Hector Postigo
Biographic Data
| ID | 148902 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Hector Postigo |
| GIVEN NAMES | Hector |
| FAMILY NAME | Postigo |
| SIGNATURE | POSTIGO H |
| AFFILIATIONS | Temple University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 99 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Algorithmic Imaginations: Rethinking “Algorithmic” as a Heuristic for Understanding Computationally-Structured Culture
How we imagine our place within the structure of sociotechnical-human relationships—specifically, in domains of life affected by data-analytics and the probabilistic bets institutions and people in power make on the future of our credit worthiness, political leanings, shopping habits etc.—is our “algorithmic imagination.” The purpose of this panel is to explore the “algorithmic imagination” as it manifests in particular scholarly, historical, soc…
Introduction: From Culture Digitally
This essay introduces the special issue of Social Media + Society curated by the editors of Culture Digitally and drawn from the community of Culture Digitally contributors
Social Media: The Unbearable Lightness of Meaning
Milan Kundera, in his classic The Unbearable Lightness of Being undertook a consideration of the ephemeral. So I use it as a springboard for a brief consideration of social media and what is fixed and what is passing about its meaning to us as a self-aware species. Paradoxically that application of the concept slips into a conceptual tesseract as we attempt to hold social media to mean yet another contrivance for fixing our life experiences and t…
The socio-technical architecture of digital labor: Converting play into YouTube money
This article uses the case of video game commentators and examples from research to highlight implications for conceptualizing the concept of “architectures of digital labor.” The concept draws attention not only to the social practices that position activities straddling labor/leisure into a commercial framework but also to the technological platforms that make that possible in a seemingly invisible fashion. The main analytical lens is that of “…
Cultural Production and the Digital Rights Movement: Framing the right to participate in culture
The Digital Rights Movement is an effort by activists and advocacy organizations to expand consumer rights in media content use. A central argument for legitimating those rights pivots on a view of culture as a participatory endeavour. This article focuses on the Movement's use of the discourse of culture and digital technology describing (1) how the Movement positions culture as necessarily participatory; (2) the role of mediating technologies i…
Managing Privacy through Accountability
Draws together contributions from leading figures in the field of surveillance to engage in the discussion of the emergence of accountability as a means to manage threats to privacy. The first of its
Questioning the Web 2.0 Discourse: Social Roles, Production, Values, and the Case of the Human Rights Portal
This article interrogates the notion of Web 2.0, understanding it through three related conceptual lenses: (1) as a set of social relations, (2) as a mode of production, and (3) as a set of values. These conceptual framings help in understanding the discursive, technological, and social forces that are at play in Web 2.0 architectures. Based on research during a two-year period, the second part of this article applies these lenses to the case of …
Modding to the big leagues: Exploring the space between modders and the game industry
Modding is an important characteristic of participatory culture in video games. Studies have shown that PC game modders mod for a host of reasons not least of which as a means of developing the skills and portfolio needed to get a job in the video game industry. Modding culture can be thought of as a point of articulation between the industry and participatory cultural practices. Modding culture is not only concerned with accessing the game indus…
America Online volunteers: Lessons from an early co-production community
This article continues previous work that analysed the case of America Online (AOL) volunteers from critical perspectives of immaterial and free labor, and incorporates newly acquired documents and interviews by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) with volunteers. Specifically, this article puts forth the AOL volunteers’ case as an instance of co-production that eventually met its demise when organizational changes resulted in the rise of…
Information Communication Technologies and Framing for Backfire in the Digital Rights Movement: The Case of Dmitry Sklyarov’s Advanced e-Book Processor
In 2001, Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested for his role in designing the Advanced e-Book Processor, the software that cracked Adobe’s e-Book encryption. Using historical data and situating itself within social movement theory, this article focuses on the case of Sklyarov’s arrest to show how the digital rights movement, using online networks, mobilized activists and framed the event in a manner that led to ‘‘backfire’’ against government prosecutors a…
Capturing Fair Use for the Youtube Generation: The Digital Rights Movement, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the user-centered framing of fair use
This article undertakes an analysis of strategic framing strategies in the Digital Rights Movement by the movement's central Social Movement Organization (SMO), the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Through analysis of a series of interviews with key members of the EFF and analysis of the EFF's ‘Endangered Gizmos’ campaign in response to the MGM vs Grokster case, this article shows how the organization strategically frames consumers as users'…
