The Obama administration in April, 2010, placed an American on the C.I.A.’s “kill or capture” list. Anwar al-Awlaki grew up in New Mexico but moved overseas to Yemen. He became an evangelistic leader for al-Quaeda. His speeches allegedly encouraged a Pakistani-American to join and then botch a car bombing in Times Square in New York City. His messages also allegedly enticed a Nigerian young man to join the terrorist group and then unsuccessfully try to down an American passenger jet on Christmas Day in 2009 in Detroit. American officials say that Ibrahim al-Asiri from Saudi Arabia made the bomb for that attack. Another American, Samir Khan published an internet-based magazine called Inspire. This English-language media object promoted the ideology of al-Quaeda, such as by including articles like “Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.”
In September, 2011, from inside the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia, C.I.A. personnel watched the movement of Anwar al-Awlaki half a world away in the African nation of Yemen. Undercover or embedded C.I.A. agents might have used their own eyes to keep watch on al-Awlaki, but they spied on him from aircraft high overhead. Personnel in Langley had reviewed the overhead images of where he was staying. Although these images might have resembled what a B-25 bombardier saw when he looked down to the ground from the plane’s glass bombsite in World War II, these electronic images represented what the twenty-first century drone saw and transmitted back to Virginia. In other words, C.I.A. personnel analyzed the situation by examining visual representations of what the cameras of an unmanned aircraft saw on the other side of the globe. When the C.I.A. personnel looked at the representational images, they spotted his riding in a car, and they ordered the drone to shoot a missile, which reached its intended target and killed leader Anwar al-Awlaki and publicist Samir Khan (Associated Press, October 1, 2011). Bomb-maker Ibrahim al-Asiri might or might not have been killed in the air strike (Associated Press, October 3, 2011).
The C.I.A. used representational analysis to effect the assassination of a terrorist and what President Obama called “a major blow to al-Qaeda’s most active operational affiliate” (A.P., October 1, 2011). In representational analysis “any proposition that correctly represents the ‘real’ world is true,” and “knowledge, in turn is the compilation of correct propositions” (Stanley J. Grenz, A Primer on Postmodernism, p. 153); therefore, when C.I.A. personnel examined the visual representations of al-Awlaki’s movements in Yemen, they assumed that the images “re-presented” the actual circumstances overseas, that is, that they were seeing the “real” world in which the proposition that Awlaki was ripe for picking was true. The C.I.A. then acted on their knowledge of the correct propositions by pulling the trigger from thousands of miles away from Africa.
In The Spam Book: On Viruses, Porn, and Other Anomalies from the Dark Side of Digital Culture, editors Jussi Parikka and Tony D. Sampson observe that scholars have used representational analysis for their examinations of spam, computer viruses, and pornography. Our nine-year-old son could explain that the now-ubiquitous reference to “the Dark Side” refers to the evil side or the side of the bad guys from Star Wars. I would classify computer viruses and pornography—things that damage equipment, networks, bank accounts, human models (mainly women), and families—as belonging to the dark side. But when analyzing “things,” the seventeenth-century philosopher Benedictus Spinoza would caution me that “things” are not “more or less perfect because they delight or offend the human senses, or because they are beneficial or prejudicial to human nature” (Parrika and Sampson, p. 11). Representational analysis might consider perfection of the subject, for example, but like Spinoza, Jussi Parikka and Tony D. Sampson want to move “‘beyond good and evil’ and instead focus on the forces constituent to such moral subjects” (p. 11). As a result the dark side of the book’s subtitle refers to the representational analysis that many earlier scholars have used to describe spam (p. 5).
Parrika and Sampson prefer topological analysis to representation analysis when examining spam. Topological—in the sense of space and networks—analysis shows that anomalies in the digital environment are not abnormalities but part of the structure. Such a definition helps me study anomalies more objectively. Spam (although funny and unpleasant to eat or irritating to e-mailboxes) and porn and computer viruses (although still detrimental) are, therefore, anomalies in digital culture. As the power law depicts, most network nodes have few hits or links to them, while some (such as Google) have many hits. The “Google sites” and the pornographic sites are the “highly-linked anomalies” (p. 52).
Application of the topological approach to the subject of terrorism reveals some similarities to the issues of spam, pornography, and hacking. Terrorism functions as anomalies in the global power structure. That Yemen cell, acting a node in the terrorism network, was a “highly-linked anomaly.” As scamming spammers seek to extract money from recipients by creatively deceiving them, as operators of pornographic websites seek to take money from internet users by displaying tempting, titillating photographs and videos in order to lure them to pay to enter their site, and as hackers seek to gain notoriety, satisfaction, or sometimes money by exploiting weaknesses in the internet system, terrorists seek to violently exploit vulnerabilities of those people whose foundational, ideological beliefs differ from theirs. As scamming spamming, pornography, and hacking come with an internet system that affords generativity and profit-making, terrorism unfortunately comes with a global power structure in which some of the world’s marginalized turn to violent means to have their names, causes, desires, and beliefs known. Terrorism thus is an anomaly.
Governments will continue have to battle terrorism as long as current global power structures remain intact. Governments such as those in the United States and Europe might value the current global power structure more than they abhor the violence of the terrorists. In other words, they would rather keep the current world order in which terrorism is an anomaly and they remain on top rather than change to a more-level playing field, on which all of the world’s players—including the terrorists—have equal playing time.

