» Project 365 Marie's E-learning and Digital Cultures Blog

Project 365

November 3, 2010 by Marie Leadbetter

Auroville

Prior to starting my ethnographic immersion in Project 365, I first saw Sibylle Ratz’ Enthography of Sleeping Cats. It’s a really brilliant piece, I laughed so much, both from Sibylle’s deadpan delivery and from her tales of strange behaviour i’ve seen in others before.

I have put together a little video about Project 365. This was a real challenge as i’ve never done this before, so excuse the jumpy qualities!

So…is Project 365 a community? I would say that firstly it depends on your definition of community, and if it is the same as Clari’s, then yes, Project 365 is a community.

Comparing it to the Sleeping Cats group, however, it is very different. There is no active moderator, and really, no moderation. There are thousands of members uploading pictures each day – if you don’t make a point of adding someone as a friend, you may not find their pictures again. There is an odd balance, too, as though in the discussion forums people don’t talk about their personal lives, their photographs can be really personal. Connections are made between people who like the look of each others pictures or lifestyle.

I think the tone of a community depends on what it is for. I liked Sibylle’s conclusion that ‘Sleeping Cats’ was an escapism, taken very seriously by the person who created it. People seem to see Project 365 as a tool for broadening their worlds – both in terms of skills; getting feedback from others, being part of something that ‘makes’ them take a picture a day, forcing them to be creative and seeing other people’s photography.

I think if the community was moderated in the way that Sleeping Cats is, I would find it hard to be a part of it. Even if I wanted to do the project. Choosing to be a part of an online community because of it’s ethos made me think of Auroville – the universal city in the making pictured above. Auroville has a vision, and it’s inhabitants sign up to contributing to it. I hadn’t noticed before looking for that picture, that Auroville itself has concerns about online communities….that in sharing knowledge, culture is being eroded…

We claim that today’s world is a global village, because technological progress has made our earth very small, and news can instantly reach every inhabitant of the earth through the highroad of information. But there is the fear that this global village culture may erase the diverse cultures of the earth; indeed it is argued that there is already an immense drive towards uniformity of life habits and uniformity of knowledge.

It’s the first time i’ve really seen increased knowledge & understanding of the world around you put across as a potentially bad thing…

Posted in Uncategorized | 106 Comments

106 Responses to “Project 365”

on 06 Nov 2010 at 2:36 pm1 Sharon Boyd

I laughed when watching Sibylle’s “Sleeping Cats” presentation too – so I’m with you on that! Your presentation on YouTube is fab – I haven’t done anything like that before, so I think it’s superb, I’m very impressed.

I also laughed when you spoke about taking photos when alone, so you don’t have to explain why you’re taking photos of your soup – I got caught standing in a carpark last week when someone asked me why I was standing around trying to get a good shot of the rook colony (“They’re just crows!?”)

I’m on blipfoto, but I’ve never managed to get to the one-a-day photo. I don’t have a phone that takes photos and I think I’ll have to rectify that! The comment you had about the feeling of letting people down if an image isn’t loaded, that the group, or members of the group, are expecting it, really brought home the feeling of community to me, coupled with the connection through image which I think is, as you say, incredibly personal and speaks for itself and differently to each person.

I understand what you say about being part of a group with highly restrictive moderation. I love the excitement when I get a comment on blipfoto – as you say, if I don’t follow them, I may never see their images again, but even that fleeting visit enables you often to see your own images in a different way – the community feedback.

I hadn’t heard of Auroville before, but it is an interesting comment you make. Back at the beginning of the ethnography section, I attended a concert by a Japanese taiko drumming band and afterwards checked out their website, complete with YouTube videos Even though I know I can be a friend of the band online, follow their work, their own ethos, on absorbing the inspiration they receive from other nationalities to add to their own creativity without diluting their own culture, I think is important here, and something I reflected on in one of my weekly reviews. Diversity can inspire and enhance creativity without being at the expense of culture, if we take time to appreciate and understand our own culture first – a patchwork rather than a melting pot maybe?

