Day Three. In this session we spoke about the term ‘network’ and what it means in relation to the web as well as its history within the internet. We discussed the spread of ARPANET in the U.S, that allowed computers to form globally and result in internet protocols to develop; thus creating multiple networks. In this lecture we also discussed how and why it is so easy it is to receive information on the internet, and how difficult it may be to control the flow of such.
During the creation of the internet, the role of the ‘network’ was being further explored by business at a great rate, which was the catalyst for the new ‘.com’ ownership. Consequently, we spoke about ‘napster’ legal issues as a means of business’ testing boundaries of what could be done with the internet. This could prove difficult for companies in industries such as music or television or even sensitive information such as government or trading. Online legislation such as IP and Copyright to combat these issues was then touched on.
We also delved into the newly found creation of data centres and algorithmic filtering, a phenomena that has made the internet what it now; highlighting great question about our data and who is using it.
For me, the first social networking site I got onto was Tumblr in 2012. The SNS served as a network of user generated personal websites, written entries, photographs and links to other websites. I used this service completely anonymously, as a way to express my thoughts to the world without anyone knowing who I was. Now it feels like SNS’s know everything about you.
I then made an account for Facebook in 2013. The culture back didn’t revolve around sharing others’ posts, but rather post your own and occasionally comment on friends and family’s.
It was then Instagram that (in my opinion) exploded the idea of the term network. The SNS allows users to share photos and videos of their lives, add captions, edit filters, engage and explore. Instagram is the reason that SNS rely so heavily on user generated systems for success #welovealgorithims. The explore page on instagram is a great example of this. This tool serves as the networks source for real time content curation. Appearing on the same page as the search function, it presents different posts for every user from accounts they don’t yet follow based on their past interactions and interests. Why would you use anything else when everything you like is on the app waiting for you?
