Setting the Stage:
System Organization Theory Terms & Concepts
At first glance, systems organization theory seems to share many characteristics attributed to another popular theory, remediation theory. Both theories pay particular attention to the medium but with different gazes. Bolter and Grusin focus on the representation of one medium in another remediation vis-a-vis the exploration of the double logic of remediation: hypermediacy and immediacy. Glushko, on the other hand, approaches the medium by focusing on it as an organizing system with keen attention to the design features governing it (45).
Organization takes place in the many spaces we inhabit. From the way assignments are arranged on a syllabus, to the way Songza organizes its music, to the organization of colleagues for a celebratory dinner, organization is evident in digital and physical spaces alike. Organization also extends beyond the literal organization of entities. Glushko states that digital and physical entities are organized in a deliberate manner to create capabilities (2). |
The word “capabilities” can be understood as the outcome(s) an organizer (or organizing system) seeks to achieve through the collection of specific resources. Drawing two points of connection together, I have used the theoretical conceptualization of organization and applied it to the popular site YouTube in order to explore the affordances analyzing a system's resources can bring forth when composing multimodally. It's my hope that this analysis of YouTube will provide a helpful model for others to leverage when exploring unfamiliar digital terrains such as Wordpress, Twitter, or even Second Life.
YouTube is an organizing system that arranges their media in a particular fashion to bring certain events to fruition. Leveraging the framework provided from Systems Organizing theory, I will be framing an analysis of YouTube as an organizing system with the application of specific key terms and a set of design questions devised by Glushko. The different design features of YouTube are magnified with the exploration of the design questions, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of the site's design and how such an understanding can help guide the multimodal composition process.The following key terms and concepts will be used: