Mark Poster further develops the theses and thoughts put
forth by Baudrillard, Zizek, Eco, and Dorfman in the critiquing of the new
“hyperreality” in modern society. The new media paradigms have created a crutch
for people that use the internet and other means of communication to simulate
reality and real conversations. He states “virtual reality is a more dangerous
term since it suggest that reality may be multiple or take many forms,” (445)
like the previously stated theorists that warn of the dangers of the new
digital age. He goes on to write about the new society that is embedded in the
Internet. The wave of digital media
interfaces and replacements for genuine human contact have distorted the notion
of what communication and reality are. Internet has provided what many feel is
a substitution to reality through message boards and chat rooms. Poster
concludes well saying “from the club that extends and replaces the arm to
virtual reality in cyberspace, technology has evolved to mime and to multiply,
to multiplex, and to improve upon the real” (451) explaining that the web toys
with reality but many are starting to not see the difference.
Jenkins approaches the new virtual society differently.
While some see the unique online community as a hindrance to culture, he sees
it as an innovation in participatory culture. Utilizing Star Wars, he explains that tv and film producers can use the
internet to see how their media texts resonate with their fans and the rabidity
of the fans on the internet demonstrates their true love for the text as fan
films illustrate “the unleashing of significant new tools which enable the
grassroots archiving, annotation, appropriation, and recirculation of media
content.” (454) As someone who actively enjoys How I Met Your Mother fan fiction or finds the Star Wars kid whimsical, I understand Jenkins point that there is
an inherent good to what the internet offers.
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