Community & Identity - Learning Portfolio task

Tough week! Essay 1 was due,  the flu thing going around that has been dubbed the '100 days cough' had me in it's grasp and it was school holidays. However, Community & Identity was the topic, which is such an interesting topic for me. Most of the time I spend online is to communicate with and nurture relationships and maintain community ties.


The learning portfolio task:

Chose an online community and answer the following
· How is this a 'community' (and what is a community)?
· Connections and gaps between the world of this community and face to face life.
· Who are the 'powerful' in this community, and how was this power acquired?
· Is there a difference between 'virtual' and 'real' life? What do these terms mean, nowadays?


A new online community to me, is my Instagram community. Formed through an interest in social media and using my iPhone for photography it has become, to me, another way to reach people that I would not have before.
Individuals gain different things from a community, therefore the description of actually 'what' a community is, is a little fluid. Overall a community can be described as a group of people, with something in common be that political, emotional, economic (fashion etc), faith, communicating with one another. Shafi says 'There is also a strong sense of unity and fellowship in a community'. (Shafi, blog)
Being on Instagram is an interesting community to me, as I did not join with the purpose of keeping in touch with people I already know, which is one of the main reasons people use Facebook. Due to this, I do not have a great drive to meet these people offline. We know each other, know where we live (in a general sense) and share images of our day to day lives. The main difference therefore between this community and face to face life, is the physical face.
There are people on instagram world wide, and some of these seem to try to gather 'likes' with a passion! Through gaining greater exposure of their images they are exerting a kind of power over the greater community. Behind the scenes, Facebook offered a huge sum to buy Instagram (a massive power play!) and and many individual business people use the application as a form of advertising - there are a number of power mongers amongst us! However, at this stage, they are not directly effecting my experience within the community.

My tutors response, Good example Sarah. Its an interesting one, as you identify, because it probably doesn't 'look' or 'feel' like a traditional community, yet does share some of those key characteristics used to define community. However, it is not dissimilar to offline 'photography clubs' or 'book clubs' for that matter. These communities were formed around shared interests, and this process of 'sharing' was a big part of the value of belonging to these communities.

Another question was raised this week,  what is the difference between a ‘real’ or face-to-face community and ‘ virtual’ community? Go beyond the two readings and see if you can find another source that contributes to how we might define this distinction?

Beside the actual physicality of offline v's online, perhaps there is no real distinction between the communities. Henry-Waring & Barraket maintain that emotional online interactions are part of the real world, not separate from it (Stanley 2001), meaning that in the case of intimacy, feelings are real online and part of your whole, not separate from it. Therefore, the investment people make in online communities is just as great as the investment in offline communities. With the growing access to online communities, I propose that people spend more time tweaking, touching, updating their online community than the communities they are members of offline.

Shafi says,’ In Online communities, anyone can jump the bandwagon and become a member of the community’.(Shafi.2005). This is true in an offline community also. There is just as much scope for duplicity offline as online, in fact, there is a lot more trust in people believing the authenticity of others online because of the lack of physical cues. Therefore, the emotion investment could be higher online than offline. 

Lots and lots going on in my head, and I have a number of readings to get through. Essay 2 is looming and it is LARGE. Some big ideas to deconstruct and understand.

I'll get cracking!

cheers

Sarah

References (for both responses)

Shafi, (2005) Can a Virtual Community be any different from the experience of a Real Community? Incoherent Thoughts

Henry-Waring, M., & Barraket, J. (2008) Dating & Intimacy in the 21st Century: The Use of Online Dating Sites in Australia International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society 6(1), 14-3

that Fiske reading again...

It has been playing around in my head and here is another thought, a thought more closely related to my essay 1 topic...

I might change the direction altogether and try to relate the concepts Fiske uses to the way women form a 'new' everyday life when expecting a child, particularly, their first child. I think this time in a woman's life (and to an extent her partner) is a rare time where one's 'normal' patterns of everyday life are shifting. The idea of 'expecting' a child, leads me to the concept of 'expecting' your everyday life to no longer hold the patterns of your previous life. The period of pregnancy is spent 'furnishing' for a life you do not lead yet. 9 months creating a new 'habitus' as a parent, a mother.
'the weaving of one's own richly textured life within the constraints of economic depravation and oppression, are not just ways of controlling some of the conditions of social existence; they are also ways of constructing, and therefore exerting some control over, social identities and social relations.' (Fiske, 1992) To an extent, a mother to be, regardless of economic status, creates an idea, creates the outlines of the life they want for their child, and that they want to lead as a parent. They are using what control they have over the life they have and the life their child will have, thus creating the basis of an identity, of an everyday life to be.
Maybe? I know, not related to the online world at all!!

cheers
Sarah

Fiske, J. (1992). Cultural Studies and the Culture of Everyday Life Cultural Studies (pp. 154-173). New York: Routledge

Power & Economy

Woah! Power & Economy. Not really top of my list in topics I feel a natural warmth to, however, when looking at them from the angle of the Internet, perhaps, just perhaps, I can glean some comprehension of these drivers of society.

My discussion board posts this week, went something like this:

What is the political economy of new media? Use Mansell to assist you in your answer.

