Assignment 1 – Annotated Bibliography
Athos Sirianos s3656836
I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration – https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/student-support/equitable-learning-services
Blog Reflections:
Week 1 – Blogs
https://www.mediafactory.org.au/athos-sirianos/2018/07/18/identity-crisis-instagram-and-real-life/
Week 2 – Affordances
https://www.mediafactory.org.au/athos-sirianos/2018/07/24/the-etiquette-and-culture-of-instagram/
Week 3 – Networks
https://www.mediafactory.org.au/athos-sirianos/2018/08/04/21/
Week 4 – Social Media
https://www.mediafactory.org.au/athos-sirianos/2018/08/08/31/
Selected Text 1 – Blogging
Miles, Adrian. “Blogs in Media Education: A Beginning.” Australian Screen Ed 41 (2006): 66-9 Print.
The article explores how the affordances of blogging and online media resolve the constraints of print literacy. Adrian Miles contends online platforms have replaced traditional methods of teaching and interaction through the ability to express views publicly to a wider audience. Miles expresses this contention through comparing the dichotomy between traditional journal entries and contemporary blog posting. Miles shows how physical constraints in written journal entries, such as active interaction between content producers becomes an affordance online as well as how online platforms have allowed for consumers to become producers.
The article relates to the affordances of Instagram by explaining how the most relevant and recent entries appear first. Each blog post contains a date or time stamp as well as the author’s identification, much like the dynamic of the Instagram newsfeed. In addition, one of the affordances of blogs mentioned is how each post is a public document and published with the view it will be consumed by an audience. This correlates to Instagram with users being incentivised by gaining approval by their followers to publish and share photos.Miles links this to the amalgamation of an online identity which influences the content authored on Instagram. Miles states producers having the knowledge what they post reflect their online identity adds an element of caution to the process. This view relates to how many Instagram users add filters to images and follow certain trends, maintaining a certain caution to appease followers. Likewise, Miles refers to the comment function on posts as one of the key differences between journal and blog posts. Where this is a physical constraint in books, Instagram users author and publish content with the incentive of it generating interest and public comments.
The ability to include keywords in posts, which on Instagram is achieved through hashtags, creates a link to a greater category whereby clicking it accesses posts containing the same hashtag. Similarly, Miles explores the linking of different profiles which can also be achieved on Instagram through users tagging other profiles in posts or in the comments section. Miles is accurate in his discussion of how network literacy continues to evolve. The article contends network or post-print literacy has been influenced by print literacy but continues to evolve through different platforms highlighting the significance of different functions. Instagram has contributed to the evolution of network literacy by promoting filtered images to a degree whereby adding filters becomes part of the publishing process. Miles explores in great detail how blog posts from an academic perspective allows users to learn and be influenced by other posts to then produce their own content. While Miles’ explanation of how blog posts can be integrated into the learning curriculum did not relate to the prompt, the view users are capable to access other profiles and learn from them does relate as users are able to access and learn off other profiles. This supports Miles’ view that content published online can be widely viewed and allows consumers to grasp elements and utilise this when producing their own content. This has a distinct relation to Instagram, whereby having access to other profiles Instagram users identify what type of posts generate the most interest and thus utilise this knowledge when publishing content.
Selected Text 2 – Social Media
Hinton, Sam, and Larissa Hjorth. Understanding Social Media. Sage Publications, London 2013. (pp. 1-31)
This article explores the relationship between social media networks and its users. Sam Hinton and Larissa Hjorth convey the different schools of thought in relation to social media and the internet. This being whether the internet empowers users or exacerbates control. The article concludes the internet is neither empowering nor controlling but at times a combination of both, depending on its utilisation. The presentation of this discussion is divided chronologically based on the internet’s history and the accuracy of the views expressed are strengthened by the integration of Windy Chun’s expert opinion.
