Emily's Blog

Without taking the course Emergent Media, I would have never learned how to create my own blog. I really enjoyed putting my ideas and thoughts into a blog, and I now feel that blogging is an easy way to express yourself and be creative. I thought this class was really fair and had a reasonable workload! There was something due every week of the semester, however, it didn’t take me hours and hours to complete (which I really appreciate). I also feel like I learned a lot in this course about media, media literacy, advertising, blogging and privacy. After taking this course, I am more media literate and will use these skills while I continue to use various sources of media in the future.

I had a hard time thinking about something that would make the class better, because I really enjoyed the assignments and discussions. The only thing that I would suggest is adding some course content into how to use a LinkedIn to get the biggest bang for your buck. I had some trouble orienting myself to that social media site. My favorite course content was about sports, media literacy and privacy because all 3 of those topics are very relevant in my life. I am not one to get in front of the camera often, so the YouTube video was a bit of a struggle for me! In previous courses, I have felt more comfortable recording myself over a power point but I am glad that I overcame that obstacle and did the assignment well.

Overall, I am really glad that I took this class. As I am nearing graduation, I am really excited to see where my life takes me. I will apply the tips and skills covered in this course to my every day life. I also am more aware of my media use and try to do other things besides sitting on my phone all day. Thank you for a great semester!!

This blog entry is a fun one because I completed my vlog for the course on Cyberstalking as well as Cybersafety tips! As our society’s media use is exponentially growing, our safety and privacy becomes more and more of a concern. In today’s world with a simple click of a button, a complete stranger can have access to all of your personal information if you are not enabling privacy settings or using your social media accounts wisely. To help increase your safety while scrolling, I have come up with a list of tips to follow for cybersafety:

1. For each social media account, make a different username and password. That way, if one account gets hacked…each of your other accounts still remains safe.
2. Enable all privacy settings…make it virtually impossible for a random stranger to click on your account and see all of your “About Me” information and photos and posts.
3. Do not put your home address, phone number or any classified information such as your banking information on the internet for the world to see.
4. When you are posting pictures or statuses (such as on Instagram), avoid using the geotag feature because this tells the viewer exactly where you were when taking that picture or posting that status. It is also convenient for the viewer to click on on the geotag and it takes them to an app for directions to get to the location.
5. Do not let random people who you do not know follow you. This is a recipe for cyberstalking.
6. If you have Snapchat, enable “Ghost Mode” so that your friends do not have your current location. Also with the “Find My Friends App” be cautious with who you are sharing your location with because this can be a big safety concern.

Lastly, if you feel that your safety and privacy is being violated, it is important to block the person and report them to the media site. If you feel that this is an emergency situation, contact the police. Be safe on the internet and make smart media choices!

Media literacy is a concept that is being brought up more and more as our technology continues to advance and become an integral part of our lives. When you first think of the term media literacy, a few things may come to mind. (Being able to understand the things you’re reading on media? Knowing how to operate various media sources such as a television or laptop?) Media Literacy is actually defined in the textbook as a set of perspectives that we actively use to expose ourselves to the media and interpret the meaning of the messages we encounter. Through the process of achieving media literacy we are learning those skills to assess the meaning in any kind of message. We are also organizing that meaning so it is useful in our lives. From there, we can construct messages to convey this meaning to others through the use of posting, blogging or messaging! As I am sitting here typing this blog, I am actively using my media literacy skills by taking a chapter in the textbook, analyzing it, organizing the concepts that are important to me and typing my understanding of media literacy up for others to read and interpret.

The cool thing about media literacy is that it is multidimensional. It comes in all different forms and perspectives. It can be cognitive, such as presenting facts like definitions or dates. It can also be emotional, focusing on your feelings and opinions about a topic. Media literacy can also be achieved when looking at aesthetic, looking at how the message is perceived through our senses. Media literacy can also be moral, focusing on values and judgments.

Media literacy might seem like a pretty difficult skill to accomplish and many probably think that they could never achieve it. However, everyone has some degree of media literacy because there is no such thing as “no literacy.” On the flip side, not a single person can achieve the status of being “fully literate.” Media literacy is a spectrum and each one of us fall somewhere on the line. Our position on the spectrum is based on our overall perspectives on media, how well we can form knowledge structures and the quality of those structures.

Are you interested in increasing your media literacy? Here are some tips on how to do so! The first thing you can do is open yourself up to more opportunities to use media. Go on a computer, turn on the radio or even watch a movie. Once you’re using the media source, try to analyze the message paying attention to the meaningful elements to you. Try to dig deeper than ever before to understand the true message of the article, music video, etc. Once you figured out the message, evaluate it. Is it a valuable message? Does it challenge your own thoughts, beliefs values? Now, group those ideas, images and messages together purposefully. Find things that are similar and different. Overtime, this process will become more natural and you will find yourself actively incorporating media literacy into your every day media exposure!

