CT101 Digital Storytelling

First day of CT101, seemed a bit fancy for me. I was so used to taking structured courses that being in a class that focused on the creative aspect of technology was a bit weird.

“Okay so what’s the catch? What language are we going to use to code these things?” *rolls eyes back to the brain trying to find any knowledge left from SQL class *  But Prof.Seslow’s reassurance on this class not being hefty on coding made me feel so much more relieved.

Although I was relieved, I am still super nervous about this class. This is a class where I want to retain the new skills that I learn so I can use it in the real world. Not only that but I want to witness my growth.

Growing up as a girl in a South Asian family, I did not get the chance to explore my creativeness so I used to get very jealous of kids who knew how to draw, sing, or dance. Everything in my life was always so serious. I come home with a drawing for Father’s Day, my dad be like:

So I catered to that expectation of always taking the serious classes in college that required a midterm and final exam.

I mean, God forbid my parents find out that I making memes during class!

 

The class has been therapeutic for me since I work 4 days and  have 0 days of fun. I usually start writing the post by playing my current fave Bollywood song , light a candle, review what is being asked for in the assignments and then get down to work. None of my other classes allowed me to sit back and have a little fun with the work I’m doing. This course makes think outside of the box and use a part of the brain that we don’t ofter get to use.

WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK!

 

Since we were given two platforms to find GIF’s and memes (GIPHY and Imgur), I realized that I like using GIPHY better, sorry Imgur. I’ve noticed that GIPHY has a larger selection of what I am looking for whereas Imgur’s results are not relevant to what I was looking for. As presented below:

GIPHY

VS.

IMGUR

Memes are here to stay, and they are very much pieces of art. I really like that memes can be made from anything and can be used to lift a persons mood within the first look. Even though they are fun to look at and are very creative I feel like it’s very hard to make a good meme but for some people it might just be something they dreamt of and some just need an idea in their brain and once they have an idea of what to make putting it into meme format is very easy.

With a quick search on YouTube for “are memes art?” I came across this video of Shia LaBeouf’s answer to “are memes art?” and I think he put it in a good way in which a lot of people can relate to that “anything that moves you is art” and memes tend to do that. I believe that memes are good and tend to be for most people but from this article by Sudipto Roy, they make a good point about memes being used for something Disruptive; “An ironic and light-hearted treatment of a fragmented subject, memes is now seen as a form of ‘everyday conceptualism’ in the modern world.” Some people do tend to see memes in a bad way but memes are in a way universal and while some can really like something others might not. But for me and my friends memes are great way for us to share good moments with each other and have a good time.

Here are a few memes that I really like:

This is from star wars and there are a group of people called the Jedi and they are not to have any relationship because they believe that it can be harmful for the person as it leads to “jealousy and fear of loss, and ultimately the dark side of the Force,” dark side being the exact opposite of everything the Jedi believe in. Of course because of this the above meme was made and I think its a really good one as it uses the pikachu face for the moment perfectly.

As much as I love the Harry Potter movies it still blows my mind that the main character of a film series that has 8 movies did not cast a single spell. This is a movie series about wizards going to school for the sole purpose of learning and controlling their magic. Still love the movies/books.

 

 

 

I love storytelling so when I was looking for classes to complete my schedule digital storytelling intrigued me.

I wasn’t in the first class because I had to work. 👎🏾

However, when I came to the next class and heard about what this course is about and the creative content I was hyped. What really stood out to me was when professor Seslow said that his goal is to have us learn and grow throughout the semester. This impressed me because most professors just want to feed us information and give us a grade, nothing is about learning anymore. Then as students, all we are worried about is completing assignments and getting a good grade. Not a fun way of learning.

This class is going to go well with my other classes as I am taking film studies where we analyze movies and education in technology where we are making websites.

However, this class is definitely going to be unlike any class I have taken. I see the potential of this class is going to be growth in storytelling and creativity. Maybe some viral memes come out of this class and one of us gets famous. 😏 Just don’t forget about us when it happens.

Looks like even if you aren’t already in love with pop art, at the end of this semester you’ll be in madly love with it. CT 101 is making me realize that half of the time me and my friends are laughing together online, are by sharing memes, gifs from the internet.

