Journal Response

           Mobility has really only changed writing in the way that it is spread out to other readers and the method that we choose to produce our writing. Instead of the traditional pen and paper or notebook, technology has enabled us to type out our thoughts and information we want to keep in our devices and given us the ability to share that piece of writing if we’d like, to a network of other people. Before mobility, it was difficult to share our writing with others because there wasn’t a fast way us sending it out. The fastest way would have been by the mail, but even that could take a few days to arrive to the destination. This has drastically improved the circulation of our writing and its spreadability.

Now with social media, it literally takes seconds to write something down (let’s say on twitter) and have that tweet posted to your profile and it will be sent to your followers and have the ability to be shared by hundreds of people within minutes. Also, with mobility there are different forms that the writing can be produced. For instance, there can be writing in the form of blog posts, regular texts, emails, chain letters, iMessages, and etc. There are so many forms of writing nowadays that most of us actually can talk to the same person in more than one form of medium at the same time. I’m guilty of doing this but sometimes I actually write to my friends through text messages and Snapchat messages at the same time, just because I can and almost always they’re completely different conversations.

 In addition to that, with the new technology we have, others have the ability to edit and comment on our writing on platforms online and social media sites. This has changed the way we produce our writing because we usually write the way we write depending on the audience and if others can comment on it, we tend to filter some things out or not write truly what we’d really like to say in written words.

DB Mobility

“…interlinked practices of investigating mobilities and mobilizing research techniques are ‘not just how people make knowledge of the world, but how they physically and socially make the world through the ways they mobilise people, object, information, and ideas.’ Just this statement alone shows that there is a clear and direct link between writing and mobility. Molz jumps right into discussing technologies in mobility such as GPS systems and MP3 players. He talks about how the influence of these systems play a huge role in our travels today; such as taking a walking tour using your phone or crashing on the couch of a person you met in a discussion board. Blog updates allow other people to virtually travel with them, giving the entire process of writing a whole new spin. I would say that the most drastic influence mobility has on writing is the audience writing reaches through extensive mobility and the timespan in which it does so. Connectivity, collaboration, and the algorithmic logic of search becomes more broad when travellers are allowed to collaborate with their friends, allowing the process to be more interactive as a while when mobility is introduced. “Mobile modes of connecting, collaborating, and searching thus constitute not only ways of knowing, but a new empirical realm of mobile social life.” If Molz concludes that mobility introduces knowledge through connectivity, then it would have the same effect on writing as well. Writing becomes more knowledgeable through connectivity, which is increased through mobility.

Journal Response #5

I really liked Jennie Germann Molz' "Connectivity, collaboration, search" because of how, instead of just saying why things should be achieved, she reflected on how to create the methods and environment that allow for your desired goal to be achieved. I think the points that Molz considers regarding mobility and knowability and their relationship are important and relevant for those like us who are learning to produce texts in mediums that operate differently, more and less effectively. I especially like the idea that Molz suggested about a social search engine. This would be unique for a search engine because it would supply the searcher with videos that have been shared, saved, or commented on by other users (maybe friends?). Also, instead of showing the websites of big corporations that pay large sums for Google's front-page advertising, users searching for content would be able to find the content that is most relevant to them and their aspirations. I think the example about travelers that she employed is very effective because of the assurance that readers can get simply from reading the helpful words of a stranger who has already traveled to some soon-to-be-visited land. I think that Molz makes a good point when she mentions the spreading of knowledge through "distributed structures" (i.e. travel-specific wiki projects). To me, these subject-dedicated platforms provide a good opportunity to acquire a dedicated audience, an group of people that anticipate the writer's work because they know what to expect and enjoy the content and quality of the text. Also, with a dedicated structure, your audience is likely to grow because, if your current audience enjoys the content you are sharing, they are likely to share it with some of their peers, and so on.

