'Be [Net] Alert, but not Alarmed'? Regulating the Parents of Generation MSN, Jane Long

Hey guys,

I'm just going to give a summary of some of the main points in Jane Long's article and some questions that I think we can consider in this weeks tute.

An environment of fear has arisen surrounding the Internet and in particular the use of the Internet by children and teenagers – or ‘Generation MSN’. This article suggests that the advice network, so to speak, which encompasses government advice, media advice and net safety site advice, serves to regulate more than just teenagers. So I want to start with Long’s final question:

 Who is actually being policed? Parents? Teenagers? Mothers? Girls? All of the above? To what end? Are we creating a generation of hyper-vigilant adults?
 Is this fear of the Internet justified?

More broadly, I want to consider the assumptions made in the advice network.
 What assumptions are being made about teenagers? Are these realistic?

According to Long, there are three keys elements of advice for parents: educate, monitor and impose limits on time and location.
 What makes ‘good’ parents as opposed to ‘bad’ parents? Consider the Pennington case.

Long suggests that ‘monitoring mums may be congratulated for diminishing risk in some ways, but perhaps they risk maiming positive and creative aspects of teenage cultures in the process’.
 At the time in their lives when teenagers are often demanding more respect and trust and privacy, does this increased level of surveillance have adverse affects? Does it make a difference? Can teenagers exercise their agency within this? Is there a middle ground?

Long discusses a number of surveys which show, interestingly, that adult men and teenagers are more likely to consider themselves ‘as in-house net ‘gurus’’, yet mothers as a group spend the most amount of time on the net and directly supervising their children’s Internet usage.
 Is there potential for the disruption of patriarchal authority? Does the role of the mother as ‘supportive educator’ merely reinforce patriarchy in the home? What about the role of the tech-savvy teen?
 Long argues that femininity and technology continue to be represented as a ‘risky and transgressive combination’, do you think that this is still the case?

Another important issue raised by Long is the confusing messages sent to teenage girls regarding their bodies and their sexuality. On one hand, teenage girls are bombarded with images of sexual young women in the media, magazines, music videos and advertising. On the other hand, parents are warned that ‘your [teenage] daughter now makes a sexual statement every time she walks into a room that contains other people’ (Pegine Echevarria), and as a result, the activities of teenage girls online are more strictly supervised than ever before.
 Is this increase in surveillance of teenage girls online just a modern version of the same old regulation that women have faced regarding self-expression and expression of sexuality? Has there been a change?

Just a few points to consider, i'll see you all in class on Wednesday!

Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life, By: Danah Boyd.

Hey Everyone!!

Jess and I are presenting Danah Boyd's article this week. It is about how online sites like MySpace and Facebook became common destinations for young people/ teens in the United States. I'm sure we are all aware of these sites and after reading the article some of us can probably relate to what these teen went through, as they continue to be an important part of teen social life. I am going to concentrate on the theme of identity, and how teens in the United states shape or hide their identities, and how their identities may be influenced by their online audience, and therefore changed to impress their online participants.

The very first quote of the reading indicates a loss of identity. "If you are not on MySpace, you don't exist". This was said by Skyler, who is 18 and explaining this to her mom. Therefore, it is obviously a combination of peer pressure from school, the interest in online sites, and the pleasure of being able to maybe have another identity that attracts these teens to the sites. Basically Skyler is saying that if you are not on MySpace you are nothing. Skyler also posts things on her Xanga because she thinks if the kids at school read what she has to say and how she says it, they will want to be friends with her. It almost seems like being on MySpace is a way to prove yourself to your teen peers, a kind of initiation that is the "essential to being seen as cool as school". These sites could be seen as "insights to identity formation, status negotiation, and peer-to-peer sociality". Do you agree with this? Were your reasons for joining to feel cool and to fit in at school, or to form an acceptable identity, one which you could manipulate in order to gain acceptance from other kids? Did your joining any online sites have anything to do with your identity?

According to Boyd, "social network sites are providing teens with a space to work out identity and status, make sense of cultural cues, and negotiate public life". These sites are allowing "teenagers to experience social life online". Having a profile on a popular site will give teens the opportunity to be part of a popular online community through which they can craft a personal representation of themselves, and therefore create an identity, or change their identity to suit a norm. Do you think the ability to "visualise their social world through the networked collection of profiles", affects the way these teens want to present themselves, or be identified by other online friends and participants? How do you want to be identified, or seen by others on Facebook or any other online profile you have created? Does the visual aspect of being able to see other peoples' profiles and the fact that they can see yours make you want to present yourself differently, or alter your identity? Having the ability to look at others profiles also gives teens a sense of what types of presentations are socially appropriate. Other's profiles "provide critical cues about what to present on their own profile", and they can therefore "manipulate their profiles to express themselves". Do you find that you see things on someone else's profile and then you go back and change your own, or maybe remove something that has been written on your Facebook wall, just because you don't want people to see? Having the option of being able to remove things off our walls on Facebook might play into the fact that everyone wants to create an acceptable identity, or presentation of themselves that others will see.

Another way we may alter our identity is when we take note of how others have responded to our behaviour, because we can then "assess how well we have conveyed what we have intended", and we can then "alter our performance accordingly". This process of performance, interpretation and adjustment is what Erving Goffman calls impression management". I find this interesting because it is so true in everyday life and on online sites such as Facebook, we all seem to adjust our identities according to what knowledge we have gained from other people's presentations of what is appropriate. So then why do people join these sites if they can't be themselves and they are forever altering who they really are in order to perceived a certain way? Is it maybe because offline this is not as easy, and because online they can be selective with what information they share with others? This direct link between online and offline identities is precisely why teens are inclined to present the side of themselves that they believe will be well received by their peers.This all leads back to impressing one's audience, and one has to understand their audience in order to present one's self in the appropriate way.

MySpace, Facebook and other online sites are definitely, in my opinion, an escape for many young people. Due to the lack of mobility and the structural and social barriers that many teens experience, they see MySpace as an escape. The rapid rise in curfew legislation and the restriction on youths from drinking and socialising in many venues, makes the spaces they can hang out in very controlled and "under surveillance", and therefore they spend most of their time on the net creating profiles from which they can create and alter their identities and be friends with whoever they want. Parental control over youths "explains more than just complications in identity performance; it is the root of why teenagers are on MySpace in the first place". It is clear that when parents try and control teens behaviour in this new space, teens react by hiding away. Do you agree with this? Did your parents try and ban you form joining online sites? If they did, would you say you became devious and hid your identity or created a new secret identity just to stay on the site and so your parents wouldn't bother you about it ?

