MySpace

Am I allowed two posts in one day!? Or is it me who makes the rule up...

Anyway... DrKate's blog made me think about MySpace and what is means for literacy practices. I shall continue to ponder on this but for now thought I would share an article I read a few weeks ago on this very subject which I found very interesting. I think I could write a whole dissertation on the subject of this article.



This is the Sri Yantra... it is amazing to meditate on. I have tried to draw it a million times but it is deceptively complex.

Preservation of the self

I have been wondering whether blogging changes identities...

When I was at university, doing this course, I read this book by Goffman which i think is relevant here. It is about the preservation of the self in society. That is, we all have a view of ourselves: how we should behave; act; appear. When this is challenged or slips we find it hard to deal with. This can explain why we feel embarrassed if we trip in the street, even if no-one sees, because we fear our constructed image has fallen away briefly.

I think that by blogging I am voluntarily challenging my ideas about who I am i.e. that I am not a person who blogs (!).

Goffman's ideas may also apply to other peoples blogs as their way of presenting an idealised self, without the risks of tripping up! Although, there must be some risks. I thought maybe spelling mistakes would be one but maybe I'm the only one who cares about them?

What am I doing?

I am blogging under pressure.

Initially I wasn't intending to start a blog... mainly as I am not sure what I think of them... but comments from others has made me feel guilty about starting something and not finishing but also guilty for not providing readers with a proper post. Have I been sucked in? Is this need to give the 'audience' a show what drives blogging.

Also feel as if I am bloggin under a pretence as this is really part of a module on this course - and I am not doing the module!

Still very confused as to the point of blogging. Especially the reasons behind choosing to make public something that could be contained within emails (particularly as most comments/readers come from linked blogs, which are made up of people bloggers already know).

Ideas or answers much appreciated!

This is a beautiful image (and one of my favourite websites), I recommend it as a way to forget the distractions of everyday life that we create around us.