For the past two days I have ate, slept, and breathed CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference). I’ve attended speeches by Dick Cheney and Mitt Romney (to name a few), sat through numerous workshops, walked through booths and exhibitions until my heels ached, and tweeted until my thumbs were numb. CPAC is primarily attended by students and young professionals between the ages of 18-25. Each speech or event that I heard this week touched on the same central subject: the youth and technology. I attended a panel called “Saving Freedom Through Technology: Growth of the Online Movement” where Mark Tapscott, from the Washington Examiner, discussed the Don Tapscott of personalization and the university. Mark spoke about the tremendous impact the Net Generation is going to have on the next election cycle through online activistism. He discussed Don Tapscott’s book, Grown up Digital, and how the Net Generation (12-30 years olds) is reshaping the world.

We hear the same criticisms all the time. The digital or Net Generation is “the dumbest generation”. We constantly hear the same refrains; we are dependent on technology (uhh, that’s a bad thing?), that we are lazy, or that we are impatient. There is nothing new or profound about these statements. At CPAC, and particularly at the said panel, the Net Generation was treated as the most unique and contempt generation. The Net Generation was looked to as a saving grace in repairing our nation. Our innovation and nature of collaboration were relished.

Mark Tapscott and the conservatives at CPAC seem to think that our generation will be the key to winning elections. We are “innovative, collaborative, and productive if given the proper working environment”. Our learning cannot take place in traditional lectures, and we are better suited for fast-paced, challenging, campaign-like environments. The broadcast model of education is outdated and insufficient. There is hope that our generation will improve democracy through technology and critical scrutinizing that promotes transparency.

We are not an apathetic generation. We are a generation that votes. We generation that cares. We are a capable generation and an energetic one. We are the key to future.

The digital divide. It can deal with technology discrepancies between developed and under developed countries and internal divides between countries. Economic, social, political, gender, age, and racial/ethnic divides can all exist within countries, and determine who has access to what technology. Access to technology can come down to who has broadband vs dial-up, who is technologically literate and who is not, or who has the infrastructure to obtain such technologically (this is often the case in underdeveloped countries and rural areas). Governments can affect these divides through censorship or funding/lack of funding.

The digital divide can be seen or felt in just about every corner on the “information superhighway”. Superficial examples of the digital divide are plentiful. The digital divide can be found between Myspace and Facebook. When speaking about the digital divide it is important to note that it does not just deal with developed and underdeveloped countries, or the poor and the rich. The digital divide is perpetuated through the societal practice of the “glass bedroom”. One example that comes to mind is the fairly new social service (just launched in December) called Blippy. Blippy users can link all their credit cards, bank cards, Amazon accounts (though there has been some issues with this lately, itunes account, netflicks, etc. Users’ purchases are visible to individual “followers” and appear in a Twitter like fashion. Aside from the fact that obviously everyone that has a Blippy account isn’t on the “bad end” of the digital divide, it does have potential for a divide on a smaller level. Users have the ability to see how cheap a person is or how much they can spend. Tension may arise and users may be tempted to manipulate their purchases since they are public.

The digital divide is going social. It is apparent on every front and whether we chose to embrace it (Blippy) or attempt to defeat it (One Laptop Per Child).

Depending on who you are Facebook friends with, you may or may not of noticed the celebration of Doppelgängers on Facebook. A doppelgänger is a ghostly double or counterpart of a living person. This past week people change their Facebook profile picture to a celebrity that have been told to resemble. This craze was started by Bob Patel who said he was inspired by his friends teasing him about looking like Tom Selleck.

So what does this obsession with finding our “double goer” really tell us about ourselves? That we are a self important society who thrives on the next opportunity for identity play? I think so. Doppelgänger week has given the digital generation and the Facebook community a reason to become even more self-involved. We can ask our friends who we look like and brag via picture on how Myhertiage (which crashed by the way) said we are the exact replica of Brad Pitt. We are a society who needs constant feedback and engagement. We are a society who loves ourselves. According to ABCNews we are more likely to vote for a political candidate who resembles us. And while this self love can potentially be dangerous (can you say racism, sexism) it isn’t all bad. This constant self-involvement makes us a more critical generation, a more aware generation, a more collaborative generation (contrary to our natural impulses), and a more creative generation. We are the generations of multitasking and critical thinking. While we are picking out our celebrity counterpart we are also contemplating the societal meanings behind it.

