Course Reflection

Thinking back to the first assignment in relation to digital literacy and the learning that has occurred since then, I would say that I am surprised at the outcomes. That is to say I am surprised at my level of familiarity with the context, and surprised at how much there still is to learn. At the beginning of this course, I felt I had a reasonably high-level of understanding of digital literacy and tactical ability in relation to complimentary technologies. The course work showed me how the theoretical context adds depth to my understanding of new media. It also showed me and how the rapid evolution of digital technology is continually changing due to the nature of digital communication, yet strongly rooted within a historical framework.

While I started this course familiar with tools like podcats, pinterest and animoto, this was the first exposure I had to being the creator of these messages rather than the consumer. This in itself was a terrific learning opportunity and, by connecting the tactical experience to an academic framework served to enhance my level of understanding and execution ability.

The three main highlights for me include Selfies, Narratives of Protest and Technobiophilia. 

• The readings and work on Selfies definitely changed and enhanced my perspective on the selfie and the many roles that it fills on both a positive and negative light. Taken to the extreme, selfies are rooted in narcissistic behavior, however, I can now appreciate the selfie as a powerful message, a documentation of a passing moment, as identity formation and as an interruption (just to name a few).
• The Narratives of Protest module was particularly eye opening in the power of digital media and story-telling to both educate and influence. I was engaged by the robust nature of this topic and found the examples and theories behind this type of influence to be particularly meaningful and robust.
• Technobiophilia was a completely new concept to me that I found fascinating. Working on the readings and engaging with the author was a meaningful way to learn about the connection between nature and technology.

I also enjoyed all of the work by everyone in this class. Each week it was interesting to see a range of perspectives and interests related to the course work. I also think the introspective nature of some of the work enhanced my familiarity with individual interests and personalities adding to a more robust learning environment in an online setting. 

I am not sure yet if my digital behavior will change, but I am confident that I will be able to make more informed decisions as I adapt new technologies and perhaps let go of others.

Nature and new media

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the readings this week, particularly Smith's article, Is There an Ecological Unconscious?  I read E. O. Wilson's book Consilience in 1999 and was deeply influenced by the message. I later read Biophilia and was captivated by the concept and fly bought into the idea that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. To me this is pure logic, because after all how can we be separate from it when we are made of it?

So to come upon Smith article and read about the work of Albrecht, Bateson and Doherty was like a revelation to me.  I watched a TedTalk video of Albrecht (and made my husband watch it!) in which he further expounds on the concepts of solastalgia and soliphilia. Albrecht views solastalgia as a new form of psychoterratic disease, describing it as in a way as to lose solace in the loss of home environment, describing it as a feeling of "homesickness you have when you’re still at home”.  Soliphilia on the other hand is the love of the totality of our place relationships and a willingness to accept, the process to build life rather than destroy it. Albrecht is interested in relationships between environment, natural and human made and our human consciousness. 

Smith's article focuses on the work of people like Albrecht and Doherty who investigate the relationship between  the health of the natural world and the health of the human mind.  As we continue to develop the planet what impact is it having on our psychology?

The Wordle produced from the article made perfect sense to me highlighting words such as nature, psychology, ecological, ecospychology and health. The human race has contributed to the industrialization of the planet and thereby created the ecological challenges we face today, that continue to grow. Is there any doubt it might affect us detrimentally as it does the ecosystem?

It reminds of this video, sadly.

References:

Wilson, E. O. (1984) Biophilia. Harvard Press.

Wilson, E. O. (1998) Consilience : The Unity of Knowledge, Knopf.

ac·tiv·ism

ac·tiv·ism

noun: activism

1 the policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change.

Activism is such a big word, it implies commitment, energy, motion.  Yet online activism gets downgraded into slacktivism, something Morozov (2009) refers to as ‘political activities that have no impact on real–life political outcomes, but only serve to increase the feel–good factor of the participants’. Christensen  (2011) too believes that online activism is less effective and leads to lower overall levels of participation. Yet, I’m not so sure I agree with them. Yes, people may not be going down to the town square to protest or throw their support behind a movement such as the search for equality but there is the power to share, to make aware, to connect. Raine et al. (2012) argue that people who use social media are more politically active and civically engaged.  Why should using your computer or smart phone be less valid than marching in the street? 

