Reality Or Virtuality?

                                            Walkabout. Courtesy of Google Images.

In the aboriginal culture, ‘Songlines’ are used as a map or a direction-finder to ensure they found their way across the country. (Chatwin, 1985) It was the one of the connections that the Aboriginals had used to understand their identity, their culture, their history and this assisted them throughout their lives. It was also a source of communication, say if one were to venture of their trail and come across other people he would sing his song and that song will tell that other person that he means no harm and lead him back to his path. Facebook has a similar concept to ‘Songlines’.

An individual would know their history or identity just by going on their ‘wall’. On a Facebook wall which you and your Facebook friends can access has the basic information about that particular person, it has an album of photo’s that the person ‘uploaded’ or  had been ‘tagged’ in creating their identity or just by ‘scrolling’ down on the wall, it would show the history from when this person started using Facebook. That would include; status updates, uploaded photos, tags even things that person has ‘liked’. And we cannot forget that Facebook is the biggest source used for communication.

Discussed in Week 5’s Lecture, was the term ‘ontology’ – a systematic theory of existence; a way of explaining and making sense of god and everything in life. Facebook and Songlines are based around that term. Facebook is virtuality; a type of narrative that will only identify you in your virtual space. You could walk around public and people would not know your history, or what you recently uploaded or even know your name. However, that’s the difference between the virtuality of Facebook and the reality of Songlines. An Aboriginal man could sing a song and the others would know where he comes from even though they’ve never met him before.

This link discusses the opinion from the creator of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg about Facebooks virtuality becoming a reality in today’s society.  http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/29/9069675/mark-zuckerberg-says-virtual-reality-is-the-obvious-next-step-for

By Korissa Johnson.

Reference

Chatwin, B. (1987) The Songlines: Ausralian Aborigines – Social Life and Customs. Pp. (2) Published by British Library Cataloguing.

Kuttainen, V. (2015). Stories and Places. Lecture, James Cook University

The Verge. Last updated ( 2015). Retrieved from URL. http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/29/9069675/mark-zuckerberg-says-virtual-reality-is-the-obvious-next-step-for

Walkabout Image. (2015) Retrieved from URL. http://eastaste.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/walkabout1.jpeg

Vine and Paradigm

(Miller, 2015)

Vine and Paradigm

Vine has millions of users all over the world, yet only some people and places get recognized due to a more English-orientated audience. However, the users of this site still have not aimed to rectify this happening. The whole site seems to be a Paradigm that has yet to shift.

It seems to be, that people seem to discourage change, however small, or however exposing it could be, even for the better. Ontology, as described by Kuttainen (2015), is a 'sense of the way things are'. The community of Vine seem to have created this space to be an unchanging way of escaping the real world. That is, the users have decided that the best way to maintain social structure of the site, is to ensure it becomes as English-orientated as possible, as to ensure a place that they feel comfortable and 'at home'.

Tuan (1991, p.686) argues that "insiders see 'homeplace' - an environment that is familiar to them". This quote of which I can apply to the users of Vine as they surf their way through a familiar and unchanging environment. Tuan (1991, p. 688) also later argues that during the settlement of Australia, there was a sort of promoting "a sense of regional identity and of place". This can also be similarly identical to the users of Vine, As they promote only certain videos in order to maintain the underlying social structure of the social media website.

Kuttainen (2015) argues later on that "Folk culture is being erased by urbanization". Which I believe to be true in a sense that while some videos are being overlooked due to the social structure of Vine, while videos depicting English-orientated activities and/or people are being promoted 24/7.

References:

Kuttainen, V. (2015). Stories and Places. Lecture, James Cook University.

Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the Making of Place: A Narrative-Descriptive Approach. 

Annals Of The Association Of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8306.1991.tb01715.x

Picture References:

Miller, G. (2015). History of Online Social Networking. LoveToKnow. Retrieved 28 August 2015, from http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/History_of_Online_Social_Networking

Link References:

https://vine.co/channels/comedy 

Gender Definitions in Modern Images

Once upon a time a story was set and told trough the written word, kaleidoscopes of meticulously detailed language. Using various literary devices such as imagery, expression, knowledge, insight and imagination to create the places readers so fervently enjoyed. Recently however this figurative space has been replaced with actual space through the humble image, setting the stage for the photo driven world we now live in today.