The political economy of new media refers to the power and authority over the access to information and products and how then this relates to all through economic ties. The studies on how the Internet influences politics and power have been limited thus far. It is important to study this power and influence as many assume equality online, however, due to the influence of large organisations there is now a disconnect between that assumption and reality. There are a large number of studies into the products and services of new media, these studies do not delve into the powers "that are embedded within them" (Mansell, 2004, p97).
Economically, power is created through managing the scarcity of the resource. Within the parameters of new media, scarcity to formed through ‘the use of copyright, promotion of obsolescence, creation and sale of audiences and favoring’(Mansell, 2004, p98) The Internet is also controlled through fiscal means, creating spaces that need to be paid for to access, effectively ‘walling off’ (Mansell, 2004, p98) real estate online, inadvertedly (or not) created spaces that only people with the right knowledge/money/power can access.
Mansell, R. (2004). Political economy, power and new media. New media and society, 6 (1), 96-105.

Why must we be aware of power and institutions when studying the internet?

We must be force our awareness of power and institutions when studying the internet to ensure we recognise that the internet is not a "non-hierarchical economy and culture" (Mansell, 2004, p101). The Internet has created opportunities for many people but rarely do the main players within powerful institutions offer these opportunities in an altruistic way. For major media companies, people's interest, ideas and information are necessary for them to grow, we are the commodity and are now very easy to access.  It is important to be critically aware that the even though each individual now has the power to publish themselves online there is "unequal participation and power in the open source communities" (Mansell,2004, p101). All people are not equal online, and much like traditional offline culture, powerful companies hold power online, and with that the ability to effect public opinion, political movement and access to information.
Mansell, R. (2004). Political economy, power and new media. New media and society, 6 (1), 96-105.


Web 2.0 - Facebook, twitter, Instagram - gathers a significant amount of users - of what use is this to advertisers? 

The data collected via these web 2.0 applications is like a goldmine for advertisers. Users give data for free to the site, once the information is on the site it belongs to them. Once given freely, your data is then used to target advertise to you specifically, creating sales, and buzz, more 'likes' for the advertiser etc. . More than that, the application you gave that information to for free makes money off that free information. In a previous unit, one of the students asked on the blackboard 'would you pay for Facebook if that meant no advertising and data collection?'. I still think this is an interesting question - to keep your data within your control, would you pay for that service?.
Beyond Facebook, twitter, Instagram there are many 'word of mouth' online marketing companies who count on the general publics interest in sharing their opinion to help promote their clients products. I was recently sent a box of kids vitamins to 'share' with other mums. Through this online medium savvy marketers are finding and then adapting to the flexible delivery methods now available to them.


So, yes, it was an involved week. I have lost my way a little on Essay 1 and am questioning if I have involved the reading from Fiske at all. Perhaps I need a paragraph on 'everyday life' and what that actually means.....hmmmmm.....Must read and respond to the Gilbert reading for this week also.

cheers
Sarah

a quick thought about about healthcare

When I was about 12 years old my class went on an excursion. Off on a bus for an overnight stay in the 'big smoke' to see the zoo and museum. When we arrived home, I pleaded sick for school the following morning. At the time I really believed I was only tired and didn't feel like going to school. Mum, too busy with kids and work and life let me stay home. Then I got sick. Really yukky, super delirious sick.

We went to the A&E department, who gave me penicillin, and put me in a wheelchair to get me to the car for mum to take me home. While in the exam room I told the doctor that 'my hands are soft because I have been working in Papua New Guinea'. Yes, delirious. Mum managed with the drugs from the hospital until we could get in to see our lovely family doctor Dr P.

Dr P was a diagram drawing, lover of a medical challenge. He looked at me, took in my fever, the rash that had appeared on my mid section, the results from kidney tests and turned to his massive medical books. Scarlet Fever. He just wanted to check for the official medical name. This ramble comes back to me as I consider the empowered patient or 'e-patient'. Dr P nowadays would have looked up an online journal to confirm his hunch. Mum would have googled the rash to alleviate fears of penicillin allergy. Perhaps even the A&E staff would have kept me overnight instead of wheeling me to the car.

In this case, regardless of the world wide web, the result was the same. Penicillin saved the day. Today, the length of time it took for diagnosis would be halved.

Thanks for bearing with me while I wax lyrical about my youth!

cheers
Sarah

Heavy reading - Fiske

Part of our reading list for Net102 is Cultural Studies, John Fiske. It's dense and tricky and I really want to be able to glean understanding of his theory of everyday and be able to it apply it in some way to my upcoming assignments.

I was struggling along, and then LIGHT BULB!

I considered bloggers as I was reading through Fiske at 6.30am this morning.  The space a blogger inhabits online is also part of their everyday life. They 'furnish' their site, they use the concept of 'texturing' to create a space that they feel comfortable in in order to share their words online and also a space that people can be welcomed into. Often bloggers decorate their blog with items/images/videos of personal meaning to them, not so unlike the idea from Leal (1990) of the 'entourage' or mini-environment.

I have more of the reading to go, however, just being able to translate some of the reading into a context that I can get amongst has helped me immensely!

How did you feel about the reading?

Back on topic, the essay and how the Internet has or has not altered the way women make decisions and gather information durning pregnancy.

cheers
Sarah

Fiske, J. (1992). Cultural Studies and the Culture of Everyday Life Cultural Studies (pp. 154-173). New York: Routledge.