The reading suggests increasing participation rates on the internet has blurred boundaries between the user’s professional and personal identities. While the article fails to directly mention social media or Instagram, it maintains relevant towards the prompt in it’s discussion of Web 2.0 and its impact on Internet users. The article contends there has seen a significant shift in attitude towards the internet following the dotcom crash and the launch of Web 2.0. This has, according to article, resulted businesses post dotcom crash commercialising the internet and by actively engaging with customers acquired large amounts of success. The article explains the transition into Web 2.0 as allowing users to utilise the internet as both consumers and producers which is something Web 1.0 did not provide. While the article’s explanation of the dotcom crash has no correlation with the prompt, the expansion of Web 2.0 relates to the affordances of Instagram.
The article states higher participation rates came as a result of Web 2.0 which has seen more content producers and users being able to publicly and, in some cases, anonymously express criticism. Such susceptibility to criticism can be linked towards the high usage of filters on Instagram and the reluctance to upload photos challenging the platform’s perceived etiquette. The article also suggests Web 2.0 has altered the demographics of the internet and in doing so has increased participation rates. In expanding on Web 2.0 the article compares the affordances of television and the internet in contemporary times. It accurately claims the internet, much like social media, operates through a two-way communication channel by actively involving and engaging with users. The article foregrounds this as what makes users feel in control and thus free while online.
The counter argument of freedom only being achieved through submission to control is also surfaced through citing Wendy Chun’s book. This is discussion is relevant to Instagram to an extent as it affords users to create multiple accounts for different audiences which would create, as the article would suggest, both a sense of empowerment and submission to control. The user feels empowered controlling what their audience sees but simultaneously feels limited by what they can upload on each account based on fears of a decline in popularity.
Selected Text 3 – Affordances
Norman, D 1999, Affordance, conventions and design (Part 2), Nielsen Norman
Group, viewed August 2018 , http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/affordance_conv.html
Donald Norman reviews and evaluates the views expressed in his text The Design of Everyday Things. In the article Norman expands on the concept of perceived affordances and how he believes these are often mistaken for real affordances. Norman bases his definition of affordances off J.J Gibson, an accurate definition given Gibson’s background, and in doing so foregrounds the dichotomy between affordances and perceived affordances. In addition, Norman proposes cultural conventions are the most significant aspect of a user’s interaction with an object in his evaluation of the multiple types of constraints. Norman conveys his message strongly by dividing his points into subheadings with each of his points drawing to his contention.
Norman critiques his text by suggesting the use of the term affordances is incorrect and instead should be replaced by perceived affordances. Norman defines affordances as the relationship between an actor and an object, suggesting affordances only exist in physical objects and applications being driven by cultural conventions or perceived affordances. Norman expresses the view perceived affordances are named as such because users mistake their interaction with these as meaningful. The discussion around real affordances in this article has little correlation between how the affordances of Instagram influence the authoring and distribution of images, although Norman’s description of perceived affordances does. Given Instagram is intangible it would only have perceived affordances and cultural conventions which influences the behaviour of users, according to Norman’s definition. According to Norman’s views while the Instagram app only contains perceived affordances, the device to which the application is utilised whether it would be phone or a tablet has affordances.
The most relevant aspects of the article towards the prompt lie in Norman’s discussion of constraints and conventions. Norman’s discussion of physical constraints bears little relevance to the prompt due to his theory physical constraints only exist in tangible objects. Norman’s explanation of logical constraints can be related to one’s utilisation of Instagram, through the use of reasoning to determine alternatives. Understanding Instagram newsfeeds are vertically displayed and require scrolling is an example of a logical constraint, as well as knowing the most recent content is displayed higher on the feed. Logical constraints as Norman mentions are related to the fundamental design of an object, allowing users to understand what actions are required to achieve a desired outcome. In relation to the distribution of Instagram, users understand their camera roll is connected to the app which enables users to publish images regularly.
Further, Norman’s elaboration of cultural constraints bears significant relevance to the prompt. Norman states cultural conventions and constraints have the biggest influence in dictating behaviour due to them being elements users learn. One of the cultural conventions Instagram users have learned is a higher rate of likes indicates heightened popularity. This influences the content publication as users identify what type of images attract attention and use this knowledge when authoring images. Norman’s emphasis on cultural conventions also has relevance to Instagram as the program’s users follow a certain etiquette within the perceived boundaries.