According to Lev Manivick, cited by Applen, “modularity,” is a pretty fixed concept. Sites do not change their identity and retain their “independence” when used to “construct larger bodies of information.” (Manovich 30). So basically, it’s the action of mentioning or using something without changing the thing you’re using. Apple gives an example of a hyperlink. A website owner can link other sites on their website that take their audience to different places. Even though she’s using it on her site, the content behind those links cannot be changed. Trippy, right?
Modularity allows new media to “celebrate” individuality. (Applen, 8). Hyperlinks allow us the possibility of many variables. Variables being many different probabilities existing for us at the same time. Like I said, nothing is fixed. But I wonder if modularity and hyperlinks are interchangeable. Can you have one without the other and still get the individuality Applen speaks of? In order to make more sense of modularity, I started digging into oral conversations.
In Person Example
I can be completely off with this upcoming example but, indulge me. Let’s say you’re having a conversation with a friend about another friend. The friend you’re talking about has recently gotten you upset. So now you’re gossiping about this friend to another friend right in front of you. You start saying all this horrible stuff about the friend just because you’re mad. The friend you’re talking about is actually the nicest person in the world and there was just a misunderstanding between you two. You referencing the friend and the experience that happened, in your perspective , does not change the truth. It may lead the person you’re talking about this with to think twice about the other person. Maybe they’ll even go to them for more information/clarity. That still doesn’t change the person or what really happened. Would that be a real life, person to person, example of modularity?
I think applying these terms to living creatures helps us integrate them better.
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