{"id":44,"date":"2016-11-09T20:43:33","date_gmt":"2016-11-09T20:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/?p=44"},"modified":"2017-02-02T14:20:35","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T14:20:35","slug":"for-some-we-get-lost-in-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/2016\/11\/09\/for-some-we-get-lost-in-media\/","title":{"rendered":"For some, we get lost in media"},"content":{"rendered":"

I opened up a copy of the New York Times today, and in an empty space within an article, there was a blurb that reads<\/h3>\n
\n

Social networks put individuals at the center of their own media universes<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

— I am not even sure I understand what that is supposed to mean. Let alone the notion of a plurality of universes, the idea that media are not between people but rather like belly buttons for individuals to discover themselves within … I just find it mind-boggling. Then again, according to the surrounding words in the article next to this message, social media are depicted as breeding grounds for “fake news”, as cesspools for propagating mythical stories, for manipulating large populations of suckers into following this or that social media expert, leader, salesman or whatever.<\/h3>\n

“Social” is seen as the big mistake, the errant sidetrack from the collapsing foundations of journalism. Four words seem hidden somewhere in between the lines: I told you so<\/em>. Naive and forlorn like Dorothy in a dizzying whirlwind, individuals end up as victims of lever-pulling hackers, clowns and con-artists. Social media transport hoaxes and fairy tales, yet they are also instruments targeted at novice users, training wheels to guide their first steps in the cyber-landscape. The virtual world is both for the light-hearted at the same time that it’s a wide field of thin ice. Throughout this portrayal, the real<\/strong> world is not embodied in media. Instead, real-world people with real-world addresses exist behind real-world mastheads printed on real-world paper. They carry real-world business cards, not fake virtual URLs.<\/h3>\n

Real-world buildings, with real-world street addresses, real-world telephones and such media are the physical conduits for real-world relationships. In contrast (so the argument), virtual facades evaporate into thin air as soon as a video screen is turned off.<\/h3>\n

This contrast might be all good and fine, except that it is a lie. None of these things are any more real than the other. Main Street is nothing without the street sign signifying it as such. The reason why we can agree to meet at Main Street is that we both understand it to be<\/em> Main Street, and this agreement is based on us both understanding how to read street signs. Indeed: we agree on many things, of which such street signs are fine examples. We can also agree on the time of day, to speak the same language, or to answer each other’s questions succinctly and truthfully. Such agreements are crucial for us to help each other reach our goals, whether we hold the same goals in common, or whether each of us is trying to reach our own particular individual goals.<\/h3>\n

By reaching our goals, we become not only successful, we also become who we are.\u00a0 We actually self-actualize our identities. For example: a writer does not simply exist, he or she becomes<\/em> a writer by<\/em> writing. A worker becomes<\/em> a worker by<\/em> working. A buyer becomes a buyer by buying, a seller becomes a seller by selling, a consumer becomes a consumer by consuming and a producer becomes a producer by producing. As these last examples show, sometimes we can only self-actualize when other conditions are met, and sometimes these conditions also require the engagement of other people. In this sense, reaching our own goals involves a team effort — as, for example, a sale involves the teamwork of both a buyer and a seller.<\/h3>\n

Therefore, the real world is not so much a matter of separated individuals as it is the interaction and engagement of individuals with each other<\/em> in a symbiotic process<\/em> of self-actualization. We become who we are by interacting with one another. Our goals aren’t distinct and separate, they’re intertwined. We need to think of media as bustling marketplaces for such exchanges to take place, rather than as sterile and inert transport mechanisms. These are not empty tubes simply bridging gaps, they are stages for playing out our roles in real life.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I opened up a copy of the New York Times today, and in an empty space within an article, there was a blurb that reads Social networks put individuals at the center of their own media universes — I am … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[313],"tags":[240,242,243,247,19,91,168,222,223,217,245,246,241,21,69,248,249,250,23,251,244,17,253,18,127,238,239,252],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9w79D-I","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":217,"url":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/2020\/11\/06\/hope-change-flipping-the-f-word-removing-the-old-fashioned-r-word\/","url_meta":{"origin":44,"position":0},"title":"Hope & Change: Flipping the F-word & Removing the Old-Fashioned R-word","author":"nmw","date":"November 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I have an important announcement to make: I've learned something -- and what I learned has helped me to change my course. Many years ago, I started using Facebook (in large part because one of my friends said \u201cfacebook\u201d was college slang for '[student] directory' -- and indeed, it may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "remediary"","block_context":{"text":"remediary","link":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/topicat\/com\/com-remediary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":261,"url":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/2023\/01\/10\/a-quick-start-summary-of-the-past-couple-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":44,"position":1},"title":"A Quick-Start Summary of the Past Couple Years","author":"nmw","date":"January 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In case you are just now emerging from your man-cave, your woman-cave or perhaps some basement (having been playing video games for the past couple years), here is a short note from one of my father's (RIP) colleagues -- you might want to pay attention to: I\u2019ve been trying to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "remediary"","block_context":{"text":"remediary","link":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/topicat\/com\/com-remediary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/01\/crypto.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/01\/crypto.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/01\/crypto.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/01\/crypto.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/01\/crypto.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/01\/crypto.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19,"url":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/2016\/08\/27\/voluntourism\/","url_meta":{"origin":44,"position":2},"title":"Voluntourism","author":"nmw","date":"August 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In a recent podcast episode, Eliza Rubin mentioned \u201evoluntourism\u201c (see episode #28 for her explanation of the term). Here, I want to apply the concept to the web \/ internet \/ online space \u2013 so basically: virtual voluntourism. In my opinion, this is what happens when someone asks people to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "remediary"","block_context":{"text":"remediary","link":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/topicat\/com\/com-remediary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40,"url":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/2016\/11\/02\/what-are-you-going-to-do-about-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":44,"position":3},"title":"What are you going to do about it?","author":"nmw","date":"November 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I have a friend who works in the field of healthcare, and we were talking about corruption in the medical and pharmaceutical industries \u2013 the kind that leads to patients getting misdiagnosed and mistreated. I had shared something I had written with him, and as he is also a renowned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "remediary"","block_context":{"text":"remediary","link":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/topicat\/com\/com-remediary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54,"url":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/2016\/12\/18\/the-rationality-of-literacy\/","url_meta":{"origin":44,"position":4},"title":"The Rationality of Literacy","author":"nmw","date":"December 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the past couple months, I have worked on developing a mission statement for one of my overarching goals \u2013 something like a \u201elife goal\u201c. Initial attempts were quite abstract, and I was greatly helped by the very considerate feedback of friends. In the intervening weeks since those first trials,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "remediary"","block_context":{"text":"remediary","link":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/topicat\/com\/com-remediary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":214,"url":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/2020\/10\/04\/i-understand-that-this-is-very-important-to-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":44,"position":5},"title":"I understand that this is very important to you","author":"nmw","date":"October 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the texts on my \u201csummer reading\u201d list was \u201cThe Plague\u201d (by Albert Camus). I had never read anything of Camus' before, and I was stunned by his immense ability to explicate intricate details of human thought and behavior, and also very eloquently at that: this attitude implies that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "remediary"","block_context":{"text":"remediary","link":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/topicat\/com\/com-remediary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45,"href":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/45"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pro.freezine.org\/remediary0com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}