Post by Admin on Feb 1, 2019 22:21:49 GMT -5
Climbing is an activity with a low bar of entry.
Step 1: Find a rock.
Step 2: Climb it.
Step 3: You're a climber!
Except... it's not entirely that simple, because the more you explore the activity, the more there is to learn, to experience, and to try. I tried to incorporate that aspect of discovery into the experience of my unessay: the forum allows for exploration into a variety of topics, breaking off into greater detail and attempting to foster (or mock the fostering of) discussion about media in the climbing community. The forum also became a meta representation of the project itself: many climbers interviewed for this project stated that they use forums mostly for entertainment, making this format a fun way of reflecting upon the way different mediums can be used.
I chose climbing as the focus for this project because it is a large part of my life, and because the risk factor of the sport makes for a questionable interaction between "don't try this at home!" and the visual/textual mediums of the sport available to those not currently doing it. Climbing, unlike a sport such as running or soccer, is more dangerous, less accessible (in the sense that it cannot usually be done in one's backyard), and has a communal DIY attitude. It doesn't entirely match the drill books of soccer, the workout descriptions of running, or the rule-books of rugby. Yet, climbing media does exist, and in many different forms. So how are climbers using it? In other words: how do climbers use books, magazines, internet sites, forums, videos, and other miscellaneous mediums when an unsupervised practice of such material can potentially result in serious injury?
It would have been impossible to form an accurate picture of the way the climbing community uses these mediums. There are an infinite number of climbers in the world, and I only have access to a select handful, located in a select state in a select gym. This makes the data inherently flawed. As such, I attempted to supplement my understanding of the use of climbing media by turning to the internet for help. But yet again, it is impossible to capture a clear picture of the media usage, because most people are not logging their every usage on the internet. So, while my project does answer the question, "Are written texts a dead medium in the climbing community?", it does not offer a conclusive answer on how mediums are used in the climbing community. It merely offers a snapshot of such usage.
And I am happy to note: written texts - especially books - are not a dead medium for climbers.
I hope that this project encourages others to think about their use of climbing media, or even in other aspects of their life. I also hope that this project, while not offering the same conclusions a full-scale research project might offer, still provides adequate analysis of the evolution of media interaction in the climbing community.
Step 1: Find a rock.
Step 2: Climb it.
Step 3: You're a climber!
Except... it's not entirely that simple, because the more you explore the activity, the more there is to learn, to experience, and to try. I tried to incorporate that aspect of discovery into the experience of my unessay: the forum allows for exploration into a variety of topics, breaking off into greater detail and attempting to foster (or mock the fostering of) discussion about media in the climbing community. The forum also became a meta representation of the project itself: many climbers interviewed for this project stated that they use forums mostly for entertainment, making this format a fun way of reflecting upon the way different mediums can be used.
I chose climbing as the focus for this project because it is a large part of my life, and because the risk factor of the sport makes for a questionable interaction between "don't try this at home!" and the visual/textual mediums of the sport available to those not currently doing it. Climbing, unlike a sport such as running or soccer, is more dangerous, less accessible (in the sense that it cannot usually be done in one's backyard), and has a communal DIY attitude. It doesn't entirely match the drill books of soccer, the workout descriptions of running, or the rule-books of rugby. Yet, climbing media does exist, and in many different forms. So how are climbers using it? In other words: how do climbers use books, magazines, internet sites, forums, videos, and other miscellaneous mediums when an unsupervised practice of such material can potentially result in serious injury?
It would have been impossible to form an accurate picture of the way the climbing community uses these mediums. There are an infinite number of climbers in the world, and I only have access to a select handful, located in a select state in a select gym. This makes the data inherently flawed. As such, I attempted to supplement my understanding of the use of climbing media by turning to the internet for help. But yet again, it is impossible to capture a clear picture of the media usage, because most people are not logging their every usage on the internet. So, while my project does answer the question, "Are written texts a dead medium in the climbing community?", it does not offer a conclusive answer on how mediums are used in the climbing community. It merely offers a snapshot of such usage.
And I am happy to note: written texts - especially books - are not a dead medium for climbers.
I hope that this project encourages others to think about their use of climbing media, or even in other aspects of their life. I also hope that this project, while not offering the same conclusions a full-scale research project might offer, still provides adequate analysis of the evolution of media interaction in the climbing community.