Creating a petition for this assignment was empowering and informative. I sign  petitions online but never really thought about creating one, yet it is such an effective way to get a dialogue going on an issue and make people aware. And interestingly Mitchel & Hitlin (2013) note that the dialogue online can be very different than the one playing out in mainstream media.

Which brings me to my petition for the assignment. 

Deciding on a topic was very difficult because lets face it there’s a lot of issues out there. Having worked in the political world for the last six years and then in the oil industry, for a Norwegian company, Statoil, I’ve had some insights into how the industry is run and how government and industry work with or against one another.  The province of Newfoundland and Labrador, once the poor cousin to the rest of Canada, has been leading the country in growth for several years now, mainly due in large part, to our oil industry.  But part of me believes that we are not managing the resources well and its time  for government, whether its Liberal, PC or NDP, to be more accountable and responsible to the people who live in this province today and to the ones who will be here when the oil runs out.

While working for the Norwegian company, I came to admire their management style and their countries long-term vision for their resource. If I can bring attention to the issue of mismanagement here and get a few people on side with me, then who knows what could happen? Maybe the government in Newfoundland and Labrador will pause and think about how the revenues and structure of oil management is working for this province and look to Norway for guidance and inspiration. And that is what Cadwalladr (2013) is talking about. With effort, we can change the world, have our voice heard and maybe make a difference. And if it is to start with a Facebook post or a Tweet, then what’s wrong with that?

References

Cadwalladr, C. (2013). “Inside Avaaz – Can Online Activism Really Change the World?” The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/17/avaaz-online-activism-can-it-change-the-world

Christensen, H. (2011). “Political Activities on the Internet: Slacktivism or Political Participation by Other Means?” First Monday. Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3336/2767,

Mitchell, A., & Hitlin, P. (2013). “Twitter Reaction to Events Often at Odds with Overall Public Opinion,” Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://journalistsresource.org/studies/politics/elections/pew-research-twitter-reaction-events-odds-overall-public-opinion

Morozov,E. (2009). “The brave new world of slacktivism,” Foreign Policy (19 May). Retrieved from http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/05/19/the_brave_new_world_of_slacktivism

Rainie, L., Smith, A., Lehman Schlozman, K.,Brady, H & Verba, S. (2012). “Social Media and Political Engagement,” Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/10/19/social-media-and-political-engagement/ 

Remove The Cyanide and Other Toxic Ingredients from Our Table Salt!

Check your salt ingredients. Does this contain more than Sodium Chloride (salt) and iodine? Probably, yes. 

While iodine is a good agent, contributing toward optimum endocrine health, table salt may also contain harmful agents -- sugar, dextrose (glucose) -- known to increase the blood sugar levels in diabetics, and toxic chemicals -- cyanide, aluminium, bleach.

Although several studies have indicated that the continued use of refined salt will expose the consumer to aluminium, cyanide and/or bleach toxicity, this dangerous product is still on our tables because manufactures want to secure their profits, selling a long shelf life table salt with poisonous ingredients. This issue bothers me for a while, especially because I have noticed that people who usually are conscious about reading the ingredients on a food product, they omit to check what their salt box contains. This is because they expect the salt to be exactly what the name implies.

Reading about online activism throughout the course, I realised that social media is really capable of “rearticulating solidarity across the world” (Kennedy, 2011). For instance, according to Pew Research Center, “31% of social media users have used the tools to encourage other people to take action on a political or social issue that is important to them” (Rainie et al., para. 7).  Moreover, a report about #Occupy movement indicates that “77.3% [participants] posted about Occupy via Facebook”; and “62.1% signed a petition” (Constanza-Chock, 2012, fig. 3, p. 5). These numbers speak for themselves: They indicate the powerful influence the online activism has nowadays.

