I have now identified some examples of the Motherwell fans’ online community managing objectivity and subjectivity. My learning task this week, is’nt so much the ethnography research – more to do with learning how to present it in a digital format. I now have both CamStudio and Xtranormal. I am taking time this week to learn how to use these tools. I feel this week is more practical Digital Culture studies than academic.
Archive for October, 2009
I contacted the Steelmen Online administrator directly regarding the use of the forum for my micro-study. I have approval provided I don’t use any proper names. Given all members use an avatar and forum title, confidentiality is not an ethical issue.
The forum has carried a couple of threads recently speculating about the future of the manager and players. This discussion bears little relation to anything reported in the media. I think the manner in which the discussion evolves shows a good example of how the community regulates itself in separating fact from fiction.
Andy’s Week 5 Review
Oct 23
First and foremost, weekly review acknowledges interim feedback on lifestreaming and blogging for the course. To date, my reviews have described my learning for the week, and the impact upon my thoughts and practice. From this week, I shall review the contents of my lifestream and reflect more upon the academic analysis of digital culture.
With the start of Block 2, all studies have involved acquiring an understanding of ethnography, particularly within digital environments. My lifestream consists almost entirely of del.icio.us tags on the subject, and Twitter dialogue regards digital community subjects. From the moment I started my research, I became aware I was entering pioneer territory, with a lack of previous tracks. Ethnography maygo back to the Samoan analogues of Margared Mead, but analysing digital media appears like walking on virgin snow.
It is not as though there is a lack of sources to define digital-ethnography, but for this scholar at least, there appears a vague, non-methodical quality to such research. Let me illustrate by drawing upon extracts from my tags:
From the Greek: Ethnos “foreigner:” graphos “writing.” Ethnography, “writing about others.” Dictionary definition
and
“A dearly held assumption is that field notes are data and reflect what “really” happened. We trust that quotation marks reveal words that have been truly spoken. This is often an illusion…
“In such situations, we become playwrights, reconstructing a scene for the insight of our readers, depicting ongoing events in our minds (Bartlett 1932): turning near-fictions into claims of fact.” (Gary Alan Fine, “Ten Lies of Ethnography”, The Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 22 (1993): p.277) both from http://www.cf.ac.uk/socsi/hyper/ht99/Ethnography.htmlTheoretical Propositions of Media Ecology (from Lum 2006: 32-33)
1. “communication media are not neutral, transparent, or value-free conduits for carrying data or information … media’s intrinsic physical structure and symbolic form plays a defining role in shaping what and how information is to be encoded and transmitted and therefore how it is to be decoded.”
2. all media are “biased” From Nystrom we know the following biases:
- intellectual and emotional biases based on symoblic forms
- spatial, temporal, and sensory biases based on physical structure
- political biases based on accessibility of symbolic forms
- social biases based on different types of social situations created by physical form
- metaphysical biases due to the way they organize time and space
- content biases based on symbolic and physical forms
- all of this adds up to different epistemological biases
To date, my understanding of research methodology has always accepted reality and the truth as being essential aims of a study. However, even before considering a study topic, I am having to reconsider my stance on the importance of truth. Ethnography offers me licence to describe my subject in my own way – be it through text or visual presentation. I should record my observations and interactions as I see them. The result should be unashamedly bias – in terms of how I see it.
This raises an important ethical issue then – in order for my account to reflect my subject as accurately as possible, I should be able to see and feel the community, as others do. My bias should be their bias too.
In its most characteristic form it involves the ethnographer participating,overtly or covertly in people’s daily lives for an extended period of time, watching what happens, listening to what is said, asking questions – in fact, collecting whatever data are available to throw light on the issues that are the focus of the research. Hine p41
Hine goes on to state the ethnographer is not merelya voyeur or observer, but to some extent a participant, sharing some of the concerns, emotions and commitments of the subjects. This has had an impact upon my choice of digital community subject. I had intended to identify an online academic group that would have offered some links to this course. However, I consider this issue of membership important.
This therefore draws me towards other aspects of my life. Football. I am a member of a community group. It is an emotional bond, and one that is heavily biased. As a member of an online discussion forum – Steelmen Online – I regularly share facts, views and memories with other sad individuals who follow Motherwell FC. In examining the criteria for the micro-study in Block 2, I actually feel attracted to analysing this community. My insight of its members is based solely upon the contributions each makes to the group. Topics, arguments, insight and language vary. The only common denominator that joins its members is affiliation to Motherwell FC.