Host from The PBS Idea Channel Mike Rugnetta emphasized that anyone around the world can stay communicated by creating and sharing memes on the internet. Isn’t that awesome? According to this show, British historian R.G Collingwood said that, “Internet memes are the performance of emotion, and not it’s true expression, making meme makers ranters and ravers and not actual artists”. I halfway agree with his perception. According to what I perceive on the internet everyday, meme makers are the different kind of artists who like to share not only their emotions but also other sentiments as well using a funny tone, a humorous tone. This particular group of people tend to express themselves inserting texts through the image of an angry teacher, happy mom, annoying cat, or a joker. 

In the article “Are Memes The New Art Form of The 21st Century?” by Em Mampusti, the same idea was shared. For example, there are thousands of meme creators on the internet like Chloe Caparas who share important societal messages by simply making a meme using their own humor. Personally I think, serious issues can be discussed and brought upon without making it seem so serious. This method actually helps others to realize the depth of the issue more. For example, I found the meme below on the internet and it felt so relatable to me instantly.

What can I say.. I am a positive person and I like to start my day with a motivated mind. Then as always ⊂Life happens!⊃ Everything starts to feel so overwhelming that I’ll literally be dragging myself to complete my tasks. 🙂 

I loved learning about the painter and meme artist Lauren Kaelin on the article “Are memes the pop culture art of our era?” by Kate Knibbs. She’s the living proof that memes can be a form of self-expression. She loves to make memes following her own unique style. She’s so cool and she loves what she does! One of her extraordinary projects is the “Benjamemes” project. She sees a meme from her vision and that turns it into something extraordinary. She worked on a picture of a monkey on which she touched every details of it. It’s amazing how she gives her own work a value by turning it into something how she would like to see it. Everything she makes is unique as she said, “A successful meme is by definition reproducible, shareable, and recognizable. Benjamemes creates an aura where none previously existed”. Her style, perception, ability to see though details makes her memes different from the original. 

Lauren Kaelin isn’t the only person showing her passion, perception by creating memes. There are so many meme artists, gif artists all over the internet who feel comfortable sharing their unique thoughts by creating and sharing memes. On the article “Are Memes The New Art Form of The 21st Century?” by Em Mampusti, we learn about a Singaporean meme maker named Yu Tong Yap. She shared that she has to think of new ideas to make a meme in order to create an impactful message. I think this way someone’s creativity level boosts up as well. Self-expression and creativity work really well together in terms of making memes, gifs. You are making a simple still from a movie into something that you have imagined inside your mind. You are using that image to create something very thoughtful and useful for others.

This is another meme I recently found on Facebook and had to share with my friends. Not only me, this meme is relatable to almost every student out there. As much as we love studying what we chose to study, at times we feel overwhelmed by piles of assignments and want to give up. But I swear, this is not what I am looking like as I am doing this assignment. Honestly, even an hour ago I was stressing out by taking notes on what is required from this particular assignment (the video, the article, the article that I found). But again that’s me, stressing over everything. It was fun creating my first meme ever. And it’s fun doing this assignment, now when every information is sorted. 

The video and articles taught me facts that I never thought existed. We always think people do not think deeply about art as they do about science. We always think people are only serious about serious things like impeaching Trump and “Why there aren’t enough paper towels left on this supermarket?”. Art is a serious matter and many people live by being the cool artists that they are.  So many laughs wouldn’t take place if memes were not made and shared. The article enlightened me with the knowledge that there are passionate and courageous people out there who follow their hearts and never stop believing in the power of a creative meme. Projects like “Benjamemes”, studio artists displaying their arts, etc are brave steps towards a modern, meme-giphy-generated generation to me. On the video, Mike Rugnetta shared quotes from famous historians. We get to know what people like Leo Tolstoy thought about art.

Like the title says, “Memes are a form of Art”. Art is derived from creativity and it exists all around us. Everything we look at can be considered art depending on the context. I am currently typing this out and thinking to myself that this blog post is another form of Art. Art can be beautiful, sad, happy, confusing, or funny. All of these aspects exists within memes and I would describe memes as the digital version of Art.

The one quote that stood out to me when searching on the web “Are memes art?” is “Art is constantly evolving, but if the purpose of art is to express human truth, the Internet meme fits the bill.” The quote makes sense and relates to my opinion that memes are truly art. Memes are a form of art that exists within the internet and it’s also gaining more publicity due to the evolution the world has transitioned into. Art such as paintings and pictures give the same feeling that a meme would give depending on what it is. A benefit to memes is also that it’s on the internet and can be easily shared amongst friends and family.