INTRODUCTION:
Leather bound yearbooks, rugged ‘Letterman’ jackets, gold embossed rings, and other such nostalgic trinkets mournfully speak to a past moment when young co-eds arrived to a University, eagerly ready to consume every element – both minor and major – within an entire campus culture.  For four long years, these future thought leaders gave their academic achievements, activities, and community service the old college try in real time without a rampant Facebook addiction, subconsciously moving them to share their latest college follies online to friends and the free world.

Indeed as the academic process shifts from a time when the prospective student actually took a tour on foot and visited the buildings around a campus they were applying to, today it’s just as easy for one to save gas money and look up a virtual tour via Google Maps or perhaps browse through a tasteful set of photos thread into a properly tagged Flickr album posted by the student government president.  Without a doubt, today’s modern students, faculty, and a school’s staff members are all coming to the table and consuming the ‘campus’ brand in an entirely different way never before thought possible.  Even more interestingly though is how each of these parties are collaborating with one another to develop and build up an identity behind the campus brand they turn right around and imbibe. 

In the following case study we will analyze how La Trobe University, a multi-campus 4 year college, based in Victoria, Australia integrates social media collaboration between students, staff and faculty into their campus brand.  We’ll also look at the many ways an individual can consume the ‘La Trobe University’ campus identity in the digital space.

ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND: 
LaTrobe University; Victoria, Australia; 30,000+ students from over 90 countries; 3rd University to open in Victoria, Australia.

Named after Charles Joseph La Trobe … the first Superintendent of the Port Phillip District from 1839 to 1850 and first Lieutenant-Governor of the new colony of Victoria from 1851 to 1854. LaTrobe’s University founder was also responsible for supervising the establishment of self-government, the public library, art gallery, a university, and the development of the gold fields in Victoria.

On their ‘Coat of Arms’ … Australia is represented by the Australian Wedge-Tailed Eagle, one of the world’s largest eagles. Victoria is represented by the sprigs of heath, Queen Victoria’s floral emblem. The open book refers to the University’s commitment to learning. The scallop shells are part of the La Trobe family bearings and have been included to acknowledge the La Trobe name.

CASES OF COLLABORATION:

#1 | Facebook.com/LaTrobe
When a marketing campaign comes together and unites ‘All current students, future students, alumni, staff and fans’ to support and share their individual story about how they relate to the ‘LaTrobe University’ brand, its immediately clear that the individuals coming together in a community sense at LaTrobe are all contributing their own content which feeds back into the pulse of the campus brand.  Various representatives, staff and student delegates use the university’s Facebook Fan Page to communicate important news announcement and other daily updates or fast facts  like the following, “Did you know that La Trobe has more women in senior academic roles than the average Australian Uni? A great place to start but a long way to go – check out http://bit.ly/mMYKC3 to see how La Trobe is addressing the gender gap.”  More importantly these collaborations, story telling, and discussions about LaTrobe as a culture resonate across the website and inspire those not yet participating to perhaps join in with the community’s energy.

