At the beginning of this lesson I pointed to the idea that technological advances in communication tools have been part of the impetus to rethink the divisive and hierarchical categorizing of literature and orality, and suggested that this is happening for a number of reasons. I’d like you to consider two aspects of digital literature: 1) social media tools that enable widespread publication, without publishers, and 2) Hypertext, which is the name for the text that lies beyond the text you are reading, until you click. How do you think these capabilities might be impacting literature and story?
Source Unknown
“And the feed was pouring in on us now, all of it, all of the feednet, and we could feel all of our favorites, and there were our files, and our m-chatlines. It came down on us like water. It came down like frickin’ spring rains, and we were dancing in it.”
– Feed, M.T. Anderson
Technology is everywhere. It appears in everyday life in the form of laptops, cell phones, and flat-screen TVs in the hands and homes of every average citizen. WiFi is a standard necessity for most individuals, and becoming increasingly available, for free, in public spaces. Toddlers now use iPads and iPhones for entertainment in lieu coloring books and games of imagination. Technology is not only visually and physically accessible, but it has become part of the language we speak, and by extension, embedded into literature, both in context and in form. With the dawn of this social media era, access to millions of resources are now available at the touch of the fingertips, with additions made by the millisecond, and edits reflected in real time.
On the one hand, social media can be used as a positive learning tool; the very nature of this class supports the idea that developments in technology can be to used to the learner’s advantage. In this light, social media tools enable unfettered and uncensored access, as writers and bloggers do not need to wait for publishing companies in order to make their opinions known in public forums. It also allows for the safety of anonymity, so individuals do not need to hide their thoughts for fear of the repercussions of taking ownership of them. Specifically, users can share their thoughts on personalized media platforms, customizing the experience of their audiences. With such an excessive expanse of resources available through the World Wide Web, users are also able to select specific content written by others and associate it with their own ideas by Hypertexting, a tool that allows users to navigate for their audiences in meaningful ways.
However, as with most things in life, there is always a downside, and technology is no stranger to controversy. With unchecked ability to publish one’s thoughts, this begs the issue of credibility; how are readers to know if they can accept what they have just read or experienced as the truth? In my opinion, truth is a many-faceted concept, and it is more complex than what can be defined as either black or white. Accepting something to be a truth is a very different issue than acknowledging a matter as the truth, and I think this is what it comes down to. The numerous capabilities for customization and personalization in social media platforms allow users to create individuated personas; that is, essentially, mediums wherein individuals are able to express who they are, and the many steps they have taken to become that way. It allows them to tell their own stories, and share their truths, and whether the reader comes to accept these truths is an entirely different matter. The Internet is designed like a two-way street – the social media platforms allow the blogger to share his or her thoughts in the way he wishes to convey them. However, access to those thoughts, finding those stories in the first place, and even clicking on embedded hyperlinks for further information is in the hands of the reader. The reader can choose when to engage and accept such truths, and when to disconnect.
On that note, an interesting novel to consider in relation to technology and ownership is Feed, by M.T. Anderson. The story is set in a dystopian society, in a future where people have become so dependent on the immediacy of technology that most citizens have a “feed” that is wired directly to their brains. They can interface with each other without moving a muscle, and can online shop and read articles and are subject to the downloading of information in their brains constantly. Anderson critiques many aspects of technology and its seemingly inevitable effect on consumers, and this article outlines several of the key points. In the face of such onslaught of information, one must remain perfectly paradoxical, both increasingly open-minded to allow for the sharing of multi-faceted stories, and also equally vigilant.
Works Cited:
“How to Use Social Media as a Learning Tool.” Edudemic, 12 Jan. 2015, http://www.edudemic.com/how-to-use-social-media-as-a-learning-tool-in-the-classroom/. Accessed 17 Sept. 2016.
Peabody, Bruce. “Is Electronic Culture Warping Our Minds?” BigThink. http://bigthink.com/praxis/is-electronic-culture-warping-our-minds. Accessed 17 Sept. 2016.
Hello Audrey,
I really liked your prompt on the use of technology not just in the space of education and academics, but as one that has been embedded into our lives, thus influencing the way we live entirely.
