Facebook Communication.

How social media is changing language (2017)

Most people understand that there are differences between oral and written language. Communication involves the transfer of information from one person to another. This transfer could be presented in many ways, two being; oral or written. The transfer of writing is more static compared to speaking which is a more energetic transfer of information. It is known that although speech alone cannot materially transform nature, it can direct attention, organize insignificant entities into significant composite wholes, and in so doing, make things formerly over looked-and hence invisible and non-existent, visible and real, Tuan (1991).

When people describe a place to you, they tend to describe it the way they experience it. This experience could be completely different to, say a person standing centimetres away, the factors that influence people’s experiences usually depend on their background, attitudes, beliefs, perspectives and many other things. So, the way a person uses their language to describe a place is based on how they experience it. Speech is a component of the total force that transforms nature into a human place. But speech can be an effective force acting alone or almost alone, Tuan (1991). The right to name is a form of empowerment, when people hear about the place by its name or description it already creates an idea of the place being described. Even though they do not see it they already have an idea of the place and this could be negative of positive depending on what they have heard about it.

Facebook users use their language to describe their experiences of places and situations. They combine different forms of language to support their experiences which ultimately makes other users read about their experiences differently from how it would have actually occurred. Words can also be replaced with Emojis, an emoji is a visual representation of an emotion, object or symbol and are mostly used in modern communication apps. Basically, Facebook allows users to use their language to see the world in words, to call something a “Mount” or a “Valley” or a “Plain” represents a way of seeing the world that is English according to Dr Victoria Kuttainen (2017). T

Since being introduced to Facebook I have become aware of how Facebook, as well as other social media sites, has influenced and also continues to influence the language in which I write. When you think about it the words that surround us every day influence the words we use. Since so much of the written language we see is now on the screens of our computers, tablets, and smartphones, language now evolves partly through our interaction with technology. Because the language we use to communicate with each other tends to be more malleable than formal writing, combining informal and personal communication plus a huge audience provided by social media equals a fast change for language.

In the era of social networking sites, digital media present us with a very different and in some ways opposite set of concerns. They way that we send a receive information is more important than the message itself, Marshall McLuhan (1967). There is a popular belief that the Internet is in fact allowing a dramatic expansion to take place in the range and variety of language. Soon standard of language will be lost and creativity weakened as the world imposes sameness. Facebook users are continually searching for vocabulary to describe their experiences, to capture the character of the electronic world, and to overcome the communicative limitations of its technology.

References

·         Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 5: Stories of place: Story lines. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/

·         McLuhan, M (1967) The Medium is the Message by Marshall McLuhan | Animated Book Review| You tube video. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCr2binb4Fs

·         Tuan, Y-F. (1991). Language and the making of place: A narrative-descriptive approach. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696.

·        How social media is changing language (2017). Retrieved Image from: scyther5 / Shutterstock.com 

SONGLINES AND NETWORKING.

SONGLINES AND WHATAPP NETWORKING.

(Peter Mulcahy & Josephine Mick)

The "Songline" is a dreamtime idea that was used to shape the truth of our ancestors. Here in Australia, the Ancestors created themselves from clay, one for each totemic species. Likewise, social network like WhatsApp is the new adjustment or modernised way of the songline, in which our networked narratives are shaped through different social media including WhatsApp. The songline used by our ancestors made it feasible for them to coordinate their route over the whole nation, provided they knew the song. This was clear with their firm belief that a song was both a map and a direction-finder, providing you know the song, you could always find your way across the country (Chatwain, 1987).

This belief was based on the premise that perception was a crucial part of a songline, and that as long as you stuck to the track, you would always find people who shared your dreaming, who were infact your family Chatwin,( 1987), pg.13) [….] The concept of social networking being a present day adaptation of the songline through our networked narratives has more similarities with the traditional concept of the songline, yet additionally varies. There are many similarities and differences between the songlines and the networked narrative of WhatsApp. However, according to Chatwin songlines had predominantly focused on perception and existence. He suggests that an ancestor would only exist to the songline of their totemic ancestor provided they know the song, or are able to identify it.

Another similarity of WhatsApp to a songline is that given that we exist in social and family groups that we see as advantageous in shaping our networked narrative. This implied we can discover our way over the social network given that we know the people we associate with. However, songline differ from the present day networked narrative as WhatsApp has the ability to explore outside your family as long as they have android mobile phones and happy to share their contact details, whereas songline to the Aboriginal people is mainly for a community of the same totemic ancestral descent.

