All The Young Dudes

Communication: Drivel’s Own Company

I was thinking about Slakbarsted’s article on communication, Talking Out Of Your Arse, which he posted on Division 42, the one that inspired my NEWSFLASH: Deafie Discovers Hearing People Are Drivel Worshippers post, and many thoughts about the subject of communication came to mind. Particularly the various assumptions that people make, and the expectations they hold, of which Deafies and hearies are equally culpable.

I’m not going to discuss in detail what communication is, you can read this Wikipedia article, Communication. Instead, I want to focus on the assumptions and expectations, that people make regarding communication. More pertinently, how geography, social and cultural structures, the relationships we have with other people, and our individual efforts, affect our communications.

This very topic reared its head in a conversation that I had with My Mountain Man, this past Sunday evening. I, who have, an excellent eye, for a decent drink and good company found much merriment with Coopers, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s good to be boisterous and raucous, and it’s good to be silent and reflective. Sunday’s sojourn was all of these in a vortex, which culminated in me hitting the pillow at an early 9.30 pm.

Successful communication [or relationships] often depends on how receptive each person is towards the other, rather than just the message itself and the channels used to communicate it.

Personally, my deepest relationships are with My Mountain Man, G.O.D., and the Maltese Falcon. We share common characteristics of being the eldest child, a tendency towards deep thought and reflection, intimacy when bonding and separation when not, and the ability to tune into the other’s wave length through conscious thought or body language. Of course, geography separates us, and of the three, only G.O.D., remains physically distant to me. My relationship with them resonates for reasons of comfort, history, shared interests, a mutual love, and more pertinent, a mutual trust that allows the other to be themselves, without judgement.

Contrary to the general superficiality of online communications, my interactions with G.O.D. are meaningful, for the simple fact that I know her from my time in the UK. Sure, the internet and cyberspace changes how we interact, and the nature of how we interact, which is not physical but virtual, but it does allow us to communicate regularly, and via instant messaging, email, email groups, Facebook, Bebo, Flickr, which allows us a measure of sharing via virtual means support communication in allowing a measure of visual input [in lieu of physical presence]. And because it is all text and images, sound is moot.

On the other hand, my interactions with My Mountain Man and the Maltese Falcon, via the internet and cyberspace are non-existent beyond the obvious email. Traversing geography and distance is the means by which we maintain social and familial [whom I have long since come to regard as family] contact. Of course, them being hearing and me using the terrorphone [telly phone, tell a phone, telephone] less and less as I get older, for keeping in touch between visits. Of course, there is texting via mobile phones, but you know……………..

What I am finding interesting is Slakbarsted’s interactions on Division 42. The post Talking Out Of Your Arse, shows his deafness still impacting on his relationships in the hearing world. But is revelatory in how it illustrates his own assumptions about how hearing people communication [I've had to explain what parking meant once].

I first met Slak, nearly five years ago, at the first get together for the much vaunted, and now extinct, Australian Deaf Chamber Of Commerce [ADCC]. He was on the verge of withdrawing from the Deaf community at the time, because he was having trouble fitting in [finding his niche]. I remember advising him not to be hasty, and to give ADCC a chance. Of course, my ulterior motive was my own agenda for socialising and friendship building. But ADCC died a death, which put paid to that social and professional network.

When I look back, I do wonder whether my intervention merely delayed the inevitable. I wrote about Slak’s decision to get the cochlear implant in On Being Me [But A Mask Is All You'll Ever See], and involvement in the hearing world is the direction his life is taking on more and more. Beyond the occassional visit, my occassional interactions with Slak are confined to blogs, email and texting. A natural outgrowth of his social networking in the hearing world, is the blog he maintains with a group of friends, called Division 42.

I don’t interact with posts and people on Division 42, one because it is primarily a hearing blog [why you will see below], and secondly, because everyone on the blog knows each other, Division 42 is a platform for them to continue their socialisation without being physically present at the same time or in the same space. For me, reading Division 42, is akin to crashing a private party. One of which I am not part I honestly feel like I am an intruder whenever I read that blog. Which is a rather interesting, because another friend of mine made the remark that she would feel violated if certain people [we both know] read her personal blog.

But my summation of Division 42 is that it’s a hearing blog. An observation borne by the feedback to Talking Out Of Your Arse, which by and large ignores Slak’s references to his decision to his getting an implant, and the stories Carrie and David, which he brings to the group as a means of sharing something of himself. Hoping to educate and enlighten his friends, they seize on the buzzwords of motor mouth, drivel, et al in response to his post. Though I do wonder, if Slak is enacting a cyber version of being there, but not quite being part of it all, as he is rarely found in the maelstrom of comments, preferring to moderate and maintain the blog?

