Academic article about DetroitYES

[Toka313]

I do research about the city and rhetoric, and thought that I'd share this with y'all. If you aren't a university student it's probably going to be difficult for you to get this article, but here's the citation/abstract. They be writing about YOU!

Critical Studies in Media Communication

Volume 29, Issue 1, 2012

DetroitYES! and the Fabulous Ruins Virtual Tour: The Role of Diffused Intertextual Production in the Construction of Alternative Cityscapes

Abstract

The following essay explores the role of intertextuality and interactivity in the construction of an “alternative cityscape” for the city of Detroit within a web community called DetroitYES! Using qualitative content analysis, we examined different portrayals of the city in [[1) the Fabulous Ruins of Detroit virtual tour found on the DetroitYES! website, and [[2) discussion threads posted by members of the DetroitYES! web community. The analysis revealed that the intertextual components of the virtual tour alluded to Detroit as a ruins similar to Athens and Rome, while members of the web community added their own images and information about the city through the interactive forums. The intertextual allusion imbued the city with a nostalgic history that transformed the abandoned industrial architecture into the lost city of a forgotten empire worthy of exploration, discussion, and debate. Such a nostalgic vision was constantly in flux as members of the web community challenged aspects of the virtual tour through discussion threads. The analysis demonstrates that the simultaneous use of intertextuality and interactivity within key aspects of a web community can create the potential for “diffused intertextual production,” which can build a brand of civic collaboration that re-imagines physical environments. In the case of Detroit and DetroitYES!, such diffused intertextual production allows for the generation of nostalgia and the shaping of architecture, which in turn influences a “participatory civic identity” for members of the online community, and their performances within Detroit.

[sumas]

As an MBA, that is the biggest piece of self serving crap I have read in years. Thanks for the laugh

[sumas]

Oops forgot to to get homey and say y'all. Thanks also for the comment that appears to imply we are all stupid. Haven't been this amused in years. Too much effort to be that pretentious but no doubt other forumers will have fun with this mini study

[canuck]

Wordiness is next to worthiness, maybe?

[Zacha341]

"intertextual"... my, oh my. We accept all superlatives. I think......

[DetroitPlanner]

snooooooooze

Why is it password protected? Author afraid someone is going to steal secrets?

[Hermod]

"A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, and signifying nothing."

[Honky Tonk]

"intertextual"... my, oh my. We accept all superlatives. I think......

Oh, TEXtual! I didn't have my glasses on. For a minute I thought.........

[gnome]

I think this was written by those guys from Bowling Green University who interviewed several forum members. I sat with them for a couple of hours and while I enjoyed the conversation, it became obvious they had a predetermined point-of-view about the City and the importance of this forum.

while the guys seemed pretty smart, too bad they never learned to write in english.

It has been my experience that every profession has its own jargon, and that folks within that profession use jargon to exclude others from their group. lawyers, doctors, marketing schmoes and even plumbers use language to self-identify each other. Usually the practice is defended by saying such language is more descriptive and breaks down complexities into shorthand that has meaning for the initiated.

For example, we have all heard the term Habius Corpus but it is mainly lawyers who know it means, "show me the body". Plumbers wouldn't be shocked by having to "sweat a nipple" or "squeeze the fernco" just as doctors fill their conversations with EKG, MRI etc.

the meaning of the reports's intertexuality is that it is not meant to be read by its subjects.

[Zacha341]

^^^ For sure... tell me about it Gnome. I've worked in education and sometimes the techno-babble and stuff-shirt talk can get thick, ponderous and pedantic... to pedestrian at the end - ironically.

[TKshreve]

When I get that feeling, I need __________ healing........

[Zacha341]

"Textual" healing... makes me feel so-ooo fine............ and it's good fo' me!

[Hermod]

Try using this to improve the impressiveness of your writing


http://www.sewallspoint.com/buzzphrase_generator.htm

[Baselinepunk]

I got the password protection thing through Wayne; it's not that the authors want to hide their document. WSU provides access to certain databases, etc to students and staff, and it looks to me that who ever posted the link was using one of those databases.

Next, I skimmed through the article -- lots of outdated source used for an academic paper like this. What I'm tired of is grad students or professors, coming up with terminology to describe something that already has a good enough description. These folks want to put their stamp on some new way of saying things; like a feather in their academic cap.

Most of the times; a cigar is just a freakin`cigar.

[Kathleen]

It's actually the publisher that is holding tight to their journal content, making the full text accessible only to authorized users through the publisher website or through a service like JSTOR. That's a very common practice for scholarly material.

Even in the Academic OneFile database, only the citation and author abstract; no full text was provided by the publisher.

[Toka313]

Yes, academic writing is not the same as a news report. Studies use jargon. Just thought I'd share it with you. I did not write this article. But ya, coming up with terminology does happen. For some reason, publishers think it's sexy to come up with new words/terms. From one of my conference papers I came up with "Discursive Annexation." [[That's when suburbanites say they're from Detroit when out of town and such..lol) It would be a great life if all of it could be super clear. Academia can be difficult that way.

