User:)biyibiyibiyi(/RW&RM 04/proposal 0 1 0
What do you want to make?
I propose to produce a series of tutorials, manuals, blogs, and hacked objects within the context of DIY networking. Grass root DIY networking has been an topic of interest during the last fifteen years in Europe and North America, as a response towards pathologies of the modern networked world, such as opacity of network infrastructure and asymmetry of power between network monopolies and users (Dragona & Charitos, 2017). The building and facilitation of DIY networks utilize Free/Libre Open Source Software (F/LOSS) tools and adhere to its core principles of freedom to use, modify and redistribute. As F/LOSS advocate for radical openness and promise a democratic model of collaborative framework, certain barriers remain visible, such as low participating rate of female contributors, technical barriers for laypersons, and meritocracy within the system (Nafus, 2011). The writing of technical textual mediums of tutorials and manuals tend to imply these hindrances as well. While these textual mediums tend to be plain, instructive and serve as textual interfaces for participants to be able to utilize and modify the tools and hold discussions around the community, the sociality of these textual medium are often undermined. The expression “RTFM”, Read the F*** Manual illustrates an example of disassociation of caring social relationship between the creator and users (Nafus, 2011). My project attempt to re-investigate the role of textual mediums within DIY/DIWO networking projects. I want to emphasize the participatory potentials of technical textual mediums. I see technical textual mediums as sites to share, invite, interject discourses despite of participants' varied technical skills; through these reciprocal actions, the social dimension of technical texts can be amplified, and facilitate environment for further critical collective making.
How do you plan to make it?
The re-investigation of tutorials, manuals, blogs happens within three types of circulation process. Within the first process, I identify myself as the ignorant user. While trying to set up networks myself, I am in a perpetual state of encountering frustrations reading technical documentation. Upon identifying a technical difficulty, I try to make my frustration visible by contacting the source creator, or other members within the community who are more technically more knowledgeable. I identify this process not only as knowledge transfer process from technically abled to the less abled, but also a process of identifying what are the aspects that hinder user from participating in open source collaborative networking.
The second process involves rewriting of the technical texts based on my experiences. In the process of rewriting, I want to address the context within which I perform technical instructions. These contexts are social, cultural and political. The purpose of situating technical instruction within social, cultural and political contexts is to create space to have discourses around technology unlimited to technical lingos.
The third process invite collective reflection by collective writing. As DIY/DIWO networking is a collective process, participants share common interests and objectives, at the same time differ in their individualities. Collective writing invites participants within the network to to share their individual experiences and make consensus on maintaining and facilitating the network.