http://bellbulldogreaders.edublogs.org/files/2011/11/genre22-22s13y6.png
As McNeill (2011) wisely states, "anyone can keep a diary, anyone can be part of history". The diary genre and the way we use it has certainly changed since the age of the internet. People now write and publish reports on their own lives, inner thoughts and feelings online for anyone to read (McNeill, 2011). Ordinary people now create their own style of text, a way of expressing characteristics of the writer (Luyn, 2013). Individuals have taken advantage of this "evolution" and its empowerment on the network Experience project. A community network where one can communicate their lives, knowledge and experiences through a list of genres provided in this virtual setting.
In Dr Luyn's (2013) lecture she explains that "all language use a framed generic types. Genre is a preconditioned for communication, creation and interpretation of texts". Experience Project provides a list of genres for readers to explore, communicate and publish personal knowledge and experiences. Users are able to shape their texts around genres like Politics, Funny & Embarrassing and many more. This list of genres provides users a direction or convention to writing their diary. As Dr Luyn (2013) states that genre shapes the way we produce and interpret text. This online diary allows self identification among a virtual community of bloggers, in what is called a evolution of diarists (McNeill, 2011).
It still deems necessary when reading the online diary genre, that one must question the authenticity of the user. As an observer its hard to separate authenticity from those purely wanting attention. Users typically don't provide names or details of themselves like Facebook, but they include the pronoun like 'I', which according to Diyanni (2005) provides perspectives and opinion to a story. This maintains the appearance of authenticity by creating a intimate narrative of lives, experiences, and writing for themselves and not for readers (McNeill, 2011)
References
Genre [Image]. Retrieved from: http://bellbulldogreaders.edublogs.org/files/2011/11/genre22-
22s13y6.png
McNeill, L. (2011).Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to screen. In C. Rowe & E. L Wyss (Eds.),
Language and new media: Linguistic, cultural, and technological evolutions. (pp. 313-325).
Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.
Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, Lecture 6
genre. Retrieved from: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset
Nicholas,
ReplyDeleteIn your blog this week you have clearly defined how ‘”blogs” (“web pages whose content are periodic, reverse chronologically ordered posts” [Su et al., 2005:1]) operate as “diaries” (McNeill, 2011, p.318). In the example you have given on the ‘narrative of lives’ the author clearly is experiencing some sort of emotional distress, despite the possible factor of attention. Even if the author is over exaggerating his/her condition, there are many others within the world who suffer depression and would be able to strongly relate to this text, bringing out its authentic qualities despite its author. Each case of depression is unique in its own way; the online diary has the potential to be transformed, as this author showed through using poetry to describe his/her feelings. However, this entry could be poetry unintended, stressing that the reader’s interpretation is an important factor in understanding the blog. Overall, it would appear no matter how the text is understood, that the author has expressed their deep emotional feelings and the purpose for the online diary has been achieved in an isolated (unnamed) way.
References
McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to screen, in Rowe, C. & Wyss, E.L. (Eds.) Language and new media: Linguistic, cultural, and technological evolutions (pp.313-325). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.