Blog Post # 1

To sum up T.V. Reed's book in one sentence: Don't get lulled into a false sense of security when dealing with technology. Reed delves into the invisibleness of technologies; from thinking about how manual laborers are treated and the conditions they work in (39), to the cultural in the degree to which a culture is considered modern based on its technology (5), Reed covers many hidden- yet right in front of us- areas of digital spaces.

Cool quotes:

Page 53-54: "Fundamental to most of these discussions is some sense that cultural identification in our postmodern era are less stable, more malleable than they have been historically, and that ICTs are playing a role in that destabilization."
- This quote is situated within Reed's discussion of online identities, and how folks are able to create an identity that may not be representative of their actual lives. I am drawn to this quote because it reminds me of my own online identity. I am very much aware that I am creating a certain persona on facebook: my posts tend to be heavy on the silliness, a goodish amount educational (in that I post stuff from places like "I fucking love science." Really, that's what it's called!), and a dash of political happenings, just for good measure. I try my hardest to stay away from anything too personal. I see some of my friends post emotional rants often enough that I've realized I don't want to make the same mistake; facebook isn't a catch-all where anything can and should be posted. A notion that Reed goes into, and hints at with this quote.

Page 87: "However just as it is possible to change the default settings on most programs, it is possible to move beyond the default identity initially built into much digital culture..."
-  I got this gem from chapter four where Reed goes into who's represented most in technology, the internet specifically, and who's not. It's interesting how the icons we all know (e.g. the floppy disk we click to save stuff) has an American-centered way about them; shows where it's made, for whom, and why. It's true that Reed may not be bringing up anything new here, but it fits well with the over-arching argument of how technology can be invisible, and the implications behind that.

Page 111: "These and various other modes of digital diddling in and of themselves are safe sex, in terms of physical health..."
- Wow! I would love to know how much research, and of what kind, Reed put into formatting this chapter! Or maybe I don't... I use this quote because, again, it ties into the larger argument of how innocuous technology seems to be, but when we peel back a layer or two, then more insidious issues crop up. I did have a bit of a problem with this chapter: Reed got too cute with his puns (like, "digital diddling"). Yes, this is geared to undergrads, and yes, it deals with sex, which might be uncomfortable for some folks, but being punny doesn't help.

Issues:

Although Reed may not be bringing up problems that haven't been talked about before, I do find it helpful book to read to give me a sense of what's being discussed in digital culture studies. In the third chapter, Reed writes about shows like MTV's Catfish, where folks can create completely false identities in order to date, panhandle, and/or hurt another person. These are issues that need to be discussed, which are sometimes (conveniently) left out of the discussion of technology. There are plenty of folks out there that think technology is gonna save us; that the only way is the technological way. Reed isn't trying to steer people away from this valuable resource, but to realize and think about how even the internet, an ostensibly amorphous thing, has a physical being.
Chapter four I found to be important with regard to what I study here. Thinking about who is represented and who's isn't is one of the more compelling chapters in Reed's book. Again, what he brought forth may not be ground breaking, but when situated within the larger problem of the ways in which technology is look upon or NOT looked upon, is always an important question to ask.