ASSIGNMENT 1 | ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Assignment 1 – Annotated Bibliography
Name: Nhu Nguyen s3658126

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

 

 

Annotated Bibliography

 

Selected Text 1 — Networks (word count 505)

Miles, A (2007), ‘Network Literacy: The New Path to Knowledge’, Screen Education, vol. 45, pp. 201-208.

This chapter explores the phrase that the author has dubbed network literacy. The chapter begins with an example of print literacy—where the participant of the information understands the implications of what it means to be the participant. The author then goes on to further explain book knowledge with the example of a student called Penny, and explores the exemplified student’s endeavours. The text then explores the culture of print, acknowledging that to understand network literacy, readers must first understand the original print literacy before moving forwards. The author goes on to explain that being network literate is not equal to being computer literate, as being network literate is determined by the ability to understand that works published on the Internet is available to the audience, and also understanding those consequences. The text then proceeds to provide examples of being network literate, and also applying the network’s connectivity through their own anecdotes. The author then goes on to explore RSS and tags, which allow user generated content to be found by an audience. The text then weaves the provided information together to further explore the connectivity of networks, and illustrate that network literacy is more than having the knowledge—it is about applying the knowledge. The author concludes by providing an example of network literacy that solidifies the information and examples that they have explored through the chapter.

This chapter is relevant as it provides the knowledge and helps presents an understanding of what network literacy is, and why it is important for users to be network literate. In the context of the course prompt and Instagram, being network literate means understanding that the images posted and interactions made to a post are available to a audience that can be traced and followed. Though the text is published in 2007, the content itself is still applicable to circumstances in 2018. It can even be argued that being network literate is important now more than in any other time, as the connectivity and omniscient presence of technology and Internet can destabilise a sociopolitical environment.

While the text is useful in that it uses anecdotes and examples that are easy to follow, the subheadings can cause confusion. The first heading indicates network literacy, but the author then goes on to explain what they call print literacy. In the closing of that section, the author even signposts towards network literacy, yet, the second subheading explores book knowledge, which implies print literacy under a different terminology. While the example of Penny the student is useful in understanding the terms that the author seeks to define, the examples are often longrunning and unnecessary, especially when there is one page dedicated to exploring Penny before the author applies this context to the required knowledge. The provided definition of network literacy would have benefitted from appearing at the start of the author’s discussion of network literacy, as it would have allowed the readers the basic knowledge of the term so that the readers could contextualise the information as they continued reading through the examples.

 

Selected Text 2 — Affordances (word count 503)

Norman, D 1999, Affordance, Conventions and Design (Part 2), Nielson Norman Group, viewed 3 August 2018, <https://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/affordance_conv.html>.

This essay investigates the terms affordance and conventions in relation to design. The text opens with a definition of the word affordance, declaring that affordances are about relationships. The text also provides a brief introduction to the author and their expertise in psychology, which deftly alludes to the idea that the author understands and knows how society functions through studying people and their behaviours. Thus, the author presents themselves as an expert in their area of understanding design and how people interact with it. The author then highlights the importance of the appearance in providing critical clues so that people can deduce how to utilise a device (often unfamiliar) through its design. The author then clarifies that its underlying conceptual model determines the device’s successful design. The text then goes on to investigate the uses of perceived affordances in regards to affordances, as the author has decided to prioritise perceived affordance over affordance. The text then goes into an in depth example of perceived affordances to detail the differences the two terms, and further explores constraints and conventions with more examples. The author details the different kinds of constraints; physical constraints, which the author claims is closely related to real affordances; logical constraints; which the author says uses reasoning to determine the alternatives; and cultural constraints; where the author states are conventions shared by a cultural group. The text then goes on to explain that a convention is a constraint that prohibits some activities and encourage others. The author then goes on to say that a convention is a cultural constraint that has evolved over time through a community of practice. The text then provides a concluding summary in which the author reapplies the terms the text has previously covered with real world examples. The author then reminds the readers to understand the differences between affordances and perceived affordances, and affordances with conventions.

This essay is highly relevant as it provides the definition to which the course’s prompt can be contextualised—how do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network? The essay readily outlines and explores the definitions of affordances and perceived affordances which allows a greater understanding of the question that underlies the course. The structure of the essay itself allows for easy reading and access, as it is divided into sub-headings and each concluding paragraph signposts into the proceeding terminology.

While the provided information and definitions are helpful, the author has also previously claimed that conventions can evolve over time through a community of practice. Written in 1999, it has been nineteen years since the publication of this essay, and the author’s references are even further outdated. Within these nineteen years since publication, society has evolved, and thus, new conventions has surely evolved over time. Definitions are subject to change within different cultures and often require updating, so with a new generation that succeeds the 1990s, what the author dictates are affordances, perceived affordances, and conventions can also evolve with society.

 

Selected Text 3 — Social Media (word count 533)

Siapera, E 2013, Understanding New Media, SAGE Publications Ltd, London.

This text explores the definition of new media by presenting various concepts and thoughts surrounding the relationship between technology, (new) media, and society. The text begins by introducing new media and its importance to society. The author then highlights that studying media provides an insight into understanding society as a whole. The text then proceeds to summarise the different modes of media—online, digital, and new media itself. The author understands digital media as information or data that is encoded in numbers, primarily exemplified by the binary code. The text determines that online media prioritises the element of connectivity, and goes on to propose that this increase of connectivity shifts the focus to the quality and degree of connections between technology. Through this comparison and exploration of the different terms, the text then provides that new media is identified and defined through its evolving nature. The text then asks why technology and media is important to society, and explores four thinkers that explore this question. The author begins with Marshall McLuhan, then continues into Friedrich Kittler, Bernard Stiegler, and concludes with Manuel Castells. The author recounts each scholar’s thought in a way that demonstrates their various positions on technology and its relationship with society and humanity. The text concludes by reconciling the four arguments to determine that each scholars’ thoughts have their strengths, and that the importance of technology’s relationship with humanity is found between human agents and technological artefacts. The author then goes on to explain that technology may also be changed by shifts in economy and culture, and that this relationship is termed mediation; which the author defines as the interaction between media and aspects of life.

As the author presents the four scholars’ arguments through the text, they also compose themselves in a neutral manner. This allows the author to assert their knowledge and information of new media without a positional bias. Thus, the author is able to fairly summarise and criticise each of the scholars’ thoughts without jeopardising the readers’ faith in both the text and author. Thus, it is noted the author does not wish to inject their own opinion into the text, but merely provide the readers enough information that the readers themselves can come about and independently conduct their own conclusion and stance about media. The author also mentions and draws upon uses of media throughout the history, as well as the implications of a technology saturated society. The text also uses and cites other authors to further speculate and ruminate upon the main four arguments that they present.

The text is helpful in its ability to provide an explanation and differentiation of new media, as well as investigating the importance of studying media. The text helps to provide information that allows the readers to contextualise the information for their own uses. While the author begins with McLuhan’s slightly dated perspective of technology and humanity, they also conclude by asking questions that lead the discussion into the next scholar, which contains a more updated approach to technology and humanity. As the author cites the different scholars, the arguments transition to a more progressive perspective which allows the author to further explore contemporary media.

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