I Heart Facebook!: The Tute Presentation on Danah Boyd's MySpace article

Greetings 10am.

Kelly and I are presenting on Danah Boyd’s ‘Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life’. I have focused my part of the presentation on how social networking sites change how we interact with each other, both on and offline, ie the ‘friend’ side of social networking. One of the most important things to remember about this article is that it is focusing on teenagers in the United States, specifically high-school aged teenagers. So, believing that you have all read the article in question, I am going to summarise the most key points only relating to how social networking affects us in relation to other people, not how it affects our sense of ourselves. My first question to the tute is whether or not we are all on a social networking site? Which one/s? What made you decide to join or resist? And most importantly, do social networking sites change how we relate to each other?

One of the key points brought up within this article is that for the MySpace youth in the United States, MySpace is a way of interacting in public while being confined to the private. On page 9, Boyd states, ‘When I ask teenagers why they joined MySpace, the answer is simple: “Cuz that’s where my friends are.”’ And then on page 18 and 19, she explores how ‘: Regardless of whether teens in the US have the time to engage in public life, there are huge structural and social barriers to them doing so. First, there is the issue of mobility. … Even if they want to go somewhere they are often unable to. Youth have very little access to public spaces’. That’s understandable. In a world where youth are viewed with mistrust and confined by immobility, social networking sites offer them a way of maintaining contact with their friends. But what about when you are not constrained by immobility? How is the way that we, as university students, experience Facebook different? Does our mobility make sites like Facebook and MySpace more, not less, important? Especially as technology allows us to be on the internet on our phones, people now have more access to such sites. I’m sure we all have friends that constantly update their Facebook status while they are out. Do you think that lack of mobility has made it more important that we are constantly proving to all our friends how much fun we are having? On the other hand, does this constant concern for what our online friends think of us mean that we are neglecting our ‘real’ friends? Do you find this an issue with your friends? Do we need to redefine the parameters of acceptable social behaviour in a new technology-obsessed era? Or is this merely the inevitable evolution of social interactions within an increasingly cyborg society?


Another important part of the article is who these youth are adding as friends, and why. Boyd states ‘while teens will typically add friends and acquaintances as Friends, they will also add people because it would be socially awkward to say no to them, because they make the individual look cool, or simply because it would be interesting to read their bulletin posts’(13). How do you determine who to accept as friends? Do you have any criterion? To expand upon this point, how do you decide who to add as a potential friend? Boyd also brings up how the MySpace ‘Top Friends’ application is both loved and loathed, and considered ‘pure social drama’ (14). Are all social networking sites a hive for social drama? How dependant are we on having our relationships defined for us through social media? Does this suggest a collective lack of self-esteem, that we have to show everyone else how popular (or alternative) we are? How successful we are in the dating scene? I know among my friends that we have started defining a ‘real’ relationship as one that has been confirmed on Facebook. Is Facebook or MySpace jargon becoming ingrained in your and your friends’ verbal interactions?

A question that came to me while reading this article was whether or not social networking sites subvert traditional social conventions, or whether just because it is an online friendship, the rules of friendship have been altered. The difficulty of ‘friendship’ within social networking sites is reflected in Kate Miller-Heidke’s song ‘Are You F@*king Kidding Me? (The Facebook Song)’, as she reflects upon her answer to an ex-boyfriend’s friend request. I’m sure we have all been in the situation where someone from our past has added us, and we think ‘what on earth would possess you to add me?’ ‘Are you really so desperate to increase your friend count that you would deny the uncomfortable past we had?’ Is this a space where previously bad relationships can be healed?

So many questions… I’ll see you all in tute!

Eyeborg...

Hey guys,

I know it's not my week, or anything like that, but you know, we have this recurring theme of the cyborg (a human/machine hybrid)... and I found out about this this morning and found it totally fascinating.

There's this guy called Rob who was missing one of his eyes and has replaced it with a camera. I found it totally crazy. Anyway, I thought I'd share. Check it out here Eyeborg

Hope you enjoy!
Jen

RUMINATIONS ON CYBER RACE-JERRY KANG

So im presenting Jerry Kangs article "Ruminations on Cyber-Space" for this weeks tutorial. Im just going to write a bit of a summary about it and put in some key points ive thought of along the way and finish each of the key points with a few questions for you to think about/or not for the tute!

Jerry Kang article "Ruminations on Cyber-Race" talks about different ways race is brought into cyber space as well as the importance of identity in cyber space. He goes through the idea of humans overcoming racial stereotypes through the Internet.
Specifically he says that "cyber space enables multiple forms of computer-mediated interactions...through email, threaded discussion forms, real-time chat, instant messaging, Weblogs, collaborative gaming, peer-to-peer, and multi user domains, people interact with each other at great distances, often in groups." These communication technologies not only help maintain social relationships originally constructed in real space but also facilitate new relationships, originally formed in cyber space." "Cyber-space also makes talking with strangers easier because individuals are less fearful...ones physical body is never at risk." Although our physical body is never at risk, are we mentally at risk? He suggests these relationships in virtual communities form due to each individuals in that community being centred around common interests, experiences and fates. I think this idea obviously exists in real space aswell as cyber space as most people form some sort of relationship more often when they share common interests, experiences or just generally have some sort of understanding with one another. The following quote by Kang is relevant in applying this "Interests in such matters is powerfully shaped by socioeconomic class, gender, and age, and people drawn together by these comonalities will hardly all be of the same race." So therefore, you would think that if these people form relationships with one another because of these commonalities, race wouldn't be an issue? Does cyber-space increase social contact between the races?

Kang talk about a range of tactics for challenging racism through the internet. For example he talks about the abolition of Race, in fact, particular ways to go about taking away race from everyday situations. He says that the different tactics should be used in different 'zones' of the internet. I.e. in the market place. "Consider the impact of abolition on large economic transactions, such as automobile purchases, insurance, personal loans, and mortgages. These transactions are today negotiated face to face, thereby triggering racial schema's. If they were instead executed through communication systems that filtered out race and its proxies, then racial discrimination would decrease." Do you feel this is true, is it possible to decrease race just by altering communication systems? Do you agree with these tactics? Also Kang suggests that in cyber-space people have the opportunity to "cyber-pass", where they hide behind race and not portray themselves as having any race at all, they are kept anonymous. "In real space this is hard to do, but in cyber space, it is far easier to wear racial masks." Although performance still seriously risks stereotype, so either way a sense of race is still apparent.