Often when working in communication theory the sources can be a bit dated. Plus, it doesn't help that it can take years for a publication to go through. But it's always a valid criticism if things are too outdated.

[Baselinepunk]

Yep, I'm aware of all of that. I'll be finishing my second Masters at the end of this month, after completing my first Masters last month. I've been reading that type of stuff for over 8 years now, and that article is not the best written academic stuff I've seen.

Also, I didn't see where they informed subjects here that they were being observed; that's an ethical no no in my book.

Neat term you created; I've "had" to forge new terminology as well; however, the general rule of thumb that I've heard is that it is inappropriate to do this unless you are PhD level or above. I think it's bs but that's what I've been told.

[gnome]

BP - the subjects interviewed had to sign a release document. Maybe that fact didn't pop-up in their final draft, but they made it clear the recorded conversations were for inclusion in an academic paper.

they even showed up at the DYes picnic.

So, I don't have any issue with them on that point. They were upfront.

i do have an issue with their language but also and moreover, I have an issue with their conclusions.

i know of only one person who has consistently referred to our rotting buildings as akin to those in Rome or Athens and that person is Lowell. Now, maybe I am out of the classical architecture loop, but I have never heard anyone refer to the Train Station in such terms. East Berlin maybe, but not Athens, Rome or Ankor Wat.

The authors conclusions that forum members wax nostalgic about the good-ol-days is true in the historical threads, but rare it is when someone seriously proposes an actual retrenchment to the days of yore.

hence, from the small snippet supplied above, I would question their conclusions.

[Baselinepunk]

"BP - the subjects interviewed had to sign a release document. Maybe that fact didn't pop-up in their final draft, but they made it clear the recorded conversations were for inclusion in an academic paper.

they even showed up at the DYes picnic.

So, I don't have any issue with them on that point. They were upfront."

Good; however, that needs to be a part of the journal article so perhaps another strike against them.

"i do have an issue with their language but also and moreover, I have an issue with their conclusions.

i know of only one person who has consistently referred to our rotting buildings as akin to those in Rome or Athens and that person is Lowell. Now, maybe I am out of the classical architecture loop, but I have never heard anyone refer to the Train Station in such terms. East Berlin maybe, but not Athens, Rome or Ankor Wat."

I had a pretty extensive conversation last year with a historic preservationist with over 40 years of work, both domestic and global, and he used the same analogy of Rome/Athens and Detroit. And I've heard that comment made by others in the preservation field so I'm sure it's quite a common comment. I think it fits, personally. The only term I've heard in reference to the Train Station is "that fucking Matty is ...." , so ...

"The authors conclusions that forum members wax nostalgic about the good-ol-days is true in the historical threads, but rare it is when someone seriously proposes an actual retrenchment to the days of yore.

hence, from the small snippet supplied above, I would question their conclusions."

I completely agree with you. Unfortunately, for many years it's been pretty sexy for people who don't actually live here to bash Detroit, now it's sexy for them to try and figure out why Detroit is in the shape it's in, and to contextualize all of the pretty critters that live there [[no offense intended; just trying to express the type of lens that some view this area in).

I've live in and around the area my whole life. Up until I came across this website, I thought I knew absolutely everything about this area. Then, I found out how much I didn't know.

I love taking notes . . . .

[Toka313]

Any use on human subjects have to be approved at the university. It is not required to be included in a journal article. In fact, I've never seen that in my field's journals. It's assumed that there was approval to conduct the research if its been published.

[Zacha341]

No need to be obtuse...... just go for straight 'filler' text:

"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua..."

http://www.lipsum.com

Try using this to improve the impressiveness of your writing

http://www.sewallspoint.com/buzzphrase_generator.htm

[Lowell]

First off I want to make it absolutely clear that I greatly respect Josh Atkinson and Clayton Rosati for the sincerity and extent of their effort to glean the meaning of new media. I like them both admire them for their energy and intelligence.

That doesn’t mean that I may not disagree with all their methodology and thereby some of their conclusions. They are walking on new ground scientifically and academically, a social environment that has emerged only in recent years, and should be given our consideration and great latitude.

New media discourse requires new language, the same as in any other new area of science, and the phrase ' Intertextuality' [not theirs -- attributed to Barbara Warnick] is a natural outcome.

Intertextuality is, at its most basic level, an interplay among texts. How we understand and use texts depends on the texts we already know. After tracing a brief history of the concept of Intertextuality, and arguing that, on the Web, "all utterances depend on and draw from other utterances, and every expression is shot through with other competing and conflicting voices”…

So basically intertextuality is ‘threads and posts’ created by members of the forum in this case, a term that would be just as befuddling to one not familiar with forum culture. However it seems expandable to the panoply of text communications, hidden PM’s on the forum, IM’s, SMS messages and on and on. It is, no pun intended, textual intercourse and from my POV a useful and descriptive term.

