Facebook: Genius, Traitor, Billionaire

Facebook: Genius, Traitor, Billionaire
BA1002        Kendall Munro         Monday 3pm

“To exist is to be perceived” (Chatwin, 1987), my interpretation of this quote is that we exist through the perception of others. As Van Luyn (2013) explained in week 2’s lecture, how we intend to be perceived may not actually be how those around us interpret our actions. As a result, we now exist through that individual’s perception of us. This can be problematic in the world of social networking because when we share our thoughts, we are not with those who are reading them, they cannot hear our tone of voice nor see our physical expressions as we’re saying things. Because we are not physically present with those who are reading us, they have complete power over how they choose the represent us.

The movie ‘the Social Network’ is based on the creation of my chosen network ‘Facebook’ and its founder Mark Zuckerberg. This movie portrayed Zuckerberg as intelligent, rude and self involved, deceitful and cocky, it made the creation of Facebook seem as though it was built on dishonesty and nastiness and as a result effecting people’s perception of the site. “Warm conversation between friends can make the place itself seem warm; by contrast, malicious speech has the power to destroy a place’s reputation” (Tuan, 1991). Before ‘the Social Network’, Facebook was a positive place that people could connect and interact with friends and people of similar interests. But after the law suits and controversy surrounding Mark Zuckerberg and the making of Facebook were brought to light, people began to observe Facebook from an opposite viewpoint, such as the coastline Van Luyn (2013) described in this week’s lecture.

Although the law suit has passed, and Facebook has developed into the largest social networking site in the world, the knowledge of its background still gives a taste of bitterness. As a result of the law suit, Facebook was ordered to restore Eduardo Saverin as co-founder on the home page, you can read more about this on http://wallstcheatsheet.com/breaking-news/the-truth-behind-facebooks-founding-is-finally-revealed.html/. With Saverin’s name on the home page, it is a constant reminder of the sour beginning to Facebook. This gives Saverin some form of power over people’s perception of Facebook and Zuckerberg, because although Zuckerberg denies how he was portrayed through the media and ‘the Social Network’, the presence of Saverin’s name persuades people to question Facebook’s background.

You can read more about Mark Zuckerberg’s response to ‘the Social Network’ here:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/20/mark-zuckerberg-the-social-network

References:

Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. Jonathan Cape Ltd
Tuan, Y. (1991). Annals of the Association of American Georgraphers. Taylor & Francis, LTD
Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narrratives and The Making Of Place, Lecture 4: Narrative. [Notes] Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au
Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narrratives and The Making Of Place, Lecture 5: Stories and Places. [Notes] Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au

Image Credit:

http://collider.com/the-social-network-movie-review-david-fincher-jesse-eisenberg/

The Narratives of YouTube

In week 4’s lecture on Networked Narratives, Van Luyn said “in a virtual network, you are not the only person constructing your identity” (2013). The same can be said in the case of YouTube. Member’s often like or link to other videos that they have watched. This will often show up on their home ‘channel’ as a recent activity. In the McNeil reading, he suggested that we focus more closely everyday to our online lives and as such we bring people we know and “invite them to see and share” our activities that are now publicized on the internet (2012).

YouTube members do not only make videos for their own account. Often, it can be seen that certain members will feature in another video as either a reference to a video that they have created, or as an active participant in another Youtuber’s video. “Dreaming-tracks layover the land as ways of communicating between most far-flung tribes” (Chatwin, 1987). A specific Youtuber may be connected to another member through subscription, comment, like, video link or ‘special guest.’

Stanner (1979) said that “The Dreaming is many things in one. Among them, a kind of narrative of things that once happened…of things that still happen…” One’s YouTube channel may be seen as ‘The Dreaming’ as it ‘narrates’ the many various activities (for example comments written, videos liked, members subscribed) that the specific Youtuber has done in the past.

Though being an individual member of YouTube that narrates their own ‘story’, it does not mean that others do not help narrate or influence what happens. It also suggests that through only a few clicks of a button, you may be connected to someone that you never that you could be. This is the ‘Six degrees of separation,’ which you can read about by clicking here.

References

Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. Chapter 3, pp 11 – 15. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd

McNeill, L. (2012). There Is No "I" in Network: Social Networking Sites and Posthuman Auto/Biography.

Stanner, W. E. H. (1979). The Dreaming. pp 23 – 40. Australian National University Press, Canberra.

Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 4 Notes (PowerPoint). Retrieved from: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Van Vlooten, D. (2004). So it's a small world--so what?. Science Careers. (Career Advice Article). Retrieved from: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2004_02_06/nodoi.3090031613839867293

Image Reference

Van Vlooten, D. (2004). So it's a small world--so what?. Science Careers. (Career Advice Article). Retrieved from: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2004_02_06/nodoi.3090031613839867293

Virtual Songlines and Our Online Narrative

 

 

                                     Image retrieved from: http://dl.nfsa.gov.au/module/1566/

 

As I have continued to lurk around the social network that is Twitter over the past week I have discovered that the ‘Twitterverse’, much like other social networking communities, is a narrative that is constantly being written through its users. Narratives are stories that have continuously shaped human history throughout the course of its existence. They are used for both entertainment and information and continue to be a very important part of human life today.

As said by Van Luyn (2013) in our lecture this week we are constantly writing our own narratives every day through what we do and say. However, as we become more and more technologically-dependant as the generations pass, social networks are playing a huge part in how we shape our narratives daily. Due to this;

“if we accept Donna Harraway’s premise that what we understand is human is indeed a product of cultural and technological innovations in combination, making us cyborgs… in many applications where users fill in the blanks or check boxes as mandated by the site’s program, it may be difficult to determine where the human leaves off and the software begins.” (McNeill, 2012)

Twitter consistently creates a feeling of ‘cyborg users’ as people are able to ‘tweet’ anything and everything they want, and there is no one there to pull them up on what is true and what is not. Our narrative becomes somewhat of a cyborg-like story as part of us is being created within these online communities, and the other part of us is created in the outside world. If you are interested you are able to continue to read this article by Laurie McNeill (2012) in which social networking and our self-narrative and discussed in great depth http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/biography/v035/35.1.mcneill.html

 

What we say on Twitter spreads our story rapidly, as tweets can be ‘retweeted’ by the people who follow us. These retweets share our story with others and open it up to interpretation from the people who come across it and read it themselves.

This can be likened to the Aboriginal songlines, which describe the way that the aboriginal community believed “each totemic ancestor, while travelling through the country was thought to have scattered a trail of words and musical notes along the lines of his footprints. (Chatwin, 1987).

These served as a line of communication between clans as they would come across these songlines, which to avoid and which belonged to their own clan. Much like this, Twitter users are essentially creating their own ‘virtual songline’ through the sharing of posts and information around the social network.Therefore, when a Twitter user comes across a retweet, depending on the virtual songline it belongs to they are able to interpret it and decide whether it is part of their ‘clan’ or community or whether to avoid it.

“But as long as he stuck to the track, he’d always find people who shared his Dreaming?” (Chatwin, 1987).

By sticking to tweets and retweets that are similar to yours you are able to connect with people who share a similar story and share similar interests. However, this sharing does not occur unless this part of the social network is engaged with. It is best understood when we look again at the Aboriginal culture;

“Aboriginals could not believe the country existed until they could see and sing it- just as, in the Dreamtime, the country had not existed until the ancestors sang it.” (Chatwin, 1987).  

 

I believe that by engaging with this social network and building your own virtual songlines through interactions with others in the community you are able to become a part of these communities and continuously construct your online narrative.

 

 

References:

 

Chatwin, B. (1985). Chapter 3 (p11-15) in  The Songlines. Australian Aborigines – Social life and customs. Jonathan Cape Limited, London.

 

McNeill, L.(2012). THERE IS NO “I” IN NETWORK: SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES AND POSTHUMAN AUTO/BIOGRAPHY. Biography 35.1. Biographical Research Centre

 

Van Luyn, A. (2013) BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narrratives and The Making Of Place, Lecture 4: Narrative. [Notes] Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au

 

Image Credits:

 

National Film and Sound Archive. (2008). Retrieved from: http://dl.nfsa.gov.au/module/1566/

Following “Songlines” on Facebook.

“ But as long as he stuck to the track, he’d always find people who shared his Dreaming? Who were, in fact, his brothers.” (Chatwin, 1987, p.p 13)

This week’s discussions on narratives and the readings associated were particularly interesting to myself, when comparing Western culture with Indigenous culture, in the telling of narratives, and how this relates to my chosen virtual network, Facebook.

