Link to the Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/lists__infinite/
For this part of the assignment, Kiera and I made an Instagram page where we made short videos each with their own topic which contribute to our chosen collective theme for our infinite list being consumerism. During and after this project as well as in class, I understood an infinite list to be dynamic in always evolving and to continually change and develop. Similar to a gathering and explosive list, an infinite list can be placed with multiple facets and views. However, an infinite list differs in that it can always grow and be added to overtime.
Something I realised after learning about infinite lists is that they exist across online search engines, social media and in the search algorithms of these platforms functioning as records of databases. These databases present infinite lists as they are “organized into hierarchical classes that may inherit properties from classes higher in the chain” (Manovich, 2002, pg218). These hierarchical classes can change overtime based on what is popular, trending topics among users or something new and recently discovered at the time enabling online users and creators to add to the database of infinite lists.
Kiera and I made our videos to be short and utilize cuts and montages of glimpses similar to the fragmented videos on Network Effect to reflect the fast impulsive consumer nature of the modern generation and how it is evolving whether it be its literal meaning of shopping to social media content. In adding hashtags to our videos (mainly using the popular used hashtags) I realised that infinite lists can be explosive in providing many outcomes to reach many users. Also having our videos on Instagram made it possible for people to add their own hashtags to our list in the comment section, making them a contributor to the infinite list.
Resources: Manovich, 2002, “The Language of New Media” pg218 – 243