For that reason, I took this opportunity to write a petition to address the salt table issue. Ok. Maybe this subject is not so interesting as the #Occupy subject is, yet if you think that every one of us consumes salt with every meal, it is essential to be sure that this will not kill us.

https://www.change.org/p/the-public-health-agency-of-canada-stop-the-cyanide-aluminium-and-bleach-poisoning-with-table-salt

I am aware that this petition might not reach its 100 signatures target. Yet, if some people will check the ingredients on the salt packages, and make the right choice when buying salt, this petition will make a difference. And why not? Maybe, someday, because of our informed choice, all the salt brands will be safe for consumption. It is time to act! Sign this petition! “[The] ‘real’ change can only come from outside the representative democratic system” (Juris, 2012, p. 261). 

References

 (2015). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXeUIYyDE0g

Corriher, C. (2015). The Truth About Table Salt and The Chemical Industry.Healthwyze.org. Retrieved 15 March 2015, from http://healthwyze.org/index.php/component/content/article/115-the-truth-about-table-salt-and-the-chemical-industry.html

Costanza-Chock, S. (2013). Mic Check! Media Practices in the Occupy Movement: Social Movement Studies. Retrieved March 13 http://web.mit.edu/schock/www//docs/pubs/mic-check-2012-costanza-chock.pdf. 

Juris, J. (2012). “Reflections on #Occupy Everywhere: Social Media, Public Space, and Emerging Logics of Aggregation.” American Ethnologist, (2), 259. doi:10.1111/j.15481425.2012.01362.

Kennedy, M. (2011). Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and Historical Frames: 2011, 1989, 1968. Jadaliyya.com. Retrieved 2 April 2015, from http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2853/arab-spring-occupy-wall-street-and-historical-fram

Louix Dor Dempriey Foundation,. (2011). The Difference Between Refined Salt and Unrefined Salt - Louix Dor Dempriey Foundation. Retrieved 15 March 2015, from http://www.louix.org/the-difference-between-refined-salt-and-unrefined-salt/

NaturalNews,. (2015). Confront Salt Confusion. Retrieved 15 March 2015, from http://www.naturalnews.com/026080_salt_sodium_health.html#ixzz3UIjunn4G

Rainie, L., Smith, A., Lehman Schlozman, K.,Brady, H & Verba, S. (2012). “Social Media and Political Engagement,” Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/10/19/social-media-and-political-engagement/

Ban the K-Cup

Recycling as a concept is not new, however, the importance and effectiveness of it in relation to the long-term sustainability of the planet has become a more frequent point of discussion in a business environment and on a personal level. While I would not consider myself to be an environmental activist, I do care about doing my part to reduce the environmental footprint produced through lifestyle choices.

Bypassing the trend towards the single-serving coffee system is something I have consciously chosen to do based on the unnecessary waste and cost. This inspired my petition to educate K-Cup users and encourage a choice of sustainability rather than added convenience. The following you tube video also prompted my motivation to head in this direction.

Based on the course readings and newsworthy events, I was aware of the power of online activism. However, I was surprised to learn that change.org has more than 85 million members and realized I did not understand the extent to which digital media has accelerated this uptake. 

While the sheer volume of members is impressive, this could support the theory of clictavism as outlined by Cadwalladr (2013). 

With the rise of online protest in the networked age, it is so easy to be part of a movement and the commitment can be so negligible that you might not even remember doing it. This is true both from the people signing the petitions and, to some extent, those who are creating then. The impermanent nature of the online format certainly lessens commitment. Unless we commit more than the ability to "click" and "share", we will struggle to gain ground in building and maintaining communities of people with real world desire for that extends beyond a computer screen.

In order to create my online petition in an impactful way I included facts and data to expose the truth behind the concept. In this case, the tactic of “exploring the truth” was used in order to take an evidence-based approach and demand accountability. Simply narrating the ideologies behind why recycling is important would not have had the same impact as the startling data that was used to support the case. 

Keep the K-Cup out of the landfill - Change.org

The creation of the video above and the petition, are examples of a more intensive form of media-making. The act of signing the petition or posting to a social media site like the twitter feed below, are examples where a less intensive form of media-making sees a higher rate of engagement as identified by Costanza-Chock (2012, Figure 3). A combination of mediums creates momentum by which to share messages, however, it seems to have the most robust result when paired with face-to-face engagement and real-world activities. 

