Hello everybody!
For assignment 1:3 I have chosen to tackle question seven which is 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?
With the continuing advances in technology has come a very large change in both orality and written literature. The internet is full of online platforms that give people the ability to express how they feel in a number of ways. This includes writing things such as blogs exactly like we are doing for this class. People also have the ability to publish literature without a an actual publisher ( I know someone who just got their first children’s book in print and I have genuinely debated doing this myself). In addition to literature many people post videos and comments that do not need to be monitored. This has completely changed the way stories can be told which has negatives and positives in my opinion. One of the positives is that it gives many more people who otherwise would not have the ability to tell their stories a platform that does not discriminate (although people can get backlash from other internet users), it also makes written literature more widely spread because there is not a limit to how many times it can be read whereas in a library they might only carry a few copies. One of the negatives that I see is that with the ability for anyone to publish what they want comes with the ability for people to spread hate content and false content.
With people having the ability to read literature online has come with many good components that can make a students life much easier. One of these being that scholarly articles published on the internet can now have interactive components such as hyperlinks, diagrams and other beneficial learning tools. I think that hypertext can create a much more dynamic storyline. By this I mean that when reading an article (or a blog much like ours) you can get more information than just what the person who is writing is putting down. It makes the widespread of information, whether that information is true or false, much easier for people to gain access and to find more relevant material related to what they are searching for. I think that online publishing is making literature more easily accessible for readers, I know that I personally use my kindle a lot more than I buy books (even for many textbooks) which not only helps save trees but also makes it so that I can bring multiple books with me without the hassle and weight of multiple.
In my opinion the stories being told through the internet and hyperlinks are more beneficial. I think it gives more people a voice that otherwise would not have one and makes information more accessible.
Works Cited:
Breure, Leen, et al. “Rich Internet Publications: ‘Show What You Tell.’” Journal of Digital Information, journals.tdl.org/jodi/index.php/jodi/article/view/1606.
Watson, Joel. “How Publishing Has Changed in the Digital Era?” Hot Topics, 24 Jan. 2017, www.hottopics.ht/19881/how-publishing-has-changed/.
Hi Megan!
I was really intrigued by your comment about online publishing, as I think it’s one of the major shifts that has come along with technological advancements. I also use online libraries to read a lot, but I think that having a collection of printed books is special in its own way too, as they are a physical representation of the stories and writers that an individual connects with. Do you think that there will be a day when all our texts will be online -whether for technological or environmental reasons? And if this were the case, do you think that the loss of printed books would have a significant impact on the culture of reading?
-Indra Isita
Hello Indra!
I REALLY hope that all texts will never be completely online. As much as I like how easy it is to find information and that it is easier on the environment, however I do agree with the concept of there being something special about holding a book in your hands. I especially like being able to share picture books with children as I have many times before and will in the future with my son when he is a bit older! I think everything does go to online that the significance of books will go down dramatically. I think there are still so many people that would rather read in print rather than on an electronic device. I am one of these people when it comes to reading for pleasure, I would way rather read a physical book then on a screen.
Hi Indra,
Thanks for the question – I think this is a case where ‘either / or’ is not the case; books are very different then Kindles or Kobos; we just have both 🙂
Hi Megan!
I agree with your points about the ease of spreading and sharing content through online platforms. I have a hard time deciding if this is a positive or negative aspect of the www. I personally do not have a large online presence. I only use one form of social media (Facebook) and I haven’t posted a comment or shared content in years. I use it to keep up with my more tech savvy family and friends. However, I also experience a small sample of the arguments, bullying and hate speech that can run ramped online (Just taking a second to point out that I see the good stuff too, nothing makes me happier then seeing an animal rescue video, viral fundraiser or learning more about the Indigenous Culture in my area!).
I have a hard time believing that the positives outweigh the negatives especially when I consider how many positive, smart and kind people that I know choose to spread their positivity off – line. The sheer amount of negativity seems like an unstoppable force especially with the anonymity of most online platforms and moderation can only achieve so much. I also recently learned that the moderation of some websites is outsourced to companies that do not pay the same wages as tech companies in North America (https://jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/the-human-cost-of-online-content-moderation) and some are not paid at all (). I have an even harder time with hyperlinking because on the one hand, it allows the reader to expand and explore a topic endlessly. On the other hand, a hyperlink to a nefarious web site can expose the reader to an endless source of ideas that they may never have been exposed to off line.
