The good, the bad, the ugly.

As in the Jenkin’s video, in “Our World Digitized”, Jenkins talks about today’s communication space. Throughout the discussion, Jenkins, as the moderator, brings up questions of whether or not the internet is fostering a convergence culture. Sunstein claims that the internet is still lacking a large portion of what should be on the internet, but it does have many beneficial qualities. Benkler does not talk as much about the public’s internet freedoms but rather our ability to create, destroy, and investigate the internet.

Sunstein states “Any well functioning society depends on relationships of trust and reciprocity on whether people see their fellow citizens as potential allies and willing and deserving to help when help is needed.” Sunstein is also quoted saying, “A well functioning society also has 2 distinct requirements. First people must be exposed to materials they would not have chosen in advance. The second is any or most citizens have a range of common experiences.” The third statement from Benkler is, “the new freedom holds great practical promise. As a dimension for individual freedom, as a platform for better government participation, as a medium to foster a self reflective culture, and an increasingly dependent global economy, as a mechanism to achieve improvements in human development everywhere.” Sunstein and Benkler agree on the self-reflexsive culture aspect of the claims, although Sunstein gives the Internet a C- as a grade. Benkler believes the “degree to which the practical constraints on action are determinative on how we evaluate the level of normative life lived as a practical matter.” I agree with Sunstein. I believe he gives the internet a fair grade. It has many benefits, especially with being able to now contribute to the convergent culture we live in, although it does have several “cruelties.” In the Jenkins video, he states that average citizens now have the power to take control & tell their own stories. Convergence culture is shaped as much by teenagers as it is Viacom board members. A large part of the convergence culture is discussed by Danah Boyd in “Twitter vs. Facebook” Boyd states that anyone from celebrities to average people checking in on high school friends use these services. Some choose one service over the other due to a better fit, more privacy, the other people on the service, or sometimes people can’t articulate why they choose one service over the other.