Tools for media revolution

Today Regina Lynn’s Sex Drive column on Wired is a piece called Twitter, iPhone Let Sex Workers Spread Their Gospel - and before I go any further in writing about it, I’d like to point out that this is the second time an article about my work has used the word “gospel” in the title (see: Audacia Ray spreads the gospel of feminist Web porn). That’s… well, I’m not sure, but I think it’s damned funny.

This past fall, when I was briefly employed by The Peeq, I blogged a bit about social media, theories on ways to use it, it’s purpose, what it does/is, etc etc blah blah blah. I have a folder in my Google Reader called “tech/new media,” and I read blogs about new media. I like to stay on top of things, but I’m kind of over talking about new media for the sake of theorizing it. I like using it to promote my agenda - and moreover, I like using it to connect with people, to learn, to consume media, to report what’s up with me, and because (and sometimes I forget this) it’s damned fun. Also, lest you forget, I work freelance, which usually means I’m sitting alone in my apartment or with my roommate across the room, or I’m on my bf’s couch, or somewhere else where I can work in my pajamas. This isolation means reaching out online is key, which I did a lot of during the Spitzer insanity, using several different tactics and sites - all of which Regina covers quite nicely in her piece. The short of it is: sex workers and sex worker advocates/activists are deftly using this technology to communicate and stay on top of things. It’s pretty sweet, and it’s the future of media.

This weekend I’m in Boston (well, Cambridge, more precisely) at the Women, Action and the Media conference. It looks to be an interesting fusion of new and old media, mainstream and radical approaches, all with the goal of furthering women’s involvement and voices. I’m doing a talk called Sex Workers and Media Representation, which should be interesting indeed.

And damn skippy, I’ll be using new media to Web 2.0 my way around the conference conversations and record interesting things I hear, plus makes notes of stuff for later. Over the past few weeks/months, I’ve been developing different online habits (there is, apparently, life beyond the obsessive browsing of Google Reader), the chief among them being Twitter, which is one of the first things I tune into when I turn on my computer. I’ve also developed an affection for Tumblr, where I have an informal blog that is mostly made up of links, pictures, quotes, and quick comments: have a gander at Dacia: incomplete thoughts and unofficial musings. I’ve been reserving my writing energy here on Waking Vixen for more thoughtfully composed posts, but I’ve been enjoying the fast and furious nature of Twitter and Tumblr quite a bit.

Throughout the duration of WAM, I’ll most likely be using Twitter the most heavily, though I’m pondering liveblogging some sessions - my only fear is that I’ll become too obsessed with recording what’s going on and won’t actually participate. We’ll see how it all feels in the moment.

These tools have been instrumental in my process of doing my work over the past while, and I think they’ll continue to be useful/crucial. But as neat as they are, they’re still just tools that do my bidding (well, most of the time). The real revolution is in conversation, inspiring words and thoughts, and engaging in the broader world of the media circus.

That said, I’m psyched for WAM!