Networks of Remediation July 11, 2011. Networks of Remediation Each [medium] participates in a network of technical, social, and economic contexts;

Networks of

RemediationJuly 11, 2011

Netw

ork

s of

Rem

edia

tion

Each [medium] participates in a network of technical,

social, and economic

contexts; this network

constitutes the medium as a technology” (65).

Netw

ork

s of

Rem

edia

tion

A medium in our culture can never operate in isolation, because it must enter

into relationships of respect and rivalry with other media” (65).

What is a Medium?

What is a Medium?

For Bolter and Grusin, a “medium”

is “that which remediates.”

However, for them, a medium “can

never operate in isolation” (65).

The Material and Economic Dimensions of Remediation

Mate

rial/Eco

nom

ic

Dim

ensi

ons

Each new medium has

to find its economic place by replacing or

supplementing what is

already available . . .

economic success, can

come only by convincing consumers

that the new medium

improves on the experience of the older ones” (68).

The Social Dimension

The S

oci

al

Dim

ensi

on

“The appeal to authenticity of experience is what brings the logics of immediacy and hypermediacy together.

This appeal is socially

constructed. . .[w]hat

seems immediate to one

group is highly mediated

to another” (71).

Two S

ense

s of

Imm

edia

cy

Two S

ense

s of

Imm

edia

cy

• Epistemological

Two S

ense

s of

Imm

edia

cy

• Epistemological“. . .immediacy is transparency: the absence of mediation or

representation” (70)“. . .the notion that a

medium could erase

itself and leave the viewer in the presence

of the objects represented” (70)

Two S

ense

s of

Imm

edia

cy

• Epistemological• Psychological

Two S

ense

s of

Imm

edia

cy

• Epistemological• Psychological“. . .names the viewer’s

feeling that the medium

has disappeared and the

objects are present to

him, a feeling that his

experience is therefore

authentic.”(70)

Two S

ense

s of

Hyp

erm

edia

cy

• Epistemological

Two S

ense

s of

Hyp

erm

edia

cy

• Epistemological“. . .hypermediacy is

opacity—the fact that

knowledge of the world

comes to us through

media. The viewer acknowledges that she

is in the presence of a

medium. . .”(71)

Two S

ense

s of

Hyp

erm

edia

cy

• Epistemological• Psychological

Two S

ense

s of

Hyp

erm

edia

cy

• Epistemological• Psychological“. . .the experience that

she has in and of the

presence of media; it is

the insistence that the

experience of the medium is itself an experience of the real”(71)

Face

book

Let’s go back to Facebook and

let’s figure out why it is so

successful. . .

Now

, yo

ur

turn

: You will be placed into a

group. Each group will

be assigned to an aspiring social media

site. Your job will be to

complete these tasks:

Now

, yo

ur

turn

:

1) In a few paragraphs

(or more), rhetorically

analyze the website,

using as many of our

keywords as you can.

What is this site explicitly persuading?

What is it implicitly arguing? How does the

site employ image and

text? Is it effective?

Now

, yo

ur

turn

:

2) Next, examine the

website and develop a

genealogy of remediation. From this

list, determine whether

each in this list would

represent a relationship

of "respect" or "rivalry"

to your social media

site. (A list is fine here)

Now

, yo

ur

turn

:

3)Determine what the

website's target audience(s) are. Be very

specific here—consider

age, race(s), sex, class

etc. but also what sort of

social life you can assume the website is

targeting.

Now

, yo

ur

turn

:

3)Determine what the

website's target audience(s) are. Be very

specific here—consider

age, race(s), sex, class

etc. but also what sort of

social life you can assume the website is

targeting.

Now

, yo

ur

turn

:

4)Finally, using this demographic

knowledge, your group will play

the role of marketers to do two

things: first, you must come up

with a pitch (including a slogan)

that will honestly persuade

consumers (ie. your audience) that

"the new medium improves on the

experience of older ones" (you'll

have to tell us what those older

ones are) ; second, you must

develop a list of ways in which to

"spread the content over as many

markets as possible" in order to

popularize your product (68). How

could you remediate your product

to boost its popularity?

Now

, yo

ur

turn

:

1) In a few paragraphs (or more), rhetorically

analyze the website, using as many of our

keywords as you can. What is this site explicitly

persuading? What is it implicitly arguing? How

does the site employ image and text? Is it

effective?2) Next, examine the website and develop a

genealogy of remediation. From this list,

determine whether each in this list would

represent a relationship of "respect" or "rivalry"

to your social media site. (A list is fine here)

3)Determine what the website's target

audience(s) are. Be very specific here—consider

age, race(s), sex, class etc. but also what sort of

social life you can assume the website is

targeting.4)Finally, using this demographic knowledge,

your group will play the role of marketers to do

two things: first, you must come up with a pitch

(including a slogan) that will honestly persuade

consumers (ie. your audience) that "the new

medium improves on the experience of older

ones" (you'll have to tell us what those older

ones are) ; second, you must develop a list of

ways in which to "spread the content over as

many markets as possible" in order to popularize

your product (68). How could you remediate your

product to boost its popularity?

Weekl

y Pr

oje

ct

Thre

e P

revi

ew

For this Weekly Project, each

group will share a rough, but

substantially complete,

chapter from their Project

One Assignment during an

in-class Editing Workshop. In

order to prepare for this

Workshop, your group needs

to focus on developing/selecting what

material you would like to

submit. Todays Project One

Group Meeting should focus

on this.

Networks of

RemediationJuly 11, 2011