Sunday, October 10, 2010
Practicum-- Angela
I have continued to read and contribute to Mountain Project which I mentioned in my first post and have added to it the blog Climbing Narc (short for Narcissist), the Hoofer Mountaineering Club facebook page, and the blog Rockman and associated newsletter for the climbing gym Adventure Rock. There has been a lot of discussion on several of my websites about community standards and norms which is both ongoing on these sites and pertinent to this week's reading. One interesting thing that struck me was how polarized many people are in their opinions of certain community related topics. Many established "norms" such as etiquette at climbing venues or the correct way to protect from a fall while climbing are brought up with quite a few people claiming the "old school" way to do things or view a situation is the best even though it may not be the most friendly or safe. Others posting bring up more "new school" or modern ideas and some are shot down while others are considered. As a community rooted outside of the internet where the activity cannot be learned from the internet I'd like to pose the questions: What is the value to having an online "home" to an activity so rooted in the outdoors? Do you think established "norms" within a community can translate to the internet? Can forums or blog change these "norms"? and How are special interest groups different from (or similar to) media fandom forums in terms of contributions/contributors, interactions, growth or community, etc.?
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I think established norms can definitely translate to the internet. Almost all of the new media we have these days have lingo that before the invention of the new media, no one would understand. But because of the popularity of, say, Twitter, when someone says they are "tweeting" we instantly know what that is.
ReplyDeleteThe same holds true for lingo in specialized communities. If rock climbers have their own lingo (which I definitely know NOTHING about) and they use it on their blogs, forums, etc., and I read those blogs, I am bound to catch on. Granted, I may not know exactly what I am talking about, but the words will be more familiar because I have seen them used in context. So I think established norms can definitely translate to the Internet simply because the internet is so public and so many people have access to it. Once we see a new word or phrase and can understand its usage, we want to use that word or phrase too. And because we have seen it in context, we are more able to use it correctly.