On Campus… Extra curricular student organizations use Facebook.com/LaTrobe to cross promote meeting announcements, function details, and welcome messages to new members making those involved in the larger LaTrobe community feel even more connected to small niche sub groups.  A perfect example was displayed earlier this week, The Asian Student Association posted details about their next club function on the LaTrobe Facebook Wall … “I thought it would be useful for international and local Asian students at La Trobe to join the Asian students association if they haven’t done so. It is a very useful group and you guys could find friends, hang out and etc. I suggest you guys to join if you haven’t already done so “

#2 | La Trobe University on iTunes U
When it comes to tapping the podcast market and building brand awareness around a campus brand, it’s hard to imagine anyone who might do it better than the folks at LaTrobe. Collaborating to build the campus brand doesn’t just mean getting the on site community involved, an organization should and can take it to the next level. Just look at these incredible stats since LaTrobe began this operation in October 2009.  The podcast series is a perfect way to display the collaborative spirit that exists on campus, just listen in to the interview between Student Producer Matt Smith and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of International John Rosenberg

On Campus … With the continuing development of their content and channel, LaTrobe is rolling out new feature stories to include interviews student leaders, helpful points of contact that an incoming 1st year might not meet or know what their position is, and a class review series which gives others considering course feedback on how their peers felt about the class.  The free lectures that professors post are also helpful when it comes to catching up on that Biology class you missed instead of wasting paper and scrambling notes from your study buddy.

Other interesting statistics about LaTrobe’s iTunes U channel…
- 450+ podcasts are available from La Trobe and 5 have ranked in the ’Top 100’ on iTunes U
- Notable interviews include former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Fraser, Nobel Prize winner in medicine Professor Harald zur Hausen, & human rights and refugee advocate Julian Burnside,
- In December 2010 more than 1 million podcasts produced from LaTrobe University had been downloaded from around the world.

#3 | YouTube.com/LaTrobeMarketing
As part of a collaborative celebration, honoring LaTrobe University’s Extra Curricular activity revival, over 100 students, faculty and staff performed an adlibbed dance and song to ‘Learnalilgivinanlovin’ by ARIA award winning artist, Goyte.   The performance also featured extravagantly dressed participants from India, Malaysia, Mexico, Indonesia, Sweden and Australia.

The infamous campus ‘LipDub’ (LaTrobe was the 1st University to participate in Australia) was produced together with student theatre director Bob Pavlich, the Student Guild, and in association with screen production company, Suitcase Murphy.  Since starting in Germany in 2008, the ‘universitylipdub.com‘ movement has attracted more than fifty responses from universities worldwide.  Who wouldn’t want to come together and build up their campus brand for the sake of garnering a quick flash of YouTube Fame?  To date LaTrobe is the leading Australian representative on the founding site.

On Campus … After participating in the LaTrobe LipDub, students can then go online to connect with other universities who also submitted their videos to the main website and carry a relationship initially launched online to more offline discussions through comments, cross sharing other places students could connect online (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.).

#4 | Twitter.com/LaTrobe
When one thinks about a university campus, there’s obviously a vast amount of information to share and discuss when it comes to the campus brand. Every day, using 140 characters or less, 2,385 students, teachers, and staff members connect across the LaTrobe University system via Twitter. The site not only shares an ‘RSS’ of straight news about LaTrobe between these parties, but members aren’t afraid to have a little fun while making their collaborations personal. There’s a significant trend between sharing links, photos, videos, and more through Twitter to one another as well.

