I've been struggling lately with what to write about. I've been trying to focus on my wiki, but I think I've probably bitten off more than I can chew. In trying to apply the oral tradition (the oAgora) to the new media (what Dr. Foley calls the eAgora), I struggle to find true online examples of the interactivity and context that would make electronic communication truly like oral. My latest idea is to make this a true wiki, where everyone has the opportunity to add their own examples. Maybe all I have to do is establish the criteria and the rules. That's when I stumbled on what might be the greatest application of the oral tradition online - the wiki itself.

I'm a huge wiki fan. I use wikipedia constantly, and I enjoy correcting people who think it's less accurate than Encyclopedia Brittanica. I also love wikia, the online platform the wikipedia folks provide for others to use. (For some great examples, see Lawrence Lessig's wiki, this great collection of computer game wikis, and even a wiki for the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game.)

The video and card game communities especially demonstrate how the Internet works better as an oral than a textual tradition. Of course, most of the information on these sites are textually based, but they offer such a high level of interactivity that none of these texts are really permanent. They are all just iterations of one tradition. On the game sites, I think you also see the application of reperformance. I know I'm a geek, but I love to watch the replays people save of their Defense of the Ancients games. (One warning: If you really want to watch these, you need to have Warcraft 3 installed on your computer.) I also love the machinima tradition. I have already mentioned using graphics from computer games to make your own videos, but I don't think I've accurately encapsulated the wealth of art that exists. If you don't believe me, here is a simple YouTube search. I really enjoyed this video that shows how it all comes together.


Most of these movies are also released under the creative commons license which allows others to recut and re-edit them. One organization even provides the tools and the forum to encourage people to use them. I dare you to watch more than three of the videos without getting hooked. My son's only five and he's already trying to create his own videos.

I know I'm only scratching the surface here, and probably confusing more people than I'm helping. But it's helpful for me to think through my final project ideas in public, and hopefully I'm introducing you to something new.