Week 6 Reflections

David Gauntlett offers a thorough yet streamlined history of the web/internet, which in its creators eye was a space for collaboration and democracy, but was quickly usurped by capitalists with dollar signs in their eyes. He nicely explains that subsequent to the internet bubble popping, we began to see a read/write web, the adoption of blogs, hyperlinks, and creativity. I think he brings up several interesting points within his exposition.

I agree with Gauntlett that there needs to be nuanced, qualitative approaches to understanding the web as we see in the work of James Paul Gee, Henry Jenkins and Clay Shirky. As Jane Jacobs describes cities being living, breathing things in the Death and Life of Great American Cities, new communities, civilizations, ways of communicating are constantly being created and tested on the web.

It is difficult to fully understand the web through research that views its users and communities as specimen rather than equal. Gauntlett calls for, "the fetishisation of 'expert' readings of media texts is replaced with a focus on the everyday meanings produced by the diverse array of audience members, accompanied by an interest in new qualitative research techniques." I really like the idea of more research with not only "audiences" (who are producers too) but also the video, photo, graphics, text they create.