Jerry Kang argues that through his experiences of racial encounter on cyber space, that race is a social construction. He explains this through 3 processes of interaction. Firstly, in any social interaction our law and culture provides us with a list of racial categories in which we divide each other into, such as black, asian, indian and so on. Secondly we collect data through our senses to map the individual to a category, such as physical appearance. Thirdly mapping triggers meanings- cognitive beliefs about and affective reactions to people in these racial categories, such as foreignness, intelligence, attractiveness or its opposite and so on. Kang says that " these meanings triggered automatically and subconsciously alter our behaviour, such as simply crossing the street, profiling Arabs as terrorists". In that do you think Race is a social construction? Do you think race is the same on cyber space as it is in real space? And is the line for race in the real world and virtual world becoming smaller?

"Just because race is not signaled in cyber space does not mean that race ceases to matter in cyber space or, certainly, in real space. Race will continue to influence content of ones communications even if the audience is not aware of the nature of that influence." Is this true?

And finally...think about how much lives have changed since the Web was introduced, do you think that race is bigger issue now than it was before the web was even invented?

I think I have to end it here, although the article is full of many more interesting facts, we can discuss further in the tute!
See you all Wednesday :)

JenniCAM 'A Camera with a View'.

Hello there everyone,
As Nadine and myself are presenting on Wednesday i thought i would put up a few points about this weeks reading. Nadine gave you a summary of the article, so i thought i would just highlight a few points that i found interesting or that i thought were key to the core of the article. First off, as Nadine and i were reading this we found it interesting that JenniCAM was a site that"blossomed into a web phenomenon"(p.286) gaining national media attention and a fan base of people who followed it intensely, when Jenny was an ordinairy girl whose show as quoted in the article, only "replicates the ebb and flow of the everyday" (p.287) and a lot of the time showed footage and images that have been described as "anything but thrilling" (p. 287). Although there was nudity and sexual material from time to time the images people followed were often just of "Jenny's bedroom furniture" (p.288). It has also been said the Jenny slept most mornings till noon, yet people were fascinated and continued to follow JenniCAM. One fan even went to the extent of drawing up a graph to show viewers when jenny was most active. One of the questions that Nadine is going to ask, and that we both wondered was why JenniCAM was such a huge hit? why did it spark such interest in people to watch the daily routine and lifestyle of a complete stranger? This article by Krissi M. Jimroglou, i think tries to argue why this may have been a fascination to many people. The article speaks about how JenniCAM crossed many boundaries, such as "body/machine, Private/Public, and real/fiction" (p.290).

• It would appear that JenniCAM was the first 'reality show' so to speak, it was one of the first instances that challenged many social norms, the article quotes that the particular crossing between public and private was something that inspired a lot of fascination with JenniCAM. It states, "The erosion of the line between the private and the public composes part of the fascination and abhorrence of JenniCAM (p.290). and serves as a 'voyereusm'- seeing what should not be seen. More so, because she is female, she is perhaps crossing the stereotype in which women are often portrayed. As The article explains, "cultural politics have maintained a certain set of rules for the display of the female body. Jenny flouts these rules and offers herself to be looked at as both a private and public sphere" (p.290). The article goes on to say, "In the instance of JenniCAM, there is a voyeuristic pleasure derived from the study and analysis of the body and life of a female subject, the othered body." (p.294). Perhaps this is something that can help explain why JenniCAM inspired such interest to the people following it.
• Perhaps it is also important that JenniCAM included video clips that as the article said, "featured Jenny giving tours of her apartment or answering commonly asked questions about her life" (p.287). It also shows "cropped images of Jenni's body" (p.287) and viewers could also read her poetry. Perhaps features like this make Jenni a bit more personal and viewers could feel they could connect with her on some level, and know some characteristics about her instead of watching the daily routine of someone that they knew nothing about.
• The article also argues that JenniCAM illustrated what was described in the article as "cyborg subjectivity". The article quotes, " through the integration of body and technology, JenniCAM is a hybrid, neither fully human nor fully machine yet constitutes in part as both" (p.288) and that JenniCAM emerges as a particular type of cyborg". (p.288). the article perhaps highlights here that JenniCAM exists as a cyborg purely through the fact that she has intregated herself with technology, appearing to her viewers with the "sense that she has plugged her body into the machine and is connected to the machines of her equipment." (p.290). and "her life narrative is mechanised". (p.290).
• Another point in the article seems to highlight the fact that JenniCAM operates in the light of Freud's 'fort-da', the back and forth, the loss and return of objects (p.296), which may have some involvement in understanding the pleasures people derived from JenniCAM. The article states that JenniCAM "engages the viewer in a back and forth presence and absence of, not only Jenni's body but also of the JenniCAM itself" (p.296). The viewer then, "takes pleasure in the disappearance and return of the image, its loss and return brings great pleasure to those engaged in the fort-da pleasure of the JenniCAM." (p.297).

ok well these are what i found to be some interesting and focal points of the article, i hope its not complete rubbish! I think there will be a lot to discuss in the tute in realation to this piece. I will post up any other ideas or links to things that might corellate with the article as the week goes along. Also i had some discussion questions if anyone feels like having a think about them, sorry if they are silly but i will alos try and think of some other ones.

• In the article it says, "This site is not pornography. Yes, it contains nudity from time to time... but it is a site about ral life."(p.287). Im not sure how relevant this is but i couldn't help but wonder how much the sexual material In JenniCAM affected its reputation and/or popularity. If this sexual element had been left out, do you think people would have been as interested or followed the site so intensely? More so, would the characteristics of the audience for JenniCAM been altered? I know JenniCAM, as the article discusses, is a site about a lot of other things too- but I couldn't help but wonder how the sexual material in it affected its portrayal as a whole.
• Considering the part in the article about the female body as the 'other' and the voyeur JenniCAM creates in its attempts to 'demystify the mystery of women' (p.294), which supposedly contributed reasons to why JenniCAM provoked such interest in people. How different would reactions be to something like JenniCAM if the gender roles in such an experiement were reversed?
• In your eyes, how much of a 'cyborg' is Jenny. How do her 'cyborg' qualities compare with characters that star in reality shows today. Is there something particular that makes Jenni a Cyborg?

Thanks guys, have a great week and see you in the tute.

How much is too much?

Hi guys this week I’m doing my presentation with Rachel on Krissi M. Jimroglou’s reading, “A Camera with a view: JenniCAM, visual representation and cyborg subjectivity”. So this is just a brief summary of the reading:

This reading examines how Jennifer Ringley an ordinary college student became an Internet phenomenon and basically the first reality celebrity, through her website JenniCAM. She started her website in 1996 as a window for the world to see her day to day life by continuously posting images of her activities, using a camera mounted on her computer. In 1998 she upgraded her site and started posting videos of herself called the JenniSHOW, these videos would be updated every 20 minutes and showed “the ebb and flow of everyday” (p.p 287) including her sleeping, working but also engaging in private activities such as being nude and having sex.