Other than our desire for self love, Doppelgänger week is just another excuse for good old fashion identity play, the kind where we can express a specific facade of ourselves that is usually unexplored. One Facebook status on my newsfeed claimed, “People are being a little too generous to themselves with this Doppelganger week thing.” This statement embodies the spirit of explorative identity play that we as a people partake in so often online. All in all, Doppelganger week promotes self love and gives us a chance to “unleash” new sides of our personality. The metaphor of a glass bedroom is a recurring theme in the life of social networking sites. Doppelgänger week is just one example of many.

attributed to @wwwhatsnew

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Rebecca Pearson discusses the ever apparent and obvious role of identity play in web 2.0 (specifically SNS) in “All the World Wide Web’s a stage: The Performances of identity in online social networks”. I find identity play one of the most useful and fascinating concepts social networking/media sites. One can appear professional and structured to their occupational audience, and still have Facebook albums with certain privacy settings displaying their nightlife. This strategic compartmentalization is one of the strongest examples of ‘authentic’ identity play. You can display all the sides of yourself that you want, and direct a certain perception of yourself to a specific audience. With the web you really can have it all.

2010 has some great opportunities for new forms of identity play. GPS trackers have been pretty mainstream for awhile now. There are many tracking systems in cars and Google maps systems in airplanes. Location and tracking systems are the new norm. Last year the location based social networking site, Foursquare came out. Though not the first of its kind, it is one of the most popular location sites out there. It is a mobile application where people use GPS navigation to “check in”. Sites like Gowalla (which came out in 2007) and Foursquare allow individuals to gather badges which they visit certain places and gain points. On Foursquare you can become a mayor if you visit a place often enough.

Mashable even predicted that location would the next hot thing in 2010. Besides the obvious dangers that tracking systems present (I can save that for another blog post)
These tracking sites allow for identity play and manipulate of one’s online appearance. You chose the places that you publicly check into and the places that you decide to leave “off the grid”. Theoretically you wouldn’t even have to physically be in location you are checking into-just in the general area People can chose to check into places that they are merely walking by or are next door to. An attention loving friend of mine actually checked into multiple clubs on Foursquare that she was across the street from in attempts to get a rise out of an ex boyfriend. She never even stepped foot into the places, but since she was close enough the GPS allowed her to check in. Her online outcry is just one possibility for identity play with the new location phenomenon.

Pearson states that the digital age has a “heightened self–consciousness”. And we do. We are so very aware of each picture that we are tagged in and what our “mood” displays. Location based sites allow this personalization and self molding to evolved even further. Aside from the convenience of having another medium of knowing where your peers are, sites like Foursquare and Gowalla are just different systems of exploring online identity play and shifting perception.

In chronological order, here are the Webbys’ Top 10:

• Craigslist expands beyond San Francisco (2000): When the free classifieds site broadened its reach into nine more cities, it began a major shift away from newspaper classifieds, according to the Webbys. Craigslist now hosts listings in more than 500 cities in 50 countries.

• Google AdWords launches (2000): The Webbys say the launch of Google’s self-service ad program opened up the online marketplace, allowed advertisers to better target their customers and, in short, “turned advertising on its head.”

• Wikipedia launches (2001): The free, open-source encyclopedia now has more than 14 million articles in 271 languages with 20,000 of those coming in the first year. The Webbys credit Wikipedia with being an early example of strangers from around the world coming together to collaborate on projects.

• Napster shuts down (2001): Although the controversial file-sharing site bemoaned by many in the recording industry shut down in 2001, the Webbys note that it opened up the floodgates. Hulu, iTunes and other legal sites followed, as did downloading songs from less reputable sites and artists releasing their music exclusively online.

• Google’s IPO (2004): One of the largest stock offerings in history put the search engine on the path to becoming what the Webbys call “the most dominant and influential company of the decade.” Gmail, YouTube, Google Earth, Google Maps and Android would all follow.

• Online video revolution (2006): Faster bandwidth, cheaper camcorders and YouTube’s use of Adobe’s Flash 9 video player combine to make online video explode. “The trifecta led to a boom in homemade and professional content – the Diet Coke and Mentos guys, lonelygirl15, SNL’s Lazy Sunday, and Sen. George Allen’s “Macaca-gate” — that has reshaped everything from pop culture to politics,” the Webbys write.

• Facebook opens up, Twitter takes off (2006): In September, Facebook expands from only college students to anyone older than 13. Almost overnight, social networking went mainstream. Less than a month later, Twitter’s owners acquire the company, paving the way for the service to take off the following year.

• The iPhone debuts (2007): It was released on June 29, 2007, and by the end of the weekend a half-million had been sold. The phone from Apple has inspired a slew of other smartphones and an app for just about every aspect of modern life.

• U.S. presidential campaign (2008): The Internet “altered presidential politicking in 2008 much as television had forty years earlier,” according to the Webby list. “Obama Girl” and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s controversial sermons helped shape the debate, social networking helped mobilize volunteers and voters and online fundraising shattered records.

• Iranian election protests (2009): When Iran’s power structure announced dubious results from its presidential election, the opposition took to social networking and the “Twitter Revolution” was born. The Web let protesters beam images from the chaotic country at a time when mainstream media outlets had been severely hampered. Twitter became so fundamental in spreading news of the protests that followed that the U.S. State Department asked the company to delay a planned shutdown for maintenance, the Webbys note.