COMM 2118 | Media and Society

Week 4: Media and Space

Ye Sun
City University of Hong Kong
20/09/2021

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This week's office hour:
Monday (today): 3-4 pm

Tuesday (tomorrow): by appointment only

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Livingstone: "The Bedroom Culture"

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 The transformation of leisure spaces...
from street culture to the retreat to home;
from the family television to the bedroom culture.

Public --> Private Home --> Private Individuals

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How has the leisure space changed? (I)
What was your childhood like?

To the best of your knowledge, how was it different from that of your
parents, or of the current generation of children?

The decline of street culture

The rise of domestic culture

streets evoking "the idea of home as "the haven of safety"

danger" media-rich
limited access to outside privatization of leisure

Why? What factors have contributed to this shift?

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How has the leisure space changed? (II)
What media did you own as a child?

What media were in the living room vs. your bedroom?

To the best of your knowledge, how was it different from that of your
parents, or of the current generation of children?

The family television

The bedroom culture

communal space children-centered private

space for
for shared pleasures
with power plays and individual tastes
conflicts self-realization

governs the spatial & temporal makes "home" and "family"

rhythms of family life different notions

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The Bedroom Culture

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The changing meanings of the "bedroom"

Convenience- for collection of goods

Escape- into individualized media use

Identity - for self-expression and self-development

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Living Together Separately

"compartmentalization of family life"

leisure becoming increasingly media-dominated
rooms (or people) rather than the household becoming the unit for media
ownership
challenges for parenting

Also challenges for...

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"Bowling Alone"

Putnam (2000)

Media are displacing civic and

social institutions and
community-building activities,
contributing to the decline of
civic and social life in the U.S.

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Steinkuehler & Williams (2006)
MMOs:

Massively Multiplayer Online Games

Two central theses:

structurally similar to "third places";

performing the functions of building social capital.

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Data

Project I Project II

Experimental Survey Ethnography

game play (experimental 24 months of participant
group) vs. no game play observation
(control group) recorded and transcribed
n = 750 observations during play
Interviews player communication
(not the focus of the article) (discussion boards,
chatroom, instant
messaging, email, etc.)
Interviews
Discourse analysis

Together: Greater generalizability and contextualization

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"Third Places"
Ray Oldenburg, author of «The Great Good Place»

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Definition
First coined and used by Oldenburg to describe public spaces
complementary to the role of home ("first place") and work ("second
place").

"The third place is a generic description for a great variety of public

places that host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily
anticipated gatehrings of individuals beyond the realm of home and
work." (Oldenburg, 1999, p. 16)

e.g., social clubhouses, cafes, different forms of social organizations, etc.

Important for social and recreational life, personal development and

actualization.

However...

"The essential group experience is being replaced by the

exaggerated self-consciousness of individuals. American
lifestyles, for all the material acquisition and the seeking after
comforts and pleasures, are plagued by boredom, loneliness, and
alienation" (Oldengurg, 1999, p.13)

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Examples

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Structural Characteristics

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Social Capital
Analogous to financial capital; to be acquired and spent

Tied to social networks (trust, reciprocity)

Online and offline

Bridging Bonding

"Lubricant" "Superglue"
inclusive exclusive
breadth depth
superficial/"weak ties" intimate/"strong ties"
broaden resources/perspectives insularity

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Conclusions:
1. MMOs are structually comparable to "third places."

2. MMOs could build "bridging" social capital, not so much the "bonding"
social capital.

For further pondering...

Online vs. offline social capital

Online vs. offline "third places"

Are all connections equal?

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 Media and Space
Media as part of the space
Media becoming THE space

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 Tensions & Negotiations
Outside vs. Inside

Public vs. Private

Isolation vs. Expansion

Individualization/fragmentation vs. Community/Connection
Virtual vs. Physical
Bridging vs. Bonding

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YOU are in the middle of all these and need to figure it out--

What space do you want to cultivate and preserve ...

for yourself, your family, your close others, and the society?

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Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

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