From Pigs to Posts

          After reading chapters 2 and 3 of Blogging by Jill Walker Rettberg, I definitely have A LOT to say. I thought it was particularly interesting that Rettberg started the second chapter with Plato sharing his opinions on writing: it would destroy peoples' ability to memorize something. His logic was why would someone remember something when they can just look it up? While this does make some sense, we know today that this is not the case. If anything, writing has shared with us more information on a huge variety of topics and thereby increased the level of education relative to if we did not have books. Plato also "complains that a written text is basically unresponsive" (33). Rettberg later explains that writing in blogs and online has actually created a more responsive audience. We can now comment, express our opinions, and question a certain article or post that someone has made.

          Rettberg mentions that the invention of the printing press did wonders for the spread of books and written work. She then mentions that, with the revolution of the printing press, came features that changed our culture. Those features are: dissemination, standardization, reorganization, data collection, preservation, and amplification and reinforcement. Once I read these and what they meant, it seemed very common sense. I looked back and wondered why I had not recognized all of this before.

          Another thing that came with the creating of the printing press was the spread of literacy. It was no longer upper class that had the luxury of reading. Literacy spread and continues today to do so. I do not think that someone in today's society, at least in the US, could get by without being able to read and write. She later goes on about how people reading silently was a new phenomenon. I used to get incredibly mad at my little brother when he would read out loud and would ask him to read silently. He would respond that he could not and I was terribly confused. I did not understand why he could not read to himself quietly. I guess this makes a little more sense now that I know that learning to read silently is actually a skill in among itself. How many people do you think are literate in the world today? In the US, the rates are 99%, while in Afghanistan, only 28.1% of people are literate.

          I do have an argument against a later statement by Rettburg. She claims that the radio was used as "one-to-many" type of media. My argument is that people call into radios all of the time. They get put on the radio commenting or asking for a particular song. While yes, this is still a one-to-many type of media, they listeners still get a chance to interact with the creators. It is not completely a one-way medium. What do you think? What are some other examples of a one-way media versus a two-way media? Are these the best that they can be? Should some forms of media switch?

          As for chapter three, Rettburg mentions the six degrees of separation, which I fully believe in. I recently found out that my cousin knows Maisie Williams - Arya Stark from Game of Thrones - and when I found out about this, besides being glared at by my family for freaking out, I thought about how I was only one person away from her, and by that, two people away from the whole cast of Game of Thrones. It was definitely an interesting and eye-opening experience. My cousin is also a weak tie for me, since she lives in England with my aunt, uncle, and other cousin. Since we grew up separately, she would not be the person that I would think to know anyone like Maisie. I actually found out through another aunt who told me when she visited last summer.

          Nearer the end of the chapter, Rettburg mentions danah boyd (who deliberately does not capitalize her name) and how "she identifies four characteristics of online social spaces that make them fundamentally different from offline social spaces" (76). She lists: persistence (information can be recorded and accessed later), searchability (people can find you), replicability (photos/conversations can be copied and modified so that someone cannot tell the difference from the original), and invisible audiences (not knowing who is viewing your blog). My biggest concern with these is the visibility to a professional when I leave school. My father recently warned me about another blog and how I should not advertise my habits and less than awesome things about myself. I took his advice to heart and changed some things about my other blog. I also never post anything on Facebook. It drives me absolutely nuts that people post things all the time. Anyways, boyd does have some good points about staying classy online and being aware of what you are getting yourself into. Do you think that there should be some sort of limitation or standard that some websites should put into place? Should Facebook monitor what people say and have a way to regulate it? Why or why not?