On Campus … When graduation commencement time rolls around, students can give special well wishes and share memories from their time a University and what they learned like this alum did recently, “@gsyoung @latrobe Thanks for a fantastic Graduation ceremony today at Alb/Wod. http://t.co/0IWHtgg .. 1:56 AM Apr 15th via Twitter for iPhone’

CONSUMPTION SCENARIOS:

#1 | The ‘Web 2.0 College Olympics‘ sponsored by CollegeSurfing.com
LaTrobe Unviersity’s campus keeps a fine ear to the ground when it comes to tracking their social media presence and online reputation.  In an exciting development during 2010, news hit the community that LaTrobe had just earned a silver medal in the Web 2.0 College ‘Olympics’ run by Collegesurfing. com.  The global contest in which La Trobe came 15th – was the only university outside the US to reach the top fifty.  For those aware and consuming educational news, this was a report to watch and a place where LaTrobe earned major props when it came to their campus brand.

#2 | EDUCAUSE
When considering the many ways a person could pick up references and tidbits that lead them to swallowing a tiny piece of the ‘LaTrobe University’ campus brand, a myriad of social network platforms come to mind.  However, one unturned stone in particular that leaves a trail back to the campus identity stems from a former faculty member who served as an Educational Designer for the University.  As a contributing writer for the blog, EDUCAUSE (a nonprofit geared toward advancing higher education through IT) Catherine Howell was able to post stories, ideas, thoughts, musings and observations for the free running online world to consume about her role at LaTrobe and her history there.  Her efforts served as a leaping point for one to further investigate LaTrobe University and the campus brand it represents.

#3 | A LinkedIn Presence
Although this platform has been around since 2003, it’s not necessairly the first place one might turn to consume a brand online. However the rate at which this is changing is staggering, and surprise, surprise, LaTrobe University is already ahead of the curve.  Want to ask a professor about the specifics of a degree program and what they teach?  Just connect with Law Professor Craig Scoggie, .  Want to get in touch with John Rosenberg, Deputy Vice- Chancellor for Development and International who oversees the internationalization planning/implementing strategy for the campus?  Send him a LinkedIn invite.  LaTrobe University also encourages former alumni (all 135,000) to join the official LinkedIn Group so that even graduates can still consume their campus brand beyond the stage.

#4 | LaTrobe University in Analog Media gone Digital…
Conveniently, for those who still use ProQuest to pull from Newspapers, Magazines, and other ‘outgoing’ media, LaTrobe University is also holding a strong presence within in these platforms as well. Anyone so inclined to do a quick Google search will come across a variety of articles featured in places like The Hindustan Times, Preston-Leader.whereilive.com.au, or Aglasem.com to name a few.  While this campus brand is certainly enjoying people consuming their identity across new, interactive, and engaging platforms, they also see no reason to disregard the old all together.

Users Be Aware and Integrate Social Media Positively with your Brand: 
Village efforts of all kinds make up a brand identity that cause it to spread widely amongst the public masses.  Consumption occurs across a plethora of different media vehicles.  A truly progressive institution makes their campus brand known for consistency and thoughtful intelligence, regardless of where one learns about them and endures a first impression.

By incorporating numerous emerging media platforms into their core communications model and continuing to post thoughtful/relevant content, LaTrobe is actively taking steps and already achieving milestones with their enrollment.  In a recent article from Upstart.net.au, discussing how LaTrobe plans to act competively with recruiting incoming University student, Vice-Chancellor Paul Johnson remarked, “We have done set ourselves a growth target for student expansion to increase undergraduate numbers by 30% for 2015 and we’re well on the way for that. This year for instance across our regional campuses first-year enrolments was 30-40% above what it has been in previous years. And enrolment was 25% higher in Melbourne.” Because recruiting efforts are heavily toted via LaTrobe’s different social media channels, branded messages about the University’s well rounded environment not only come across in posts, but in videos, pictures, podcasts, and more.

Of course with much good comes much caution.  In considering how a University system begins to develop a social media communications model, governing leaders must also remember to constantly monitor safety/privacy practices.  Support strong IT support systems that can field any large scale virus attacks and above all things consider the representing voice of the organization when it takes the stage publicly on Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, etc.  If an organization fails to administer an authentic, ethical and professional manner – the negative consequences will long out due any good that might come from engaging in these online communities.