After reading one chapter from Jill Walker Rettberg’s Seeing Ourselves Through Technology, I have come a bit more aware of technology. Though I love scrolling through Instagram and saving pictures and videos that make me laugh and smile, I do not like to put myself out into the big world of the internet. I admit I have social media accounts like Twitter and Instagram, but I do not use it represent myself. Rather than taking an open approach for self-representation, I do it in a more personal way, through journaling.

Focusing on the content of the chapter, I found it quite interesting to learn about the history of self-representation. Though some things were obvious (like resources were limited for writing or drawing), it was nice to get more detailed information on where it all began and seeing it transform to what we use and see on a day to day basis. I feel like self-representation online may be interpreted wrong sometimes. The internet is a way to mask who an individual really is. On this astonishing world online, you get to decide what you post. You get to decide how you edit it and how you post it. We want it to be perfect. Most of us will not post our insecurities/flaws or our struggles online. Once it’s online, anyone can see it anywhere and anytime. You can never take that back. Therefore, in some way, many of us are living in this illusion of happiness online. Though many of us know this, but someone online may not be who they say they are offline. Recently, I watched a new original movie on Netflix called “Sarah Burgess is A Loser.” In a short summary, it was about catfishing. Again, though it’s obvious and repetitive, anyone could easily lie about themselves online.

Shifting gears, I do not really know what else to say about this chapter. It was interesting in a way, and I found many connections I could relate to myself. For one, I do believe that technology is a great way to store memories and important documents. I love taking photos especially. I do not realize how often I am taking out my cell phone and taking snapshots of everything around me until I look at the huge number of photos stored onto my phone.

From getting a sense of the last few reading assignments, the future reading assignments may be lengthy (in my opinion) and also revolve around an essential topic, technology. I do not know if I’ll find it interesting or not. I feel like I’ll get tired of that topic, but it’s important to know about the current developments of this big world of ours.

Thank you for making it this far! Tune in for the next post!

Summary:

In chapter one of the book Seeing Ourselves Through Technology” by Jill Walker Rettberg, it focuses on self-representation and how it interweaves with today’s technological advances. First, Rettberg dives into the chapter with a reference to Parmigianino’s self portrait. It was a reflection that mimicked his face. Similarly, today many use technology to post a glimpse of their own lives and reflection (literally and figuratively). Then, Rettberg gives a brief overview on how the next chapters are going to play out, describing many aspects of self-representation and elaborating more on specific topics. Moving on, she mentions the three mandatory ways on how self-representation connects with digital technology—visual, written, and quantitative. Though there is a long history to the topic “written,” it has advanced and now is commonly used in today’s world (blogging, journals, etc.). In the late 16th century, it was concluded that drawing yourself was more acceptable than writing about oneself. Therefore, creating the self-representation of visual. It came through paintings and drawings then with heavy cameras to smartphones. Finally, Rettberg ends off with stereotypes faced in society with social media and technology.

Key Terms:

• Self-representation: how an individual may show himself to the media
• Self-documentation: what an individual posts online correlates into keeping memories/data to be looked upon in the future
• Communication: the imparting or exchanging of information or news
• Visual: a  picture, piece of film, or display used to illustrate or accompany something
• Quantitative: relating to, measuring, or measured by the quantity of something rather than its quality.

Main Idea: There are three (visual, written, quantitative) distinct ways to represent ourselves on social media. With that, we can communicate through media and reveal ourselves to others through the online platform.

Commentary:

Chapter one emphasizes digital technology and how it reflects who we are as an individual. I do agree with Rettberg’s idea for the most part. I believe that today’s world is advancing quickly with technology and there is no way to avoid it. By knowing the ways to represent ouselves online, we can build a stronger foundation for relationships that will arise and develop. I also agree that it’s an efficent way to communicate with others. However, I believe that we should also focus on self-representation in real life. The chapter focuses on the world on screen, but we should also focus off screen. Though technology is taking over, we still have a bit of humanity to hold on. Every minute we look down onto our screens, we lose our self-representation with the people physically around you. We lose the ability to represent ourselves in real life. It’s important to grasp the online world, but we should also emphasize the importance on understanding the real world as well.

