Dear John,<br><br>As one of the "smaller" voices, who has nonetheless enjoyed a number of the threads on this list, I appreciate the spirit of this post, in asking important questions. <br><br>I'm not sure, however, whether the problem is really one of "too much" seamless theory - or whether it is simply a relative lack of attention to action, that can't necessarily be blamed on the "big" voices.<br>
<br>I do also think it would be important to examine the gender dynamics involved in the question of "big" and "small" voices. I have noticed a dynamic on this - and many other - lists, wherein women's contributions to discussion tend to be overlooked / ignored, etc. <br>
<br>Similarly, posts of people newer to a list tend to be ignored to a greater degree. This latter may be at least somewhat unavoidable, due to the nonrational bonds in friendships or acquaintances formed off-list. <br><br>
Not surprisingly, people find this discouraging and will choose to focus their energy elsewhere, thereby diminishing the multiplicity of voices on a list.<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Lucia<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 6:08 AM, John Hopkins <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jhopkins@tech-no-mad.net">jhopkins@tech-no-mad.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
> Social control is real, that's the problem. It is organized by elites<br>
> and imposed on the different classes, regional groups, ethnicities etc.<br>
> There are many forms of it. I am claiming that one of them, which has<br>
<br>
Dearest List<br>
<br>
I am coming to wonder about the presence of powerful authorial voices on mailing<br>
lists, and the radical departure from the traditional set of BIG voices<br>
pre-internet that The Network promised, a utopia of pluralism. Has it come to<br>
pass? I don't think so.<br>
<br>
As I troll my personal archive of lists (nettime, spectre, 7-11, microsound,<br>
x-change, etc), I find that all of the lists that I have "participated" in have<br>
numerous subscribers (most list admins will not divulge the actual numbers,<br>
though I hereby invite Trebor to), along with a very short tail of posters,<br>
dominated by a very small clump of BIG voices. Without hard numbers, but doing<br>
a sort on poster names in my 15-year Eudora archive on a number of lists the<br>
percentages run around 1-2% or less are BIG posters (80%+ of all content), with<br>
another 3-10% taking up the balance and a minor number of single posters. These<br>
numbers are calculated on the total number of all posts, and would therefore be<br>
MUCH more rarified if compared to all readers and subsequently, all subscribers.<br>
<br>
What about all those other potential voices out there?<br>
<br>
As I was reading yet another soaring post from Brian, I suddenly got the feeling<br>
I was reading a NYT best-selling novel, a page-turner, compelling, seamless,<br>
complete in both its content and its style (sometimes self-deprecating,<br>
sometimes bold, provocative, inviting the reader to question (rhetorically or in<br>
fact) the conclusions), a FORCE to silence competing views if only through the<br>
eminent readability, completeness, and intellectual coherence and<br>
seam-less-ness. You can read nothing else except through the long text,<br>
consuming in the process, a largish piece of irretrievable life-time. Time<br>
subtracted from embodied praxis. The network labor of paying attention to BIG<br>
voices. When the reading is done, the time for action is also spent.<br>
Theory-as-text or text-as-theory soaking up valuable life-time for praxis,<br>
action. And because the reading of this cannot simply stop in mid-word,<br>
mid-phrase, mid-sentence, mid-paragraph, mid-tome, mid-thread, mid-list<br>
subscription, more and more life gets absorbed in reading. One long<br>
socially-constructed text which keeps action limited to eye-and-finger twitch<br>
for the duration.<br>
<br>
And, by default, then, a dominant, BIG voice talking about action but<br>
obstructing the actuality. Is a mailing list a community?<br>
If community is a situation dominated by a small number of BIG voices and minor<br>
actions, I guess it is. Is this a subtle form of social control? what's the<br>
difference between that and subtle coercion? (if I don't read, if I don't give<br>
attention to the BIG voices, is there a bite-back from the social system? I<br>
think so.)<br>
<br>
What does the health of "community" mean if community is literally not more than<br>
a handful of BIG voices within the collective? (community in quotes largely<br>
because of this historically repeated suspicion at the illusions of<br>
techno-democracy (or just distributed creativity) that was embedded at the<br>
outset of such online "communities")...<br>
<br>
Wednesday morning non-threaded meditation commentary.<br>
<br>
jh<br>
<br>
<br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Lucia Sommer<br>60 College Street<br>Buffalo, NY 14201<br>(716) 359-3061<br><br>