[Xmca-l] Re: Article for discussion: Facebook in Brazilian schools

Mon Mar 12 12:02:08 PDT 2018

Monica, Fernando et al.....

The US news is full of stories about a national student walkout over guns &
schools. Here in San Diego, where mr trump is expected tomorrow, local
school principals are supporting students to walk out.

Question: Here in the US a lot of the communicative action appears to be on
twitter, instagram, etc....  How would one study
those more emphemeral media?

For example>
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/schools-brace-for-massive-student-walkouts-over-gun-violence
.

Thanks Andy for finding the story. I had the mis-impression that headlines
in the print edition were repeated
in the online version. (see meme on grandpa and computer).

I still don't understand Figure 3 properly to be able to link it to
questions of transformative agency.

mike

On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 11:49 AM, Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>
wrote:

> David,
> FB does seem to be something new as a medium of communication in as much as
> it operates on an asynchronic timescale that previously did not exist
> (i.e., conversations that happen at the timescale of a few hours, sometimes
> days, and very very seldom, weeks). Along with that is the cheapness of the
> medium of communication (vs. say, a telegraph or a letter - both of which
> are forms of asynchronous communication, more the letter than the
> telegraph).
> Those are two things that seem new to me about the medium (although
> list-serves, those technological dinosaurs, seem to be able to do both of
> these things and yet FB is not the same thing as a list serve. What might
> account for that difference?).
>
> But that question seems a little beside the point of this article. The
> question here seems to be: what did FB do in *this case*?
>
> Here are some suggestions from the authors of what FB did for the Four
> Movements:
>
> "by using Facebook pages as a communicative tool, students could coordinate
> demonstrations occurring at the same time in different cities, which was
> possible due to the expansion in the number of Facebook pages." (p. 61)
>
> and, less thrillingly (for those who care about "free speech" and "public
> discussion", but perhaps censoring is an important part of any social
> movement? David, maybe this was part of your point?):
> "From the posts analysed in this study, we observed that page organizers
> authorized only posts that supported the Four Movements, blocking or
> deleting posts that were against them."
>
> and:
> "Having a motive and motivation, as suggested by Rantavuori and colleagues
> (2016), the use of Facebook pages as a form of human–technology interaction
> strengthened the collaborative aspect of the activities and enabled new
> ways of envisioning the future, which potentializes collaborative agency."
>
> and most simply, in conclusion:
> "In this study, we discussed how students used social media, more
> specifically Facebook pages, as a
> mediational communicative tool for organizing, developing, and expanding
> the Four Movements.
> The expansive learning process demonstrated by the students and the
> transformation of the object of
> the protest was enhanced by using these networks as a form of
> human–technology interaction."
>
> and one that I didn't quite understand:
> "In contrast to previous research on human–technology interaction (Bardram
> & Doryab, 2011; Cunha
> Jr., Van Oers, & Kontopodis, 2016), the instability faced by the Four
> Movements led to the adequacy
> of the instrument, and to the transformation of the object." (p. 63).
>
> Others' thoughts?
> -greg
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 6:34 AM, Alfredo Jornet Gil <a.j.gil@iped.uio.no>
> wrote:
>
> > Thanks for finding and sharing the link, Andy, and thanks Michael and
> Mike
> > for bringing the absolutely relevant connection to Parklands.
> >
> > There was not so long ago a discussion here as well as in a couple of
> > articles in MCA about how crises leading to development most often result
> > from quantitative increments that lead to qualitative leaps such that new
> > forms of organization emerge from previous ones. So, David, I don't see
> why
> > increments in the pace of circulation (e.g., of information) would not be
> > expected to bring with them changes in the organisation of the whole
> > economy system. I would not say that social media is just bringing a lot
> > more of the same, just as I would not a priori reject the possibility
> that
> > bringing a lot more of the same might not end up bringing new qualitative
> > forms of communicating. The observation that "like" is intransitive in
> > Facebook is interesting; but to me it needs to be put in its larger
> context
> > of use. And so, are we analysing Facebook as a grammar closed up in
> itself,
> > or as one more chain in a larger grammar of possible cooperation?
> >
> > I am myself concerned that Social Media like Facebook may be amplifying
> > dichotomical thinking beyond the innocuous and often way-to-verbose
> essays
> > we academics enjoy entertaining with much more complex verbal forms than
> > Facebook's intransitive "likes", only that the confrontations now seem to
> > be moving to family's dinner tables, quarrels among protesters in public
> > squares, or previously unheard of incarcerations for publishing tweets
> and
> > rap songs that critique the crown in a supposedly modern democracy like
> > Spain (e.g.: http://cadenaser.com/ser/2018/02/20/tribunales/1519135083_
> > 106543.html). But the article here discussed also shows that there are
> > forms of organization that these technologies are affording that may
> bring
> > more positive changes, like the case again in Spain of March 8th women's
> > strike, the extent of which no politician or journalist had anticipated
> and
> > which led the government to quickly adopt a much more equity-friendly