In Kate Knibbs’s “Are memes the pop culture art of our era“, she brings up an interesting point that I did not think of. She mentions the importance of memes and bringing them into mainstream art. She then uses the example of Grumpy Cat and how the meme was brought to real life and inspired 30 studio Artists to create themed artwork of it. I never thought about the fact that memes can also be brought to life and in mainstream art. This is another example on why Memes should be considered art. Artists are now creating galleries of memes in real life to showcase to their audience and it is a fascinating thing to think about. This ultimately means that anyone can  possibly have their memes be on display in real life.

In the video “Are LOLCats and Internet Memes Art” the Youtuber discusses how memes are indeed Art by relating it to quotes that historians have said. Such as Leo Tolstoy who says “To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movement, lines, colors, sounds or forms expressed in words so to transmit that feeling that others experience the same feeling.” with the closing quote from the Youtuber that says “this is the activity of art”. Pretty much what this all means is Tolstoy was ahead of his time and defined memes to be art by expressing one’s personal feelings and others being able to express the same feelings. That’s what memes do and continue to be doing nowadays. In fact, the world seems to be transitioning more into memes and gifs a opposed to the natural art format of pictures and paintings.

Another video I found worth watching on YouTube is titled “Memes: Art of the Internet Age” where it goes over the history of art and memes and discusses whether or not Memes are a form of art.

Are memes ART?

 

I mean, they literally have a museum, as I showed in my previous post. So they literally are, even by definition. “The expression … of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form … appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.”

At first I was skeptical about starting this assignment. Yes, is a dream come true, but doing this kind of activities belong to a community you are comfortable with. Unfortunately, It’s really hard to set limits and know which memes you post make an impact. I’m not a memer myself, but a lot of people tell me I should make them. Here’s my first try ever:

Honestly, It’s so good to write an article doing memes. I just feel like everything I say, I could pair it with a good meme. I used imflip in order to make the meme above I recommend this page because it has a lot of templates to choose from.

 

I remember a part of my life that was reminded to me when I read the article by the verge about danks memes. It happened at my first year of college, I was mostly alone since I did not know anyone and all my friends went to a different college. I use to refuge myself in memes and watch them to forget about all of what was happening in my life. I watched so many memes that I got into a section called dank memes. The taste of memes becomes a different meaning to me. How a previous meme that I saw could be made to illustrate something different. A different emotion, those olds memes powered with intense music and loud colors. I’ll spend my nights watching compilations of them before going to sleep. That’s why I think they are art

 

In conclusion…

 

Never before have I ever asked myself the question, “Are memes art?” If you had asked me around 2013-2016, I would’ve said no. But now? Absolutely.

If you’re like me and like to go by definitions, the Apple definition of art is “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.” Beyond the creativity aspect of this definition, I want to tackle the emotional aspect of it. In the video above, the speaker discusses how memes are more seen as inside jokes. Inside jokes and memes both share one trait as the driving force of their appeal: reliability (or pathos if you want to be fancy).

However, if we go by this definition method of defining topics, a meme is defined as “an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation.” I’m not a fan of this definition. Cause if we go by that definition of a meme, then slogans are memes. By Apple’s definition, Porky Pig’s “That’s all folks!” is a meme. Dunking your oreo’s, or cookies in general, is a meme. Me saying “bless me” to myself because my grandfather taught me to is a meme. To differentiate these definitions, I’ve decided to make a new word to keep the psychological aspect of the meaning and the modern description of a meme alive while being incapable of confusing future scholars. The first word I made was diagmeme, a combination of diagogí (the Greek word for conduct and behavior) and meme—pronounced dee-ahg-meem. The second word is pretty simple, behavimeme—pronounced bee-hayve-uh-meem.

A more interesting question is, what type of art are memes. I believe that memes should have their own category. When most people describe art, they usually have sub-types of art. Abstract art, Horror art, Pop art, Modern art, etc. However, memes also follow this guideline. Above, we have a subset of horror memes deemed cursed images. In addition, there are dank memes, offensive memes, political memes, etc.

Yet, from there, we dive deeper into another web of complicated questions. What makes the image above different from photography? What makes it different from horror art in general? What separates a meme from a comic. So many gray areas.

I typically tend to like memes that poke fun or comment on subjects that I like—specifically, media.

 

         Yes, memes are genuine forms of artistic expression that have an impact on society that extends well beyond the digital realm. They become ingrained in our awareness, assisting us in comprehending the world around us and becoming a part of our culture. Everyday life, as well as the people, become viable subject matter. Internet memes have joined the ranks of other types of art.  Social media outlets have evolved into our digital social clubs, it comes down to the fact that memes are recognized as Internet art. 