My question, at the end of my long externalized internal struggle is whether you think think that the positive points you outline in your post apply to the internet, social media and hypertext in general or only apply when social media and hypertext is used responsibly and moderated effectively? Can the internet even be moderated effectively?
Love to hear your thoughts,
Emily
Work Cited:
Arsht, Andrew and Etcovith, Daniel. “Human Cost of Online Content Moderation” Jolt Digest, 2 Mar. 2018, https://jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/the-human-cost-of-online-content-moderation. Accessed 20 Jan. 2020.
Chen, Adrian. “When the Internets ‘Moderators’ Are Anything But” The New York Times Magazine, 21 July 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/magazine/when-the-internets-moderators-are-anything-but.html. Accessed 20 Jan. 2020.
Hello Emily,
I understand your question however I am torn between my answer. I do agree with you when you say that the ability to add hyperlinks can be a negative. I guess I would have to say that my comments have to do with using the internet responsibly and for the right reasons. I don’t think there is a way that the internet can be moderated effectively. I think that even when people try to get all of the bad off of the internet people who want to access information that is illegal or bad in nature will still find a way to access it.
Hi Megan,
That was a very thoughtfully written out argument on why you think internet and hyperlinks are beneficial. My thought on it is that although people are free to express their ideas, I feel that their is a gap in creating interpersonal relationships with other people, as often times, although we can get some emotion from written words, or audio, there is an emotional disconnect when you are staring at a screen versus talking to someone in real life. I’m saying this because sometimes as I’m taking the bus, I look around me and see that most of the people are on their phones, and its silent, and I can’t help but think what it must have been like the days pre-technology, would we be having conversations with our bus partner?
What do you think, do you think we have hurt our ability to form connections, or are we equally as able to convey emotions and create bonds with other people through digital literature?
Hello!
I do think that technology has hurt our ability to form connections. I do also think that you can create a bond with people through digital literature. With regards to things like social media ( or anti-social media) has made it harder for people to connect like your example on the bus. How ever I think that if you write something compelling on the internet it can form a bond without meeting or speaking face to face, kind of like some of us might in this online class.
Hi Megan,
That was a very thoughtfully written out argument on why you think internet and hyperlinks are beneficial. My thought on it is that although people are free to express their ideas, I feel that there is a gap in creating interpersonal relationships with other people, as often times, although we can get some emotion from written words, or audio, there is an emotional disconnect when you are staring at a screen versus talking to someone in real life. I’m saying this because sometimes as I’m taking the bus, I look around me and see that most of the people are on their phones, and its silent, and I can’t help but think what it must have been like the days pre-technology, would we be having conversations with our bus partner?
What do you think, do you think we have hurt our ability to form connections, or are we equally as able to convey emotions and create bonds with other people through digital literature?
Hey Megan! I really like your perspective on this topic 🙂 I clicked on your first hyperlink and read a bit of the article. In it they mention that there is no longer a need to restrict communication exclusively to the results of research processed, since now readers can interpret data for themselves and offer their own insights. This concept, plus your thoughts on how having digital platforms give voices to people who would not otherwise have them, got me thinking about how content can be moderated/curated depending on the source. Im sure we’ve all at one point or another seen a notification saying “this post is no longer available since it has been removed” or something to that likeness. Im curious to know what your opinion would be on how much content would need to be moderated if everything was shifted to an online platform? Do you think it would be any different than the way that some print media is moderated (or censored) before it is published?
Hello Megan,
Thank you; a thoughtful blog with excellent dialogue. I made a short comment but bowed out quickly. Having lived more than half of a long lifetime without digital technologies and the www, I have a perspective that is positive, especially because I am an educator and story-teller who has passed many years working in countries where there are no libraries, places where once the digital divide is bridged, the information available is invaluable. Now, the cell phone is a different technology; and one worth discussing, but not now. Thank you.