Category Archives: JAG-wire

Blog Piggy Bank

Shotgun Blast

I decided to break open my blog piggy bank and see what was inside:

  • I often talk about how much I value assertiveness and outgoing people, provided that they’re honest and not too negative. I’ve been wondering if maybe what I’m talking about is how much I value other driven leaders. There are plenty of outgoing friendly people who go out and party but don’t really care about others or the world.
  • My roommate watches A LOT of TV. For him it’s great, he can sit and code on his laptop for hours on end in front of the tube. TV bugs the crap out of me (especially mindless negativity [Southpark] and death news), so I usually go back into my room and close the door. It got me to thinking – I usually identify myself as part of the multi-tasking generation who likes copious multimedia feeds and yet I can’t deal with TV. I pay attention to it too much and it has commercials that interrupt the story (if there is one) all of the time. I greatly enjoy watching TV episodes that I choose to download that come without interruptions, just like I listen to MP3’s on random instead of radio. In total it’s more about sustained narrative, not jumpy disconnected bits of information. Maybe I’m more old-hat than I thought.
  • This was further emphasized the other night when I was talking to several people online who could have all hung out together. At the time I knew of 5 people in different spots who were being social (online) but didn’t want to be social in person. Granted group hang out is different but back before ICT’s these people would have had to hang out in person and I think I would have preferred that situation. I know technology enables us to be social in ways that we might not have been able to otherwise but I think it’s also, on the whole, been more of a way to allow people to be passive and introvert and that bugs me. Maybe I’m less young and technology-minded than I thought, at least when it comes to people.
  • I’ve decided my value in creation should be better described as value in creative, fun and passionate creation, not obsessive productivity. I like people who are driven in joyous ways, not super efficient cogs.
  • The election reminded me – there’s no information about local judges up on the internet. In fact I think they have identity management or protection going on, you can barely even find them on Google. I can Google my neighbor and find out more. Places like Judgapedia have tried to cover this but are far from filled out. I know we probably shouldn’t categorize them by Republican or Democrat or Green but I would definitely like to see a decision history and their stance on issues. If citizens are expected to vote yes or no for them we have to know something about them and one of the biggest places young people get information is the internet. DUH. A battle for another day.

Excitment Refresh (Facebook has ruined romance)

So I had the chance to go visit an amazing childhood friend tonight and we hung out talking… he’s probably one of only 3 or 4 people in the Universe that I can do that with – sit down without food or activity at hand and talk with endlessly, it’s a comfort I’ve learned to cherish. Anyway as we were talking the topic came to his excited interest in a girl he’s met in the Quaker group he belongs to who sounds unreasonably cool (she wrote a book! and has a had a really interesting and deviant life). He was thinking about telling her that he’d like to see her outside of a Quaker meeting sometime, etc… effectively ask her out. As we were talking I brought up the possibility that she could be seeing someone already, and Tom had thought about it but didn’t know. But what I remember most is just how joyful he was about the excited possibility of a person he likes – an opportunity, a connection, a thrill, the prospect of so much happiness!
I didn’t know this sort of thing still happened these days. First off, I really, really (and I mean really) miss the days when I could actually ask a girl out. Not that I’m afraid to or unable to (well okay I’m seeing someone so it’d be downright unethical, but that’s not the point here), it’s that I’ve learned to get better at it. I liked the days when it would be the moment where you felt as if you had just jumped off the high dive (or off the 40 ft ledge canyoning) and didn’t know what was going to happen. Pure concentrate excitement, anxiety, thrill, joy, all mixed together.
Now-a-days the procedure is different. First off, directly asking a girl out is against the rules. I know not literally but there does seem to be a social norm established, it’s creepy to be that up front with someone, unless you’re some dashing lad who plays basketball or sings acappella. I’ve had individual women argue that this is different for them but my observation is that on the whole it’s not cool by most women’s standards. Most girls will shit a brick and desperately find an excuse to dodge you, quite visibly so if you do it in person. So what do we do? Trickery, step-by-step:
1) Find the person on Facebook, see if they’re single. No mystery in this regard anymore, and in fact I miss it so because it gives a false sense of permanency. People are no longer a questionable option – if you see they’re dating on Facebook then you’re ethically obligated to stay the fuck away.
2) Invite them to an event with mutual friends or a large scale public activity that’s little 1-on-1 face time or pressure. Talk to them a little more than might be out of the ordinary at this event but without really revealing your interest, for if you do they will shit a brick and you’ll be back to square one.
3) Find them on AIM (or Facebook or Gchat or whatever) and start talking to them about a common subject (question about class, their opinion on something non-political, etc…) and eventually evolve the conversation into something more meaningful.
4) Ask them out to a non-threatening activity, most common is lunch or coffee, but more creative versions in my past have been skating around with Inline Insomniacs or going to build a puzzle together at the library.
5) Rince and repeat the above until you’re fairly brick-proof and then you might think about actually asking them out on a real date. Maybe.
And honestly, I think this system flat-out sucks. I used to say fuck it and was bold and asked girls out and tried not to be dodgy. But it resulted in an endless stream of rejections and let-downs and a lot of depression. So after a while of that I tried various remixes of the misdirection bullshit game above and had a lot of success. My current relationship is actually as a result of this sort of thing, and I’m not particularly proud of it.
As happy as I am for Tom to have found a girl mystery and a new source of hope, I’m still sick and tired of a world where only guys ask out girls and being forward and honest with one another is considered creepy, not compassionate.
I really do like Facebook – on the whole – I like that it presents us a whole new level of information. But really I think it’s inadvertently helped to perpetuate this potentially sexist norm and a lot of passive or indirect type behavior. The thrill of discovering someone through asking them out on a date is immediately diminished from the get-go simply because you already start off knowing if they’re available. Sure you avoid the embarrassment of asking someone out that is in a relationship, but you also avoid the flattery, the excitement and dammit I fucking like getting reamed once a while it helps me remember I’m alive. It makes the times that it does work out all the more worth it and I’ve learned to respect the people who can look you in the eye and actually say no. We don’t feel comfortable asking a person out until we check them out on this twisted social ecology. Girls use it as a defensive mechanism to keep guys away from them, in fact – mark their relationship status and suddenly they can feel safe. I mean hell we even somehow declare a relationship real when it’s hetero and on Facebook (nevermind the LGBT discrimination here, or the age-plurality complex).
So a lot of complaining about passive women and gender roles, I know, my usual, right? This might be my best unsung argument for denouncing Facebook yet, is that it helped to keep dating dishonest, indirect and introvert.
Maybe someday we’ll see a gender-equality universe where women are just as likely to ask out men as vice versa and Facebook won’t be the biggest cock-block in town… I’ll hedge my bets with the LGBT rights movement.
Signing out for the night, positivity will return later, I swear.

