But what is the Specular Economy?
'A two-way projection on to the screen and the circulation of an interation with those images and texts into the wider world.(...) a specular economy whose foundations are derived from the much longer tradition of celebrity culture and whose repercussions relate to an emerging comfortability with a society of surveillance,' (Marshall, 2010 p 498.)
Sites such as YouTube and Reddit utilise the notion that people want to be known by strangers. With the globalisation of media it is entirely possible that anyone can be a celebrity.
I wish I was beyond fishing for Internet Celebritification.
I am going to give a story of how I was robbed of some sweet, sweet Specular currency.
Recently, I was driving with my girlfriend. We drove past this little possum chilling in the gutter. My girlfriend got out of the car to shoo it off the road and the little guy climber up her leg and onto her shoulder. I was laughing, safe in the loving coccoon of the car, taking photos. We ended up getting the possum to get into a tree. I took some decent shots and proceeded to upload them to Reddit. It was a modest post, it got a little bit of attention, I got 216 Internet points for it.
But if you google the title of my post you will see it on 9gag, DailyFailCenter, LolShelf and a couple of others. The thing that annoys me most though, is the 9gag watermark on most of the pictures. And also the huge success it has had on other sites, with my title. How can this girl be everyone's girlfriend?
But alas, t'is the nature of the specular economy 'The images are not just for our own personal consumption and they are not just conveyed images' (Marshall, 2010 p 500). So if people want to steal my intellectual property I can't be too annoyed. I put it on the Internet to begin with.
At least KarmaDecay exists and tells the world that it was originally my photo.
References
Marshall, P.D 2010, ‘The Specular Economy’, Society,
vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 498-502
Sweet, sweet specular currency. Awesome. The personal touch here demonstrates the thirst of this Specular Economy really well, and gotta give props for the title too. Interesting to see the path a photo can take in an economy of identity where everyone trying to grab a piece along the way. Your powerlessness and frustration tracking the photo all the while is interesting and even more you back it all up with a well placed quote. Didn’t count but seems a bit short but definitely engaging, well presented and focussed demonstration of understanding. +5 internets and a cookie.
ReplyDeleteThis was one of my favourite blog posts I have read for this subject. It was awesome! Well written, humorous as well as relating to the topic. The example you used fitted perfectly and was a great way of putting forward your point. I haven't heard of Reddit and the concept of internet points so I will definitely have to check it out! The only thing I would recommend to maybe develop this already awesome blog would be to use another reference or scholarly resource. Other then that well done!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! i really enjoyed reading it, it was very well set out and you show a clear understanding of the topic. Your use of quotes from the research enhances your piece. You clearly define the topic and introduce it well, it was very informative and the use of personal experience really makes this blog post what it is, really well done.
ReplyDelete