Affinity Spaces

Earlier this year I published an anthology. I gathered authors using fan networks across the internet. None of the authors were known for anything 'professional', but were well known and popular through their blogs and fanfiction. Blogging and fanfiction have been my 'things' since I was about 18 years old. It has been such a part of my life, I rarely think of it as anything special. But looking at the definition for participatory culture as described by Jenkins (2006) I have apparently been working within participatory culture for some time.

Online writers, bloggers and ficcers, thrive on sharing their work, and their is a solid system of feedback and commentary on pieces that have been posted. If you look at a site like AO3 (Archive of Our Own), a fanfic repository started by author Naomi Novik, visitors are encouraged to leave comments or even just a 'kudos' on stories they read. Ficcers write stories dedicated to each other, or on prompts from other ficcers. The whole culture of fanfic writers on the internet, whether they are doing it through blogs or repositories like AO3, are engaged heavily in participatory culture. There is a strong support for creating and sharing, members definitely feel a social connection with each other, members believe their contributions matter, and there is definitely a mentor-ship relationship between new ficcers and more established members of the fanfic community (Jenkins 2006).

AO3 is actually one of the better examples I could have thought to share, especially in the context of being an affinity space (Jenkins p7). There is a strong network of volunteers that keep the site working, from assisting with technical issues to outreach within and outside of the community. It is a strongly supportive group and everyone is looking out for each other. Members of the community range from the young to old, and across all manner of professions and tracks of life. The base affiliation of being in a fandom is what pulls the community together. Members give feedback as well as writing advice to each other- beta-reading, as mentioned in Jenkins' article (Jenkins p9), and in the process the writing skills of members often improves as they go along. I managed to work with a bunch of fanficcers to put out a book that is now for sale online- all of my authors were open to editorial feedback and I have to think that is a product of being involved in the beta-reading processes of the fanfic community.

A handful of years ago I would never have admitted involvement in something like the fanfic community, not in any professional sense. But the attitude towards the community has changed as people become more aware of spaces like AO3 and the fact that there are some seriously talented folks involved in those communities. Time Magazine even mentioned AO3 as one of the 50 best websites of 2013!

The participation gap (Jenkins p12) is something I work with in my position at the local public library. Through a grant in 2011 we were able to add 16 laptops to the library and form a public computing center. The main benefit of the computer center is that there is no filtering software on the computers, and no limit to time spent on the computer. In addition, patrons do not need to be a library member to use the space. It is one step at least in trying to increase access to the internet, and as a result to spaces like AO3. The participation gap still exists- there will be people who lack transportation to get to the library, or whose schedules do not make it easy to find the time to get to public computers- but we are doing what we can in order to provide increased accessibility to computers and the internet and hopefully close that participation gap. There is also a local entity, Bridging the Digital Divide, that works with all ages to provide accessibility to technology. The participation gap is something we need to be aware of, and to work to overcome as best as we can.




Jenkins, H.J. (2006)., Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Retrieved from http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF

Evolving Literacy

According to Lanshear and Knoble (2011) functional literacy can be boiled down to ones ability to cope with the world. It implies and ability and an awareness when it comes to modes of communication. In an increasingly digital landscape, the scope of literacy changes. There are more aspects of the world and many more modes of communication beyond just the written word to take into account. Digital literacy emerges as less of a competitor to traditional literacy and more of a companion. 

If we as instructors do not expand our understanding of literacy to embrace digital media we are doing our students a disservice. One cannot function in today's world without a base level of digital literacy, and to thrive they must exceed it- much like the ideas of functional literacy expressed previously. Applying for school, applying for jobs, applying for government aid; all are done online. Popular modes of communication have moved towards the digital and away from the physical. These trends aren't going to stop just because we have decided not to teach digital literacy formally in schools. But we should carefully and thoughtfully start to work digital literacy into our curriculum. 

If we are concerned that students are not getting anything out of internet use, they they are wasting their time flitting about from distraction to distraction and ignoring the books we would like them to read, let's address it. Work with them in the digital and find ways to work in the traditional as well.

Motoko, R. (July 27, 2008) Literacy Debate: Online, R U really reading? The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

Lanshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2011) Literacies: Social, cultural, and historical perspectives. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

Working with texts

I have always needed to be physically involved with any texts I am reading for anything apart from pleasure. For example, the readings for this assignment had to be printed out before they could be read so I could underline and annotate as I went along. Colleagues of mine, both socially and at work, are able to load the same texts onto their mobile reading device and annotate digitally. That does not work for me. The act of connecting thoughts occurs for me when I am physically marking up the paper- it assists my recall later. Reading for pleasure or entertainment, on the other hand, I have come to much prefer reading on a screen- be it a computer, eReader, or other mobile device. I own both a tablet and eInk eReader, and they leave the house with me on a daily basis.

This need to print out materials for study means when there is material apart from the written word within a text I have to put a bit more work into making sure I gather all parts to print. As pointed out by Gillen and Barton (2010), the use of entities such as computers allow for different approaches to reading, and thus teaching. Often the things I am reading for research or work purposes contain links to other information or presentations that are integral to the original text. So the act of reading, and for me printing, is no longer a strictly linear activity.

As there are different learning styles in the traditional classroom, there will be different learning styles in regards to the utilization of new technologies. Apart from being a librarian I am a writer. Being able to search online databases and other environments such as forums, blogs, and chats has been invaluable to my ability to do quick research when on a deadline or when I have honestly just written myself into a corner. Again, I will generally print out information I think I will reference more than once but I do utilize online environments for research itself- even something as simple as a quick image search or using Google Earth to get a feel for a place I am trying to describe.

As a librarian I can be a little wary of personal blogs for research use. I do use them, but I spend a lot of time verifying the information contained within. I will read a few blogs on the same topic and see where they agree, where they do not. Again, as a librarian who spends a lot of time teaching reference skills and digital literacy, blogs are an incredible tool for that exercise. Huffaker (2005) states that blogs are a perfect medium for literacy. They are a magnificent tool for both traditional and digital literacy. Blog authors must have the ability to read and write, and a basic comfort with computers and the internet so as to post their blogs. They can expand that skill by tinkering with the layout and format of the blog itself as they go along. Beyond that, the act of reading and interacting with blogs helps teach individuals the skills needed to be discerning readers, as I mentioned before. I once had someone confront me over information I had posted in a blog I maintain, stating that I was misinforming my readers. My response was to state I hoped my readers would read what I had to say, and then do their own research as opposed to taking a single blog on the internet as straight truth.

Gillen, J., & Barton, D. (2010). Digital Literacies. Retrieved from http://www.tlrp.org/docs/DigitalLiteracies.pdf

Huffaker, D. (2005). The educated blogger: Using weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom.
AACE Journal, 13(2), 91-98