Of Mods and Modders: Chasing Down the Value of Fan-Based Digital Game Modifications
This article is concerned with the role that fan-programmers (generally known as "modders") play in the success of the PC digital game industry. The fan culture for digital games is deeply embedded in shared practices and experiences among fan communities, and their active consumption contributes economically and culturally to broader society. Using a survey of the most commercially successful PC games in the first-person shooter category from 20…
From Pong to Planet Quake: Post-Industrial Transitions from Leisure to Work
In the closing weeks of 2002, video games were featured in various popular American news publications and media outlets such as Wired, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek and Time Magazine. It is becoming increasingly apparent that video games are no longer child's play, but rather that they are poised to become a major entertainment form for the twenty-first century. Social analysts and media scholars must begin to formulate an understanding of this …
Emerging Sources of Labor on the Internet: The Case of America Online Volunteers
In 1995 AOL announced that it would be converting its pricing plan from an hourly rate that ranged from $3 to $6 an hour to a flat monthly rate of $15.95. The increase in member subscription was expected to be significant, and a wave of concern swept through the large remote-staff volunteer population, whose duties included monitoring electronic bulletin boards, hosting chat-rooms, enforcing the Terms of Service agreement (TOS), guiding AOL users…
The socio-technical architecture of digital labor: Converting play into YouTube money
This article uses the case of video game commentators and examples from research to highlight implications for conceptualizing the concept of “architectures of digital labor.” The concept draws attention not only to the social practices that position activities straddling labor/leisure into a commercial framework but also to the technological platforms that make that possible in a seemingly invisible fashion. The main analytical lens is that of “…
Of Mods and Modders: Chasing Down the Value of Fan-Based Digital Game Modifications
This article is concerned with the role that fan-programmers (generally known as "modders") play in the success of the PC digital game industry. The fan culture for digital games is deeply embedded in shared practices and experiences among fan communities, and their active consumption contributes economically and culturally to broader society. Using a survey of the most commercially successful PC games in the first-person shooter category from 20…
Emerging Sources of Labor on the Internet: The Case of America Online Volunteers
In 1995 AOL announced that it would be converting its pricing plan from an hourly rate that ranged from $3 to $6 an hour to a flat monthly rate of $15.95. The increase in member subscription was expected to be significant, and a wave of concern swept through the large remote-staff volunteer population, whose duties included monitoring electronic bulletin boards, hosting chat-rooms, enforcing the Terms of Service agreement (TOS), guiding AOL users…
America Online volunteers: Lessons from an early co-production community
This article continues previous work that analysed the case of America Online (AOL) volunteers from critical perspectives of immaterial and free labor, and incorporates newly acquired documents and interviews by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) with volunteers. Specifically, this article puts forth the AOL volunteers’ case as an instance of co-production that eventually met its demise when organizational changes resulted in the rise of…
Information Communication Technologies and Framing for Backfire in the Digital Rights Movement: The Case of Dmitry Sklyarov’s Advanced e-Book Processor
In 2001, Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested for his role in designing the Advanced e-Book Processor, the software that cracked Adobe’s e-Book encryption. Using historical data and situating itself within social movement theory, this article focuses on the case of Sklyarov’s arrest to show how the digital rights movement, using online networks, mobilized activists and framed the event in a manner that led to ‘‘backfire’’ against government prosecutors a…
From Pong to Planet Quake: Post-Industrial Transitions from Leisure to Work
In the closing weeks of 2002, video games were featured in various popular American news publications and media outlets such as Wired, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek and Time Magazine. It is becoming increasingly apparent that video games are no longer child's play, but rather that they are poised to become a major entertainment form for the twenty-first century. Social analysts and media scholars must begin to formulate an understanding of this …
Emerging Sources of Labor on the Internet: The Case of America Online Volunteers
In 1995 AOL announced that it would be converting its pricing plan from an hourly rate that ranged from $3 to $6 an hour to a flat monthly rate of $15.95. The increase in member subscription was expected to be significant, and a wave of concern swept through the large remote-staff volunteer population, whose duties included monitoring electronic bulletin boards, hosting chat-rooms, enforcing the Terms of Service agreement (TOS), guiding AOL users…
Of Mods and Modders: Chasing Down the Value of Fan-Based Digital Game Modifications
This article is concerned with the role that fan-programmers (generally known as "modders") play in the success of the PC digital game industry. The fan culture for digital games is deeply embedded in shared practices and experiences among fan communities, and their active consumption contributes economically and culturally to broader society. Using a survey of the most commercially successful PC games in the first-person shooter category from 20…
Capturing Fair Use for the Youtube Generation: The Digital Rights Movement, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the user-centered framing of fair use
This article undertakes an analysis of strategic framing strategies in the Digital Rights Movement by the movement's central Social Movement Organization (SMO), the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Through analysis of a series of interviews with key members of the EFF and analysis of the EFF's ‘Endangered Gizmos’ campaign in response to the MGM vs Grokster case, this article shows how the organization strategically frames consumers as users'…
America Online volunteers: Lessons from an early co-production community
This article continues previous work that analysed the case of America Online (AOL) volunteers from critical perspectives of immaterial and free labor, and incorporates newly acquired documents and interviews by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) with volunteers. Specifically, this article puts forth the AOL volunteers’ case as an instance of co-production that eventually met its demise when organizational changes resulted in the rise of…
Information Communication Technologies and Framing for Backfire in the Digital Rights Movement: The Case of Dmitry Sklyarov’s Advanced e-Book Processor
In 2001, Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested for his role in designing the Advanced e-Book Processor, the software that cracked Adobe’s e-Book encryption. Using historical data and situating itself within social movement theory, this article focuses on the case of Sklyarov’s arrest to show how the digital rights movement, using online networks, mobilized activists and framed the event in a manner that led to ‘‘backfire’’ against government prosecutors a…
Modding to the big leagues: Exploring the space between modders and the game industry
Modding is an important characteristic of participatory culture in video games. Studies have shown that PC game modders mod for a host of reasons not least of which as a means of developing the skills and portfolio needed to get a job in the video game industry. Modding culture can be thought of as a point of articulation between the industry and participatory cultural practices. Modding culture is not only concerned with accessing the game indus…
Questioning the Web 2.0 Discourse: Social Roles, Production, Values, and the Case of the Human Rights Portal
This article interrogates the notion of Web 2.0, understanding it through three related conceptual lenses: (1) as a set of social relations, (2) as a mode of production, and (3) as a set of values. These conceptual framings help in understanding the discursive, technological, and social forces that are at play in Web 2.0 architectures. Based on research during a two-year period, the second part of this article applies these lenses to the case of …
Cultural Production and the Digital Rights Movement: Framing the right to participate in culture
The Digital Rights Movement is an effort by activists and advocacy organizations to expand consumer rights in media content use. A central argument for legitimating those rights pivots on a view of culture as a participatory endeavour. This article focuses on the Movement's use of the discourse of culture and digital technology describing (1) how the Movement positions culture as necessarily participatory; (2) the role of mediating technologies i…
Managing Privacy through Accountability
Draws together contributions from leading figures in the field of surveillance to engage in the discussion of the emergence of accountability as a means to manage threats to privacy. The first of its
The socio-technical architecture of digital labor: Converting play into YouTube money
This article uses the case of video game commentators and examples from research to highlight implications for conceptualizing the concept of “architectures of digital labor.” The concept draws attention not only to the social practices that position activities straddling labor/leisure into a commercial framework but also to the technological platforms that make that possible in a seemingly invisible fashion. The main analytical lens is that of “…
Introduction: From Culture Digitally
This essay introduces the special issue of Social Media + Society curated by the editors of Culture Digitally and drawn from the community of Culture Digitally contributors
Social Media: The Unbearable Lightness of Meaning
Milan Kundera, in his classic The Unbearable Lightness of Being undertook a consideration of the ephemeral. So I use it as a springboard for a brief consideration of social media and what is fixed and what is passing about its meaning to us as a self-aware species. Paradoxically that application of the concept slips into a conceptual tesseract as we attempt to hold social media to mean yet another contrivance for fixing our life experiences and t…
Algorithmic Imaginations: Rethinking “Algorithmic” as a Heuristic for Understanding Computationally-Structured Culture
How we imagine our place within the structure of sociotechnical-human relationships—specifically, in domains of life affected by data-analytics and the probabilistic bets institutions and people in power make on the future of our credit worthiness, political leanings, shopping habits etc.—is our “algorithmic imagination.” The purpose of this panel is to explore the “algorithmic imagination” as it manifests in particular scholarly, historical, soc…
Sociology (13 works) · Computer Science (12 works) · Political science (10 works) · Business (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Public relations (6 works) · Digital Games and Media (5 works) · Media studies (5 works) · World Wide Web (5 works) · Advertising (4 works)