Blog PostsZspace as a true Facebook alternative
By Paulo Rodriguez at Jul 17, 2010 |
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There have been some postings and discussions, as well as some nudges from ZCom itself, asking or wondering why people in general are not using this website to its full potential.
After thinking about it, I wonder...
From a personal point of view, while I am very much interested in Participatory Economics and political analysis myself, there is always this lurking feeling that for me to fully use ZCom as an alternative to Facebook, I would have to feel that I could express myself fully without having to worry about the potential flak it could entail, regarding my more "mundane" interests. This does not mean I believe that I should be able to do anything without some kind of social control by other ZCom users: posting content demeaning to women, minorities, and the poor should create a reaction, hopefully a strong one.
I for one enjoy japanese animation, black humor, electronic music and its associated culture (at least some facets of it) and many other things that would be considered as odd at best for someone labelling themselves "leftist", and horrible at worst by many people. Why is it then, in a place where diversity of opinions and views is something we agree is beneficial, there seems to be this fear of vitriolic criticism towards lifestyles which we have no issue expressing in "mainstream" sites, but would be rather caught dead than sharing it in here?
Maybe this is a personal issue. It could be that this is only a problem I experience due to a lack of perspective regarding leftist expectations. Yet, how hard is it to find content in here regarding stuff like social activities? Humor? Organizing around hobbies? I can't help but feeling that one of the barriers to full participation on ZCom is related to the fear of being judged on the basis of one's hobbies or personal tastes being considered "selling out", "participating in the oppression system", and so on. We are here to struggle , discuss, analyse and act, but what about the other facets of human life?
Let's take electronic music. What is called "rave culture" by many brings images of consumerism, destructive drug abuse, and lack of musical creativity. However this is a cultural movement with progressive, constructive and even radical facets as well (the Underground Resistance techno label being the most prominent example). At least to me, I can't shake the feeling it would be perceived as an unacceptable cultural expression for someone on the left to enjoy and discuss about electronic music or techno. Instead if I would be someone who enjoys punk or ska and would post such content...
Let's take anime or japanese animation. Enough has been written about its excesses, where women are depicted in anatomically absurd ways, abused, raped, submitted to male control, and killed , to fulfill certain dark sexual fantasies expressed by men. However, there are also as many occurrences of strong female protagonists that are outspoken, confident, fighting against terrible odds in worlds controlled by men, and gaining the upper hand (pretty much anything by Shirow Masamune). Heck, there are even many such anime works where political themes such as criticism towards fascist dystopias (Okiura's Jin-Roh), flexibility of gender relations and roles (Hoyo's Family Compo), and even ecologic concerns (Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind) are also approached. How come we don't see more of this? What are we scared of?
I can only speak for myself, I realise that. But for ZCom to become the all-encompassing community it should be, I think that we as individuals need to not only do our part to think and act regarding the ills in this world, but we need to allow ourselves to express our personalities and preferences without fear of being ostracized, in a climate of respect and understanding. Sharing what we despise, what we want to be different is one part of the equation of being an activist. Sharing what we enjoy is crucial though, and we don't do this enough, dare I say for fear of being excluded as truly leftist?
By Garrigues, Chris at Jul 17, 2010 23:38 PM
Does the substantive content of a "space" - let alone the structure of the boxes and filters - add any value to the movement or even others' individual lives? Are the more thoughtful ones relegated to helpful inspiration and suggestion for Chris and Michael to develop the overall site?
Do you think that some/most users might fear using a Z "space" to project any identity? Could Z "spaces" become another noise in our mental environment?
Are you encouraging other users to post articles or blogs relevant to their interest? For instance, someone like yourself posting something about anime? Or more like Lonnie posting Pareconish Hip-Hop where the "space" is a creative outlet and destination in itself?
I'm not necessarily disagreeing... just questions worth asking - AKA - please post something soon on Rave Culture or Anime. We're interested now!