My wife understands my emotional bond to following my football team, but has often queried the amount of time I give over to reading and posting comments on the fans forum. So now I have an opportunity to find out.
At the time of writing, tutors and students are clarifying ethical issues around carrying out such studies. I have tried tocontribute to this task by finding some ethics papers and adding them to my lifestream. I hope I get the go ahead – because I’m clearly going to love studying my topic.
In studying this course, I have found myself challenging and being challenged by stereotypes and prejudice. I infer to the attitudes towards digital citizens – those who spend much time engaged in online communication. Friends and family frequently make reference to geeks, boffins, sci-fi buffs, cretons, social inadequates, etc.
In identifying my choice of digital community to analyse, I now find myself potentially challenging another stereotype – that of British bloke, laddish culture. My initial resistence to choosing Steelmen Online (Motherwell FC)has been an image of a bunch of blokes blethering online about football. Is a community, dedicated to a small, mediocre Scottish football team mature enough to merit analysis? However, having been a member for some years now, I have actually encountered a relatively high level of social interaction and analysis.
In considering my choice, I have been drawn to my own motivation for participating in the forum myself. I do it for information, news and opinions on Motherwell FC. I therefore propose to carry out an observational study on the discussion board. The analysis will involve taking snapshots of information from the discussion boards – particularly around the signing of new players, and comparing it to reality. How does the community respond to personal correspondance, gossip, speculation and opinion? How does the information compare with the public media? How important does the community place upon the truth?
Too many meeting places?
Oct 21
This virtual community ie. our class, has generated a problem for ourselves. We’ve immersed ourselves so much in digital culture, we can’t decide where to meet. It’s like turning up at the Scout’s hut, only to find half of them have gone off camping. One way to dismantle a community – create multi meeting places.
This comment is a copy from a posting on the discussion board – duplication
When I saw the activities for Block 2 in the Course Handbook, I thought this would be the part I felt most at home. I’m a sociologist by trade.
Online or virtual community is the gathering of people, in an online “space” where they come, communicate, connect, and get to know each other better over time. From that point on, the rest is up to you. Your community will be what you and your members make of it! http://www.fullcirc.com/community/communitywhatwhy.htm
That seems straight forward – I should find any collection of individuals with some form of common identity who interact with one another online. OK
“A dearly held assumption is that field notes are data and reflect what “really” happened. We trust that quotation marks reveal words that have been truly spoken. This is often an illusion…
“In such situations, we become playwrights, reconstructing a scene for the insight of our readers, depicting ongoing events in our minds (Bartlett 1932): turning near-fictions into claims of fact.” (Gary Alan Fine, “Ten Lies of Ethnography”, The Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 22 (1993): p.277) http://www.cf.ac.uk/socsi/hyper/ht99/Ethnography.html
This implies whatever I study, I should appear to use a strategy, but it can all be made up!!!
After reading some of the course texts and half an hour surfing digital ethnography, I appear little the wiser. Is this pioneering territory? I feel another learning journey coming on.
Andy’s Week 4 Review
Oct 18
I’ve now expereienced most of the class visual artefacts, produced my own and commented on several. Like the whole of this course, this has been a sharp learning curve for me. I commented a couple of weeks ago, how digital technology offers the potential for utilising creativity and imagination. It is fantastic to see how 20 individuals can create vastly different presentations around common themes. The challenges of the evolution of digital technology. Without exception, every contribution has shown considerable originality. Strangers in real life becoming digitally intimate with their personal thoughts, feelings and expression. Since the object of the visual artefact exercise was to produce something using the minimum of text – I fing the only way to express my thoughts is …… well I’m a bit lost for words …. I’m wowed out.
By encouraging individuals to utilise imagination, I felt this led to each presentation having an element of surprise and intrigue. On numerous occasions, I found myself thinking “I never thought of that” or “I wish I had done that” or in one or two cases “I could never have thought of that”. I offer Sarah’s as an example of all three – I’m not saying it’s the best, but it is one that had a significant impact on me.
