User talk:MaryCastoridae56

=Wiki Exercise Portfolio= This is the Wiki Exercise Portfolio of MaryCastoridae56. Please feel free to comment or peer review my work in the appropriate sections. Thank you.

Online Visibility in the Always On Culture
With being always on and the convergence of media, in this digital age one has endless accounts on countless websites and smartphone applications. Our virtual visibility grows as we share voluntarily, and sometimes with reluctance, an increasing amount of information online about ourselves. This increase can make it difficult to not only keep track of information but also to stay in control of who has access to it.

The contemporary media landscape can be described as an always on culture (boyd, 2012, p. 71). As humans are inherently social, digital technology gives us the opportunity to be networked at all times (boyd, 2012, pp. 71-73). Therefore, in order to stay in touch with people, we need to be visible online. This creates a second life in the virtual world (Turkle, 2011, p. 153). The number of platforms that I use is ever growing. Some, I engage with in my leisure time. Others, I am required to sign up to be contactable professionally, such as university associated platforms. Occasionally I have to create accounts and with that share information involuntarily, because the platform is a prerequisite for something I need, such as Facebook to connect to friends.

With the growing number of accounts, the information available online increases and protection of privacy becomes of high importance (Light & Cassidy, 2014, p. 1175). Thus, for me personally I separate my visibility into association with professionalism and leisure. In order to minimise the information that is freely accessible, i.e. via Google, in connection with my full name I use nicknames for accounts like Twitter. Furthermore, on these public platforms, I am hesitant about sharing pictures that include my face and any other information that would make myself easily identifiable to strangers. Yet, on applications like instant messengers I sometimes engage in deeply personal interactions.

Thus, it is not unavoidable to share private information as some accounts, i.e. Amazon, have the requirement for people to be themselves (Lovink, 2011, p. 13). This information might not be publicly accessible, but through dataveillance it is questionable whether the ownership of the shared content still remains in my possession (Bunz & Meikle, 2018, p. 31). Additionally, dataveillance relates to media convergence. As information flows across various platforms, media content gets increasingly connected. (Jenkins, 2006, p. 2). Data gets spread across online networks (Bunz & Meikle, 2018, p. 31), as big media companies gain more influence (Jenkins, 2006, p. 11), and virtual visibility increases.

Ultimately, with the convergence of media and always on culture it is nearly impossible to be invisible online. Some accounts are professional requirements, while others demand highly personal information. Using nicknames, or not sharing photographs of oneself is a way to be more private. However, with dataveillance the control of one’s own information is minimal.

Character count: 2,991

Bibliography

boyd, d. (2012). Participating in the always-on lifestyle. In M. Mandiberg (Ed.), The social media reader (pp. 71-76). New York: New York University Press.

Bunz, M., & Meikle, G. (2018). The internet of things. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. London: New York University Press.

Light, B., & Cassidy, E. (2014). Strategies for the suspension and prevention of connection: Rendering disconnection as socioeconomic lubricant with Facebook. New Media & Society, 16(7), 1169 –1184-1184. Doi: 10.1177/1461444814544002

Lovink, G. (2011). Networks without a cause: A critique if social media. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Turkle, S. (2011). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York: Basic Books.

MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 14:46, 1 March 2018 (UTC)

Comments
Hi Mary, unsure if you are getting this, just trying to get used to it as I've never had wikipedia before. How are you find it? I found your first assignment very interesting. I like the way you have already started to think about your topic for the collaborative essay. You have linked convergence in very well; the sources definitely help you to do so! (MTxPrincipessa18)

Thank you for commenting on my first Wiki Exercise. This assignment was quite fun as I very much enjoyed testing out the Wiki-MarkUp. How are you liking Wikibooks? MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 14:24, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

You're welcome, yeah I'm finding it very interesting (to say the least). I've asked Greg to help me with the contents table at the top of your page, I'm a bit jealous of those who have it haha. MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 20:49, 6 March 2018 (UTC)

I am pleased to hear that you are finding it interesting too. As for the table of contents: for me it was really try and error figuring out how the Wiki-MarkUp works. Gladly Wikibooks and Wikipedia both have many really easy and straight forward help sections. If you go to the discussion page for the collaborative essay Talk:Digital Media & Culture: Collaborative Essay Collection 2018 you'll find quite a few hints, tips and links to resources on how to use and navigate the website. Hope this helps. Good luck with setting up and further editing your own pages and your contribution to the collaborative essay. MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 12:00, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

This was an interesting and in-depth read, Mary. I was impressed with your use of the wiki space and took inspiration to make my page have a better layout (mainly the comment feature). Your use of sources show a secure knowledge of the topic and your wiki layout looks as though you are confident with the software. I have to agree with your point about online privacy being basically non-existent. NCowling (discuss • contribs) 15:31, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

Thank you for commenting on my post. It is very nice to hear that you find my layout very good. I had quite much fun playing around with the Wiki MarkUp and was eager to make an organised page. That you got inspired to add a comment section to your page too, is probably the sort of collaborative work and experience that we all can learn from the most. In what ways do you, personally, think that online privacy is non-existent? MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 16:52, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

