Had my first online class for Networked Media today. It’s a strange feeling having to wake up early to catch a live stream on my computer, as I’m used to considering computer time as my own. Never thought I’d be saying this, but I’d honestly rather take the train into the city for classes.

The primary reading I looked at this time was in relation to Web 2.0 and the topic of agency and control. Seeing those words appear throughout the text started to give me awful flashbacks to VCE Media Studies and the trials and tribulations I had to endure throughout my time in high school, like watching movies and having to take notes at the same time. I absolutely hate that feeling you get when you’re focussing too hard on the film and words won’t come out, but you’re also focussing too hard on writing and can’t remember what’s going on in the film. But I digress.

This reading gives a real ‘pulling back the curtain’ feeling when reading it, looking at whether we’re the puppets or the puppet masters on modern social networking sites. This is a really scary realisation, especially in a trying time like this with all the pandemic news and weird political nonsense. If users are totally in control of the content they post and consume, then that’s terrifying because anyone can say anything and misinformation can spread faster than can be controlled or debunked. However, if the social media platforms are actually in control of everything, then that’s also terrifying, because now what people say and who gets to hear it can be easily manipulated, resulting in important information being silenced.

While the reading didn’t necessarily address this specifically, it provided a basis for consideration of a ‘grey area’ of sorts, leading me to think, “Where in the middle of these two extremes is the best?” How much freedom and how much restriction should be allowed to ensure that neither extreme is overpowering? I hope that proceeding in this course will help me to develop a more complete understanding of this subject and, eventually, equip me to come closer to some kind of conclusion on this.