My Reflection Summary on Topic 1

After having a look at other people’s blogpost about Visitors and Residents, I believe all of us now are fully aware of the differences between visitors and residents. According to David White, he mention that the difference between visitors and residents is visitors do not leave any traces of existence on the Web but residents do (References – a). Another online article that I came across mentions that we could be residents in some spaces but only ‘short-lived’ (References – b). This means that the current digital space that we are living in might just be substituted by something else as time passes. Anyone remembers Friendster? It has been replaced by Facebook in the current years. Who knows what will be next to take over Facebook?

References – c

One of the things that I found out about digital visitors and residents, in order to understand them better, we have to get behind on what motivates them to come back to the digital world (References – d)? We are clearly aware that age is not a factor that defines whether they are visitors or residents. No doubt that the older generations might not be used to the network spaces because they do not grow up with them. However, as they ‘stay longer’ on the digital space, they will be used to the digital platforms just like how the young people do nowadays.

In conclusion, I guess it doesn’t matter so much whether we are a visitor or a resident. In realities, we could be both a visitor and a resident. For instance, in the visitor mode, I could be researching on different types of flowers to fulfil my science project. I can also be a resident sharing on my Twitter about my weekend. The key takeaway is, will we be prepared for what is ahead of us now or we just remain as where we are now?

References

a. Visitors and Residents – YouTube. 2014.Visitors and Residents – YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPOG3iThmRI. [Accessed 28 November 2014].

b. . 2014.. [ONLINE] Available at: http://whataphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Real-evolution-Fun-Photos.png. [Accessed 28 November 2014].

c. Learning with ‘e’s: Taking up residence . 2014.Learning with ‘e’s: Taking up residence . [ONLINE] Available at: http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.sg/2014/03/taking-up-residence.html. [Accessed 28 November 2014].

d. Visitors and residents: what motivates engagement with the digital information environment?. 2014.Visitors and residents: what motivates engagement with the digital information environment?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.informationr.net/ir/18-1/paper556.html#.VHggj9KUc1J. [Accessed 28 November 2014].

Who Do You Think You Are? A Visitor Or A Resident?

As we live in the world where technologies are constantly improving and change is fast, we can’t help but to keep ourselves constantly updated with the latest news, technologies, etc. We could get all the relevant information that we need at a click of our fingers on our mobile devices. However, this digital world that we live in, have differentiates us into two different categories. They are namely the visitors and the residents.

In my opinion, visitors are mainly people who use the Web as a tool to retrieve certain information that they need for a certain desired outcome (1). For instance, if someone wants to know the latest Apple gadget, they can do a quick search on the Internet and get the answers immediately. They will only be online for a while as they do not see the need of staying there for long. They may build their Facebook account to be something comprehensive but they will probably not be on LinkedIn and all the other profiling networks. In short, visitors will be the ones who will separate their online existence from their social life.

Residents are basically people who combine their online existence with their life. They are closely aligned with the social networks and the happenings within the digital world. They are the ones who will be deeply involved on their networks as it is their way of living (2). In fact, they are totally fine with the concept of having part of their life live on the digital world itself. It is their comfort zone.

In case you are unable to visualise the clear differences between visitors and residents. Have a look at the model that Khairul, my classmate has shared with us from David White.

Figure (4)

As for me, initially I would say I’m more of a visitor as compared to a resident. I’m not someone who put in much effort in building my social networks, much less my online profile. I could be using the Internet for more than 5 hours daily but that serves as a tool to meet my needs (3). However, after looking at David White’s model, I’m starting to see myself becoming more of a resident. Why? It is simply because I’m beginning to be more engaged in Twitter and Blogging as I live on this digital space.

What about you? A Visitor or a Resident? Share your thoughts, long to hear from you 🙂

References

1. Visitors and Residents: A new typology for online engagement | White | First Monday. 2014.Visitors and Residents: A new typology for online engagement | White | First Monday. [ONLINE] Available at:http://firstmonday.org/article/view/3171/3049%20https://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~tefko/Courses/Zadar/Readings/Selwyn%20dig%20natives,%20Aslib%20Proceedings%202009.pdf. [Accessed 27 November 2014].

2. TALL blog » Blog Archive » Not ‘Natives’ & ‘Immigrants’ but ‘Visitors’ & ‘Residents’. 2014.TALL blog » Blog Archive » Not ‘Natives’ & ‘Immigrants’ but ‘Visitors’ & ‘Residents’. [ONLINE] Available at:http://tallblog.conted.ox.ac.uk/index.php/2008/07/23/not-natives-immigrants-but-visitors-residents/. [Accessed 27 November 2014].

3. Evaluating digital services: a Visitors and Residents approach – Jisc infoNet. 2014. Evaluating digital services: a Visitors and Residents approach – Jisc infoNet. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/evaluating-services/. [Accessed 27 November 2014].

4. Visitors and Residents map 1 | Flickr – Photo Sharing!. 2014.Visitors and Residents map 1 | Flickr – Photo Sharing!. [ONLINE] Available at:https://www.flickr.com/photos/jiscinfonet/12947691804/in/set-72157641903755433/. [Accessed 27 November 2014].