Collective memory projects have recently become a popular way for many governments and cities around the world to engage with their citizenry. Through the use of web platforms and crowdsourcing methods, the collection and aggregation of “digital memories” can serve diverse larger agendas such as preserving a sense of heritage to galvanizing collective action.
In a similar fashion, the Singapore Memory Project (SMP) embarked on a massive nationwide effort to collect at least 5 million digital contributions in the form of photos, videos and narratives, by 2015. This presentation by Dr Jude Yew examines and evaluates this effort at crowdsourcing collective memories through analyses of server logs from the Singapore Memory Project (SMP) and through interviews with volunteers, contributors and administrators who were active in the effort of “memory collection”. This evaluation prompts the following broader questions about efforts to crowdsource collective digital memories;
– what does it mean to contribute digital memories to an online portal?
– what motivates the contributors and volunteers around such efforts?
– what are some of the criterion for such successful collective memory projects?
The findings from this project enable us to better understand how the dynamics of designing participatory web platforms interact with broader trends of civic engagement, participation and citizenry.
Moderated by Dr Liew Kai Khiun.
This event is free but please register your attendance via the Tickets Available (peatix.com) link above.
About the Speaker
Jude Yew is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore. He joined CNM in 2012 after finishing a Ph.D. and Postodoc at the University of Michigan. His research is focused on studying and designing social computing systems that encourage prosocial behaviour. Specifically, he is interested in understanding, modeling, predicting, and designing for prosocial human behavior within sociotechnical systems. He has studied and designed environments for large scale scientific collaboration, the use of social tagging in learning, and the sharing and reuse of user-generated content in online communities. Additionally, he has received funding from the the Keio-NUS CUTE Center, NSF and the Rackham Graduate School for this work.
About the Moderator
An academic with research interest on cultural heritage and memories, Dr Liew Kai Khiun has been focusing on the roles of digital media as a cultural resource for collective remembering. Involved in advocacy for the conservation of Singapore’s built and natural heritage for more than a decade, Kai Khiun also believes in the significance of the digital media in facilitating the evolution of more independent processes of archiving and preservation.
[Image from Mirum Indonesia]
[Part of Survey: Space, Sharing, Haunting, curated by Post-Museum]
