Zero Draft

Abstract
The primary purpose of this study is to establish an academic investigation into the virtual community by examining the various types of online communities, as well as the attitudes of artists and art educators towards these communities. How are artists and art educators using virtual communities? How do virtual communities assist and inhibit the process of art making and art teaching? How does the virtual community impact and alter relationships, space, rituals, identity, artistic practice, ideas about public and private, fiction and fact? In my research, I intend to examine how several virtual communities are currently using web space, and how these virtual experiences affect the work of art educators and art makers.

Virtual communities are popping up all over the World Wide Web, offering friendly environments and information tailored to their members. More and more people are turning to web communities to get their personal, professional, and social needs met.

There are a number of ways in which virtual communities are defined on the web. I will touch on each of the following five categories in my research:

1. Email Discussion Lists - (assychronous communication) Discussion Lists are the most basic and easiest form of online gathering places to participate in assuming that each group member has access to email. Users do not have to "check in" somewhere to take part in the conversation, they simply read and reply to group emails.

2. Message Board - (assychronous communication) Message Boards offer additional features over a mailing list that give you more community building power including a sense of place, the context of each message, images, and the community's evolving history.

3. Text chat - (sychronous communication) Text Chat allows the user to communicate in real time - anyone who is connected to the system has the ability to correspond instantly with any other participant.

4. Web Blogging -

The secondary purpose of my thesis proposes a virtual community designed specifically for art educators. It's focus will be on artteachers' interests and abilities relating to making art. The community will exist to encourage educators to pursue their own work by sharing their creative needs, concerns, and inspirations with their peers. Through interviews, galleries, an email discussion list, and excellent creative resources, I'm hoping to admonish the statement - THOSE WHO CAN'T.TEACH.

I intend to use a combination of methodologies to conduct my research. My case study, Cut + Paste, will foster a substantial amount of information as to how art educators are using virtual communities. In addition, I will use historical information, addressing briefly the evolution of the virtual community. A large aspect of my research will involve interviewing, emailing, and viewing both art makers and art educators within the context of a virtual community.

My intention for this thesis is to present a view of what is currently happening within virtual communities to affect the artist and art community. My study will evaluate how artists and art educators are presently using virtual communities, how they may use them in the future, and how virtual communities are being used as communication tools to expand community. It is hoped that the findings of this thesis will make a significant contribution to the existing body of knowledge concerning artists and virtual communities.

Chapter One
I. Preamble
If we take a look at the everyday uses we make of all our electronic technology, it becomes more obvious why artists have taken up these technologies as tools for art making. A large portion of these everyday devices are involved in communication tasks (telephone, radio, video, cable TV, satellite, internet, CD and DVD recording, etc.), transferring various forms of information from a remote location with increasing speed and accuracy. These technologies are primarily dealing with the virtual giving of some remote event or object. It offers a perceptible presence in the immediate environment; therefore, it is not so difficult to understand why new media has intrigued a legion of artists both young and old.

The internet is contstantly evolving creating a world of virtual realities and new experiences. New technologies are being developed and integrated into our society at a rapid pace.

A majority of online activities revolve around communication. The internet offers numerous opportunities to meet people and keep in touch with friends and family. World wide contact…

Cyberspace, originally a term from William Gisbon's science-fiction novel Neuromancer, is the name some people use for the conceptual space where words, human relationships, data, wealth, and power are manifested by people using CMC technology" (Rheingold, Introduction).

Define CMC technology

"The Net is an informal term for the loosely interconnected computer networks that use CMC technology to link people around the world into public discussions.” (Rheingold)

"The essential elements of what became the Net were created by people who believed in, wanted, and therefore invented ways of using computers to amplify human thinking and communication. And many of them wanted to provide it to as many people as possible, at the lowest possible cost" (Rheingold 59).

"As social beings, those who use the Net seek not only information but also companionship, social support, and a sense of belonging" (Smith and Kollock 173).

