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Themeaningofnetworkculture
Whereasinpostmodernism,beingwasleftinafree-floatingfabricofemotionalintensities,incontemporaryculturetheexistenceoftheselfisaffirmedthroughthenetwork.KazysVarnelisdiscusseswhatthismeansforthedemocraticpublicsphere.
Notallatoncebutratherslowly,infitsandstarts,anewsocietalconditionisemerging:
networkculture.Asdigitalcomputingmaturesandmesheswithincreasinglymobilenetworkingtechnology,societyisalsochanging,undergoingaculturalshift.Justasmodernismandpostmodernismservedascrucialheuristicdevicesintheirday,studyingnetworkcultureasahistoricalphenomenonallowsustobetterunderstandbroadersocioculturaltrendsandstructures,togivedurationandtemporalitytoourown,ahistoricaltime.
Ifmoresubtlethanthemuch-talkedabouteconomiccollapseoffall2008,thisshiftinsocietyisrealandfarmoreradical,underscoringeventhelogicofthatcollapse.Duringthespaceofadecade,thenetworkhasbecomethedominantculturallogic.Oureconomy,publicsphere,culture,evenoursubjectivityaremutatingrapidlyandshowlittleevidenceofslowingdownthepaceoftheirevolution.Theglobaleconomiccrisisonlydemonstratedourfaithinthenetworkanditsdangers.Overthelasttwodecades,marketsandregulatorshadincreasinglyplacedtheirfaithintheefficientmarkethypothesis,whichpositedthatinvestorswerefundamentallyrationaland,fedinformationbyhighlyefficientdatanetworks,wouldalwaysmaketherightdecision.Thefailurecamewhenkeypartsofthenetwork–theinvestors,regulators,andthefinanceindustry–failedtothinkthroughtheconsequencesoftheiractionsandplacedtheirtrustineachother.
Thecollapseofthemarketsseemstohavebeensudden,butitwasactuallyalong-termprocess,beginningwithbaddecisionsmadelongerbeforethecollapse.Mostofthechangesinnetworkculturearesubtleandonlyappearradicalinretrospect.Takeourrelationshipwiththepress.Onemorningyounotedwithinterestthatyourdailynewspaperhadestablishedawebsite.Anotherdayyoudecidedtostopbuyingthepaperandjustreaditonline.ThenyoustartedreadingitonamobileInternetplatform,orbeganlisteningtoapodcastofyourfavouritecolumnwhileridingatrain.Perhapsyoudispensedwithofficialnewsentirely,preferringacollectionofblogsandamateurcontent.Eventuallythepapermaywellbedistributedonlyonthenet,directlyincorporatingusercommentsandfeedback.Ortakethewaycellphoneshavechangedourlives.Whenyoufirstboughtamobilephone,wereyouawareofhowprofoundlyitwouldalteryourlife?
Soon,however,youfoundyourselfabandoningthetediumofschedulingdinnerplanswithfriendsinadvance,insteadcoordinatingwiththemenroutetoaparticularneighbourhood.Orifyourfriendsorfamilymovedawaytouniversityoranewcareer,youfoundthatthroughasocialnetworkingsitelikeFacebookandthroughtheevery-presenttelematiclinksofthemobilephone,youdidnotlosetouchwiththem.
Ifitisdifficulttorealizetheradicalimpactofthecontemporary,thisisinpartduetothehypeaboutthenear-futureimpactofcomputingonsocietyinthe1990s.Thefailureofthenear-futuretoberealizedimmediately,duetothelimitsofthetechnologyoftheday,madeusjaded.Thecrashonlyreinforcedthatsense.Butslowly,technologyadvancedandsocietychanged,findingnewusesforit,inturnspurringmorechange.Networkculturecreptuponus.Itsimpactonustodayisradicalandundeniable.
Networkcultureextendstheinformationageofdigitalcomputing.[1] ButitisalsomarkedlyunlikethePC-centredtimethatculminatedinthe1990s.Indeed,inmanywayswearemoredistantfromtheeraofPC-centredcomputingthanitwasfromthetimeofcentralized,mainframe-basedcomputation.Tounderstandthisshift,wecanusefullyemployCharlieGere'sinsightfuldiscussionofcomputationin DigitalCulture.InGere'sanalysis,thedigitalisasocioeconomicphenomenonasmuchasatechnology.Digitalculture,heobserves,isfundamentallybasedonaprocessofabstractionthatreducescomplexwholesintomoreelementaryunits.Tracingthisprocessofabstractiontotheinventionofthetypewriter,Gereidentifiesdigitizationasakeyprocessofcapitalism.Byseparatingthephysicalnatureofcommoditiesfromtheirrepresentations,digitizationenablescapitaltocirculatemorefreelyandrapidly.Inthisabilitytoturneverythingintoquantifiable,interchangeabledata,digitalcultureisuniversalizing.GerecitestheuniversalTuringmachine–ahypotheticalcomputerfirstdescribedbyAlanTuringin1936,capableofbeingconfiguredtodoanytask–asthemodelfornotonlythedigitalcomputerbutalsoforthatuniversalizingaspectofdigitalculture.[2]
Buttodayconnectionismoreimportantthandivision.Incontrasttodigitalculture,innetworkcultureinformationislesstheproductofdiscreteprocessingunitsthanofthenetworkedrelationsbetweenthem,oflinksbetweenpeople,betweenmachines,andbetweenmachinesandpeople.