Hi, MaryCastoridae. I visited your post as soon as I read your comment on mine, where you explained that we had a very similar take on how we feel comfortable being visible online. Your piece is very well written, especially as you have been able to quote many resources without making it too an academic and slow read. I would have been curious to know more about the platforms you make use of, as you seem keen to avoid mainstream ones that can affect your privacy; and I would have liked to know more about the user-generated content which constitutes your participation within them. Your post also made me think of what Jaron Lanier mainly focused on his book "You are not a Gadget: a Manifesto", a notion of active participation revolving around the conceptualization of users that contribute to the online environment with autonomously and creatively generated content. Do you think you could identify with a notion of active user articulated in these terms? And if so, what do you think you are getting back from sharing this creative content and what is the reason why you keep doing it? Do you think you are posting content completely in a free and unaffected way or were you able to notice some broad or specific 'rules of conduct' over the type or quality of content that would get most attention in the platform? Great work on how you presented your discussion page and on this first entry, it is really interesting to have the possibility to talk with someone that is having a similar experience to mine about being present online. Absterloutely (discuss • contribs) 10:52, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Hi Absterloutely. Thank you for reading and commenting on my post after reading my comment on yours. I am glad that you enjoyed reading my take on Online Visibility in connection to Always-On Culture. As you said I am keen on avoiding mainstream social media platforms. However, in this day and age it seems impossible. On the one hand my friends often urge me to get the mainstream ones (i.e. Snapchat and with that Bitmoji too), on the other hand, especially with taking Digital Media and Culture I have grown even more curious about connectivity and the internet of things. So, I often sign up, just to see what the fuss is all about. However, I always use an alias or nickname, never share pictures of my face and try to set the privacy settings to 'as private as it can get' (on the internet), i.e. turning off the location function. Thus, in a way I am no really avoiding the mainstream ones but evading (or trying to) their breach of privacy. Albeit, I hardly ever spend time on them but rather engage on Tumblr. I eagerly follow break downs and analyses of recent episodes of my favourite television shows or films. One of my guilty pleasures is probably fanfiction. The best website for that, I have found, is Archive of Our Own. But Tumblr usually takes up most of my time as I am fan of an ever-growing amount of films and shows. Additionally, despite being a mainstream platform, I also engage on Instagram. I share some of my photography but mostly food that I have cooked or baked, never any pictures of myself. I only use a nickname and wish I could in some way and form stop my Facebook and Instagram from linking up, because Instagram for me is part of my ‘anonymised’ fandom persona online, like Tumblr, and Facebook is a necessity to stay in touch with friends. I totally agree that my take can be linked to Lanier’s idea of active participation. I would definitely say that I am a creative participant and also get much out of it. For example, the food pictures I share on Instagram is a small substitution for sharing the cooked goods with family in friends, as I often only prepare meals for myself at uni. Engaging in conversations on Tumblr about films and television shows makes me understand and rethink my impressions of the texts. In a sense this also helps me with my studies as I am collectively contemplating and exchanging ideas with fellow fans. Both on Instagram and Tumblr the tagging system definitely helps to get higher engagement, so I tag my content. Furthermore, with Tumblr there are a few aspects that are no-goes in certain fandoms. If you were to engage with these ideas, there would most likely be a backlash. But so far none of my contributions seemed to be controversial or ‘against the mainstream of the fandom consensus’. I hope this answers your questions in a way. And I too agree that it is really nice to engage and have a conversation with someone who has a similar online presence. MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 12:00, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Hey Marie, just to let you (and your group) know, I put a tiny bit of information on my discussion page for the annotated bibliography!

Hi. Thank you for letting me know. I will definitely check the source out. MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 09:28, 8 March 2018 (UTC)

Exercise #2: Annotated Bibliography Exercise ii
Suler, J. (2005). The online disinhibition effect. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 2(2), 184-188. Doi: 10.1002/aps.42

In this article Suler explores the prerequisites of the online environment that influence people to express either benign or toxic disinhibition. He argues that the combination and interaction of different factors of the online ecosystem produce the reduction of repressive constraints compared to offline behaviour, resulting in varying levels of disinhibition. His research focusses on disassociation through anonymity and imagination, the possibilities of invisibility and asynchronicity that the internet provides, solipsistic introjection and the tendency of a peer like environment as well as the influence of differences in personality. The article is useful for the collaborative essay on Always-on Culture as it gives an insight into the factors that contribute and shape the mannerisms that people display online. One of the limitations of the article is that Suler does not test his ideas empirically. Albeit, Suler comes to the conclusion that offline experiences and personality ultimately determine the level of disinhibition. The article will not be the main resource for the essay but provides valuable supplementary information on online behavioural practices.

Word count: 188

Character count: 1321

MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 12:13, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

Exercise #3: Collaborative Research Exercise/ Peer Reviews
Hello, ,

it looks like you choose, for you annotated bibliography exercise, one of the sources I was close to pick myself. I find your entry extremely useful because of that, since I was going to read the same article and take into account to what extent was it going to fit into my own group research, which also focusses on the notion of 'Always-on' culture. Reading your annotated bibliography, what strikes me is that is seems that the article's author solely focusses on the negative impact online behaviour has on users. Is that correct, and if so, do you agree to some extent? In my opinion, I would find this point of view quite radical and therefore limiting while, on the other hand, I find its psychoanalytic approach really interesting. I shall definitely have a look at this article to see how it resonates with my own take on the topic we choose to elaborate on. Is your research going to include psychoanalytic analysis of online behaviours as well, or are you going to take a different angle for your argumentation? Since you correctly point out that the article lacks empirically grounded data as proof for its findings, I shall leave you a link to a paper that does present a lot as well as elaborating on quite similar views: its title is Psychoanalysis of Online Behavior and Cyber Conduct of Chatters in Chat Rooms and Messenger Environments, by Dr. Jatinderkumar R. Saini (2014).

I understand that this exercise was meant to be brief, but I would have found it interesting as well as showing more engagement to see if and how you would draw comparisons and/or contrasts with other academic sources which relate to your chosen topic. Bearing this in mind, I realise that it can be difficult to find on-point resources that fit into this angle, given that it is such a recent and rapidly shifting field of study. All in all, I still find that it can be fascinating to further explore how the online environment and its inherent social norms affect users' behaviour not only when they are connected, but especially as these dynamics can have an impact in their real life behaviour too as Always-on culture studies strives to investigate. Do you think you are experiencing the same type of disinhibition in your online presence, and do you find that your behaviour in online communities can be verified through this article?

Everything considered, you presented a well-written and balanced annotated bibliography, which proves to be a useful and thought-provoking entry for your peers and a compelling encouragement to look further into this specific area of studies. Absterloutely (discuss • contribs) 20:18, 13 March 2018 (UTC)

Hi Absterloutely! Thank you for commenting on my annotated bibliography and finding my choice of article interesting. It is reassuring that someone who is also researching Always-on Culture is interested in the same article. With the ever growing amount of academic sources on topics surrounding digital media and culture it is easy to get lost and to fall off the track of one’s primary research topic. However, I personally think that we live in an ubiquitous always-on environment, so most research into digital media can be related back to being always-on. Would you agree with this?

