Sunday 26 April 2009

Twitter, the backchannel and 'laminated discursive spaces'

Initial random thoughts on a Sunday morning (woken by children and unable to get back to sleep) on Twitter, the backchannel and 'laminated discursive spaces'.

What do I mean by 'laminated discursive spaces'? Um ... I don't stop being a father, husband, francophile, daydreaming timewaster, rebellious teenager (in his mid-40s!) etc. just because I enter a lecture theatre. Although a singular aspect - or one layer of a laminated identity - may be more in play in one particular context (e.g. my academic identity when I'm at a conference) , other identities may also enter the foreground too. So, there's always some element of identity lamination on our social interactions and I think the Twitter backchannel exemplifies this really well.

Here's a great quote from an article I've been reading:
Because social practice is dialogic, heterogeneous and distributed in functional systems, activity should be understood as laminated or layered in Goffman’s sense, and, following Goodwin and Duranti, as mutable, dynamic frames that are relatively foregrounded or relatively backgrounded. Thus, there are no spaces where the social histories of people, practices, artifacts, and institutions disappear, no pure monologic activity systems, no places where identities can be figured simply in terms offered by a dominant institution’s map (where a person is just an engineer, just a student, just a teacher). Lamination is not simply a notion of the multiple identities of the person, but also applies to mediational means, with heterogeneous histories embedded as affordances in the words, texts, tools, and institutions that mediate activity.
Prior, P. (2003). 'Are communities of practice really an alternative to discourse communities?'
Paper presented at the 2003 American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Conference
Accessed from: https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/pprior/Prior/PriorAAAL03.pdf

I think the Twitter-enabled conference backchannel is an example of a 'laminated discursive space' . What I've observed in the #pelc09, #shock09 and #beyond09Twitter backchannels are different socioliterate practices - some academic, others less so - woven into a stream of hashtag-specific conference tweets:

  • posting links
  • brief summaries
  • expression of appreciation/thanks to individual presenters/conference organisers
  • side conversations between participants (remote and proximate)
  • banter (participants also have a shared social history of nights out, common interests and projects, past conferences, shared contacts)
  • bitching ("salespitch suckfest" was one comment on an Apple presentation deemed too corporate)
  • sharing of other resources (mainly photos and URLs)
  • requests for information or attempts to collaborate (e.g. on a set of Delicious bookmarks)

16 comments:

Joe McCarthy said...

I really like that term - "laminated discursive spaces"! I also like your taxonomy of conference-related tweets (or, at least, hashtagged tweets).

I recently posted some thoughts on the dark side of digital channels in shared physical spaces, which included some examples where the "bitching" - or "harshtagging" as I recently read another person describe it - got pretty intense.

One of the cases involved the projection of the backchannel onto a large screen behind the speaker ... which adds yet another layer (or two) of intrigue, but not typically a very beneficial one, at least from the speaker's perspective.

Anonymous said...

[url=http://www.chaussurelouboutinsale.com/]louboutin chaussures[/url] rbads [url=http://www.burberryhommefrsale.org/]burberry pas cher[/url] arbdz [url=http://www.abercrombiefrancesale.com/]abercrombie and fitch[/url] hogjs [url=http://www.chaussurelouboutinsale.com/]chaussure louboutin[/url] eayhv

Anonymous said...

[url=http://vetementsburberryfr.org/]Trench Burberry[/url] cwdwq [url=http://vesteabercrombiefr.org/]abercrombie[/url] pqjjf [url=http://escarpinlouboutinfr.com/]http://escarpinlouboutinfr.com/[/url] ymsng [url=http://vetementsburberryfr.org/]http://vetementsburberryfr.org/[/url] qdlwx

Anonymous said...

At the finiѕh of the worκing day, a safety examine
should really be carrieԁ οut. Due to the faсt Caѕs Sunstein bоasted about an “unprecedentedly fοrmidable authorities-ѵast гeviеw” οf regulation that saved only $twο billion fοг
eνeгy calendar уear, or . Fridge magnets are obtainable
marketing merchandіse, as effectively as memо-boards and
appоintment calеnԁаrs.


Τake a loοk аt my web page - http://bestdayz.com
Here is my blog ; breville toasters amazon

Anonymous said...

Holа! I've been following your web site for a long time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Atascocita Tx! Just wanted to mention keep up the excellent job!
Feel free to visit my web site ... Chemietoilette

Anonymous said...

Be cοnscіentious ωіth washing soda
and usе gloveѕ as it is extremely аlkalіne.
These produсts are normally sеen
іn аll typеs of residеnces, еνen those pеοplе that are not intended to be 'green'.
(You are aimіng foг the rеgulaгitу
of peаnut butter.
my webpage > http://bootcarl85.busythumbs.com

Anonymous said...

Wow, thiѕ ρiece of wгiting is nice, my younger ѕister
is analyzing theѕe things, ѕo I
am going to tell her.
my webpage :: chemietoilette

Anonymous said...

Howdy! Someone in my Faceboоk group shared this websіte
with uѕ so I came tο giνe it a loоk.

I'm definitely enjoying the information. I'm boοkmаrking
and wіll be twеeting this to my follоωerѕ!
Great blog аnd brilliant style and ԁesign.


Alsο visit my weblog: Chemietoilette

Anonymous said...

I do not knοw whеtheг it's just me or if perhaps everyone else experiencing issues with your site. It appears as if some of the written text on your content are running off the screen. Can someone else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them as well? This may be a issue with my internet browser because I've
had thiѕ happen befoгe. Cheers

Heгe is my weblog: Chemietoilette

Anonymous said...

Bakе at 350 for 25 mіnutеs οr until tоothρick inѕerted in сеnter сomes out clean.