 

Many social media sites, sensing the changing culture, grew and adapted to fit the new use of images to create place (DALZIELL & GENONI, 2013)in the virtual world as well as unfortunately set standards. Facebook uses new and improving technology to use real life places to fill the otherwise empty spaces between users and give us with images (Kuttainen, 2015). It has been found these shared photos engage people drawing the eye towards something picturesque or something distorted or disturbing. Most pictures found on the site are either selfies or exotic locations we wish we could visit, and companies are catching onto this. Many companies are using this newfound knowledge of human need for place for ads targeted specifically to gender demographics (Kang, 1997).  It is really clear that there are definitively cut gender barriers that are very similar to those of the 1950’s  when they should be changing to fit modern society. Using definitions of female and male such as soft, gentile, delicate, fragile and easily led, or violent, strong, butch, demanding and chiselled for the boys (Darley & Smith, 1995), sites like Facebook are confining places for people as they begin to assimilate whatever nonsense they are fed daily. Companies create images that fit those key words to target specific genders such as the new shampoo ad campaign for herbal essences  just encourage this behaviour. Images that were once shared between friends have taken a new meaning in advertising as although within the virtual world they fill spaces in knowledge they now force us into place, a neat little tidy slot which of course we don’t.

Bibliography

DALZIELL, T., & GENONI, P. (2013). Telling Stories. Clayton, Victoria: Monash University Publishing.

Darley, W. K., & Smith, R. E. (1995). Gender Differences in Information Processing Strategies: An Empirical Test of the Selectivity Model in Advertising Response. Journal of Advertising, 41-56.

Kang, M.-E. (1997). The portrayal of women’s images in magazine advertisements: Goffman’s gender analysis revisited. Sex Roles A Journal of Research, 979-996.

Kuttainen, V. (2015). Narrivive as Fundemental Oreinteering . Lecture 4 .

Is Reality going... going... gone?

"Competing ontology often overwrites the other as lesser" is one of the points Victoria Kuttainen (2015) made in this week's lecture. If we were to think of narratives in reality as books, movies, and magazines as one ontology and narratives in virtuality as photos and text on social media as a competing ontology, I think it is safe to say that, alarmingly, virtuality is overwriting reality as a lesser ontology.

Kuttainen talks in her reading Style, Modernity and Popular Magazines (2013) about in the 1920s and 1930s, magazines were becoming a popular way for readers and "armchair travellers" back home in Australia to experience stories of the Pacific by reading words and looking at pictures on a page in front of them. At the time this was the ontology in which narratives were created and people understood far away lands, however these commercial products have been dubbed 'ancient' in comparison to the new narratives of place in photographs and text on a screen which have risen to prominence. Fast forward 80 or 90 years and we can experience the Pacific on our Instagram feed by simply searching #Pacific, or perhaps living vicariously through someone we are following who is on vacation there.

Of course we cannot tell the future, and neither could the consumers of magazines in the 1920s and 30s which are now just seen as cultural artefacts, but perhaps social media will suffer the same fate and drift away into the back of cultural consciousness. Already in this day and age, technology is developing so quickly that it seems there is a new social media site starting up every week, and young people are so engrossed in these new ones that the old ones are being forgotten. It is always food for thought.

References:

Kuttainen, V. (2015). Stories and Places [Lecture Slides]. James Cook University: Townsville
Kuttainen, V. (2013). Style, Modernity and Popular Magazines. In Telling Stories. (pp. 51-56). Monash University Publishing: Australia

Image Reference: 

Gecko and Fly. (2015). 50 Things Your Smartphone Replaced [ Or Will Replace In The Future ]. Retrieved from http://www.geckoandfly.com/13143/50-things-smartphone-replaced-will-replace-future/

Self & Community on Facebook

 

Facebook is one of those Social  networks that has the option to update status’s and reveal information about users they would not necessarily share with someone face to face out of fear or embarrassment. But because life online is perceived by users as safe, we tend to express ourselves more freely in an online context. The mutual (and coercive) production of networked lives invites a reconsideration of how we read and create lives in an online context. (McNeil, 2012) So many of us users on Facebook find comfort in expressing details online because we think of Social Networks as online communities where there is the freedom to be friends with who you like and have the knowledge that it is a safe place.