It was about fifteen minutes before class started that I had looked at the article we were supposed to have read by now. At first glance, I was a little scared of the PDF shown on my screen. It was nineteen pages long. I was a bit hesitant to start reading, but I knew I had to. At first, I skimmed through most of the reading and got a general idea for what the message/main idea was. I predicted that is was all I needed for class—I guess I was both right and wrong at the end of the day.

After taking some time on my own to thoroughly read it once again, I came to enjoy most of the reading. I liked the idea of the author giving readers the advice to start out their own blog, encouraging them to not be afraid to try something new. From that, it encourages me to not only try blogging more often (and maybe make a personal one as well), but also try something new in my life that I have not done yet. For example, I was asked to go to London for a week in June, but I rejected the offer. To this day (which the event was just a few months ago), I do not know the reason why I said no. However, I missed an opportunity to travel somewhere new and outside of the country. Maybe I was afraid and should have been more excited to get the chance to go. Another part that may lead me from not trying new things is the fear of judgement. Even doing these blogs, I am afraid that someone will catch a grammar error or vocabulary misspell. I wonder if people will judge me for the things I write. If I had my own personal blog, I wouldn’t be too intimated by the viewers because most likely I won’t ever meet them in real life. Even so, whatever I post on this blog, I know I’ll have to face my classmates and professor whether they have seen my posts or not. Despite all of my fear, I hope that from now on I can take a leap of courage and go for it.

However, Reid says that blogs are, for the most part, to write about anything you want like interests/hobbies. In this case, this blog is not founded for that particular reason. Yes, it’s different, fun, and a new way to perceive a different view on English and writing, but I do feel like (not all the time) a caged bird with boundaries and requirements to surpass. I completely understand the purpose of these blogs for the class though. After all, it is for an English class. Don’t get me wrong,  I do still enjoy blogging so far. There are times where my procrastination will shine, and it will be stressful to write these blog posts for it to be graded, but it does not hurt to try.

Summary: In this piece, Why Blog? Searching for Writing on the Web by Alex Reid, it begins with writing—writing for the sake of it and writing for fun. Writing may take hours and hours of your life that you may not be able to take back. However, by blogging you could still practice consistently on your writing and still have an element of fun. Blogging started nearly two decades ago. Though many were on political beliefs, especially after 9/11, others were revolved around certain interests of theirs like gaming or engineering. As time past, the number of blogs sky rocketed, and a vast variety of topics could be found on the web. It has connected different countries and people together. The author moves on into giving us the basics of starting our very own blog. For example, finding a target audience, knowing what to write about, picking out our designs, and etc. Reid encourages to give blogging s try in hopes to share ideas and interests, but also build strength into writing.

Main Idea: Blogging not only continues to build your writing capacity, but also lets you customize your very own “world.” It enables you to communicate your interests and thoughts to several other people.

Key Terms:

• Blogosphere: personal websites and blogs collectively
• Extrinsic Motivation: behavior that is driven by external rewards such as money, fame, grades, and praise
• Intrinsic Motivation: motivation to engage in a behavior arises from within the individual because it is naturally satisfying to you
• Blog: a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style
• Belligerent: hostile and aggressive

Commentary: At the beginning of the article, Reid states that “students [who] confronted with a syllabus or an assignment can find it difficult to get beyond the mindset of “what do I need to do to get an A?.” With this, I agree with his saying.  I have always been the student that strives to get an A in every class (many of you included). It doesn’t take more than a second to think about how I am going to get the A. I do find it difficult to go beyond that mindset and capacity. Instead of being eager to get an A, I should be more eager to learn and grow as an individual. For example, discussions in class. Naturally, I am a shy person, and when the teacher claims that discussions are going to be graded, I need to talk. I speak not in spite of communicating with others or sharing ideas/concepts, but to get an A. I need to think beyond of getting a grade. I need to learn from my environment and through others around me. If you do not understand the concept, you will not pass. Along those lines, I hear that saying from several teachers. What’s the point of getting A’s from the assignments that you copied off answers from online or friends? When the test comes along, the understanding of the concept is lost. Though I am like most students that strive to earn A’s, I want to expand from that mindset and flourish in my studies.

I had never blogged before in my life. I never tried. I knew my small mind could not be ready for the whole world to see. Also, I did not know what my blogs would be about—and I still do not know. However, attending this class(English 1117), I had an opportunity to challenge myself, to try something entirely new.