Shaking Up the Blog

So in the past this blog has been intended to serve as a dynamic introduction for my personal-professional website, JAG-wire.net. I’ve tried to make large posts periodically, written in a verbose and clever (if not mildly nonsequetor) style, illustrating my ‘faffing about’ in Graduate school. Unfortunately I write these sorts of entertaining blurbs best when I have enough time to really consider them and they’re most often a sort of report-in newsletter kind of format with a few questions here or there. After going several months without really hunkering down to chisel out a post I decided it was time to retool the format. As a preamble I’ve been writing down little snippets of ideas that come by and flirt with me throughout the day. They’re all things I’d like to write about but wouldn’t exactly fit in a personal-professional blog that’s meant to showcase my development in academe.
But let’s face it, nobody reads something so stagnant and it doesn’t do me much good to write it. So from now on I’m going to start posting up fragments, humor, curiosities, and drama that intersect with my mind. It’ll be notably more personal, more offensive, and probably a lot more interesting. So long as the wrong professors don’t find their way to it I should be okay… and if they do, oh well, I’m not really interested in hiding who I am.
We’ll see how long I can keep it up but I think it’ll be considerably easier to do! I’ll start it off with my accumulated list.

Facebook Friends, False Connections and Social Norms

I noticed a friend ‘defriended’ me the other day on Facebook, which normally wouldn’t be a hugely new or life-shattering event… except that this person happened to be someone who I really like and used to be really close to. It’s not uncommon to lose weak contacts like people I knew in classes or back in high school (with a friends list as big as mine I’ve actually noticed if I make small changes to my profile like politics or relationship status I can lose friends), but this one was different. We had some falling out somewhere over the digital medium in semi-recent history and it got me all upset and thinking about how the act of severing a connection on Facebook could really be a strong statement, especially when they’re far away and FB might be the only viable connection you have to them anymore.
I mean we talk about stalking and whatnot on Facebook but I’ve noticed that many people have a small group of people that they like to watch from afar on Facebook. Maybe that person doesn’t really know them very well or they’re afraid of being confrontational or they don’t even like them that much but they’re interesting – it’s nice to follow their life without having to become directly involved in it. It’s a fake connection though, created by the technology and not by the actual relationship you have with the person.
Anyway a friend of mine noticed and empathized with me because she had been recently defriended too – but by someone she sees occasionally in person. She had no idea why but was worried if there was some sort of problem she didn’t know about. It’s an awfully passive-aggressive way to indicate to someone that you don’t like them. We got to talking about the messages such an action might send and I concluded that hers wasn’t a legitimate concern because the person who defriended her was older (think 40’s) and not a ‘Facebook native’ and therefore couldn’t possibly understand what message he sent her with such an action. My friend, however, I felt definitely knew what kind of damage she would do.
But as I later came to understand, that may not actually be all that accurate. As more people from different countries, generations, and life experiences join Facebook they bring with them new ways of understanding it as a social environment and communication tool. And that includes the meaning of ‘defriending’ – just like society at large Facebook is probably developing a plurality of social norms. Some people take it more seriously and find it more meaningful than others and there may be some variance in immerse (everyday cognizant) use. I still do think that this correlates with age closely but much like the notion of digital natives it’s probably much more of a population than a generation.
The bigger question is what to do about the people who don’t agree to the social contracts and norms established by the youth population who made Facebook huge. How do we get everyone on the same page?
My friend, by the way, did eventually talk to the person who defriended her and figured out it was more done on accident and not intended as an aggressive move. I probably won’t ever hear from the person who dropped me again…