Although Facebook is an online community some users may feel as though it is a place for personal thoughts, with only a few friends able to access the update. Some people may think of Facebook as a keepsake of memories or feelings. It maintains the appearance of an ‘authentic diary’ not meant for anyone else’s eyes. (Van Luyn, 2015) Users may feel as though writing online may be the only outlet for confusing or emotional thoughts, that make the user feel better about themselves after letting everything out. It is common to see status’s as a diary entry when a user is communicating to another user.

Facebook is a place of self and community that can be used as an outlet for any personal hardships or just wanting to express any thoughts that users may feel like they need to share on Facebook.  It is an online network of acceptance and self-identity that should be positively acknowledged by the various users.

Reference List
Lopez, N. (2015). TNW News. Retrieved 28 August, 2015, from http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2015/08/27/over-1b-people-used-facebook-in-a-single-day-for-the-first-time-ever/

McNeil, L. (2012). There is no “I” in network: Social networking sites and post human auto-biography. Retrieved 28th August, 2015

Van Luyn, Ariella. (2015) BA1002 Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place. Space and Identity: Genre and Transformation. Retrieved 21st August, 2015

Narratives, Now and Then

Over the last few hundred years the idea of place and space in relation to narrative and language have changed dramatically, along with the meanings of certain things. Back before Australia was colonized it was occupied by the indigenous, Aboriginals. ‘’The Aboriginals, he went on, were a people who trod lightly over the earth; and the less they took from the earth, the less they had to give in return.” (Chatwin, 1987) This was not their space, even though they lived in this place, they knew they had to respect the land, and in return it would do the same for them, but after white colonials invaded all of their native ideals changed. They could not communicate with these foreign people, because they did not communicate in the same ways. Yes they had language but they also used song and dance to tell stories and interact with one another. This immediately reminded me of one of the definitions that we had learnt in the lecture, ontology, and that is exactly what they had before they were invaded.

After being invaded a lot of things changed in relation to their language, place and space. Thankfully they have been able to hold onto parts of their ontology, but in modern Australia the way that we use language and describe things have changed. Currently, if we need to make contact with a friend we send them a message, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. This is a perfect example of how the ideal of space and place has evolved over time in relation to narratives. We used to talk, dance and interact, now however, if we want to talk to someone we send them a message saying ‘Hey lol”.

Bibliography

Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd.

Image From: http://blog.apollocamper.com/all-posts/apollo-attends-the-laura-aboriginal-dance-festival/

SONG - LINES AND NARRATIVES....PRETTY MUCH THE SAME!!

By Alice Carter

According to Victoria Kuittanen (Lecture 5, Learn JCU: Power Point. 2015), song-lines have been known for generations as the ancient, narrative way of the aboriginal people being able to map out their own scenery of the Australian continent. It was believe that song lines were tribal chants or tunes that were sung by certain groups of Indigenous Australians, as they tracked along the rural ground of the land; as these groups reached certain points, they would then chant their “song” to the next tribe (who lived on the neighbouring land), who would then carry on the “line of song” down their own homeland track. 

This concept of song lines creating paths within Australia, strongly symbolises an ideology of how our country was first a “network narrative”. I think that by looking at song lines from this point of view, people can easily connect similarities between a virtual social network, and the song line network that was created through history. An example of this, looks at space and place of Facebook, and how it to has a way of expressing “network narratives” (networks being the connections between people, and narratives being “storytelling  that converts mere objects ‘out there’ into real presences” (Tuan, 1991, p.686) ). 

Every day I have seen people post regular updates on Facebook, weather it be about their children, diets or husbands. This then creates their own online place, to which then creates an identity. The ability of others being able to comment on these “daily updates”, uses the concept of network by being connected by the use of word and opinion (a network that was started by an individual, which then turned into multiple connections between individuals. These multiple connections between individuals shows me that it is very easy for Facebook to be labelled as a networked narrative, and it also makes the similarities between song lines and Facebook quite outstanding. 

