"For centuries, the centre of the world was the hub of a civilisation. Now it is you. For the first time, we're using maps that know where we are and which can be customised to our needs" (Petray, 2013). This quote and article from the week 3 lecture really caught my attention (I found the full New Scientist article in a blog). It made me realise we are the centre of the virtual network, the users have the power. To a certain extent anyway.
My virtual network is Facebook, I will be focusing on the March Against Monsanto page and other interesting public pages. The administrators of this page have the power here. They aim to plant seeds, like Foucault's knowledge is power nexus, as discussed in the week two lecture (Petray, 2013). My alias Jazmine Bee separates my interactions from my personal Facebook identity. I feel this empowers my inner female
flaneur. I can travel through this page almost without a sense of surveillance and in some ways accountability, because of my alias (Barnes, 1997).
Facebook allows users to add friends, interact via status updates, comment on posts, upload photos as well as 'check in' at your location. Facebook even notifies you when a friend is close to your check in location. Of course you have the ability to turn off the tracking and limit the information people see, so again the user has the power. I'm not adding friends so my interactions will be limited to public pages and groups. I find these public pages have many relevant posts you can observe.
Virtual networking is like the panopticon, you never know who is watching you. Virtual networks embody freedom of speech, without being physically present for the reaction (Turkle, 1995). The opposite to the image I posted. Personally my experience on the March Against Monsanto Page and Facebook is empowering. Having an alias is like being your very own panopticon, people don't know I am watching them (in a non-creepy way).
Reference List
Image Credits
Female Flaneur. (n.d). Tumblr.
Retrieved From http://femaleflaneur.tumblr.com/
My virtual network is Facebook, I will be focusing on the March Against Monsanto page and other interesting public pages. The administrators of this page have the power here. They aim to plant seeds, like Foucault's knowledge is power nexus, as discussed in the week two lecture (Petray, 2013). My alias Jazmine Bee separates my interactions from my personal Facebook identity. I feel this empowers my inner female
 | |
| Image from: http://femaleflaneur.tumblr.com/ |
flaneur. I can travel through this page almost without a sense of surveillance and in some ways accountability, because of my alias (Barnes, 1997).
Facebook allows users to add friends, interact via status updates, comment on posts, upload photos as well as 'check in' at your location. Facebook even notifies you when a friend is close to your check in location. Of course you have the ability to turn off the tracking and limit the information people see, so again the user has the power. I'm not adding friends so my interactions will be limited to public pages and groups. I find these public pages have many relevant posts you can observe.
Virtual networking is like the panopticon, you never know who is watching you. Virtual networks embody freedom of speech, without being physically present for the reaction (Turkle, 1995). The opposite to the image I posted. Personally my experience on the March Against Monsanto Page and Facebook is empowering. Having an alias is like being your very own panopticon, people don't know I am watching them (in a non-creepy way).
Reference List
Barnes, G. (1997) . 'Passage of
the flaneur'. Otago University.
Retrieved
from http://www.raynbird.com/essays/Passage_Flaneur.html
Petray, T. (2013). BA1002: Our
Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place,
Lecture 2: Power: Big Brother and Surveillance. [PowerPoint
slides].
Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au
Petray, T. (2013). BA1002: Our
Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place,
Lecture 3: Maps: Seeing and Shaping the World. [PowerPoint slides].
Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au
Turkle, S. (1995). Life
on the screen: Identity in the age of the internet.
New York: Simon &
Schuster.
Image Credits
Female Flaneur. (n.d). Tumblr.
Retrieved From http://femaleflaneur.tumblr.com/
Hi Jazmine,
ReplyDeleteYour opening quote caught my attention, as it was emphasised during the lecture (Petray, 2013). While the quote refers to the possibilities of digital maps, I can see a parallel with how Facebook archives and displays personal content. Just as maps portray the perspective of the creator, and depict what is important at the centre (Petray, 2013), Facebook is designed in such a way that the user is the ‘centre’ of their virtual world. Similar to how the 1886 British Empire Map illustrates the narrative of British Imperialism (Petray, 2013), my timeline ‘maps’ and represents my story, from my perspective, and just like a cartographer, I have the power to exclude certain information from my ‘map’ to suit my purpose. Considering, as you state, that “virtual networking is like the panoptican (and) you never know who is watching”, this ‘power’ is fundamental.
Reference
Petray, T. (2013b). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, Lecture 3: Maps: seeing and representing the world. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au