II. Defining Virtual Communities
How does one define the term virtual community?

vir·tu·al
adj.
1. Existing or resulting in essence or effect though not in actual fact, form, or name: the virtual extinction of the buffalo.
2. Existing in the mind, especially as a product of the imagination. Used in literary criticism of a text.
3. Computer Science. Created, simulated, or carried on by means of a computer or computer network: virtual conversations in a chatroom.

com·mu·ni·ty
n. pl. com·mu·ni·ties
1. a. A group of people living in the same locality and under the same government.
b. The district or locality in which such a group lives.
2. a. A group of people having common interests: the scientific community; the international business community.
b. A group viewed as forming a distinct segment of society: the gay community; the community of color.
3. a. Similarity or identity: a community of interests.
b. Sharing, participation, and fellowship.
4. Society as a whole; the public.
5. Ecology.
a. A group of plants and animals living and interacting with one another in a specific region under relatively similar environmental conditions.
b. The region occupied by a group of interacting organisms.

virtual community - a community of people sharing common interests, ideas, and feelings over the internet or other collaborative networks. - whatis.com

Rheingold’s defintion - Virtual communities are social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace.

Rheingold’s definition has been challenged by Weinrich

Jones definiton of virtual community…

III. Factors influencing Virtual Communities

The Virtual Community - Howard Rheingold
"...(Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link) - a computer conferencing system that enables people around the world to carry on public conversations and exchange private electronic mail (email)" (Introduction).

"Computers and the switched telecommunication networks that also carry our telephone calls constitute the technical foundation of computer-mediated communications (CMC)" (Introduction).

"...it wasn't the mainstream of the existing computer industry that created affordable personal computing, but teenagers in garages" (60).

"Through the 1980s, significant somputeing power became available on college campuses, and everbody, not jus the programming, science, and engineering students, began using networked personal computers as part of their intellectual work, along with textbooks and lectures" (61).

Communities in Cyberspace - Edited by Marc A. Smith and Peter Kollock
"The "information superhighway" competes with a collection of metaphors that attempt to label and define these technologies. Others, like "cyberspace," "the Net," "online," and "the Web," highlight the different aspects of network technology and its meaning, role, and impact...computer networks allow people to create a range of new social spaces in which to meet and interact with one another" (3).

"It is easy to imagine why people may seek information on the Net: they have a problem and would like a solution. What prompts someone to answer? Why take the effort to help an unknown and distant person? Altruism is often cited; people feel the desire or obligation to help individuals and to contribute to the group. Yet selfless goodwill alone does not sustain the thousands of discussions; building reputation and establishing one's online identity provides a great deal of motivation" (31).

"Although groups share a common technology and interface, the social mores - writing style, personal interactions, and clues about identity - vary greatly from forum to forum" (34).

"...mid-1970s, Allucquere Rosanne Stone writes, "the age of surveillance and social control arrived for the electronic community" (Stone 1991, 91). As Stone describes, the CommuniTree computerized bulletin board was intended to be a forum for intellectual and spiritual discussion among adults. It was an environment where censorship was censured and each user's privacy was both respected and guaranteed by the system's administrator's." (108)

"Can people find community online in the Internet? Can relationships between people who never see, smell, touch, or hear each other be supportive and intimate?" (167)

"...critics worry that life on the Net can never be meaningful or complete because it will lead people away from the full range of in-person contact. Or, conceding half of the debate, they worry that people will get so engulfed in a simulacrum vitrual reality, that they will lose contact with "real life" (168).

"...most memebers of a person's community network do not really know each other" (171).

"Our reading of travelers' tales and anecdotes suggests that while people can find almost any kind of support on the Net, most of the support available through one relationship is rather specialized" (171).

"people can shop around for resources within the safety and comfort of their own home" (171).

"Net users tend to trust strangers, much like people gave rides to hitchhikers in the flowerchild days of the 1960s" (175).

"The willingness to communicate with strangers online contrasts with in-person situations where by-standers are often reluctant to intervene and help strangers" (176).

"It is a general norm o f community that whatever is given ought to be repaid, if only to ensure that more is available when needed" (177).

"The Net is especially suited to maintaining intermediate-strength ties between people who cannot see each other frequently" (185).

