Exacting Change Through Genre

Image Courtesy of: <http://www.theballads.net>

The week’s readings revolved around the concept of genre and how the printed diary has transitioned into blogging within the digital era. McNeill (2011) talked extensively about how she saw this transition as de-evolution, with the idea of access to lives in progress still being key to the operation of both online and printed diaries.  Changes in medium affect changes in genre and within my social network, Snapchat, this is especially true. I will explore how the change in genre has affected my social network. 

Genre is the term given to products grouped together based on similarities and shared conventions (Van Luyn, 2013). Genre defines the interaction between users in Snapchat. Some pictures and videos (snaps) taken are for particular users within the ‘snappers’ constructed network while others are for all users. Particular snaps will pertain to a specific topic or theme the users interacting are discussing while some will be broad and abstract made for everyone to see with the hope that from this a discourse will form. I theorize that general snaps from each user are genre in itself and the discourse that forms are sub-genres. Genre also relates to aspects of online diary-writing. Those who start out with a general snap to their entire network are much like bloggers McNeill (2011) discusses who “has a responsibility to design [sic] utterances to be understood by all participants”. 

Snapchat is an example of change in medium affecting changes in genre. This is due to the fact that snaps are deleted after a user chosen duration which affects interaction as those who respond act upon what they remember. What users remember may not be what was actually said, altering the discourse. Whether the alteration is negative or positive is subjective, some “break the rules in a quest to be engaging, persuasive and interesting” (Diyanni, 2005). Genre will undoubtedly advance with the emergence of new social networks and adaptations to those present however its elements as well as those of diary writing will remain forever relevant and imbedded. 

 Until Next Time, 

Gabriel

Reference List:

1.      McNeill, L. (2011). ‘Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to screen.’ In Language and New Media. (C.Rowe & E.L Wyss, Ed.). Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press Inc.

2.       Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives and The Making Of Place, Lecture 6: Genre.[Notes] retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

 

3.   Diyanni, R. (2005). ‘Introduction: reading and writing essays.’ New York University: Penguin Academics.

Image Credit:

[Image] (1998) Retrieved from: <http://www.theballards.net/Harshaw/Martin/Diary/>

'Internet Diaries' and the genres within Twitter

                   Image from: http://jbroberts.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/my-online-diary/



Over the past few weeks I have enjoyed navigating my way through the social network that is Twitter. This week's readings were based on the theory of genre and the evolution of the blog. McNeill's articles state that blogs were developed from the early idea of a diary and now 'internet diaries (also known as "blogs") give access to lives in progress to a potential audience of thousands' (McNeill, 2011).  

Twitter is definitely an 'Internet diary' and gives thousands of followers the opportunity to hear details about the life of the person whose Twitter account they are following as they occur. Twitter does not allow a user to set their account to private, as does Facebook and the alike. Twitter allows anyone who clicks the 'Follow' button on a users profile to see everything they have posted about themselves at the click of a button. Therefore, Twitter is much like the internet diaries McNeill describes in this week's reading, as there are no limits on who can read them.

Throughout this week the theory of genres was also discussed. 'Genres are cultural products that can be grouped into classes based on the similarities they hold and it can be said that genre can both enable and restrict the meaning of the product' (Van Luyn, 2013).
I believe that after spending some time on Twitter, that genres are the basis of the split between many users and are also what gives users more power than certain other users. Users who post about certain topics and follow other users are naturally split into genres by the nature of the site and the way that it runs. Some users can then be followed by more people and reposted by more people as they like and tweet about popular and trending things. Or, in the cases of celebrities and iconic figures, they are the trending item themselves. 

Power can easily be gained this way through what information users choose to share with the 'Twitterverse'. If you would like to read more about how this social network chooses what is trending week by week, this article discusses it in relation to celebrities and television shows; http://www.npr.org/2011/12/07/143013503/how-twitters-trending-algorithm-picks-its-topics


Reference List:


                McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to screen. In Language and New Media. (C.Rowe & E.L Wyss, Ed.). Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press Inc.

 

                 Syndell, L.. "How Twitter's Trending Algorithm Picks Its Topics : NPR." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Sept. 2013. <http://www.npr.org/2011/12/07/143013503/how-twitters-trending-algorithm-picks-its-topics>.               

 

Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 6 Lecture.

 

 

Image Credits:

 

              Robert, J.B. (2012). Wordpress: Take 5. My Online Diary. Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/07/143013503/how-twitters-trending-algorithm-picks-its-topics

 

 

Further...

Photo: Chemical Bros. Credit: Gary Friedman / LA Times

This weeks readings investigated genres and the evolution of the diary from that of printed text into online blogging with the emergence of the World Wide Web.  McNeill (2011) argues that over the years, the diary has remained despite the adaption and adoption of various modes that have come with the changing of human society.  I wish to explore the concept of genre evolution but in regards to music and the emergence of the electronic genre, which has made incredible leaps that run parallel with explosion of computer technology.  I believe that changes in medium create change in genre and electronic music is a fine example of this.

Genres are cultural products that can be grouped into classes based on the similarities they hold and it can be said that genre can both enable and restrict the meaning of the product (Van Luyn, 2013).  This is true of music, as an artist decides what 'sort' of music they wish to make and then shapes and creates the music to fit into their chosen category.  Before the emergence of computers, electronic music was technically in the stone ages, though I do believe the essence of it existed just waiting for the right tools to express it.  With the invention and availability of computers and music programs a whole new genre was born! To read up on some electronic history check out this link... http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_timeline-elec.html 

   

Music platforms like Soundcloud give people the opportunity to express themselves musically and freely encourage the pushing of genre boundaries, naturally forming the creation of sub-genres.  For the genre of electronic music these include, but are not limited to, trip-hop, electronica, dance, house, techno, dubstep and ambient but the list goes on. Just like the diary, music has evolved over the years and adapted to the different modes created by a changing society. 

Some argue that electronic music is not 'real' music because the instruments are not the traditional hand held guitar or violin etc, just like a blog is viewed publicly online and not hand written under lock and key, but I beg to differ.  Music is sound, narrative and feeling and this can be achieved by many and varied means, indeed, just like the writing of a blog can be reflection or narrative like a traditional written diary.  Both examples are real cultural products that reflect the society in which they are created and no doubt both will continue to change as we advance ever more into the 21st century.

Over & Out!

Lunar (Vivian Davey).

References:

McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to screen. In Language and New Media. (C.Rowe & E.L Wyss, Ed.). Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press Inc.

Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 6 Lecture.  

Photo: Chemical Bros. Credit: Gary Friedman / LA Times. Retrieved from

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/08/live-review-the-chemical-brothers-at-the-hollywood-bowl.html#sthash.0i5N5htj.dpuf