Epilogue : Why Study Twitter?

Each of the thirty-one contributions in this volume implicitly spells out its own answer to this question. Surprisingly perhaps even for such a highly interdisciplinary volume as this one, these answers vary considerably in their approaches, their objectives, and their underlying assumptions about the object of study. This diversity of scholarly perspectives on Twitter, barely half a decade since it first emerged as a popular platform, highlights its versatility. Beginning as a side project to a now-forgotten podcasting platform, rising to popularity as a social network service focussed around mundane communication and therefore widely lambasted as a cesspool of vanity and triviality by incredulous journalists (including technology journalists), it was later embraced by those same journalists, governments, and businesses as a crucial source of real-time information on everything from natural disasters to celebrity gossip, and from debates over sexual violence to Vatican politics.

The role of the non-government organisation (NGO) in practicing editorial photography in a globalised media environment

The news media industry has changed dramatically in the last 10 to 20 years into a global business with ever increasing attention being devoted to entertainment and celebrity. There is also a growing reliance on images produced by citizens (citizen photojournalism) by media outlets and publishers. It is widely acknowledged this has shrunk publication opportunities for professional photographers undertaking editorial projects. As a result, photographers are increasingly relying on non-government organisations (NGOs) to gain access to photographing issues and events in developing countries and to expand their economic and portfolio opportunities. This increase of photographers working for and alongside NGOs has given rise to a new genre of editorial photography I call NGO Reportage. By way of a case study, an exploration of this new genre reveals important issues for photographers working alongside NGO’s and examines the constructed narratives of images contained within these emerging practices.

Disclose

Table of Contents “your darkness also/rich and beyond fear”: Community Performance, Somatic Poetics and the Vessels of Self and Other - Petra Kuppers. "So what will you do on the plinth?”: A Personal Experience of Disclosure during Antony Gormley’s "One & Other" Project - Jill Francesca Dowse. Food Confessions: Disclosing the Self through the Performance of Food - Jenny Lawson Participation Cartography: The Presentation of Self in Spatio-Temporal Terms - Luis Carlos Sotelo-Castro Disclosure in Biographically-Based Fiction: The Challenges of Writing Narratives Based on True Life Stories - Donna Lee Brien. Closure through Mock-Disclosure in Bret Easton Ellis’s Lunar Park - Jennifer Anne Phillips. Disclosing the Ethnographic Self - Christine Lohmeier Celebrity Twitter: Strategies of Intrusion and Disclosure in the Age of Technoculture - Nick Muntean, Anne Helen Petersen. “Just Emotional People”? Emo Culture and the Anxieties of Disclosure - Michelle Phillipov.

The role of Non-Government Organisations (NGOS) in practising editorial photography in a globalised media environment

The news media industry has changed dramatically into a global business with ever-increasing attention being devoted to entertainment and celebrity across the last 10–20 years. There has also been a growing reliance on images produced by citizens (citizen photojournalism), by media outlets and publishers. It is widely acknowledged that in tandem these changes have shrunk publication opportunities for professional photographers undertaking editorial projects. As a result, photographers are increasingly relying on non-government organisations (NGOs) to gain access to photographing issues and events in developing countries and to expand their economic and portfolio opportunities. This increase in photographers working for and alongside NGOs has given rise to a new genre of editorial photography which I call NGO Reportage. By way of a case study, an exploration of this new genre reveals important issues for photographers working with NGOs and examines the constructed narratives of images contained within these emerging practices.

#Pontiff-Ex : the Twitter community’s reaction to the Papal resignation

In this paper, we provide an account-centric analysis of the tweeting activity of, and public response to, Pope Benedict XVI via the @pontifex Twitter account(s). We focus our investigation on the particular phase around Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation to generate insights into the use of Twitter in response to a celebrity crisis event. Through a combined qualitative and quantitative methodological approach we generate an overview of the follower-base and tweeting activity of the @pontifex account. We identify a very one-directional communication pattern (many @mentions by followers yet zero @replies from the papal account itself), which prompts us to enquire further into what the public resonance of the @pontifex account is. We also examine reactions to the resurrection of the papal Twitter account by Pope Benedict XVI’s successor. In this way, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the public response to the immediate events around the crisis event of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation and its aftermath via the network of users involved in the @pontifex account.

WikiLeaks : the Napster of secrets?

WikiLeaks has become a global phenomenon, and its founder and spokesman Julian Assange an international celebrity (or terrorist, depending on one’s perspective). But perhaps this focus on Assange and his website is as misplaced as the attacks against Napster and its founders were a decade ago: WikiLeaks itself only marks a new phase in a continuing shift in the balance of power between states and citizens, much as Napster helped to undermine the control of major music labels over the music industry. If the history of music filesharing is any guide, no level of punitive action against WikiLeaks and its supporters is going to re-contain the information WikiLeaks has set loose.

Keeping it natural: Does persuasive magazine content have an effect on young women's intentions for birth?