"The Usenet is a quintessential Internet social phenomenon: it is huge, global, anarchis, and rapidly growing. It is also mostly invisible. Although it is the larges example of a conferencing or discussion group system, the tools generally available to accdess it display only leaves and branches-chains of messages and responses. None present the tree and the forest. With hundreds of thousands of new messages every day, it is impossible to try to read them all to get a sense of the entire place" (195).

Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace - Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt
"Connections are made through the sharing of ideas and thoughts. How people look or what their cultural, ethnic, or social background is become irrelevant factors in this medium, which has been referred to as the great equalizer" (15).

"One's identity is continuously emergent, re-formed, and redirected as one moves through the sea of ever-changing relationships" (15).

"In the online classroom, it is the relationships and interactions among people through which knowledge is primarily generated" (15).

"...the electronic personality - the person we become when we are online" (22).

Chapter Two - Email Discussion Lists
I. Intro to email discussion lists
Email Discussion Lists are the most basic and easiest form of online gathering places to participate in assuming that each group member has access to email. Users do not have to "check in" somewhere to take part in the conversation, they simply read and reply to group emails.

"Email lists are typically owned by a single individual or small group" (Smith and Kollock 5).

An email list is a tool that makes it easy to reach multiple people by sending a message to a single email address. This single email address is associated with a list of the email addresses of all the people subscribed to the email list. When any member of the list sends a message to the address of the mailing list, everyone on the list automatically receives the email message. Our email lists also include features such as web-based archives, tools for reviewing and managing lists of subscribers, and tools for managing invalid "bouncing" email addresses.
Email lists can help groups of people communicate and collaborate more effectively. Email lists can be used for mundane purposes like scheduling meetings, forwarding "FYI" information, and simple notifications. Or, they can be used to hold online "conversations" in which group decisions can be made, documents reviewed, and feedback gathered. Email lists are a convenience; they allow a group to reach everyone in the group via a single email address, which is much easier than remembering all the email names of the individual participants in the list. (Especially when you consider that people tend to change email addresses rather frequently!)

II. Brief history of email discussion lists

Newsgroups had their beginnings in an academic environment in 1979, when a couple of Duke University graduate students connected some computers together to exchange information with the UNIX community. At the same time, another graduate student at the University of North Carolina wrote the first version of the software used to distribute news.

This network, called Usenet, grew into a voluntary, cooperative exchange of "newsfeeds", eventually evolving into electronic discussion groups. While there are some places that charge a fee for the newsfeed, Usenet continues to reflect its origins as an academic project designed to distribute information freely to anyone who wants it.

Newsgroups have been around almost since the dawn of the Internet, enabling scientists to post questions (and answers) to other scientists who were interested in the same subject. Today, newsgroups are like virtual coffee houses where people get together to discuss their mutual interests. Except with newsgroups, the communication is written, not verbal. Newsgroups revolve around specific subjects, such as the AFL or organic gardening.

III. Anatomy of email discussion lists

A message on a newsgroup is called a "post" or an "article". It may a response to a previous post or be a new post. People reading the newsgroup can reply to any post and in this way a discussion or "thread" is formed. It is often a good idea to read through a thread before posting your own ideas. When replying to a post, try to keep the information relevant and to the point.

You post a message in much the same way you create a new e-mail message. Click the "Post a new message" or "Compose a new message button", the name of the newsgroup appears in the "To:" line, put in your subject and type your comments or questions and then hit the "Send" or "Post" button. A few minutes later your message will appear in the newsgroup for everyone to see.

Similarly, you can forward a message from a newsgroup to a friend using the "Forward" function, or "Rely to the Author" to send your comments or questions directly to original author without your message going back to the newsgroup.

Note that some newsgroups are more active than others, just like some IRC channels are more active than others. If you go a newsgroup and there are only a handful of postings there, you are not doing anything wrong, there are just fewer people posting and reading that newsgroup. Also, note the dates of the posts, there is probably no point in posting a reply if the original post is more than a week or so old.

Some people just read the posting to the newsgroup, without posting their own message. This is called "lurking".

IV. Email discussion list tools
http://www.topica.com/ - A free service that allows you to find, manage and participate in email lists and discussion groups.

