OU research stories

Dr Aleks Krotoski puts the glamour into technology. She’s an academic, a journalist and the presenter of the BBC/Open University co-production of The Virtual Revolution. She takes time out of her hectic schedule to chat via Skype to Platform's Robyn Slingsby…

Talking about her most prized possession, Aleks Krotoski’s iPhone shoots out of her hands and onto the floor. “You see, you really can’t break technology!“ she says over the computer monitor, laughing as she retrieves her smart phone.

“The thing that freaks people out about technology is they’re afraid they’re going to break it,” she says. And with just 20 per cent of the world’s population online, there are huge numbers out there without access to or knowledge of the internet, something a lot of us take for granted. “We need to be aware that we’re in a very connected country. We live in an environment in which we have this extraordinary access and we’re blinded by this and think everyone’s got it, and not everyone in the world has,” she adds.

Not everyone is as confident with technology as Aleks either. She’s studied it, has a PhD in it and is the face of BBC2’s The Virtual Revolution, a four-part series exploring the social history of the world wide web. But even Aleks can’t keep up with it all.

“That’s why I’ve ended up remaining a journalist because you have to be, by the very nature of your job, at the leading edge of technology. In terms of how to manage one’s social environment, it’s very difficult and I literally I don’t know how to do everything. At the moment I’m only on Twitter and Flickr and occasionally I go to  Facebook, and the reason for that is because that’s where my different networks are. If my networks went to different technologies then so would I, I’m a sheep. As we all are, we have our social flocking because these are social technologies. The only way I can recommend that people keep up is just by getting a sense of where people are. My favourite thing that’s come out over the past couple of years, the thing I’ve really engaged with, is the smart phone. It allows me to tweet on the road, it allows me to check emails, allows me to use Facebook, allows me to upload my Flickr pics and it’s all there, it’s with me. The smart phone industry‘s going to love me when I say I’m a big promoter of the technology. I mean, it looks like a science fiction/Star Trek kind of thing but ultimately allows you to remain connected, which for some people isn’t the right thing but for me it really is.

Afraid of breaking technology
“This thing has changed my life,” she adds, pointing to her iPhone. “It really is the thing that allows me to maintain my connections with friends, in every possible way. This thing is my brain, a little distributed piece of technology, like in Harry Potter; I feel I should be able to pull out my memory and stick it in there.

“The thing that freaks people out about technology is they’re afraid they’re going to break it – and I just threw mine across the room! – but I think that stops a lot of people from using the web the and really engaging with it; not the fear of losing themselves and becoming an anti-social creature, it’s more a fear they’ll break the internet. But this phone did the most incredible thing I have ever seen with a new piece of technology… as soon as it comes out of the box you’re forced to confront the thing you fear the most. You don’t have a manual, you don’t have anything, so you have to touch the screen. In order to turn in on, in order to do anything with it the first thing you have to do is touch the screen and that breaks down the boundaries instantly.”

Aleks Krotoski is the face of The Virtual Revolution, a four-part series on BBC2 which delves into the world wide web, and she started filming just two weeks after finishing her PhD thesis examining how information spreads around social networks on the internet. But being a TV presenter isn’t something she’d ever imagined pursuing.

“It was a crazy adventure, “she says. “The team approached me, they kinda stalked me a little bit on the web and discovered who I was and what I was doing and that I was writing about technology and studying it too. They got in touch and it was just completely accidental perfect timing. The making of the series was incredible, because filming came two weeks after I submitted my PhD, literally. So I had two weeks of recovery time before I started interviewing all the people I referenced in my PhD thesis. It’s been quite frenetic, I don’t actually remember 2009, so I’m glad I incessantly took photographs and tweeted so I have a record of this extraordinary opportunity and extraordinary time.”