Yet, I have chosen to focus my research on disconnectivity as a negative aspect or ‘way out of’ the Always-on Culture. I was wondering if you came across some sources that might be connectable to disconnectivity in your own research? I personally found McChesney’s book that draws heavy connections between capitalism and the current digital age very interesting. He even makes suggestions how we could make the internet a safer and freer place. (If you are interested in his book it is accessible here: McChesney, R. W. (2013). Digital disconnect: How capitalism is turning the internet against democracy. New York: The New Press.) Additionally, I came across empirical research done by James studying digital natives and their interactions online. (Here is the full citation for this if you are interested: James, C. (2014). Disconnected: Youth, new media, and the ethics gap. London: MIT Press.) Maybe you can incorporate these into your own research. What aspect of Always-on Culture are you focussing on?

To now answer your questions: as summarised in my annotation Suler mainly focusses on behaviours online that have negative connotation compared to how someone might behave in their day to day life. Albeit, he mentions that there might also be a benign disinhibition effect. I do partly agree with him that many conceal their real characteristics online to spread hate and misuse the internet’s functionalities. Yet, in my day to day interactions and in online communities I have also encountered many positive behaviours. One of the most powerful ones is probably GISHWHES (Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen). You are placed in teams with the group members usually consisting of strangers from all over the world. They are only identifiable by their username and country. Due to the internationality of the competition there is a great deal of asynchronous interaction. The biggest aim of GISHWHES is to spread kindness, creativity and encourage peer-interactions. Not knowing much about ones team mates (like their status or rank) makes for a much better team, because you are always surprised what you can achieve in the end. Yes, GISHWHES does not cover all of Suler’s aspects of online disinhibition, but quite many and it is a great example for benign rather than toxic behaviour.

Thus, my participation in GISHWHES definitely showed some sort of disinhibition, albeit creating positive rather than negative impact on my and other people's lives. However, I do see the tendencies that Suler describes in my own life too, especially when it comes to instant messengers. Since I am an international student much of my interactions with close friends and family rely on digital media. Thus, it is easy to start deeply personal and meaningful conversation through instant messages that ultimately end up in misunderstandings, because it is too difficult to get the general tone that messages have or assume how someone might react. I would say that is, if a mild, a form of disinhibition. How about yourself? Have you ever experienced disinhibition?

Although the psychological aspects of online behaviour is very interesting I will most likely not focus much on it in my research. This is because I see disconnectivity as a rather political stand point to counter Always-on Culture. That being said psychological factors always come into play too. Nevertheless, thank you very much for leaving the reference to Saini’s article. I will definitely give it a read and consider it for my research. I agree that it is difficult to find sources that completely match up with ones topic of study. Yet I think that Suler’s piece will give some psychological insight into why people might take a political counterpoint to ubiquitous online connectivity.

Lastly, the more I read up on Always-on Culture the more I am wondering if, since it is so ubiquitous, we might have to start separating our always-online lives into different categories. This is because, since everything we do can be related back to online presence, we cannot ever be not-online but rather have different levels of ‘onlineness’. How do you feel about this?

Thank you again for your engagement with my post. How are you finding the Wiki environment so far? Is there anything you learnt from your peers or from your own engagement with the WikiMarkUp that you found particularly useful?

I am looking forward to your answers. MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 12:06, 15 March 2018 (UTC) Hi, I just now noticed that you mentioned me here. That might give you an idea about how bad I am in keeping up with being consistent in my online presence.

Thank you for sharing the links to those academic sources, I think that especially the second one might be fruitful to look into for my research, as I think that digital natives are most likely to actively participate and engage within the platform of YouTube, on which we are focussing in relation to the concept of Always-on culture. The first one you mentioned sounds interesting as well, even though not directly related to our topic, because I myself stumbled upon a research that discussed dynamics of power at work in the online environment which link back to a Marxist approach, as the one you suggested seem to do - this is what I get from the title at least, I shall look further into it soon. It is not very clear to me what you mean about the negative aspect of disconne3ctivity: would you mind elaborating on that? My assumption is that you are going to explore some negative backlashes the notion of Always on seem to imply. I also think that approaching the topic through a political discourse might be a very interesting reading, so I am looking forward to your contribution to your group's collaborative essay. I definitely think that engaging in online platforms entails some sort of disinhibition I myself experienced, more in relation with the type of content I uploaded and the easiness I experienced in conversations with other users about it - it often happens that someone asks me to explain the intended meaning behind a drawing I post and I find it easier to try and explaining it on these platforms, rather than when someone asks me to talk about them in person. I think this is linked to the fact that our online behaviour is more easily managed than the one we might have in real life - what we type can always be altered, updated or deleted, and since it seldom happens in real time one is allowed to elaborate an exhaustive and thought-through answer, as we are doing here on Wikibooks. That said, you are very quick in your replies! To be fair, I think that my own experience of feeling disinhibited online is limited to this extent, since it is usual for me to think very carefully before uploading anything, even a simple tweet I might start typing into an account where I am not even using my first name: most of the times, I just think to myself: do I really need to share this? What is its relevance? I think that such an attitude reflects my interest for online content that presents a certain degree of originality, reflections, creativity, or simply that I find relevant.

Apart from those articles which I already mentioned to you, I have not yet come across content that discussed or implied arguments about your topic of choice, but I shall let you know in case I find anything that could be useful for you and your group.

I completely agree with you when you say that there is not a clear distinction to be detected between being connected and disconnected. I think that in our present time and society, being disconnected is rather something that happens if we force ourselves to turn off our networked devices, and that does not naturally occur for most of us, I believe, but it is a rather intentional reaction to the different kind of pressures that being always online, traceable and somehow perceived as available implies, as dana boyd suggests in her works, and it is certainly true for me. Sometimes I just ignore emails and missed calls, and I find it irritating when others try to pressure me to have an instantaneous reaction or reply, while I might need to take all those information into account at my own pace. When that does not work, I have to turn off the Wi-Fi and even my phone, and that is not something that has been bothering me longer than a couple of years - this give us an idea of how rapidly technology is evolving and therefore affecting our everyday lives to the core.

