In this week additional reading we read about this idea of Network Literacy. Upon reading the title of this piece I wasn’t quite sure what this article was going to discuss, as I for one had no clue what network literacy was or was about. The article discusses ‘the establishment of a robust framework for the exchange of information between online services’ (Miles,2007, Pg 203). This line I think was an interesting leeway into the topic itself and made me think about how the online services I use integrate with each other. An example of this would be something like news outlets posting news on their social media accounts. When they post something to do with the news they don’t just post to their Facebook, they’ll also post to their Instagram, Twitter, etc. In doing this what they achieve is being able to spread word of mouth a lot faster than if they had chosen to just post to one media platform and it keeps the general public or those who follow them in the loop with what is happening around the world. Something else that stood out for me in this reading is that Miles talks about integrating other peoples work or information into your own, and that this essentially creates a new publication. I thought about this in reference to Instagram. Yesterday there was a mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand and I’ve started to realise that whenever there is some sort of horrific event happening in the world we always see people reposting the same things in support of that event. I saw this photo yesterday and today all over my Instagram news feed and stories and I’ve come to realise how important a platform like Instagram is in terms of showing the world that people really do care about these events and tragedies whether it is just reposting a photo to spread word of mouth.
One of the images that I have seen in the past few days on Instagram
Lewis Hamilton sends his prayers to those effected in New Zealand ahead of the Australian Grand prix
Another interesting part of this reading was Miles take on ‘tags’. Miles comments ‘Tag is a keyword that I can apply to anything in any of these social software systems.’ (Miles,2007, Pg 205). Continuing on with the discussion about Instagram using tags is an essential way for information to integrate with other users. When I first started using Instagram I never posted anything with tags, but now whenever I post a photo I use at least 20 tags. What I’ve noticed in doing so is that people who life my photos are often following that tag word and as a result I’m able to find new content that I actually like and is suited to me. The uses of tags creates a new world of content for everyday people, and majority of the time tags actually save you from the hassle of finding users just like yourself, super useful in my opinion.
This weeks reading: Miles, Adrian. “Network Literacy: The New Path to Knowledge.” Screen Education Autumn.45 (2007)