I find great irony in a Deafie seeking communication and inclusion amongst hearing people, whose mindset is unmistakably audist. Not so much in their rejection of Slak’s deafness, but in their unquestioning assumption and mindset of the world being a certain way: hearing.

Let’s Read:

My Mountain Man [The Nice Edit]
Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon

Australian Dating Sites:

Australian Beer
Beer Guide
Australian Wine And Beer
The Australian Good Beer Directory
Foster’s is NOT “Australian for Beer”

Aggregators [Deaf]:

DeafRead
Deaf Village

Social Networking Sites:

Linked In
Linked In [Australia]
Internet Time Community
Facebook
Bebo?
Orkut
My Space
You Tube

Groups:

Yahoo Groups
Google Groups

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DeafRead, Deaf Village, Aggregators, Part V: Flogging A Deaf Horse

I just love flogging deaf horses, don’t you Mike? What about you, dog food?

Mike, Hypocrisy? Double Standards? You be the judge. Update #1[A Response], what I was trying to say in DeafRead, Deaf Village, Aggregators, Part III: Argggggghhhhhccess, is that if deaf village is an aggregator, whose aim is to aggregate “content”, targeted at a specific audience, then deaf village ceases to be an aggregator, and instead functions as a publishing house. Much the same, as DeafRead.

Both deaf village and DeafRead impose editorial and publishing guidelines, which means they cease to be aggregators and, take on different obligations to that of the personal blogger. As illustrated by DeafRead, who operate with sponsorship from Sprint, and Cochlear Implant Online, which operates a store. Which renders their responsibilities to their readership quite differently to those of individual blogs, whose interest is the personal.

And continuing to  flog a dead horse, deaf horse ? [sorry there is no external reference to flogging a deaf horse], Mike, there is a big difference between personal sites and, commercial and professional sites. Personal sites don’t have the same obligations regarding access provisions, because of their, well, personal nature, and limited audience, whereas commercial and professional sites, such as A G Bell, that are designed to appeal to a broader audience than personal blogs, do have that obligation. And so it is with deaf village and DeafRead.

Remember, a personal blogger functions with an editorial guidelines applicable to their own blog, and themselves, which leaves it up to the reader/ visitor to accept or reject. This is quite a salient point, that both DeafRead and deaf village undermine with their guidelines. They are not merely aggregating content, as they are deciding [or moderating] what we see, read and hear. Which skews the perception of what is actually happening in Deaf and deaf cyberspace.

I will give you an analogy, a rather apt one. As a professional, working in a professional capacity, let’s say, running a leadership training program for Deaf and deaf people, I would have an obligation, as a professional, to ensure a number of things, in order that the programme is successful, are met. One would be, making sure that the participant’s access needs are met. However, in my personal life, I am under no such obligation, even if I am mincing..sorry, mixing, with Deaf and deaf people, because one would rightly assume, the responsibility for access would be shared. And so it is with blogging.

There is professional blogging and there is personal blogging. Each operates with a different modus operandi.

My criticism of deaf village is not of its aim to provide access. That is indeed a laudable aim. My criticism is of its imposition of an editorial and publishing guideline, that does nothing whatsoever to encourage blogging and creativity. I have been following deaf village since its inception, and as managed by the current team, who have so far have demonstrated no objective ability towards encouraging free speech and creativity in the blogging sphere, because the guidelines are paternalistic.

And really Mike, “Taylor going the purity route” is no different to Rachel going the purity route [imagine her sullying her videos with sign language. Heaven forbid!]. But it doesn’t suit your modus operandi to admit otherwise does it?

As for the question of time, money and resources, then it’s no point absolving deaf village, DeafRead or any other aggregator of this requirement, while at the same time expecting the individual blogger to pick up the slack. After all, I don’t have the resources to create the videos I want, let alone caption them. I continue to write, knowing full well, that it will still be inaccessible to people whose literacy is not the same as mine. Should my blog then not be included in deaf village [it isn't by the way. I have written to Rachel, requesting inclusion, but no............. I HAVE BEEN CENSORED! BARRED! EXCLUDED! Boo! Hiss!]

By all means encourage access, but use  conciliatory language, not demanding and paternalistic. By all means encourage bloggers and webmasters to make their content accessible, but don’t claim to be an aggregator if you are going to moderate [mould] what is seen, read or heard. That in itself, will deny people the right to choose what they read, see and hear. Pertinently, render inaccessible, content that would not otherwise be seen, read or heard, because the aggregators editorial guidelines stipulate one rule or another.