For what concerns the Wiki environment, I think I am mostly engaging in discussion with you and the other members of my own group, and it is proving to be a quite useful platform for this kind of interactions. It was a bit confusing at the beginning to deal with its peculiar MarkUp, but one simply has to look at other users' pages or on the online guide page, so even for a digital illiterate like me it is not too bad.

Absterloutely (discuss • contribs) 18:21, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

Hey. No worries. Wikibooks and its notifications can be a bit overwhelming at times. I would suggest turning on e-mail notification for mentions. I found this very helpful to keep track of direct replies compared to just generic changes or updates to the pages that are on my watchlist.

I am glad that you find my suggested reading useful. Furthermore, I too have seen a couple of other sources that discuss the current always-on culture through the lens of Marxism. The McChesney piece indeed mostly focusses on this but, and I found this a very interesting and hands on approach, is that he suggesting changes in polices that he sees would make the current online landscape more democratic and less dictated by big dataveilling monopolies.

To quickly break down our essay for you we will focus on two positive aspects that always-on culture has (the Internet of Things and Connectivity), thus improving people’s quality of life. And on two negative aspects (disconnectivity and dataveillance) that result in people getting left out and less privacy. Additionally, the taking political views into consideration will help to show that disconnectivity is or can be a form of activism.

I definitely agree with you that sometimes the online text based forms of conversations can make it easier to bring points across. This is largely due to you being able to ‘put the conversation on pause’, as in take your time to reply and think about wording and such things. Additionally, although I am only recently increasingly using them, since my friends have started using them too, emojis and GIF reactions might be able to better visualise ones feelings. I have had the same experiences as you where I stopped and wondered if people would actually care what I am posting or if it is actually necessary to post. But I also follow friends on Twitter so they will often reply. Other times it is just a way to ‘get it out of the system’. Albeit, it is weird how these days we seem to be posting and sharing things into a void for no one but ourselves. Maybe it can be understood as a contemporary and digital way of diary keeping?

Relevance is a really difficult but interesting topic to think about. I think it is similar to the saying of ‘is this art or can I bin it?’. For me personally I think that if someone deems it important to share it has some relevance, as long as it is not hurtful or cruel.

I did not come across any new material (that could be relevant for you) either yet, but I too shall notify you if I do.

I to tend to force disconnection. I put my phone on silent when I do work or watch my favourite television shows and I always prioritise who I reply first. So if someone messages me I am only acquainted with it might take a while until I reply, meanwhile my brother might get a reply from me immediately. Do you have a similar system? With the steady increase of demand of connectivity I am really tempted to take a digital break over the summer. However, I might lose touch with my international friends.

I am mainly engaging with you and my group too, but I think the more I engage the more I get the hang of the MarkUp.

I am looking forward to your reply.

MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 13:02, 20 March 2018 (UTC) It looks like this whole notification thing just isn't happening for what concerns my account, but I am not onle to complain as I tend to feel a bit overwhelmed by all the notifications I am getting from the different platforms I engage within, personal email or university email systems and social media. Like you do, I find myself looking forward for the summer time as a period of disconnection from all this! Personally, I completely ignore notifications, text or phone calls that can be distract me from a task I am currently tending to; once I am done, I too prioritize to what I should direct my attention to. Usually, group chats are at the bottom of my list unless they are related to my job or some university projects, and I would firstly respond to friends or family members that require an answer as soon as possible. In spite of this, lately I realise how much time I spend on my phone as a diversion from waiting for a response from someone else. It is weird especially when compared to a real-time, face-to-face conversation when there might be a moment of pause. It will be very interesting to read your take on such topic on your Collaborative Essay. I noticed that you managed to organize your references as well, do you have any tips on that? I am struggling with getting the hang of it. I totally get your point and agree with you when you say that online presence can be seen now also as a form of diary keeping. I especially noticed that thanks to my experience of Twitter: many users I follow have been using that social platform as such, and have complained when other users had made remarks about personal events or thoughts they shared there. I find it interesting and paradoxical, don't you? Users put up extremely personal content and assert that doing so is helpful for them, but then realise that they are also make themselves vulnerable to others' opinion, which should be a concept at the base of social networks. Some other users have even deleted their account as a result of that. I think this taps into the really complex topic of online ethics and behaviour, which would be extremely interesting to further explore. Absterloutely (discuss • contribs) 18:37, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

Hello !

Weird that the notifications are not working for you. Mine do, or maybe I have missed an entire sum of mentions by never getting notified. It is nice to see you getting back to be again nevertheless. And I agree you need to extract yourself from the distracting devices and once you get back to them you need to prioirite. I am glad that you enjoyed my part of the essay.

As for the references. I have uploaded a short guide on our discussion page in the Helpful tips section. It is very short. If you are looking for a longer version you should consult Wikipedia here. That is where I got my information from! Good luck with the referencing. It is so important but also takes so much time.

I agree that it is very paradox when people on the one hand share super personal and (arguably private, but what even is private these days?) things online and then get upset when people read them or even ‘worse’ comment. They do not just make themselves vulnerable to other but also to the pervasive surveillance capitalism. (If you want to read more about this I would suggest Zuboff: Zubhoff, S. (2015). Big other: Surveillance capitalism and the prospects of an information civilisation. Journal of Information Technology, 30(1), 75-89.).

I am looking forward to your answer. Good luck with your essay! MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 13:17, 29 March 2018 (UTC)

Archiveofourown! Oh boy, that is a blast from the past. I remember when I used to be crazy about Sherlock, Supernatural (I saw you mentioned GISHWISHES!) and Doctor Who and I'd be on that website all the time because I had seen every episode of them all and just wanted more. Also, I always felt like fanfiction writers were, for the most part, more skilled than the actual show writers? I don't know if I'm the only one who feels that way?

Anyway, I loved reading your annotated bibliography, it made me smile so much thinking about how much time I used to spend on those websites. Although I still love films now for some reason or another I don't find myself on those sites anymore. Although occasionally I'll look back on my old fanfictions I uploaded to Archive and laugh. Good times.

