culture

As I mentioned in my last post, MUSE II was designed with cultural engagement at the core of our whole plan. The biggest challenge in doing leading edge research within our mandate was finding the right cultural groups who had existing content and audiences, as well as the interest and capacity to experiment with new mobile technologies, and then connecting them with leaders in mobile technology innovation who could pull projects together. With an end goal of inspiring innovative project ideas that are both innovative and culturally relevant, we needed these two groups to collaborate. As folks from these sectors don't tend to naturally collaborate, some MUSE-Matchmaking was in order. 

Mobile MUSE has always been about the intersection of mobile innovation and culture. While our mission has been to build a vibrant mobile content industry in BC, our funding priorities have always been to do so with a strong focus on ensuring cultural organizations benefit from this economic growth. This means helping create true collaborations between technology providers and cultural organizations. Not an easy task when you are dealing with bleeding edge research!

I’ve been involved with MUSE since its inception, and was asked to become part of the leadership team for two reasons: to ensure the prototype ideas MUSE developed had a strong grounding in the needs of the cultural community, and to use my background and network in the community to successfully plug community organizations into MUSE.   

Britney Spears? Naughty. But at least Santa knows what to bring you for next Christmas.
Micheal Richards? Naughty. Soap is all you can expect in your stocking.

Yes, Santa is breathing a deep sigh of relief this year. His job just keeps on getting easier. Thanks to the youTubes and Myspaces of the world, keeping tabs on who is being naughty and nice couldn't be simpler. In a world where anyone can upload a video of you in a compromising situation with a couple of clicks it would seem we all have to think twice before crying or pouting. You never know who could be watching.

Yet, no one seems particularly worried. In fact those most likely to be caught drinking a little too much eggnog this holiday season, teenagers and twenty-somethings, are the most willing to post their latest embarrassing antics online. Take a look at the average picture on Facebook or video on youTube and you'll see what I mean. People drunk. People speeding. People drunkenly speeding etc. If you can imagine it, you can bet there is someone online doing it. The core of online social networking boils down to a popularity contest; people are always looking for ways to raise the stakes, doing whatever it takes to appear cool. Facebook certainly isn't overflowing with pictures of hard working college students studying exams. It's naughty and not nice that sells. What better way to impress your friends then openly displaying your drinking prowess and skill at dancing without your shirt? While in the short term this might mean a couple more online friends or video views, the long term prospects are hardly flattering. Digital dirt is gathering online and it leaves a stain that is tough get out.

My name is Phillip Jeffrey.  I am one of a number of writers based in MAGIC that will be sharing with you something about our research or research-related interests. I am a Masters student in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of British Columbia. My interests include pervasive games, location-based technologies, ethnography, and culture. 

Today while I was sitting in front of our residence fireplace while snow fell outside, I tried without success to use my mobile phone.  At the time the network was working intermittently perhaps due to the power outage.  It was also by chance I came across an article from the Chicago Tribute about how Africans are being empowered through mobile phones.  I realised how little I hear about Africa and mobile technology and I thought it would be useful to bring to light how their society is being affected by mobile phones today.