For many years, human have asked themselves weather is it only us in this galaxy or is there any other world out there. Although the answer they were expecting is expected to come from somewhere out of earth but in time, indirectly humans have created another world on earth itself. This world is called the digital or virtual world. This world however does not consist of any access physically to it neither made from physical aspect such as soil bricks, sand and water. This world is made solely through the development of humans all this years by developing new technologies to make their lives easier. This virtual world is made by many digital elements and two of such elements are networks & information. Networks are created to share information between humans. There is a vast amount of information that could be found in the internet and networks are created in the process of uploading, downloading & altering the information’s.
According to Stadler, information in the virtual world is controlled by two things which is flows and nodes. Every information is sent to the nodes through the flows and the nodes acts as a centre to go through by the information which will then in return will sent to its specific destination or recipient. The flow does only becomes a stream for the information to flow but also acts as a filter or rocks which process through the information and does some changes in necessary. Base on my understanding, I could see that both nodes and flows are mutually interdependent. Both need each other to make sure the network relationship in the virtual world is consistently connected and becomes better.
The nodes however although stabilizes the flow of information and endow a certain consistency and continuity to the environment, they are themselves subject to the dynamics of the environment. The patterns are the four basic dimensions of information ecology:
• interdependency
• change
• time-boundness
• differentiation
(Stadler, F.)
1) Interdependency
All the nodes that are available in the ecology environment are connected to one another. Thus it creates an interdependent relationship among one another that allows the sharing of information to happen. Through the connection that is done by nodes, everything seems to be possible in the virtual world such as communicating, sharing information & getting connected.
2) Change
The only thing that dosent change in this world is changes itself. In the ecology environment, change occurs very often in the information which indirectly changes the whole nature of the ecology. As the information goes through various nodes, it reshapes itself according to the changes done. These changes would then have different impacts on the people that deal with it. As stated above, the changes that occur here has no end and it changes continuously because the only thing that does not change in this world is change itself.
3) Time-boundness
Time is a very crucial factor in the ecology environment. Everything has to be done fast in today’s world or you may end up crawling behind just because you delayed a few minutes. However the time factor totally depends on few factors such as nodes and flow and the purpose of the information that is going to be used. For example a journalist may need an information as fast as possible but that is not the case of a college student trying to access to an online comic.
4) Differentiation
The nodes and flow survives as long as it makes a different. By being different, they seem to stand out and catch the attention needed. Thus changes occur frequently and thus make difference to stand out in the network world. In the network world, although ell the nodes are connected, but for survival purpose its every nodes for itself. Thus to make sure to survive, the nodes need to make a difference frequently to stay in the network for a long time.
Hello Kiru
ReplyDeleteA very well break down of the topic you have written here. I agree with you that the Digital/virtual world is just like the galaxy. A world exists by itself with full of mystery. Yet, we are interdependent on each other. Without us, there won't be even an existence of such a world called the virtual/digital world. Also, because the demands are high and the needs are clear and unavoidable, we are depended on it to work and deliver information for us by making full use out of it.
Hi Kiru,
ReplyDeleteI like your this statement "This world is called the digital or virtual world. This world however does not consist of any access physically to it neither made from physical aspect such as soil bricks, sand and water." We cannot touch and see the cyberspace physically but we are in there. It is big and border-less, just like the galaxy which fulls of various information and interaction. Furthermore, we widely use Internet to do work, education, communication, and even for entertainment. Certain people cannot live without the networks too. They have to log in their Facebook or other social networking sites and they treat it as a daily work. See, Internet and networks are important in nowadays.
Hey macha
ReplyDeleteI like this post very short but to the point. The network or cyberspace is vast and it is out there for us to explore. We more or less often depend on the internet nowadays for everything, from assignments to getting connected with friends. And is that such a change that we really see the internet as the new frontier, information comes like that with a click of a mouse and there is so much information that every bit is different.