 

 

         Memes may be excellent or awful depending on the designer. Memes have the ability to make us smile, cry, and even draw our attention to important issues. We remember the excellent ones as if they were works of classical art, and we critique the bad ones if we believe they are of poor quality.   People already embrace them as if they were works of art, so we may as well accept that reality. Analyzing the profiles of other people who create comparable material reveals that the artists are definitely passionate about their craft and their following. Memes are expressive statements through visuals that can be about anything. It is a modern-day performance that expresses pleasure, pain, and all feelings in between. Memes are often beneficial to art since they are a modern artistic way of relating to others. 

 

    

 

         Memes are a fantastic method of communication since everyone knows that when it comes to commemorating, conveying emotions, and humiliating your peers, memes are unmatched. While social media is a communication medium, memes are a way of conveying a culturally relevant concept. A meme is a picture or video that expresses the ideas and feelings of a community of individuals. 

 

 

        Memes are a type of self-expression that may also be utilized as a marketing technique and raise awareness of global concerns. People enjoy memes that express how they feel about things and encourage them to think about topics in new and exciting ways. Using social media to engage with consumers in innovative ways that resonate with your market and set you apart may benefit your organization. Memes are viral pictures or videos that may be controversial, critical, or funny, and they make entertainment and worldwide affairs more relatable in the present era. Through design aesthetics, such images aim to captivate the audience’s eye. 

 

Four gifs that are featured in my blog post are from the “Giphy” online tool.  I created a meme by using the “Make a Meme” online tool.

 

References : 

The Wiki Definition(s)

A good synopsis via how-to-geek.com

Another Take via theVerge.com

https://www.clozette.co/article/memes-art-form-7315

https://fanlore.org/wiki/Art_Meme

https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/lifestyle/features/article/3065773/why-do-memes-matter-look-good-dank-and-viral

 

What even is a meme? Oxford Dictionary  has defined it as “an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation.” What is art? Art is defined as “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.” I don’t think it’s debate whether memes are art or not. I think it’s a debate of whether people appreciate them as art or not.

The importance of memes 

Memes are art and they are here to stay.  Art is always evolving and taking new forms.  To me arts is meant to portray the current state of a society and it’s people. Weather that is political, religious, or just for entertainment. Memes are the art of the 21st century.  I love memes. They’re a quick and efficient way to express not only yourself but the state of society.

Personally I use memes as a way to cope with stress. It’s a way to communicate and bring up stress in a light/humors manner to another person. I feel it gets the point across quicker and I feel more comfortable presenting it that way as to not burden the other person.

   Society uses memes to express the state of their government. There is also political memes. Any time there is a presidential election is when I fee like political memes are most prominent. People use it to express their thoughts about the race and also the statutes of it. Memes are also political propaganda. Here is an article discussing meme warfare.

When Covid-19 started my timeline was flooded with memes. People expressing their disbelief, fear, and lack of trust in their government.

Are memes disposable?

 I enjoyed reading the piece by Kate Knibbs. She brought up an unforgettable meme celebrity, grumpy cat. It goes to show how far a simple meme can go. From meme to movie to an art exhibit.  However, I disagree with the statement “They’re fun, and they’re disposable.” Every year I see past meme templates resurface and recycled to fit current events. I find this to be especially true with SpongeBob memes and memes using traditional art. They always come back to haunt you. The video stated anyone can make a meme it’s a very accessible form of communication. I agree and it’s a form of communication that will continue to thrive in mainstream media.

 

With CT101 your options are endless. There is a format you have to follow for each assignment but you are given creative freedom on how you present said format.

Here is a fun video about the history of memes. 

 

* I created the top and bottom memes. For the first one I used memegenerator.net for the bottom meme I used make a meme. I found both easy to use.

Art has a different meaning for everyone. I think internet memes are art because they are being created. The YouTube video shows how Tolstoy, Aristotle, and Warhol might agree with memes being art while Immanuel Kant and David Hume might disagree because they’re definition of art is something that is beautiful. Once again in my opinion memes are “beautiful” because they bring people together. A group of people will like certain memes over others because of the context it contains. For example the essay talks about the Grumpy Cat meme, cat-lovers will be more drawn to that meme, and also the different memes that were created with the cat. So in other words they take a certain image but include different captions and/or make different styles of that one image. Memes  can be created from traditional art not just trendy topics which makes possible creations infinite.