When hearing about this long-term project, I got excited. I had this sense of joy tingling up my nerves. Being able to set up and customize my very own website/blog, gave me a break from the regular homework assignments I usually got.

Before having class time scheduled to work on the blogs, I decided to start setting it up on my own. I clicked onto the links to reach WordPress, but I had some difficulty in the beginning. WordPress was not loading onto my screen. I tried to reach it onto five different devices varying from phones to tablets to laptops/computers. I was low key going to give up and wait until class time, but I knew I needed the extra time at home. During that time, my personal laptop was glitching and not able to connect to any sources of wifi. I started out with a few obstacles.

However, I tried to use my sister’s laptop one more time. Luckily, it worked. I was relieved. I made an account and started to follow Bonnie’s instructions online. I do not have an amazing story behind my username. A few years back, I thought that if I ever made a YouTube channel or blog, I would name it “studyalike.” I was obsessed with study videos, note-taking, and calligraphy. It was a little phase that I went through, and it still remains in the blur of my mind to this day. So now, I am using this name.

Going back to the set up, I wanted to add some cool features onto my blog, but I came to realize quickly that I did have the skills to do anything that special. All I did was change the colors, added a few images and backgrounds here and there. For a first time blogger, I have a whole mountain to climb. Now, after setting up 98% of my blog, I feel satisfied. Like I said earlier, I am excited to be doing this for English class(even though I may not have complete control of what I write). It feels like I am not actually doing homework. It lifts up a bit of the stress.

Anyways, a few tips/tricks I learned from setting up a blog(even though they are obvious):

• Have patience: setting up a blog requires a bit of extra time to customize and find a theme, so do not worry about getting it absolutely perfect because in the end, blogging is a continuous thing that you build up. It doesn’t stop when you have finished “setting up.” It’s only the beginning.
• It doesn’t have to be perfect: Correlating to the tip above, you are going to be constantly changing it and/or adding onto it. So if it’s not 100% complete, do not worry.
• Customize: it seems simple to say, but really, design your blog the way you want it to be. Even though it’s for class, go add some details that symbolizes who you are or what you like/do. If you’re doing this for school, might as well add some fun into it.

Hopefully, you enjoyed it! Thank you!

Welcome!

For starters, my name is Shinny. I am 16 and currently a part-time PSEO student. I am not involved with any sports, though I enjoy biking, and I am part of a few clubs at my local high school(Key Club, HOPE Club, Honor Society). Like most people, I enjoy music, food, and sleep. I also like to journal. I even started bullet journaling(maybe I’ll post more about in depth later in the future). In brief, it’s a do-it-yourself planner.

Currently I do not have any pets, but I used to have a poodle mix puppy and some betta fish throughout my childhood. As time passed, all my fish died, and my family and I gave away our puppy. From those experiences, my parents do not want to take anymore pets into the household. However, when I finally move out, I’m going to adopt many pets. Moving onward, my family consists of three brothers and two sisters. You could consider me as the middle child. We all have our similarities and differences.

When I get out of high school, I plan to continue my college career elsewhere(sorry RCTC!). Somewhere conveniently close to my parents but also a university that is still far from them. I am looking at colleges up in the Twin Cities. I am leading towards a smaller school because I am naturally a quiet and shy person. I plan to major in Biology, Pre-Med, or Biochemistry. I am striving to become an anesthesiologist or a surgeon. I have a long path to follow.

Anyhow, here’s a little message from me to you!

I am part of our local Youth Commission. We meet on the first Wednesday of every month(September through May) from 16:45 to 18:00 in the Government Center. We have guest speakers every meeting and discuss about the problems/issues around our local community. From there, we try to make opportunities to change and help out around the community. We participate in several events including tree planting, Indian Heights, Friendship Place, and many more. If you are interested, please and come! We welcome everyone! Snacks/food is provided! It is a great way to obtain more information on what is currently happening around town and a fantastic opportunity to make our community better! If you want more information, you can contact me or click on Youth Commission to head over to their website.

Also, MN state elections are taking place this year! If you are 18 and over, I encourage you to come on November 6, 2018 to vote! There will be several sites in the county which you can come and vote. You can register on the day of election(at your assigned precinct polling place) or you can pre-register over on the MN Secretary of State’s website. If you have any questions, you can call the Olmsted County Elections Office at 507-328-7650.

Thank you! Tune in for next time!

Thanks for joining me!

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