2007 December | _i exist by implication

:: ] Reflections on graduate school ][ At the end of the first semester[ ::

December 9th, 2007

It’s here, the end of the semester is here. Contrary to undergraduate times, (when this was a time of exams, final projects and memorization as premonition of Christmas partying) graduate school’s end of semester calls out for (and brings about) reflection, introspection and self-evaluation.

Interestingly enough, I find myself in a sort of academic déjá vu.
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December 7th, 2007

Made With Molecules: Jewelry

Jewelry made using the geometric form and shapes of molecules.

(tags: shopping)

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:: ] Seminar Paper ][ Draft 2 ][ Now that we can say more of our selves, are we saying less? [ ::

December 7th, 2007

“The human experience of identity has two elements:
a sense of belonging and a sense of being separate.¹”

Now that we say more of our selves, are we saying less?

In 2006, for the first time in history, the Canadian National Census questionnaire made its way to the country’s 32.5 million residents. It included a new confidentiality question that asked Canadians to approve or disapprove of their personal information being included in the census. Historians feared that survey participants did not realize the importance of the option and initiated a publicity campaign to educate the country on the implications of such question, and on why people should care about it even though this census is released to the public in 2098. It was an education on how the information will be useful then, specially in regards to identity and the social way of living.

Contemporary digital environments have allowed a re-thinking of our selves and of how we relate, connect and present to/with others. The popularity of digital social networking sites, instant messaging platforms, discussion forums, email, the emergence of the blog as a publishing tool, collaborative online games, and live digital worlds like Second Life have transmuted the way personal identity is thought of and handled.

Online environments allow the users to digitally curate their own lives. The creation of these selves is managed through text, images and as of recently, video. Users can write/post/upload any information they want. Further depth can be achieved by having the digital content annotated, commented and further developed by others. This process is reciprocal in nature, for users can simultaneously act as others, commenting and annotating content. Someone’s digital public image is the product of the sum of individual interventions and social contributions. Personal and external texts are illustrating the image of who we become in a digital realm². Therefore, we exist by implication.
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