Networks, power distribution and hubs

Barabasi’s ‘Rich Get Richer’ looks at the role of power laws on the Web (likening it to Hollywood), and hubs. Barabasi said he realised that “the Web [and its power laws] was by no means special at all” and instead, “some universal law or mechanism must be responsible” for power distribution. This ‘universal law’ “could potentially apply to all networks.”

Barabasi proposes Model A and then highlights its insufficiency. In Model A, all the nodes which make up the web have an equal chance to be linked to but, not all are linked too. Thus, there are “winners and losers.” This contradicts Erdos and Renyi who contend that all nodes in a network are equal. He explains that “the first nodes in model A will be the richest, since these nodes have the longest time to collect links.” Say for example, Meryl Streep would have more links then a Hollywood newbie like Elle Fanning. But, “while the early nodes were clear winners, the exponential form predicted that they are too small and there are too few of them. Therefore, Model A failed to account for the hubs and connectors. It demonstrated, however, that growth alone cannot explain the emergence of power laws.”

Barabasi also makes the point that the Web, and Hollywood, isn’t static. Conversely, the number of nodes in a network is always growing. The Web began with a few web pages, and Hollywood began with a small number of actors and silent films. Again, he contradicts Erdos and Renyi and their “random universe.” Barabasi reasons that we don’t link to nodes randomly but, choose from a list (as with Google) or are attracted by advertising. “The Webpages to which we prefer to link are not ordinary nodes. They are hubs. The better known they are, the more links point to them. The more links they attract, the easier it is to find them on the Web and so the more familiar we are with them.” This highlights that our decision making is based on preferential attachment – which page has more people linked to? Barabasi importantly notes that “preferential attachment induces a rich-get-richer phenomenon.” He finds that “real networks are governed by two laws: growth and preferential attachment.”

For more: http://vogmae.dropmark.com/133224/2301022

Mindframe

This week in ‘Journalism Ethics and Regulations’ some people from ‘Mindframe’ came to talk to us. Mindframe is an Australian Government initiative which provides guidelines for reporting on mental illness and suicide in mass media. It was interesting to learn of the link between suicide deaths and the way stories are reported.

Repeated coverage of suicide deaths can normalize this behavior. It can also trigger this behavior. For this reason, journalists should not provide the method and location of suicide deaths. The more ambiguous you are, the less likely someone is to copy the behavior.

Given the distribution of mass media, someone will always identify with the characters in your story. By using images of individuals who have committed suicide and their funeral, journalists are sensationalizing suicide. Instead, journalists should show images of the grieving families and communities. This illustrates to individuals that they would be more of a burden if they were to commit suicide.

There are also many stigmas attached to suicide and mental illness, and journalists can unknowingly promote these. For example, journalists often make links between mental illness and violence.

Mental illness and suicide are sensitive topics that need to be reported as such. Journalists should also include the information of national and local helplines in their coverage.

Watts Chu Talkin’ ‘Bout?.. Networks

Watts looks at networks and their history in ‘Six Degrees.’ He writes that “the networks we will actually be dealing with can be represented in almost comical simplicity by dots on a piece of paper, with lines connecting them.” He concedes that some of the complexities regarding certain connections will be lost but “we can tap into a wealth of knowledge and techniques . . . that we might never have been able to answer had we gotten bogged down in all the messy details.”

Watts also takes a look at the ‘six degrees of separation’ theory. This theory proposes that everyone is six steps away from any other person in the world. ‘It’s a small’ world is one of those sayings I first heard used by my parents, now I am guilty of using it. It is true though. Every time a family member or friend goes away, they bump into so and so who went to school with . . . so and so whose best friends with my old neighbour . . . so and so who knows my orthodontist’s brother in law etc. You get my point don’t you? It seems that wherever you are in the world, there is someone who knows someone you know. I can’t help but wonder, with the onslaught of communication technology, are people even three steps away from each other? It is infinitely easy to connect with people, even those you haven’t seen in fifty years or who live on the opposite side of the world. In this new age of technology, our network of relationships is larger than ever before.

This was a long, but straightforward read. Watts poses many questions and provides limited answers, he forces you to think. For more: http://vogmae.dropmark.com/133224/2272418

the long tail

chris anderson makes some interesting points about networks and audience in ‘the long tail’

“the future of entertainment is in the millions of niche markets”
anderson contends that your focus shouldn’t be on reaching the largest audience, instead it she be on reaching a specific audience and forming a connection with them

anderson believes people wrongly assume that “if people wanted it, surely it would be sold”
entertainment or whatever else you are providing needs to be accessible. it needs to be affordable and people must know how and where to find it. otherwise you won’t get an audience 

“we live in the physical world and, until recently, most of our entertainment media did”
anderson is highlighting the power of the world wide web to connect people and cross geographical boundaries. entertainment media now has a much larger reach 

check it out: http://vogmae.dropmark.com/133224/2255470

Week 6 Symposium

Week 6’s symposium debated the question, ‘Do you think the digitalisation of literary texts and the use of the E-reader will eventually replace the physical book completely?’ Adrian stated that ‘the book’ is 400 years old and “to think it’s going to hang around for ever is incredibly naïve.” He believes the book is a temporary technology and texts are already dead.

