Space Networks Blog Final

Running head: BLOG POSTS AND COMMENTS 1

SUBJECT COVER SHEET

BA1002 OUR SPACE

NETWORKS, NARRATIVES AND THE MAKING OF PLACE

SUBJECT CO-ORDINATORS: Dr Anita Lundberg & Dr Victoria Kuttainen

STUDENT’S LAST NAME: Chia FIRST NAME (and preferred name): Ailin

ASSESSMENT TASK: Blog Portfolio

TOPIC/TITLE: Space Networks: A Series of Blog Posts and Comments

WORD COUNT: 1,610

TUTORIAL DAY & TIME: Wednesday, 12:00pm to 3:50pm

DATE of SUBMISSION: 22/08/2014


Narrating Hearts

Photo: University of Brighton (Brighton, n.d)

Narratives are defined as a series of connected events, or stories (Lundberg, 2014). It used to

be said that each person was responsible for their own narrative, yet nowadays, in the post-humanist

paradigm, people write their narratives while at the same time contributing to the narratives of the

people around them, who also contribute to the original storyteller's narrative. Hence, this

storytelling can no longer be seen as an individual's story, but a network of narratives by a group of

people in a particular environment. And if these people are familiar with others in a completely

different environment or culture, they contribute to a whole network of narratives all over the

world.

At the same time, it is not just people who write their narratives; social networking sites

define the narratives of the people using these sites. According to McNiell (2012), users structure

their identity based on the parameters set by the social networking site. For example, on IMVU, I

find myself using my fashion sense and room furnishing as a manifestation of my identity.

However, the clothes and furniture I buy are designed by other users rather than myself, hence I am


structuring my identity based on what is available on the site rather than coming up with my own

parameters.

The concept of mobility also contributes to the development of narratives. According to

Lundberg et al. (2012), people are mobile as they crisscross each other to form multiple combined

narratives. For example, an exchange student from the Cairns, Australia JCU campus might travel

to the Singapore campus and interact with the people there to form a complex combined narrative.

This can happen in cyberspace as well, where people interact with others from a different country

within a social networking site to form complex narratives.

References

Lundberg, A. (2014). Lecture: Networked narratives. [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from

https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-1565095-dt-content-rid-1593065_1/courses/14-

BA1002-SIN-INT-SP52/BA1002%204%20Networked%20Narratives%281%29.pdf

Lundberg, A., Stasiewicz-Bieokowska, A., & Singhateh, A. E. (2012). Border crossing networks:

Virtual reality. Innovative Research in a Changing and Challenging World. Retrieved from

http://www.auamii.com/conference%20proceeding%20book%20A%20&

%20B/A_AMII_conference_proceeding_book.pdf

McNielle, L. (2012). There is no I in network: Social networking sites and posthuman

auto/biography. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-1565098-dt-

content-rid-1535548_1/courses/14-BA1002-SIN-INT-SP52/McNeill%2C%20L.

%20%282012%29.%20There%20is%20no%20I%20in%20network.pdf


Dream a Little Dream

Photo: Colleen Wallace Nungari. (Australia, n.d.)

According to Chatwin (1977), a concept must first exist in the mind before it can be brought

out into existence. This was especially the case for the Aboriginals, the indigenous people of

Australia, whose concepts were derived from the Dreaming, and sung into existence by their early

ancestors who walked the lands. These ancestors called concepts out of the Dreaming and sang

them into existence in their territories, and their descendants thereafter repeated these songlines as

they passed through the same territories, passing them down to the generations that came after

them. Hence, when sung by Aboriginals it must have felt as if the world was being created anew.

At the same time, there is power in naming, and the Aboriginals demonstrate this in the

naming of landmarks within their songlines. According to Tuan (1991), naming is a creative power

that allows people to call concepts into being, rendering them visible to the people around them. By

calling these places into being, Aboriginals demonstrate their power over their claimed territories,

allowing them to mark their territories and create a sense of belonging towards them. This allows

future generations to also feel a connection towards the land, as their familiarity with the songlines

of their ancestors allow them to name and identify landmarks, and hence, exert their power over


their lands.

Unfortunately, according to Lundberg (2014), when there are two competing stories, the

story belonging to whoever holds more power overrides the other story, rendering it obsolete. In the

case of the Aboriginals, when the Europeans came to Australia they started mapping out these

territories, renaming them in their own language and hence, laying claim to them due to their

wealth and technology. Thus, the songlines of the Aboriginals were rendered obsolete and they

were no longer able to claim territories as theirs, as their stories had been overridden.

References

Chatwin, B. (1987).The Songlines. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd

Lundberg, A. (2014). Lecture: Stories and place [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from


BA1002-SIN-INT-SP52/BA1002%205%20Stories%20and%20Place.pdf

Tuan, Y. F. (1991). Language and the making of place. Annals of the Association of American

Geographers, 81, 684-696. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2563430.


Being Chinese on IMVU

Diasporas are, according to Lundberg (2014), a the scattering of people who are unable to

remain in where they originally were, and had to migrate or live elsewhere in a different culture.

