{"id":13,"date":"2016-09-17T00:13:04","date_gmt":"2016-09-17T07:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/audreyphoebe\/?p=13"},"modified":"2016-10-21T23:27:34","modified_gmt":"2016-10-22T06:27:34","slug":"13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/audreyphoebe\/2016\/09\/17\/13\/","title":{"rendered":"1:3 Disengage"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.\u00a0 I\u2019d 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\u00a0you<\/i>\u00a0click. How do you think these capabilities might be impacting literature and story?<\/p>\n

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Source Unknown<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

–\u00a0Feed<\/em>, M.T. Anderson<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, social media can be used as a positive learning tool<\/a>; 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.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0the issue of credibility; how are readers to know if they can accept what they have\u00a0just 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\u00a0a<\/em> truth is a very different issue than acknowledging a matter as\u00a0the\u00a0<\/em>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\u00a0Internet 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.<\/p>\n

On that note, an interesting novel to consider in relation to technology and ownership is\u00a0Feed<\/em>, 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\u00a0constantly.\u00a0<\/em>Anderson critiques many aspects of technology and its seemingly inevitable effect on consumers, and this article<\/a> outlines several of the key points. In the face of such onslaught of information, one must remain\u00a0perfectly paradoxical, both increasingly open-minded to allow for the sharing of multi-faceted stories, and also equally vigilant.<\/p>\n

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Works Cited:<\/p>\n

“How to Use Social Media as a Learning Tool.”\u00a0Edudemic<\/em>, 12 Jan. 2015,\u00a0http:\/\/www.edudemic.com\/how-to-use-social-media-as-a-learning-tool-in-the-classroom\/. Accessed 17 Sept. 2016.<\/p>\n

Peabody, Bruce. “Is Electronic Culture Warping Our Minds?”\u00a0BigThink<\/em>.\u00a0http:\/\/bigthink.com\/praxis\/is-electronic-culture-warping-our-minds. Accessed 17 Sept. 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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