Having said that, the DeafRead team has demonstrated far more laisse fare in their moderating of the content that appears on their “aggregator”, than deaf village has.

Further Reading:

DeafRead, Deaf Village, Aggregators, Part III: Argggggghhhhhccess
DeafRead, Deaf Village, Aggregators, Part II: Access
“Deaf Village Reminds Me Much Of…..”
Deaf Village - A True Village? Nay!
DeafRead, Deaf Village, and Aggregators
Let’s support closed captions!
Wait! Blogs Aren’t Fully Accessible, Either!
My Reason to find this Deaf Village’s Silly Policy…..
Wait! Blogs Aren’t Fully Accessible, Either!
“On the Fence”
Closed Captioning your Videos
DeafRead, Community, Censorship and Freedom Of Expression P3: New Aggregator
DeafRead, Community, Censorship and Freedom Of Expression P2
DeafRead, Community, Censorship and Freedom Of Expression
MEDIA WATCH: Deaf Read [Myths? What Myths?]
Problems with DeafRead
An example of how deafread doesn’t cater for an international audience
The fur’s a-flyin’!

Sphere: Related Content

DeafRead, Deaf Village, Aggregators, Part IV: Communication Is Two Way Street

That vexed question about access continues to vex its adherents.

Dyniece does a very good job of explaining what an aggregator is and their function in her post Of feed aggregators, hypocrisy, and choices. She is calm, she is logical, and she makes sense. And yes, by making your content accessible, you reach a much wider audience.

However, there is a flaw in the argument. Not so much in the rationale of why deaf village insists on captioned/ subtitled or transcripts to accompany a video, which I can accept on the basis that it’s their personal aggregator, and they are setting the terms for inclusion.  Or in the rationale of making your cotnent accessible to a bigger audience.

The flaw is in their rationale for creating a community based on their idea of inclusiveness as presumed by the title of their aggregator “deaf village”, by demanding that everybody subscribes to the use of English as a common denominator for access.

Even though they are not rejecting signed videos, the defendants for criteria 5, of the deaf village guidelines, they have not demonstrated any willingness to embrace [as in desire to learn] Sign Language, in a spirit of true community building [which is a two way street, to state the obvious].

It’s all very well to talk about diversity and inclusion, and that everybody has the right to their chosen [preferred communication methods and group belonging]. But that very rationale itself becomes an obstacle when it is used to insist on a specific means of addressing access, as deaf village has done. I get the distinct impression that Rachel will be damned if she is going to learn ASL. Yet she is in a prime position to actually promote a truer sense of inclusion and engagement. To do actually do, more good than demonstrate that deafies can walk and talk. But that would detract from her imporant work of managing the better hearing and better speaking celebrations.

I know what the reality is for Deaf and deaf people, and I do understand [and appreciate] the choices they make, and want to make, in order to have fulfilled and meaningful their lives. And I do understand the right and the desire to make ones own choices. But I don’t accept the bullshit espoused by the diversity argument, as it has long become a means of avoiding any true engagement between Deaf and deaf people.

And before you drag out the cliché of Deaf people being content in their ghetto and their ASL, take a good, long, hard look in the mirror. The mantra of the deaf village is “As long as I get my access in English, that’s all that is necessary”, is a one way street.

Once again, stating the obvious, communication, and community building, is a two way street. It is a fundamental of effective community building. A willingness by deafies to engage with Deafies using sign language, demonstrates a committment to community building. Not merely insisting on access using English as the common denominator. So once again, deaf village is in a position to create a truly Deaf and deaf presence, but what look at do they do?

DeafRead for all its faults, is doing a better job. Deaf Pulse is too basic. deaf village is not engaged in community building [not in its current incantation], as much as it is engaged in replicating itself in the image of its creator/s.

Further Reading:

Why I Blog….. Why Deafies Should Blog….
DeafRead, Deaf Village, Aggregators, Part III: Argggggghhhhhccess
DeafRead, Deaf Village, Aggregators, Part II: Access
DeafRead, Deaf Village, and Aggregators
DeafRead, Community, Censorship and Freedom Of Expression P3: New Aggregator
DeafRead, Community, Censorship and Freedom Of Expression P2
DeafRead, Community, Censorship and Freedom Of Expression
MEDIA WATCH: Deaf Read [Myths? What Myths?]
Problems with DeafRead
An example of how deafread doesn’t cater for an international audience

Sphere: Related Content

Why I Blog….. Why Deafies Should Blog….

The strident debate about DeafRead, deaf village, their modus operandi, and the merits of their respective editorial and publishing guidelines, got me thinking about blogging and why people blog. More specifically, why I [me, myself, and moi. After all we are talking about ME] blog.

I love to write! Like every other netizen, Deaf and hearing, I want to mark out my corner of cyberspace, publish, and communicate. In a world where the tendency to censor and crimp is de rigueur, and a majority view is imposed  by a controlling elite, it’s liberating to stand on your soap box and speak your mind. Dirty words and all.

Furthermore, blogging also gives Deaf people a chance to be heard and make their presence felt. I’m not a satisfied man. I am not a satisfied Deafie. I am not content to make do with the medico brochure sites, the how to deal with hearing loss advice sites, the latest fashions in assistive listening technologies, or pandering to the disability mentality that passes for Deaf awareness.

I want opinion, retorts, insight, culture, and pleasure.

Email groups and forums were [still are] fine and dandy, but they all suffered from a common affliction. That frigging benevolent Nanny who has a zealous [nay some would say psychotic] tendency to moderate [interfere, admonish, chide, cajole, threaten, or earnestly and tirelessly e-x-p-l-a-i-n] . Some were quite toxic, for whom you only had two words: *** ******!

Emails to editors were/ are subject to space, deadlines and publishing guidelines. I want to be free to pontificate using my own voice, in my own space. In the process I hope to part the Dead Sea of mindless mediocrity, and letting some DEAF [and human] intelligence, light and wisdom through. Besides you guys needs a hefty dose of Aussie humour!

At the moment, my blogging is text, with the odd creation of graphics and the occassional addition of images. I see my blogging as part part of a wider remit, which will eventually include video, and a promotion platform for my work.

Blogging [personal aggregators aside] can be quite liberating. Especially when freed from the shackles of the benevolent Nanny who holds up Deafies and deafies to standards, that makes a mockery of virtue by downplaying our humanity. There is nothing worse than the benevolent Nanny in a beehive hairdo and barracuda smile, who is determined to create a faux sense community, by ruling out swearing [ever so ready to wash your mouth out with detergent and bleach], unruly behaviour, impoliteness, unmentionable subjects, and other assorted unwanted behaviours.

Their individual moderating styles ranged from the dictatorial, the pseudo “we’re a team, we’re all gunna lurve each other”, to the “if you don’t contribute, posting at least 1000 times a day, you are out!”, to the loving mummies rule of no dirty words, and the truly democratic of allowing the group to go for the jugular and determine the agenda. There is nothing funnier than watching Nanny’s lift their skirts, breaking their high heels, ruining their make up, as they destroyed group dynamics, quashing individuality, and without missing a beat, inform us, how it was in the groups best interests.

A perfect example of the truly democratic, is Deaf UK, under the stewardship of Alison Bryan. Don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise. Her intent was to foster communication between Deafies [and deafies], and her policy objective was singular and straight to the point. The group was made up of adults, and they can all act like adults. She relegated herself to weeding out the spam, junk mail and harassment, with the occasional participatory comment. Otherwise, anything went. If it meant that the group got bogged down in an intractable war of words, it was up to us to sort it out. Of course we sorted it out. We are [not were] adults are we not?

Further Reading:

DeafRead, Deaf Village, Aggregators, Part III: Argggggghhhhhccess
DeafRead, Deaf Village, Aggregators, Part II: Access
DeafRead, Deaf Village, and Aggregators
DeafRead, Community, Censorship and Freedom Of Expression P3: New Aggregator
DeafRead, Community, Censorship and Freedom Of Expression P2
DeafRead, Community, Censorship and Freedom Of Expression
MEDIA WATCH: Deaf Read [Myths? What Myths?]
Problems with DeafRead
An example of how deafread doesn’t cater for an international audience

Sphere: Related Content

DeafRead, Deaf Village, Aggregators, Part III: Argggggghhhhhccess

To answer Mike’s question in Hypocrisy? Double Standards? You be the judge, those of us who are arguing against point 5 in the deaf village guidelines, are not the ones going around creating aggregators, then imposing a set of rules that determine what blogs, posts, et al will appear, and other assorted criteria in a what I [and others obviously see] as a thinly disguised attempt to create an aggregator that conforms to a narrow and personal definition of diversity and inclusion, using guidelines that crimps and skews the representation of the Deaf and deaf voice.

