For my last linking post #6, I’ve decided to link to Jamie Ashton as both our Final Projects spoke to the Hashtag. 

You can find Jamie’s final project HERE, and my final project HERE.

Summary

Jamie created her final project using a slide deck and saved it to a PDF for easy viewing on any device – though apparently mobile is the best way to view it. Each slide had an image or two, placed beside written text with some keywords or phrases bolded to make an impact on the reader. Through wittiness and rich history, she explains where the symbol originated,  “libra pondo,” and how it has evolved into what we know now the “hashtag.” Furthermore, she speaks about educational literacies and how the hashtag might, or might not, have a role to play. She ends off by showcasing the different usages and names that the symbol has represented over the years and asks her readers to see if they can determine why.

Reflection

What a fitting end to a great conversation. Throughout the course – Jamie and I have responded to each other’s posts on multiple occasions – Jamie even linked to my emoji story earlier on. She has provided me with opportunities to reflect on my posts through her rich analysis and reflection of my writing – and this last linking assignment seems quite fitting as we both have chosen to discuss the hashtag – though it’s been done in a different medium and with different information. In fact, I would say that Jamie has undoubtedly provided a Wikipedian description, whilst I have dug deeper into an Oxford Dictionary definition of the Hashtag. 

While both Jamie and I chose the “Hashtag” as our main topic, we each took a very different approach to how we shared the information. I believe that choosing a medium where her writing could shine was a smart and obvious choice for her based on the information she has shared on her personal blog space. Jamie has a major in Linguistics, part of which focuses on semiotics, and along with her religious studies degree which involved history/anthropology/sociology/media/economy and politics of religion – a final project on the evolution of the hashtag fits perfectly. While I chose to do a podcast, again this could potentially be an obvious choice for me since for 2 previous tasks I chose to create audio versions using my own voice to share information. Even though our mediums are different, looking at it through this lens shows a connection to our own prior knowledge and preferences. 

The choice of using a slide deck allows Jamie to handpick the images that she wants her readers to see – almost creating their connections for them, while in a podcast, the images are left to the listener’s imagination or own prior-knowledge of what is being discussed. Neither is better than the other as they both provide different experiences – however, for what is being discussed, I think Jamie chose a great medium. I also think that a video documentary would have added to her project more – as I think that hearing a voice speak the words provides a deeper connection to the text. Vice versa, if my podcast has been video recorded as well, I could have imputed images into the video version, thus allowing for a similar experience that Jamie is able to provide. The constraints of the course design allowed for us to choose our medium, however, I’m not sure which medium Jamie’s deck fits into – which leads me to believe that she spoke to our instructor to come up with requirements for it. 

On a final note, something I did find interesting was when she said that hashtags are now shifting,  “taking grassroots groups and moving them into the digital realm for global audiences to participate in.” This is exactly what Messina had wanted all along, to allow “anyone who could write text on the internet to participate in global conversation.”

For my link #5, I decided to link to Rebecca Hydamacka’s Speculative Future, in particular “The History,” with my final project, The Hashtag as a Narrative. 

You can view Rebecca’s Speculative Futures HERE, and my Final Project HERE. 

Summary

Rebecca really dove deep into this task creating two speculative futures, one that features a twine game (co-created by yours truly) and the other about generational future and how knowledge has been preserved. She speaks about many different technologies we could see in the future, from Memglasses, solar powered wrist interfaces, solar cycle, and nanofiber, to The History – which is what I am linking to. She includes images, conversations, the twine game, documents – creating a true multi-modal piece of work.  

Reflection

Firstly, if you haven’t read any of Rebecca’s posts the one thing you need to know is that she is a vivid storyteller. Her imagination is full of inventive and alluring creations and this speculative future does not disappoint. I had the opportunity to work with Rebecca in two separate courses now and find that our experiences and the ways in which we tackle projects and tasks complement each other very well. Where I am more concrete, Rebecca is more fluid. Where she pulls at your heart, I aim for the mind. You get the point. This particular task allowed me to make connections to my final project both theoretically and through experience. Furthermore, we were able to communicate back and forth in comments to further our connections to these pieces – which just adds to our connection. 

Rebecca’s speculative future was quite detailed and had many different aspects to it. I chose to link to one aspect within her story, “The History:”

A digital collection of voices and images of the world

The moment I read this, I thought immediately about how we are all contributing to a digital history by engaging in online activities, such as social media. I thought about how every post that we make on instagram is adding to this catalog of events and the emotions surrounding those events. This led me to think about my final project, and how when we engage with hashtag activism we are adding to the narrative, which is this creation of a digital history. 

Rebecca went on to discuss how in this future, it becomes “crucial to have all people’s voices observing and creating this collective memory so that it is reflective of all.” If I think about the hashtag and how only those who choose to use it are the ones adding to the narrative, I wonder how big the digital history would become if it was something all people had to do. If it was crucial to hear all sides of the story for example – and to really think objectively here; what if we could decipher between the truth of the story behind it? What if we could look at those who are using the hashtag and be able to vividly see their connection to it? Like a webcam or microchip (like Rebecca speaks about). How then, would the “final story” as Rebecca puts it, look, as it filters through to find the truth? An interesting and possibly dark hole that some might not want to go down. 

As Rebecca and I were commenting on her post, she mentioned that the hashtag & technology are crowd-sourcing history – a term I hadn’t thought of – though it’s something that I spoke to in my final project. Furthermore, to take it so far as to create hashtags with our grandparents to ensure that all voices and generations are being heard and that our entire history is being recorded, digitally, would be a great thing to do – and is something that could be done now, not necessarily in the future.

Overall, I believe that the connection between “The History” and the use of the hashtag as a narrative connects us to the idea that people are creating digital histories and that in the future – people are going to look back on these creations and hope to understand our experiences and truths as they have been shared.