Monday, October 6, 2014

Leave a Comment after the Beep...

I want to briefly draw connections between two of the articles we read and Castells' work, because I think they both add to the conversation in ways I was hoping for when I wrote my last post. Transnational Literate Lives in Digital Times is in a multi-modal form that I appreciate given the subject matter and the attention paid to preserving the co-author's voices. As I pointed out in one of my comments, I think that Networks of Outrage and Hope could have benefited from being a digital text to embrace the advantages of that mode (e.g. embedded video, links, etc.). Perhaps this is also based on personal bias, because to be honest I hate flipping back and forth between between chapters and notes, but I also think it would have helped readers compare these moments and the way these different technologies have played a role. In her blog, Zarah mentioned wanting to more about what sparked these movements, and I think that would have helped Castells include more of that interesting, important material without making the text substantially longer.

Lisa's comment about linearity vs. a network or web also reminded me of Dr. Ericsson's digital text we read in 501 and how works online can disrupt (or not disrupt) that sense of organization and how we move through them. For example, Transnational Literate Lives in Digital Times does not keep all of the introduction on the same page, but organizes based on subheadings that the reader must click through. Does this say something about attention span or how we expect information online to be displayed? Readers are able to see the "title page" at all times as well, where one can click to find more information about the co-authors (though I'm interested in why the "more information" is simply another picture and when/where they were born, especially given the transnational emphasis of the text). It also includes chapters, but that has me wondering if it is important to read chapter 3 before I read chapter 5 and if we need those markers at all. What would happen if we arranged the categories horizontally instead of vertically, or even in a web (thinking Prezi)? In Castells' work, is it important that I read the chapter about the social movement in Spain before I read about Occupy Wall Street? Would an alternative organizational scheme this give the reader more agency (Is this like the digital portfolio conversation?)? I realize we should also consider the disadvantages of the digital too; after all, Castells' does that have to include a 'be patient' part of his text or make the reader wait for QuickTime to download. He also doesn't have to worry about how his text will look on a mobile phone or if readers can get the message even if they can only access part of the text. As the "Generation Y" article demonstrates, it is important to think about the constraints and advantages of these different media and if they really change the way we communicate.

my-prezious-precious-prezi-joke
Overall, I like the emphasis in Transnational Literate Lives in Digital Times on maintaining the integrity of the coauthors voices, at it reminds me of the readings that speak to valuing student work and viewing them as equal members of the conversation. In the introduction Berry, Hawisher, and Selfe, describe the reasoning behind their method:
 Because participants' voices have been such an important part of these literacy narratives, we have also tried to maintain, as far as possible, the integrity of the responses: at times using digital video to record their narratives and writing processes and at other times using their own written words and language. In addition, we have selected written passages that retain the participants' words and phrasing, grammatical structures, and distinctive word choices, which also mark their digital videos. This approach, we believe, keeps the contributors’ language intact—along with all of its important markers of class, age, geography, and personal expression.
However, it also strikes me as interesting that they need to keep coming back to this methodology--it is almost as if they feel like they have to justify it, which to me is a bit strange. Are we still at the point where we need to talk about why we want to hear people actually talk/write about what they have talked about instead of a translation? Also, the co-authors don't make the cover or the works cited entry, and we don't hear from them until after chapter 1...and I keep looking at the picture of the researchers and their self-representations and trying to understand their meaning. There is a third picture that you only get if you click on the image, which is in color and also blocks out part of the shot. I can see how this relates to being the organizers and being behind the scenes, but how does looking at the building (a school?) define being an insider or an outsider? Why is this picture in the section on making a global turn? What are the different ways pictures are used in the part of the text we read, and what makes them rhetorically effective? How do these pictures give us different ideas about the identities of these students?

Berry, Hawisher, and Selfe
http://ccdigitalpress.org/transnational/intro2.html
I also wanted to talk about "Political communication in the Cuban blogosphere: A case study of Generation Y", because it describes a particular technology and its affordances and constraints, something that Castells does not really discuss. The authors build on Castells 2008 text and his concept of mass self-communication in their article (159) and also include a section about how these spaces have made these authors (or, in the case of the article, author) famous and perhaps that they are using them for personal gain. Castells does it in his discussion of livestreamers (176) and this article does it when it talks about responses by people in favor of the Cuban process (156). Do these bloggers fall under more intense scrutiny than other "established" news sources/media? How do these spaces redefine what we consider "credible"? I also thought the discussion of Twitter was fascinating, and I'm wondering if people agree with the authors' claim that:
Twitter's interactive capabilities fall short of opening opportunities for real and substantial dialogue between Sanchez and her followers, which could lead to enrichment of the topics addressed in her blog, mostly because of Twitter's restrictions on post lengths (140 characters) (165).
Does the length constraint stop substantial dialogue, or does it promote a back-and-forth exchange? Should Twitter lift this restriction? What are online alternatives that allow us to have "real and substantial" dialogue? Would the conversation be different if comments influenced what was written in the blog? Does this piece support the claim that the internet is making us more polarized, because we read (and comment on) what we already believe in? Does consensus building better take place in the space offline? Castells highlights the importance of the connection between digital and non-digital networks, and I wonder if that is part of what this blog is missing (or what, at the very least, we don't hear about).

funplusfun90.blogspot.com

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