After taking this course, my relationship to digital media has only grown stronger. I have become reaccustomed to a different social media platform, Tumblr. I used to use it a lot when I was in high school, but I gradually drifted away from Tumblr. Having to create a blog and consistently update it made me remember just how much I enjoyed Tumblr. You follow people and get to see the content that they reblog. You also have a lot of content that you can look up by searching tags. I’ve found hilarious memes, beautiful images, and interesting news articles. I have also learned to use different mediums of digital media, like Garageband and iMovie. Not being a Mac user, I came into this class not knowing anything about either of those platforms. However, now, I really wish I had a Mac just so I could play around on Garageband and iMovie. It’s provided me with options that I was unfamiliar with before.
A technique that I will definitely take away from this course is using digital media. I think it’s a great way to spread the word, and I never really realized how valuable it is. When we created our sono-films and our short documentaries, I was really passionate about them because I was addressing things that I felt passionate about. I want other people to be comfortable in their own skin and I want other people to know that they are not defined by whatever it is that they suffer from. I want people to fiercely understand and accept these things, and using digital media to help get my point across made me find something I now have a huge interest in and my intention is to continue to partake in creating videos.
My relationship to creative writing has become re-enlightened. Writing was something I was really passionate about and something that I had a lot of pride in doing in high school, just like how Tumblr was something I used a lot in high school. I went through that phase of wanting to be a successful author. My teachers loved my writing and enjoyed reading my essays. I enjoyed writing stories, poems, literary analyses, essays, news articles, etc. However, once senior year and college rolled around, I forgot about that all. Writing wasn’t really fun anymore. Now I was at Rutgers pulling all-nighters to write essays for expository writing. I was writing essays that were really abstract. I was convinced that I was going to fail expos, but I got away with a B+. However, after taking this class, I remembered what it was like to actually enjoy what you’re writing. STMPs allowed me to write about things I wanted to write about, even though every assignment didn’t involve writing. But, when they did, it wasn’t hard for me to do it because my thought just poured out of my head and onto the keyboard. This class made me remember what it was like to write about things you feel passionate about. It’s easier for me to write than to talk.
In general, I think it’s important to write creatively because it’s an available outlet for anyone to use. I’ve received advice before to just write when I can’t explain something, or to just write in times of hardship. I don’t know why, but personally, it feels comforting. I’m writing something no one else knows the exact meaning of, but they can take what I wrote and relate it to themselves. I think sometimes purpose can be found in writing. I think it’s important to make digital media because we live in a digital society. There are various ways to get messages across, and I think it’s crucial to address all those ways. Especially with everything that’s going on today, I find it important to make digital media to encourage people to stand up for human rights and equality. It’s a way to reach people in a way we couldn’t do before.
