Verified

Have you ever read a poem or a song and wondered what the artist thought about a certain line or lyric? Verified artists are, essentially, personal annotations for artists and authors. They let the author of a text make their own comments about their writing- they can relate the anecdotes that led to the creation of a song, comment about the instrumental arrangements, decipher their own particularly cryptic lyrics, or elaborate on their arguments.

For musicians, this function can serve both as a connection to their fan base, and garner additional publicity for their music. Most of the time listeners want to know the stories and thoughts behind the music, and the speculation of Genius contributors can only illuminate so much. Verified annotations are a far more direct way of discussing the creation of a text- instead of listening to a 20 minute interview to discover something about a line in a song, these annotations provide a much more direct and specific way of hearing the artist’s opinion about lyrics. This practice can be expanded to fiction and poetry- the annotations let the author reveal the more personal side of the writing- discussing the personal experiences that led to a character or event, or lending credence to a given theory of analysis.

For nonfiction writers, verified annotations let writers reach a new level of complexity with their arguments. Not only can an author add additional citations to an article, they can put relevant parts of those sources directly beside the place they use it in their writing. Instead of having to find the footnote that leads to an entire article, the annotations can be used to present the exact lines they were referring to. In addition, annotations can provide an area for editorial comments in articles that are otherwise objective- the author can still convey their opinions without including them in an otherwise factual article. Moreover, they give the author freedom to include the nuance and additional information that inevitably gets cut when writing a research paper.

On Genius, not every writer is verified, but there are a number of very recognizable artists who have been verified. The largest and most recent, within Rap Genius at least, is Eminem. His annotations discuss his own writing process, and also give a unique insight into the actual interactions of the people in the rap industry. Most of the time annotations from Verifieds are invaluable even on texts they didn’t author because they normally provide the perspective of someone within the music industry. Genius contributors are quite good at references and analysis, but have far less expertise at what it’s like to actually be in a recording studio making music. This makes the annotations of a producer like Rick Rubin especially insightful because they deal with the actual musicality of a song- most annotations deal only with the lyrics.

As always, view the annotated version of this text here. Also, I invite you to sign up for the beta version of /theinternet below, so that you can add annotations to this page, or anything on the internet. Also, download the Genius chrome extension to see annotations more easily on any page you visit.

This Time It's Personal

On Genius there are two types of annotations- Genius annotations and Personal annotations. Genius annotations are the most common, and are they type that I’ve spent most of my time discussing. Personal annotations are a more recent development, and differ only in the authorship of the annotation. For example, a Genius annotation can show the identities of contributors, but is just listed as the Genius annotation. A personal annotation clearly identifies the author, so its written more as an editorial than a news article.

This allows writers to do things that are normally frowned upon in genius annotations. For example, the writer can reference a personal experience, or make a dissenting analysis. This is a good way of encouraging debate- where in a Genius annotation your comments need to be factual and objective, personal annotations can argue for a specific position or opinion. This is especially helpful for articles in News Genius, because it allows contributors to make their own comments and debates on the policies and politics of the texts. These annotations also have great potential for Lit Genius texts, because they allow for competing readings of a text to be presented without using a Genius annotations that is three or four paragraphs long.

Personal annotations also let people make comments about songs that wouldn’t fit in a Genius annotation. For example, a personal annotation could discuss the way that a certain song reminds someone of another lyric or artist- because comments of that sort are so subjective, they wouldn’t fit in a Genius annotation, but the connections and resulting analysis are still beneficial to the reader.

Now, however, with the advent of /theinternet, personal annotations have a new importance. Right now, all offsite annotations are personal annotations- there is not yet a structure for offsite Genius annotations. This works towards the aim of /theinternet, however- annotating websites is meant to stimulate discussion, not just be a glorified system of footnotes. Anyone can look up more facts and add them to a speech or article- Genius’s strength is that we allow people to discuss and debate a text essentially as a part of the text itself. The immediacy of an annotation allows for a higher and more specific level of debate, something that many would argue is desperately needed in the general whirlwind of internet dialogue.

As always, view the annotated version of this text here. Also, I invite you to sign up for the beta version of /theinternet below, so that you can add annotations to this page, or anything on the internet. Also, download the Genius chrome extension to see annotations more easily on any page you visit.