References: 

Kuittanen, V. Lecture 5, LearnJCU: Power Point, 2015

Tuan, 1991. page 686

Divide, Define, Conquer, Learn, Repeat.

It is difficult to define a perspective on such a multitude of others; to do so would lose an emphasis of the real demographics of personalities. However to be prompt I will stick to the Deviants I personally subscribe to and browse amongst.

As a whole the virtual reality within DeviantArt is as patchy and fertile as the real world, a cacophony of anything and a shade of everything in between. The growth is just as exponential, every time a Deviant posts something new, the skills are finer, their work more defined and their angle all the more alluring to the wandering mind.

Personally I like to describe my perspective of anything as an echo-beat-whisper of the original concept. This can be described as quite similar to the depiction of the universe revolving around the earth in Ptolemy’s apparent observation drafted by Velho (Velho, 1568).
To further explain (bear with me), perspectives are fluid. They are never the same. Should that be considered even a possibility to yourself, a moment of thought on how it all meshes together is self-explanatory altogether how brief they really are.

Now back on track, the ‘world map’ in DeviantArt is just as fluid as my own personal perception. There is no monopolisation; there are strong currents and weaker ones. The ‘celebrities’ get to where they are by even more hard work than the rest and once they want time off, their status recedes as the tides. The glory is there all the same, for all because everyone is learning from one another. The potential is astounding.

On an interesting note to the side though, some stereotypes that we see in everyday life, if one is observant, show face in some Deviant’s artwork depicting humans. We are defined by our own perceptions, scary thought hey.

To finish up I will tell that the artists that usually grab my attention are traditional (painting, drawing and whatnot) and the CGI from photoshop and other programs like that. For some reason women tend to be the stronger group as whole, however there are some male artists who have an astounding mind.

And so, everything balances out,

Peace out,

Your Spiritual Joke.

 ----------------

References

Kuttenein, V. (2015). BA1002: Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 4 notes [Powerpoint Slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-1992266-dt-content-rid-2709593_1/courses/15-BA1002-TSV-INT-SP2/BA1OO2%20Lecture%204%20pdf%20note%20style.pdf

Images

Ariel. B (Artist). (2012) WOT - Morgase Trakand [Traditional Painting]. United States. Retrieved from http://reddera.deviantart.com/art/WOT-Morgase-Trakand-294984675

Kuttenein, V. (2015). BA1002: Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 4 notes [Powerpoint Slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-1992266-dt-content-rid-2709593_1/courses/15-BA1002-TSV-INT-SP2/BA1OO2%20Lecture%204%20pdf%20note%20style.pdf

Space & Place

The space and place involved with Facebook comes from the idea that users are comfortable with the ‘space and place’ Facebook has provided 3them, where it be the freedom to post statuses, upload photos, change your user to private and so on. With most Facebook users it seems that the majority of them like to keep their profile open to the public either to gain more friends or having users like uploaded photos or statuses.

However, other Facebook users like to keep their profile on the down low as to not draw unwanted attention to themselves. These users set their setting to private so Facebook users they do not know are not able to view any photos or statuses. With ‘space and place’ there is also the lack of place, due to users expecting more of what other users may be able to open up about over Social Network.

“The demands of a public audience shapes the construction of the text.” (Van Luyn, 2015 Lecture 3) With this said this is accurate due to many users becoming a different person online to who they are offline. A screen allows people to become someone they never could be in the real world. The public audience, being Facebook users, evidently manipulate other users to write a status that isn’t exactly what the user is thinking.

“Recent ethological studies show that nonhuman animals also have a sense of territory and of place.” (Tuan, 1979) This quote from this author relates back to Facebook as users tend to protect their Facebook page, by integrating the privacy setting that only allows their friends to access any personal information. The territory of Facebook users is like their home away from home, they can update their status to what they are feeling or whatever they are doing, without any interference from ‘intruders’ as such, while still keeping into contact with any relative or friends.