#killthekcup Tweets

References

Cadwalladr, C. (2013). Inside Avaaz – Can Online Activism Really Change the World? Retrieved March 13 http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/17/avaaz-online-activism-can-it-change -the-world

Can action on the web lead change in the world? [digital image]. (2012). Retrieved from http://kalw.org/post/technology-and-social-causes-activism-or-clicktivism

Costanza-Chock, S. (2013). Mic Check! Media Practices in the Occupy Movement: Social Movement Studies. Retrieved March 13 http://web.mit.edu/schock/www//docs/pubs/mic-check-2012-costanza-chock.pdf. 

Kill the K-Cup. (2015, January 7). Kill the K-Cup [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRGiGbX9lIo&sns=em

Tactical Tech, (2009, 2014). 10 Tactics for Turning Information into Action. Retrieved March 8 from http://informationactivism.org. 

Social Movements: Mass-media versus Social Media

Social media is more than Slacktivism. Social movements, such as The Twitter Revolutions, (see Arab Spring, Tunisia, Moldova) are solid proofs that the capability of everyday people to circulate information and opinion online, in real time, can mobilize public opinion, and even overthrow political regimes. Hence, social media are extremely powerful, especially because they bring something new on the scene of protest : the peer-to-peer communication. This is perhaps the most important aspect about social movements -- choosing to protest on social media, people bypass the doubtful interests of mass-media, owned and controlled by a few people.

Accordingly, I do not agree with Robert Putnam, cited by Christensen (2011) when he argues that “citizens are becoming ‘lonely bowlers’ who no longer interact socially, and as a consequence no longer willing to take part in political matters “ (para. 8). He then argues that “the media — particularly TV but also the Internet — have helped decrease stocks of social capital, and thereby also the willingness among citizens to engage in political activities” (Putnam, cited by Christensen, 2011 para. 8). He is wrong. Twitter Revolutions indicate the contrary. Furthermore, as mentioned, it is a big difference between social media and mass-media due to the peer-to-peer communication brought by the latter; moreover, if before one may have been a ‘lonely bowler’ watching TV, now he can easily find like-minded people on social media, and set up a Twitter Revolution.

By the same token, it is not relevant that studies have found that“[o]n Twitter, political talk is highly partisan, where users’ clusters are characterized by homogeneous views and are linked to information sources” (Wihbey, 2013). It is not relevant because political talk is not supposed to be objective. It never was. It is supposed to bring forward debates based on ideas that will eventually improve the community’s life as a whole.

References

Christensen, H. (2011). Political activities on the Internet: Slacktivism or political participation by other means?. First Monday, 16(2). Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3336/2767

Wihbey, J. (2013). Pew Research: Twitter reaction to events often at odds with overall public opinion. Journalist's Resource. Retrieved 9 March 2015, from http://journalistsresource.org/studies/politics/digital-democracy/pew-research-twitter-reaction-events-odds-overall-public-opinion#sthash.ws7YuaIG.dpuf

Narratives of Protest - Influencing Opinion

While I was aware that social media was a large part of Obama's presidential campaign, and perhaps a large part of his success, I hadn't really been exposed to many of the tactics that were employed in this medium.

Kreiss's article provides an in-depth understanding of the potential that new media now holds in influencing pubic opinion.

The selfie and self-identification

Theories of self, serve to examine the ideologies of the actual self as well as the self that one hopes to develop and express in the future. According to Bargh, McKenna & Fitzsimmons, “Variation on one’s self are concerned with future, potential versions of self that do not yet exist in real time,” (2012, p. 34). It is this potential self that is perhaps the most applicable to the discussion of how selfies are used to create and control self image through the act of capturing and sharing self images online.

This blog will will examine the role that digital technology plays in shaping the nature of self, through the art and act of taking a selfie. This concept will be explored through an analysis using power, production, representation and identity as an underlying foundation to explore five categories of selfies:

1. Selfie as a powerful message
2. Selfie as documentation of a passing moment
3. Selife as identity formation
4. Selfie as a brand
5. Selfie as an interruption

It's not all about the self(ie)

I have to admit, that while creating this board that oddly terrible song #SELFIE kept jumping into my head (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdemFfbS5H0It). It is a superficial, comedic song that attempts to portray the extreme sense of narcissism that can be linked to social media and of course the #selfie.

