Inspired by an experience I had at SXSW Interactive a few weeks back, below is a list of my top 5 fave digital media/social media researchers – scientists, artists and teachers whose ideas and theories have made the biggest impact on my professional values, changed my life, and oh yes, rocked my world.
Michael Wesch
Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kansas State University
Why I think Michael Wesch is awesome: From my point of view, if digital media research has a pop superstar, it’s Michael Wesch. Wesch conducts cutting edge studies on the effects of new media and then, to leave no doubt he’s got his finger on the pulse, he produces viral content about his research. Having started out on my career path in the mid-nineties, my knowledge and understanding of the Internet was, at first, pretty much limited to pure mechanics. Wesch was one of the first researchers I encountered whose work made me consider what was happening beyond the tools and code.
Research interests: The effects of new media on society and culture
Big accomplishment(s): Several major awards for his work, including a Wired Magazine Rave Award; recently named an Emerging Explorer by National Geographic
I recommend: Michael Wesch’s Digital Ethnography YouTube Channel; don't miss Wesch’s 2007 classic, The Machine is Us/ing Us
Tim Berners-Lee
Director, World Wide Web Consortium
Senior researcher at MIT's Computer Science and AI Lab
Why I think Tim Berners-Lee is awesome: I don’t think I’d be alone in suggesting the world would be a very different place if Tim Berners-Lee wasn’t one of the good guys. As the inventor of the web, Berners-Lee was/is uniquely positioned to influence the user experience. Where others might have focused on leveraging potential business opportunities, Berners-Lee has concentrated his attention on championing the protection of human rights and spearheading initiatives related to accessibility, standardization, open access data, and net neutrality.
Research interests: Continued development of the web
Big accomplishment(s): Inventing the World Wide Web
I recommend:
- Follow recommendations laid out by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), founded and headed by Tim Berners-Lee
- Read Weaving the Web: The Original Design and Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web by its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee, ISBN 0-06-251587-X. Though many things have changed since this book was published in 1999, I’d still suggest it as a necessary read for everyone who works with or on the web (which, these days, could be just about everyone, I guess)
Florian Thalhofer
Guest Professor and Lecturer University of Leipzig
Inventor of the Korsakow System (software for creating database narratives)
Why I think Florian Thalfhofer is awesome: I expect it might be easy to assume German artist/scientist/inventor Florian Thalhofer to be a token wild card entry on this list, but that isn't the case. I attended a workshop on Thalhofer’s database cinema software, the Korsakow System at a SIGGRAPH Conference in 2006. As you know, at the time the web was as bit of a different place, static content was king, web 2.0 was in pre-explosion mode, the popularity of personal blogs and podcasts were starting to gain steam, YouTube was just coming out of it’s infancy. In this environment, the Korsakow System was, and still is to some extent, a precursory exploration of non-linear, user driven narrative taken to the extreme. A tool designed to deliver all the necessary components of a narrative with minimal structure, where the user can navigate a story in whatever random way preferred. My introduction to the Korsakow System was the first time I considered how much and how little influence the content creator truly has on the audience - an audience with the ability to control their own experience…or so it would seem. As a little additional tit for tat, Thalhofer chose to name his system, invented way back when in 2000 by the way, after Korsakoff’s Syndrome, an affect of extreme alcoholism characterized by apathy, an inability to maintain focus, memory loss and invented memories. How’s that for visionary?
Research interests: Non-linear, interactive narration
Big accomplishment(s): Inventor of the Korsakow System; numerous international awards and exhibitions
I recommend: Download the open source Korsakow System software and give it a try
Rey Junco
Associate Professor, Lock Haven University
Why I think Rey Junco is awesome: I’ve repeatedly experienced first hand the difficulties associated with introducing social media tools and services in a higher education environment. In fact, it’s been the bane of my existence for the past six or seven years. I am indebted to Junco whose research appeared as a light at the end of a long, dreary tunnel when I had the pleasure of attending his presentation at SXSW Interactive 2011. Junco uses quantitative methods to assess the effects of social media on student development, engagement, and success. His revealing studies are the first I’ve encountered to reliably bridge the gap between the rigid ideals and expectations of academia and the pragmatic, laissez-faire attitudes that permeate online culture. Not an easy feat.
Research interests: Social media in higher education
Big accomplishment(s): The best higher ed related presentation I’ve ever attended at a digital media conference; numerous awards and publications
I recommend:
- Check out Rey Junco’s blog, Social Media in Higher Education
- Follow @reyjunco
Tim Blackmore
Professor, Faculty of Information and Media Studies
Why I think Tim Blackmore is awesome: For many current and former Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS) students at The University of Western Ontario, Tim Blackmore is that memorable professor who wakens enthusiasm and kindles interest enough to make all the years of struggle and hardship worthwhile. When I decided to return to school in 2004, I’d already worked in the web industry for almost a decade and I felt I had a pretty good grip on how things were put together on the web. It was a huge eye opener for me when I began the 3-year MIT program in FIMS. Blackmore’s introductory course, then titled MIT025, was the first course I took. The material we covered helped me gain a much broader perspective of the web and other digital technologies, a stronger understanding of why and how the web had evolved to it’s present state, and a better idea of where things were going.
Research interests: Ways that culture and cultural products revolve around each other
Big accomplishment(s): In my books, Blackmore is the most awesome professor ever; numerous awards and publications
I recommend: Blackmore’s introductory Media, Information and Technoculture course offered at The University of Western Ontario.
While composing this list, I realized it would probably be appropriate to put together a corporate counterpart ‘My Top 5 Fave Digital Media/Social Media Business Leaders’. Stay tuned…
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