An identity built around making things – of being “a maker” – pervades technology culture. There’s a widespread idea that “People who make things are simply different [read: better] than those who don’t.
Debbie Chachra, “Why I Am Not a Maker,” The Atlantic, January 23, 2015.
It is hard to define Digital Humanities, but we can use some words to characterize Digital Humanities and projects in this field. For example, Digital Humanities has evolved to a point where it is production-based and interactive. In class, we have seen many interesting presentations of projects that convey different understandings and opinions in this field. Digital Humanists seek to express their concerns in creative ways so that a greater range of people can be their audiences. Thus, Digital Humanities is tightly related to social issues, especially in this era of technology.
In Chachra’s post “Why I Am Not a Maker”, she addresses problems that pervade technology culture. She starts by discussing the fact that people identify the value of a “maker” but neglect the value of a “caregiver” in the industry. For example, in tech companies, coders are getting high salaries and stocks but people who do community management that ensure the success of the company are getting very little. This message grabs my attention because I used to assume that “makers” contribute more to the development of this society, and I overlooked the importance of caregivers. I didn’t realize that caregivers such as teachers and healthcare workers are not getting enough credit in this value system. As Chachra points out in the post, the alternative of making is not doing “nothing”. Instead, it is almost always doing things for other people. Also, she discusses the issues regarding gender inequality that comes with the value system. I am lucky enough to grow up without experiencing any unfairness. However, it is possible that the value system subtly made me ignore things that I should be concerned about.
Under the large umbrella of Digital Humanities, I am eager to learn more about the techniques we can use to produce creative visual presentations of social issues and data. Reading papers about these topics can be tedious sometimes. I can learn from various DH projects and express my ideas in ways that more people would be interested in.
