1-What are some of the reasons for a surge in digital autobiographical production from “home pages” to “wearcams”?

One reason for the surge in digital autobiographical production was because we finally had the power of having the camera in our own hands. Not only that, but we had the whole process of publishing it, too. People finally had the power to do what they wanted with a camera and having the ability to publish it through a publishing medium. These productions surged because people had a hunger for content when other people tell their own stories. The fact that they could watch someone’s life, such as Jennicam, was something so new and uncommon.

2-What is the role of autobotography vis-a-vis technology’s “narcotic effect”?

It shows that we depend on technology in almost everything we do.

3-Jennicam gives us an example of the pleasures of self-disclosure, Mann’s WearCams give an example of the dangers of surveillance. Are there dangers in Jennifer Ringley’s work (or similar projects)? And what might those dangers be? Conversely, are there any pleasures in Stephen Mann’s WearCams?

People could see everything that Jennifer Ringley was doing. There are definitely dangers in that. What if she had a stalker? In today’s society, that could be very likely. He could have known exactly when she was the only one home or something like that. Stephen Mann’s WearCams definitely have pleasures. The fact that you are recording people that don’t know they’re under surveillance gives you a sense of superiority. When you are controlling the camera, you feel that you are the one with more power.

4-Explain how 2 of the blogging projects reshapes our sense of self, life, or writing.

Blogging a Birth: This project definitely reshapes our sense of life. To have a live viewing of the miracle of life is remarkable, and it is only possible now with the technology we have. If the person was just writing about this, it wouldn’t be anywhere close to the same.

5-Pick one of the “moving self-portraits” and explain how the project evokes the mystery of our contemporary lives. What kinds of issues does the portrait raise?

NobodyHere was one of the more interesting pieces. It starts with the silhouette of a man just sitting at his computer typing. You are able to scroll of words, and as you do, he types something about those words. I put my mouse over the word “choices” and he typed, “Choices don’t matter that much.” All of these sentences are personal opinions that this character is trying to convey to us. There is such an ease at passing information now without actual face-to-face interaction. Sooner or later, I feel like we are going to lose all sense of human interaction and it is all going to be through electronics.

6-Katherine Hayles speaks of the “post-human” in describing the cyborgian entities we have become. How do the artists of this chapter create autobotographies of this “post-human” cyborg? Consider, for example Life Sharing and [phage].

Now that kids and pretty much everyone else is on Facebook or Twitter, or some other social networking site, there are cyber versions of all of us. We each have our own online identity. We spend so much of our lives shaping these online selves when we could be shaping our physical selves. People have become so intertwined with their cyber identities that sometimes I don’t think they know that it’s not all real.

7-How do digital artists examine the commodification of the self? How has the self become another consumer good, or how does a human being get reduced to a “consumer”? Which digital projects raise theese questions and how do they do it?

8-Describe the autobotography of “invented selves” or avatars. How do Female Extension and Darko Maver raise questions about the nature of digital selves. Why do they use invented selves and what are the reasons for doing so and the effects of their choices?

I feel as though people try so hard to create an invented self that is perfect. They don’t want people to see their flaws, so they create some digital self that isn’t even close to who they really are. Invented selves can be whoever you want them to be, which is why people create this fake self.