Here is the second of my rough “live field notes” concluding my micro-ethnography of ds106…
I have been compiling screenshots, links, quotes, audio and video artefacts into a “Miro board“. This allows me to visually group different artefacts, write observations and draw connections in something that resembles a network map. I am making it public as I put my finishing touches to it (in many ways it is a non-static and evolving artefact):
Some quotes from Twitter and ds106 student/tutor blogs
‘We’ve had three great evenings of live tweeting ds106radio. The point of this was to analyze, together, how sounds can paint pictures and drive stories. My favorite thing about this exercise is that the idea for it came from a class a few years ago. The students suggested it, and it was brilliant. This week, we’ve been listening to ESC: Sonic Adventure in the Anthropocene. We heard episodes 3, 4 and 6 so far.’
‘Tonight I tuned into the Ds106 to listen in and I was truly shocked and in awe of what I heard. Jad Abumrad was right when he said that just with sounds and descriptions someone can paint a vivid picture in your mind…I was expecting to just have someone talking to me and telling me a story but really like Jad Abumrad said, the storyteller was able to make it seem like there was a circle of people and we were all just sitting and listening to him. I would recommend this experience to everybody and am excited to listen to more and maybe even make my own in the future…’
Thoughts as I get “involved” in the ds106 community/ies
- Getting ‘involved’ in the community – feel a little creepy! Commenting on other ds106 student posts – trying to be as transparent as possible, although aware this marks me as a bit of an ‘outsider’?
- No comments from other “ds106-ers” yet…but continuing to post into the ds106 flow and assignment feeds. Tried my hand at the ‘Make Noise from a Normal Sample’ assignment…
- A few SoundCloud likes and views…but difficult to ascertain if this is those from #ds106…
- Branching out a little into Twitter and #ds106 / #ds106radio, and posting links to my assignment submissions…
Trying my hand at the #ds106 ‘make noise from a normal sample’ challenge – can you guess what the original is? https://t.co/81iehXk2oc #ds106radio
— Michael Wolfindale (@mwolfindale) February 23, 2020
- …and trying another with the #mscedc hashtag:
Delving into the #ds106 ‘make noise from a normal sample’ challenge – can you guess what it is? https://t.co/6lbEu4h6WA #ds106radio #mscedc
— Michael Wolfindale (@mwolfindale) February 23, 2020
- …getting some likes, but in both cases only those from #mscedc. Perhaps I need to spend more time embedding myself actively into the community, to progress from being a ‘newbie’?
- However, received a new Twitter follow by someone active in the #clmooc and #ds106 (particularly Daily Create) communities, also with a common interest in music…
- Noticed another open participant! Felt a moment of being less ‘alone’ (and posting into the ds106 flow with few comments), although then noticed the comment was from 2012 (separated by time?):
#ds106 Twitter hashtag word clouds (SocioViz)
- Noting the connections between different communities, often grouped around activities, assignments or challenges:
General conclusions
Excerpts from my lifestream summary: Week six: ‘Community’ as networks and entanglements:
‘As I become entangled in the ds106 community, while building my micro-ethnographic artefact, I reflect upon how the vast complex ds106 community consists of numerous overlapping/entangled networks or “micro-communities”.’
‘“Micro-communities” seem grouped around ‘central consumption’ activities (Kozinets 2010: 31), like assignments/challenges, occurring in different online spaces (Twitter, blogs, ds106radio etc.) and co-existing in physical on-campus spaces. Might this exemplify the blurred boundaries between ‘virtual’ and ‘real’ (Hickey-Moody and Willcox 2019)?
You might also view ds106 as a community of practice (Lave and Wenger 1991; Wenger 1998), whereby people with a shared domain of interest participate in and construct an identity around the community.’
‘My involvement as a lurker/listener or ‘newbie’ (Kozinets 2010) has largely involved posting ‘within’ the ds106 flow, without comments from others, and have felt the distinction between my ‘open participant’ status and ‘core’ university students (and perhaps secluded?). However, I have commented on others’ blog posts and, as my confidence grows, started to branch out to Twitter, and connect with related communities/hashtags.’