Introduction

Digital media develop differently everywhere. Communities may prefer to use particular types of networked technologies over others or acquire access to digital media at different times and in different ways. Intended use and design of technologies and software created in Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley might not make sense to populations outside of these metropolitan areas, within other cultures or economic backgrounds, or within practices of everyday life. Basic internet connectivity and relationships to digital infrastructures or technologies might mean something entirely different within particular localities and place-based communities. Therefore, to generalize digital media as “global,” “ubiquitous,” “new,” or “emerging” is problematic—nothing about the production of digital media or the social practices, economic interactions, or relationships associated with these media is uniform or universal.