> > discourse than even the evening before (https://www.youtube.com/
> > watch?v=4_11iIELdfc). So, no, probably that one strike, or that one
> > social media that may have made it possible, won't change the system. But
> > they seem to incrementally add to something, don't they?
> >
> > Alfredo Jornet
> > ________________________________
> > New article in *Design Studies* "Imagining Design: Transitive and
> > intransitive dimensions"
> > Free print available: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1WhHg_,KmyN6Dr
> >
> > ________________________________________
> > From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> > on behalf of Andy Blunden <andyb@marxists.org>
> > Sent: 12 March 2018 06:39
> > To: xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu
> > Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Article for discussion: Facebook in Brazilian
> schools
> >
> > That headline does not exist, but is it this:
> >
> > https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/us/parkland-students-
> social-media.html
> >
> > Andy
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > Andy Blunden
> > ttp://www.ethicalpolitics.org/ablunden/index.htm
> > On 12/03/2018 4:02 PM, mike cole wrote:
> > > Michael - I have been trying to find a digital copy of a story in
> today's
> > > NY Times titled "the social media warriors of parkland." For some
> reason
> > it
> > > is not visible on the digital version.... yet. Maybe someone out there
> in
> > > xmca-land can find it for us? I will check again
> > > in the morning to see if it appears.
> > >      It seems especially relevant to Monica and Fernando's article, and
> > to
> > > David's comment that "  it is very hard for me to pinpoint any
> > > actual new form of thinking or new form of speaking which was made
> > possible by
> > > Facebook."  The voices and forms of speaking used by the students was
> > not,
> > > so far as I could tell, the source of data. There are no quotations of
> > any
> > > students speaking differently. I assumed that this article was about
> > > collective action.
> > > Monica and Fernando - I confess I had difficulty following parts of the
> > > article, perhaps because I am a very seldom user of Facebook. In
> > > particular, I had difficulty understanding Figure 3.  Were the people
> who
> > > started M1 also those who started M2-M3? ( " Once students achieved the
> > > object of the activity—in the first case, to avoid the closure of the
> > > schools—they focused the protests on another object").
> > >
> > > Did the M4 people get the idea from M1 through a FB connection form M1?
> > Did
> > > you get any sense of what distinguished pages that got a few hundred
> > versus
> > > 10,000 reactions?
> > >
> > > Harshad - Did you think the article failed to consider social issues?
> > There
> > > is no information about you on the xmca membership
> > > page, so it is difficult to know from what part of the world you are
> > > writing. Unless I miss my guess, some people will wonder at your
> > > use of the word "man" where the local practice might put "humankind" or
> > > some other gender inclusive term.
> > >
> > > David - Daylight saving time tonight so I find myself "working late."
> It
> > > got me to wondering how many people live in Seoul. A lot, it turns out.
> > > About 9-10 million. That got me to wondering about how much faster all
> > > those people would be getting around on horses with all the horse plops
> > to
> > > clamber over. And all that hay to haul into town for the morning rush
> > > hour.  :-)
> > >
> > > mike
> > >
> > > On Sun, Mar 11, 2018 at 8:25 PM, Glassman, Michael <
> glassman.13@osu.edu>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > >> Hi David,
> > >>
> > >> I'm sure those meddling kids won't come back on your lawn any time
> soon.
> > >>
> > >> But really, the article did not say Facebook is a new type of
> > technology.
> > >> I believe they said that it's a form of human-technology interaction
> and
> > >> suggested perhaps social media was a new type of human-technology
> > >> interaction.  I don't agree with this phrasing. I tend to think of
> > Facebook
> > >> more as an application of Internet technology - but either way
> Facebook
> > is
> > >> just a form or an application. Is the internetworking of computer,
> radio
> > >> and satellite communication an enormous step forward in how humans
> > >> communicate.  I think so - it's really extraordinary on a number of
> > levels
> > >> but that's really not the conversation for this article.
> > >>
> > >> I do think the authors have done an analysis that is interesting and
> > >> possibly important, especially when one considers what is currently
> > going
> > >> on down in Parkland (some might be happy to know that, at least from
> > what I
> > >> have read, Facebook isn't dominant or even that important for these
> > >> students. Adults have been using it more for larger organizational
> > events
> > >> like the March 14 walkout and the March 24 march).  I have read some
> > >> articles on organizing on online forums (and actually wrote a not very
> > good
> > >> one a few years back). Most of them are communications based an don't
> > have
> > >> strong theoretical underpinning which is why I think this article
> might
> > be
> > >> an important step forward.
> > >>
> > >> I think the idea of using third generation activity theory might be a
> > good
> > >> idea for this type of analysis. I myself have seen ties between the
> > >> trialogical approach being developed by Hakkareinan and Paavola and
> > what is
> > >> going on down in Parkland. The students are creating their own
> projects
> > and
> > >> then getting the larger community to buy in to and support what they
> are
> > >> doing which is in turn changing the quality of their activities. I
> have
> > my
> > >> own ideas on why this is suddenly happening and direct communication
> > >> technologies like Twitter and texting (which seem primary vehicles)
> are