Genius.com/beta

Interesting and Awesome Genius Stuff #1

In past weeks I have discussed what Genius is, how it works, and what I think about it. I’ve talked about the structure of the website, and its potential for education. Now, however, I want to move on- to what is actually happening on the website. This part of the blog will probably be half music blog, and half Genius spotlight. This week I’d like start with a few specific examples of the way that Genius can be used for education.

Properties and Reactions of Haloalkanes

One of the biggest parts of being a student is studying- assimilating material and preparing for tests. Study guides are one of the most helpful forms of studying. They’re more concise than a textbook or notes, and provide a convenient form of review for students. While study guides don’t fall within Genius’ main focuses, the annotation format provides another dimension of explanation. The addition of diagrams, additional explanations, and sources makes the explanations clearer, and a reader can pursue a second opinion or additional explanation immediately, instead of doing other research to find another source.

Practice Test 1, Section 6 (Writing)

Another of the main types of studying is test prep. Because high school students are essentially required to take exams like the SAT, there is a huge market for study materials. An annotated version of SAT test questions provides an easy way for a student to solve questions, and then check the answers and explanations in realtime, without having to flip pages or wade through distracting test prep sites. While this version is thus far unfinished, parts of its construction are designed to encourage good test taking habits. For example, the normal SAT instructions have been omitted. Because the instructions never change, it is better to memorize the types of questions and know the rules, so that you don’t waste time reading them during the test.

As always, view the annotated version of this post here.

Genius and Citations

Citations are necessary in any academic work. Online, they’re one of the few ways of verifying a fact or claim. As such, citations serve an integral role in Genius annotations. Although they serve different roles in onsite and offsite annotations, both are an essential, though often underrated part of Genius.

Anyone can annotate texts on Genius. This means that anyone can add their own interpretation of a song, or reference outside interviews and sources. In this sort of setup, citations are really the only way that other users can verify another users claims. Without them, an editor has no way of knowing if an interview or article even exists, much less whether it has been interpreted correctly, unless they do the same research. This produces a lot of redundant research- citations make sure that any reader is using the same starting information when they look at a text.

Another way of making better annotations is to link an individual line of a song to a larger concept or issue. For example, if a song alludes to homelessness, a really good annotation not only comments on the importance of that within the song, but can also provide information or statistics about homelessness and its causes. These types of annotations, where indirect references are expanded into concrete knowledge about a field, not only make for interesting annotations, but have an educational purpose in their own right. For these annotations citations are even more necessary because you are references facts unrelated to the text. For the annotation to have any factual legitimacy it needs citations.

Onsite citations also provide convenience and legitimacy to annotations. Not only do they provide additional information that has been verified by other sources, but they also put that additional information at your fingertips. This encourages more research and investigation on the part of the reader, as well as making sure that the writers of annotations fully research their annotations.

The role of citations changes for off-site annotations. Although all of the above factors still apply to the writing of annotations, the role of the annotation itself has shifted. Where before an annotation would analyze the lyrics of a song and then provide a link to an article about the song, off-site annotations can annotate that article directly. Especially for news articles, this introduces the possibility of using annotations are a fact-checking vehicle. If an article or politician make a claim in a speech or an article, Genius annotations can serve as an immediate way of connecting claims to the relevant facts or pointing out inaccuracies. In an online world where information if becoming increasingly confused among thousands or sources, this provides a needed way to add clarity and facts to public discussion.

As always, view my annotations (complete with citations), here.

The Educational Value Inherent in Genius

My interest in Genius as a platform for education is twofold: First, how can it be applied to the existing educational framework of literary texts and standardized testing? This would include annotated Common Core texts, test prep materials using Genius’s platform, or classroom annotation projects. Second, and perhaps more interesting, is Genius’ ability to be educational when it’s not trying to be. What value does Genius have as an educational tool for things that aren’t related to education at all?

To what degree does Genius and the act of annotating serve as something educational even when it is not part of a conventionally educational setting? In this case I am defining conventionally educational to include ordinary school work, but also annotations on texts widely considered to be “intellectual” or “literary.” Conversely, I would consider most music annotations to be outside of a conventionally educational setting. However, I would argue Genius annotations in these settings are educational, both for consumers of such annotations and for the people contributing them.

