Evan’s post, which I must commend on its brilliant title, discusses an alternative perspective on how we might consider ‘centres’ in networked environments. He generally concludes that whether or not networked spaces might have a centre varies from one scenario to the next – for example, whilst train networks tend to have a centre (take Flinders Street Station in Melbourne), social networks (with Mean Girls as an exception) usually do not. An interesting idea he also raises is although there is no common, established centre of the Internet, the single page the user, or ‘doer,’ may find themselves on is the centre of their experience at that current time.
Michael touches on the amazing extent of connectivity that networked environments allow, as indicated by the ‘Kevin Bacon Game,’ aka the ‘Oracle of Bacon.’ He also embeds the hilarious clip from the Hamish and Andy Show where the pair purposefully contradict the aim of the game by attempting to reach a Bacon Number of 100. The immensely catchy tune is sung to Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ and features the ‘best bad’ animations I’ve ever seen!
Kerri’s discussion of egocentric online behaviours is painfully true, and it’s about time someone said it! I really couldn’t have put it better myself, so please, allow Kerri to hit you with reality:
“By posting photos on Facebook we’re saying “hey friends/family/acquaintances/that guy I saw across the room at a party that one time/my 11 year old cousin’s best friend, here is a photo of me eating my raw vegan lunch/at a kewl party/at the Kanye West concert/at the beach/with my bae/from where you’d rather be“. And then we wait for the likes to accumulate on the picture, especially if we “dp’d” it, for affirmation that we are loved/cool/popular/have swag.”
So I thought I’d give my fellow media pals some love! I picked one post from each of Kerri’s, Evan’s and Michael’s blogs to respond to – check them out below!
Kerri’s post: Livin’ la vida Lecture #1
Kerri’s sassiness in this blog post is simply on point and it makes for a wildly entertaining read. She doesn’t shy from her honest opinions and uses her humour to get them across. I think we all felt a bit lost after the first lecture, but many of us responded in a way that sugar-coated the shock we had just been through. Kerri’s post actually had me laughing out loud as let’s be honest, we were all thinking it. I truly think she could go places with her aptitude for writing in this style. Social media is her platform! You go, Spagkerri!
Evan’s post: What’s all the Hype about?
Having not read the reading myself yet, Evan’s blog on hypertext taught me a lot. His writing style is easy to follow, informative and yet still very entertaining – his gag linking to a Ludacris video actually had me laughing for a good minute. This term ‘hyper-text’ is thrown around so much, and Evan’s approach to explaining this seemingly complex concept was refreshing. I’m quite glad I read his blog before facing the reading myself, as it offered me a basic understanding to prepare myself for whatever George Landow is about to hit me with. Cheers, Ev-Dogs!
Michael’s post: Off Topic | A Very Quirky But Excellent Cover
One of the great things about this whole blogging thing is the way that us students are able to share great content with each other. I know I can always rely on my fellow media students to post something that’s worth my while watching! Michael’s blog post diverted me to a really interesting mashup by Kasabian of Sesame’s street’s theme song ‘Can You Tell Me How To Get To Sesame Street’ and The Beach Boys’ ‘Good Vibrations.’ Weird, right? I was immediately curious and found the cover to be surprisingly good. So thank you Michael (I don’t have a nickname for you… apologies!) for that peculiar yet feel-good viewing experience!
