When I first set up this website in 2000, there were few alternative
ways of using the internet apart from websites and email.
Since then
there has been a huge growth in new types of internet communication.
I have decided to experiment with these because they help me to understand
a little of what is happening through 'participant observation', the
traditional method of anthropology.
It is also
possible to reach a different audience using the new methodologies.
My current experiments are as follows.
On-line
encyclopedias
There are
many of these, but one of the most used is 'Wikipedia'. It did not seem
appropriate to put up an article on oneself, but I was fortunate in
having two friends, Dr. Mark Turin, and especially Gabriel Andrade,
who wrote a Wikipedia article about my work which can be found on the
web.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Macfarlane
Film
archives on the web
The rapid
spread of greater bandwidths ('broadband') has recently made it possible
to set up film and video archives which people can watch from many parts
of the world. There are many of these, but I have started to contribute
to the most popular at the moment, 'Youtube'. I am on Youtube under
an assumed name, 'ayabaya' and currently the more than three hundred
films, with more planned, can be seen at
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ayabaya
I have
written some reflections
on my use of Youtube.
Web-logs
or 'blogs'
The blog
is a recent phenomenon and obviously can be used in many different ways.
I am experimenting with two.
One is
http://www.letters2lily.blogspot.com
where I
am putting up a guide to 'How the world works' which was originally
published as a set of letters to my grand-daughter Lily. The book has
been translated into nine languages and has sold reasonably. But there
are many who cannot obtain it, and so I am putting up a few sections
a week, on which people can comment if they wish.
The second
is an attempt at political satire about the war on terror
http://www.hammerofevil.blogspot.com
It imagines
what two medieval Inquisitors who wrote the very influential anti-witchcraft
manual, 'The Hammer of Evil' (Malleus Maleficarum), might advise the
current leaders who are pursuing what they proclaim to be a 'war on
terror'. It also considers some of the effects of this unending battle
on freedom and democracy, in a similar way to George Orwell in '1984'.
Already there are a set of interesting comments on this blog.
Forums
Another
very popular use is as a meeting place, chat room or forum. There are
numerous possibilities here. I have started to experiment by joining
a University forum. This is called 'Facebook', and is used in many western
universities, each university having its own local site. I have an account
with the University of Cambridge Facebook community which is only open
to those with a University email (@cam) account, or their friends, so
you cannot see my activities there unless you are one of these. At present,
something like three-quarters of my first-year students are subscribers
to this and it is growing... The login for this community is at:
http://cambridge.facebook.com
Mixed
use
There are,
of course, many other combinations. For example, one of the most popular
is 'Myspace', where one can blog, post videos, have a chat room and
so on. I have a myspace site, but have not yet thought what to do with
it! It is at
http://www.myspace.com/130302128
University
of Cambridge: 800 Years
Podcast
interview on the credit crunch
Cambridge
University's leading thinkers delve beyond the headlines to show us
what history, anthropology and even hormones can teach us about the
credit crunch.