Monday 30 September 2013

Blog Post 4 – Dear Diary



Anyone and everyone can be an author, anyone can publish their thoughts, and that is what our generation does, using social media outlets such as Facebook, and every thought is documented through status updates. Facebook has provided the vast majority of the first world the ability and validation of saying anything the individual wants. The problem created is lack of credible content. Every person on earth has an opinion or a thought; the problem is that not all these thoughts are diamonds. The Internet where it was once a place for facts has become flooded with a lot of baseless, fact less data, put up anonymously, more often than not, with no supporting evidence.

“The diary genre comes to the Internet with a great deal of cultural baggage, loaded down with popular perceptions that are not particularly flattering. Associated in the 20th century with the intensely personal and confessional, the sorts of secrets that should be hidden away under lock and key, the diary has been cast as an amateur mode meant for the diarist’s eyes. The ordinary person, in ordinary circumstances would not be likely to write, and certainly would be unable to publish, a diary meant for a wide audience; indeed doing so would be read as narcissistic or hubristic at worst; and at least generically valid.” (McNeill, 2011) The Internet has also blurred the lines of privacy. The concept has become almost completely obsolete. As a profile page on Facebook provides every detail of one’s life through a variety of mediums. While a traditional diary is consisted of the written word, Facebook provides photographs, interest, and lists of favorite movies, books, and television shows, as well as links to other pages or videos. No thing is private anymore, “The internet diary, then, is a genre overwritten with current and traditional expectations and needs of it’s users.”(McNeill, 2011)

References:

v McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0?. In C. Rowe, & E. L. Wyss (Eds.), Language and New Media (pp. 315-323). NJ, United States: Hampton Press, INC.

Friday 20 September 2013

Blog #6 Consuming Pinterest


This week discussed was the concept of ‘fordism’ relating to ‘stuff and the perspective of a sociologist can be translated as commodities (Wilkinson, 2013). The concept of ‘fordism’ concentrates on having a low production cost. The use of assembly lines was a way of standardising the work. Labourers in the production line became commodities to the production of the consumables. Trends are obtained depending on the market so that predictions of products can be made and targeted to certain audiences.

Pinterest has a large marketing interest and gathers information to guide certain marketers. It is in turn
Global Change, 2010
enabling globalisation to occur, because of the vast media that it covers. By adopting advertisements on certain pins, Pinterest has allowed for specific marketers to target a certain audience with their product. Pinterest is seen as a primary mode of the spread of ‘stuff’. It is contributing to the globalisation of consumables. Encouraging people to delve into products and buy new things.


In turn ‘fordism’ contributes to the conformity as a value to seek and match attitudes, beliefs and behaviours to group norms (Wilkins, 2013). Which is linked to the conformity of Globalisation and the link with Pinterest.

References:

Wilkinson, R. (producer). (2013). Stuff, Markets and Manufacture [Video Podcast]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_312_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_42847_1%26url%3D

Blog #5 Food as a Commodity



In our society today it is easy to walk to the fridge and put together a meal out of simple and obtainable items. However for some that isn’t even close to possible. We have never experienced a lack of food or even close to the point of starvation. The food sources in todays society are not distributed evenly on a global scale. To this day we are “producing more food than ever before and mare than one in ten people are hungry” (Patel, 2007).

Childhood Obesity (Dai, 2010)
The global population is now the most obese its ever been. The power of large food corporations control what we eat. Developed countries are now well and truly distanced from direct farming products and the production line is now a long process that has all come down to large corporations (Wilkinson, 2013).  Poor developing countries aren’t even in the running to the advertisement from these large corporations because they know there is no point because of the low economic status which is placed upon them.

World Hunger, 2013


Pinterest as a network has a lot to do with the advertisement of certain products. Boards are created solely on food. Recipes are a huge thing pinned regularly. It is very rare to come across a message about starvation on a global scale. If you were to base your opinion of the distribution of food on a global scale based off Pinterest, you would think that there was no problem and that there weren’t kids with empty plates. Pinterest is all about indulging and current global issues are not communicated through its visual content. Wasting food is not an option. Americas current issue is that “40-50% of  food produced in the USA goes to landfill” (Wilkinson, 2013). Think about how much food you are wasting and realise that what is wasted is probably more food starving children will see in a whole week.

References


Wilkinson, R. (2013). EV1008: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 8 notes.


Patel, R. (2007). Stuffed and Starved: The hidden battle for the worlds food system (pp1-19).Ontario, Canada: Harper Perennial.

The Virtual and the Economy

The Virtual and the Economy. (Wk. 7)


The internet has created a virtual market that has ‘change not just business, but much else besides.’ (The Economist, 2012). The impact on the economy has had a global impact, despite the Global Financial Crisis. Online shopping and consumerism is fast becoming the dominant market, with businesses exploiting people’s need for the “Latest and Greatest”. Many businesses take advantage of the constantly changing virtual landscape, paying for adverts, pop-ups and marketing through social networking sites such as Facebook. This allows a product to be exposed to a great different types of people, with advertisements posted on sites such as youtube, going viral in a matter of hours.
The use of the internet has not just been by big businesses, small businesses also use the internet to advertise, as it is a cheap alternative to non-virtual options. I am forever inboxed with junk email and spam mail, adverts popping up the side when I use Facebook, and sponsored sites advertising other products that they sell.


The Economist. (2012). The third industrial revolution. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/21553017.
Wilkinson, R. (2013). Week 7 Lecture.

