Lifestream 3
My perception of the lifestream is undergoing a constant change and as it is being felted to use a rhizome-related metaphor (Bayne, 2004). First I saw it as a mere aggregating tool. Thanks to Carol’s post, I saw it’s something richer than just a piece of software recording my online activity (like a kind of an electroencephalograph). Her reference to streaming as writing struck me initially as odd but having thought of it I can see parallels between the lifestream and an ‘extended text’. There is an underlying structure, vaguely shaped by the module themes and discussions and the seemingly chronological order of releasing the feeds into the stream with the most recent ones at the top; an element of striation? Simultaneously though, there is still room for ‘lines of flight’ in form of acts de/re-territorialisation, smoothness and unbounded liquidity as well as multimodality (various forms of communications – from shreds of informal conversations to more formal writings – and modes -from text through visuals to mash-ups . This rhisomatic take on the lifestream was taken even further by the subsequent comments made by Jen on the active role of the software in how the stream presents itself to the author (me) and the audience. There is an apparent diffusion of power over the meaning-creating process – ‘writing’ and ‘reading’ become more participatory, a positively disruptive experience, enhanced even more when you think of the technology being an agent and stakeholder in the process.
Lifestream Spiral