Discussion for Feb 16
For the reading this week I chose, randomly, 4 readings from the folder. One had the exclamation point, The Structure and Evolution of Blogspace. I also read, The Revolution will not be Blogged, Scholars Who Blog, and Blogging Thoughts. At first I thought I would talk about the components of (Web)blogs since that seemed to be a unifying theme throughout the articles I selected. However, as I was reading, I drifted back to Watts time again and the class discussion his chapter spurred on the difference between network and community.
1) One of the common threads through these reading is the undeniable existence of “interbreeding.” Bloggers have a tendency to link to other blogs, that subsequently link back to them, and then start linking to blogs that have linked to the first, and so on. Many bloggers are mutual friends, according to Kumar et al, yet I can’t help but wonder if reciprocal is a better term—a “ you blog me, I’ll blog you” mentality. In my mind this comes down to a criticism I have had of Facebook , Twitter, and the like of this arbitrary “acceptance,” or perhaps more accurately, the definition of “friend.” Kumar continues on and mentions that 70% of all “friendship” is based on one of 3 things, 10 location, 2) interest, and 3) age. This leads me to question the purpose of friending—are people looking for “real world friends?” If not, why does location account for so much of friendship in blogs? This entire concept ties back to what the authors refer to as a “worldwide blogging network [filled with] communities linking back and forth to one another.” Glen quotes a professor of policy studies that trusts the readers of his blog, again this ties back to our discussion of network versus community. Mortenson and Walker also allude to the elusive “online community” that bloggers create (I argue by clustering), as well as, “communal discourse.” Overall, I suppose my question is what are the implications of networks and communities as we consider the needs of our learners? At the end of the day these concepts have continually remained in our readings.
2) I go back also to a question of identity. Mortenson and Walker talk about a balance that must be attained by bloggers: “a delicate balancing act “ between private selves and the public presence of a blog. They continue, “blogs are [a] paradoxical mixture of public and private…They are enclose din public and private spaces that allow the writer to cultivate an autonomous voice. And yet they are visible, open spaces that encourage linking and conversation.” Why is this question of identity important? Because, as educators we need to know what “core skills” students need to have to survive—and managing multiple personalities can be quite difficult!
3) A third question is about copyright and intellectual property rites. How will the continuation of collaborative learning/writing with mediums such as Twitter, blogs etc. affect these stolid academic policies?