One sub-topic I’d like to focus on in the realm of communication technology is cyberspace itself. As you’ve mentioned there are a vast amount of aspects that the internet has improved in our day-to-day lives, followed by a string of examples and opinions that think contrary. I think when we look at the internet in a more macro lense. It’s still a piece of technology much in it’s infancy in the grand scheme of time. We’re still learning as to what it’s capable of and how to manipulate it into our lives. And because of this, cyberspace is more or less like the Wild West, where laws, rules, and manuals on all the how-to’s, do’s and don’ts are far behind the rate of it’s growth.
One example of another tool that has capacity of this magnitude, is fire. Fire has been credited to one of the most essential center elements of quality human life, and simultaneously also being of the most uncontrollable, and dangerous natures. And I have on doubt that it took many generations since discovery until we’ve truly mastered this element. And I whole heartedly believe that we’re just starting to spark the embers of what the internet has the potential to become. It’s not to blame for good or bad situations in to our lives, it’s just another tool that we haven’t quite grasped yet and presumably never will in our life times.
PS. Thanks for the book recommendation. Think I’ll check it out 🙂
Hi Lucas, thank you for your comment!
I agree with your point about cyberspace; there is still an endless amount of information left to uncover, and then appropriate into our daily lives. Even further still is the enforcement of what not to do with these discoveries. You make an interesting point comparing fire to the Internet – I would even say that we have not truly mastered this natural element, as entire towns and cities (i.e. Fort McMurray) have been consumed by fire, and we are unable to completely stifle or prevent its reach. I agree that the Internet absolutely is not a tool we have been able to fully understand, and it will take many years before we may be even remotely able to claim that we do. My hope is that as growth in this industry continues, so will knowledge in regards to protective measures. Children on Facebook with a lack of understanding about privacy and what not to post on the Internet is a very frightening reality. But, I digress.
You’re welcome! It’s a Young Adult fiction novel, so it isn’t the most challenging read, but definitely an interesting one.
🙂
I wrote on this topic, and I found your blog very interesting when comparing it to my own. I focused on the aspect of technology enlarging our opportunities and experiences to learn but I find your paragraph on the downside of technology to stop me and make me think about technology and the reader in a different way.
I too mentioned the control of the reader in how they interpret pieces of work on the internet, and the ways in which publishing online allows the storyteller to feel free from confinement usually found when publishing through a publisher. When you said “individuals do not need to hide their thoughts for fear of the repercussions of taking ownership of them” in reference to sharing their stories or whatever it may be online, is perfectly accurate to how I see it. However, your thought on credibility has me rethinking the freedom and power individual publishing online has. What I now question is: does the control of the reader lessen the control of the storyteller/publisher? Does the way they intend their story to be read lose its power when the reader is unable to decide whether what they are reading is the truth?
In university we have been taught through essay writing to only use credible, university approved sources, and in someway I believe this prevents us from accepting the everyday blog as credible and reliable to the truth.
Hi Bryony-Rose, thank you for your comment! I do think it is important to recognize all of the opportunities that are now available to us because of the technologically-advanced society we live in. Many of these realities that we often take for granted were not even fathomable for most previously. The point I am trying to make is that, as with anything, with great power and opportunity comes great responsibility, and it is our job to learn both how to maximize the benefits of technology as well as to simultaneously do our best to safeguard against its downfalls.
I think you bring up an interesting point about control of the reader versus control of the storyteller. You are right that for the most part, academic writing has hammered into our brains that we are only allowed to use scholarly research as credible sources to make valid arguments. Because of this, we tend to take other sources (i.e. blogs) less seriously. This is one reason why I am excited about this course, because I think that having the opportunity to step away from the structures of the traditional classroom settings and processes of learning will help us engage in broader discussions and uncover stories in places we may have least expected.
Hey Audrey,
I found your article super interesting especially the beginning in which you talk about how technology has impacted modern-day lives to such an extent. I agree with you that we all have a huge reliance on technology, there is no way a student could make it through a university degree without some form of computer and a cellphone not to mention all the other tech gadgets needed for one’s academic career. But in addition to all these expenses for technology, there are also increasingly more amounts of textbooks available online for free (for example my second year Political Science class’s textbook was available for free through Google Books). And with this addition of more literature available for little to no cost online what are the economic affects on the publishing market and the prices of an actual book, whether it be a textbook or a book just for pleasure reading. I would argue that it does and will continue to affect the way textbooks and books are priced, and that the prices will continue to go up, and that these books will begin to have some form of marketing in them. Similarly, to the affect being able to download movies has had due to the increase in downloaded and streamed movies.