I find it extremely interesting that you admit that you choose not to post pictures of your face but yet share intimate details online through messenger. As someone with too many emotions, I too can relate to this. Although I will time to time post pictures of my face I have no problem with posting long detailed summaries of my thoughts and feelings online for everybody to see because I don't know how else to express them and by this point I've already finished writing about them in my journal.

What T.V shows and films do you enjoy? I'm interested!

My favourite film at the moment is Call Me By Your Name. Have you seen it? I loved it with my whole heart it was an EXPERIENCE AND A HALF. I don't watch as many TV programmes as I used to but I do enjoy watching Master of None from time to time! Also, last night I watched Mr. Roosevelt on Netflix and it was really amazing. It's directed and written by a woman also so that's always a good shout.

Let me know what you've been watching lately and what you're reading on ArchiveofourOwn!

You have a very lovely writing style with I enjoyed very much. Thank you for posting! I hope your collaborative essay is going well and you know what your doing with all of that jazz. I can't wait for Thursday to be here and gone and to relax knowing its in and submitted!

Also, I know I've said this before, but watch Call Me By Your Name if you've not seen it already. You can thank me later for introducing you to your new favorite film thank you.

Digitalmediafiend (discuss • contribs) 20:41, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

Hello and thank you for your comment. And a fellow (or at least previous) SuperWhoLockian!! So the obvious question: Who is your favourite Doctor? Will there ever be a new Sherlock episode? And who is your favourite Supernatural character? Also do you still watch? But yes Archieveofourown can provide you with so much more extra content, from often as you say, vastly talented authors. Some fanfictions build story worlds that go vastly beyond what is depicted on screen. This brings in Jenkins notion of participatory culture and how fans often contribute so much. With extremely well written content one could even consider bringing in the notion of Transmediality. What do you think? But the website is also awful for procrastination!

I am the same as you. I used to be on Twitter, Tumblr etc. all the time. And I also do still watch films and TV shows. But I think I just do not have the time to go onto Twitter and Tumblr that often anymore. Maybe it 9s because you have so much more to do when you are at university? Or maybe there are some other factors might come into play. Definitely something I should contemplate.

The dreaded question about favourite films and television shows, aka the killer question for a film student. I would say my go to answer is a tie between Back to the Future and Star Wars the Empire Strikes back and for television show Supernatural. But I enjoy so many and just have these as my go to answers so I do not have to go on a long and elaborative tangent about all of the films and shows I have enjoyed, for which reasons and in which contexts. How do you feel about this as a fellow film student?

I have not seen Call Me By Your Name yet, but it is on my watchlist (like many other films). And Mr Roosevelt sounds intriguing. Way too few women in the film business out there!!

The last film I watched in the cinema was Black Panther. How about you? And I also watched the Circle (it is on Netflix and super topical to the whole Digital Media and Culture course). I am currently finishing up the television show Grim, on the third season of American Horror Story and second season of Santa Clarita Diet. I watch Supernatural, Arrow, Blacklightning, Riverdale and iZombie on a weekly basis. I have yet to finish sense8 and Orphan Black. I just do not want the shows to be over. AND I am stuck half way through the second season of Wynonna Earp because it is not available on Netflix UK but on Netflix Germany. So yeah I am on so many shows that I do not have time to watch many films at the moment. I am also not reading anything that is not for university at the moment. How about yourself?

Thank you again for your comment. I am looking forward to your reply. Good luck to you and your team for your essay!

I still haven't seen Black Panther! I really want to see it though! I'm not a fan of Superhero films anymore but this one looks so new and fresh that I'm willing to give it a chance.

The last film I watched was "Very Good Girls" on Netflix! It wasn't too good but it was directed by a woman and I always appreciate that. I'm really into women who write and direct films because I find their stories to always be from new perspectives we haven't seen before and I think that is really intriguing. The last film I saw in cinemas was "Lady Bird"! It's directed by Greta Gerwig who I love with my whole heart- she's such an amazing woman. She was nominated for an Oscar this year and is only the fifth woman to be up for the Best Director Oscar and that is really unbelievable when there are so many hardworking women out there who have to work ten times harder to get their films produced than most men.

I enjoy Back to The Future! I've only seen it twice but my best friend in high school loved it and watched it all the time so I'd hear about it from her daily. I'm not the biggest Star Wars fan but I do enjoy the new ones to a certain extent (Also, Rose is fantastic and I will not have anybody saying otherwise).

My favourite doctor is a tie between Eccelson and Tennant. I love Tennents energy but Eccleson had such a somber and honest take on the character that I found completely charming. I stopped watching Doctor Who when Moffat started on his plight to ruin it for everybody. If it's not completely obvious though I love women and I will be watching when the new doctor comes in. I really hope it gets revitalized and can make me interested in it again because I do miss obsessing over it a little bit.

I think I stopped using Tumblr because of all the adverts that appeared all of a sudden. Also, even though I just turned 20 back in December I began to feel really old on it because the new generation were coming in and it felt really weird to me for some reason? Like I didn't really belong there anymore. I'm not sure.

I'm the opposite of you: I watch too many films that I don't really have time for TV Shows anymore. I watched a little bit of Riverdale because for some reason I thought Betty and Veronica were girlfriends? But it got real straight real fast and I was out of there. I did see that Cheryl came out on a recent episode though and that kind of makes me want to watch it again. The gayer it is the more interested I am lmao

The last TV show I properly watched was probably Stranger Things. I love Nancy Wheeler with my whole heart, she's such a good character. I'm also really interested in how her whole character arc seems to be based around her choices to become sexual and I find that really interesting as it is a trait which only female characters seem to ever be punished for and I really want to see where her character goes and how she is developed. I love female characters that have a really strong sense of self and while Nancy is still developing as a person she is becoming more and more confident in her personality and her independence and I think that is really beautiful. Have you seen Stranger Things? And if so, did you enjoy it?

Anyway, hope you're doing good! I eagerly await your reply.