In the end ‘space and place’ on any Social Networking site can be seen as a user’s, personal territory with them controlling who has access to their page and who they think is a good influence to allow them onto their page and  be welcomed into their territory.

This video shows how ‘space and place’ can influence what users write on Facebook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxVZYiJKl1Y

 

 Reference List

Morris, M. (2015). Samuel Morris Foundation. Retrieved 21 August, 2015, from http://samuelmorrisfoundation.org.au/keep-us-facebook-feed/

Tuan, Y. (1977). Space and Place: The perspective of Experience. London: Edward Arnold. Retrieved, 21^st August, 2015

Van Luyn, Ariella. (2015) BA1002 Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place. Space and Identity: Genre and Transformation. Retrieved 21^st August, 2015

Cyber-Flaneur: Pinterest

Cyber-Flaneur: Pinterest

Courtesy of http://www.desktopwallpapers4.me/abstract/cyberspace-15903/

When one is surfing the net they are simply browsing the internet at a leisurely pace. Clicking and searching through anything they find interesting, which is similar to a ‘Flaneur’. A term used to describe someone adrift in the city, a detached observers strolling through the streets at a leisurely pace.  (Prouty, 2009.) In this case referring to Social Networks such as Facebook, Instagram and vines are networks that you can surf through without drawing attention to yourself; moving through a space without being noticed.

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/ that is linked with Facebook is a social network, a space where people upload pictures that link to a website, but these specific pictures are put under categories. When you tap on a picture it pulls a page where if you were to click on the picture again it will send you to the link that is connected to it or you could scroll down and find other pictures that fit the category, even creating your own profile that people can follow and ‘pinning’ pictures that you like. . In a way it gives it a sense of cyber-community that is based around your personality. This process is endless; it’s a cyberspace, a cognitive map where it has no fixed boundaries in time or space.

 As it says in Gaylene Barnes, Passage of the Cyber-Flaneur; “the term cyber-flaneur is an exploration of virtual spaces, where an individual can wander anonymously within the boundaries of virtual space, developing a virtual identity, while connected.”  I believe this description fits accurately with this specific social network. People can ‘flaneur’ on Pinterest but to draw attention to themselves they would have to re-pin a picture on their personal wall thus creating attention and pulling them out of that ‘flaneur’ state.

Korissa Johnson

Reference:

Cyberspace. (2015). Retrieved from URL http://www.desktopwallpapers4.me/abstract/cyberspace-15903/

Barnes, G. (1997). Passage of the Cyber-Flanuer.  Otage University

Prouty, R. (2009). A Turtle on a Leash. Retrieved August 21, 2015, from One-Way Street: http://www.onewaystreet.typepad.com/one_way_street/2009/10/a-turtle-on-a-leash.html

Hyperlink. (2015). Retrieved from URL https://www.pinterest.com/

New Age: Facebook Flaneurs

New Age: Facebook Flaneurs

Facebook is known for its interactive interface, and interface in which everyone is almost expected to contribute to the community. Each individual person has status to post and witty remarks to make, yet there are those who float on through browsing but never sampling that part of their online life, possibly connecting to thousands but choosing not to. They are those who, instead of constantly updating statuses and plugging games and cat videos, choose to mainly observe for any number of reasons (Spencer & Fein, 1997). However it is this observation and lack of content that seems to draw them into the public eye.

A classic reading of the Flaneur was one who browsed the streets in search of nothing, experiencing new sensations offered only in passing (Prouty, 2009), yet this image has changed especially in online communities (Barnes, 1997). Now a Flaneur has become more of a grab for attention; the once social statement of being disinterested is now tacky and annoying from constant overuse and never is it more prevalent than on Facebook. As the social media site has already reached its popularity climax (Mander, 2015), many on it are now fighting in a bid to be noticed amongst the community (Kuttainen, 2015), and as almost everything has been done already many have become online Flaneurs. This classic method of trying to distance yourself and not participate, in the hopes you will be noticed, has become nothing more than a method normally used by toddlers throwing a tantrum. The outcome is the also the same, as most everyone now has gotten used to it and any novelty it once held has all but disintegrated into shamelessness. This strange belief that doing nothing will get you recognised is unfortunate recreation of the 1890’s and is old hack, also the argument that as the Kardashians are famous for nothing in particular so the next version could be me is a very poor life goal indeed.