> > >> only part of it.
> > >>
> > >> Anyway, this particular article I think is really timely and should
> give
> > >> us a lot to think about.
> > >>
> > >> Michael
> > >>
> > >> -----Original Message-----
> > >> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@
> > >> mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of David Kellogg
> > >> Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2018 6:03 PM
> > >> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> > >> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Article for discussion: Facebook in Brazilian
> > schools
> > >>
> > >> So in the fifteenth century, Gutenberg exapted extant technology
> already
> > >> widely available in China and published a single text using moveable
> > type
> > >> which started a profound intellectual, cultural, and social revolution
> > >> whose effects we still feel today: the rise of Protestantism, the
> > >> Counter-Reformation in, among other places, Brazil, the Wars of
> > Religion in
> > >> France, the vicissitudes of a multii-confessional (political) State
> and
> > >> ultimately those of a multi-confessional (psychological) state, In the
> > >> twentieth century, Ford similarly exapted extant technology, this time
> > >> nearly two millenia later than China, and mass-produced automobiles
> > using
> > >> Taylorism, forcing everybody to buy an identical product with
> > >> interchangeable parts made by factories with interchangeable workers.
> > >> The automobile "revolution" did not even give us new roads, and in
> Seoul
> > >> today traffic moves notably slower than it would on horseback.
> Clearly,
> > >> there are some forms of technology that are actually semiogenic--and
> > others
> > >> which merely circulate capital at a faster rate and actually slow the
> > >> movement of people and new ideas.
> > >>
> > >> So my question is very simple. How do we know that "Facebook" (which
> as
> > >> the name implies was originally designed to help Harvard freshmen
> decide
> > >> which classmates were sufficiently hot to "like") is really one of the
> > >> former technologies?.There are very clear signs , beyond the obvious
> > ones
> > >> surrounding the American origins, that it belongs to the latter
> > category,
> > >> and not a few of them appear in this very article. First of all, the
> > >> authors are honest enough to associate Facebook with reactionary,
> > >> xenophobic, populist movements like the clowns who run the "Five
> Stars"
> > >> movement in Italy. Second, on the very first page, the authors try but
> > do
> > >> not really seem to be able to distinguish between the "post first and
> > >> organize later" technologies of Occupy Wall Street and the use of
> social
> > >> media by the four movements in the article (including one actually
> > called
> > >> "Occupy Everything"). And thirdly, it is very hard for me to pinpoint
> > any
> > >> actual new form of thinking or new form of speaking which was made
> > possible
> > >> by Facebook. If anything, Facebook seems to narrow semiogenic power
> to a
> > >> single consumer/computer menu. Ford said, you can get a Model A in any
> > >> color you like so long as it's black. Facebook tells us the same
> thing,
> > but
> > >> makes the verb "like" intransitive.
> > >>
> > >> David Kellogg
> > >> Sangmyung University
> > >>
> > >> Recent Article in *Early Years*
> > >>
> > >> The question of questions: Hasan’s critiques, Vygotsky’s crises, and
> the
> > >> child’s first interrogatives <https://www.tandfonline.com/
> > >> doi/full/10.1080/09575146.2018.1431874>
> > >>
> > >> Free e-print available at:
> > >> https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/6EeWMigjFARavQjDJjcW/full
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On Sun, Mar 11, 2018 at 7:30 AM, Alfredo Jornet Gil <
> > a.j.gil@iped.uio.no>
> > >> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> Dear xmca'ers,
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> it is (bit over) due time for introducing the article for discussion
> > >>> from MCA's 2018 Issue 1, before Issue 2 comes upon us soon.
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> The selected article, by Monica Ferreira Lemos and Fernando Rezende
> da
> > >>> Cunha Júnior, is about two topics that were thematised in the last
> > >>> ISCAR congress and that ought to be of much relevance to current and
> > >>> future CHAT-related research: Social media and social movements. In
> > >>> particular, the article examines how students use social media for
> the
> > >>> organization and development of 4 social movements in Brazil.
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> The article is attached and is Free access during the discussion
> > period.
> > >>> It can be accessed free in the following link:
> > >>>
> > >>> https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10749039.2017.1379823
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> The authors have kindly agreed to participate in the discussion and
> > >>> they will be introducing themselves soon. I hope you  will find the
> > >>> article interesting and please don't be shy to share anything you
> > >>> might have learned reading it, anything you might wonder about it or
> > >>> that you would like see discussed. Having authors engage in dialogue
> > >>> is a great opportunity that this community offers and that makes
> sense
> > >>> the most when many of you participate. Good reading!
> > >>>
> > >>> ?
> > >>>
> > >>> Alfredo Jornet
> > >>>
> > >>> New article in *Design Studies* "Imagning Design: Transitive and
> > >>> intransitive dimensions"
> > >>> Free print available: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1WhHg_,KmyN6Dr
> > >>>
> > >>
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Anthropology
> 880 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
> Brigham Young University
> Provo, UT 84602
> WEBSITE: greg.a.thompson.byu.edu
> http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson
>