Digitalmediafiend (discuss • contribs) 13:29, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

I really enjoyed Black Panther and it is a bit of a different take on what we are used from superhero movies. So I would definitely encourage you to go and see it (The MacRoberts are showing it from the 30th of March to the 1st of April, Student tickets are £5.50). I agree with you. Watching films that are written, directed and/or produced by women is really important to me too. I know you said you are not into superhero movies but did you watch Wonder Woman? It is directed by Patty Jenkins and I really enjoyed it. It is so sad that women have to work so much harder in the film industry to not only get their ideas for films approved but also to shoot and marked them. And even then they often still are not seen as worthy as the films by their male colleagues, as evident by the few women who have been nominated in the category of Best Director at the Oscars. I feel similar about Doctor Who. Ten is definitely my all-time favourite Doctor, but since Moffat took over it kind of lost its charm a bit. I am anticipating the new season eagerly though! A female doctor will be amazing!!! Oh yeah since Yahoo bought Tumblr it has been flooded with advertisement. It is quite interesting that you feel like you are getting to old for Tumblr. For me I always kind of assumes everyone was roughly the same age as I am. Which of course is really silly, but somehow I was always super surprised when people were younger or older than me.

I saw the hype about Betty and Veronica’s kiss too. But they are not. I do not know much about the original comics but I do know that Jugghead is asexual in them. So it is really annoying that the show was kind of straight washed, as I am the same as you: LGBT+ content makes me so much more interested in watching something. But Cheryl’s coming out was actually really sweet so I have high hopes for the remaining season.

Stranger Things is amazing! I love that show so much. When the second season came out I had to pace myself so much to not binge it within a day. Nancy Wheeler is a really strong female character. And I too cannot wait to follow her and the other characters on their future journeys.

Thank you for your fast reply. I am looking forward to yours! MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 10:21, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

I love watching films at the MacRobert! Theres so much leg room and the seats are so so comfortable. Also, I find the audience is usually a lot more respectful of their fellow audience members compared to my local cinema. At my local cinema so many people sit on their phones through films and talk. It's my number one source of anger in my life- especially when the tickets are so expensive! I don't understand why people would pay so much to attend a film they hardly even watch!

I did see Wonder Woman! I really loved it! Her character is so empathetic and kind yet still stands up for herself and the people who do not have a voice- Diana is a really beautiful character. Patty Jenkins is inspiring also! Have you seen 'Monster'? It's the film about Aileen Wuornos- an American Serial killer and the path she found herself on to get to that place in her life. That is also an LGBT film as Aileen has a girlfriend throughout the film but it is also very sad. (Every film that is about lesbians always seems to be sad for some reason). I fully believe women have to work at least 10 times harder than men to have their work respected. This year, for example, Greta Gerwig was only the 5th women to be nominated for the "best director" category in the whole 90 years the Oscars have been running. It is awful.

I'm looking to work in the film industry after university finishes and while women are still at a disadvantage to men I do feel like things are beginning to get better and I'm glad I'm in 2018 and not any earlier.

Also!! I'm running for president of the film making society today! You should join AirTV! Do you enjoy making films! You should come along next semester! We meet on Wednesdays at 7pm in W1!

I really wish they kept Jugghead asexual, that would have been really cool! We need way more representation on screen for sure.

I hope you are pleased with the extended deadline for the group essay and I await your reply!

Digitalmediafiend (discuss • contribs) 11:41, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

Hello

Yes I love watching films at the MacRoberts too. Although I must say the lack of a headrest is a bit annoying but the cheap student prices are amazing. I am surprised though that people are on their phones at your local cinema. I have noticed that a couple of times here in the UK too. People just seem to be unable to disconnect. Truly tethered to their devices as Turkle first suggested.

I have not seen Monster but you had me at LGBT! There is not a chance that it is on Netflix no? (The stereotypical sad/ awful lesbian/ queer women story arch – oh that is something that is so upsetting and I could go and rant about forever.)

Thank you for the invitation. I am actually part of the society just never seem to have any time to come. Too much going on, too little hours during the day. And did you win?

Well if we both enter the film industry, then we can maybe bring forward some change with better representation.

How is your collaborative essay going? Do yuou have a link to your page? Here is our collaborative essay on Always-on Culture.

I am looking forward to your reply. Good luck with all of your work. MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 13:25, 29 March 2018 (UTC)

MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 10:41, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Exercise #4: Collaborative Essay Reflective Account


Lindgren (2014, p. 612) states that Wikiepdia is the most successful online commons and peer production platform. This account shall reflect on the co-operative process of the collaborative essay on Wikibooks and the Wiki environment in general. In order to do so this essay will first define the type of platforms that Wiki*edia are, taking user visibility into consideration. Secondly, drawing from my own experience, the platforms’ ability to facilitate co-operation and community shall be assessed. Thirdly, the notion of digital commons will be analysed, which will lead to, lastly, the consideration whether Wiki*edia offer online emancipation possibilities.

Wikibooks is a sister project of Wikipedia and can be placed within the realms of participatory online culture (Fuchs, 2017, p. 318), with collaboration as a main aim (Meikle & Young, 2012, p. 20). It strives to produce and share public goods, i.e. knowledge, without claim to intellectual property (Lessig, 2004, p. 263). Through the possibility to track all changes with the contributions function, accessibility is created. This allows for each addition to be viewed as a meaningful engagement, thus participation matters (Shirky, 2011, p. 21) and a democratic process for learning is established (Banaji & Buckingham, 2013, p. xiii).

Wiki*edia, with their high user visibility, have great potential for collaborative research. The collective sharing and engaging with content, resources and other people’s ideas has the potential for collective intelligence (Lévy, 1997). The websites’ neutral stance (Fuchs, 2017, 319), allows all voices to be heard. In my own experience, through comments, suggestions and proofreading by many, rather than just by one, the essay was able to grow exponentially in breadth. As sources were recommended and followed up upon, new connections between arguments were drawn.

