VERNACULAR CREATIVITY AND NEW MEDIA Jean Burgess B.Mus (Hons), B.Arts (Hons), M.Phil, University of Queensland A dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology 2007 Keywords vernacular creativity new media technology cultural studies cultural citizenship literacy photography personal computing Flickr Digital Storytelling Web 2.0 ii Abstract This study takes a cultural studies approach to investigating the ways in which the articulation of vernacular creativity with digital technologies and the networked cultural public sphere might constitute sites of cultural citizenship. In the thesis, the concept of ‘vernacular creativity’ describes the everyday practices of material and symbolic creativity, such as storytelling and photography, that both predate digital culture and are remediated by it in particular ways. The first part of thesis, covering Chapters 2 and 3, develops a theoretical framework and cultural history of vernacular creativity in new media contexts. Chapter 2 introduces the idea of vernacular creativity and connects it to cultural studies approaches to participatory media and cultural citizenship. Chapter 3 theorises and historicises the relationships among vernacular creativity, technological innovation and new media literacy, drawing on social constructionist approaches to technology, and discussing concrete examples. The first of these examples is the mass amateurisation of photography in the first half of the twentieth century, as represented by the monopoly of popular photography by Kodak in the United States and beyond. The second is the domestication of personal computing in the second half of the twentieth century, culminating in a discussion of the Apple brand and the construction of an ideal ‘creative consumer’. The second part of the thesis, covering Chapters 4 and 5, is devoted to the investigation of two major case studies drawn from contemporary new media contexts. The first of these case studies is the photosharing network flickr.com, and the second is the Digital Storytelling movement, structured around collaborative iii offline workshops in which participants create short multimedia works based on their biographies and personal images. These case studies are used to explore the ways vernacular creativity is being remediated in contemporary new media contexts, the socio-technical shaping of participation in digital culture, and the implications for cultural citizenship. In Chapter 6, the thesis concludes by suggesting some further implications of the research findings for cultural and media studies approaches to the relations of cultural production and the politics of popular culture. iv Table of Contents Title Page ..................................................................................................................... i Keywords ................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ..................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ....................................................................................................... v List of Figures .......................................................................................................... vii List of Tables .......................................................................................................... viii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... ix Statement of Original Authorship ............................................................................ x Chapter 1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 1. Overview ........................................................................................................... 1 2. Context of the Study .......................................................................................... 2 3. Research Design .............................................................................................. 19 Chapter 2 Vernacular Creativity, Cultural Studies and Cultural Citizenship .. 28 1. The Idea of Vernacular Creativity ................................................................... 28 2. Cultural Studies and the Politics of Popular Culture ...................................... 40 3. Cultural Citizenship and The Networked Public Sphere ................................ 54 4. Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 71 Chapter 3 Vernacular Creativity and Technological Change ............................. 74 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 74 2. Approaches to Culture and Technology .......................................................... 77 3. The Socio-Technical Construction of New Media Literacy ........................... 85 4. Kodak and the Mass Popularisation of Photography ...................................... 92 5. Personal Computing, Apple and the ‘Creative Consumer’ ........................... 103 6. Conclusions ................................................................................................... 124 Chapter 4 Case Study: The Flickr Photosharing Network ................................ 127 1. Introduction ................................................................................................... 127 2. Overview ....................................................................................................... 129 3. Participation as Play ...................................................................................... 135 4. Users and Uses .............................................................................................. 141 5. Technologies and Literacies .......................................................................... 153 6. Creativity and Aesthetics .............................................................................. 168 7. Cultural Citizenship and the Local ................................................................ 182 8. Discussion ..................................................................................................... 186 Chapter 5 Case Study: The Digital Storytelling Movement............................... 192 1. Introduction ................................................................................................... 192 2. Overview ....................................................................................................... 196 3. The BBC Capture Wales Model ................................................................... 199 4. QUT Digital Storytelling Projects ................................................................. 220 5. Discussion ..................................................................................................... 241 v Chapter 6 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 248 1. Significance of the Study .............................................................................. 248 2. Discussion of Findings .................................................................................. 249 3. Further Implications and Emerging Questions ............................................. 256 Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 259 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Ross Mayfield’s ‘Power Law of Participation’ .......................................... 12 Figure 2: Bradley Horowitz’s Social Media Pyramid ................................................ 15 Figure 3: Flickr—All time most popular tags .......................................................... 133 Figure 4: Flickr—Explore page ............................................................................... 135 Figure 5: ‘Green is Beautiful’ by Cyron .................................................................. 144 Figure 6: David de Groot’s computer room ............................................................. 145 Figure 7: ‘Shell on the Beach’ by David de Groot .................................................. 146 Figure 8: ‘Duck and Zoingo Boingo together’ by Louise ........................................ 147 Figure 9: ‘When I Look’ by Melanie Cook ............................................................. 148 Figure 10: ‘Gatecrashed Drain’ by Mr Magoo ICU................................................. 150 Figure 11: ‘Once was a Window’ by Shanrosen ...................................................... 151 Figure 12: ‘Straightened Perspective’ by Yinyang .................................................. 152 Figure 13: KGUV Sharing Stories Workshop 2004 ................................................ 229 Figure 14: KGUV Sharing Stories Workshop 2006 ................................................ 232 vii List of Tables Table 1: Flickr Users Interviewed ............................................................................ 142 Table 2: Sample Workshop Schedule ...................................................................... 198 Table 3: Participants at first KGUV Sharing Stories workshop .............................. 227 Table 4: Participants at second KGUV Sharing Stories workshop.........................