HBW gives the impression that it is a network open to anyone. This is because there are no restrictions on who can contribute. It appears, on first sight, that all opinions are encouraged. However, the fine print at the bottom of the "Comments" page reads: "Comment moderation has been enabled. All comments must be approved by the blog author." This therefore gives the blog author the power to control what is said. However, I suspect that it is not the opinions that are being edited, rather mindless use of profanities et cetera. I believe this due to the wide range of opinions present, whether they agree with the blog author or not. If you were to map the users and abusers of the blog, it appears that the vast majority of contributors are from the Cairns community, past and present, giving the impression that all residents of Cairns are able to express their opinions here. However, what about the residents of the community who do not have access to the internet? Or those who do not have a strong grasp of the English language? They are excluded from the conversation.
The notion of post-humanism is relevant when reading this blog. We assume that the author is in fact John McKenzie. However, he may have a team of like-minded people, writing and researching on his behalf. It also appears, that in the name of controversy, Mr. McKenzie uses information liberally and suggestively. This therefore erodes the boundaries between fact and fiction (Van Luyn, 2013). This is even more relevant, when considering the comments of the HBW community. As Sheryl Sandberg stated in McNeill (2012), Facebook encourages you to be your authentic self. Unlike Facebook, this blog allows people to post anonymously, or with a fictional name. They can choose their own identity. This empowers the user to show passion and honesty, when they may have otherwise been afraid to, in a different platform. On the other hand, people can also feel free to be "playful" (Van Luyn, 2013) by expressing opinions that are not their own, or having no factual evidence for their claims.References
McNeill, L. (2012). There is no "I" in network: Social networking sites and post human
auto/biography. Biography 35(1), 104-108.
On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog [image]. (2010). Retrieved from
http://zeldalily.com/index.php/2010/10/youtube-has-to-reveal-anonymous-commenters-and-the-
death-of-online-anonymity/
Posthumanism. (2013). Retrieved August 24th 2013 from
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Posthumanism.html
Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives and the Making of Place, Week 4
Notes. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.learnjcu.edu.au
Really interesting points that you have put across here Justin. I see that with the HBW that people can post anonymously which raises the point of being "authentic". The page that I have been observing checks peoples profiles out and list names of people who request to joint the page to make sure that other members know of these people etc. It makes it hard to actively participate in any conversations because I am under my true profile. I think that if I had the option to post anonymously I would be more vocal.
ReplyDelete