Steph's E-learning and Digital Cultures site » Tags http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/stephaniec part of the MSc in E-learning at the University of Edinburgh Sun, 07 Apr 2013 19:05:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 Tagging http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/stephaniec/2013/02/09/tagging/ http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/stephaniec/2013/02/09/tagging/#comments Sat, 09 Feb 2013 18:45:00 +0000 Steph Carr http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/stephaniec/2013/02/09/tagging/ Merchant (2007) discusses the practice of tagging within blogs and other fora. He suggests that ‘the collection of information, the sense-making, the organisation of information through categorisation and the trading of detail and knowledge describe some of the essential processes of human intelligence” (p.251). He also links tagging to ‘affinity spaces’, as espoused by Gee, wherein potentially dispersed individuals come together; learn from each other’s language and practices; and potentially create new identities, via these shared interests and motivations.

I have exercised my ‘essential processes’ by retro-tagging all of my tumblog posts. I am undecided whether this process has artificially compartmentalised my entries; or have I now created nodes which are ripe for links and connections?

I am also undecided about Gee’s theory of affinity spaces – particularly when it is linked with identity. However, I decided to very unscientifically analyse whether #ededc tags have created such a space between Morphospace and me (he has consistently tagged his entries). And it appears that we do have some commonalities – which is perhaps unsurprising – but much which is different. This leads me to want to explore these differences, so perhaps my earlier question is now answered.

(My tag list is ‘Cloud’ and Morphospace’s is ‘Tags’)

Merchant, G (2007) ‘Mind the Gap(s): discourses and discontinuity in digital literacies’ E-Learning, Volume 4, Number 3 2007

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