Hi everyone!
I thought I would share something that certainly relates to rhetoric, but doesn't quite get us into our readings yet.
I saw this article on Mashable today about a librarian, Donnelyn Curtis back at University of Nevada, Reno. I used to teach out at UNR and the library there was incredible. They actually called it a "Knowledge Center." Anyway, the article discusses how the librarian has set up historical Facebook profiles of students from the past, Joe McDonald and Leola Lewis. They include activities that would have been current to about the 1910s, which can inform other "Facebookers" about what life was like back then. And, other people on Facebook can "friend" them, interact with them, ask questions about life, and inquire into Nevada's history.
So, by embracing this digital platform, Curtis is not only reaching out to a Facebook audience, she is recreating history through the lens of Facebook. What does it mean to retell history in the style of Facebook profiles? Thoughts? Comments? Anyone going to friend them?
~Aaron
I'd follow them on twitter! Ha! This is an interesting way of spreading history and culture through a popular medium. Does she proactively request friends on Facebook as these past students? This goes back to the brief discussion we had in class about anonomitity. The credibility is hard to judge here, especially for whatever might be considered "standard dialogue" between facebookers.
ReplyDeleteI think that by creating a "simulation" where you are the friend of someone in the past, it helps us better understand not only the person, but the culture as well. History is constantly being recreated through reenactment. It is an easy way to learn. However, how far can we let the reenactment stray from the original and still learn accurate history?
ReplyDeleteNow that I think of it, the trial we had in class was very similar to this.
ReplyDeleteCool idea, but as the article suggests this really blurs the lines as to what is "real" in the digital world. This is a real librarian creating profiles and posting status updates about two real but long-deceased individuals based entirely on her own interpretation of the historical evidence..Kudos for getting students interested in history.....When Murphy says that it is not "written in stone that libraries will continue to exist," it really struck me. I never even considered the idea of a world without libraries before. But that raises another interesting question: How will libraries capture Facebook posts and other social media commentary for future generations to study and learn from?
ReplyDeleteThis is really cool! We could all kind of think of our Facebook/Twitter profiles as our own time capsules. Who knows, maybe future 521 students will be finding themselves studying how we used digital media.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great way to get kids interested in history, even if it is slightly skewd from reality. It is a great stepping stone, sparking interest in a subject and leading to further research.
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