By 1998 she had about 3 to 4 million people visiting her site daily, some even paying “US$15 per year” (p.p 287) to see a new image every 2 minutes. This fascination with JenniCAM is significantly interesting because she is an ordinary person, with quit a mundane life “most of the time, the photos are anything but thrilling” (p.p 287). A few reasons for her success might be because she was the first to transgress the line of the private/public sphere and allow people to see her life as it is without censorship, and novelty is always a recipe for success.

Then there is the fact that curiosity is human nature, and voyeurism had been slightly taboo till then, but suddenly JenniCAM invited voyeurism and surveillance. At around the same time reality T.V programs like Big Brother were created and public surveillance and CCTV were on the rise, which all created an interest and fascination with exhibitionism. But now a days the question of how much is too much, and when do we draw the line at what we think is private is very blurred.

Here are some questions to be discussed during the tut or on the blog:

1) As we have been bombarded by reality TV shows and our interest and ability to see the into the lives of celebrities has grown, if JenniCAM was created now, would it have the success it had in the 1990’s ? And as individuals would you be drawn to her website, why and why not?

2) “Jennifer would seem to offer the perfect heterosexual male fantasy- a voyeuristic window into a woman’s bedroom” (p.p 287) she has to some extent broken away from our “stereotypical” view of how women are supposed to behave (at that time) by both sexualising and objectifying herself. Do you agree with this statement? And how does this relate to women in the media nowadays?

Also here is a link to a clip explaining Jennifer’s story incase you don’t feel like reading what I wrote :)

Hope it helps, peace out!

Hi guys

Hello, my name is Claire. (Apologies for the late introduction.)

This is my third year at UWA but my first studying Communications, which I love. I currently work at Baker's Delight and have worked at various other cafes / patisseries / foodstuffs stores since I finished school. I love food, and totally believe that doing something like food styling or food photography for a magazine like Donna Hay would be one of the most perfect dream jobs. Ideally though I'd like to have a career / portfolio similar to Jonas Akerlund's, successfully dabbling in photography, commercials, film and music videos. When pigs fly! Yeah.

I rarely use the internet, but I do own a mobile and an ipod, and watch a lot of tv. This is my first blogging attempt (!) and I really hope the hyperlink has worked.

Happy blogging!

As will become obvious, an Introduction

Hello. My name is Jay.

I am studying philosophy, and intend to do so until they call me 'Doctor' and give me a job. Though I don't have many firm convictions on the many questions that have been raised through the history of philosophy, I lean towards realism about morality and truth, have sympathy for virtue ethics, and have strong opinions about fiction. I enjoy thought experiments, transcendental arguments, and Aristotle.

(Here is a webcomic that isn't terrible.)

I took this unit because it seemed to deal with, inter alia, personal ontology (the question of what, metaphysically speaking, a person is) -- though we seemed to skip over that quite nicely in the first week or so. The only other feminist reading I have done, prior to this unit, is de Beauvoir. It may just be my bias towards French existentialism, but I am yet to see anything in the reader for this unit that is as well-written or interesting as The Second Sex.

(I have wasted many hours on this site. This is how all pop culture should be discussed.)

I love clarity of thought and despise such things as post-modernism and deconstruction; so if some of the assumptions I have made about this unit are correct, this semester should be frustrating, challenging, and rewarding.

(Here are some stick figures discussing Nietzsche and post-modernism.)

the fifth decade of the internet

Some of you may be interested in this talk at Murdoch by Gerard Goggin

INTRO POST!

Hi Everyone, I'm Gabi!

I don't particularly like doing these 'introducing yourself' tasks as i find it very hard to explain myself in an interesting way! But here goes anyway, I'm in my second year here at UWA studying a Bachelor of Arts and doing a double major in Psychology and I hope to one day work with children, that is, once i finish this forever long degree.

I'm very interested in fashion and styling in the modern world, particularly interior designs. This brings me to my severe problem in saving. I'm probably the worst saver you will ever meet, trust me. I buy things just because I feel I have to have it, good attitude or bad, I'm not sure, either way I'm satisfied! Therefore i pretty much waste alot of my time on the Internet online shopping, whether it be clothes, shoes, sportswear, or even funky little pieces for room as i have a flare for interior design. I'm also passionate about having a happy, healthy and active lifestyle, and I too like Kelly- Anne do not feel my day is complete unless i have been to the gym or done atleast some form of exercise, I'm a little bit addicted to it really.

So I don't think I've mentioned Ive never done this whole blogging thing before, nor have I deliberately come across any blogs, therefore I don't have any particularly good ones to share but, once i start exploring the bloggers world I will hopefully have some to share with you all. Now I do have two sites to share that I love to look at in my spare time, that is when im not online shopping of course. My first one is Pixdaus, it has some amazing photographs of absolutely anything and everything uploaded by people all over the world, just look at the right hand side and theres plenty to choose from. And finally ill let you in my one of my favourite online shopping sites.. ShopBop, you can kill alot of time searching through these! Enjoy!

Bye for now,
Gabi

Apatheia and Jane

Hi, I'm Jane.

I am also Apatheia Jane on Dreamwidth and apathyjane on ravelry (the craft site I mentioned in class). I've also got a few other profiles floating around, but that'll do for this. Oh, and the "blog this" gloves were published in Knitty Summer 2006.

I've been mostly offline for months, for various RL (real life) reasons, and haven't really been producing content for the last few years. I'm amused by the memory of an LJ icon that was in the style of the Shit Happens bumper stickers, but said RL Happens.

As such, I kinda feel like I can look back on my online personas with a bit more distance. At its most active, my blog was a mix of political filter, fandom filter, fanworks producer and RL journal. Politically, it's green, pro-queer, feminist, mostly just whatever I support or am outraged by. In fandom, it's mostly sci-fi/fantasy visual media based, and mostly slashfic. I watch the shows for the sf, I participated in fandom for the 'ships.

Obviously, there's a lot of change in what my blog has been in the 7 years I've had it. There's a definite shift away from the self-reflection of the early years towards being more of a fanwork and politics filter, then more of a fanwork producer, then less of everything over the last few years.

Part of the reason I blog less is that LJ was bought out and became really crap at customer service, and it arbitrarily deleted journals that they received complaints about, mostly for adult content and contested copyright content. Dreamwidth and OTW (organisation for transformative works) both formed to protect user-generated content, and both are very female-orientated. There's been a lot of comment on how much has been achieved with mostly volunteer coders, and the diversity of these coders. They both fit within the narrative of using the internet to promote individual voices and diversity.

DW is a LJ-style blogger platform, OTW has a much broader mandate - legal advocacy on copyright issues, preservation of fanworks, an archive for uploading and viewing fan-made content, and an academic journal on fandom. If anyone wanted to write an essay on transformative works for this unit, you could probably get it published in Transformative Works and Cultures.

INTRODUCTORY POST

Hey everyone!!

My name is Kelly-Ann Mordt, I was born, and I live in Zimbabwe, but I have a Norwegian passport and I am a Resident of Australia. I have been in Perth for 3 years now, studying at UWA. I am doing a Bachelor of Arts Majoring in Anthropology, and I have done a Woman Studies unit before which I really enjoyed so I am looking forward to seeing how this one goes! I love Perth, but I miss home very much as my family still lives there, but because of the political situation in the country and the lack of employment opportunities, I think I will stay on after my degree and maybe go to Brisbane to work for a year or so. Since I have lived here, I stayed in Trinity College (which is on campus of the university) for 2 years, and at the beginning of this year I moved into an apartment with 2 wonderful friends and we have been very happy! As well as going to uni, I work in a shop in Claremont called 'Lorna Jane', it sells the most beautiful women's sports clothing and promotes active living. I love working there, and I am very active myself, and a regular at Fitness First Gym in Floreat. I really enjoy working with, and serving people at Lorna Jane, as well as getting to know all the stock as I also have a passion for clothes and fashion. Personally I think exercise is extremely important and I don't feel my day is properly done if I haven't been to the gym. I find it is also a brilliant stress reliever. All in all I am a very social person and a strong believer in working hard and playing hard. The link I have decided to share with you all is The Lorna Jane Website, not because I work there but because I think it is so positive and the clothes are especially designed to encourage women to live an active life and feel good about them selves and their bodies. To me, this is so inspiring, especially in todays world where there are so many different pressures on women to look a certain way.

Thanks everyone, and I look forward to getting to know all of you!! :)

Hello

Hey everyone, I'm Lilian. I'm a third year communication studies student majoring in English. I was born and raised in Perth, but my parents and the rest of my family are from Malaysia. I really like assignments like this that arn't essays, because to be honest, essay writing drains my soul. Last year of uni; I can't wait to graduate, but at the same time I'm freaking out about what to do next. Though anything involving art, live music and/or travel would make my day.

I absolutely love any visual form of creativity, including film, photography, fashion, design and illustration. Ffffound is one of my favourite sites, which is pretty much a constantly updated collection of these things that inspire me. I also waste a lot of time on Lookbook. Also extremely inspiring for those who are into fashion/photography. Olivia L. is my favourite person on there, and she also has her own blog. Got to be the coolest 17 year old ever, no?

Not really sure what else to write, so I shall leave it at that. See you all tomorrow. And for the record, finding parking at 10am is the worst.

how's it going?*

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The islander

Hey guys I'm Nadine a multicultural package born in Cape Town, raised in beautiful Mauritius and I'm half German, half Mauritian. This is my third and final year here at UWA majoring in German and Communication, and next year I have decided to throw myself into the real world and get a job, I hope. My dream is to work for French Vogue as an artistic director or stylist, as art, photography and fashion have always been a passion of mine! But realistically speaking, in the immediate future I'd like to work for a film production agency (another passion of mine) or a fashion magazine.

I actually only discovered blogs a couple of months ago, mostly all related to fashion and photography, and have come across some pretty cool ones. Style Voyeur is Perth blog all about fashion and I found this so interesting because I always assumed that Perth was really backwards regarding fashion. Another blog I visit quit often is Garance Dore as it mixes beautiful photography and illustrations with cutting edge trends and fashion.

Hope you guys enjoy, see you in class Xxx

ZIMBABWEAN IN THE BLOCK!!!!!

Hey There guys,
Im Tarryn Zelow, officially born and raised in Zimbabwe, which is my comfort Zone.It is one of the most beautiful countries in the World, where we have the privilege of seeing wild elephants, lion, leopards etc roam the bush freely. I commute between Perth and Zim during the year, but am basically here just to study. I Live with 2 of my friends, one from Zimbabwe and the other from Mauritius and we all doing this unit together which is great. Luckily, unlike most Zimbabweans, i have Aussie Citizenship which is of coarse a great benefit for me.=) I am 20 years old, turning 21 in dec and am currently in my final year of doing a bachelor of arts, majoring in anthropology. It was not something i came here wanting to study, but as time has moved on i have grown to love it. I am planning on moving to Cape Town, South Africa next year to study nutrition, and then once that has been done i am planning to find a job in WHO(World Health Organisation) which is something i am very passionate about, because it involves helping others who are less fortunate than us, and i strongly believe we need more people like that in our world. I Love Fashion, Animals and Sport, and i spend heaps of my free time surfing online shops like Forever New so check out the site... ITS BEAUTIFUL!!!! Well thats it for now guys, but you'll be hearing more from me soon... bye now

Hello there, friends ;)

Hey there 10am-ers! I hope I haven't missed the boat on the introductory post, but here I go.

My name is Jacqui and I am a third year communications student. After taking some time off I am back this semester and have chosen this unit as it not only contributes to my English major, but it was definately more appealing than your average English unit.

I have a keen interest in fashion, but I feel I am lacking in the creative department when it comes to design. I am doing a course in fashion editing at Tafe next year, which will hopefully fit in nicely with my communications degree to help me pursue my ideal job of fashion editing.

I also wanted to start up a fashion blog of my own but I am not exactly tech-savvy, so I thought this unit would be the perfect way to learn.

Fashion toast is a favourite of mine, have a look if it takes your fancy ;)

See you all on Wednesday :D Bye for now.

posting with passion: blogs and the politics of gender

Hi again!

I am presenting this week, on Melissa Gregg's article Posting with Passion: Blogs and the Politics of Gender.

I have noticed that a quite a few of you have mentioned that you are new to the blogging scene. Just as a way of introduction to this topic, and so we have a few things to talk about in the tutorial, I would love for you all to visit a few of the following blogs. You don't have to spend a lot of time on them, but maybe just read a few of their posts and their About Me page for a little insight. These are some of the most popular, influential blogs written by Australian women. (I have made this assertion purely from my own observations - I have no figures to support that claim!)