Becoming a Master of Arts

I know my professional blog has been quiet for a couple of months now – I spent much of the summer working on my porfolio and reading. I’ve suddenly been thrusted head over heels into my second year of graduate school. I’m teaching two new classes – an introduction to Sociology (soc 100) and Social Perspectives on the Family (soc 273) – but these feel like a natural part of life now, while I’m still in love with teaching I have plenty of confidence I can do it well. No, what scares me more is this whole independent study Masters paper thing. Most of the normal Sociology PhD’s here just write a paper that counts for their masters somewhere along their track to the higher degree but because of my transfer I need to finish it ASAP to begin my work in LIS. So I lined up an independent study and flushed out an outline to finish one paper, start two others, read oodles of sources, collect interview and focus group data, contact everyone around campus who has anything to do with what I do, and otherwise lose my mind. It’s terrifying.
At this point I have no idea if I’ve bit off more than I can chew. Being busy out of my mind is a normal state of affairs for me but this time the pressure is ten fold as high because I’m doing something I’m not so sure about and am very new to. I still don’t even know who all of my readers are because there are a whole two people directly related to what I do in Sociology.
In many ways I’m excited and enthusiastic – I have faith in my own abilities and motivation and have no fears about my interest in the subject. I know plenty of people who could help me out and have a plethora of resources among students and programs in the University. But at the end of the semester I’m going to be handing a paper to three individuals who’ve been trained for years in academe to be intensely critical and who have only a few minor connections to my area of study. It’s already a battle explaining to older professors the relevance of Facebook, it’s going to be an even bigger battle explaining it to professors who aren’t interested in technology.
But that’s okay. This is what I signed on for when I chose to go to grad school, and dealing with criticism, like it or not, is essential in an academe infiltrated by argument disguised as dialectic. I’m here to learn, I’m as smart and capable as I am, and only know what my experiences have taught me. Here goes nothing…

In a cage match between a library, website, and Facebook… who would win?

So it would seem summer ambushed me. No, no, it’s not that I didn’t see him coming. In fact I was anticipating his arrival with jubilance. What I didn’t expect is just how close to bubble-gum in my hair summer would be in relation to research and writing. That is, if papers, databases, and interviews were a haircut. Despite the fact that I’ve begun to comb-over my metaphors, as it stands the Grea-Council of Masters paper readers have given me their final requirements for the final draft. So maybe three days worth of trudging through my paper and some new sources stand between me and that degree. I’ve been putting it off like most people do taxes. Instead my life has been a whole lot of websites and web work (after I got the rancid left-over grading aftertaste out of my mouth), volleyball and skating, recording (sounds and sights!), games (electronic and board), and friends, lots of them. I’ve got to call a hoard of libraries and ask them about their computer resources next week for another in-process paper, to boot. Come Summer Session II (in a week or so) I’ll begin work formally transcribing interviews and collecting multimedia for a community informatics project. In theory I ought to be worried about getting all of the work done in time… but it’s summer man!

Becoming a Master… still

So my Masters paper, or at least a solid draft of it, was completed sometime last semester. Why then, you ask, have I not posted it all over the web in some sort of glory-kidnapping extravaganza? Have I become a little more modest in my old age? Heavens no! Am I perhaps realizing that most professional academics don’t study something considered as non-serious as Facebook? No, actually it in fact makes a superb recipe for interesting conversation. No, I’ve come to a bit of a crossroads. Over time the paper grew forth from a number of sources and managed to expand its borders to take over all kinds of areas and interests, some more effectively than others. I’ve come to a point where I have to split apart the front section, which is largely theory-rich and reads much like an area exam, from the back half, which is data and statistics derived from the two year study of usage and privacy. Now the task is to do this gracefully and with any luck the survivors (or at least one of them) will earn me a degree.

