Review 1 Statement: current research direction

May 5 2009, 6:30pm

The more people online, the richer the internet becomes. We are in the midst of a radical shift–a convergence of the analog and digital, the physical and virtual. This resulting layered wealth of information has the potential to lead to amazing outcomes (see for example, technological singularity theory, or Kevin Kelly's One Machine). We are beginning to see the technical means for one day realizing such possibilities (such as the semantic web and cloud computing) but ultimately the value of the internet depends on human participation.

My current work explores digitism*, a philosophy promoting the digital encoding of reality. I am currently focusing on a series of strategies aimed at encouraging and enabling others, specifically scholars, to share their knowledge with the world online. With increased information sharing, it is imperative to concurrently investigate privacy boundaries, information filtering, and intellectual property law. I am testing what I have learned about intellectual property by releasing my own work into the public domain with a Creative Commons Zero license.

I use my visual design and technology experience to explore low-cost methods of creating, publishing, sharing and filtering information online. By utilizing a relatively un-stylized graphic design language, focus is placed on information hierarchy and clarity. Decreasing the barriers to entry for online participation is integral, especially concerning time allocation.

My immediate interests lie in the data-collection methodology of lifestreaming (publicly archiving personal activity both online and off, ideally in real time).  I have found lifestreaming useful for personal branding, process and failure documentation (a public, digital sketchbook) and as an accountability tool (public scrutiny and self-monitoring as means to deliberate decision making). I am very intrigued by the philosophical and psychological consequences, such as effects on self esteem, behaviors such as lying, et cetera. I constantly reevaluate my stance on privacy and personal information, noting especially the effects of lifestreaming on personal relationships. I also research the implications of the integration of technology and sharing into one's lifestyle, hoping to prove that this improves quality of life while building community.

Slightly longer-term interests involve the effects of lifestreaming on academia and shifting paradigms in education. Particularly, using new technologies to return to a "sandbox" university experience (meaning an environment safe for pedagogical experimentation) and looking for potential new sharing and assessment systems. Largely due to lack of trusted evaluation methods, scholarly publishing online is not yet a formally viable means of dissemination. I seek to contribute to the movement to change this. I am specifically interested in confronting the concept of "publish or perish" within research institutions, and the possibility of demonstrating daily research output via lifestreaming instead of (or in addition to) per peer-reviewed publication.

I am currently examining digitism and lifestreaming in the applied arena of my website and virtual world software Second Life. My current challenges are finding form for anecdotal observations for outreach and advocacy purposes (evidenced best so far in the #why section of my site), identifying filters (such as tagging, scripting, or technical formats) to make lifestreams less noisy and more useful, and connecting conversation threads online and off.