Bibliography

Barnes, G. (1997). Passage of the Cyber-Flanuer. Otago University.

Mander, J. (2015, January 21). GWI Social Q4 2014: the latest social networking trends. Retrieved August 21, 2015, from globalwebindex: https://www.globalwebindex.net/blog/gwi-social-q4-2014-the-latest-social-networking-trends

Prouty, R. (2009, October 28). A Turtle on a Leash. Retrieved August 20, 2015, from One-Way Street: http://www.onewaystreet.typepad.com/one_way_street/2009/10/a-turtle-on-a-leash.html

Spencer, S. J., & Fein, S. (1997). Prejudice as self-image maintenance: Affirming the self through derogating others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31-44.

Kuttainen, Victoria (2015). Lecture Notes and Audio recordinds for weeks 3 and 4. Retrieved August

 20, 2015.

Instagram As The Map of Life

After spending the last week trawling through the profiles of many strangers, as well as posting photographs of any happenings that were vaguely interesting in my own life, I have made the observation that the humble Instagram account is a map of one's life. Every map has a purpose (Wood et. al, 2006), and just like the Mercator map is used for navigation and the Peters map is used to show the relative size of the continents, an Instagram account is a map of a person's life that presents them to other users.You could think of it as a Mercator map, used by visitors to navigate the life of a stranger (uncharted territory); what they look like, what they do, where they have been. 

But in thinking about the process of actually building an Instagram account, one is engaging in a kind of cartography by sharing pictures of the world around them and describing how they experience it, or by posting a selfie inside a new home to say "this is a new part of my life which I am ready to explore." Cartography is a form of narrative writing (Kuttainen, 2015), and by writing this narrative of our lives, we are not only creating this map, but also creating a place for ourselves within the vast 300 million user space (Smith, 2015). 

On a sentimental note to finish off, in 50 years' time (provided that Instagram still exists and that us oldies will still be using it), or even one year's time, Instagram will allow us to look back on our lives which have been mapped out over many years. Much like how many early maps, such as the Mappa Mundi, allow us to look back on how humankind saw the world then, and how it compares to the world map now.

References:

Kuttainen, V. (2015). Maps [Lecture slides]. James Cook University: Townsville

Smith, C. (2015). By The Numbers: 150+ Interesting Instagram Statistics (August 2015). Retrieved from http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/important-instagram-stats/  

Wood, D. et. al. (2006). The Multiple Truths of the Mappable World. In Seeing Through Maps: Many Ways to See the World. ODT, Inc.: UK

Image: Lofte, L. (2012). Instagram 3.0 Introduces Photo Map and Other Improvements. Retrieved from http://www.imore.com/instagram-30-introduces-photo-map-and-improvements 

The Cyber-Flanuer's Aimless Ways

The Cyber-Flaneur's Aimless Ways

Vine, the video-sharing social media site, widely shares videos from all over the world. And yet, so many videos are overlooked because they are not entertaining enough to all 'the right people'. But does it really matter if they are? The Cyber-Flaneur can be one such anonymous participant in this scheme. While the Cyber-Flaneur actively observes their virtual surroundings, it is rare that they participate in the promotion of any certain events - or in this case, videos - they may observe. This argument is also apparent in Barnes' (1997) text as she describes as follows, "An unconfined 'pedestrian' movement where he could anonymously embrace the glittering spectacles of modern life without necessarily having to participate in them - so too does cyberspace offer to the Cyber-Flaneur an unrestricted flanerie.

As discussed by Kuttainen (2015) just like real life maps, the virtual world, too, has its own maps. Connecting not only other people, but also other networking sites. The purpose of the Cyber-Flaneur is that they have no real purpose other than to aimlessly click their way through multiple people and networks. In Vine, other people are featured in others videos, and can be found in 'tags' where one can then be redirected to another persons videos. The Cyber-Flaneur then opens a link into someone else's page and passively participates in not participating - if you know what I mean.