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By Rodriguez, Paulo at Jul 18, 2010 00:19 AM
Hi Chris,
Regarding the substantive content of a space, I definitely believe so. If there is something that increases solidarity and gives a sense of connection within social space, it's the sharing of things people enjoy. In that respect, what Lonnie did blew my mind. I never EVER expected to actually listen to a drum & bass piece regarding ParEcon that I would enjoy as much as what the UR guys or Michael Franti does, appearing on ZNet. That simply was ... hell, he kicked ass! It certainly created an interest in me knowing more about him, reading his stuff and watching his videos. The youtube video "Lonnie vs. the FCC" really was amazing in that respect.
It seems to me that most people who are into activism or some kind of political organising seldom gather together afterwards to socialize in a more relaxed and congenial setting, and keep strong relationships outside their focus of activism. In that respect when you see how the people from the American New Left connected and kept friendships and mutual commitments that spanned several decades... That's amazing, and I unashamedly admit that I envy that.
As for the identity question, pick a profile at random on ZCom, beyond the people you interact with often in real/virtual life. Can you get a "sense" of who they are as human beings beyond their political writings or actions? Are you able to relate to them as human beings in the full sense? It might be that I lack social skills with regards to interacting with other activists (this idea often crossed my mind), but I've ended up noticing something strange... the people I get to know better, beyond their political actions, tend to be so unexpectedly different and varied , very often. This diversity is something that I think we should explore in each other , for our own enjoyment, as a learning experience regarding other people's circumstances and aspirations, and to reinforce connections and synergy between individuals, areas of political focus and movements. So what is it that we don't share these parts of ourselves? Fear of being criticized? A belief that our personal life is not a part of ourselves worth sharing with people of similar or even equal moral and political belief systems? A concern for privacy?
I wonder to what degree this should be done though... Of course it's a personal matter whether people are willing to share a part of themselves which they might consider (very) personal, and in political spaces discussions can get heated, emotions can really fire up. Not sharing such matters could then be considered as a defense mechanism to be less vulnerable if personal attacks would come into play during such discussions, and this happens way too often I'm afraid.
What Lonnie did is a good balance though, it's both "fun", very personal (his own personal creation and work) and still related to activism, clearly. I don't see why this can't be done for anime reviews as well, or regarding radical electronic music like Atari Teenage Riot etc... Writing reviews of such works where state tyranny or capitalism is depicted, analysed, or simply used as a background to tell a story, is an obvious choice, and anime has plenty of such works. It's not all cheap excuses for barely dressed submissive women with rather large breasts to show up, though I'll admit there is a lot of that sadly. Not much differently than mainstream movies and media though, in a sense. So yes, I think we should allow ourselves to share a bit more about who we are in the personal area of our lives, but to what extent, that's up to each one of us to decide. As long as we are honest about the reasons why we withhold expressing ourselves and all of our human aspects.
I finally don't believe that we should experience a variety of points of views, interests and activism areas as noise, but instead as an opportunity to perceive how all these areas are interlinked and how activities in each area could improve from lessons and experiences in others. As long as we don't start Zwittering what we had for breakfast at 6:02AM and how nice the coffee smelled, I think we'll be fine in terms of noise...
So you want anime reviews eh? I knew I should have shut up, now I'm walking on a minefield! :)) Very well then hehe
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By Garrigues, Chris at Jul 18, 2010 20:51 PM
Lonnie only recorded the vocal tracks for his album. Those were then posted on a remix website traditionally used by electronic artists. If you are set-up for it, I'd recommend going to his website (http://projectquestion.org) for the skeleton tracks because he is indefinitely soliciting new productions of his songs.
He's supposedly working on a follow-up as well. However, the style will be more varied including some world beat, country, etc. In spirit with the content of his lyrics, I'd assume he is wagering on the same collective production effort.
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By Rodriguez, Paulo at Jul 18, 2010 21:25 PM
Yes, I noticed the d&b track was a collaboration effort with another producer. Still, that doesn't make his work any less worthy or inspiring!
I still have to tackle the issue of getting to grips with my current audio setup properly (Renoise + Roland RD-700GX + Yamaha SY-22), since I haven't produced anything worth playing since September 11th (it's purely coincidental) and software has changed immensely.
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