Genius annotations are educational for the people reading them because they serve to increase the reader’s knowledge of historical and cultural facts. Something as simple as giving a concrete explanation of common religious allusions serves to increase the reader’s knowledge base. Although it does not increase knowledge in a regimented or comprehensive manner, it serves both to transmit knowledge and to train readers to view texts in an analytical way.

As someone who writes Genius annotations, the writing process is very educational. Making a good annotation is a combination of research, creative writing, and literary analysis. Good annotations encourage the writer to learn new facts, and teaches elementary research practices. It also encourages in-depth analysis of written texts, especially in their imagery, allusions, and tone. Because so many of Genius’s users, especially in Rap Genius, are male high school students- a group often considered to be least interested in things like research or literary analysis, Genius provides a vital way to make these types of academic practices interesting and appealing to students.

As always, the annotated version of this post can be found here.

Crowdsourcing: Why I’m Not Getting Paid for This

Everyone knows the Wikipedia debate- is it a reliable, factual, source if all of the information is contributed by ordinary people? Whatever its academic veracity, Wikipedia is notable for the breadth and scope of its information- all contributed by unpaid volunteers. Rarely organizations are able to so effectively convince individuals to contribute their time and effort- entirely unpaid- to something with little direct personal benefit.

Genius operates under a similar system- except for the surprisingly small number of staff, all of the annotations are contributed by unpaid volunteers. This raises one very important question: How do you convince people to become high-volume contributors?

The answer to the first is hard to specifically define. At some level it is the dilemma faced by anything online- how do we convince people to visit our website, and then come back again later. For Genius, the answer is all in the community. Once you spend a lot of time on the site, you develop friendships and a network of people who will comment on and contribute to your work. While most of this is spontaneous, a lot of the way Genius is set up is designed to promote this. The most obvious examples are Genius chat, the forums, and the practice of coaching new users, but this can also be found in the many ways users interact around annotations- upvotes, sharing annotations, replies, and suggestions. All of these encourage people to interact, but also subtly maintain the quality of annotations.

The other way that Genius encourages contributors to make a high volume of annotations is the IQ system. Each annotation gives the author IQ- Genius’s version of meaningless internet points. The more you write, the more points you get, and the results are posted in leaderboards throughout the site. There are genre-wide leaderboards, but also lists for the top scholars on every artist and album. This sort of video game mentality is the sort of motivation that should be meaningless, but has a remarkably effective way of encouraging people to increase their contributions to the site.

So- what’s the point of all this? Basically, crowdsourcing is a really effective means of convincing a lot of people to work for you without having to pay them. From the user’s perspective, it’s a subtle manipulation of our emotions, but, since we’re all still here, it’s obviously worth it.

As always, the annotated version of this post can be found here.

/theinternet

Genius.com, at it’s core, is based on the idea of annotating. When it existed as RapGenius, it focused entirely on annotating rap lyrics. When it underwent its expansion to Genius.com, texts expanded from just music lyrics to any written work. This means that contributors could upload any written work, within copyright law, and annotate it. Currently, under the banners of Lit Genius, News Genius, and History Genius, this includes poetry, excerpts of novels, speeches, and historical documents..

Now, however, Genius aims to take their expansion one step further. Their next expansion, genius.com/theinternet, will let users annotate anything on the web. This includes online news articles, websites, and basically anything written on the internet. The only current exceptions are things behind paywalls or accounts, and online pdfs. This will let genius annotations serve a variety of functions. Annotations can be used to provide immediately visible fact-checking for speeches and news articles. They can also let experts comment on political documents and speeches. For example, after Benjamin Netanyahu gave his controversial speech to congress, the full text of the speech appeared on MSNBC, annotated by experts in Middle Eastern policy.

While /theinternet has not been officially released, there is a beta testing version available. Visit http://genius.com/beta to sign up for an account, and happy annotating!

As always, the annotated version of this post can be found here, complete with links to each of of the articles and examples mentioned: http://genius.it/elizabethposs.blogspot.com .