Final

Autodatography: Data Analysis as Self-Narrative

Autobiography as a literary genre of self-representation has flourished in modernity. In simple terms, we understand it as self life writing (autos + bios + graphe). What could be more natural than telling your own story? In the digital age, Kenneth Goldsmith argues, we end up telling our own stories somewhat inadvertently by accumulating data while using the Internet. In the chapter, “Our Browser History is the New Memoir,” he writes, “This furious accumulation of detail and data, from a creative point of view, is reason to celebrate. The vast amount of the web’s language is perfect raw material for literature.” To test Goldsmith’s argument, this assignment asks you tell your own story using writing recovered from the internet. If Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other online services track information to better understand our personalities, how might we use that data to tell our own stories?

To complete this final you will need to gather information about yourself from as many online services as you find helpful. Facebook and Google produce especially rich archives of personal data, but you may use any online material about yourself, including social media posts or school profiles. Note that when downloading data archives, it might take a few days for some services to provide you with your data. And it will take you some time to sift through it, learn to make sense of what’s there, and then begin analyzing it for your autodatography. Give yourself plenty of time. To limit the time period of your narrative, focus on just the period of your life as a college student.

Part of the goal is to discover what kind of information about your life exists online. In some ways this could be an act of self-discovery—perhaps you learn something about your digital habits that you didn’t realize, or maybe you remember something about your online social life that you’d already forgotten. In other ways, it should be an act of self-distortion. What does this data leave out, imply incorrectly, or misrepresent about you? The final narrative should illustrate the distance between your data self and your remembered self.

This project will be your final blog post for the class. As always, practice good blogging standards by using links to show readers where online you found your materials and use images to keep the post visually interesting. Submit your autodatography by noon on Monday, December 9.

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Useful resources

Do Not Track, and interactive documentary.
FrickBits, personal data visualization for the iPhone.
Ink361, for Instagram data.
Give Me Data, for exporting Facebook data as structured file.
Crowdbabble, for exporting Instagram data as structured file.
Purdue OWL, on writing the personal memoir.
Examples of personal memoir as expressive writing and expository writing.