Disruptive Technologies

Course site for Disruptive Technologies. Exploring identity, community, & design.

Tag: Week 9

Week 9: Wrapping Up Identity

Let’s play catch up and review where we are and where we are headed. I have graded all of your things … some items are missing and you can see what I missed for you in the Garde Center in Blackboard. Please let me know if I missed things! Also, I’d like to give everyone a chance to get caught up, so whatever you have missed, you can go back and add it to get caught up by Sunday at 5 PM.

Today we wrap up the block on Identity and while I can tell from reading your work that you’ve gotten stuff out of the experience, I am disappointed in the fact that we lost so much time together. With that said, it is time for you guys to take over again next week and produce your second Team Synthesis Post and Presentations. Same format as last time, but I want you all to me cognizant of the time you take to deliver your synthesis. Each team has an hour.

Conversation Starters

We define who we are by the ways we experience ourselves through participation as well as by the ways we and others reify ourselves. — Wenger

Identity as negotiated experience. — Katherine

Buckingham and Wenger coincided in their discussions on identity in several ways. Both authors emphasized that identity is neither static nor steady; instead, they describe how it is a “state of becoming,” and that the process of “identification” is going on all the time. — Jay

Thinking about how you can have “multiple” identities thanks to the power of anonymity on the Internet a more fluid definition of identity works. A definition where you are not only identify with your physical characteristics, but also your interest, your thoughts, and the content you create. — Shady

Identity Posts

Let’s talk about digital identity and how social identities can shape other people’s overall impression of us. Does the “web function as tools for people to create constantly changing projections of their identities through content production online?[1]” Take for example the stories of the Star Wars Kid and David after the Dentist.

Out of Class

David After the Dentist

From Wikipedia

Because this was David’s first surgery and his mother could not be there, his father decided to video tape the experience to share with her and their family.

After the surgery, David was feeling confused from the anaesthesia he was given. While in the car, he was asking his father questions like “Is this real life?” and “Is this going to be forever?” and also telling him that he had two fingers. At one point he even attempted to push himself up from his seat (while still buckled in) and began screaming before sinking back in exhaustion.

Seven months later, David’s father uploaded the video on Facebook. Being overwhelmed with people wanting to see the video, he decided to upload it to YouTube, but did not notice there was a private option. Just 3 days after the upload, it had been seen over 3 million times.

The DeVore family were soon made YouTube Partners. This gives YouTube the right to run ads over the videos they post, and in exchange, are given a share of the revenue. They also sell “David After Dentist” t-shirts and donate a portion of the revenue they earn to dental charities. However they have made very little money on it so far, and are currently in the process of filming a similar video to the original.

David DeVore Sr. has received criticism for exploiting his son. DeVore has stated that he appreciates the concern, but feels that it was innocent and has been a very positive experience for his family.

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