Facebook, The Virtual Diary

Facebook, The Virtual Diary (Wk. 6)

Facebook is fast becoming one of the world’s most popular public diary, through the use of status updates. As McNeill said: ‘What’s in a Name: Blogs and Diaries’. While McNeil focuses on whether or not society should be reading the virtual diary of another, humanity remains infinitely curious about what others think, usually for ego-related reasons. We chronicle the actions of our everyday lives and even go as far as to post photos of what we are having for dinner. We want people to know how we are feeling and this leads to the notion that Facebook is just one big diary that is there for the whole world to read, depending on your security settings.
I myself, quite often use Facebook to chronicle my achievements, some of the things I do and yes, sometimes I even post about what I am eating. I know people on Facebook, who spend more time sharing their feelings online than with other people.



McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to screen, in Rowe, C. & Wyss, E. L. (Eds.) Language and new media: Linguistic, cultural, and technological evolutions (pp. 313-325). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.
Wilkinson, R. (2013). Week 6 Lecture.

Genre Blog #4

Genre

"Does going online actually change the genre itself, at the genetic level, or simply alter its features and functions, giving the genre the textual equivalent of blue or brown eyes or curly or straight hair?"

Image 1: Different Literary Genres. 
This quote from Laurie McNeill's "Diary 2.0" text explores the relationship between print and online genres. McNeill's article discusses the digital age and how the 'diary and journal' genre outline has changed since going online. Diaries before technology were commonly a hand-written collection of thoughts often secrets kept completely private from the public. With the advancements in technology over the decades this private diary-writing genre has all but ceased to exist. Instead it has been replaced with online journals or blogs where people type their thoughts and it can be publicly viewed by anyone at any time. In 1997, Jorn Barger coined the term "weblogs" to reflect these online entries (McNeill, p317).

Narratives are language dependent which means the online community has it's own language as discussed in my previous blog. Self-narratives are also constructs for a particular purpose and context are a representation of self. Social media websites also force their users to self-narrate. This is due to the set up of Instagram and Facebook, how it encourages you to post as much personal information as possible. It also means that other users are constructing your identity through the use of these sites.

References: 

McNeil, L. (2011). Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to screen, in Rowe, C. & Wyss, E.L. (Eds). Language and new media: Linguistic, cultural and technological evolutions. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.

Sand Dollar Press. (2013). Genres (Image). Retrieved from: http://www.sanddollarpress.com/2012/06/command-of-the-genre-end-of-the-world-books/

Blog #4 Week 5: Stories and Places

Facebook: A Place I Made a Personal Space.

by Meg Tallis


          When I began this blog I was interested in utilising my weekly readings and lecture notes to find new ways in which to view Facebook; my involvement with it, and the power it affords me.  As mentioned in my first blog, I quickly realised upon joining facebook that it could act as a place for me to visit on lonely nights.  In the week five lecture Van Luyn (2013) states that 'places are specific sites made meaningful by humans interaction with them' and it is in this sense that Facebook can indeed be considered a 'place'.  After reading Tuan’s Language and the making of Place: A Narrative-Descriptive Approach (1991), I have an understanding of the role language plays in ensuring I feel this sense of place.  The first step in the process of place-making on Facebook was the requirement for me to create an online identity which involved a lot of naming. 

          Naming is encouraged on Facebook and I can see now how the Facebook structures encourage it as a means of assisting in identity construction.  As Tuan argues, ‘Insiders see “homeplace” – an environment that is familiar to them, not because they have materially transformed it but because they have named it.  It is their place – their world – through the casting of a linguistic net” (1991, p. 686).  Tuan was not referring to Facebook, but his theory of naming as a means of creating a familiar environment and sense of 'homeplace' can be used to see the Facebook's motivation to use labels such as ‘homepage’. Chrystopher Spicer in the week five tutorial explained how there is 'a sense of ownership associated with place for example our neighbourhood, our street'.  On Facebook, users are given ownership of the site by being able to name their homepage, interests, activities and more.

         Captioning also plays a role in the making of place on Facebook and supports Tuan’s argument that 'Naming is power - the creative power to call something into being, to render the invisible visible, to impart a certain character to things’ (1991, p. 688).  When I post a photograph of myself to Facebook, the caption I apply to it has the power to affect the way in which elements of the image are ‘made visible’.  In captioning the image I am utilising my power to control what message people will receive when they view it. Below is an example of how captions can change the message sent to viewers by a posted image.


Image 1. Example of a Caption's Power of Influence.
          Facebook is a relatively personal place for me to visit. Tamlyn Magee (2013) in blog post Superconnected Few makes note of the fact that there is a social phenomena associated with Facebook, the need to add more friends, increase your network.  However, as Tamlyn also points out, this is not an aim for all Facebook users.  For me, it is where I go to virtually visit my close friends. I ensured this 'place' would remain somewhere I would feel comfortable  sharing personal experiences by 'friending' only people whose numbers are in my phone - actual friends.

          
         Through Facebook I have the power to present myself from a chosen angle to the people who matter most to me.  I have the power to encourage comment from friends when I need reassurance or support; and I have the power to make Facebook an enjoyable place for friends via my own words. In a world where we can often feel powerless, it is nice to be afforded these modes of power.  So thank you Facebook! You are a place I will continue to virtually travel to I am sure.

References

Magee, T. (2013, Sep 10). Superconnected few - week 7 blogpost. [Web log post]. Retrieved from

             http://ba1002tuesday1pmcns.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/superconnection-week-7-blogpost.html            
Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the making of place: A narrative-descriptive approach. Annuals of the   
        
             Association of American Geographers, 81,(4), 684-696. Retrieved from  http://www.

             jstor.org/stable/2563430

Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place,
   
             Lecture 5: Stories and places. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au