twitter, instagram and micro-narratives: the benefits of sharing the creative process online
DESCRIPTION
See my blog for draft paper (3,700 words): goo.gl/J5RdsY Abstract As Rainie and Wellman explain in Networked (2012) the rise of the Internet, social networks and mobile technologies have resulted in media experiences that are personal, multiuser, multitasking and multithreaded. They refer to this new social operating system as “networked individualism”. In Spreadable Media (2013), Jenkins et al. argue that our networked culture is characterized by instantaneous, informal communication through multiple channels in which the audience participates in the creation of value and meaning, and in the circulation of media and messages. In this paper, I use the concepts of networked individualism and spreadable media in an examination of projects that use Twitter and Instagram to create and share micro-narratives. In 140 Illustrated Haikus, an iPhone and Instagram were used to document a month-long trip to three countries in late 2012. The resulting photos and short texts were published simultaneously via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, email and Tumblr (http://marksjourney.tumblr.com/). In addition to the limitations imposed by time and technology, captions for the photos were written on the spot in the form of a haiku. These constraints were found to help, rather than hinder, the creative process. Austin Kleon is a writer and artist who creates “Newspaper Blackout Poetry” by selecting a newspaper, choosing a few key words, and blacking out the rest with a marker. He shares the results with more than 28,000 followers on Twitter (@austinkleon), many of whom tweet their own blackout poems. Kleon also posts his poems to a website (http://newspaperblackout.com/), where others are encouraged to contribute their own efforts. An advocate of sharing work-in-progress, Kleon’s approach exemplifies the process-based, conversational nature of networked creative practice. Desert Friends, the “World’s First Instagram TV Show” is about three individuals who are transported to a distant galaxy and try to find their way back to Palm Springs (http://instagram.com/desertfriends). The filmmakers uploaded the first installment on 23 June 2013, and have continued to publish about four 15-second “shows” each week. Shot in black and white using the Instagram App on an iPhone, the programs emulate the style of low budget science fiction movies of the 1950s and 1960s. By episode number 63, the Desert Friends Instagram stream had attracted over 25,000 followers. This production demonstrates that filmmakers can create their own “TV show” with their own gear, and broadcast it over channels that anyone can use. These case studies show that, by regularly sharing ideas and processes as well as outcomes online, individuals become part of a creative ecology that enables visibility, mutual support, collaboration, and better work.TRANSCRIPT
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Twitter, Instagram and Micro-Narratives: The benefits of sharing the creative process onlineMINA — 2013 | Mobile Innovation Network Aotearoa
3rd Mobile Creativity and Innovation SymposiumNov. 21-22, Auckland University of Technology
Dr Mark McGuireUniversity of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealandemail: [email protected]: @mark_mcguireBlog: http://markmcguire.net/Dept.: http://www.otago.ac.nz/appliedsciences/staff/markmcguire.html
Dandelion Wish by John Liu (CC-BY)http://www.flickr.com/photos/8047705@N02/5572197407/
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The New Social Network Operating System > personal—the individual is at the centre; > multiuser—interacting with others; > multitasking—juggling many activities; and > multithreaded—simultaneous tasks
> Loose, fragmented social networks have > communicate with others outside tightly knit geographically based groups> publish and broadcast our own content.