Songlines unlike WhatsApp does not have the ability to choose its community. WhatsApp gives the user the ability to privatize their profile, giving option to choose who can see their status or profile from their family, friends and groups, or like global virtual world, WhatsApp users can also chose to open up their timeline to everyone on the contact details. Songline similarly to WhatsApp, gives the user the ability to create a community with the ability to invite others in. Songline likewise, is a totem which gives no choice to the individual neither the ability to choose another group or friends.

Despite of the similarities and differences between songline and social media like WhatsApp, my observation on present day’s beliefs on social networking sites has degraded our human qualities through being the creation of a computerized medium. Old social communications, like the Dreaming and Songlines, have a natural song about them that modern social media and networking sites are missing. (By Mollel)

Reference list

Chatwin, B. (1985).   The Songlines. Australian aborigines – Social life and customs.

            Jonathan Cape Limited, London.

Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 5: Stories of place: Story lines. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/

Wade, D (2008 September 30) The Dreamtime .Retrieved from http://blog.ted.com/wade_davis_repo/

Image. 

 http://justobjects.nl/gps-hiking-evolution-navigation/

Audience Manipulation and controlling the normal

 

(choose your audience, 2017).

One of the most impactful and unnoticed aspects of the power imbalance in Facebook is that of the design of the space itself. Wood, Kaiser, & Abramms, (2006) put forward that “Every map serves a purpose, every map advances an interest”. Whose interest, then, is advanced by the architecture and mapping of the Facebook site? Once again, it is the purpose of the multinational corporation of Facebook to increase the amount of advertising and as a result the money it can generate from this advertising revenue.

The power imbalance in this situation is again in the subtle ways Facebook manipulates and controls its users under the mask of a completely user-focused “social network”. When one looks at it critically, the idea that a platform, run by a corporation, that reaches millions of people daily wouldn’t be used to generate profit through the use and manipulation of information doesn’t seem to make good business sense.

Many people in the postmodern world are increasingly more aware of the types and amount of personal information we allow into the cyber world, despite reaching a point in our collective online activities where we habitually give away this information and more daily, on Facebook.

One of the reasons Facebook has been so incredibly successful in its use of targeted advertising is in the way the space has been constructed to gather information; such a way that users have been made to feel as though the space is all about them and so, they are much more willing to ‘like’ a page that aligns with their views or fill out profile information because they are under the illusion it is only seen by them, and the chosen few they nominate as ‘friends’. Whereas in actuality, the bulk of that data is used to improve the relevance of the advertising content to the individual users’ preferences. This YouTube video by dottotech explains how advertising can be targeted based on information gleaned from user’s innocuous interactions with the site.

This purposeful, designed space bears a resemblance to Walter Benjamin’s Arcades project as described by Dr Victoria Kuttainen (2017). However, this space differs from the classical arcades as it has vastly different meanings based on who is interacting with the space. In a sense, Facebook can constantly ‘renovate’ its ‘main street arcade’ based on the changing interests of the specific patron, as they walk, or scroll, along it.

More so, the actual movement of the user through this virtual space has been specifically constructed as well. Success in the Facebook context means keeping the user online for as much time as possible using whatever means possible. The way they achieve this is through the personalised ‘timeline’. This is designed in a way that content can be viewed instance at a time as the user scrolls down a (more or less) chronological, time line of content assumed to be relevant to them. Facebook, the entity, uses its power in this aspect by subtly injecting its own advertising in strategic intervals throughout the timeline. This is designed in such a way so as to seem normal enough to go unnoticed as advertising but relevant enough to demand attention from the user. This constructed normality is another example of how Facebook is used as a means of control through massive, yet widely unnoticed, power disparity.

By Adam Brown

Reference list

Choose your audience [image]. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/business/products/ads/ad-targeting

Dottotech. (producer). (2015, January 12) Facebook Ads - How they work! [video file] Retreived from https://youtu.be/r6ZVwtP3xz8

Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Maps. Week 4 Notes [power point slides]. retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/

Wood, D., Kaiser, W. L., & Abramms, B. (2006). Seeing through maps: many ways to see the world. Oxford, UK: New Internationalist Publications.

Internet Pirates and Volatile Flaneurs: Soft on Software

Throughout history, many governmental policies have been designed to oppress and control the general population. However, there has been a tendency for some form of discontent to be displayed by the public. Fight the system!

Piracy. (2016).

One of this week’s concepts, the flaneur, left me with the impression of a rebellious bystander. This alternative to a simple definition is a concept discussed by Benjamin, (as cited in Lauster, 2007, pp. 1-2) where a flaneur is depicted as an entity surpassing its boundaries, as defined in previous eras. Benjamin’s flaneur is different, in that they “want to see, as much as to be seen”, a notion discussed by Kuttainen (2017) during our lecture this week. Apart from moving to observe, this new flaneur seeks out commotion within their community to cause chaos. However, what is their key purpose?

In a capitalistic society, the traffic of consumers was revolutionised by the introduction of arcades. By guiding the crowd, the businesses and entrepreneurs gained the ability to enhance traffic flow and benefit local consumerism. These flaneurs were seeking to break the conformation and direction within these capitalistically-controlled environments.

The internet today is veering towards becoming a platform with heavy capitalistic traits. Except a small independent portion, many websites are requiring some form of sponsorship or market advertising to survive. By using cookies, our every move on the internet is tracked, providing insight into our interests and viewing patterns for the sake of “Remarketing”. My social network, Steam, follows the etiquette and layout of a capitalistic business. It employs the use of marketing strategies such as remarketing and sales to coerce consumers. Through this week’s observations, I’ve begun to understand and relate this week’s readings and lecture to parts of Steam.

Steam acts as a host for virtual interaction, but also works as a marketplace for various online games. Owned by Valve™ Corporation, this company has worked as both the marketer and the creator of various online games. The varying experiences this company has accumulated has enabled it to create a convincing layout for controlling the consumers. Though, technology has created a virtual cyber-flaneur, an antagonist to the virtual, capitalistic world: Piracy.

Piracy is a ceaseless issue within technology. As discussed by Liao, Lin, and Liu (2009, pp. 1-3) problems existent from technology’s origins, such as the ability to forge, imitate and disperse ingenuine software have been possible, and its risks on virtual capitalism have been recognized. As with Benjamin’s flaneur, the defiant figure, piracy, obstructs the control of the overarching puppeteer. Regardless of any attempts to control the rebellion, new methods of evasion are constructed.

Like rats in a sewer, there is only so far you can physically control those who subsede you. Without the foundation of the ‘lowly’ puppets, the structure of capitalism may collapse. This leaves me wondering if the overarching controller will ever be able to suppress the internal rebellions, and to what end will it do it any good?

Until next week,

 ~R. Laverty

References:

Cliktree. (2013, April 12). What is google remarketing? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45uymOc2fTA

Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 4 notes [PowerPoint slides]. College of Arts, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.

Lauster, M. (2007). Walter Benjamin’s myth of the “flaneur”.  The Modern Language 102(1), 139-156. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.elibrary.jcu.edu.au/stable/pdf/20467157.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A781e6c1b56a05a77671c2a087198efef

Liao, C., Lin, H., & Liu, Y. (2010). Predicting the use of pirated software: A contingency model integrating perceived risk with the theory of planned behaviour. Journal of Business Ethics, 91(2), pp. 237-252. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.elibrary.jcu.edu.au/stable/27749793

Piracy [image]. (2016). Retrieved from https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/piracy.jpg?w=670&h=377&crop=1

Aural-Flâneurs

There have always been flâneurs, however its definition varies with time and place. throughout time they have been seen and shown throughout the time of the renaissance watching the civil war breakout to the flâneurs of the cyber-age watching things online and stalking the web without leaving a footprint or trace. The "cyber-flâneurs" wander through social medias they cant stop moving and watching the crowds of people flock from one idea to the other. "The cyber-flaneur's exploration of virtual spaces is achieved through their natural propensity for movement; they wander anonymously within the boundaries of virtual space." (Barnes 1997, p.1)

Anonymous hearing. (2017)

In this week's lecture we discussed and learned about flâneurs and how they impact society by doing nothing, flâneurs have evolved into being something different from the flâneurs of the past, they have adapted to become in tune within the cyber communities, they lurk throughout the internet watching, but never having an opinion. They judge and never tell. “They want to see, as much as to be seen”, noted by Kuttainen (2017) in our lecture today. Don't you always have that one friend on facebook who is always online but never seems to share or post anything, and hardly ever talks? Chances are they are a cyber-flâneur, a style of observation that is becoming more popular. Within spotify, there are listeners who can share their favorite music and create their own public playlist and share their tastes in genres to the world.