• MamaMia: Mia Freedman is a former Cosmopolitan editor, Channel 9 executive and author who blogs on current issues relevant to Australian women. Her blog is built around a strong (mostly female) readership, which she calls her "community", who comment on her posts as a way of discussion. Mia is a 37-year-old mother-of-three living in Sydney. She also appears regularly on the Today Show and 7PM Project as a commentator.
• Sarah Wilson: Sarah is another former Cosmopolitan editor who now writes about making life "better". Sarah is in her thirties and lives alone in Bondi. She is also a host and producer on Foxtel's Lifestyle You and a regular panelist on Sunrise.
• Rachel Hills: Rachel describes herself as a feminist blogger. Her site is called "Musings of an Inappropriate Woman". She discusses popular culture and its affect on women, particularly those of Generation Y. Rachel is also a freelance journalist for various women's magazines. She is in her late-twenties and currently resides in London.
• Kerri Sackville: Kerri represents the growing "mummy blogger" phenomena with her blog "Life and Other Crises". Her impetus is to expose the reality of motherhood with frank, sometimes brutal, honesty and humour. She is in her late-thirties and lives with her husband and children in Sydney.
• Annabel Crabb: Annabel is the chief online political writer for ABC blog The Drum: Unleashed. She also appears on Gruen Transfer and Insiders on ABC. Annabel is a well-established journalist (formally writing for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald) and author. She is a working mother based in Sydney.
• Primped: Primped is an online beauty magazine headed by beauty writers Zoe Foster and Yasemin Turker, formally of Cosmopolitan and Harper's Bazaar magazines. They write about beauty products in a "fun, accessible" way. They are both in their late-twenties and live in Sydney.

NB I am mentioning snippets of these bloggers' personal life, not because I think it is at all relevant to the quality or relevance of their writing, but to identify their diversity (or, in some respects, lack thereof), and also because their personal lives are often mentioned as part of their blogs and reflect their readership.

And to compare, perhaps visit a couple of these blogs written by Australian males. To be honest, I don't read or know of many blogs written by men, which may be significant to blogging culture or, more likely, just reflects my own taste.

• Scrivener's Fancy: This site is designed to look like an online newspaper and is actually a collaboration between two women and two men, so it's not strictly a men's blog at all! But perhaps if you focus upon Tony Martin's blog "Scarcely Relevant", we could pretend. Of particular interest is his recent article Out of Step with Community Standards in which he explains why his "column" does not appear in print media - he's not enough of an "everyman", the inference being that the internet allows for diversity (although, personally, I am much more akin to Tony that the so-called everyman, which some of you may relate to!) Tony is a comedian with a career encompasses TV, film and radio. He is divorced and lives in Melbourne.
• Andrew Bolt: Andrew Bolt's blog is, according to his Herald Sun profile, the most-read political blog in Australia. Andrew is a newspaper columnist in the Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph and Adelaide's Advertiser, and regularly appears on Channel 9, ABC's The Insiders and radio. He has an identifiably right-wing persuasion and has engaged in a lot of controversy throughout his journalistic career. He is married with three children and lives in Melbourne (I think).
• The Backpacker: Ben Groundwater is am author and travel writer for Fairfax. He specialises in backpacking and budget holidays. He lives in Sydney and has no children.

Phew. I think that is enough! Please add your own suggestions in the comments section, particularly if you know of any other male bloggers. I have chosen to focus upon Australian sites, just because I think it will be easier to discern any trends amongst them if we have a smaller, more concentrated focus group, but, of course, we feel free to discuss any any other, non-Australians blogs that you like (or hate).

Just a few things to think about prior to the tutorial, and maybe discuss in the comments section...

1. The article refers to female blogging discourse being restricted to "noticeably white, college-educated and US-centric" voices. Either from your own experience or the blogs above, what kind of generalisations can and have you make about popular female bloggers with respect to class, ethnicity, geographical location, education, occupation, etcetera? Do you think those generalisations are a significant and/or accurate representation of the blogosphere and feminist discourse, in general?
2. Gregg refers to the inference that blogs written by males are more "influential" than those written by females. There are many definitions of "influential" that we could consider, but let's assume that "influence" is measured by the number of readers, as opposed to the effect that the blogs have upon them. Why do you think the content of male blogs have broader appeal? The article theorises that men tend to write about politics, while women focus upon the personal and the domestic. Does this still apply? Why do you think this trend may occur, and what are the implications for contemporary gender differences in the public and private realm?
3. Most of the bloggers I have come across, including those I have mentioned above, have a public profile outside of their blogs, whether in print journalism (magazines or newspapers), tv, radio or as authors. There is a discourse within the blogging world which refers to "building your own brand". Bloggers are expected to embody the "message" they promote through their writing. This seems to be more true of female bloggers than male. Why do think this may be?

I hope all this gives you some food for thought. If you have any queries or points that you'd like to discuss, I would love for you to do so in the comments section!

Thank you for reading, see you all on Wednesday!

Enough already!!

Look whose back. Sorry to do this to you all again. On reflection my last (and first ever) post was such a novel that I'm sure you'll be avoiding this one like the plague. However my unit outline says I must write about my presentation - and the school girl in me does not like breaking rules!

Melissa Greggs, I don't really think I like you.

Maybe that is a little bit harsh for a woman I have never met, but her thoughts on the "continuing unequal division of labour within the home" and its affect on women's abilities "to keep track of debates among bloggers," in my opinion is offensive not only to the modern woman, but to males as well. I understand that Greggs is fighting for a woman's right to blog, but honestly, the assumption that the lack of female presence amongst the blogging sphere is due to their involvement in dishes and dippers seems like a very old fashioned view to hold for an article written in 2006.

To conclude that woman are left to fend for the house, while males are free to roam the net and blog to their hearts content undermines the role males play in providing for their family. This article fails to address that many males are involved in running the household and caring for the children. I understand that Greggs is simply trying to find the answer for why woman are not as active in the practice of blogging, but I do not think we can generalise that the household is the reason for it. Perhaps I am misguided with my reading of this point. Feel free to let me know your own thoughts on the issue. Or maybe even some original answers on why you believe women are not as involved as men on the internet.

In terms of Wednesday's tute, I think it is important that we discuss the question of whether blogging is liberating or regressive in terms of identity. Are we simply creating an artificial world to escape the problems of reality? And if so, is this healthy?

Another thing I would love to discuss with you all is a video conference I found on the blog http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/30056 . I was doing some extra reading on the sites mentioned in the article and suddenly found these two woman talking at me. The topic of conversation in the first 3 minutes is almost perfect for us to compare with Greggs' work.

The women are discussing Michelle Obama and her trip to Spain. The entire 3 minutes are spent discussing whether or not her trip was justifiable during a recession. The conversation seems to be hot gossip, and treats politics in a celebrity manner. Is this really the only way woman can be involved in politics? To criticise the people rather than discuss the politics?

