fishers, surfers and casters

Someone forgot to tell me, so I had to look for myself. I’m happy to announce that my PhD thesis is available for view/download at the RMIT library, via this link: http://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/view/rmit:6138.

I understand that to cite the thesis, this is the reference to use:

Emerson Teusner, P 2010, Emerging church bloggers in Australia: Prophets, priests and rulers in God’s virtual world, PhD Thesis, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University.

On 21 December, Richard Lawson posted an “article” on gawker.com, where he embeds a YouTube video of a child who throws a tantrum over receiving books for Christmas, alongside a Wii console and other toys. In the video the child is watched giving his best argument for why books should never be given at Christmas time, and his parents are heard calmly offering admonishment, while obviously entertained by the child’s antics.

Lawson’s argument is far less entertaining, and arguably less eloquent. He calls the child an “asshole”, an example of a country that is going dumb, a “jerk”. In the comment thread that follows, one reader wonders if a “retroactive abortion” is warranted.

In the fledgling digital age, there are some of us that lament the demise of a literate population, the slow death of a rich culture of words and their publishing. Every effort is made by them to remind us that worlds of imagination, which can only exist in the minds of readers, are sacred and must be preserved, and are under threat by the Internet and its attractive devices.

Yet I believe that a better case against the Internet lies here: where a private family event is made public, not for the enjoyment of Internet users, but as a sacrificial lamb for public moralising. And where it is deemed acceptable that a three-year old child is publicly bullied by so-called online journalists and their readers.

I’m reminded of both Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, cautionary tales regarding the future of a society that delights in the public shaming of others. These books come from the same country as this posted article. Maybe Richard Lawson should do some more reading.

Nadja Miczek and Simone Heidbrink are (according to an email received from them) happy to announce the release of the special issue of “Online – Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet” on “Aesthetics and the Dimension of the Senses”! (Please see: http://www.online.uni-hd.de/.)

When we look on the various representations of religious groups and individuals on personal homepages, in weblogs, in virtual worlds or the like and when we follow their communications on religious topics online, the visual and auditive aspects of the medium seem to play a major role. Using pictures, videos, icons, as well as music and other sounds, the internet users can design a multisensual virtual environment which might implicate its own notion of “aesthetics”.

As the aesthetic and sensual dimensions of religions and rituals on the internet have long been a neglected area of research, we called upon theoretical and methodical reflection as well as on empiric studies referring to these topics. – And many renowned scholars answered with interesting and inspiring articles with which we hope to contribute and give some impulse to the still ongoing discussion on the different theoretical, methodical and methodological approaches to “aesthetics and the dimension of the senses” in the context of religion and religious practice online.

1. Imagine a car that would drive itself, navigated by Google Maps and by its sensors on the front and sides of the vehicle. Now, imagine that while in the car you could not only see the landscape through the window, but the names, emails and even private information of people in the neighbourhoods you drive through.

2. Sherry Turkle, author of Life on the screen, has a lecture posted on her university’s website, in which she develops her own thinking on identity online. (HT: Louise Connelly)

3. A new mobile app that helps you track your own moods may help in improving mental health.

4. In a case where Victoria Police attempt to stop a stalker online, questions are raised about the service and enforcement of local law in a global space.

5. Google, in its long-term endeavour to make every printed word in the universe available online, has got the go from Israel to reproduce the Dead Sea Scrolls.

6. I think Axel Bruns is a great source of information on good methods for understanding online practices among Australians, and researching networks. This is a great example of the work he’s doing among micro-bloggers, and how he’s doing it. So is this.