Mobility Blog Post

Writing is changed, altered and affected by many different factors. One particular way writing has changed is through the concept of mobility, or mobilization. The way that a text moves, or is spread throughout audiences and people, affects how it is interpreted and utilized. As words spread, they change with time and the people that encounter them. A work that is only read by a few people will be completely different than a work that is read by thousands. The concept of mobility is directly related and linked to the idea of circulation. I think this quote from the article is very interesting, it states: “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.”  I think that this quote accurately shows the way that mobility affects writing and also knowledge. The more a person sees and the more they are open to, the more their writing and knowledge will expand and grow. Mobility and the movement of the writing, but also the writer itself has the ability to completely change the work. In my opinion, the more a person travels or moves around, the more they want to. The mobility of a work exponentially increases the future mobility of it. The author addresses how mobility and knowledge have evolved, and specifically how they have evolved together. Travel is often viewed as a path to knowledge, the more that someone travels, the more knowledge they have the potential to gain. I believe that the more a person travels or moves, the more people they connect to, thus the growth of mobility directly increases the growth of connectivity. Going off of this, one could also say that connectivity leads to collaboration, so mobility helps to increase collaboration, even though it may not be related directly. I think that many things help to evolve and transform the idea of writing, and one of the most important is mobility, even though it may not be the one most people think of first.

Journal 5

Mobility is everything in today’s society. Products are constantly being redesigned and manufactured in order to become more mobile. For example, cellphones are becoming thinner and the same goes for tablets and laptops. Not only is mobility changing physically, but also in writing. For instance, mobility allows for the writer to create content and post it online for billions of people who have access to the Internet. Everywhere you look you can see someone with their head hunched over with their eyes glued to their phone. As Motz states in her writing, “Even while they are physically on the road, interactive travellers are moving through complex digitally connected geographies of email, websites, social networking sites, discussion boards, podcasts, mobile applications and ubiquitous computing.” Through the use of technology such as phones or tablets, people have access to all those things. These accessibilities allow for immediate communication between the writer and the audience. Facebook allows for users to comment directly on someone’s post and Twitter you can simply reply to a tweet or send them a direct message. Social mobility also allows for writers to collaborate with one another. With the assistance of blogs, chat rooms and discussion boards people are able to gain knowledge collaboratively as Motz writes, through a real-time sharing of stories, images and advice. This was not the case back then. Prior to advances in mobility, immediate discourse was not really available. Such as in newspapers or hand written letters, you would need time in order to receive a response or opinion on what you have written. Mobility has changed the writing process and has allowed us to connect with people from all over and gain knowledge much quicker than before.

Wirelessness

First off, I don’t think that mobility/wirelessness has affected writing as much as the proliferation of the change in the physical way we write. I think that the shift from pen to paper to typing away on QWERTY has changed writing more than the shift from a word processor to a MacBook Pro in Starbucks. Although it’s easier to get across ideas as quickly as they flow through my head when typing on a computer, there’s something therapeutic about organizing your thoughts on paper that can’t be achieved on a laptop. And beyond that, even viewing a scanned image of someone’s letter tells you more about the author than a transcript of the same text.

That being said, I think the wirelessness shift in our world has brought about an incredible increase in the spread of ideas, obviously. We take it for granted, though. It’s amazing how quickly I can attain information about literally anything, but I can’t say I’m amazed by it because it’s simply something I’ve grown completely accustomed to. In fact, I get frustrated when my phone won’t send a text message in less than five seconds. I mean really, think about how incredible it is that I’m first of all frustrated by something that trivial, but also that I’m frustrated that something is being sent to a satellite in space and back down to another person’s unattached wireless device on Earth and I’m annoyed that it doesn’t send quicker. (Disclaimer: that’s my very limited understanding of the way cellular text messaging works).

The spread of even complex ideas and incredible technology available brings about the paradox of how simple it is to access and spread these concepts. The mission statement for TedTalks is literally “Spreading Ideas.” And it really is that simple. We have the ability to access and expand our perspectives at every moment, however, unfortunately many of us (often myself included) are still scrolling through miles and miles of innocuous BS on social media. At least we can take solace in the fact that the opportunity is there, as it obviously was not even ten years ago.