A Belated Gephi Blog

Gephi was definitely the most challenging tool I have come across in this class so far. I found it near-impossible to be able to even be able to download it on my laptop, as I ran into several error messages when trying to open it. It falsely told me I did not have the most up-to-date version of Java, and when I could open it (once in every blue moon), it would immediately close the second I clicked on something. When I finally got it to work (shout-out to Bill for using his computer whiz skills on my laptop), I became intimidated by all of the tedious, detail-oriented work it took to create what I have pictured above as the finished product. Though it does not look like what I feel like it should have, I am still proud of what Gabby and I created, as it took a lot of tinkering and focus. Towards the end of the tinkering process with Gephi, I did begin to become more confident and interested in the program, and believe I could possibly create something impressive with it if I use it again (which, let’s be honest, will not happen. It has already been deleted from my laptop).

As far as the actual subject material of the project goes, Gabby and I chose a more vertical web-looking design instead of sporadic firework-resembling branches. Our overarching subject was “Woman” as it relates to Herland, and we choose to connect the two subjects in a way I believe is a tad different than expected. The nodes mostly consisted of subjects that slowly branched off from each other, such as “Woman” branching to “Gender Roles” branching to “Stereotypes.” From there, our edges consisted of quotes either from Herland or from related readings, such as the Wonder Woman reading. The purpose of these were more like supporting points than anything, to show either how that certain point existed in either Herland and/or our past/current society, or how those supporting points relate to the general concept of the woman.

While I enjoyed the research aspect of this project as well as being able to create something cool, it was a daunting task – one which I am glad has come to an end. I can see how it was useful for the project at hand, however, and I would maybe be willing to use it again, if given more time to tinker with it. For now, I prefer to stick with the trusted Voyant. Overall, I can summarize my experience using Gephi with the words of the great John Mulaney…