V. Types of email discussion lists
Another Girl at Play - Over twenty successful, talented and inspirational women share their stories of how they took their creative dreams and made them real. By sharing their journeys, experiences and wisdom they show that making a living at being creative is possible if only you try.
www.anothergirlatplay.com

ArtsEdNet Talk - An online community of teachers and learners participating in a variety of conversations about art education with colleagues from across the United States or even around the world through e-mail. Participants in the discussion are welcome to ask questions and comment on any topics of their choice involving arts education.
http://www.getty.edu/artsednet/Talk/index.html

VI. Feedback on email discussion lists

Chapter Three - Message Boards
I. Intro to message boards
Message Board - (assychronous communication) Message Boards offer additional features over a mailing list that give you more community building power including a sense of place, the context of each message, images, and the community's evolving history.

II. Brief history of message boards

III. Anatomy of message boards

IV. Message board tools

V. Types of message boards
Get Crafty Discussion Boards - swap ideas with crafty people from all over the world.
discuss.gromco.com/mwforum/forum_show.pl

Craftster.org - craftster.org is a repository for hip, crafty, diy (do it yourself) projects. Whenever possible, members are encouraged to post pictures of the steps involved in making a project as well as the final results. We attempt to be carefully organized to allow members to easily find the projects they are looking for. Special emphasis is placed on projects that involve recycling, reusing and repurposing existing objects. We at craftster.org feel strongly that whenever an object can be reused rather than buried in a landfill, it's a worthy venture. Not to mention a interesting challenge! There are a bunch of great forums on the web that focus on the subject of crafting and diy projects, but until now there hasn't been a user-driven forum that focuses on archiving actual projects with pictures and step-by-step instructions. The other forums (that we know and love and read) are very free-form. You may do a search for a project like "bowl made from a record album" and come up with several different threads -- each one lacking in the full details of this project -- with perhaps no pictures of the final project and how to do it. craftster.org attempts to be more organized by breaking down projects into several categories and encouraging all information pertaining to a project be a part of the same thread. We encourage members to post completed projects with pictures whenever possible. We also try to separate the "discussion" area from the "projects" area so you can rely on easily finding the project you want and the info you need on making that project and not get bogged down with discussion.
http://www.craftster.org

VI. Feedback on message boards

Chapter Four - Blogging|
I. Intro to web blogs
Web Blog - A website with frequent, dated entries listed in reverse chronological order. The entries have links and commentary and often an opportunity for others to comment.

II. Brief history of web blogs
Tim Berners Lee
John Barger – www.robotwisdom.com
list of links – short descriptions
later added diary entries
coined the term “weblog”
1999 – Pyra Labs Blogger
describe Blogger
photos, voice recordings, videos - in place of text

III. Anatomy of web blogs – show examples of each
a. time-stamped entries listed in chronological order
b. list of links
c. feedback facility (commenting or guestbook)

IV. Web blog tools
blogger.com – quickly post, no ftp or html experience necessary
four clicks – weblog can be up and running along with an archive system
Movabletype.org -

V. Types of web blogs
Kerri Smith - Kerri Smith is an award winning illustrator and author who has dedicated her work to courage building, creative living, and the promotion of "PLAY." She maintains a monthly newsletter, "The Wish Jar Tales," which outlines what she's been up to including eating, playing, watching, reading, etc.
www.kerismith.com

Kurt Halsey - An online art journal.
http://www.kurthalsey.com/

Reconstructed Mind - An online art journal.
http://cobaltika-studio.com/reconstructed-mind

Claire Robertson - Loobylu is the personal website of Claire Robertson who is an illustrator living and working in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. She maintains a daily weblog and a personal portfolio site.
www.loobylu.com
www.clairetown.com

VI. Feedback on web blogs

Chapter Five - Cut + Paste Thesis Case Study
Outline of Media Project

I graduated from high school in 1995 and had no idea what I wanted to do for "the rest of my life." The only classes that I had ever paid attention in were art, crafts and photography. Yet, as I knew it, you could not make a living as an "artist." So, I went ahead and applied to 8 different colleges, none of which had a strong art department. I spent a year at Northeastern getting lost in the crowds, a year at Bridgewater State wasting MY time and MY money, and finally entered into the Massart community, where I truly wanted to be in the first place.