This week, I can identify two issues that impact upon my understanding of digital culture. The first is ability. The production above, use of Prezi and Silvana’s video editing are all beyond my current abilities. I am not expressing inadequacy, but wondering where the boundaries of my creativity could lie if I had greater technological savvy. In commenting on my video, Jen wondered if I could have used less text commentary on my video. My response is – yes, I would have loved to have used no text – but a combination of video production ability and sheer familiarity in using text, led to my film looking the way it did. I wonder what my visual presentations may look like in the future as my confidence and competence develops.
The second issue that has had a major impact upon me is Visions of the Future. A combination of Michio Kaku’s film plus the likes of Nicola’s presentation, have stoppedme in my tracks. I’ve never been a sci-fi buff or a tecky, so never really had much appreciation for jst how fast the future is coming. The thoughts of human and technology merging as one entity just stops me in my tracks. If this blog is to serve as a record of where I am currently at, then my conclusions this week are one of fear and uncertainty. I never realised how significant digital culture was until now.
This programme was on BBC4 this week. Here is Part 5 – the climax. This is the same week I have enjoyed both producing my own visual artefact and wandering around the virtual gallery that is the collection of presentations from the class. However, nothing from our artefacts, Film Festivals, course texts or Lifestreams has had such an impact upon me as this 8 minutes of video.
“One day we could have a memory chip, a visual chip, a thinking chip.” Michio Kaku
“As you get to the 2040s, machine portion of intelligence will be vastly more powerful than the biological portion.” Ray Kurweil
“Over next 50 years we shall see robots with more biological components and people with more technological components… Where are the people and robots going to be…. it’s an interesting question.” Rodney Brooks MIT
I’m so taken aback by these statements, I’ve had to commit them to text. I suppose this represents where I am in my own cognitive evolution.
I don’t have any personal words to express the impact of this film – so here’s a visual of where I’ve gone in my head….
Andy’s Visual Artefact
Oct 15
To a large extent, my video is self explanatory. Although utilising a journey metaphor clearly conveys a shift from A to B, I felt some text commentary complimented the production. The crucial element here is change. Over the last four weeks, I have altered my knowledge, understanding and confidence in different environments – both real and virtual.
The inspiration for my film came one morning on my way to the office – my new workplace. Before starting, I had spent some time researching and planning my route and timetables. I have three connections each way now. Yet after only one week, I suddenly realised I was doing the journey without thinking. My cognitive processes had computed my new journey to auto pilot. My thoughts were now totally absorbed with digital culture and visual artefacts. Having learned a new commuting journey, I now wondered how quickly I could acquire new skills in use of digital media.
The video represents my early experiments with Windows Movie Maker, Prism Converter and Moyea Downloader. The artefact is simply a combination of primitive video production and enthusiasm at having the freedom to express my imagination. The actual thread of thought may be a bit ropey in places but I ended up having a lot of fun making it. I’ve shrugged my shoulders at copyright – everything I borrowed was on You Tube in the first place.
Enjoy
I have recently added a number of recordings of live lectures on my Lifestream. I have been particularly taken by Patrick Dixon, and his energetic presentation on visions of the future.
Having identified video recordings of lectures as a useful source of materials in digital culture in my weekly review, Jenny madea critical comment.
Re the existence of lectures on youtube – is there a distinction to be made here between material that *happens* to be on youtube and material that is created *for* youtube? I think the idea of something being ‘born digital’ is useful here. Just because something is on a computer/ in a web 2.0 application does not mean it is making good use of the possibilities of the medium.
In considering a replyto this comment, I find it is worthy of a blog post on its own. To some extent, I accept Jenny’s challenge in that it is hardly a different learning medium to simply download and watch a recording of a live presentation. The actual lecture is f2f. However, I do identify a number of points that make such presentations worthy of recognition in digital culture.
- The video enabled me an opportunity to experience the lecture. I would love to have flown to Belgium to be there. The video made it possible.
- I came across Patrick Dixon whilst looking for something else. I stumbled upon it whilst searching for examples of effective practice in education.
- The video lasts 55 minutes. As yet, I have not watched all of it yet. I can dip in and out of it at my convenience.
- If I wish, I can download the video and edit it for my own use. In other words, I can alter the presentation.
- Technology is not there yet, but I have read in other blog posts that search engines will eventually be able to search audio data. This means that eventually, by identifying “future” as my search criteria, Mr Dixon will pop up on my screen.
I conclude that recordings of f2f presentations are not digital culture, but their accessibility, usability and editability is.