The use of the telephones is also something I think should be addressed. As an inexperienced blogger I have no idea if this the norm to be using video conferencing in the first place, but the use of it between two people seems quite unusual. However, what really struck me as strange was the use of phones which I would assume to be completely unnecessary. In today's technological society you would assume computers are equipped with microphones and speakers that make the use of the telephone obsolete. So if this is the case, what is the relevance of the phone?

If we look at what Greggs says about woman and machine, we can use her arguments to guide our understanding of this blog. Even if these women were discussing relevant issues in politics, they are immediately linked to the practice of talking on the phone - something that is stereotypical of woman gossiping for hours on end. As Gregg says, "when a technology is used mostly by women (the telephone or the washing machine, for instance) its value within society tends to lessen." Does anyone feel that the conversation we are witnessing is tainted by the use of these machines? Does it force these women back into the Domestic realm? and is the value of a machine something we really think about in today's society? The concept seems slightly foreign to me. Looking forward to hearing what you all think about it.

Love through the intertubes

I'm Jeremy, I'm doing an English major. I think I might head directly to the links and work back to introducing myself as I write.

There is a lot that interests me about the web and I'm pretty happy when I have the time to spend a few hours reading through links and collecting snippets and notes. I think because of that, I've also come to learn a bit more about how the different technologies work to solve problems, and extend ourselves, and reflect ourselves back to people we know.

One of the things that interests me most is the massive scale of data collection that comes with online life, and the things that that implies. Like, wikipedia and other hive mind projects, for example, reCAPTCHA, where account security is used to simultaneously transcribe archived text. Another example is the dating site OkCupid. This site was created by a bunch of mathematicians to matchmake by computation. Users are asked to answer questions for as long as they want (all the questions are user submitted), providing an answer for themselves, the ideal answer for their match, and the importance they place on the question. So there is a lot of data.

I'm subscribed to their blog, where they write up all sorts of statistical analysis of the way people recreate themselves online, and how this works out for relationships on the site. Here's an interesting post about introductions and the different language people use when introducing themselves: http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/online-dating-advice-exactly-what-to-say-in-a-first-message/. I like it because it puts the maths front and centre, and lets the data and the computation suggest how to behave online. There is a lot more on the site (and a lot more risque material dealing with sexuality, user expectations, user profiles and so on) which you can flick through; I thought it was relevant to the unit for the way in which it demonstrates how online identity is recorded and available for scrutiny, and how that might affect identity as a whole.

Also, I like the stuff at WNYC Radiolab because it is curious and thoughtful and well presented. The video "Words" that accompanies their current episode is pretty nice.

Introduction. I'm from Perth, but over the past 3 years I've lived in Broome, LA, and then Vancouver. I was on exchange in California and then working in a bar in Canada. And taking advantage of the surroundings whenever possible to ski/hike/kayak/go to Oregon. I wish the buses here had bike carriers on the front.

See you on Wednesday.

Intro Blog

Hi there everyone,
Thanks for such interesting links and blogs to look through, i will definitely have a look at all of them. I am an international student studying here from Zimbabwe and was interested in doing this unit as i was thinking i could draw some paralells with some of the other communication studies units i have done previously, last year i did a unit that also had an online tutorial discussion which we could post to, but besides that i must admit im pretty new to the whole blogging thing. I am very interested in photography and am hoping to pursue it more when i have finished studying, so although its a very new blog i have been looking at the photos on max fairclough photography, life through a lens which i think has some awesome and fascinating photos, i wish i could be that taleneted at taking photographs, but maybe one day. Brittany, i had a look at your link to the cooking blog and your right the photographs on that were also beautifully done. Anyway, here is the link to the photography blog i have been looking through, if anyone is interested but i will try to find something that is more closely related to the unit that might be of interest and post that up later in the week. Also i look forward to communicating on this blog about ideas that come up during the semester and hearing about ideas on the presentation this week.
Have a good week everyone.

What's cookin good lookin?

My name is Brittany and I just love the internet.

I enjoy the music of Tom Waits, the writing of Irvine Welsh and the comedy of Larry David. I also enjoy food (particularly hot and spicy), fashion and interior decorating on a budget.

I read lots of blogs and one that I can recommend whole heartedly is Smitten Kitchen. It is a beautifully photographed cooking blog, and the woman who edits it, Deb, is right up my alley- she is an amateur but passionate cook with a wry sense of humour. Deb appreciates seasonal produce and creates and adapts recipes that yield great food that is easily recreated (mostly) in the home kitchen. Sorry if I sound like a crazed Masterchef wannabe, can't help it.

Smitten Kitchen also speaks volumes about the power of blogs and the internet- when it started out Deb was unknown, but now is widely read, has won blogging awards and secured a publishing deal to release her own cookbook. Here is a quote from her that pretty much sums up why I love the site:

"What you’ll see here is: A lot of comfort foods stepped up a bit, things like bread and birthday cakes made entirely from scratch and tutorials on everything from how to poach an egg to how to make tart doughs that don’t shrink up on you, but also a favorite side dish (zucchini and almonds) that takes less than five minutes to make.

What we’re wary of is: Excessively fussy foods and/or pretentious ingredients. We don’t do truffle oil, Himalayan pink salt at $10 per quarter-ounce or single-origin chocolate that can only be found through Posh Nosh-approved purveyors. We think food should be accessible, and are certain that you don’t need any of these things to cook fantastically."

Bon appetit!

Look out! Technophobe on the loose!!

Hello fellow 10am-ers!

My name is Jess Taylor and I struggle with technology. A lot. Hence why I have the same phone I had when I was 14. If it ain't broke, don't upgrade it to a new-fangled gadget that has more functions and abilities than the NASA control room, that's what I say! Anyhoo.... so I am in my 3rd year of my Arts degree, majoring in Women's Studies and History. Now I'm not trying to suck up, but I love Women's Studies. It is everything I am passionate about and more. It has forced me to think about issues I never would have, and to consider controversial issues from all angles. It makes me happy, and I somewhat naively believe that if I am doing something I am passionate about, then a career will magically fall into my lap. Here's hoping!

I have a few favourite websites. One of them is Sleep Talkin' Man. Sleep Talkin' Man is basically a blog of the sleep talking adventures of a mild-mannered British man named Adam. His wife, Karen, records and transcribes his random musings on the blog so that you can both read and hear him. There is nothing quite like hearing an asleep British man mumbling about jellyfish and swearing like a trooper! I find this blog fascinating, not only because Adam's dreams are, quite frankly, astonishing, but also because it represents a commodification of private life. Because you can actually but t-shirts, aprons and other items with these sayings on them, such as, 'It's Cake O'Clock!' Adam's formerly private musings are now hilarious catchphrases, which the public can request to be put on memorabilia. I actually found out about this through another blog, The Bloggess. Her blog is the more traditional filtering blog, with links to the other blogs she contributes to. Her way of looking at the world is truly unique and hilarious. And that's all I'll say about her, I wouldn't want to influence you in any way if you planning on perusing her site.