Perhapsthebestwaytoilluminatethedifferencebetweendigitalcultureandnetworkcultureistocontrasttheirphysicalsites.Thedigitaleraismarkedbythedesktopmicrocomputer,displayinginformationthroughaheavyCRTmonitor,connectedtothenetworkviadial-upmodemorperhapsthroughahigh-latencyfirst-generationbroadbandconnection.Inourownday,thereisnosuchdominantsite.Thedesktopmachineisincreasinglyrelegatedtohigh-endapplicationssuchasgraphicrenderingandcinema-qualityvideoediting,orisemployedforspecific,location-boundfunctions(atreceptiondesks,tocontainsecuredata,aspoint-of-saleterminals,inschoollabs,andsoon)whiletheportablenotebookorlaptophastakenoverasthemostpopularcomputingplatform.Unlikethedesktop,thelaptopcanbeusedanywhere:
intheoffice,atschool,inbed,inahotel,inacafé,thetrainorplane.Notonlyarenetworksanorderofmagnitudefasterthantheywereinthedial-updaysofthePC,butWi-Fimakesthemeasilyaccessibleinmanylocations.SmartphonessuchastheBlackberry,GoogleG1,andtheiPhonecomplementthelaptop,bringingconnectivityandprocessingpowertoplacesthatevenlaptopscannoteasilyinhabit,suchasstreets,subwaysorautomobiles.Butsuchultra-portabledevicesarealsoincreasinglycompetingwiththecomputer,takingoverfunctionsthatwereonceintheuniversaldevice'spurview.[3] Whatunitesthesemachinesistheirmobilityandtheirinterconnectivity,makingthemubiquitouscompanionsinourlivesandkeyinterfacestoglobaltelecommunicationsnetworks.Inaprosaicsense,theTuringmachineisalreadyareality,butittakestheformnotofonemachine,butofmany.Withminorexceptions,thelaptop,smartphone,cableTVsettopbox,gameconsole,wirelessrouter,iPod,iPhone,andMarsroverarethesamedevice,becomingspecificonlyintheirinterfaces,theirmechanismsforinputandoutput,forsensingandactingupontheworld.Instead,thenewtechnologicalgrailforindustryisauniversal,convergednetwork,capableofdistributingaudio,video,Internet,voice,textchat,andanyotherconceivablenetworkingtaskefficiently.
Increasingly,theimmaterialproductionofinformationanditsdistributionthroughthenetworkisthedominantorganizationalprinciplefortheglobaleconomy.Tobeclear,wearefarfromtheworldofimmaterialproduction.Wemanufacturephysicalthings,evenifincreasinglythatmanufacturinghappensinthedevelopingworld.Moreover,theeaseofobtaininggoodsmanufacturedfarawayisduetothephysicalnetworkofgloballogistics.Sendingproductionoffshore–itselfaconsequenceofnewnetworkflows–mayputitoutofsight,butdoesn'treduceitsimpactontheEarth'secosystem.And,beyondglobalwarming,eveninthedevelopedworldthereareconsequences:
SiliconValleycontainsmoreEPA(USEnvironmentalProtectionAgency)Superfundsitesthananyothercountyinthenation.[4] ButasSaskiaSassenandManuelCastellshaveconcluded,regardlessofourcontinueddependencyonthephysical,theproductionofinformationandthetransmissionofthatinformationonnetworksisthekeyorganizingfactorintheworldeconomytoday.Althoughotherageshavehadtheirnetworks,oursisthefirstmodernageinwhichthenetworkisthedominantorganizationalparadigm,supplantingcentralizedhierarchies.[5] Theensuingcondition,asCastellssuggestsin TheRiseoftheNetworkSociety,istheproductofaseriesofchanges:
thechangeincapitalinwhichtransnationalcorporationsturntonetworksforflexibilityandglobalmanagement,production,andtrade;thechangeinindividualbehaviour,inwhichnetworkshavebecomeaprimetoolforindividualsseekingfreedomandcommunicationwithotherswhosharetheirinterests,desiresandhopes;andthechangeintechnology,inwhichpeopleworldwidehaverapidlyadopteddigitaltechnologyandnewformsoftelecommunicationineverydaylife.[6]
Aswemightexpect,thenetworkgoesevenfurther,extendingdeeplyintothedomainofculture.Inthesamewaythatnetworkculturebuildsondigitalculture,itbuildsonthecultureofpostmodernismoutlinedbyFredricJamesoninhisseminalessay"Postmodernism,ortheculturallogicoflatecapitalism,"firstwrittenin1983andlaterelaborateduponinabookofthesametitle.ForJameson,postmodernismwasnotmerelyastylisticmovementbutratherabroadculturaldeterminantstemmingfromafundamentalshifttothesocioeconomicphaseofhistorythateconomistErnestMandelcalled"latecapitalism".BothMandelandJamesonconcludedtha