Posts Tagged ‘community’

Nodes on my nexus

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

As I have been re-reading my lifestream I have really begun to realise how many different forms of communication I employ to reach out to those around. this may be a ‘new’ technological form of communication, like Twitter or Facebook, or a more physical method like face to face or by telephone. Also, when I began playing playing with Prezi in order to use it for my final assessment, I hit on the idea of creating a virtual form of my nexus. A nexus is a series of connected forms – of which I am the centre (as it is my nexus!). The people I know are nodes on that nexus. Then I thought about the common methods that I use to communicate with my nodes… and it simply grew from there. I have stopped at a relatively early stage because I can see that I could continue adding nodes indefinitely, but it was interesting to see in a graphical form.

This is my very own little community and I live right in the middle!

Some of you will see yourselves on it, but not everyone would fit so please do not be offended if you are not there. I really should be getting on with my assignment instead!

You can view my nexus here

There is no pathway – just feel free to wander!

Twitter

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Now I was not the greatest fan of twitter before beginning this course, because I listened to the hype and decided that it was definitely not for me. I love Stephen Fry – but I am not really interested in what he had for breakfast or that it is raining in LA. So trying to ‘get in the spirit’ in the context of this course has taken some time.  However, with the help of my colleagues and websites like The Complete Guide to Twitter I really feel that I am getting somewhere. It is not simply a social tool where we can complain about how much work we have to do, it is also a great source of links that I would have otherwise have missed. My colleagues are not shy in sharing these, and they have been incredibly helpful as well as making me feel that I really am part of a class. So long live Twitter!

A rape in cyberspace; Mr Bungle and LambdaMOO

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

During my reading of Bell & Community & Cyberculture, I read about the strange case involving LambdaMOO (an online dungeon) and a cyber perpetrator by the name of Mr Bungle, who, with an online voodoo doll and a piece of programming code, could take over the identities of other players and force them to perform offensive acts.

After some further investigation into this strange story I found that several users posted on the in game MOO mailing list about the emotional trauma caused by Mr Bungle’s actions. One user whose avatar was a victim, called his voodoo doll activities “a breach of civility” while, in real life, “post-traumatic tears were streaming down her face”. This made me question how deeply these people related to their online identites.

I once had my car stolen (bare with me because there is a point…) and after it was missing for a few hours it was located and returned by the police. Now I had really loved that car, but once I got it back it just wasn’t the same and a few months later we parted company. Later I was recounting the story to a male friend and his response was ‘ having you car stolen is a bit liked being raped’. Bless him – he was serious!

So my car was stolen and my love affair with it was over, but I had not been physically violated. There was no comparison between my experience and a real rape. Just like I feel that there is no comparison between what Mr Bungle did and an attack in the real world. What did suprise me was the very emotional response by the people who’s avatars where ‘attacked’. It seemed exteme. However, if we consider the power of this community, as the possibility that it has become a replacement for a ‘real life’ community, then this becomes more understandable.

“community has become a ‘lost object’, nostalgized and looked-for (or longed-for) in cyberspace” Bell, Community & Cyberculture pg 105

If this is the case, and these people are searching for utopia in cyberspace that they are missing in real life, then an attack of this nature could be incredibly disruptive. When I visit online worlds it is ‘just a game’ – if I get pwned (throughly beaten) it is not a big issue. However, my approach to cyberspace could be considered different to many.

“virtual culture is a cultural retreat from the world (Robins CR:91)” Bell, Community & Cyberculture pg 105

The next question is ‘is this healthy?’

My choice of community for the research project

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Well I have chosen my community and sent off an email to check that the administrator of the website would not mind be included in my research. I thought about taking what was traditionally a small rural/community activity and seeing how it translated into the digital age.

The virtual community I have chosen is Quilting and the part of that community I have initially chosen to focus on is Quilting Gallery. This site has a blog, a chat area and guest speakers. I also plan to bring in some of the blogs that exist around this website to give a full picture of this traditional craft has grown.

“Craft seems to have grown as crafters have gained a voice online and gone from being eccentric individuals to a supportive and economically strong community so I think it could be really interesting to see how one specific traditional craft exists online.” Nicola Osbourne – MSc discussion forum 26th October

Quilting began as a utilitarian exercise to use old fabric scraps to keep people warm in winter and dates back to Egyptian time, but grew into a community pastime that encouraged groups of women to get together and share their stories as well as their skills. Useful items became things of beauty and enabled women of all ages to support each other through difficult times.

As a recent convert to quilting I have only just discovered that this small rural and often home based activity has become an international community. I think this could be interesting…