The selfie, a self generated photograph, has increased in popularity as technology (smart phones/camera phones) has made self image capturing easier and more socially acceptable.

While the term ‘selfie’ is relatively new, and even recognized as the 2013 word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries, the societal desire to capture portraits and snapshots of moments in time is not.

According to Rutledge, “a selfie is the documentation of a passing moment, not a larger expression.” This statement resonated with me in the way that I think it speaks to many aspects of photography and visual media beyond just the selfie. The act of taking a photo, on a non-commercial basis, is typically motivated by the desire to capture a moment in time or a memory. Birthday’s, vacations and celebrations are frequently documented by photos and even portraits, that create a sense of historical context rather than self-indulgence. This had me wondering if it is the ‘selfie’ that represents the self-indulgence or the way in which it is shared that creates a sense of social dependence. An interesting avenue to explore in Assignment #2 perhaps.

While there is often a negative association with the selfie, Katz brought forward some interesting concepts around using this social tool effectively and for the greater good. The use of signs and posters to generate attention has long been part of cultural norms and the selfie is no different. “Posting a photo of yourself with a message makes a bugger statement than simply tweeting a hashtag or anonymously signing a petition,” (2014).

The Pinterest Board I have created focuses on highlighting a few of the ways selfies can be used in a more positive light with relation to larger context as well as simple moments in time.

Follow Jaylene's board #Selfie on Pinterest.

Lauren Katz, (May 2014). “Say it with a Selfie: Protesting in the Age of Social Media,” http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/05/10/311143584/say­it­with­a­selfie­protesting­in­the­age­of­social­media

Rutledge, P., (2014). “Making Sense of Selfies,” Psychology Today, http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively­media/201307/making­sense­selfies

http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/11/word-of-the-year-2013-winner/

Curating a story: Pinterest

Scrapbooking, journaling, and curating on Pinterest. It is a first day for everything. Today, I have found out that curating  on Pininterest is a nice experience: colorful, creative, engaging.

“Curation is the act of individuals with a passion for a content area to find, contextualize, and organize information. Curators provide a consistent update regarding what's interesting, happening, and cool in their focus” (Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum, 2012). Thus, I used Pinterest to “sav[e] and shar[e] stories [I found] around the web” (Perez, 2015), focusing my attention towards materials related to what I liked most throughout the course: digital literature and storytelling. It was fun! #digitalliterature

Follow Adela's board Digital Literature #NMN on Pinterest.

I used this opportunity, to ‘talk’ a bit about digital storytelling. #digitalstorytelling

I found interesting that some consider one cannot write a story on Twitter (using only a few characters), and the word curator  used on Pinterest is a bit exaggerated. For instance, this seem to upset  Harold Koda, an “actual curator” (Tahltan_channel_surfer, 2012): “The very meaning of the word [curator] is starting to change, and that makes me crazy” (Tahltan_channel_surfer, 2012).  I appreciate Koda’s opinion, but I also appreciate that if 70 million users on Pinterest are embracing the change, there is little he can do about it -- especially, in an era when “content is currency” and “creation, optimization, distribution, and curation”(Nicholasbrealey.com, 2015) are key in succeeding online.

References

Nicholasbrealey.com,. (2015). Content is Currency. Retrieved 14 February 2015, from http://nicholasbrealey.com/boston/content-is-currency.html

Perez, S. (2015). Pinterest Appeals To Publishers With New Article Pins, Pushes To Become A Bookmarking & “Read It Later” Service. TechCrunch. Retrieved 13 February 2015, from http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/24/pinterest-article-pins/

Rosenbaum, S., & Rosenbaum, S. (2012). Content Curators Are The New Superheros Of The Web. Fast Company. Retrieved 13 February 2015, from http://www.fastcompany.com/1834177/content-curators-are-new-superheros-web

Tahltan_channel_surfer, P. (2012). a-machine-to-return-the-songs-to-the-land: http://hermitagemuseum.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/an-open-letter-to-everyone-using-the-word-curate-incorrectly-on-the-internet/. Aboriginalcuratorinresidence.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 13 February 2015, from http://aboriginalcuratorinresidence.blogspot.ca/2012/05/httphermitagemuseumwordpresscom20111004.html

An end to my Facebook journey (maybe)

For a while now, I have been considering deleting my Facebook account as I am no longer very active. In fact, my last post was from June 2014. This was actually a bit of a surprise to me and think I felt a bit more active as several friends have tagged me in posts and photos since that time.