Aleks worked with academics from the OU on the finalised script for the series but, if given the choice, she’d choose an OU course which takes her away from the computer screen. “Do you do under water botany?“ she asks. “I’d like something that’s not in front of my machine actually. I could really use something that uses my physicality and forces me out and away from all of my connections. I’ve been thinking for the last five years, very academically and very hard about the web, and could really use an OU course that sends me out. I want something practical so I can get my hands dirty – like under water basket weaving,” she laughs.

Under water basket weaving?
While under water basket weaving isn’t on the OU prospectus Aleks is a fan of the OU’s development and international relations courses which she describes as “fascinating”. But she’s unlikely to drag herself away from the computer screen anytime soon.  So, social media or anti-social media? While the internet helps create relationships, it’s also been blamed for breaking them. What’s Aleks’ take on this?

“I often invoke John Humphreys when asked this question. I listen to Today programme when I wake up in the morning and any time there’s anything about the internet he presents this extraordinarily black or white scenario. If you use the web then that’s it, that’s all you do; if you use Facebook then that’s it, that’s all you do; and there’s nothing else in your entire life. The problem with looking at it in black and white, like any social psychology and media affect, it’s difficult because you don’t see the entire context, you don’t understand what is it about the social system that’s creating the bullying, you know, you can’t just blame Facebook for that kind of thing. Now on a more meta level my PhD was premised on the idea that in fact these communities do exist and they’re very powerful and they’re very influential communities. For good or for ill, literally, for good or for ill.

“I am extremely passionate about the power of online community to bring people together, whether it’s single interest groups, whether it’s communities at practice, these are environments where people are able to come and in many ways ascend to a higher understanding when it comes to identity, when it comes to who one believes one is, through the very nature of meeting people with other viewpoints.

“But at the same time it also creates what’s called cyber balkanisation; this vast environment of communication and community, of potential interaction, with all of the people in the world, is too difficult for individuals to parse so ultimately they end up creating very small groups and communities, where you can ascend to your higher sense of your identity and who you are, which can ultimately antagonise other groups of people because as there’s no real way nor reason for these communities to interact.

The glamour factor
“In one sense, yeah these online communities are awesome because they bring people together but the online communities can also be bad, like any other kind of interaction could be bad. So there’s a nice woolly answer for you… It’s an agnostic tool, it is a tool, and what people bring to it is their own agenda and some don’t even realise they have an agenda and that’s the most exciting thing. It’s simply another media channel, it’s simply another communication platform and what’s most exciting about it at the moment is that it’s utterly uncontrolled, so you have all these stakeholders really rallying around, realty jostling to see who can control this information and how they can manipulate, ultimately, people’s thoughts and what they believe and how they believe.”

Aleks certainly knows what she’s talking about when it comes to the world wide web. In a comment on one of her technology-themed blog posts for The Guardian it’s suggested that Aleks has done for technology what Nigella Lawson has done for cooking - added the glamour factor. She’s not only embarrassed by this, she’s also very proud. “I’m honoured and I think one of the reasons why I signed up for the programme is because I was told that the BBC was looking for new expert female presenters and that was the most compelling, powerful and moving reason for me to do it. Being a woman in technology, I often hang out with other women in technology, so for me it’s normal that there are beautiful, powerful, enthusiastic and intelligent women in this space, but it’s not the common perception. For me, to be a representative of the clever female person who isn’t afraid of technology and can see the bigger picture is very moving and exciting. It makes me feel very proud because just by the very nature of being a woman talking about this stuff, it says to other women that this is an option, you can do this.”

It’s been a busy year for Aleks. So, what’s next? “This year is all about writing. 2009 just didn’t happen and this is my articulation point. Everything ended at the same time, my PhD, the TV programme and now it’s like woah, what now? Continuing with the status quo, this year is all about writing but I don’t really know what will happen next. There’s the book, which I aim to have out by November and which will touch on the themes of the series; I want to write two articles accepted by periodical review journals; I’m special editing two peer review journals and I aim, in terms of media stuff, to extend some of the themes and questions raised from the series and do a longitudinal study that looks at the development that may befall the continent of Africa as it gets highspeed broadband.”