This can cause a deconstruction of place, of identity, of the familiarity and knowledge of

surroundings, which can cause stress on people as they have lost their place and must find a new

identity and familiarity in order to adapt to the place they are now in, or to find a place in their new

place to belong and own. As such, there may be a new way to remain in communication to the place

you were once in, while being in the place you are now, which would still allow you to retain your

sense of identity while being among different cultures. One such mode is the use of social media to

communicate with people of your ethnicity.

On IMVU, I have a friend who lives in South Africa. He is Chinese, like me, though I'm

unable to speak the language and that I keep having to Google translate what he says in Chinese.

But the bulk of our conversations are in English, and they are enlightening because allows me to

listen to a South African perspective. According to Mung (2008), due to new modes of

communication people can find alternate ways to return to their homeland figuratively, and this

could be what my friend is doing. We both are Chinese, we're both located in different continents

(and none of us are in China) and thanks to IMVU, we're able to share our experiences and connect.

Thanks to Schiller et al (as cited by Carter & Ma, 2003) we have a new term to describe

ourselves: Transmigrants. We end up connecting to numerous societies within the social networks

we are in. We feel tied to South Africa, Singapore, the United States and construct our identities

based on the networks we are involved in.

References:

Lundberg, A. (2014). Lecture: People networks/food networks [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from


BA1002-SIN-INT-SP52/Lecture%20PEOPLE%20Diaspora%281%29.pdf


Ma, L. J. C., & Cartier, C. L. (2003). The Chinese Diaspora: Space, Place, Mobility, and Identity.

Rowman & Littlefield.

Mung, E. M. (2009). Diasporas, Spatiality, Identities. In W. Bosswick & C. Husband (Eds.),

Comparative European Research in Migration, Diversity and Identities. p. 33-48. Bilbao,

Spain: Publications of University of Deusto.


Drama on IMVU

Photo: April (n.d), retrieved from http://aprilwallacesimington.blogspot.sg/2013/09/i-feel-like-i-

need-to-disconnect.html

According to Lundberg (2014), the ecosystem is a network. Creatures both floral and fauna

are connected in a dense chain of links, and if one part of the ecosystem is affected, the effects can

be felt by all.

In that sense, the ecosystem is also similar to social media sites, in the way people are

connected and the effects of that connection. Buchanan (2003) points out that within a network,

there are weak and strong links, and these would affect how individuals on a network would be

affected. As it turns out, people who are weak links are less affected while people who have strong

links are more affected. For example, on IMVU, people who are weakly linked to other people are

more likely to remain within IMVU with the break up of a friendship whereas people who have

strong ties with other users are more likely to leave IMVU or take an extended hiatus if their

friendship is destroyed. This is also present in the ecosystem, in which predators who prey on a

larger variety of creatures (weak links) are more likely to survive an extinction compared to

predators who prey on specific creatures. If these creatures were to go extinct, the predators would

also go extinct due to lack of food.


Watts (2004) talks about viral spreading and how certain viruses are contained within

communities due to quarantines. He especially lists the Ebola virus as an example, of how the speed

of Ebola symptoms showing allows quarantines to be placed on people with the virus, preventing its

spread. By cutting links, one is able to keep Ebola contained within a certain area, especially if the

area is remote. This is also similar to how information is spread within IMVU. When IMVU drama

(characterized by the spread of negative information) occurs, based on the amount of weak links a

person as, information can be spread to a large range of people. To prevent this, people labeled as

"drama queens" tend to be scorned and avoided by most users, other than those who drive on drama

(who are also avoided) which allows drama to be contained within a specific group, rather than the

entire IMVU population.

References

Buchanan, M. (2003). Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Science of Networks

(Reprint edition.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Lundberg, A. (2014). Nature Networks [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from:


BA1002-SIN-INT-SP52/BA1002Lecture%20NATURE%20NETWORKS.pdf

Watts, D. J. (2004). Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age (Reprint edition.). New

York: W. W. Norton & Company.


Wow, I think I'd just pay the $100. That sounds like slow torture.

I do agree that because of the viral quality of the ice bucket challenge , it is particularly

effective in raising awareness, and the raising of awareness of more topics would be helped by

going viral. As Watts (2004) writes, computer viruses are similar to biological viruses because of

the way it spreads through connections, and the more connected a person (and their email client) is,

the more people will be infected. And like viruses, information can also be spread in the same way

for both good and bad. In this case, it is a very good use of viral networking and that more causes

should consider going this route as well.

References


Watts, D. J. (2004). Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age (Reprint edition.). New York: W.

W. Norton & Company.


I used to be quite active on Twitter, but have since lost interest. Initially, I posted quite often

in twitter because I had friends there and we had some enjoyable conversations. Plus, it was the

2010 World Cup and that was where I posted in support of my teams while being updated on the

latest scores. I think the main reason I lost interest was because I couldn't really be my genuine self

there. Like what McNiell (2012) mentioned, there's an element of self-surveillance, because each of

us are woven into our friends' narratives and vice versa on Twitter, I found that I couldn't post

everything that was on my mind. I censored myself because I didn't want my friends on Twitter to

think badly of me. And in the end, that was why I ultimately lost interest in Twitter; I wanted to be


free to post what I wanted, not be forced into a strange narrative because I had to conform with the

common narrative that my friends were following for fear of being ostracized.

References

McNeill, L. (2012). There is no "I" in network: Social networking sites and posthuman

Auto/Biography. Biography, 35(1), 65-82.

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