Boreal Forest in Finland. Photo Credit: EtäKärppä

Adrian used the metaphor of the sea to describe networked media. I also think that it could be compared to a forest. A dark, snow carpeted, cold forest. It’s a strange world, one that you’re not used to living in. But it’s certainly a place you can live. Bears can do it, why can’t you? Inhabitable for some, habitable for others. If you know how to navigate it and know how to use the resources and land around you, you’ll make a fine living for yourself. To get a higher quality of life from it however, you must interact with it. You must adhere to the circle of life and understand the ways of the land. You must be able to use the resources around you; the wood, the earth, the water, to survive.

If you know what you’re doing, the reward for living in and becoming part of such a mystical and ethereal environment will be worth the work it takes.

The forest has always been something that has enchanted me. Perhaps because the closest I an get to one is a gumtree and some bush land. As I step into the forest that is networked media, I hope that one day I can visit and explore some forests throughout the world as well.