Dr. Thornburg describes rhymes of history as a force that drives evolutions of technology by the impact of a technology of the past. The first example I can think of is scrapbooking. Scrapbooking of the past did not fully interest me as a participant, but I loved viewing the books of my friends and family member. I was typically impressed by their creativity and their passion as they continue enhancing their books using different visual arrangements of pictures, fonts, expressions, and memorable events.
I have seen scrapbooks evolve from my parent’s regular photo albums to completely inventive, creative scrapbooks to preprinted tools and now digital scrapbooks and social media. The concept of sharing pictures and milestones dates back to the 15th century, and commonplace books were termed during the Renaissance period. Slatten (2004) contends that Mark Twain was one of the biggest supporters of this pastime as evident of his patented series of scrapbooks in 1872.
The modern day scrapbooking can be found in digital websites such as www.webdocs.com as their claims include incorporating a variety of content and collaborative tools. Users’ scrapbooks can be viewed by the public or they may be private. Other forms of scrapbooking per se are those created in social media such as MySpace and Facebook. Although, I have not had experience with the scrapbooking of the past, I am one of those users who have created multiple albums and recorded countless memorable events using social media tools. If you have also engaged in this form of expression, you too are a “scrapebooker”.
~Wanda Ardoin-Bailey
Wanda-I hadn’t considered social media created on Facebook or MySpace as a form of scrapbooking until reading your blog, but it makes perfect sense. Especially with the programs offered to create different logos or “frames” to surround the photographs that may be uploaded to a page as well as the different icons and graphics that can also be inserted. This definitely puts a new spin on something that dates back centuries ago as you mentioned, by rekindling and getting people involved in a craft they may not have otherwise taken to without the digital concept involved.
ReplyDeleteThanks-Brandy
Hello Wanda,
ReplyDeleteYour discussion post has given me a different view of scrapbooks and scrapbooking. I had not viewed the photos albums on Facebook , MySpace, and other social media site as being in the scrapbook category. I can understand why the albums can be a form of scrapbooking. Technology has given an old tradition many different options to display photos to a larger audience.
v/r
Sullus
I love the comparison of scrapbook to social media. I've always compared it to quilting which is much the same. Memories, connections, and other such artifacts meshed together and put out in the open for others to share.
ReplyDelete