Mobile digital devices enable “a continuous presence and pervasive awareness of others in the network” resulting in “networked individualism”(Networked: The New Social Operating System. Rainie and Wellman, 2012 p. 7, 11-12)
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This shift from distribution to circulation signals a movement towards a more participatory culture, one which sees the public not as simply consumers of reconstructed messages but as people who are shaping, sharing, reframing, and remixing media content in ways that might not have been previously imagined. And they are doing so not as isolated individuals but within larger communities and networks, which allow them to spread content well beyond their immediate geographic proximity.(Spreadable Media. Jenkins, Ford and Green. 2013, p. 2)
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“Spreadability”> flow of ideas in easy-to share-formats> open-ended participation> reshaping of context as well as the content > circulation of work through all available channels
> lead to increased collaboration between people with different roles> blurring of the distinctions between roles (Spreadable Media. Jenkins, Ford and Green. 2013, p. 2)
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Digital Micro Narratives
> shaped by a set of constraints inherent in the hardware, software and mobile context (limited in size & duration)> created during small fragments of available time> shared within the limitations of available bandwidth> displayed on hand-held screens > invite feedback and sharing> discrete experience, or as a set of related stories forming a larger narrative
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http://marksjourney.tumblr.com/
Wherever you areWherever you are standing
You’re at the centre
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http://marksjourney.tumblr.com/
Taking off is hardComing down is harder still
Flying is easy
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http://marksjourney.tumblr.com/
White sky and white noiseBic Runga on my headphones
Angels in our wake
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http://marksjourney.tumblr.com/
The night sky, alive
Glow worms on the cave ceiling
Communicating
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http://marksjourney.tumblr.com/
Gray drizzle aboveUnder an old railway bridge
It rains in colour
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http://marksjourney.tumblr.com/
Long before sunrise
A bug scurries down the street
Cleaning up the scraps
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http://marksjourney.tumblr.com/
A nice penthouse suite
Good views, easy care section
Have I got you hooked?
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http://marksjourney.tumblr.com/
Landmarks rememberedYou’re a conceptual map
A little bit creased
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http://marksjourney.tumblr.com/
Life’s a carouselYou go around in circles
Until you’re plucked off
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http://instagram.com/mark_mcguire
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http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=http%3A%2F%2Fgoo.gl%2F1P0QC
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https://twitter.com/search?q=%23haiku&src=typd
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140 Illustrated Haiku
> Usefulness of technical and formal constraints > Applying a Creative Commons license> Publishing on multiple platforms simultaneously> Hashtags increases discoverability> Scattergun approach increases exposure
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Think Like a DandelionIn a single year, a dandelion can release more than 2,000 seeds into the air in a year, without worrying that many of them will land on infertile soil. The point is that every opportunity for reproduction is exploited by spreading the seeds far and wide to ensure that “every spring, every crack in every pavement is filled with dandelions”.
Similarly, “if you blow your works into the net like a dandelion clock on the breeze . . . the winds of the Internet will toss your works to every corner of the globe, seeking out every fertile home that they may have.” (Cory Doctorow)
Dandelion Wish by John Liu (CC-BY)http://www.flickr.com/photos/8047705@N02/5572197407/
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Dandelion Wish by John Liu (CC-BY)http://www.flickr.com/photos/8047705@N02/5572197407/
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Steal Like an Artist Cover - Austin Kleon CC-BY-NC-SA)http://www.flickr.com/photos/deathtogutenberg/8167875453/sizes/c/in/photostream/
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Steal Like an Artist Promotional Posterby Austin Kleon(CC-BY-NC-SA)http://www.flickr.com/photos/deathtogutenberg/6929971399/in/set-72157629454918267/
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#newspaperblackout: Austin Kleon Instagram (13 Aug. 2013)http://instagram.com/austinkleon
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#newspaperblackout: Austin Kleon Instagram (12 Sept. 2013)http://instagram.com/austinkleon
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#newspaperblackout: Austin Kleon Instagram (12 Sept. 2013)http://instagram.com/austinkleon
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“There’s no barrier between making the piece and sharing it with everyone and that’s never been a possibility before, and for me theres a kind of weird intimacy between making one of this poems and posting it on Instagram, and immediately, people see it.”Austin Kleon. Questions and Answers (My Interview With Chase Jarvis)http://austinkleon.com/2013/10/01/questions-and-answers-my-interview-with-chase-jarvis/
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“You’re only half of the equation . . . it’s an interaction between you and the person who’s going to experience the work, and the person who’s going to experience the work is bringing just as much to it, and is just as important as you are.”Austin Kleon. Questions and Answers (My Interview With Chase Jarvis)http://austinkleon.com/2013/10/01/questions-and-answers-my-interview-with-chase-jarvis/
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Three characteristics of shared micro narratives
> Near instantaneous transmission(provides a sense of immediacy)
> Small, short messages(makes it easy and quick to read)
> Conversational (ability to provide immediate feedback encourages interaction)
The result is a shared, collaborative experience
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https://twitter.com/search?q=%23newspaperblackout&src=typd 14 October 2013
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Austin Kleon. “Another blackout timepalse”. Instagram video 22 August 2013http://instagram.com/p/dSRvZzA15q/
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Austin Kleon. “Another blackout timepalse”. Instagram video 22 August 2013http://instagram.com/p/dSRvZzA15q/
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Austin Kleon. “Scary stories to tell in the dark”. Instagram 9 October 2013http://instagram.com/p/fNitBPA14n/
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Earlier this month, I posted a blackout on Instagram and a follower commented, “Sounds like the beginning of a good tale.”