Thank you – this is brilliant! So much to think about
on 07 Nov 2010 at 9:38 am2 Alison Johnson

Hi Marie great insight to your community. I enjoyed your observations very much and your comparison to a previous ethnography worked very well.

Many of the elements you highlight I think play out in my community too – about adding a image, or creation and about choosing to be a part of an online community because of it’s ethos

I laughed over Syblls cats too including the tone of the voice over intentionally used! Great read and as Sharon says – lots to think about!
on 07 Nov 2010 at 9:45 am3 Alison Johnson

ps. based on the fact that you cant make a community, a community makes itself – project 365 is a community because, as you record in the video, it thinks of itself as such.

Ali
on 07 Nov 2010 at 11:38 pm4 James Lamb

Hello Marie,

I liked your study, including the montage feel to the video. I’ve been really impressed with how bold some of our group have been in presenting their ethnographies with a strong emphasis on visuals telling the story rather than words. I wasn’t quite as brave!

Your study (and some earlier posts by Michael) have made me re-think Flikr. Previously, I’d only really seen it as a bit of free webspace for storing photos. Obviously I was aware that it could be used for sharing images, but didn’t imagine it could be conducive to such collective activity as the 365 project.

In the course of your study, did you come happen to find out whether, when Flikr was created, it was intended to serve as a place for communities to develop, or was it primarily seen as a place for the individual?

Thanks again. Nice mug tree btw.

James
on 08 Nov 2010 at 10:38 pm5 Marie Leadbetter

@Sharon Thanks! Your quote about Diversity is spot-on! I recommend getting a camera phone for ease of picture taking. I used to be a bit annoyed about how bad the iPhone camera was, until I discovered the Hispstamatic App, which makes bad look arty! In this case, i’ve adapted a real world activity based on convenience & technological capability. Is this good? I’m not sure yet..!

@Alison – yes, I have no doubt it’s a community. It’s definitely different to some others, though. It’d be interesting I think to look at different types of connections between people using technology & what facilitates them…

@James I’m not sure about Flickr! With a lot of 2.0 sites there seems to be a chicken or egg type conundrum. I noticed at one stage that Facebook had turned itself a bit Twitterlike in format – now it seems to have swung the other way, twitter now cluttering up it’s front page with suggestions of who else you should follow.

As long as I have used Flickr, it has been a place for sharing pictures, but for the longest time I only understood its use as ‘for sharing pictures with friends (i.e. these pictures are taken by someone I know and am interested in). I remember Flickr Maps & thinking it was amazing that it was so vast – but it seemed almost too vast to just start delving into. Using it to share with others via groups, under shared rules and understandings seems to make this world smaller & more manageable, while broadening horizons (somewhat) at the same time.
on 09 Nov 2010 at 5:11 pm6 Siân Bayne

I thought this was great Marie, and the Cat Power song the perfect soundtrack. It’s funny because I heard 365 being analysed at a recent event I went to on Literacy in the Digital University, where David Barton was discussing his own research on the project – http://ling.lancs.ac.uk/profiles/David-Barton/ – I don’t think he’s published anything on it as yet but I’ll keep an eye out and share anything I find with you.

I think the ethnography did a great job of drawing out the emotional commitment people make to this particular community and the power of self-moderation – it was fascinating the way people embraced the one-a-day rule while also seeming to enjoy the power to break it. This theme of moderation, hierarchy and control is coming over really strongly in so many of the ethnographies.

Anyway, loved it – thanks!
on 09 Nov 2010 at 10:04 pm7 Sibylle

Hi Marie,

Sian and Jen sent me the link to this page and I’m really excited to find you quoting my work! I’d nearly forgotten about this – it’s all coming back now.
I really enjoyed your slideshow. It just shows how diverse flickr is – this is such a different group and the photos are so varied and interesting.

Good luck with the rest of the module and also the photography!
Sibylle
on 10 Nov 2010 at 7:16 pm8 Marie Leadbetter

@Sian – Thank you, that’s really interesting! He’s a local!

@Sibylle – thanks! I am still doing project 365 and will one day get a pic of a sleeping cat in there, in your honour
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