Information in the popular media tends to be biased toward promoting the benefits of medicalized birth for low-risk pregnancies. We aimed to assess the effect of communicating the benefits of non-medicalized birth in magazine articles on women’s birth intentions and to identify the mechanisms by which social communication messages affected women’s intentions for birth. A convenience sample of 180 nulliparous Australian women aged 18–35 years were randomly exposed to a magazine article endorsing non-medicalized birth (using either celebrity or non-celebrity endorsement) or organic eating (control) throughout June–July 2011. Magazine articles that endorsed non-medicalized birth targeted perceived risk of birth, expectations for labor and birth, and attitudes toward birth. These variables and intention for birth were assessed by self-report before and after exposure. Exposure to a magazine article that endorsed non-medicalized birth significantly reduced women’s intentions for a medicalized birth, regardless of whether the endorsement was by celebrities or non-celebrities. Changes in perceived risk of birth mediated the effect of magazine article exposure on women’s intentions for a medicalized birth. Persuasive communication that endorses non-medicalized birth could be delivered at the population level and may reduce women’s intentions for a medicalized birth.

WikiLeaks : The Napster of Secrets?

WikiLeaks has become a global phenomenon, and its founder and spokesman Julian Assange an international celebrity (or terrorist, depending on one’s perspective). But perhaps this focus on Assange and his website is as misplaced as the attacks against Napster and its founders were a decade ago: WikiLeaks itself only marks a new phase in a continuing shift in the balance of power between states and citizens, much as Napster helped to undermine the control of major music labels over the music industry. If the history of music filesharing is any guide, no level of punitive action against WikiLeaks and its supporters is going to re-contain the information WikiLeaks has set loose.

The Lazarus effect: The (RED) campaign, and creative capitalism

"4,400 people die every day of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Treatment exists. In about 60 days, a patient can go from here to here. We call this transformation the Lazarus Effect. It is the result of two pills a day taken by a HIV/AIDS patient for about 60 days. Learn more about how you can help give people the chance of life and joinred.com."The Lazarus Effect video, the (RED) Campaign.This Chapter explores how a number of non-government organizations, charities, and philanthropists have promoted ’grants' as a means of stimulating investment in research and development into neglected diseases. Each section considers the nature of the campaign; the use of intellectual property rights, such as trade marks; and the criticisms made of such endeavors. Section 2 looks at the (RED) Campaign, which is designed to boost corporate funding and consumer support for the Global Fund. Section 3 examines the role of the Gates Foundation in funding research and development in respect of infectious diseases. It explores the championing by Bill Gates of ’creative capitalism'. Section 4 considers the part of the Clinton Foundation in the debate over access to essential medicines. The Chapter concludes that, despite their qualities, such marketing initiatives fail to address the underlying inequalities and injustices of international patent law.

Harry Potter and the lexicon of doom

In a three day trial in April 2008, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York considered whether the Harry Potter Lexicon infringed the intellectual property rights of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. The case has attracted great media attention. As John Crace, a reporter for The Guardian, observed: “On one side: global-celebrity author J.K. Rowling. On the other: an amateur fan site devoted to the world's favourite boy wizard. At stake: the soul of Harry Potter.” J.K. Rowling is the author of the seven book Harry Potter series, which tell the story of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his battles with Voldemort, the Lord of Darkness. As the court papers noted, “The Harry Potter Books are a modern day publishing phenomenon and success story.” Warner Brothers sought and obtained the film rights to the series. The entertainment company has thus far produced five films; a sixth is due in November 2008; and the final instalment is planned. The Harry Potter Lexicon is a reference guide created by Steven Vander Ark, a former grade school teacher. He has organised a large volume of material on the Harry Potter books and the Harry Potter films on a website in an alphabetical listing, from “A-Z”. The founder of RDR Books, Roger Rapoport, approached Ark to publish the Harry Potter Lexicon in a book form. Ark agreed to this request, and provided the publisher with a condensed version of the web-site. After RDR Books announced its intention to publish the reference book, J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers brought a legal action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that the publishers of the Harry Potter Lexicon were in breach of various intellectual property rights. A spokesperson for Warner Brothers and J.K. Rowling observed: "A fan’s affectionate enthusiasm should not obscure acts of plagiarism. The publishers knew what they were doing. The problem remains that the Lexicon takes an enormous amount of Ms. Rowling’s work and adds virtually no original commentary of its own. As we’ve said in court, it takes too much and adds too little. Authors have a duty to prevent the exploitation of their works by people who contribute nothing original, creative or interpretive." The litigation involves the intersection of copyright law, trade mark law, and consumer protection law. It has a wider significance because it deals with the protection of authorial rights; the use of literary indexes, supplements and reference guides; and the clash between character merchandising and fan fiction.

