A Themed Life!
 |
| Image retrieved from: http://www.sanddollarpress.com |
Horror, Romance, Action and Comedy; these
are all different types of genres that are viewed as popular novel themes that
readers just love sinking their teeth into! Reading a thrilling fantasy book
sometimes may be more interesting than reality.
Genre is known as another terminology for
the word category: music, film, literacy and video games are just a selection
of human interaction activities that use different forms of genres. Through
writings, genres can be seen as another way of expressing yourself by using
different styles and forms to gain a form of identity. (Van Luyn, 2013) I
believe genre is quite important; it gives a sense of understanding towards a
sentence. A sentence can contain many
different meanings however, if it is known what form of genre the writing is
gives the reader a more specific region of imagination.
This has made me become quite fascinated in
the idea of writing in different genres; making me wonder if it is common to
write in genres virtually. This week I have observed my facebook friends quite
loosely and noticed that a few people had an occurring pattern.
I discovered that multiple genres were
scattered everywhere across my computer screen. The users that are in
relationships would constantly post romantic statuses. The users that are known
to be quite hilarious in reality were constantly posting jokes and funny
photos. I also noticed the users that are physically fit were constantly
posting gym ‘selfies’ and progress updates. By viewing this, I realised that people lived
a theme life and allow that to be known through their facebook, in a sense of a
diary form.
Mcneill (2011) expresses that journals have
developed throughout time and have gained a form of virtuality. Blogs and
social networking sites have become a new form of personal writing. He says “New
Diarists” are staying traditional. However, the virtual world is more
entertaining and keeps us more connected through allowing us to post photos,
comment, view other peoples profiles that can be classified as their diaries
and giving us the opportunity to express ourselves in an way we can through
whatever virtual form we choose.
Reference List
Van Luyn. A. (2013)-BA1002: Our Space, Networks, Narrative and the Making of Place, lecture 6: Power [Power Point Slides]. Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au
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.319). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.
Very well written post Kiara. I like the way you describe genre on Facebook as a ‘themed life’ that dictates the narrative of a virtual identity. I too have noticed this pattern of ‘scattered’ genres among my friends. McNeill (2011) states that diaries “seamlessly absorbs, sponge-like, the functions and audiences of other forms…in order to serve the needs of the individual diarist” (p. 316). This is particularly evident on Facebook where self-expressive writing allows the user to share the information they consider important to their identity, yet it also allows users to omit or disassociate certain things that could change their established narrative.
ReplyDeleteThe original form of the diary provided a private avenue to record your personal thoughts and feelings with no intended audience, whereas the Facebook adaptation (Time-line) is a public forum to which audiences can contribute to your writing and thus change the genre of ‘What’s on your mind?’ (McNeill, 2011, p. 316).
References
McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0?. A Genre Moves from Page to Screen. Language and New Media (pp. 313-323). New Jersey: Hampton Press Inc.