The knowledge sharing principle creates the potential for community (Shirky, 2011, p. 19). This is even further enhanced as the human interaction adds social value to the communications (Rheingold, 2002, p. 60). For myself, knowing that a human was at the other end, made me choose my words more wisely. People writing about similar topics would come back to discussion pages and interactions to check on others’ progress and asking for guidance. However, Lanier (2006, n.p.) points out that there is a general trend of collective participation to just assume that mistakes get corrected and with that improve the overall intelligence. I encountered this too, as I frequently left comments with suggestions and questions on groups’ discussion pages without getting constructive replies.

The open sharing of knowledge and resources demonstrates the notion of digital commons, defined as public, rather than private ownership (Berry, 2008, p. 89). Collaborations represent the notion of communally owned content, as provided knowledge is free to work with and edit. The possibility for everyone to contribute enables more diverse additions (Lessig, 2004, p. 9).

Having defined Wiki*edia platforms with regards to visibility, analysing the potential for collaborative research and community the notion of digital commons and online emancipation has become evident. As Wiki*edia strives for collective intelligence, sharing and interactions create a sense of community and choice. Knowledge is free to develop on and work with which makes Wiki*edia a great example of digital commons.

Character count: 3,455

Word count: 521

Bibliography

Banaji, S., & Buckingham, D. (2013). The civic web: Young people, the internet and civic participation. London: MIT Press.

Berry, D. (2008). Copy, rip, burn: The politics of copyleft and open source. London: Pluto Press.

Fuchs, C. (2017). Social media: A critical introduction (2nd ed.). London: Sage.

Lanier, J. (2006). DIGITAL MAOISM: The hazards of the new online collectivism. Retrieved 25/02, 2018.

Lessig, L. (2004). Free culture: The nature and future of creativity. London: Penguin Books.

Lévy, P. (1997). Collective intelligence: Mankind's emerging world in cyberspace. (R. Bononno Trans.). Cambridge, MA.: Perseus Books.

Lindgren, S. (2014). Crowdsourcing knowledge: Interdiscursive flows from Wikipedia into scholarly search. Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research, (6), 609-627.

Meikle, G., & Young, S. (2012). Media convergence: Networked digital media in everyday life. Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan.

Rheingold, H. (2002). Smart mobs: The next social revolution. n.p.: Basic Books.

Shirky, C. (2011). Cognitive surplus: Creativity and generosity in a connected age. London: Penguin.

MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 09:34, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

Comments
Hi ! This is a fantastic reflective piece complete with informed reading, discussion, and opinions. You clearly stated your short essay’s intentions and followed through accordingly, leading to a well summarised conclusion.

I agree with your point on wikibooks being useful for sharing relevant sources for the collaborative essay. During my experience with this exercise, I found a lot of sources that benefited my peers more than it did myself. Wikibooks allowed us to set up a page in which we could organise and separate ideas through different headings. By having these separate sections, relevant source material could be filtered and easily found by both my group and visitors. However, I also felt the platform was messy when it came to general discussion and conversations were harder to follow than they would be on a messaging platform app. I would be interested to hear how you found this with regards to discussion. I can understand your frustration with regards to comments. This is what I feel is the downside to Wikibooks, responses are not immediate and not all users were fully capable – for me, it took to the second assignment to discover how to respond to a comment. I felt terrible for all the comments that had left questions in order to open a discussion. A response two weeks later is never ideal.

In addition to this, I like your acknowledgement to the “human on the other side”. This project has changed the way I view information I find on Wikipedia (and other sister platforms) or other websites. I am now more wary and cautious about the reliability of the material than I was before. Have you found your perspective of online material has changed after the Wikibooks exercise?

In terms of constructive criticism, I feel Burnett and Marshall’s Web Theory: An Introduction (2003) would have been a useful contribution to your argument as they explore the different forms of communication online and through technology - if you have not already checked it out. Although, your argument is strong and concise so may have just added unnecessarily to your character count. However, for future reference, it is a very good book with critical discussion. Although written in 2003, I feel it brings an in-sight into how the web was viewed near the start of its creation and, surprisingly, still has relevant content.

Overall, throughout this project your use of Wikibooks is impressive. You incorporate other media (like your graph depicting collective intelligence) and keep each post on your discussion page looking professional and clean. Your informative comments bring in new ideas to explore and offer counter-perspectives. Do you think you will continue to use Wikibooks to contribute to wider projects now that this exercise is finished?

I look forward to reading your response (I realise I have asked a lot of questions in my reply – sorry about that).

139.153.75.86 (discuss) 16:43, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

^So sorry, turns out I was not logged in!! NCowling (discuss • contribs) 16:45, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello

Thank you for your comment on my wiki assignment and your positive feedback on my reflection and overall contribution to Wikibooks for this module.

My experience of organising the work within our group was similar. For uploading readings and notes, subheadings and sections made everything structured and easily identifiable and accessible. However, we too struggled with having discussion that, when read up on a later date, would be organised. We always used the reply to function but going back now there are so many comments, especially unorganised ones that even having been part of the discussions it is difficult for me to make sense of them.

As for comments and the reply to function: luckily this only happened to me once and I ended up seeing the mention a couple of days later, but for some people they would rarely get a notification when mentioned. Without that, especially when it is not on your own discussion page or the groups it is very unlikely that you will ever see the comment. I tried finding out the source of the problem but never did.

It is very interesting how your engagement with Wikibooks has changed your view and attitude towards Wikipedia. When I was much younger I was definitely like you and relied heavily on Wikipedia and took everything at face value. Well, still to this day, when I just do a quick Google search to i.e. get a definition for a term, Google usually comes up with the Wikipedia page about it first and the summaries are concise and definitely enough for an everyday purpose. But knowing the old mantra form even back at school ‘Wikipedia is no source’ I remember one of my teachers saying: “yes, you cannot cite Wikipedia, but just follow up on the citations and quite a few of those are actually academic resources.” So learning out to insert the references with the Wiki MarkUp was quite fun for me as I could in theory now not only make use of the references I find on Wikipedia but also insert my own references.

Thank you for your reading suggestion. I will definitely give it a read as it sounds really interesting and highly topical. I was actually struggling with the character count because the reflective account brought so many topics from the entire module together which made it difficult to narrow down to 3,000-3,500 characters.