Also discussed by Barnes (1997), is the way the Cyber-Flaneur goes about their aimless search for something amusing. They tend to not care about they people they are staring at. Barnes states that very much like the prison Panopticon, both the Cyber-Flaneur and the other person posting videos and updates, "Are both in a position of omnipotent voyeurism." So are the Cyber-Flaneur's really that important in the promotion of the online community?

According to this Article, I suppose they aren't.

References:

Barnes, G. (1997). Travelling in Cyberspace. Passage of the Flaneur. Retrieved from http://www.raynbird.com/essays/Passage_Flaneur.html

Barnes, G. (1997). Scopic Power in Cyberspace. Passage of the Flaneur. Retrieved from http://www.raynbird.com/essays/Passage_Flaneur.html

Kuttainen, V. (2015). Maps. Lecture, James Cook University.

Samuel Stokely Blog 2

This week I would like to discuss place and space in regards to Tasmania on the map of Australia, and how Facebook connects me to my original place and space. In regards to this I would like to point out the common assumption that people have when they look at Tasmania in comparison to Australia. “Maps are descriptions of the way things are. They are a lot like the answers people give police at the scene of an accident.” (Denis Wood, 2006) Yes this is true in comparison to Australia, but it is not as small as you think. Coming from Tasmania myself I know this does sound bias, however it is something that has troubled me for some time. Even though it is so small, it is still a vast to an extent, with breathtaking scenery and spectacular views. In relation to space and place I would like to discuss how I wish people would make an attempt to leave their narrow minded views of place and space, and visit what I call home, just so they can understand that Tasmania has a lot more to offer them than what they actually think.

In relation to social media, place and space, and where I have moved from, Facebook has kept me in tight contact with my friends and family, from a whole new world. Facebook allowed me to stay connected to everyone, and without it I most likely would have lost contact with a large majority of people in my new space. By moving from Tasmania, to Mackay and then Townsville I have also opened up a large network among my different friendship groups, which is exciting in the sense that only one person moving around can also connect so many different people.

Bibliography

Denis Wood, W. l. (2006). Seeing through maps: Many ways to see the world. Oxford: New Internationlist Publications.

Austo rent (2010) Map of Tasmania Retrieved from http://autorent.com.au/tasmania/mapoftassie

A CYBER FLANUER?? ...MORE LIKE A CYBER SHOW-OFF

By Alice Carter

A flaneur on a social network means that a certain person doesn’t care what they put on the internet; Facebook especially…I mean have you seen some of the stuff people post? lordy lordy! According to the blog “Passage of the Cyber-Flanuer" by Gaylene Barnes (Otago University 1997), Debords concept of derive tells people about a method, which is relevant to people not caring what they put up on Facebook. An example of this is the community Facebook page, “Flaneurs about Town: society/culture website” (http://flaneursabouttown.tumblr.com/).

This culturally diverse page, is not only dedicated to those Facebook Flaneurs of our community, but represents different aspects of self. There are half dressed pictures (some in quite a crude fashion), of men who permit these images to go up on this page. This is clearly and symbolically showing a typical flanuer on cyber space, with their image of “self” being “carefree, spontaneous and out there”. In regards to being “spectacles of display”. Without being to disrespectful, I would just like to say that I have never seen guys expose this much, in the images shown on the Facebook page.  Mark my words, this would be a “spectacle display” if ever I’ve seen it.  

People who belong to the page, have been seen to heavily support these types of display’s; as if encouraging the type of influence these uploads would be having, no matter how much is seen in one picture. As seen in the Week 4 Lecture, (Kuttainen, V. Week 4 Lecture: Maps; LearnJCU, 2015) maps shape how we see the world, and act accordingly. Now, Facebook isn’t a map (far from it actually!); however the ideology that maps or social networks, have the potential to shape how we see the world, is very much the same. 

REFERENCE LIST:

Barnes, V. Passage of the Cyber-Flanuer: Otago University, 1997 (accessed from http://www.raynbird.com/essays)

Kuttainen, V. Week 4 Lecture: Maps; LearnJCU, 2015

http://flaneursabouttown.tumblr.com/ 

Picture accessed 21st of August (language.chinadaily.com.cm:2015)