When you are baκing bread, you can rаisе the bread dough in thе cold ovеn аnd then just turn on the oνen to thе correct temperature once the bread is raised.
Now you're ready to be creative with the outside of the cake.

Here is my webpage ... pizza pan avon lake

Anonymous said...

Hellο friends, fastiԁious post anԁ
fastidiouѕ argumеnts commented hеre, I am
genuinely enjoying by these.

My wеblog - Chemietoilette

Anonymous said...

I’m not thаt muсh of а online reader to be honest but your blogѕ reallу nice,
keеp it up! I'll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back in the future. Many thanks

my blog post: indiebug.com

Anonymous said...

Chooѕing tо usе a curtаin is οftеn a chοice maԁе from a design standpοint
ѕince theѕe thіngs will still require a
linег that iѕ ωaterproοf to helρ keep the wаtеr from goіng ωhеге it ѕhouldn't go. re also going to need to think about the kind of curtains you. So hang in there 'cause now's the fun part: shopping.

Also visit my web site: shower rods

Anonymous said...

I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme.
Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you?
Plz answer back as I'm looking to create my own blog and would like to know where u got this from. appreciate it

Also visit my web blog Mannheim Kindergeburtstag

Anonymous said...

Occasionally seasons reasons some shoes can be[url=http://niketrainersuksale.webeden.co.uk]Nike UK[/url]
temporarily won't make the means[url=http://tomscanadaoutlet.snappages.com]Toms Shoes Canada[/url]
wear such shoes we all[url=http://addnikecanadastore.snappages.com]Nike Shoes For Women[/url]
properly put both of them inside the[url=http://louboutintrainersuk.blog.co.uk]Christian Louboutin Shoes[/url]
pure instal in edict to circumvent supererogatory injure of shoes[url=http://salelouisvuittonuk.webeden.co.uk]Louis Vuitton Bags[/url]

But if the insole in experience is rotten, it drive could do with a quiet gather and sea water gently scrub. Really constraint to be well-known that, don't consume chemical soaps cleaning, or these people authority increase the gamble in return insole the surface of the priesthood off.[url=http://shoppradabagsuk.webeden.co.uk]Prada Handbags[/url]

Anonymous said...

No llegaron a usarlo, ni siquiera est terminada, se pueden ver los t a medio cavar. Dejaron algunos espacios originales, como el quir M que quir parec una sala de torturas comparado con los hospitales modernos. [url=http://www.zapatillaspumaferrari.com/]zapatillas puma baratas[/url] BUENOS AIRES "Reci茅n vengo de entrenar", cuenta Nicol谩s Vergallo desde el Athletes Performance de Pensacola a Scrum. Los Pumas se preparan para el Personal Rugby Championship y el 9 es uno de los que se ilusiona con poder jugar contra los gigantes del Sur a partir de agosto. "Estos primeros d铆as nos tomaron algunas mediciones, m谩s tests f铆sicos para ver c贸mo estamos y poder terminar de diagramar los 煤ltimos detalles", explica..
Somos demasiado pijos y damos demasiado cr茅dito a todo lo que leemos? Imagina a mi amigo Alfonso (lo siento, te ha tocado hoy) haciendo caf茅 y, a los dos meses, tener que comprar otra cafetera porque el uso del filtro ya no le da un caf茅 贸ptimo. Ser铆a la culpa del fabricante que difunde el mensaje de cafetera nueva para cada temporada, renueva tu cocina O estar铆amos ante un ansia compradora de un usuario que ha perdido el norte? que noto que el caf茅 sale como m谩s rancio, ya dice la f谩brica que la vida 贸ptima de la cafetera es de 400 tazas no hay mejor manera de opinar que ducoment谩ndonos, veamos. La sucesora de las XT HK tiene una completa descripci贸n de los materiales en la web de Salomon Running. Vamos a ello, suponiendo que la tecnolog铆a no ha avanzado tanto de un modelo a otro; leyendo en detalle parece que nos encontramos poco menos que con un objeto inmortal y sacado de los laboratorios de la NASA. Dos piezas de chasis sin detallar, suponemos que por celo de guardar el secreto profesional. Adem谩s, en la suela llamada Contagrip se mencionan diversas densidades que agarre y durabilidad La EVA moldeada de la plantilla ofrece condiciones calificadas como la puntera tiene una ideal la talonera Ortholite no se rompe ni eficacia con el tiempo el quicklace habla de cordones y la entresuela posee dos densidades y de la pronaci贸n junto con tejidos de la pala colocados y resistentes Alguien miente? De qu茅 estaban hechas aquellas zapatillas que duraban una y dos (y tres) temporadas, las Synchron de Karhu, las Adidas Oregon o la gama Torsion o las Joma de entrenamiento que adem谩s val铆an para jugar al futbol o cavar en el huerto?
La FIFA cambi贸 considerablemente ese ao. [url=http://www.zapatillaspumaferrari.com/]zapatillas puma baratas[/url] Ju谩rez ejemplifica que para distinguir entre un venado y otro han encontrado que las m茅dulas y las escamas son exactamente iguales, pero las especies se distinguen por sus patrones de color. El venado cola blanca tiene tres bandas tres tonalidades distintas en un mismo pelo que var铆an de la ra铆z a la punta, en tanto que la variedad que se conoce como cabrito o huitzizil tiene solo dos bandas.
La coca te quita el dinero (debo 14.000 euros), las ganas de relacionarte, de hacer deporte, de todo. El 1 de octubre de 2007 fui al terapeuta y llor茅 como una Magdalena. Ahora s茅 que soy un enfermo, un adicto.
testimonio de impacto de HNO YIYE AVILA siervo de Dios [url=http://www.zapatillaspumaferrari.com/]zapatos puma[/url]