This week’s task is a continuation of task 8 and based on the result of the golden record curation, our instructor, Ernesto, kindly put together a file for us to explore the social network. It was fascinating to dive into the graphs and see how the network changes based on the different filters I picked. I must admit that it becomes confusing after awhile, especially when I realize that the graphs don’t always convey what I first thought they represent.
id_1 and Source: Each individual with its chosen songs
id_2 and Target: The frequency of songs are chosen and by whom
Top 5 Most Chosen Songs in ETEC 565A:
Track 7 by Johnny B. Goode (19)
Track 25 by Jaat Kahan Ho (17)
Track 14 Melancholy Blues (16)
Track 12 Tchakrulo (14)
Track 11 The Magic Flute and Track 15 Bagpipes (12)
ETEC 565A Music Buddies?
By choosing modularity_class as my facet, I found out that I was in the same group with Sarah and Olivia. Originally, I assume it was due to the similarities of our song choice. However, upon further investigation, we actually did not share that many songs in common.
Individually, I have 6 songs in common with Sarah and 5 with Olivia. However, when the 3 of us in the same graph, we only have 2 songs overlapping. I visited both Sarah and Olivia’s website trying to learn more about them and I was hoping to see if I could find any other reasons why we were placed in the same group. It did not seem apparent to me that we have parallel interests and the motivations behind how we picked our song lists are different too. I am not certain how relevant it is but this reminds me of 6 degrees separation. Could it be the pattern of our song choices that link us together?
Who are my true Music Buddies?
On the other hand, using Source as the facet filter, I found out that out of the 10 songs we have to pick, James and I have the same 7 songs. Now having that information, I am curious to see how the network would look like if I put myself, Sarah, and James in the same group. It looks like this
Now as a group, we have 4 songs in common. Nevertheless, I am not exactly sure how the connections are viewed differently. Is it actually a weaker network we make in the 4 songs compared to the 3 shared songs in my previous group?
Interesting Observation
1. All 27 songs were accounted while at the same time, Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode was the most chosen song in this class.
From week 1’s introduction, it appears that most classmates in the course live North America. Does the result indicate that as much as we all try to make our list representative, it is no escape that we are leaning towards something familiar, something we feel resonate with our culture the most? With that association, it is not surprising that a song that is so iconic like Johnny B. Goode would be the top song.
2. My second observation is less on the the network but more on the original curated list. The songs were supposed to represent earth as a whole and songs from different regions were included in the list. Were those songs truly represent the culture/region the curators had in mind or was it more of the curators’ projections of what they felt would represent certain cultures?