Metadata as Metanarrative: Lessons from Filter Insta-Zine at The NEXT
Submission Type
Paper
Start Date/Time (EDT)
20-7-2024 4:45 PM
End Date/Time (EDT)
20-7-2024 5:45 PM
Location
Algorithms & Imaginaries
Abstract
This talk is based on a paper about the process of ingesting Instagram-based works of e-lit, originally published in Filter Insta-Zine, into The NEXT’s collection. It was necessary for us to determine the metadata for the works themselves within the Extended eLectronic Metadata Schema (ELMS). Ultimately, this task required us to expand the existing ELMS vocabularies to account for third-generation works of electronic literature produced in, with, and for social media – a task that we approached from the position that each work of e-lit should not only be preserved, but described in detail given the role that an archive like The NEXT plays in sustaining and making accessible works of e-lit for future readers.
We focus on the challenge of accounting for Instagram as it relates to structures and even conditions of these works, while keeping in mind future generations of e-lit researchers and enthusiasts. Where we expected to capture Instagram’s role as the works’ distribution platform – they were, after all, ingested into The NEXT as versions published via an Instagram-based ‘zine – we found that more often, Instagram played a critical role in the technical and creative making of the work. In other words, it acted as an authoring platform, software dependency, and digital quality of the works. Moreover, given the creative conventions and discursive expectations of Instagram qua social media platform, it effectively became a genre for some of these works. xtine burrough’s @Igotup2020 is one such work, as the Instagram account space is used to perform a daily, “live” videographic diary of burrough’s pandemic experience. By naming Instagram as the work’s genre, we not only capture the nature of the work as a videographic Instagram account, but also make a purposeful claim for how the work should be received and understood by e-lit’s future audiences.
Recommended Citation
Laiola, Sarah and Snyder, Richard, "Metadata as Metanarrative: Lessons from Filter Insta-Zine at The NEXT" (2024). ELO (un)linked 2024. 41.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/elo2024/algorithmsandimaginaries/schedule/41
Metadata as Metanarrative: Lessons from Filter Insta-Zine at The NEXT
Algorithms & Imaginaries
This talk is based on a paper about the process of ingesting Instagram-based works of e-lit, originally published in Filter Insta-Zine, into The NEXT’s collection. It was necessary for us to determine the metadata for the works themselves within the Extended eLectronic Metadata Schema (ELMS). Ultimately, this task required us to expand the existing ELMS vocabularies to account for third-generation works of electronic literature produced in, with, and for social media – a task that we approached from the position that each work of e-lit should not only be preserved, but described in detail given the role that an archive like The NEXT plays in sustaining and making accessible works of e-lit for future readers.
We focus on the challenge of accounting for Instagram as it relates to structures and even conditions of these works, while keeping in mind future generations of e-lit researchers and enthusiasts. Where we expected to capture Instagram’s role as the works’ distribution platform – they were, after all, ingested into The NEXT as versions published via an Instagram-based ‘zine – we found that more often, Instagram played a critical role in the technical and creative making of the work. In other words, it acted as an authoring platform, software dependency, and digital quality of the works. Moreover, given the creative conventions and discursive expectations of Instagram qua social media platform, it effectively became a genre for some of these works. xtine burrough’s @Igotup2020 is one such work, as the Instagram account space is used to perform a daily, “live” videographic diary of burrough’s pandemic experience. By naming Instagram as the work’s genre, we not only capture the nature of the work as a videographic Instagram account, but also make a purposeful claim for how the work should be received and understood by e-lit’s future audiences.
Bio
Sarah Whitcomb Laiola is an assistant professor of Digital Culture and Design at Coastal Carolina University. Her most recent publications appear in Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy, Hyperrhiz, and Criticism. She is the co-founder and managing editor of Filter, an Instagram-based venue for electronic literature and textual art.
Richard Snyder is an assistant professor of English and Communications at Northwest University and Associate Director of the Electronic Literature Lab, where he also acts as Metadata Specialist for ELO’s The NEXT. His most recent publications appear in The New River, Journal of Marlowe Studies, and Taper, while his current project is Engagements in Electronic Literature, forthcoming from Routledge Press.