Reprogramming Spreadsheet Capitalism for Climate Resilience
In the framework of spreadsheet capitalism, capital no longer exists solely as a tangible asset, productive relation, or factor of industrial production—it is reconstituted as a symbolic, programmable logic embedded in and animated by digital spreadsheets. Drawing on a semiotic-computational framework, this transformation reveals how capital is not simply represented in spreadsheets but reborn through symbolic substitution, abstract modeling, and procedural calculation.
Spreadsheet Formulas and the Temporal Imperatives of the Leveraged Buyout Economy
The IBM PC and its compatibles (Compaq, Dell, DEC Rainbow 100), powered by Intel’s microprocessors, provided the hardware platform for the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet to thrive in the 1980s. The spreadsheet’s features, combined with Intel’s 8088’s processing power, made it a versatile tool for financial professionals. This post analyzes the digital spreadsheet’s capability to use […]
The Framing Power of Digital Spreadsheets
The power of framing in digital spreadsheets arises from the ability to define what data is included, how it is processed by functions or formulas, and the visual or numerical emphasis placed on specific inputs and outcomes. Spreadsheets exert framing power through selecting and prioritizing data, formula logic and embedded assumptions, standardization and norms, simplifying complex realities, and selective presentation of results.
Analyzing YouTube Channels
We are pushing the realms of media analysis here by taking film and television studies and applying it to a new visual medium – YouTube.
Building Dystopian Economies in Facebook’s Metaverse
Strangely relevant to the new emergence of virtual environments like Facebook’s Metaverse, the talk was held in downtown New York City at the Woolworth Building, known as the “Cathedral of Commerce” when it was built in 1913. The location was strangely appropriate given the topic, a wrap-up of a year-long project at New York University on Second Life. The project involved an animation class taught by Mechthild Schmidt-Feist, and my class, the Political Economy of Digital Media. I still have the tee-shirt my students gave me that says “Got Linden?” a reference to Second Life’s currency, the Linden.
Memes, Propaganda, and Virality
Discussion of the power of memes and their ability to be diffused virally. Memes are designed to crystallize or fix sets of meanings that Neil Postman argued causes us react quickly and emotionally. They draw on bits of culture, such as slogans, cartoon images, and brand items that are small and easily remembered. They are packaged semiotically with images and text juxtaposed in ways that invite us to construct more complex associations.
YouTube Meaning-Creating (and Money-Making) Practices
YouTube has become a new frontier for media studies. The opportunity exists now to pioneer strategies for understanding this intriguing visual medium and the sets of meanings they create. What techniques are used in YouTube “channels?” What types of persuasive techniques are effective on YouTube channels. How do they differ from techniques used in film and television?
Lasswell and Hall – Power and Meaning in Media
Citation APA (7th Edition) Pennings, A.J. (2019, Mar 6). Lasswell and Hall – Power and Meaning in Media. apennings.com https://apennings.com/media-strategies/lasswell-and-hall-power-and-meaning-in-media/ Harold Dwight Lasswell was one of the founding influences on the formation of the study of communication, media studies, and sociology. Stuart Hall was a Rhodes Scholar from Jamaica who helped pioneer an area of […]
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About Me
Professor (full) at State University of New York (SUNY) Korea since 2016. Research Professor for Stony Brook University. Moved to Austin, Texas in August 2012 to join the Digital Media Management program at St. Edwards University. Spent the previous decade on the faculty at New York University teaching and researching information systems, digital economics, and global political economy
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anthony.pennings@sunykorea.ac.kr
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