Research Critique: Jennicam

Jennicam was a webcam video that broadcast the life of Jennifer Ringley to the internet. It was 7 years of constant broadcasting about the mundane and intimate life of Jennifer, how she challenged the idea of video content and giving up your own personal data to the world.

The online artwork is still relevant in today’s society where we are constantly surrendering our data to the public. We filled up the forms and agreed to terms and condition without even looking at it. Our browsing history was being sold to companies so that they could better understand our interest and advertise what is relevant to us. All of the example above were just some of the reason why Jennicam had such a huge following. It brought the concept of living under the public eye to the extreme and proved the statement.

Jennicam have also brought light to the idea of “third space” and how constantly living in the virtual space had repercussions. The webcam had bought the idea of broadcasting even further and explore the negative effects of such idea. Having your personal details being revealed today (detail such as addresses and medical condition) might cause “swatting” of your house and even death threat being sent to your address.

One of my favorite email last year, I’ve got a message from a guy that said he was in college and its Friday night and he felt like a loser cause he is sitting at home. But he turn in to jennicam and I was in there on friday night doing my laundry. So he said it made him feel better because he knows I’m popular.

The quote above was from the David Letterman interview with Jennifer Ringley. Jennicam had also bought up the hidden desire of human nature, to feel accompanied even when there isn’t anyone around. The third space was able to achieve such results and form a unique relationship with the audiences.

In conclusion, I felt that Jennicam could still be the narratives of the society we are living in.