devices or hard drives. The time and effort that goes into the hacking is worth every single second to the hacker’s time. “The hacker programs because he finds programming intrinsically interesting, exciting, and joyous” (Himanen, 3). This statement shows that the work ethic behind hacking is tedious, but very well enjoyed. Hacking is not a task or a project for a hacker, but instead a thrilling, uplifting experience which both enriches and pleasures the hacker.

The ethics behind hackers is completely due to passion. “For hackers, passion describes the general tenor of their activity, thought its fulfillment may not be sheer joyful play in all its aspects” (Himanen, 18). Many hackers love what they do and they do not have a grudge against it. The hacker ethics are based upon five adjectives: mischievous, rebellious, disciplined, artistic and playful. Hackers always maintain a mischievous attitude because they are originally violating computer norms. By taking a computer apart and modifying it, they are violating the initial objective of the computer of being an easy to use application. Hackers are often rebellious specifically demonstrated by, “Sandy Lerner is known not only for being one of the hackers behind the internet routers but also for riding horses naked” (Himanen 5). Finally, the hacker ethic is a discipline, artistic and playful ideology where individuals carefully construct and mastermind beautiful technological pieces of art. The hacker ethic contrasts the Protestant ethic by being tremendously more open, relaxed, and focused on results. Hackers are very unique in their own way, can sometimes cause harm, but very often produce revolutionary breakthroughs in technology. 

During this semester in Atlas 2000 I hope to learn about how technology was created, how digital and film has progressed, and how digital media has organized the world. I hope to gain a better understanding of technology itself, and how it will continue to rise. So many people use technology to communicate to their friends, or gain knowledge about literally anything. However, I am uncertain if we will learn more about the rise of social media with technology. This class caught my eye, as I am very fascinated with technology and media. Specifically, I hope to learn details about how to utilize technology to benefit the world and myself. Are their certain tricks or unknown aspects which can be manipulated for positive gain? I also hope to develop some close friendships within the TAM program that I can work with now and in the future. The biggest uncertainty is knowing exactly what I will learn and how to quantify that information.