I find that the for the most part, the information I receive in my ‘news feed’ is either something I can learn about another way or it’s just not important to me. A quick look at my news feed today has confirmed that this is my typical experience. 

1. Travel Update

2. Movie Trailer 

3. Travel Selfie

4. Weather Update

5. Positive Quote/Picture

6. Travel Advice

7. Funny Picture
8. Life Rant

9. Game Suggestion

10. Advertisement

The majority of my friends appear to write without an audience in mind. It is more about sharing. This sharing comes in the form of helpful advice, informative messaging and interesting videos, however, it does not appear that the majority of my friends use their Facebook space to create a narrative. 

In the minority, are a couple of friends who employ their Facebook space to build engagement related to their personal business. I have a fitness coach friend who uses this medium to motivate others, share fitness tips and also ask for advice. I don’t really see any negative affects from the character restraints. Rather, her posts usually generate a fair amount of activity as they resonate with the audience she is targeting. 

I know someone else who uses his space to post a motivational quote or narrative on a daily basis. With the regularity in the schedule and the consistency in the type of message, I would suggest there is a level of narrative at work within the continuity flowing from consistent messaging rather than a story line or plot. Again, I do not think the character restraint affects the messaging as it is generally well within the quota and these efforts are mostly met with many ‘likes’ and a few comments. 

With the ability to share messages with multiple media at the same time I feel like many people are limited to the lowest common denominator and if twitter is in your mix, you are limited by the 140 character count.

With all of this in mind, and the general lack of interest I have for most things Facebook, I still have not committed to actually deleting my page. Like any form of social media I think I feel I certain sense of connection to my 'network' even if the connection is not as meaningful as many other forms of interaction that occur throughout my day. And deleting my account, almost feels like too much of an end to the brief interaction I have enjoyed over the past 7 years, Strange how quickly a form of new media can become a part of your daily activity. 

A Facebook Story

A book full of stories. From status updates to news feeds, Facebook unfolds stories about the real-world, in real time. The authors all have faces and names, but who had the idea first to make up a story, matters less. It is just like how my grandma use to tell: the story is more interesting than the author. This makes me believe that Facebook is a new form of folklore, a digital lore: “Folklore (or lore) consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales, stories, tall tales, and customs included in the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group.” (Mayor, 2000).

Facebook is a fantastic journey. Challenging and immersive. I am enjoying being part of it, participating in, and sometimes, creating it. I am interacting with some of its authors, who happens to be in my friends’ list. Sometimes we are using one picture or one word to tell an entire story. I enjoy looking up for the story of the day. I am looking for it in the news, in my friends feeds, and in their comments. When I find it, I like to put a little contribution to it: a comment, a thumb up, a share. Facebook is changing its face every day. 

These 20 Amazing Photos Will Make You Want to Visit Romania

I don’t remember the foreword or the first chapter, and I cannot foresee how the book will end. I am just enjoying the online storyline.

Reference:

Mayor, A. (2000). Bibliography of Classical Folklore Scholarship: Myths, Legends, and Popular Beliefs of Ancient Greece and Rome. Folklore, 111(1), 123-138. doi:10.1080/001558700360924

Narrative - old or new

I have always thought that Twitter had the most potential of all of the social media tools I had used,  for creative output. Last year the Newfoundland Historical Trust, @NLHistoricTrust

live tweeted the re-enactment of the great fire of 1892 that destroyed a large part of the city. It was riveting to follow along and relive the entire night through Twitter. It really was haunting and made me think about how difficult it must have been to have lived through such a tragic event.

As Andrew Fitzgerald noted in his talk, the reenactment potential of real life events offers up so many potentially great stories to a listening audience. It can create awareness and help people relive events and make them relevant or reteach lessons such as those from the war.  If you can use a modern tool to retell old stories and reach audiences that may not have been interested or perhaps aware of the stories, then that is truly beneficial. 

