Technical Writing Blog 2

Who killed Rex? Is it the man who let him out of the gate? Or is the customer service representative who failed to note that there was a dog in the backyard? Could it be the owner for failing to tell the company that he even had a dog? Spinuzzi attempts to find the answer in his article, but he does it by analyzing the flow of information through three separate networks. The telecommunications network comprising the company’s service areas, the actor-network comprised of the many entities that agree to work together, and the activity network which examines the developmental activity of a collective.  These networks are individually complicated enough to give someone a headache, but when you put all three together, then it almost becomes impossible to sort through it all. This is why Spinuzzi is forced to break each network down and explain exactly what each one does and how it interacts with the other two. According to Spinuzzi, a failure somewhere along one of these networks is what led to Rex’s death. As he analyzes each of the networks, detailing what comprised each of the networks in terms of the company in question; the reader can clearly see a picture begin to form. It is not the fault of any one person or network, but rather a failure on the parts of all three. Spinuzzi says “So it's hard to pin down blame: in distributing intellectual work across networks, the theories also distribute responsibility and agency, competence and (especially) incompetence.” There is simply too much confusion and entanglement present, and each network is too interdependent on the others. If a mistake is made in one, then that mistake will most likely get translated to all three. Of course none of this matters to the customer (or to Rex, who is now dead), as he does not care where the mistake was made, just that one was made, and his dog has died.

So as a tribute to Rex, here’s a funny video of a dog, which I shall pretend is Rex (there’s no proof that it isn’t), and smile at the memory of him.