That got me wondering if could tell a ghost story in blackouts for the rest of October—one blackout a day, each made from the September 29th edition of the NYTimes. (Which, as you can see above, just happened to have a lot of ghost references…)
What I ended up with was a long poem about sexually-frustrated ghosts. Not fine literature, but it was fun to make. Read the whole thing below. Happy Halloween!
http://austinkleon.com/2013/10/31/spectors-haunting-may-embrace-a-halloween-blackout/
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http://austinkleon.com/tag/show-your-work/
http://www.pinterest.com/austinkleon/show-your-work/
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http://www.pinterest.com/austinkleon/show-your-work/
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“Scenius” (Brian Eno)
“the intelligence of a whole operation or group of people”
“think about the whole ecology of ideas that give rise to good new thoughts and good new work”
> Fertile scenes are populated by artists, collectors, curators, thinkers, theorists, and others — an “ecology of talent”, out of which good work can arise.
> These ecologies develop where there is a high density of creative people and a variety of places for them to interact.
Brian Eno 2009http://www.moredarkthanshark.org/
feature_luminous2.html
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“the new media is the new neighbourhood” (Networked: The New Social Operating System. Rainie and Wellman, 2012 p. 13)
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Dave Hill announces first installment of Desert Friends 23 June 2013http://instagram.com/p/a5HF17mjLS/
“I posted a few of these, and some of my Instagram friends really got a kick out of them. The next morning, we all woke up feeling the same way . . . what if we actually told a silly story with this? So, we ditched the film festival that day and shot 11 clips about some friends who are hanging out in Palm Springs and accidentally get warped to another galaxy”. (Dave Hill)
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http://instagram.com/desertfriends
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Desert Friends Instagram 9 July 2013http://instagram.com/p/bh64lCrm6R/
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Desert Friends Instagram 9 July 2013http://instagram.com/p/bh64lCrm6R/
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Desert Friends> No budget for props, costumes, or advertising > Announcements, posters, behind the scenes info shared using: - Instagram feed (davehillphoto),- Twitter account (@desertfriends)- Facebook page (Desertfriendstv)- vimeo channel (70807836)- Tumblr site (http://desertfriends.tumblr.com/)> by episode 63, 25,000 followers of Desert Friends Instagram stream> four 15-second episodes shared a week
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“Episode 5 will introduce a new alien race TODAY! Who's excited!?”Desert Friends Facebook post 30 July 2013
https://www.facebook.com/Desertfriendstv
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http://www.behance.net/gallery/Desert-Friends-iPhone-Composite-Poster/9970775
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Desert Friends objectives“There’s a place for Instagram in your kind of day-to-day”.
Hopes viewers will “get some laughs while passing time in line, or in the bathroom, or wherever”.
“wherever you are, you’re scrolling through your feed and boom — there’s a little storyline.”
You can “just laugh and go about your day” (Dave Hill, Director)
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Participation
> does not necessarily require the production of content.
> includes evaluating, appraising and critiquing work, and conversations about content.
> encourages a more active form of listening and watching.
> comments contribute to the experience for subsequent viewers.
(Spreadable Media. Jenkins, Ford and Green. 2013, p. 154-55)
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Conclusions> Individuals who share their work online are in a good
position to make the most of the “new social operating system”.
> Micro narratives are well suited to the limitations of digital networks and small, mobile screens.
> Open practices and licenses enable the wide circulation of work.
> A willingness to experiment in public can be rewarded by useful feedback and the potential for collaboration.
> Taking an active part in the discussion and spread of media and messages ensures increased visibility within a creative ecology of like-minded people.
Dandelion Wish by John Liu (CC-BY)http://www.flickr.com/photos/8047705@N02/5572197407/