Weblogs and the Technology Lifecycle
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Weblogs and the Technology Lifecycle: Context, Geek-Chic and Personal Community by James M. Milne A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: S. Elizabeth Bird, Ph.D Kevin Yelvington, Ph.D Susan Greenbaum, Ph.D Mark Neumann, Ph.D Randy Miller, Ph.D Date of Approval: March 16, 2004 Keywords: blog, mass media, journalism, virtual community, mediascape © Copyright 2004, James M. Milne Dedication As we are all the sum of the supports, great and small, that we have received our whole lives, I am the result of the blessings showered upon me. This is dedicated to the family and friends who provided me with the inspiration, capabilities and the freedom to explore the mysteries that life has in it. Through their love, I am created as the man I am. I hope we are all the better for it. Acknowledgements This work would not have been possible without the assistance of several important groups of people. The faculty and staff of the University of South Florida have a passionate dedication to the development and application of anthropology in uses great and small. Their vision and energy has helped to reshape anthropology and will, no doubt, continue to do so. Without the engagement of the many people who work or play in the various disciplines of the mass media and journalism, there would have been nothing learned. So many people helped me, they cannot all be listed here, but thank you all. Finally, the masses of people who took to blogging, in their anonymous millions, provided the clearest road marker of all that there is meaning and value bubbling below the surface of everything. They provided the roadmap, I just followed the course. Table of Contents List of Tables......................................................................................................................... ii List of Figures........................................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................ iv Chapter 1: Introduction..........................................................................................................1 Background – The Mass-Mediated Life....................................................................... 1 Study Overview.......................................................................................................... 1 Research Questions .................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 2: Review of Literature..............................................................................................6 Introduction................................................................................................................ 6 The Mediascape: Mass Media/Journalism .................................................................... 7 Production Practices....................................................................................... 8 Consumption Practices.................................................................................. 11 The Audience............................................................................................... 13 Criticism & Punditocracy.............................................................................. 15 Dissatisfaction.............................................................................................. 16 Webworld: Internet Technology................................................................................. 17 Hyper, Virtual & Mega ................................................................................. 17 News as Commodity..................................................................................... 18 Documents & Genres ................................................................................... 19 The Infoglut ................................................................................................. 20 Disappearing Localism.................................................................................. 21 Virtual Communities ..................................................................................... 22 Performing the Self....................................................................................... 25 Lifeways: Society ..................................................................................................... 25 Ubiquitous Commercialism............................................................................ 26 Apoliticism................................................................................................... 27 Public Withdrawal........................................................................................ 28 Community Fragmentation............................................................................. 29 Technicism & Progress................................................................................. 30 Creolization .................................................................................................. 32 Resistance & Co-optation ............................................................................. 33 Internet Research..................................................................................................... 34 Internet Research: Issues.............................................................................. 36 Internet Research Issues: Identity...................................................... 37 Internet Research Issues: Community/Virtual Community ................... 38 Internet Research Issues: Communication Processes .......................... 41 i Blogging: Overview ...................................................................................... 42 Blogging: History.............................................................................. 43 Blogging: What We Know................................................................. 44 Blogging: Demographics.................................................................... 46 Conclusion: Why Blogs?............................................................................................ 48 Chapter 3: Review of methods .............................................................................................50 Internet Research Methodology................................................................................. 51 Internet Research Methodology: Virtual Ethnography...................................... 52 Internet Research Methodology: Participant Observation................................. 53 Anthropology of the Internet.......................................................................... 54 Blog Research Methodology...................................................................................... 57 Reading Blogs .............................................................................................. 57 Finding blogs .................................................................................... 57 The importance of names.................................................................. 59 First impressions ............................................................................... 60 The importance of bookmarks ........................................................... 61 The importance of links ..................................................................... 62 Writing Blogs ............................................................................................... 62 Constructing a Blog .......................................................................... 62 Blog name............................................................................ 63 Servers & Services............................................................... 64 Look & Feel......................................................................... 65 Using a Blog .................................................................................... 67 Posting................................................................................. 67 Driving Usage/Pinging .......................................................... 67 Spam................................................................................... 68 Hacking ............................................................................... 69 Posting – content choices.................................................................. 70 public or private? .................................................................. 71 trite or deep? ........................................................................ 74 cryptic or open?.................................................................... 75 verbose or taciturn? .............................................................. 76 connected or alone?.............................................................. 77 who do you link to? ............................................................... 78 who links to you? .................................................................. 80 Non-blog inclusions ............................................................... 82 Stats ................................................................................................ 83 Blogger Interviews ................................................................................................... 84 Blogger Selection.........................................................................................