The creation of 'place' has been the theme across our subject so far. During our lectures this week, it has been identified that an important part of creating 'place' is the power of words. However I pose the question: 'how many of us have defined personal characteristics that create our 'place'? An important step to comprehending our own making of 'place'.
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| Couchsurfing; creating your virtual 'place' by sharing your life |
"Words alone...can have the power to render objects, formerly invisible because unattended, visible" (Tuan. Y. 1991, pp 684). Couchsurfing requires each user to create a profile. Within this profile you are provided with a pre-determined template that includes the following titles; Mission, Interests and Philosophy. These words are very powerful in the sense that they coerce you into defining elements of your life "What begins as undifferentiated space becomes place as we get to know it better and endow it with value" (Tuan. Y. 1979).
Tamlyn Magee's blog describes how the space is endowed with values when you "share the awe-inspiring experience of life, and the pervasive, expansive nature of social network". By creating a Couchsurfing profile, you are creating a virtual 'place'.
Until Couchsurfing prompted me to, I had never assessed how my 'place' had been created by my philosophies, interests and mission. Although I had a relative idea of what my philosophies, interests and missions were, understanding these better by valuing them created my profile as a virtual 'place' in Couchsurfing.
Couchsurfing is a Social Network that requires you to understand and value your virtual 'place' through the use words. This network clearly displays how the power of words can define our 'place'.
References
Tuan. Y.(1991). Language and the making of place: A Narrative -
Descriptive Approach. Annals of the Association of American Geographers,
81(4), page 684 - 696.
Tuan. Y. (1979).
Space and Place The Perspective of Experience. Great Brittan, London: Edward Arnold Publishers.
Couchsurfing International inc (2013) About. Retrieved from: www.couchsurfing.org/n/about
Your post really reverberates with me, I remember feeling similar emotions when I registered. I think the platform invites a broader descriptive response of the individual than most virtual networks. And because we want to connect with as many like-minded network users to take advantage of CSs instrumental value, we feel compelled to respond in detail.
ReplyDeleteTuan (1991) says "Friends can also help each other build place"(p. 689). This is very evident in CS where the presence of "friends" comments on a users wall enhances his or image by providing a variety of external perspectives and insights which can be important for acceptance when 'surfing' or 'hosting'. Laurie McNeill’s (2012) analysis of Facebook also highlights how users create “another life narrative, a collaborative shadow auto/biography” and “respond to the acts, and perceived desires, of others.” (p. 113).
References
McNeill, L. (2012). There is no “I” in network: Social networking sites and posthuman auto-biography. In Biography, 35(1), 101-118.
Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the making of place: A narrative-descriptive approach. In Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696.
References
McNeill, L. (2012). There is no “I” in network: Social networking sites and posthuman auto-biography. In Biography, 35(1), 101-118.
Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the making of place: A narrative-descriptive approach. In Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696.
Great post, I totally agree that CS can enhance a user's place construction as friends can give supporting commentary. As Marenn stated friends can help others build place (Tuan, 1991). But can we consider the dismantling of place through negative comments of others? McNeill's article (2012) gives the implication that virtual networks can be affected by "Newton's Law" as well by which there is equal likeliness that our "place" can fall due to the impacts of others on us (McNeill, 2012).
ReplyDeleteReferences
McNeill, L. (2012). There is no “I” in network: Social networking sites and posthuman auto-biography. In Biography, 35(1), 101-118.
Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the making of place: A narrative-descriptive approach. In Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696.