If you read the titles of the countless blogs below me you will discover that I went against the social norm. Not only did I compose a unique title but I also threw out a four lettered curse word. I am not really looking to damn the leviathan in this post.I was simply trying to prove a point.
This Yellow blog is full of social norms. When composing titles or choosing words we students follow an invisible set of codes. These codes, enforced by the leviathan, constantly determine what we do and what we say. We play it safe; we stick to a straight line.
According to the SIDE theory it is easiest for me, the individual, to stray from the straight line when I am visually anonymous. It is easier for me to say "damn the leviathan" via CMC than it is via FtF. My identity is protected, regardless of the leviathan's reaction, by the huge social space in Computer Mediated Communication.
If distancing breeds individualism why is the leviathan's existence in this very blog successful? Well, no matter how independent and strong-minded an individual is, a psychological need always exists to fit in. People want to be liked, and most important, people want to be accepted. It is this innate desire that makes the leviathan effective. He or she must merely make his or her presense known, often times needing just little voice. The T.A viewing this blog is the perfect example. We know he or she is there, but we don't know when or where. With the prospect of our grade dangling in their hands, we comply to the norms.
Norms usually begin with one individual's action and then branch from there. The very individual who began labeling his or her post with "Assignment__, Option __" set the precedent for the labels of all other blogs. Presumably a student who did so, we clearly see that anyone within a group is capable of creating a norm. The leviathan however is the only one that can truly inforce it. Sometimes physically, but mostly psychologically.
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10 comments:
Oddly enough, the thing that drew me to read your post was the title. The "damn" drew me in, I really wanted to know what you had to say about Leviathans! I like the originality of your entire post. I agree that the enforcer of the leviathan is our TA's who may or may not read our posts each week, and who can assign a grade to our posts, making us comply with both explicit and implicit norms. Some norms were established in class (like about giving productive comments) while other norms came about through use of the blog (such as the way we name our posts). Great blog!
Ashley,
I’m sure you will receive several comments because you did go against the norm when creating your title. I think you make an excellent point. Even within the yellow blog, a distinct group culture has emerged. We all adhere to the guidelines for writing comments—only constructive criticism and positive thoughts allowed. We know that if we stray from the norm, not only will our grade suffer, but we will become targets of social ridicule. As you said, people are hesitant to create original titles because the majority uses the simple standard: Assignment __ Option __. We have created this norm, probably because many of us are too lazy to think of a clever title and also because we know the standard will always be acceptable. If you are tempted to blend in and have others not immediately select your post, a bland title with protect you from scrutiny. The Leviathan enforces this norm, and consequently most of us resort to bland titles. Reading your post gave a sense of immediacy about the power of the Leviathan and how it manipulates our actions. I wonder if after reading your post, more people will rebel against the norm and create unique titles. Overall, this was a very thought-provoking post. Great job!
Hello Ashley!
I think you bring up an incredibly good point. Not only is the Leviathan alive and well on the Yellow Blog, you manage to bend to it's whim! I applaud you for the incendiary title, but why not follow it up with a more scathing reproach if you too are not obeying the norms? You bring to light something that has been bothering me for quite some time about the blog usage in this class-- we have started to respond to each other like robots, so constrained by the rigid grading system that we can hardly say a word unless it has theory impregnated into every syllable. That's simply not how we naturally communicate, and it contrives our interactions into this pseudo-intellectual mess. I'd rather have a real blog with real people's opinions that don't sound like lecture regurgitations. Thank you for pointing out the power of the Leviathan among us!!!
-Brian
First off I must say I enjoyed how you introduced your topic! It’s entirely true how our weekly blog postings require compliance and conformity among students. As you mentioned, students are monitored by “enforcers”, in this case the TA’s and Professor Hancock, to ensure everything not against the rules. Being an enforcer and having such power, techniques such as the raised eyebrow and the sign on the door are used to make sure people are following the rules. For example, when our blogs are graded we are given feedback telling us what to elaborate more on and what not to do the next time around. I’ve never really stopped to think about how a majority of our lives are guided, and somewhat restricted, by societal norms and conventions. Even in an anonymous environment such as the internet, people still feel a need to comply to ensure group identity. Your post was very intriguing and fun to read!
Nice title. I feel like one of the major reasons the leviathan is so forceful in this blog is that we're not all anonymous to each other. While not everyone knows everyone, everyone shows up Tuesdays and Thursdays to be in the same physical room. So the fact that your peers and your professor physically know who you are, it creates a certain force that alters the way people might write if no one knew who they were. I do agree with your other points however. People want their blog posts to be appreciated and even more so, they want a good grade. I think the SIDE theory does fit in here, albeit that people are trying to limit the amount of bad that can be construed from the limited amount of text that is posted.
Ashley,
I felt your post was great! The "damn" definitely drew me into your blog, but only because we have societal norms, and because of them, and how much we are conformists, seeing a word like "damn" on a blog for class, read by both Professor and TA's is a big deal. In regards to the conformance all of us seem to follow by beginning our post with "Option __, Assignment ___."I think it was very interesting to post something as simple as that, yet it has such conformity issues.
Great Job!
Great post. The leviathan definitely causes our blog posts to follow a certain structure. I agree with Brian that it's sometimes hard to get opinions across when also trying to adhere closely to the theories from lecture. When I try to focus on tying in theories in the best way I think I tend to write bland posts that lack personality. A lot of posts, mine and others, end up sounding like responses to short essay questions instead of blog posts. The presence of grades and school structure has a strong influence on the leviathan of the blog.
Eric
Ashley,
That was a very risky and bold move of you to go against the leviathan and the norms that have already been established on this blog. I do agree with you that there are norms we tend to stick to because of Wallace’s conformity factor. In addition, I agreed with the majority of your post; however, there was one point that I would like to ask of you and see how you might have reacted differently. You stated that it was easier for you to go against the norms in this post (e.g., Assignment_, Option_) because you felt you were visually anonymous and individual, which supports the predictions from the Social Identity Deindividuation (SIDE) theory; however, I would be curious to know what primed you to think of yourself as an individual rather than as part of a group (e.g., the Yellow blog, Comm 245). Since I tend to associate myself as a student blogger from Comm 245, I have a group salience identity, which explains why I tend to conform to the set standards and to the leviathan, the TAs, according to the SIDE theory.
Great post! Keep up the good work.
Ashley,
I like the fact that you pointed out the psychological aspect of norm conformity. Now, I don't think the Leviathan will come haunting you down or hurt your grade by this but you make a great point. People mention that they were drawn to this blog from your use of the word 'damn' but how did we know that damn was out of the norm? In my estimation, it's becaused we have built this psychological norm that people rarely speak about. How to we go the rule book and amend these rules?
Great post!
~Saidu
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