When we engage in the interactions associated with Facebook we leave footprints on our virtual landscapes and are guided by these footprints. These can be seem, at first, random but In the reading Songlines it explains that there is direction and meaning to the telling of this narratives. This is similar to the use of Facebook in that the information we load on profiles guides and directs the user by linking them with others via commonalities in information supplied.  When using Facebook we use it for many purposes. We use as a form of communication but also as a link with our identity and the communities we choose to interact with.

We find a belonging within these spaces as we link with friends, family and other with similar interests.

 Seeing a narrative as stories we tell about ourselves, everyday (van Luyn, 2013) Facebook is the perfect example, with the status updates and the information we provide to build our profiles.

References

Riem Natale,A. (2009) Bruce Chatwin and the Aboriginal Story “Murgah Muggai” Threading Songlines and web of lives. Retrieved from http://www.ub.edu/dpfilsa/jeasa1ariem.pdf

School of Arts and Social Sciences, James Cook University. (2013) BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives, and the making of place, Book of Readings. Townsville, Australia: Chatwin.

Van Luyn, A. (2013) BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives, and the making of place. [Lecture Notes] Retrieved from http://www.learnjcu.edu.au

Self Identity and the World

Little man communicates with the world online
Retrieved from: http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-little-man-communicates-world-online-image29874345

 

White man got no dreaming.

Him go 'nother way.

White man, him go different.

Him got road belong to himself.



 

(Stanner, 1979, pp.24)

As the above quote denotes 'white man' has no dreaming, but they have a different road that is their own. In this day and age everyone is finding a new way to tell their own story or to make their own identity and to have it known to the world. O'Shaughnessy & Stadler (2012) state that narratives are a basic way of making sense of our experience and that humans understand and relate experiences through stories. Essentially no matter who we are we have the need to tell our stories and to have them heard, and with the development of social networks through the internet, it is now possilbe for anyone.

 

Van Luyn (2013) expalined in the lecture that in a virtual network you are not the only person constructing your identity. On my chosen virtual network, StumbleUpon, this concept can be seen in action. Random sites are chosen by the network for you based on your interests. Although you chose the interests, you don't necessarily choose the website. For example one of my interests was cartoons, and what i got wasn't exactly what I was looking for. (you can see the page here http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/3cqLoL/xkcd.com/1040/large/) But StumbleUpon does give you the option to like or dislike the page, which in turn will help to narrow or broaden what websites are shown to you.

 

Even though you are given the option to like and dislike websites, you still don't have full control over making your profile. This can be explained by understanding that "the design of these sites.. means that at the same time users are reading the sites, the users themselves are being written and 'read' by the network, which consists of both members and the site itself". (McNiell, 2012, pp.66 - 67) All that relates back to the like and disliking of sites and the random generation of sites from interests. When using StumbleUpon there is a section that involves the option of choosing to follow people. (see here: http://www.stumbleupon.com/discover/stumblers) Chatwin (1987) explained that Dreaming-tracks layover the land as ‘ways’ of communication between most far-flung tribes. It works the same way with the following of people on StumbleUpon, people are recomended based on how close your interests coincide with theirs.

 

Until next time,

 

Aaron.

     
Refe       Reference List

 

O'Shaughnessy M., & Stadler J. (2012). Media and Society (5th ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press

 

Stanner, W.E.H. (1979) WHITE MAN GOT NO DREAMING: Essays 1938-1973. Canberra, Australia: Australian National University Press

 

McNeill, L. (2012). There Is No "I" in Network: Socail Networking Sites and Posthuman Auto/Biography. Biography, 35(1), 65-82. DOI: 10.1353/bio.2012.0009

 

Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. London, UK: The Spartan Press Ltd

 

Van Luyn, A. 2013. BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 4 Notes (PowerPoint). Retrieved from: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

 

 

 Little man communicates with the world online [Image]. (2013) Retrieved from http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-little-man-communicates-world-online-image29874345
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Online Songlines

Instagram is essentially a virtual map of personal experiences and events, in which everyone is available to follow and add to. Similar to the Aboriginal song lines and the stories of The Dreaming, Instagram profiles are records and ‘as ways of communication between even the most far-flung’ (Chatwin, 1987). Authenticity is also a key factor in creating unique narrative to profiles, and the freedom users have in creating there profile provides a humanistic view which relies on the values and worth of each person. This hyperlink provides a section of, The Essence of Humanism, by William James, an essay discussing humanism. http://grammar.about.com/od/classicessays/a/WJhumanism.htm  

Unlike other popular social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter, Instagram does not allow users to fill in a basic information page, where interests and hobbies are displayed. In fact, your real name isn’t even required on you profile, your entire personal information is displayed in a box beneath your profile picture, where you are free to write, or not write anything. This freedom avoids user profiles being ‘considered as autobiographical subjects’ (McNeill, 2012), and almost creating for themselves, a virtual identity.