About 8 years ago I created my very first social media account, Facebook. Before this I used instant messaging to chat with close friends every once in awhile but Facebook was truly my first social media account experience. Looking at my Facebook account now, it has grown to nearly 1,000 friends and hundreds of uploaded pictures. As of today I am an active member on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook and VSCO. I turn to Spotify and Pandora for my music interests and I often refer to YouTube on a daily basis to watch videos to help me understand school work. With that being said, I know social media plays a big role in my life.

Social media use is not only a leisurely activity for me but it helps me stay up to date on my friends and families lives. Scrolling through social media accounts is a simple and quick way to see what someone is doing that day or even that very second. The easiest way for me to see what one of my friends is doing is by checking Snapchat because people are posting “stories” constantly whether they are at a cool coffee shop, on a hike or at the library overwhelmed with schoolwork. Social media is great because I always feel in the loop and connected with my friends and family all around the world.

The biggest thing that I notice about my social media accounts as well those I follow is that we try to portray our very best image. The pictures we post are the ones that we look the best and look like we are having an amazing time. The posts that we make are often to brag about how wonderful our lives are or vent about something in which people usually respond with encouraging words and statements. The video clips we upload to Snapchat or Instagram make everyone jealous of how much fun we are having. The biggest lesson that I learned throughout the years is that what you see online is not always the truth and it is not always an accurate portrayal of someones life.

I think that I am pretty advanced with my social media usage. I know how to maneuver around every account and post fairly often. I definitely notice myself “filtering” media messages throughout the day. As the book states, filtering determines whether we take in or ignore each of the thousands of media messages we encounter every day. When I am on an account, I scroll past meaningless advertisements or posts from someone who I don’t have a close connection with. I pay more attention to pictures, videos or status updates from family and friends.

All in all, media makes me feel connected. When I go prolonged periods without it I feel kind of lost. I know that I am not the only one feeling this way either. People all over the country and world are constantly on their smart phones and devices making sure that they are exposed to every post, every picture and every update. Without media we would have no idea whats going on right this second on the other side of the globe, is that a good thing or a bad thing? For the most part I think it is a benefit that the majority of people on earth are using some form of social media because it makes the distance between everyone not feel so large.

I am intrigued to see how media continues to grow and continues to impact our daily lives.

I am excited because I have never blogged before! I find myself reading blogs that my friends write while studying abroad or the occasional blog from a social media icon! Reading blogs is a fun way to get inside someones head and understand something from another persons perspective. I also enjoy looking at people’s travels and their stories and pictures that accompany the blog. For this class, I am excited to grow as a blogger and figure out my writing style for this type of media! Welcome to my first blog, here is my personal standpoint on how media made the phrase “its a small world” even more relevant!

Being one of the older members of “Generation Z,” (being born in the years 1995-2012) I have witnessed the rapid and almost uncontrollable growth of media in not only our country but the world. I remember back when my family first bought a computer. It was a ginormous box that was bigger than me at the time, took 15 minutes to turn on and made these unforgettable noises as “AOL” opened. Comparing the amount of technology in my home now to when I was younger is astonishing. Today, there are 4 iPhones, 3 laptops, 1 desktop computer, Wifi, kindles and 3 televisions (Not to mention the ridiculous amount of video games that my younger brother has). The point I am trying to make here is that I first hand witnessed the exponential growth on the use and reliance of media in our daily lives.

Our textbook states that today, the average time spent using media in a day is 15 hours. This statement initially alarmed me, but when I really thought about it I could see why this number is so high. When we wake up, what is the first thing we do? Scroll. Scroll through unread text messages from the previous night, scroll through various forms of social media, scroll through our emails. Now, we are getting ready for class. Intermittently we are texting someone, listening to music, watching television, or checking social media again. Now we are on BU’s campus. What do we see? Dozens of heads buried in their phones. In class we are using computers, watching videos (including TED Talks, YouTube, etc.). Now you can see just how influential media is on our lives.

Our textbook also states that the biggest increases in media exposure are with texting, watching videos and using social networking. Today, I am following people all over the world on my social media accounts and getting minute by minute news updates at the touch of a button. It is so much easier to stay connected with anyone and everyone. Whether you view media in a positive or negative way, you must appreciate the fact that we have more information, research and data than ever before. In fact, 90% of all data that exists was created in the last 3 years. We are generating so much information at our fingertips and it is so routine and normal for us.

From the start of this course to now, I think my jaw has dropped a dozen times when listening to the PowerPoint’s or reading the textbook. I always knew media was the most popular way to stay in touch with the world but realizing how significant the growth has been in the past few years and how it is predicted to grow amazes me. I am excited to continue on this journey in Emergent Media and figure out my true standpoint on whether the excessive use and reliance on media is a positive, a negative or both!

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton