I belong to that rare mob who will actually remember what life was before the internet. It gives me the creeps; I see myself there, sitting in my rocking chair, telling my children about a life without internet, iPads, eBooks, FB, Twitter and all the rest.

It is important to remember. It is important to reflect.

Although it’s not a part of “new media”, critical reflection is still a part of us. And we must continue to reflect and ponder about our online performance.

I remember the day the noise clang on to my existence. No more solitude. No more privacy. Watch your settings. Care about your reputation.

And ask yourself the question: what do I get for free?

What does the media platforms offer me? And counterbalance that with the work, yes work, that you have to do. Putting up photos, conducting surveys and writing blog posts are not only a hobby, they’re essentially work that takes time. And it’s not always as easy as it sounds.

We are trapped in the illusion that what we get is for free. We think computers and cyberspace are made up of air. You’re wrong. How much energy does it take for your computer to run? Oh Firefox, do you even know what’s inside your computer? I know I didn’t.

We’ll be talking about netiquette, digital wills and Facebook ghosts, and stolen identities. That’s the conversation I’ll have with my children. Forget the bees, the bees will be the least of my concerns.

Heaven forbid, we might not even touch each other by then.

We’ll just be behind our screen.

That’s where we feel most comfortable. Ever tried dating online? People do that too, you know.

And we definitely won’t afford travelling. Sorry kids, but your dad screwed up.  So Google Tourism is the only thing left for us to do.

What else would I tell them?

Just to be cheesy, I’d tell them about that Net Com course I took in Melbourne, and how it taught me to always look critically at the “new media”. Always question things. Always! Most things aren’t what they seem to be. You’ve got to connect the dots yourself!

I’m intrigued to follow the Creative Commons Project, the Digital Afterlife movement and see what happens to the blogosphere. Now that I’ve been a part of it – a part of history. Fascinating! Scary!

Each dot makes a point.

We write our history by the second. Blog post after blog post. And the pace will have changed. We will be quicker, more efficient.

I fear that I won’t be able to pick up. I am not a digital native.

If this subject told me anything, it’s that my technical abilities are limited, but that the creative dimensions of the web suit me perfectly.

Thanks to other bloggers and sites, I’ve been able to develop my technical skills one by one. I’m no hacker, but luckily that’s no longer necessary (especially if you have a friend who can help you overcome WP restrictions – see “connect with me” in the corner – I AM PROUD! Thanks Mathew!)

I hope we continue to work in this spirit, where we  help each other grow.

I wonder what lurks around the corner. What’s next? All I know is that it will come fast, and I hope my kids will think twice before they feed themselves to the beast.

I won’t be there to protect them. It’s not like I can jump in front of a mouse. Their destiny is one click away.

But above all, I don’t want to be that dot left behind. Do you?

That’s what I want to explore more – the people behind the dots. You.

We are many dots aboard this ship, not just me and my family. Some dots are already out the window.

The question remains: Is everyone aboard, or will cyberspace, just like a first-class passenger seat, be a place for only the selective few?

As for me, it’s time to say goodbye. Note: no virtual suicide though, so don’t worry!

Who knows, I might use this blog in the future for my “professsional website”.

It’s been a blast connecting with you. I hope to see you again soon.

Connect the dots! Thanks for a great semester!

Cheers Olle

Copyright -a species of intellectual property – is not an easy concept. It is in fact a relatively new one (see Lessig: Open Code & Societies, p. 351).

Before the late 19th century, it did not exist in most parts of the world. Back then, it was like a state-granted monopoly which controlled how someone was entitled to use a particular form of text. It soon became common knowledge and property.

The movie reminds us that new technologies have always challenged this notion. From printing houses (indeed, some books were not even allowed to be published), to pamphlets, to radio, to TV,  to piracy and to the copy-paste culture…

What does this tell us? That humans like to share by nature.

We are born to communicate and to share knowledge with the people around us. This is how kids learn to speak and act, by simply copying their environment. Ranging from telling a fairy-tale in the cave, to blogging about their favourite things, people have always wanted to share their experience with other people.

Is there something wrong with that? No, there isn’t. The only problem is that some people make a living out of these industries.

It’s commonly known as piracy, but it’s a too benign term that doesn’t even begin to adequately describe the toll that music theft takes on the many artists, songwriters, musicians, record label employees and others whose hard work and great talent make music possible. RIAA Piracy online and on the streets

Today, what we see is the birth of new authors and bloggers by the second. The Networked Individual believes in the creative and innovative value of each dot: it is important to let everyone be able to distribute and develop their talents.

However, we have to work together, and talk to each other, if we wish to find any possible solution. The era of the recorded labels and single-handed companies owning everything is slowly fading away. Now people – such as you and me – have become produsers (a word that is not found in the WordPress dictionary, interesting). That is to say, we are both producers and consumers in this day of age. We make things (go to YouTube) and we sell things (go to eBay)

Ever heard of Creative Commons? It is this international organisation which gives out licenses in order to support the building of a public domain. For a brief history: go here.

I’ve fed it much thought, and I decided that I was willing to share my content as long as other users acknowledged it was mine.

I find it important to let others know if I use someone else’s work in my writing. As long as it’s not for commercial purposes.  We don’t need more commercialisation in cyberspace. Before we know it, they’re going to make “Networked Individual” T-shirts, dolls and action man figures. No, thank you!

I can understand if some people get really mad of this. (Hello music artists, painters, and fellow bloggers!) It’s stealing!

And the Creative Commons Project has been criticised for complicating the copyright law further, and for “being a commons without a commonality”. Critics, such as Dr. Péter Benjamin Tóth, Member of the Hungarian Expert Group, says that CC offers suggestions to copyright law and that there intentions therefore remain unclear.

He claims there are in fact ways to “sell” your coypright to, much in the same way that a CC licensee can distribute their own work.

Given the recent popularity of Creative Commons (some 130 million licenses as of 2008; see CC History), we can see a trend that the public domain is willing to change and contest the current copyright law. One can argue that people wish to make it easier to share ideas, thoughts and work between each other. And I want to be part of this – in search for a better word – dot revolution.

(Isn’t this democracy – the vote of the people, i.e. EVERYONE?)

But hold on. If you rewrite other people’s thoughts, developing your own creative touch, isn’t that essentially what we’re doing at university?

If you always reference your work, tell the reader where you got that quote from, how is it different? It’s different in the sense of scale. Anyone can add, change or copy people’s work on the web.

Who could possibly monitor all the work that we produce daily?

My point exactly.

Add a bit of you (because I need you to survive; it’s a lot more fun that way) and then a commercial platform to enable us to shout our names and our likes and dislikes. In fact, I am nothing without you!

Is it only me that find it rather telling that we use words such as “hits” to demonstrate our popularity? The more hits, the more popular you are.

Hold on. Hits. That would hurt, wouldn’t it? Oh yes.

You begin to bleed. But there is no blood.
You begin to ache. But there are no bruises.
You begin to cry. But there are no tears.

Cyberbullying is becoming the next big hit. It hits many. Research shows that almost one in four children between the ages of 11 and 19 have been the victim of cyberbullying.

Because it’s nice, isn’t it? To hurt others. To laugh at others.

We sit there safely behind our machine. But the truth is that we’re not safe.

Because out here we’re not in control what others do with us, what others think of us. It’s scary, and I have to tell you, every time I open my email to see that I’ve received a comment, I fret.

What have they written about me now? I think of some horror stories, think of the viral hits, maybe they’ve exchanged a picture of me in some weird kamasutra position. And then it goes viral and my professional life is over. It can be that bad, you know. Just like that. They scream at you and they’ll hunt you down…

That’s the Critical Me. Calm down, Olle. No one would do that to you. Surely…

The iCulture is looking for constant approval. So what do we do? We’re looking for comments, thoughts, ideas, feedback. Anything that will tell us that we’re OK, we’re all good. But you already are! Some people take this opportunity to be mean.

Just for the record, I will state my comment policy right here:

Comment loudly and proudly, but say it in a nice way.

Remember: I’m Swedish and I don’t like it when you’re nasty!

And if an internet bully shows up, I’ll just have to deal with it then. Should I ignore it? No. I’ll simply say bye bye to nasty comments. Get out of my window!

The problem is, we’re stuck in this “web cloud” – as Geert Lovink would put it – and we end up blogging each other. We all become little children again. Without the teacher, we go wild because we can.

So most bloggers stay within their own bubble of friends and like-minded people.

“I blogged you. The chance that someone will respond to it is almost zero. Herein is the limit of blogging,” Mr Lovink states.
I’d say, herein is the beginning of cyberbullying – an outlet of frustration and anger with oneself and the world.

But the blogosphere is getting better, I think. I don’t want to be all negative: social media can be used as a self-regulating tool as well. And I noticed that when I googled “nasty comments”, the first thing that popped up was a discussion on how to deal with nasty comments.

That’s always something. A step in the right direction. But the blogosphere has many steps left to go…

When will cyberbullying stop? It will stop with you and your nasty comments.

Don’t you see? It stops with us!

If I say “apple”, you think of..?

If I say “blackberry”, you think of…?

If I say a “banana” what do you think of…?

Maybe the banana is the next apple. Let’s go bananas!

I prefer to eat my fruits.