Well, for a first post this seems to have gone ok. Let's just hope that the hyperlinks work, and that I don't have to redo this.....

See you all on Wednesday!

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater

My name is Madeleine and I'm a spend-a-holic.

(Cue monotone group of disinterested fellow addicts) Hi Madeleine.

I find my addiction is greatly directed towards online shopping. With internet so readily available these days, it makes quitting the habit a real struggle. Fortunately my motivation to save money has come in the form of travelling. One of the perks of this unit, (and my three others) is that I have no exams this semester. HOORAY. So along with eating, coming to the uni, and going to work, my new daily routine has included trying to make my friends as jealous as possible at the prospect of me waving to the people of New York City from the top of the Empire State Building (I have this very romanticised image of it - picture Sleepless in Seattle, without Tom Hanks! not really my cup of tea) while they slave away in Perth at the library. Muahaha

So I must admit, my time on the internet is more invested in bargains than blogging, but other than the blogs I have accidently and occassionally stumbled across, here is one I deliberately ventured on to http://facehunter.blogspot.com/ I found the blog when I was given Yvan Rodic's book entitled FACEHUNTER. Here is one of his quotes from the book which I feel ties in nicely with what Alison was saying in today's lecture about the possibility of creating an idenitity through blogging.

"The people I photograph live on different continents, speak different languages and most of them have never met each other, but - thanks in large part to the internet - they all share the lust for customizing their idenities with fragments of culture from different parts of the world."

If the idea of a fashion blog seems extremely mainstream to you, and slightly childish, I encourage you to look at Rodic's visual diary. This is not so much about clothes, but simply how another person views the world. I love the power of the camera to capture magical scenes and share someone else's perspective on life.

Moving right along to tute presentations, I two, like Laura will be sharing some thoughts on Melissa Gregg's Posting with Passion: blogs and the politics of gender. But I think you should all know I am highly skilled in the art of procrastination, leaving everything to the last minute. So hopefully, if all goes to plan, I will have some notes up before the clock strikes twelve tonight. Or else I might just turn into a pumpkin.

Guten Tag

Hi Wed Tute at 10,

My real name is Jordan; Orlando is the fictional name used on the blog that I just recently created, The Virgin Woolf . For all those literature lovers who smile at intertextual references - maybe I am the only one. Feel free to follow, you are very very welcome. Blogging is a new experience for me, and a fantastic world that I hope we can have some fun in/on/with.

I am a second year Arts student, majoring in History, German and English, and I pretty much like anything to do with those subjects. In relation to this unit, I would say a passion for the narrative (presumed construct) and with reality (presumed natural) fuels me. Plus I enjoy experience new and wonderful things once unkown to me, and this unit is certainly a pleasant suprise.

For a recommended website, I think this site is pretty cool: Android. As the subtitle suggests, it is digital organic artwork by Andy Thomas. If you ever wondered what a combination of the organic and the mechanical looks like, it will interest you.

Cheers, Jordan (Orlando)

hi everybody

Hi everybody :)

My name is Laura and I am in the midst of a double degree in Law and Arts. I actually love reading blogs and I also use twitter. I even have a blog of my own. It's fun!

My favourite blog is Sarah Wilson. Sarah was the host of Masterchef Season 1, and now makes her living as a writer/blogger/tv host/producer... etc. She writes about how to make life better. In her own words, she is "on a mission to find ways to make life bigger, more meaningful, nicer, smarter, heartier." She talks to people like Seth Gobin, Mitch Albom, Edward de Bono, Gretchen Rubin and the Dalai Lama and, basically, just has a fresh take on things. I like her a lot.

Another link I'd like to share is Peggy Orenstein's New York Times article: I Tweet, Therefore I Am. It will most likely only resonate with people who use twitter, or update their Facebook status regularly, but it's a great read. Peggy pinpoints the psyche behind sharing ourselves (or part thereof) via these new digital mediums, describing it as an "unnatural self-consciousness: processing my experience instantaneously, packaging life as I lived it." She also explores the way social media can reconstruct identity, "blurring the lines not only between public and private but also between the authentic and contrived self." I am really fascinated by the the way the internet can reshape the evolution of a "sense of self", and it is where my interest lies with respect to this unit.

I will be presenting this week, on the article Posting with passion: blogs and the politics of gender (Melissa Gregg). I will post an outline of the article and some points to think about later tonight, which I have gathered that I am supposed to do in preparation for Wednesday's tutorial.

So, thank you for reading... I will see you all on Wednesday :)

Your guess is as good as mine Mr Tugboat. Frame the Penguins! Hurrah!

Hey guys,

So, I'm quite new to this whole blogging phenomenon, so bear with me, most of my posts probably won't make any sense.

The write up for this is to "write an introduction of yourself" as you all know, so here goes:
I'm in 3rd year uni, although I'm really in my first semester of straight arts, so I'm still doing a few (thankfully) first year units, as well as 2nd level Anthropology and Womens Studies units (my two majors). I like rain, I kayak, climb and I cycle quite a bit too. I don't really have a favorite website, although I'm a bit of a fan of De-motivational Posters because they make me laugh and I think they're an interesting dialogue on contemporary society's views on things. I grew up in the hills, but now I live in the city and I dislike being surrounded by people all the time. I also sometimes wonder whether humanity is actually capable of surviving itself. We seem to be about to plummet headfirst into our own demise. I'd like to think that won't happen though. I can hope.

I'm not really sure what else I'm meant to write here, so I'll leave it at that for now I think,
Cheerio, Jen.

Introductory Post

Hey everyone, my name is Samantha and I'm a second year Bachelor of Arts student majoring in Psychology. As a technologically inept student this blog will be both a challenging and hopefully rewarding experience!

I came across an article, The Closing Gap Between Man and Machine, by Penelope Debelle (2006) which explored Australian Dance Theatre's 2006 performance of Devolution. I found this article interesting and relevant as it provides another way of expressing the ideas of this unit, through dance. The performance was choreographed to represent an "interplay between the simple technology of the robotics in the work, and the complexity of the human body as a machine". It's interesting to explore the concept of movement in "narrowing the divide" between human and machine. I managed to also find a link to a promotion of Devolution, it's worth taking a look at. Enjoy!