Careful with that Axe Eugene. . . Facebook is watching.

Already through studying the topics we have reviewed in class I have formed a flexible social opinion of the meaning of collective consciousness and the effect that the Internet is having on it. In a simplified explanation I like to think of collective consciousness as the way a wave functions at a major sporting event. When you see it coming you stand up and throw your hands in the air, then you sit down. Key point being IF you see it coming in time to time your "waving" action with the motion of the wave. The same aspects apply to collective consciousness, like if there is an extremely large number of people, then they all resemble the myriad particles of water that actually make up the wave, and the little inaccuracies that occur in the timing of the "waving" action are true to the "inaccuracies" in nature. Also on this scale the smaller the wave, the less connected (or wave-like) it seems whether there is connection or not. Then when we apply this analogy to the Internets affects on collective consciousness the scale of the action, and involvement again become our important variables.

Relating this back to a personal level is my relationship with Facebook. When I first got a Facebook it was in spring of 2006 when I first came to Appalachian State University. Then it was a closed network only available to users with valid university email addresses. Social networking sites in general, whether Facebook or not depend on the interaction between the users and the site. How much you put on your social networking site and what you put on it are what is available to other to access. This interaction works both ways and includes those accessing your site as well. There was a study done on the effectiveness of a bulletin board for Queer/Lesbian women in Hong Kong with the prospect being how well collective consciousness was created or maintained. The study found that there was a sense of collective consciousness however that it was questionable whether the bulletin board and forum were the source for the creation of the group identity, “A collective identity is not something static; rather it is “the process through which a collective becomes a collective” (Melucci, 1995, p. 43). Reviewing previous work, Taylor and Whittier (1992) identified three elements of collective identity in social movements. First, individuals share a sense of “we” or solidarity when they define some shared characteristics as salient and important. Second, individuals harbour a consciousness, which are shared interpretive frameworks that include political consciousness, relational networks and the goals, means, and the environment of action of the movement. Third, a culture of direct opposition to the dominant order exists (pg 6 Nip)”. So Facebook was better in my opinion when it was just the college experience online. Then it became open, and I had to do more work to sensor my page. As you might have noticed if we put a bunch of meaningless chatter on our networking site, or resolve to petty arguments over syntax then for the most part we will receive meaningless chatter and dull drum arguments.. Relating this back to the study is the creation of the collective consciousness of the queer group which attempts to digest a preformed conception of sexual identity (that of Lesbian) and disseminate the idea of queer identity, which allows for more fluid transition of traditional sexual identities. Therein a conflict was created between ideologies within the group. There was some sense of collective consciousness when the posters would respond to vandalism with “we” statements and shared a sense of identity and belonging to the group. However when the organizers posted discussion topics trying to open the view of the sexual identity there was discussion of the importance of syntax, such as why the need to distinguish between the queer term and the lesbian term. This study came to the conclusion that the organization of the site determined the level of collective consciousness.
Again in another study on social media activism and the internet concluded that the perception of the internet as a tool which can promote and repress or hinder collective consciousness. “The nature of citizenship is changing as part of the turn towards networked individualism. The change began before the coming of the internet, but the immanent internet has accelerated this change and helped shape its nature. Connectivity is up; cohesion is down. Journalists often ask us: “Is this a good thing or a bad thing?” Our answer is, “It is just a thing.” It will have good and bad outcomes. However, while the Internet is immanent, its effects are not technologically predetermined nor sociologically predestined. They are evolving and their use can be shaped by human decisions (Wellman pg 6)”. This relates back to Facebook even, in the method of use; when you un-tag yourself in a picture or video you don’t want connected to your image, it is not deleted instead the connection between your page and that media representation of you is severed. In this sense the importance relies on the connections between the media on the internet rather than the media itself.
Finally another study researching collective consciousness among IT researchers forms a conclusion of the collectivity of the internet as something more likened to a magnifying glass, with an organizational function allowing for the evolution of the tool within itself. “The significance of this investigation into the collective consciousness of IT research stems from the likelihood of outcomes that will provide a theoretically sound model of different ways of seeing IT research. Through such a model, researchers may explore certain aspects of each others perspectives, understand and perhaps challenge, decisions to work at forging research collaborations, or not. We anticipate that the outcomes will: increase our understanding of IT research and the changing IT research culture; suggest directions for moulding that culture into a cohesive rather than a fragmented whole; and provide a systematic basis for research development strategies for novice as well as more experienced researchers (Bruce pg 12)”. Another way to mentally picture this would be walking down a display case of Acheulean hand axes in the Smithsonian, and noticing the subtle changes in size, shape, sharpness, and other physical adaptations that make them easier to use. The internet is this entire case of hand axes in itself.
Personally I like to make sure the axes on display on my Facebook page are sharpened enough to sever any ties to representations of myself I deem unnecessary for display in what can be thought of as a museum of my identity.




(Nip)
Nip, Joyce Y. "The Queer Sisters and Its Electronic Bulletin Board: A Study of the Internet for Social Movement Mobilization." Information, Communication and Society 2003 (July): 1-33.

(Wellman)
Wellman, Barry, and Bernie Hogan. "The Immanent Internet." Netting Citizens (2004): 1-21.

(Bruce)
Bruce, Christine, and Binh Pham. "Investigating Ways of Seeing IT Research: A Tool for Facilitating Effective Research Partnerships?" (): 1-19.