Skip to main content

The Culture of Connectivity - Jose Van Dijck - Chapter 3



In chapter 3 JVD, tackles Facebook. 

In this chapter he explores the created norm of sharing. He argues that this is an evolving norm, and through the popularity and size of Facebook, this platform is most responsible for this contribution to the culture of connectivity. 

In terms of the technology of sharing there are two aspects. The first is connectedness and the other is connectivity. Connectedness are the traits you are familiar with. All the things that link you to those around you on the website, Connectivity is the sharing of your user data with some third party. 

One particularly interesting topic is Facebooks creation of the Like button. This feature plays into the connectivity of sharing while appearing as an example of the other. On the surface when you hit the like button on goods or products it shows up on your friends feed and therefore seems you are sharing your interest within the site. However, when you click on the Like button there is also a sharing of data between the products site and FB that is recorded and added into the algorithms so that both sites can tailor the experience for the user of what new information is presented. Through this Like button, the norm of third part sharing was acceptable, where other attempts had failed.

 The chapter continues discussing how FB has developed over the years, transitioning from a database of personality to a narrative/timeline style presentation of self/identity. JVD discusses how this is all ties into the user/owner power struggle between connectedness and connectivity. How this dynamic is a "balancing act between stimulating users' activity and exploiting it; its [Facebook] success depends on customers' willingness to contribute data and to allow maximum data mining" (p.64).

Ultimately this chapter describes the powerhouse that is Facebook and how it has had major lasting  contributions to the development of social media and the connected culture that uses it. Even if it should lose its popularity, the effects will be noticeable for quite some time.

Comments

  1. Danielle DavisMay 31, 2020 at 10:02 AM

    I agree with your last statement about FB's empowering community connectivity. I had never thought the addition of the like button as an innovation of connection. I would be curious to know more about how the dynamics of personal narratives and timelines are negotiated by users on other platforms.

    ReplyDelete
  2. LeeJune 3, 2020 at 3:43 PM

    Thanks for this summary. The distinction between connectivity and connectedness is intriguing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stephen BunnJune 8, 2020 at 10:15 AM

    Thanks Danielle and Lee, for checking my blog out! It's always nice to see someone interested!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Culture of Connectivity - Jose Van Dijck - Chapter 2

In chapter 2, van Dijck gets a little more technical. He presents definitions for various aspects of the social media construction.  Technologies included: data, metadata, algorithm, protocols, interfaces, and defaults He broke down the concepts of users and usage: " Implicit participation is the usage inscribed in the engineer's design by means of the coding mechanisms" (p.33).  " Explicit use refers to how real or actual users interact with social media" (p.33). He discuses content (text, music, or videos) and how these display the opinions of the users, the things they are interested in or want, and other social trends and consumer practices.  He describes ownership of the social media site, governance (mechanisms, communication and data traffic management), and business models and intentions of the site and how these 3 things work with the previous 3 things (content, user agency, and content) to create online sociality. Ultimately the focus of this chapter...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Big Sleep - Book Suggestion

Reading has always been a bit of an escape for me. As long as I can remember, I've been obsessed with fiction and the ability to get away from my present and go pretty much anywhere. Even as I am pursuing my Phd, I find that I am constantly buying (odd for someone with a Library degree) the next novel that I want to read. I almost always have a novel on me, I think I really picked the habit up when I moved to New York and realized there is so much time to read throughout the day that you might miss. Taking the train, waiting rooms, random periods when you are in between tasks, etc. So since then, I find that I get through more novels that expected, even though I'm in a period of study that requires a lot of reading. I've been on a bit of a noir kick. I love the old movies and I've discovered that some of my favorites are based on novels and that the author has written many more. I've always loved The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and found out tha...
2 comments
Read more

The Culture of Connectivity - Jose Van Dijck - Intro and Chapter 1

One of the adventures I've decided to take on during this course is an additional reading of a book titled: The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media . The book is written by Jose Van Dijck (2013) with the aim to:  "offer an analytical model to elucidate how platforms have become central forces in the construction of sociality, how owners and users have helped shape and are shaped by this construction; in other words, it wants to enhance a historical understanding of social media's impact on the everyday lives of families" (p.23). She begins with an introduction of social media and defines it as a group of online applications, inspired by the ideology and foundations of Web 2.0, that focus on the generation of content by its users. The ideology behind Web 2.0 tech is focused on connectedness and a participatory culture. He identifies several types of social media: social network sites (SNS), user-generated content (UGC), trading and marketing sit...
1 comment
Read more