Secondly, Ridor’s blog is a personal site, which is different to deaf village which is an “aggregator”. Once again, the terms for access are different. However, his charge against Gallaudet University is fairer, for the simple fact that Gallaudet University is in the business of providing an education and making money, that it does have a responsibility towards ensuring access. Cochlear Implant Online works to provide information and raise awareness about the cochlear implant, so a case can be made for making the site be accessible.

To be perfectly frank, I am still scratching my head as to why these big Deaf and deaf organisations and institutions, are still not harnessing the full power of cyberspace and the internet for communications: too often, if they are not hampered by money, then the websites are just lame. But that’s an issue for another blog post.

To be fair, it’s quite a common occurrence, where editorial and publishing guidelines are used to dictate the terms of self-expression, in order to impose a particular view, [or to cater to some notion of quality control, as with DeafRead]. This is common across the media, and it’s effects can be felt in the way they dealt with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, for instance.

deaf village is fighting a rearguard action, because the team that make up the editorial board has no credibility with some individuals and groups. That is the crux of the problem, more than the issue of the guidelines. I’m not going to delve into the hows, whys, wherefores, et al, they would do no one any favours, and only serve to further flame the arguments.

This is not to say the guidelines imposed by DeafRead are any better. They could loosen some of that control for starters, free up the flow of information, let a bit of chaos rule [only weeding out the spam blogs and other rubbish] and work towards more representation of bloggers and vidbloggers from other countries. But within the parameters they are set, they do a decent job, and I do like the fact that we are classed as people who blog et al, and not communication methods [choices] that blog!

It’s admirable what deaf village is trying to do, regarding the access issue [and I do want more access] but……………. I don’t trust the deaf village team [in fact, I don't trust most aggregators that are not open anyway] to play fair. As I said, in my last post, deaf village guidelines rule no 6. shreds their credibility completely:

All guidelines are subject to the interpretation and discretion of the Deaf Village moderating team. By submitting your feed to Deaf Village, you are agreeing to the guidelines above.

I already adapt my writing style - how I write and what I write about - in order to pass DeafRead’s guidelines. The deaf village guidelines fill me with no confidence, as they reinforce this preoccupation with enforcing vague standards. I simply have no faith or trust in the deaf village editorial team. I just don’t want to keep modifying my writing style and crimp my voice, to suit other people’s agendas.

I’ve had this experience with Tactile Mind magazine [now defunct], that had no editorial policy, no publishing guidelines, and no identifiable editorial team, other than, its modus operandi to nurture Deaf and deaf writer’s and encourage them to express themselves free of restraint. Be true to thy own voice [self], so to speak. I was asked to submit a piece of writing for, as one of the editors who approached me, had read my writings to the email group, Deaf UK.

Sure, I submitted an early incantation of my Deaf boy wants to become a rock star story. It was rejected. The editorial team didn’t understand the piece of writing [or summat]. So, after a few email exchanges, I was able to re-submit the story. It was rejected for the second time. Again, for what I consider spurious reasons. The sexuality of the protagonist, and the mention of the Devil and his interaction with the story’s protagonist. It was explained to me, that the magazine [and hence any writing] will be promoted amongst Deaf schools in the US, that any themes not considered suitable, won’t be published.

Suffice to say, I lost respect for the magazine and the editorial team. This was a situation where they should have circulated an editorial policy and clear publishing guidelines, with an identifiable editorial team. It was a faux situation where writers were encouraged to express themselves, then were subjected to some unspoken and unknown guidelines, and faceless editorial team.

Even with the advent of blogging and self publishing, controlling behaviours still exist. It’s just that without aggregators, bloggers have to work harder to promote their sites. Still, you can’t have a village with dissent. You can’t have a village without a few blue words. You can’t have a village without unruly behaviour. You can’t have a village full of nannies and children.

Further Reading:

DeafRead, Deaf Village, Aggregators, Part II: Access
“Deaf Village Reminds Me Much Of…..”
Deaf Village - A True Village? Nay!
DeafRead, Deaf Village, and Aggregators
Let’s support closed captions!
Wait! Blogs Aren’t Fully Accessible, Either!
My Reason to find this Deaf Village’s Silly Policy…..
Wait! Blogs Aren’t Fully Accessible, Either!
“On the Fence”
Closed Captioning your Videos
DeafRead, Community, Censorship and Freedom Of Expression P3: New Aggregator
DeafRead, Community, Censorship and Freedom Of Expression P2
DeafRead, Community, Censorship and Freedom Of Expression
MEDIA WATCH: Deaf Read [Myths? What Myths?]
Problems with DeafRead
An example of how deafread doesn’t cater for an international audience
The fur’s a-flyin’!

Sphere: Related Content