LIFE IS MESSY.

Okay,

So first off, loved our class meeting today, and I apologize for the tangents that did not allow us to discuss the articles fully. However, I feel that when we post about them on here, it may even be a better medium to "discuss" the articles in (just think, no interruptions, and tangents are less likely) Anyways...

The Grabill and Rigg article was an analysis done on a scientific/museum blog. The researches were studying and analyzing (and discussing) a couple key things:

The challenges we face methodologically when trying to study engagement in open digital spaces.
      -and to do this they articulated the museum blog Science Buzz      -specifically, they were looking at identity leverage w/in the space and how it is a rhetorical agency
      -they argue that "int he context of open forums like Science Buzz these identity performances are crucial as rhetorical agencies, creating space as they function to move discussion."

(*yes, I got this information from the abstract, but trust me, I READ THE ARTICLE--the abstract just makes the summary of the article so concise it's hard not to reference it.)

What I found in the article was how in-depth the went into their study. They looked as specific instances ("threads") within the blog, while keeping in mind that they are only just barely scratching the surface of everything held w/in it, they express that in order to gain an understanding for their study they must break through this constraint and, in simple words, work with what they got. And what they got, as I was saying were specific "threads" of conversation, where they analyzed who contributed to the conversation, what that users background was (for ethos recognition), and attempted to analyze how their contributions to the thread "move the conversation." (109)

I could go on about this detailed articulation they made, but find it more helpful to mention several of their key terms and concepts they discuss, which I will only be listing for now...

-Argument
-Questioning
-Identity (performance, community, connections...)
-Information

And they intertwine and relate all of these terms within their analysis, which shows that for our next paper, we will have to similarly define terms and use them in support of our research question. I've also learned from reading this article that there will be many instances where new information and questions will be uncovered and that in order to remain focused on my question I may have to save certain new questions and concepts for later research.

Anways..I have a website to code from scratch because DreamWeaver did not get me through the night. (NOTE: GARY WRIGHT reference)