A first glance at Ulmer
It only took me two hours to read chapter one of Ulmer’s “Internet Invention.” Only two. One might think that 26 pages should take less time to read, but for the anelectrate individual such as myself, I had a hard time understanding and absorbing Ulmer’s words. I found the Einstein example to be very helpful as he explained themata, but still am wary to come up with my own definition. Holton says that themata are ‘gut assumptions’ and relates those assumptions to scientists and their thoughts on the universe. My gut assumptions, which do not seem nearly as profound as those of scientists, stem from childhood as Holton says that these presuppositions remained stable over the years. One thing from my childhood that I will forever carry with me is my disbelief in marriage. I have been the product of a failed marriage and witnessed two others between my mother and father (that doesn’t take into account relatives and family friends divorcing). I’m not sure if this is an equivalent to Einstein’s compass, but this is what sticks out most in my mind. I’ve always had a passion for animals, though. I have routinely volunteered with animal shelters and now work with a local rescue group. As a matter of fact, community service is my driving force. I am a firm believer in giving back to the community you live in. I suppose I need to find the driving force that has molded me throughout my lifetime, which is where mystory comes into place, I believe.
I continued reading the chapter, slowly but surely, and ventured into the popcycle concept. Again, I thought back to my stable disbelief in marriage and my passion to serve others. Sounds like a huge contradiction, but believe me, you can be passionate about helping others and not about stable relationships (who knows, maybe this exercise will help to dissolve my negativity of marriage).
Ulmer also went to discuss the culture of one’s career field. As a public relations major, the culture in this industry is building relationships. Similar to tending crops as he suggests, performing good public relations is a vigilant process. You must take care of your client and constantly communicate to effectively please him/her. Such is the process of gardening. The plants must constantly be watered and cared for. If either the plant or client is neglected, what you have once invested time in disappears. A client will leave his/her PR practitioner if he/she is not completely satisfied and doesn’t feel like the practitioner is devoting enough time to him.
After reading, I was determined to get a solid grasp on electracy. Ulmer makes a great analogy of how literacy is to print what elecracy is to digital and new media. Our society is constantly changing trying to keep up with who tweeted what and where Sally went out last night. Social networking sites such as facebook, myspace, and twitter allow friends to remain constantly up to date with one another. As a child of early technology (I never knew life without the internet — or at least until my teenage years when it became prevalent and necessary for my social life), it does not surprise me of the new ways people are communicating, learning, and most importantly living. We rely so heavily on the devices that allow us to easily access the internet. We have also become dependent on the search engine and computers. Think when was the last time you looked up reference material at the library from a real book using the card catalog system. Now, it is so easy for us to access that material from our living room. A click away and you are hooked up to a library’s database scrolling across the monitor as you research. So much of our lifestyle has evolved via technology and it has only just begun.