Shift Happens

After realizing just how long it had been since I had updated JAG-wire I read over my previous post and had a good laugh with myself. In the beginning of the year I had this idea of not only doing an MA paper, but doing three big papers – including data from surveys, interviews, and content analysis all while reading tomes in the kitchen sink. It would seem my youth is showing – I didn’t realize just how much work it is to research, write, teach, begin a PhD and try maintain a happy life. Beyond this it turns out I had more than enough material in my multi-year Facebook data set to push out a paper, even if it’s not a study as good as all of the ones I keep trying to find time to read. So here’s the thing: I’m losing track of my dream of an adventure in altruistic academe and really need to get it back.
All of this Facebook hubub is wonderful – I mean I even got to meet my quasi-heroes danah boyd and Fred Stutzman at the ASIS&T conference the other week (oh and turns out my STS theory might not be a load of crock!) – but what happened to my dream of getting a PhD in helping people? The first shock was finding out that Sociology here has little to do with anything domestic outreach related, the second was waking up and wondering how the crap I got so engrossed in my studies that I forgot about the basics of what I wish to do with my life. Sure I get the blessed comedic effect of saying I did my Masters on Facebook, but what I really want to do is tackle something tangible I can touch.
Studying campus climate, teaching students and helping to run the Positive Event Chain is not enough.
I can reconcile all of this with myself if I think of the Masters Paper as just a pit stop to what I intend to do with my PhD but I’m entrenched! Almost all of the connections I’ve made and material I’ve read – any small shred of expertise I’ve gained beyond Sociology isn’t having to do with the digital divide or technology-based community outreach, it’s all wrapped around social networking technologies and identity theory. In short I couldn’t be happy making a career or PhD out of studying Facebook but if I continue down my current path (starting interviews, doing increasingly intricate and informed specialized studies, teaching classes on the technologies of Social Informatics) that’s precisely what I’ll end up doing!
It’s not over yet, however. I’m going to make time to meet with Abdul Alkalimat this week (or next week if we have to) and just spill it. What he did at the University of Toledo with technology and community outreach needs to be done here. The wealth disparity in this town is greater than it is in Chicago and the amount the University is involved is atrocious. The best Library and Information Science school in the country has an amazing array of resources and talented people – my plan is to jump into that mess, set sights for the local community and see how much difference I can make. Time to get back to doing what I do.

A Salutation to Teaching

The coming of the Spring semester has brought with it not only an array of opportunities for new studies and research but also an experience of an entirely different kind – teaching. I now teach a section for Sociology 380, research methods, and facilitate an intergroup dialogue session on race and ethnicity. I’m quickly finding that I’m really not as new to this instruction thing than I thought I would be – my students are essentially my peers and really teaching seems to be akin to organization leadership, my old friend. And herein lies a bit of a philosophy I’m discovering. Once you cover the basics of skills and motivation teaching seems to be more about communication, collaboration and most importantly, inspiration. Having taken the classes I’m teaching I find myself in the mind of the students – but with an additional perspective – that of graduate school. Realizing just how important concepts like dialogue and comprehensive knowledge of research methods are has been an integral part of my experience with the graduate school transformation.
So my optimistic tangential mind naturally aspires to introduce positive change into the mesh of academia. As a strong believer in technology as a learning tool I’ve already introduced web sites into both of my courses. Students seem to love the agenda and resource linking on the 380 site, and we’ve still yet had only one session for intergroup. Improvement in the realm of technology is just an easy first step. Working with the fabric of the courses is what I’m increasingly interested in. After attending the annual Latino-Latino Studies Program conference a few weekends ago I started sifting through ideas on how to integrate another crucial component of academia that all too often gets overlooked – activism. My methods course specifically presents a spectacular opportunity for students to volunteer around town for their ethnography project. I’d like to collect a list of some of the better places students might volunteer and observe at the same time in the CU area. At the same time if I can manage to figure it out I’d love to let students talk about their community organizations and involvement in a brainstorm session somewhere during the course – I’m sure they have ideas I don’t. And if nothing else I’d love for them to apply their critical sociology skills in new ways during their ethnographies – be it in a social group oriented categorical fashion (race, gender, ability, etc…) or from a standpoint of evaluating with theory models (Marxist, Weberian, structural functionalism, etc…). I’m not just concerned with the students learning the mechanics of the methods, but also the thinking that goes behind them. We’ll see where this goes, I’m relatively new to the teaching thing and have to first prove my worth. In the words of the great Mario, “Here we go!”