I started the undergraduate program at Massart in art education. Half way through my sophomore year I realized – I’m not going to be an artist anymore, I’m going to be a teacher. Teachers aren’t artists? I WANT TO BE AN ARTIST. Thereafter, I weaseled my way into the Graphic Design department. NOW, I would be officially trained and considered a member of the arts society. I even made sure on my degree that it said communication design department and not art education department.

I hope I’m not offending anyone at this point because, I don’t know where that came from? Who planted the idea in my head that I would no longer be an artist if I became a teacher? Why didn’t I think I could do both?

Needless to say, I entered society as a member of the "arts community." I was a Graphic Designer. I created websites, printed posters and brochures, went on photo shoots, and saw my work in advertisements and storefronts. Sounds glamorous …but not really. All I really wanted was a way out. I WANTED TO BE A TEACHER.

As you might have noticed, I found my way back into Massart as a graduate student in the New Media Art Education program. This time, I’M GOING TO BE BOTH A TEACHER AND AN ARTIST. And here is how I plan to keep my goals and dreams alive as well as other artist/teachers out there.

CUTXPASTE.NET –
Cut + Paste is a site built just for art educators. It's all about them - you - and your creative needs, concerns, and inspirations. By having artist/teachers share their stories, wisdom and advice, I hope to inspire and encourage others, as well as myself, to pick up that paint brush again or sign up for that glassblowing class that they have always wanted to take. Through interviews, an email discussion list, and excellent creative resources, I'm hoping to admonish the statement – Those who can't...teach.

GOALS –
1. Attract and keep enough members to make it worthwhile.
2. To deliver a satisfactory return of my time and investment.

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE –
The Main Index page of the Cut + Paste site has navigation to several sections including: home, about, the artists, community, resources and contact.

Home – A brief introduction of who this site is for and what the user will get out of it.

About – A letter from the author as to why this site came to be in the first place.

The Artists – This section is where the artist/teacher galleries live. Here, the user can have their work featured and posted online.

Explorations – In the Explorations section of the site, the user will be able to accept an assignment, complete it by following simple instructions, send in the required report (photograph, CD, video, etc), and see evidence of their work posted on-line. This online environment will aid in the artist/educators exploration of their own art making process and help to get their creative juices flowing.
Examples of possible exploration project assignments:
1. Pet Accessory - Create an accessory for your pet.
2. Creative Spaces - Photograph your creative space.
3. Pleasant Surprise - Create an object that can be placed in an area where only someone truly taking in their surroundings will come upon it.
4. Instant Inspiration - Grab the closest book. Open it and write down the first sentence that you see. Create a piece based on this new found inspiration.
5. Earliest Memory - What is your earliest memory? Create a work to convey that feeling to your viewer.
6. New Endeavors - Today is the day. Sign up for that class that you've been eyeing for the past few months. Tell us about it.

Community – The community section has a number of options to keep the user involved in the growth of the site.
• Discussion List – The user can sign up for to be a part of an email
discussion list.
• Newsletter – The user can sign up to receive a regular newsletter which can help them stay connected with other members and keep the community on their radar screen.
• Guestbook – The user can publish comments on the site, share links and resources, and view others feedback.

Resources – A number of suggested resources to help the visitor find a new creative path.

Contact – A space for the user to send the site author unpublished feedback,

INTERFACE DESIGN DECISIONS –
Email discussion list – I chose an email discussion list because it is the easiest kind of online gathering place to create, maintain, and participate in. The users don’t have to learn a new interface (assuming that everyone reads email) and don’t have to "check in" somewhere to take part in the conversation. Starting small will allow me to find my core audience, develop a coherent identity, and learn as I go. Running a community takes time, energy and expertise, and the larger and more complex the community is, the more that I’ll have to learn in order to manage it effectively. If it takes off, I may re-think my plan and add more features and gathering places later.

CONCLUSION –
Cut + Paste has exciting potential for a group of highly educated and creative individuals to come together and share their ideas. As the group evolves, the sense of purpose will evolve as well forcing me to come up with innovative ways to use the platform in order to address their changing requirements. The true power of this community lies within the hands of the group members.