 An autobiographical approach doesn’t allow profiles to be authentic, as users simply follow the guidelines millions of others have. Instead of creating an almost cyborg like profile, Instagram shows a collage of photos with dates and comments, making each person’s profile unique. Similar to an Aboriginal Songline, ‘a kind of narrative of things that once happened; a kind of charter of things that still happen’ (Stanner, 1979). Although Songlines and Instagram profiles are a completely different narrative format, they both provide authentic and unique narrative structure.

Although not entirely authentic, Instagram attempts to capture daily life. Considering that there is a lack of any personal information regarding interests, birthdate and location of users, it is left up to followers to gather a perspective from a gallery of images. Creating a personality instead of just another user.

References:

Chatwin, B. (1987). Chapter 3, In Songlines (pp. 11-15). London, England: Jonathan Cape.

James, W. "The Essence of Humanism," which first appeared in The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods, March 2, 1905. About.com.

McNeill, L. (2012). There is no “I” in network: Social networking sites and post human auto-biography. In Biography, 35(1), 101-118.

Stanner, W.E.H. (1979). The dreaming (1953), in White man got no dreaming: essays 1938-1973 (pp. 23-30). Canberra, Australia: Australian Notational University Press.

Picture Reference:

Instagram (image), 21 of our favourite Phone apps (2012), taken from Mamamia.com.

Facebook: Who Is Real and What Is Online?

Facebook: Who Is Real and What Is Online?

(Image 1)

The idea for Facebook has accelerated beyond simply a place to keep in touch with people. With the use of the ‘wall’, users are able to create or record their lives for their ‘friends’ to view and share. This feature is what could be described as a narrative. 

An important aspect which was discussed in the lecture was that of self-narratives. The idea that ‘self-narratives, like maps are constructs for a particular purpose and context’ is an almost exact example of a Facebook profile.  Users can create an exact replication of their lives online if they wish or they can dictate what is posted or uploaded to create what they want the world to see. However, it may not be a true reflection of their lives or personality. A narrative does not necessarily infer that it must be truthful or have some notion of truth to it. 

Further evidence of this use of Facebook as a narrative was provided in the readings by McNeill (2012). His idea that users and their profile online narratives are collaborative works is vital in understanding how Facebook and internet profiles operate.

This idea of self-narratives finds support in several articles online. In her article entitled Re-integrating the Self Narrative, Jenny Davis (2011) touches upon the point of a self selective and edited wall and profile by the user. Although with all the perceived issues with self managed images online, Davis does argue that it still is a reflection of our true selves and in fact may be seen as a different type of insight into people’s lives and personality’s, if only from their perceived view point. 

Facebook is not a true and completely correct view of someone’s life and personality. However, it may give a deeper and greater insight into people’s real lives than ever before. 

References:

• • Davis, J. (2011). Re-integrating the self-narrative. The Society Pages. Retrieved from: http://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2011/12/28/re-integrating-the-self-narrative/. 
• • Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 4 Notes (PowerPoint). Retrieved from: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au
• • McNeill, L. (2012). There is no “I” in network: Social Networking Sites and Posthuman Auto/Biography. Biographical Research Centre.
• • Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. Jonathan Cape Ltd

Images:

• • Retrieved from: http://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2011/12/28/re-integrating-the-self-narrative/. 

The Songlines of Facebook

The Songlines of Facebook

Image from: http://www.geekosystem.com/facebook-connection-world-map/

 

Van Luyn (2013) discussed narratives in this week’s lecture. She explained that “narratives are language dependent” and, “self-narratives, like maps, are constructs for a particular purpose and context.” But what does narratives have to do with virtual networks? A narrative on a social network like Facebook is the story you tell of yourself online. Your personal information and the things you post on Facebook begin to explain your story. The concept of ‘The Dreaming’ has been quite present in this week’s readings, and [The Dreaming] can be shown through the use of Facebook.