Flâneurs within this “Spotify world” sit back and listen to other people's playlist without really creating their own playlists, they are always in the shadows just listening daily but never really commenting or sharing their feelings through music. not much is known about Flâneurs they keep to themselves online they never share anything personal with them, you almost never see anything attached to their name but almost almost always see them online listening to your music or other playlists.

Overall, The idea of the Flâneurs being the watchers of this day and age within the cyber world is quite scary and has opened my eyes to within the cyber community to find who is a Flâneurs. Before this lecture the idea of people being a Flâneurs was obsolete because it appeared to me that there wasn't many of people like this until i realized they are more dominate in on the internet.

Barnes, G. (1997). Passages of the Cyber-Flanuer. [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/

flâneur - definition of flâneur in English | Oxford Dictionaries. (2017). Oxford Dictionaries | English. Retrieved 25 August 2017, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/flaneur

Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 4 notes [PowerPoint slides]. College of Arts, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.

Stephen, B. (2013). In Praise of the Flâneur. The Paris Review. Retrieved 25 August 2017, from https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/10/17/in-praise-of-the-flaneur/

(2017). Encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com. Retrieved 25 August 2017, from https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSoDaXExTYx0ecuBVNc_Iy8oJdzg3OQtjDWdQIohQcZmdRad5xZ

What's in a word

photo credit:herdingcats

The words, language and stories we use tell the world a great deal about us and this in turn is linked to how some words and the way we use them are valued more than others. The way we present ourselves to the world is valued by some more than others. When it comes to something like work and looking for work how we present ourselves verbally and how we use language on our resumes carries a great deal of weight. So by this it would mean that LinkedIn, which is essentially an online resume, would place a high value on words and the value attached to those words. In Tuans (1991) paper they state that the ‘geographer’ is the one that sets the language of the ‘map’, in this case the geographer is the social network user and the map is the social network.

Although the language is set by the user the value is not, as mentioned in an earlier blog one key aspect of LinkedIn is listing what skills and achievements you have attained similar to how it would be in a traditional resume. Although in a traditional resume the worth of it is attained through generally two references, this can lead to a question over if your skills have any true values as it can be difficult to ascertain the truth behind the words and even the references. With LinkedIn people can attest to the skills you list, the intention being that any prospective employer can look at who has been reference to your skills and can also view their skills and achievements and so on.

Words are what make up stories and the stories are what make up the virtual maps that form our lives and our networks. These stories in turn help us shape our spaces and places (Kuttainen, 2017), which in this context applies to how the words we use shape our stories, lives and our networks. Depending on how you phrase and word things on your LinkedIn profile determines how people see that part of your life and also by extension how other parts of your life function such as work.

Tuan, Y. (1977). BA1002: BA1002 Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 5: (Readings), Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 5 slides [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved fromhttps://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/

herdingcats, (2008), Word Map, retrieved from http://herdingcats.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/07/word-map.html

Clare Whitmell,The Guardian (2014), How to word your CV for maximum effect

, retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/careers/careers-blog/how-to-word-your-cv-for-maximum-effect

"Difference in Language, past and present" by Paige Payne

If language helps determine a “place” whether, it’s physical or virtual then the “space and place” around us and which we are a part of has certainly changed.

Language along with the idea of “space and place” has changed as humanity changed.

In the past, language was elegant, poetic and wordy and every story, whether or not, it was news or just a fairy tale was oral and has the human mind began to think and evolve, language became not just the spoken word but also the written word in the form of manuscripts.

As the language advance so did the means of keeping it; books, newspapers and other forms of print became a way of communication or spreading news.

In Tuan’s reading, people who study linguistics often start with “the nature of language itself” (Tuan. Y, “Approaches to Linguistics Place-Construction”, “Language and the making of Place; A Narrative-Descriptive Approach”, “Annals of the Association of American Geographers” 1991) to better understand what “object” or “place” is being emphasized. 

http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2563430.pdf?refreqid=excelsior:a5abeb7f4e44335a846c6c8ace66ec42 

The modern language is I think a lovely challenge because not only has the online world has its own language, for new people to social media it is a challenge to know what the words mean;

“LOL” once meant “Lots of love” and it means “Laugh out loud”, “IDK” means “I don’t know” and within group chats have their own secret code words. 

References 

Tuan, Y, “Language and the making of Place; A Narrative-Descriptive Approach”, “Annals of the Association of American Geographers” 1991) 

Week 5 Lecture; "Stories of Place; Story-Line" "Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place" Slide Title "Transitions in Communication Technology"