“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop
and look around for a while, you could miss it (Hughs and Jacobson, 1986).”
(Roumi, 2014).
Today
many of us have busy lifestyles which do not give much time for us to stop and
take a close look at everything we race past.
If
the quote from Ferris Bueller’s Day off was compared to times when I have had
the chance to scroll through my Facebook, I notice that I never truly take the
chance to look at every link or post which I pass. I
only stop to look at the ones which catch my eye as they appear from the bottom
of the screen.
Yesterday
I allowed myself the time to simply flow through my Facebook news feed. A few
hours later I noticed that I had left Facebook entirely, I ended up reading
though a list of different clothing stores that are expected to be introduced
throughout Australia. Whether this is true or not I do not know but it does
give a good example of what happens if one allows themselves the time to flow
through the many different pages in Facebook and then into cyber space.
A
flaneur is term now used to describe someone detached from the normal flow of
society (Prouty, 2009). This means they are exploring the area which they are
in, paying close attention to what they pass and would normally skim past if
they had a place or destination to be. When I allow myself to ‘walk a turtle’
through my Facebook newsfeed
I often find myself leaving the Facebook all together (Prouty, 2009). This is
because I follow the links which are offered to me as I’m reading through other
pages and articles.
Whilst
I am wandering through this great web of cyberspace I have no map of where I am
going, in fact one does not exist for the future clicks I may take through
different spaces (Barnes, 1997). The only map I have is the pages I have
already visited then clicked on another link to a different place in the web (Barnes,
1997).
Reference list:
Jacobson, T.
(producer), & Hughs, J. (director). (1986). Chicago, USA. Paramount
Pictures.
Prouty, R.
(2009, October 28). One Way Street: A
Turtle on a Leash.
Barnes, G.
(1997). Passage of the Cyber-Flanuer
Retrieved from: http://www.raynbird.com/essays/Passage_Flaneur.html
Roumi, C.
(2014, July 9). Facebook Used You as a Lab Rat and You Didn’t Even Know It.
Retrieved from: http://www.ixdaily.com/the-grind/facebook-using-you-lab-rat
I agree with you there, I often find myself straying away from my original purpose for being on Facebook. Facebook seems to be the perfect centre of the social networking system. It connects to Instagram, news, games, clothing sites, Snapchat and more. It seems like it would be impossible to not get side tracked while on Facebook whether it be stopping to watch vines which connect you to other vines or looking at photos then being sucked into that area of focus. I personally don’t see myself doing the “turtle on a leash” through Facebook. Although through Facebook like you said it doesn’t have a map for future clicks it does create a map in your Facebook to what you have looked at also in your computer history. When you check Facebook the next day you can see you history, which becomes a map in your history. Like Wood (2001) said “Every map is a purposeful selection from everything that is known, bent to the mapmaker's ends. Every map serves a purpose, Every map advances an interest”.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Wood, D. (2001) Seeing Through Maps: Many Ways to see the World. Oxford, UK: New Internationlist Publications Ltd