you link, you are connected, you can be found, and your citation can be used against you Very true, and I hadn't thought of that. I guess you have to decide time and again while posting which is more valuable to you, being recognized as part of a larger discussion and potentially encounter wank and other opinions that frustrate you to no end, or posting your equivalent of "Why are they carrying that stupid rainbow flag?" to a more closely knitted group of friends who might explain more patiently.
But let me just say, I really appreciate that in fandom, we have at least some kind of choice in the matter. In university, especially in first and second year, when my knowledge was little and my circle of friends even more so, I have often found myself at the recieving end of pitying/angry/dissapointed etc. looks and comments (academia's version of public shaming and dogpiling) just because I asked a question out of curious ignorance. But if you want to know, mostly, you have no choice, especially if your friends study other things than you do.
So yes, I think both forms of discussions have equal value, or rather, what is more valuable should be decided anew with every post. From an aca-fan perspective, link round-ups are very helpful and finding the silent parts of a discussion can be a pain in the arse, but that doesn't make them any less valuable for analysis once you've found them.
how do you know you've actually collected the discussion? In my opinion, we should never delude ourselves that we can read all aspects of any given discussion, know all perspectives on a given topic; online fandom is just too vast for that. Even if you do a halfway decent job of collecting English meta, what about non-English meta on the same topic? What about related discussions on related topics on non-fannish blogs? etc.
What if your introduction is an unlinked post, giving the impression it starts and stops here, what does that do to how we see the post? To me? I might see it as an unconnected opportunity for discussion; far more likely: When I'm through with it, I'd google keywords or take a look at recent metafandom posts if the topic interests me and I have the time^^
no subject
Date: 23 Jan 2011 03:25 pm (UTC)Very true, and I hadn't thought of that. I guess you have to decide time and again while posting which is more valuable to you, being recognized as part of a larger discussion and potentially encounter wank and other opinions that frustrate you to no end, or posting your equivalent of "Why are they carrying that stupid rainbow flag?" to a more closely knitted group of friends who might explain more patiently.
But let me just say, I really appreciate that in fandom, we have at least some kind of choice in the matter. In university, especially in first and second year, when my knowledge was little and my circle of friends even more so, I have often found myself at the recieving end of pitying/angry/dissapointed etc. looks and comments (academia's version of public shaming and dogpiling) just because I asked a question out of curious ignorance. But if you want to know, mostly, you have no choice, especially if your friends study other things than you do.
So yes, I think both forms of discussions have equal value, or rather, what is more valuable should be decided anew with every post. From an aca-fan perspective, link round-ups are very helpful and finding the silent parts of a discussion can be a pain in the arse, but that doesn't make them any less valuable for analysis once you've found them.
In my opinion, we should never delude ourselves that we can read all aspects of any given discussion, know all perspectives on a given topic; online fandom is just too vast for that. Even if you do a halfway decent job of collecting English meta, what about non-English meta on the same topic? What about related discussions on related topics on non-fannish blogs? etc.
To me? I might see it as an unconnected opportunity for discussion; far more likely: When I'm through with it, I'd google keywords or take a look at recent metafandom posts if the topic interests me and I have the time^^