Obviously there are curmudgeons like Jonathan Franzen who can never be swayed about the merits of Twitter and what it can offer to the literary world. He will always elegize the “quiet and permanence of the printed word” and use creative words like ‘dumb’ to describe the next movement in writing. After he criticized Twitter a hashtag was created to respond to his luddite tendencies, #JonathanFranzenHates.  Many authors and critics responded and of course it trended. In an article in the Sydney Morning Herald Blake wrote, 

"Even Salman Rushdie joined in, tweeting: "Dear #Franzen: @MargaretAtwood @JoyceCarolOates @nycnovel @NathanEnglander @Shteyngart and I are fine with Twitter. Enjoy your ivory tower."  And then someone responded by creating a Storify book of the tweets received including this cat video!

http://fragg.me/video/cat-drinking-tap

When the novel was introduced to Europe there were many like Franzen who dismissed it's worth, and in fact the novel was so controversial it divided the French literary community. The Quarterly Review printed a story, including statistics, to prove that the lowly novel was linked to rising crime rates.

The example Buttry writes about, tweeting about surgery in real time was truly fascinating. Having just had someone very close to me go through a long and important surgery I could see the comfort this would bring to people waiting outside, wondering what is happening. Living an experience like this or tuning in for a live tweet that Fitzgerald talked about is novel and fun, and just may get more people interesting in story-telling.

King's piece was wonderful to read and the similarities between Twitter and graffiti were  interesting.  On Twitter she says, "this kind of storytelling is quick, even ephemeral, and largely improvised. It’s really more like broadcasting than writing, and one of the things that makes Twitter so intimate, even in its rowdy, buzzing, crowd-y-ness, is that you are reading someone’s work in real time." I fully concur.

References

Buttry, S. (August 2009). Riveting Twitter Narrative of Robotic Surgery at St. Luke’s. Retrieved on January 26, 2015 from http://stevebuttry.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/rivetingtwitter-narrativea-of-robotic-surgery-at-st-lukes/ 

Blake, E. (May 10, 2014) Authors Who Embrace Twitter. Retrieved on Jan 30, 2015 from http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/authors-who-embrace-twitter-20140508-37wt0.html#ixzz3QQjVh8dG

Fitzgerald, A. (October 2013). Adventures in Twitter Fiction, Ted Talks. Retrieved on January 28, 2015 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6ZzmqDMhi0 

King, R. J. (2013). How Twitter is Reshaping the Future of Storytelling. Retrieved on January 28, 2015 from http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682122/how-twitter-is-reshaping-the-future-of-storytelling 

Schellinger, P. (1998). The Encyclopedia of the Novel. Rutledge. New York.

Smith, A. (October 2013). Literary Parkour: @Hourse_ebooks, Jonathan Franzen and the Rise of Twitter Fiction. Grandland. Retrieved on January 28, 2015 from http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/literary-parkour-horse_ebooks-jonathan-franzen-and-the-rise-of-twitter-fiction/

#twitterorbooks

I like to think of myself as somewhat social media savvy, however, I have to admit that the concept of twitter fiction is completely new to me. I found the TED Talk by Andrew Fitzgerald particularly valuable as it conceptually gave me a foundation for understanding twitter fiction and in some ways, created a curiosity for further exploration. #twitterfictionnewbie

Typically, I view twitter as a news feed and had not given thought to its function as a fiction or literary medium. And, I am not yet completely convinced of its long-term viability. #fictionornonfiction

That being said, I think the digital medium itself has opened the door for new opportunity in writing, publishing and editing. Fitzgerald commented on the way in which e-books have opened a quick feedback system that is not possible in paper publishing. This in turn, opens new avenues and ways for authors to write, edit and vet ideas that likely leads to better end products, or at least end products that resonate more immediately with the audience. #immediatefeedback

Fitzgerald also pointed out an interesting dynamic in the user experience. “Normally the reader can control the pace of the story but that is not the case with Twitter.” This to me poses a problem, at least in the traditional sense of fictional literary works. When looking for interesting examples of twitter fiction, I felt confusion in knowing where I was in the story. Was I reading a 140 character story…was this it? Should I dig deeper to see if there is a collection of tweets somewhere? Did I miss something? #newmediaproblem