As mentioned in my previous post Douglas, I don’t believe that books are dead or will become dead. Yes, I can concede that most books will adopt a digitalised form. This makes practical sense for large texts, like manuals and VCE books. Additionally, digital books will minimise environmental impacts and that is oh so trendy. But, there will always be a place for books.

Books will most likely become a more boutique thing. They will become more beautiful, more of a collector’s item as with coffee table books. This will only increase the cultural value of books. For centuries, we have identified books as symbols of knowledge. We value them as gifts and give them to children as soon as they are born. All over the world, there are huge libraries which house books. These structures and their contents are often protected under heritage listings. This and the value society places on them, means they will not disappear.

As mentioned by Brian, the E-reader is only a small transformation and it is still early days. There will no doubt be other transformations, but E-readers will not be the demise of books. He provides the example of music and its many different forms – vinyl, cassette tape, CD, iTunes, YouTube etc. – to highlight how a technology can evolve and adapt. The same goes for theatre which DID NOT disappear with the advent of film. On a side note, can you imagine a Priest and their congregation reading scripture from E-readers rather than the Bible? Somehow this seems unlikely.

If reading for pleasure, I cannot fathom why anyone would choose an E-reader over a REAL book. I love the smell and feel of books. I love receiving them as gifts, and finding a note written in the title page. Wherever I live, I always have a large bookshelf. It’s decoration, a talking piece, somewhere I can see memories. I love lending books to others, and having them scrawl comments or definitions throughout the pages. I love the look of old, worn-out books that have been read again and again or passed down through generations. But, I also love buying new books and the thrill I get from bending back the front cover and creasing the spine. I will NEVER EVER curl up next to the fire with an E-reader, how unromantic. Some things are best left unchanged.

Rockin’ Socks

Socks and sandals have become socially acceptable and I am taking full advantage of that. Now I can wear sandals or open toes shoes all year round without losing my toes to frostbite. I have many pairs of what I call ‘special socks.’ Special socks differ from gym socks, or school socks because they are visually dynamic and perhaps a little impractical. People Friends and family have commented that perhaps I have too many special socks, and that it is a waste of money. I have have sparkly socks, sparkly striped socks, sheer black socks with love hearts, sheer black socks with stars, sheer black socks with polka dots and the list goes on. Collectively, I may have spent a bit of money but if you know where to look they often only cost a few dollars. ASOS is great price wise and they have some interesting designs. The problem . . . I like sheer socks and without a reinforced toe they rip quite easily. The socks in the image below are my favorite, I have them in grey too. It is difficult to tell from the image but they are completely sheer minus the detailing. They aren’t warm at all but I’m not complaining. I purchased them from Kinki Gerlinki a few months ago. I went to three Kinki Gerlinki stores before finding these. I saw sheer socks for the first time last year at Fat and they were around $30.00. My sock obsession had yet to begin and I thought this was a complete rip off, still do. Since purchasing the shoes in the image, I was desperate to find a similar pair of socks though. I thought Gorman or Kinki Gerlinki would be my best bet. Gorman had lovely socks but they weren’t sheer. Luckily for me, I scooped up the last two pairs Kinki Gerlinki had and I haven’t looked back.

Douglas

The extract from J. Douglas’ ‘The End of Books – Or Books Without End?: Reading Interactive Narratives’ looks at interactive narratives. I likened these to ‘choose you own adventure’ narratives in a previous post and Adrian corrected me – “hypertext is multilinear, whereas choose your own adventure is linear, with different linear options.” Interactive narratives still don’t appeal to me but apparently there are many people who “desire for the inexhaustible story, the mystery that unspools with a fresh cast of suspects instead of gliding quickly through its denouncement to a limited conclusion.” “The book that changes every time you read it” simply doesn’t appeal to me like it does to Douglas. Like Adrian, Douglas makes a clear distinction – “Yet this is no simple ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ scenario where readers can see for themselves that they have exhausted whatever possibilities the narrative held.” Does this mean that the possibilities/endings are endless? Adrian addressed this in a post (thankfully).

Despite the appeal of reading digital hypertext, Douglas says “it is hardly likely that digital media like hypertext are going to supersede books.” I appreciate this stance. I am so sick of people saying things like books are dead or journalists are a dying breed. Humans, like technologies, will adapt and evolve depending on society’s needs. Someone will always be needed to report the news. Douglas used the example of television looking for a niche with the advent of cinema. They found it in video tapes, taking the cinema and putting it on the small screen. Similarly “books as a technology have evolved over the course of hundreds of years through innovations life spacing between words, tables of contents and indices, standardized spelling and grammar etc.” “If the book is a highly refined example of a primitive technology hypertext is a primitive example of a highly refined technology.”

For the full extract: The End of Books — Or Books Without End?: Reading Interactive Narratives