In July 2004, Jo-Anne Green and Helen Thorington of Turbulence.org, and Michelle Riel, Assistant Professor of New Media at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB), originated the networked_performance blog. It was their intent to chronicle current network-enabled practice, to obtain a wide-range of perspectives on issues and to uncover commonalities in the work.

What the blog revealed at that time was an explosion of creative experimental pursuits made possible by the migration of computation out of the desktop PC and into the physical world and by the continuing advances in internet technologies, wireless telecommunications, sensor technologies and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In these explorations artists utilized pervasive, ubiquitous computing technologies that are inexpensive, readily available, and most importantly, mobile and wirelessly networked. The blog further revealed that these technologies were being utilized by a growing generation of programming capable artists and artistically minded engineers and computer scientists.

Newer technologies have gained prominence – particularly social networking platforms that have made possible an enthusiastic return to the net, where users from all disciplines and fields of endeavor began to control the media they produce and consume. Further, virtual worlds, most notably Second Life, have seen an increase in creative practice as artists explore the technologies and social ramifications of synthetic, multiuser environments.

These changes are documented in networked_performance’s blog entries.