THE FUTURE OF REMEMBERING: HOW MULTIMODAL PLATFORMS AND SOCIAL MEDIA ARE REPURPOSING OUR DIGITALLY SHARED PASTS IN CULTURAL HERITAGE AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY PRACTICES by BRANT BURKEY A DISSERTATION Presented to the School of JournalIsm and CommunICatIon and the Graduate School of the UniversIty of Oregon In partIal fulfIllment of the requIrements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2014 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Brant Burkey Title: The Future of RememberIng: How MultImodal Platforms and SoCIal MedIa Are RepurposIng Our DIgItally Shared Pasts In Cultural HerItage and ColleCtIve Memory Practices This dissertation has been accepted and approved In partIal fulfIllment of the requIrements for the DoCtor of Philosophy degree in the SChool of JournalIsm and CommunICatIon by: Dr. Julianne Newton Chairperson Dr. Patricia Curtin Core Member Dr. Gabriela Martinez Core Member Dr. John Fenn Institutional Representative and KImberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research and Innovation; Dean of the Graduate School OrIginal approval sIgnatures are on fIle with the UniversIty of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2014 II 2014 Brant Burkey This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike 3.0 License (United States) III DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Brant Burkey Doctor of Philosophy SChool of JournalIsm and CommunICatIon June 2014 Title: The Future of RememberIng: How MultImodal Platforms and SoCIal MedIa Are Repurposing Our Digitally Shared Pasts in Cultural Heritage and Collective Memory PraCtICes WhIle most medIa-memory research focuses on particular cultural repository sites, memorials, traumatic events, media channels, or commemorative practices as objects of study to understand the construction of collective memory, this dissertation suggests it is our activity, participation, and interaction with digital content through multimodal platforms and social media applications that demonstrate how communities articulate shared memory in the new media landscape. This study examines the discursive interpretations of cultural heritage practitioners and participations from the Getty Research Institute, the Prelinger Archive and Library, and the Willamette HerItage Center to better understand how multimodal platforms are being used, how this use is changing the roles of the heritage practitioners and participants in the construction of meaning, and what types of multimodal memory practices are emerging. This research also underscores a reassessment of what constitutes heritage artifacts, authenticity, curatorial authority, and multimodal participation in digital cultural heritage. My methodological approach for this research takes a multilateral form of data collection, including in-depth interviewing, participant observations, and thematiC iv analysis, informed by the theoretical frameworks of collective memory, remediation, and gatekeeping and unified by the social theories of art practice, social constructionism, symbolic interactionism, and actor-network theory. My prImary recommendation from thIs research is that our dIgital practices of contributing, appropriating, repurposing, and sharing digital content represent new forms of memory practIce in a multimodal context. I propose that these multimodal memory practices of interacting with digital content using different devices across different networks coalesce into platformed communities of memory, where communities are shaped and collective memory is shared by our interaction through social networks. I suggest that we need to think of social media output and metadata as being new forms of cultural heritage artifacts and legitimate soCIal records. I also contend that metadata analysis presents new considerations and opportunities for studying the memory of digital content and institutional memory. It is my hope that these conclusions clarify our contemporary memory practices in the digital era so that we can better understand whose voices will be most prominent in the future articulation of how we remember the past. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Brant Burkey GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Sonoma State UnIversIty, Rohnert Park, California California State University, Long Beach DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, MedIa StudIes, 2014, University of Oregon Master of ScIence, CommunICatIon StudIes, 1997, UnIversIty of Oregon BaChelor of Arts, CommunICatIons, 1993, Sonoma State UnIversIty AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: EmergIng MedIa, Digital Cultural Production, and Networked Social Interaction MedIa-Memory DIsCourse and PraCtICe MedIa LIteraCy, MedIa CrItICIsm, Media History, and Media Ethics PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Teaching Fellowship (Instructor of Record, Lab Coordinator, Teaching AssIstant), SChool of JournalIsm & CommunICatIon, UnIversIty of Oregon, 2010-2014 AdjunCt InstruCtor, Department of JournalIsm, CalIfornIa State UnIversIty, Long Beach, 2008-2010 SoCIal SCIenCes TeaCher/JournalIsm AdvIser, John Glenn HIgh SChool, 2003- 2010 Substitute Teacher, Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, 2002-2003 AssoCIate EdItor, Ballard & TIghe Publishing, 2001-2002 Senior Reporter, Crittenden Publishing, 1998-2001 Calendar Editor/Reporter, Marin Independent Journal, 1994-1995 Staff Writer/Reviewer, The Public Reviewer Magazine, 1993-1994 vi GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Graduate Teaching FellowshIp, SChool of JournalIsm & CommunICatIon, University of Oregon, 2010-2014 ColumbIa SCholarshIp, SChool of JournalIsm & CommunICatIon, UnIversIty of Oregon, 2013 Juried paper accepted, Constructing the Net: How Cable News Coverage Articulates Meaning for the Net Neutrality Debate, International CommunICatIons AssoCIatIon (ICA) ConferenCe, 2012 TeaCher of the Month Award, John Glenn HIgh SChool, 2009 Academy InstruCtor, TransportatIon Career Academy Program (TCAP) and Academy for Careers In EduCatIon (ACE), John Glenn HIgh SChool, 2008- 2010 PUBLICATIONS: Burkey, B. (2013). Book RevIew, “On MedIa Memory: ColleCtIve Memory In a New MedIa Age,” NeIger (2011), Explorations in Media Ecology Journal, 12(3-4), 301-302. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would lIke to express my sInCere appreCIatIon and gratItude to my entIre Committee – Dr. Julianne Newton, Dr. Patricia Curtin, Dr. Gabriela Martinez, and Dr. John Fenn – for their invaluable input, guidance, and support throughout this dissertation process and beyond. I Could not have aCComplIshed thIs longstandIng dream of mine wIthout eaCh of you gIvIng me somethIng more to thInk about along the way. For that, I will be forever indebted. Of particular note, I would also like reCognIze the unwaverIng enCouragement that my Committee ChaIr, Dr. JulIanne Newton, offered every step of the way. JulIe, despIte the enormous Challenges lIfe presents, you always found tIme to offer a kInd word and be an IndefatIgable cheerleader. For that, I am forever grateful. I would also like to respectfully acknowledge the insightful contributions of the respondents who partiCIpated in thIs researCh. My Ideas were In so many ways shaped by their words, views, and perspectives. Many thanks to each of you who let me peek behInd the CurtaIns to better understand the IntrICaCIes and appreCIatIon of the role of cultural herItage in the proCess of shared memory. Finally, I cannot express enough appreCIatIon to my family, friends, and loved ones, most espeCIally my parents, whom have stood by me through what have been some of the most sIgnIfICant Changes In my lIfe thus far. I measure my own aCComplIshments wIth the knowledge that eaCh of you ContrIbuted somethIng to my journey along the way, and I fully recognize that my dreams would not be beComing a reality if not for all of your guidance, support, and love. Now, to start the next chapter… viii To my sIster, for all she has ever been and ever wIll be, from the moment I CarrIed her home from the hospItal. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 1 The Issue: The Past Is Not What It Used To Be ............................................................ 8 Background: DefIning DIgital Cultural HerItage .......................................................... 14 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 24 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE, FOUNDATIONAL THEORIES, LINKAGES, AND GAPS IN RESEARCH ................................................................................................................... 27 RevIew of LIterature: FamilIar TerrItory, New DIreCtIons ...................................... 30 SurveyIng the LandsCape of Memory StudIes ............................................................... 36 At the InterseCtIon of New MedIa and ColleCtIve Memory ...................................... 43 Recycling Cultural Heritage ArtIfaCts Into DIgItal MemorIes ................................. 54 GatekeepIng DIgItal MemorIes ............................................................................................ 58 RemedIatIng the SoCIal In Theory ...................................................................................... 65 The Gap In ResearCh: MultImodal Memory Practices in Digital Heritage ........ 75 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 82 III. TAKING A QUALITATIVE APPROACH .............................................................................