I have definitely enjoyed learning the ways of the Wiki MarkUp and contributing to collective work, so I might look into other Wikibooks projects, although it might be more likely that I might be contributing to Wikipedia as it is more well known. Nevertheless, I will definitely keep my account. How about yourself?

Thank you for your comment. Good luck for any outstanding assignments and exam period! MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 09:54, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

Hi ! I think I will look into other projects too and see if there is anything I can contribute to now that I have a voice on this platform. Best of luck to you too for the rest of the year! NCowling (discuss • contribs) 17:22, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK: DISCUSSION, ENGAGEMENT, CONTRIBS

 * Engagement on discussion pages of this standard attain the following grade descriptor for contribs. Whereas not all of the elements here will be directly relevant to your particular response to the brief, this will give you a clearer idea of how the grade you have been given relates to the standards and quality expected of work at this level:
 * Outstanding. In addition to the criteria for 70%+, work at this standard demonstrates outstanding critical understanding of the exercise and is able to produce sophisticated lines of argument, and is highly original. Among other things, contributions will probably demonstrate a complex, critical understanding of the themes of the module. They will communicate very effectively, making excellent and creative use of the possibilities of the form (including formatting, links, as well as perhaps copyright-free videos and images, linked to from Wiki Commons), and may be written with some skill and flair. They will address the assignment tasks in a thoughtful and transparent way on the Discussion Pages. They will make insightful connections between original examples and relevant concepts, justifying decision-making with transparency. They will be informed by serious reading and reflection, are likely to demonstrate originality of thought, and will probably be rewarding and informative for the reader as well as for fellow researchers collaborating. The wiki markup formatting will be impeccable.

Students should be engaging at least once a day, for the duration of the project. The following points illustrate how this engagement is evaluated.


 * The evidence from your contribs shows that you engaged with the collaborative process from pretty much every single day that the project was live. There is plenty of evidence from your contribs that your engagement was sustained, meaningful and consistent throughout most of the project period. Not only were you engaging with your own group’s work, but you were also contributing to discussion with other groups, and in completely different themes – which suggests that you saw the value in the way that the book’s themes overlap significantly. In the round, these were considerable entries in terms of moving the project forward, and an appropriate level of engagement with the community is in evidence.

Evidence from contribs to both editing and discussion of content (i.e. volume and breadth of editorial activity as evidenced through ‘contribs’). These are primarily considered for quality rather than quantity, but as a broad guideline: o	Each item on a contribs list that are 3000+ characters are deemed “considerable” o	Each item on a contribs list that are 2000+ characters are deemed “significant” o	Each item on a contribs list that are 1000+ characters are deemed “substantial” o	Items on a contribs list that are <1000 characters are important, and are considered in the round when evaluating contribs as a whole because of their aggregate value


 * Several contribs registered as being under 1000 characters, with a mix of others that are “significant”, “substantial” and a significant proportion of contributions that could be regarded as “considerable” contribution to the project. This is sustained, dedicated engagement with the collaborative process. Absolutely outstanding work.

•	Engagement with and learning from the community on Discussion Pages o	Evidence of peer-assisted learning and collaboration o	Evidence of reading, sharing, and application of research to the essay o	Evidence of peer-review of others’ work


 * Again, very clear. You clearly pushed your arguments and encouraged others to comment/respond, helped others in their work, and there’s plenty of evidence of reading, application and discussion of ideas. You did your research with regards to the platform’s affordances, and shared what you learned in various discussions. Your contributions to the book pages and discussion pages clearly stand out. Excellent.

•	Reflexive, creative and well-managed use of Discussion Pages o	Clear delegation of tasks o	Clearly labelled sections and subsections o	Contributions are all signed


 * You were clearly collaborating on the discussion pages. Some of the organisation here is a little haphazard, but overall the discussion is easy to follow. You have also signed where necessary, so it’s easy to see where your contribs fit into the overall discussion.

•	Civility. Your conduct is a key component of any collaboration, especially in the context of an online knowledge-building community. Please respect others, as well as observe the rules for civility on wiki projects. All contribs are moderated.


 * You conducted yourself well. Good work!

GregXenon01 (discuss • contribs) 12:11, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

Instructor Feedback on Wiki Exercise Portfolio
Posts and comments on other people’s work, of this standard, roughly corresponds to the following grade descriptor. Depending on where your actual mark is in relation to the making criteria as outlined in the relevant documentation, it should give you an idea of strengths and weaknesses within the achieved grade band overall.

Excellent. Among other things, these entries will probably demonstrate a complex, critical understanding of the themes of the module. They will communicate very effectively, making excellent and creative use of the possibilities of the form (including links, as well as perhaps copyright-free videos and images, linked to from Wiki Commons), and may be written with some skill and flair. They will address the assignment tasks in a thoughtful way. They will make insightful connections between original examples and relevant concepts. They will be informed by serious reading and reflection, are likely to demonstrate originality of thought, and will probably be rewarding and informative for the reader. The wiki markup formatting will be impeccable.


 * This work is at the upper end of this grade band, so there isn’t much to say regarding advice on improving the work, however, perhaps making more use of the wiki functionality and markup would have gone a long way to improving fluidity and functionality of posts. Plenty of external and intersiki links embedded in your discussions.


 * Re: responses to other people’s posts – these are especially good. I like that you have framed some of your responses as questions to solicit discussion (this is, arguably, what discussion pages are all about!) and also that you have engaged in discussion in an open and critical way (that is to say, you've responded to what other people are saying and are contributing meaningfully to discussion - arguably the civic element of wiki that you ought to be thinking about, which you clearly are).

General:
 * Reading and research: All excellent – evidence of wide reading, research and engagement here.


 * Argument and analysis: well-articulated and well-supported argument; evidence of critical thinking (through taking a position in relation to key ideas from the module, and supporting this position); evidence of relational thinking (through making connections between key ideas from the module and wider literature, and supporting these connections); evidence of independent critical ability. Again excellent.


 * Presentation: good use of wiki markup and organisational skills.

GregXenon01 (discuss • contribs) 10:36, 9 May 2018 (UTC)