Stanner (1979) said, “The Dreaming is many things in one. Among them, a kind of narrative of things that once happened; a kind of charter of things that still happen; and a kind of logos or principle of order transcending everything significant for Aboriginal man.” (p 24). We can look at this in the form of Facebook’s ‘Timeline’. It is our own narrative that we have created, that other people have added to, to combine stories that show who we are. You are able to look back to when you first joined Facebook, leading to the present, to show how your story has changed,  how you have grown as a person, and how other people have influenced your life. We are not the only narrators of our Facebook profiles, as other people are able to post things on our wall and tag us in pictures and comments and vice versa. McNeill states that Facebook has “life narrators writing themselves and others” which implies that we are not the only person who is telling our own stories. Our narratives can be represented through the eyes of our fellow peers, which can only add to what we see of ourselves. Timeline is a representation of our journey through life, and through Facebook; a way we communicate our stories and allow others to follow them, much like that of a songline.

“Dreaming-tracks layover the land as ‘ways’ of communication between most far-flung tribes.” (Chatwin. 1987. p 13). If a man followed along his songline, they would be able to find other people who share the same dreaming – their ‘brothers’. On Facebook, we are able to search for friends, or find people through our own friends, which is similar to that of following a songline. By following along these searching tools, we are able to come into contact with people we went to school with or sporting event with – people who we are familiar with, much like the people who share the same dreaming, in a way. Another interesting point Chatwin makes in this chapter is “In other words, “to exist” is “to be perceived”?” (p 14). This statement occurs when the two people are discussing the land itself, saying that the land must be sung for it to exist, which is like the users of Facebook. To be seen, you have to post things on Facebook, whether that is a status, a picture, or a video; however, if you don’t, you may become invisible or inexistent to the public – to exist is to be perceived.

The Image used in this blog “Map of the World Drawn Entirely Using Facebook Connections” was drawn by Paul Butler. If you would like to know how he did this, feel free to read the small article about it at: http://www.geekosystem.com/facebook-connection-world-map/

 

References

Chatwin, B. 1987. The Songlines. Chapter 3, pp 11 – 15. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd

McNeill, L. 2012. There Is No "I" in Network: Social Networking Sites and Posthuman Auto/Biography.

Stanner, W. E. H. 1979. The Dreaming. pp 23 – 40. Australian National University Press, Canberra.

Van Luyn, A. 2013. BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 4 Notes (PowerPoint). Retrieved from: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

 

Image Credits

Butler, P. 2010. Map of the World Drawn Entirely Using Facebook Connections. Retrieved at http://www.geekosystem.com/facebook-connection-world-map/

Virtual Songlines

Virtual Songlines
BA1002          Kendall Munro          Monday 3pm

Van Luyn (2013) explained in this week’s lecture that we are physically creating our own narrative all day, every day. Through what we do, what we say and how we say it, we are sharing a part of ourselves that is open for interpretation by those who are around us, whether that is how we intended for our story to be perceived or not. So is our story ever truly our own? Those who observe our narrative may go and share it with another (where it is open for interpretation once again), and our story has become a part of their narrative. Facebook enables this chain of reaction to occur more rapidly and to a larger audience.

Through features such as the ‘share’ button, Facebook allows users to share other user’s ‘status’ updates, videos, and photos. When somebody shares something you have uploaded, on the ‘post’ a small icon appears that says ‘# shares’, if you click on this it’ll open a list to who has shared your item. You can further click on the individual names to open their post, where they have shared your original post, and possibly made their own comment on your item. By leaving this trace of who has shared your post, Facebook creates a trail that shows where your online narrative has travelled and who has seen it, this can be likened to this week’s reading The Songlines. Bruce Chartwin’s ‘The Songlines’ (1987), describes the way that the aboriginal community believed “each totemic ancestor, while travelling through the country, was thought to have scattered a trail of words and musical notes along the lines of his footprints”, these songlines were maps and directions for that path. As the song line travelled, it would be shared with those that cross paths and so and so forth. I believe this is similar to how Facebook members use their profiles, each day they are creating their own virtual songline. Share their experiences, their triumphs and their failures, leaving behind a map of directions for their Facebook friends to follow or be conscious to avoid.

Feel free to read through Chartwin’s essay, I believe we can apply the concept of the songlines not only to our virtual footpath, but in our daily lives too. http://www.ub.edu/dpfilsa/jeasa1ariem.pdf
 

References:

Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. Jonathan Cape Ltd
Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narrratives and The Making Of Place, Lecture 4: Narrative. [Notes] Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au

Image Credit:

http://www.visitmungo.com.au/ancient-footprints