The BBC broadcast by Ruth Page likely resonated with me more in that she seemed to comment, for the mots part, on the twitter that I feel I know. One where we can gather information from people we may not normally connect with such as celebrities - even though much of what they share is based on raising a profile or promoting a new product/song/show. Even still, this week’s readings have opened my mind to new possibilities for this  medium and potential for just about anyone with a twitter account, talent and idea to be fiction-based writer. #trytwitterfiction

Ruth Page, (2011). BBC Radio Leicester Interview with Ruth Page on her Twitter 
research, http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/english/people/ruthpage

Andrew Fitzgerald (October 2013). “Adventures in Twitter Fiction, Ted Talks, 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6ZzmqDMhi0

Inanimate Alice, episode 6, Blue World

In this episode Alice pays homage to the water world and seeks adventure on the Atlantic ocean, sailing along the coast to greater destinations and wilder experiences. Dolphins and icebergs were a great start to her voyage.

The freedom and openness of the ocean compared to the cityscapes of Alice's previous travels reflect a new direction, where a wayward life with only a compass bearing constitutes a plan.

This was a fun project and I loved making this episode. I wish it could have been longer and I wish the program had been friendlier to use. The watermark that is embedded in my video is terrible and I tried everything I could (except paying for the program) but to no avail.  All of the images and video are mine, from my sailing adventures on the sea.

In my story, Alice is in Edmonton and she is 20. The pictures I have used in my video were created with Paper Artist, an application on my android phone. Although, it's been quite a busy day to figure how to remove the animoto watermark, finally Alice is alive, telling her 30 seconds story. Here it is:
alice

Creative machines?

There is a reason for the “persistence of the past”. And it is not always a bad thing. It’s ok for the past to be persistent, even if it is outmoded. It is how it’s supposed to be. Sheldon and his text-adventure game story tells something: He lacks the creativity if this is not delivered by present technology-- not having a visual map in front of his eyes, he does not realize that “going North” three times will bring the same result.

To me, Sheldon is representative of the modern man completely absorbed by technology: without visual representations fed by external sources, he can’t see the forest for the trees. By the way, why it is necessary to play laughing machines when something funny happens in the movie? Do we need technical assistance to figure out when to laugh? Aren’t we like Sheldon?

Well, if we don’t take away what is good from the past, will be difficult to be creative in building a future, even with the best technology at hand. That is why I liked Elizabeth Eisenstein’s  persistence of the past idea because the expression “blocks of text get moved by punching keys” reminds me of some  XIV century great invention: The keyboard we are using these days are, in fact, some mini-copies of the Guttenberg’s movable type. The old printing press was not used to represent smiley faces or other emoticons, but the books were embellished with flowers, birds, fruits, human faces. 

A nice  handwritten letter was also created with imagination: To express their passion, excitement or anger,  people cared to use different ink colours, to include flowers or other graphic representations in their writings. They used their hands and brains to create something. 

The past remains persistent because human nature does not change in space or time. We just change the tools to express ourselves.

I just hope that modern tools will not transform us in 24 h/day couch-potatoes. I hope that will find the right balance between text and visual, computer and brain, technology and human thinking.

Digital literacy & Me (Adela Popescu)

Here is my podcast

listen to ‘Digital Literacy & Me’ on audioBoom

Reflections…

 It was a good exercise for me. This digital material made me think about changing. It made me think back, and noticed how I let myself changed over time by technology. Nothing stays the same, especially, in the digital era: things are changing, and we are changing with them. Listen to my podcast and see what I mean!

I used audacity to record myself, a great open-source tool that I am using frequently, and it never lets me down; audioboom.com also worked perfectly for my purposes -- very user-friendly for a first time user.The open-source tools, such as these, make the digital world  awesome(r): save time, money, and allow us to be experts from the comfort of our home.

Here is the community I’ve mentioned in my presentation, aquarius.net: http://aquarius.net/directory/

And here is a capture of my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/adela.simboteanu

When I think of new media, I have this visual representation in my mind:

Lastly, the bird present in my audioboom profile picture is my quaker parrot, Bambi.