Kenna - Davis: Introduction

Wesch’s “Web 2.0: The Machine is Us/Using Us” covers hypertext and the malleability of digital text while “An anthropological introduction to YouTube” covers society’s favorite video sharing platform and "From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able" discusses knowledge ability and the media. In all three, new users are producing content in ways both similar and different than those traditionally doing so. The culture becomes accessible to the average user. Now, anyone can publish a blog, upload a YouTube video or even act as a reporter. Wesch describes this as making us “all producers”. 

 These videos, however, are also dated. The technology in each video now plays an even larger role in our lives, a decade or less later. For example, in terms of YouTube, the Numa Numa video now has millions of views. It could even be considered an icon. Hypertext and our ability to act as media dissemination points have also evolved in similar ways, a pattern I firmly believe will continue, broadening both reach and relevance exponentially. Linking via hypertext and sharing a YouTube video at the touch of a button will become even more common place. It will allow us, even the most average member of a collective 'us', to express ourselves in very different ways. This sphere will become even more accessible to the general public and even more commonplace. 

 These ideals all tie into Davis' work, specifically, in my mind, into The Myth of the Machine. These technologies are no longer considered industrial. It becomes less about the science, technology and logistics and more about how we use it. The new and improved iPhone camera doesn't mean anything to society in terms of revolutionary technology but more in terms of what it can do for your Instagram feed. This leads into The Myth of Information. Technology has become seemingly boundless. What seemed impossible a decade ago is commonplace today. And, on top of that, anyone can access it, anywhere, at anytime. We hold the answers to almost every question imaginable in the pocket of our jeans and, as Davis states, this strongly shapes us at the core of being human. 

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