Interpretive Communities and Technologies of Memory
Hello readers!
In the first few weeks of my ASTU 100A class taught by Dr. Luger at The University of British Columbia, we have been examining an article written by an educational scholar by the name of Farhat Shahzad. Her paper, entitled, “The Role of Interpretative Communities in Remembering and Learning”, stresses the importance of recognizing her coined term, “Interpretative Communities”, and, “[how] these communities play an influential role in the consumption and negotiation of knowledge inside and outside the classrooms” (301). Through her own conducted research, Shahzad associates interpretative communities and technologies of memory with our parents, relatives, teachers, peers, newspapers, and the media.
As we formulated a discussion in class around various technologies of memory and forms of interpretative communities outside of the article, what really resonated with me was the example of Instagram as the technology or medium in which we use to connect with our interpretative communities! In truth, it never appeared to me that Instagram was so much more than merely a space where we choose to post and view events that occur in our daily lives. There is something greater happening than meets the eye.
With more than “200 million strong… 20 billion photos shared on Instagram to date… documenting a passion for jazz to the protests in Kiev”, according to http://blog.instagram.com/post/80721172292/200m, it seems to me that there is no question as to why people are so drawn to this idea of photographs and videos. Art encompasses a wide array of facets and are incredibly easy to relate to, which include: paintings, drawings, design, performance art, videography, and photography.
“Use a picture. It’s worth a thousand words” – Arthur Brisbane 1911. I am convinced that photographs have the power to change lives like no other platform can. The images from this article published by The Telegraph are absolutely breathtaking and truly stand the test of time. What makes this passion so unique are that pictures speak for themselves, yet can be interpreted hundreds of different ways. The ability to freeze time and hold the moments. Today, we are able to capture, edit, and share our own personal visuals of life, all at the palm of your hand.
Personally, Instagram has become a vital interpretative community in my life where I can connect with creatives all over the world. These communities (below are a few links where I tend to affiliate myself with) are where am able to inspire and be inspired, collaborate with people, organize get-togethers, and critique one another. Platforms such as Instagram uncover hidden talents and passions one would have never thought correlated with them. In my case, themes such as adventure, street, minimalist, and fashion photography only began to emerge from the Instagram community. The fact that we are literally one swipe away from communicating and engaging in dialogue with someone from the palm of our hands possess power, yet an enormous responsibility in where we choose to wield it. With our iPhones becoming “man’s best friend”, there is no question as to why some people label us as the Swipe Generation or Generation i according to an open forum from the Pew Research Center in 2014. This brings us to the incredible phenomena of globalization and how this is linked to interpretative communities.
According to our sociology textbook, globalization is, “defined by increasingly fluid global flows and the structures that expedite and impede those flows” (Guppy and Ritzer 2014). By this definition, it is safe to say that that Shahzad’s term, “interpretative communities” and “globalization” work hand in hand, for better or worse. We are now more linked and have access to information, ideas, and people like never before, and as our definition of globalization changes along with the world, so will the impact of interpretative communities in shaping who we are!
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I hope to see you again next week!
Cheers,
Nico Jimenez https://instagram.com/nicolojimenez
Examples of interpretative communities where I often reach out are: https://instagram.com/socality, https://instagram.com/thatpnwlife/, https://instagram.com/the_moon_walkers/, and https://instagram.com/humansofny.
Hey Nicolo, I really liked how you connected interpretive communities with something so common in daily life, most everyone of our generation not only observes but also participate in online media like instargam, which transforms it from a technology of memory to an interpretive community. I was wondering however if websites like youtube or facebook video are similar in the way that they aren’t only technologies of memory but also communities. I was wondering if you viewed the idea of making videos and sharing and interacting through those was more or less impactful (community orientated) than instagram. Does the lack of sound or structured story, which exists in instagram, make the technology more or less community orientated, and if so why. Thanks for such a cool blog.