Reality bites: When copyright law and reality cooking meet, only the lawyers win

There’s nothing new about this recipe for success: toss in high-stress scenarios, flavour generously with competitive chefs, and garnish with a panel of celebrity judges. With all major broadcasters in the country now dishing up some form of reality cooking programme, Australians could be forgiven for having lost any expectation of original TV material. But that didn’t stop Channel Seven from taking Channel Nine to court last week, arguing its copyright in My Kitchen Rules had been infringed with Nine’s latest prime-time effort, The Hotplate. After the first few episodes went to air, Seven asked for an injunction to stop Nine from broadcasting any more episodes of the reality show. So let’s look at some common confusions about copyright law and how it relates to reality television. Because in this context, copyright infringement isn’t about shows sharing major similarities, or about protecting ideas, but rather the expression of these ideas in the final product. Still, stretching copyright law to protect the “vibe” of a work isn’t good for artists, TV producers or viewers: copyright was designed to nurture creativity, not stifle it.

Kissing fish: Rex Hunt, popular culture, sustainability and fishing practices

Natural resource managers and scientists focus on the behaviour of individual recreational fishers to understand environmental problems associated with this leisure activity. They do this in an effort to identify ways to change attitudes in order to facilitate environmentally friendly choices. This applied use of ABC psychology (attitude, behaviour, choice) has not delivered the expected results. This article offers a different approach by investigating an emergent practice in diverse fishing communities, rather than looking to the responsibility of the individual recreational fisher. Using practice theory, I trace the change from take-all to catch-and-release fishing in Australia by analysing the texts of celebrity fisher Rex Hunt, who is an advocate for releasing fish. I combine this with oral history testimony from a sample of recreational fishers from the broader Australian community to show how change happened. The practice of catch-and-release fishing emerged through the combination of sociotechnical and historically specific elements present in popular culture, including the media. Paying attention to the way different elements catalyse provides a rich account of the changing modes of sustainability in recreational fishing communities.

Running Men

In this multi-screen installation, iconic male characters from Hollywood films are reconfigured to create infinitely looping scenes of running; trapping the characters in a kind of Nietchzen eternal recurrence. Stemming primarily from my investigation into anxiety as a shared social experience, the carefully edited, looped, and rotoscoped characters become avatars or surrogates for myself, and for the viewer. Through this editing, they are caught in a space of relentless confusion and paranoia – they run with, and from, anxiety. They are never caught by any unseen pursuers, but are equally unable to catch up to any unseen goal. These figures act as models of masculinity, they are objects of identification and emulation. Simultaneously, as celebrities, they are also fictions of the media sphere, both real and ethereal, they are impossible to grasp. In this duality, the work also references cinema’s tangled conflation of character and celebrity identity. It examines the subjective and intersubjective engagements we can have with popular culture, and the way that these engagements can as strategies to ‘make sense’ of social experiences. The work was exhibited in the Carriageworks space of ‘You Imagine What You Desire’, the 19th Biennale of Sydney.

Every face on Vanity Fair’s Hollywood covers 1995-2008

‘Every face on Vanity Fair’s Hollywood covers 1995-2008’ renders an ethnographic-like study of Hollywood celebrity as a cinematic experience. Viewers are presented with constantly mutating portraits that violently twist and shear into other faces, while an immersive soundscape echoes the turbulent painterly surface. Through technical processes of scaling, looping and image morphing; the work explores a positive affectual response to the seductive power of celebrity imagery. Conceptually, given Vanity Fair magazine’s prestigious stature, the work also performs an ethnographic-mapping of the popularity of Hollywood stars over time, while at the same time creating in-between, ‘mutant’ versions of their visages. The installation explores the potential for fan-based responses to pop culture to lead to artworks that enable a more critical response to the subjective and intersubjective dynamics of celebrity portraiture. Questions are raised about how these cultural forms impact pop culture fans, and their role in the mapping of culture and social experience.

Running men: The precarious, paranoid body in screen culture

This paper discusses my video installation Running Men as an example of how an artist’s appropriative engagements with screen images of the perilous body can reflect the technological zeitgeist of the last hundred years but also create a space of meditative and mediated reflection in Slavoj Žižek’s “endlessness” of the present-future. In this artwork, iconic male characters from Hollywood films are recontextualised to create infinitely looping scenes of running; trapping the characters in a kind of Nietchzen eternal recurrence that suspends them between impending violence and uncertain futures. Stemming primarily from my investigation into anxiety as a shared social experience, one perhaps primed by the increasing intensity of visual culture in the 21st century, these digitally reconfigured bodies become avatars or surrogates for myself, and for the viewer. Through selective editing, these emblematic figures are caught in a space of relentless confusion and paranoia – they run with, and from anxiety. They are never caught by any unseen pursuers, but are equally unable to catch up to any unseen goal. These figures map an historical trajectory of violence and masculinity as it has been projected through various iterations of screen culture Simultaneously, as celebrities, they are also fictions of the media sphere, both real and ethereal, they are impossible to grasp but paradoxically are objects of identification and emulation. In this duality, the work also references cinema’s tangled conflation of character and celebrity identity. This discussion will address the two distinct but connected sites and activities of body/image engagement. Firstly, the artistic process and conceptual ramifications of this activity, and secondly in the artwork’s potential as an installation to provide an opportunity for the viewer (like the artist) to reflect on the constructed-ness and complicated power structures at play in the representation of a gendered body.