IML 346 Thesis Proposal

Adam Church


I. TITLE: “Anti-culturalism: In Lulz We Trust” (?)

II. ABSTRACT: What do you think of when you picture a cyber-criminal or a cyber-terrorist? The media has distorted the perception of this group, and more often than not this idea is inaccurate. Many are children, and more seem to have come by their infamy innocently enough, accidentally. A lot of illegal and otherwise questionable internet activity arises from websites like 4chan.org, an online forum for posting images where so-called delinquent hackers congregate. Thanks to their ingenuity, the people behind this website remain mostly anonymous, and any posted content is erased after a very short while. The majority of the activity could be described as childish indulgence or pranking, but there exists a very disturbing underbelly. With a daily user base over 7 million, the frequency of identity theft, piracy, and even child pornography, is concerning to say the least. Sometimes the overall behavior is pointless and absurd, but actions often allude to a vigilante mentality, with strong tendencies towards the sadistic, perverse, or macabre. What would happen if groups like this organized? I hope to outline the social and political significance of such internet phenomenon as these, and provide one possible answer to this question.

III. DESCRIPTION:
1.Genre – Interactive
Methodology – I will be presenting original research of my own as well as referring to previous works.
Delivery Format – A website ideally, mimicking the aesthetic and interface of donniedarkofilm.com. But given that I have no experience with web design, I may have to settle for some kind of interactive dvd.

2. Project Goals – I feel this project needs to be realized in multimedia because so much of the activity on these websites is content driven. It’s difficult to convey the significance of a picture or video clip, of which the production is never ending, when confined to a text filled essay. The viewer will hopefully take from this project a greater awareness of online activity, a knowledge of the subversive undercurrents of these forums, and a sense of their significance in both the day-to-day and in other realms such as politics. I feel this project is valuable in an academic context because no one is really looking at the intersection of convergence culture and online networking. The soul of humanity is laid bare through the myriad activities and content of forums like 4chan, and I believe this evidences a larger change in the collective consciousness and structure of society.

3. Project Significance – I aim to both create an awareness of and open up for discussion the social and political significance of lulz. I hope as well to shed light on this often overlooked section of society. My research has applications across a number of levels, from issues of privacy rights, to cyber crime, to the role of identity on the internet as individuality seems more and more to be assimilated into this anonymous culture.

IV. TIMELINE: Ideally, I will have a model of some sort by the end of the semester, with the tentative time of completion being sometime in the summer of 2008.

V. BUDGET: So far, I’ve spent roughly $500 on travel and materials. I don’t anticipate putting much more into this, but I may travel to interview a few more people. The upper cap is $2000, though I intend to keep costs to a minimum because this is all out of my own pocket.

VI. CONFIRMED ADVISORS: Bill Whittington, Holly Willis

VII. PRESENTATION/DISTRIBUTION PLANS: This is an area where I am lacking. I’m not sure how to premiere my project once it is completed, and frankly I have no idea. I’m sure much of this depends upon the final delivery format. People will need a computer to view it though, as the project will have a point and click interface.

VIII. PRODUCTION RESOURCES: So far I have been working on a fairly basic level with a DV cam and a shotgun mic to record things. Future interviews may be either video or audio only. I know I will be using Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, After Effects/Motion. I might also need to learn some kind of web software, and possibly Flash.

IX. PRIOR RELATED WORK: I have never engaged this specific field of study previously in any way. Last semester I sort of created a machinema for the purposes of a Second Life critical analysis, but that is only very loosely connected.

X. RESEARCH BIBLIOGRAPHY: So far, I’ve been reading Danah Boyd. I’ve ordered a bunch of books on convergence culture and connectivity and Internet psychology and the like, from writers like Catherine Hayles and Henry Jenkins. Other references include Bakunin’s anarchist theory, Debord’s situationsism, Georges Bataille, Foucault, Marcel Mauss, and maybe even Stuart Hall and Richard Dawkins. There may be more in the future.