Take into consideration that their works are academic, produced for academics and their rarified discussions, where the term would be well known and in no way considered wordy or aloof. As noted by Toka313 above, specialized language is both common and needed.

[Lowell]

Continuing...

They have shared three pieces derived from their studies, the abstracts of which are copied below.

I have responded to each with applause, minor corrections, and, particularly with the conclusions of the third, with my criticisms.

In our current research, we engaged in qualitative content analysis [[see Altheide, 1996; Mayring, 2000) of discussion threads on the DetroitYES! forums, as well as active interviews [[see Holstein & Gubrium, 1995) with eighteen members of the DetroitYES! web community in order to explore their use of the websites, their interactions with one another, and their performances in the city of Detroit. This provides much more insight into the web community and alternative cityscape than in the past research, as Atkinson and Rosati relied on textual analysis to explore both.

I have offered on two or three occasions the uses DetroitYES database to extract a random sampling of participants who they could privately contact using the email address on record for invitation to participate in a survey via third party survey service. [Note that DetroitYES member privacy would as always be strictly guarded.]

[Lowell]

Here are the three abstracts or summaries at the front of each article in chronological order of receipt. I do not feel at liberty or ease of copying the full articles. I don't think it would be fair to the authors as I believe these were not final versions.

My primary objection with all three is the reliance on 'qualitative content analysis’ and ‘textual analysis’ and the exclusion of ‘quantitative analysis’. IMO this has made their findings open to the charge of subjectivity and contrary to what quantitative analysis could reveal.

Abstract 1 - Performance and Maintenance of Standpoint within an Online Community
In the following essay, we explore the possibility for the expansion of the Audience Performance Paradigm to include the concept of “Standpoint Performance.” Specifically, we looked at an alternative cityscape constructed through diffused intertextual production as the site for such a performance. Using interviews and qualitative content analysis, we were able to demonstrate how some members of the DetroitYES! web community were able to construct a collective experience that allowed them to gain a voice within the oppressive environment of the contested cityscape of Detroit. In addition, our research also illustrated how there is a hierarchical community maintenance that was necessary for such performances to arise within the community.

Abstract 2 - Media Intervention in the Struggle Over Cityscape
Many scholars who research the concept of “media interventions” have alluded to alternative media research as the basis for understanding that topic. Specifically, they point to the audience empowerment associated with alternative media as a key component of media interventions. In order to bolster the literature concerning the media intervention we explicate the concept of diffused intertextual production that has emerged from past research concerning the DetroitYES! web community, and demonstrate how the concept constitutes a media intervention. In doing so, we effectively demonstrate three key characteristics of empowerment that emerges from diffused intertextual production: 1) text/audience fusion, 2) circumvention of elites, and 3) stability for dissident communities.

Abstract 3 - Racial Politics in Cyberspace: The Unexpected Potentials for Poaching Narratives and Building Bridges in an Online Community
The following essay explores the racial politics within an online community focused on the city of Detroit. Past research has demonstrated that the intertextual strategies utilized by the DetroitYES! community have built an alternative cityscape that changes the way people interact with the physical environment. In our research we engaged in a qualitative content analysis of different threads on the discussion forum, and we interviewed members of the community to illustrate racial politics in this virtual site. Our research illustrated administrative strategies utilized within the community used to close down discourse about race. On the surface, appeared to be authoritarian strategies that maintained white privilege. However, further research and analysis demonstrated how these strategies gave rise for the possibilities for poaching narratives and building bridges by minority communities.

[Lowell]

Finally an exchange regarding the third article. A couple of lines that refer to forum members and their identity were removed.

REQUEST EMAIL
Hi Lowell,

This is Josh Atkinson here. A few things that we wanted to run by you. First, we're in the process of publishing a chapter in an upcoming edited volume on media interventions. It's a rehash of an earlier permission for which you had given us permission to use images from the Fabulous Ruins tour and the forums. In this chapter, we use some different images, which you can find in the attached article called "josh intervention." I attached the article so that you could see which images we were asking to use. I've also attached a form from the book publisher that we would need for you to sign and fax or email back to us so that we could use those images in the book chapter. Would it be okay to use those images? If so, could you please sign and email or fax the form back to me? Just let me know if there are any problems or you need any info.

Also, there is another article attached under the name "JCI_Race." This is an article that we are working on for the Journal of Communication Inquiry. Like the previous article on standpoint theory, we've used your name in the manuscript. It's a little unavoidable as you are the one and only web administrator, and it would be all but impossible to maintain any anonymity for you. The article explores the racial politics of cyber communities. Since we directly cite you, we would ask that you take a look and see if you have any issues or input with the way that we have quoted you and used the information that you have given to us through your interviews. This one is a tad bit more sensitive...but should be a valuable contribution to the field.

That's a lot for this email. Thanks for any input. We look forward to hearing from you!

josh