 I found an article that expressed what I thought perfectly about how memes are able to have many forms and are shared in many media spaces. Memes are good for art because they’re a form of expression, during difficult times many people cope using dark humor and memes give them that release. Memes are definitely good for communication as the article states “ordinary people could understand this new art, because it reflected their world, not some unrecognizable other.” Memes are sometimes even considered the street art of the Internet world which is why some might say it’s not art at all but memes can include real world problems and occurrences. 

After reading another article my opinion of memes being art just grew stronger because the article explained how much thought goes into making a meme.  Memes have to be ‘short and sweet’ because society has a short attention span. In other words we want new content every other hour. Memes also give us new points of views on current topics. To close up the article summary “memes are a universal form.”

The definition of meme will be different for every community. Memes are usually humorous and contain popular culture. The way the word meme came to be was very interesting but made so much sense and it’s crazy to think of the comparison it had to the word gene. Memes were not always understood which is unbelievable to a certain point because like I mentioned before people have different interests so not everyone will understand a meme that has to do with let’s say one particular movie scene.

Side note: The first and third meme I made by using Imgflip which I found the most helpful page to use. It allows you to insert a picture within the meme template that you want to use. The second meme I just took from google and the last “meme” represents the first viral meme which I downloaded from Giphy.

This summer I had the opportunity to be a Ball Person for the U.S. Open tennis tournament and the experience was awesome.

(Okay I wasn’t this bad but my shoe did come off one game smh)

Now that experience got me all into tennis. I’m playing tennis more and watching old tennis matches on youtube. My personal favorite that I was watching this week is John McEnroe vs Bjorn Borg at Wimbledon in 1981.

I love how sarcastic John is in the video. Watching these old matches also has gotten me into older tennis fashion. I love going on the internet and getting inspiration from tennis fashion and implementing it into my own style. Here are some of the favorites I saw this week.

You actually see this fashion coming back today as you see on TikTok.

These things on the Internet make me happy because it reminds me of my grandma dressing me up preppy as a child and my mommy taking me to tennis lessons early morning. These experiences always give me a warm feeling of comfort and how much fun I had.

The internet can be a scary place, just as it can be a place to escape from reality that the real world brings. The different things that can be looked on the internet gives people the ability to find and enjoy varieties of topics.

 

What I find myself always looking it in the internet is,  destinations that I would love to visit one day. Traveling for me is always a good way to escape from the city lifestyle, and imagining it is even better. I research information and view different cultures to build my curiosity to one day experience it on my own.

With exploring different cultures, food comes in. I love seeing cooking videos and ASMR videos of the cooking process. Different cultures have different ways of cooking.

 

I had a few friends take CT101 before and they told me that this was a really fun class and that they just made memes all week long. I wanted to take this class a few semesters ago but wanted to get all my required classes for computer science out of the way. CT101 so far has been really fun, I never used GIFS with while also describing how I feel about something or just talking about something in general, so this class is different when it comes to that. I have a class at 8am before this so I am usually out of it so I am glad we have recordings just in case I miss something.So far this class has been very new with how we submit our work and the use of media/gifs in our responses. I was very curious hearing about this class from my friends and now that I am taking it, I can see what they were talking about. Out of all the stressful classes this is definitely a class that lightens the mood even when doing an assignment. I think it helps a lot that the professor teaching the course is also very invested in what they teach and are also invested with the students in the course makes learning and doing things a lot better then just showing up for class and doing the same thing every time without any interaction.CT101 is very different from all the other classes I am taking this semester. Out of the 5 classes I am taking this semester this is the only one that does not have any math in the course, and because of that there is no stress from this class compared to my other classes. I am learning some front-end in one of my classes where we are going over HTML/CSS and I can see those relating to the way we submit our responses and the layout that gets created when we publish our posts. When it comes to this class I feel like I can use the creative side of putting together words with GIFS and use them in my code for when I plan on making my own website/portfolio which is most likely going to be at the end of this semester when we get the month off. Hopefully I can use some of the stuff I learn/make in this class for that.

 

 

 

 

 

Are Internet Memes ART? 

Let’s discuss! You know that you want to!

**The Zoom class video recording and tutorial for Week #4 will be posted below and at the bottom of this blog post**

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/aNfIUA7lWIFDDaSacYwuTrPB4aFpkxCmvJXRyKQ2nr5wGCQ_YNn6_47JozDZ69BV.V-_dvjCHXD3Ss0BZ

Passcode-  .@f5nwcw

 

First – (lets screen the video above in class and then later read the article below for more context. In your blog post assignment, you should refer to the video the video and essay for context, what was useful or important?)

Second – The Assignment Details: A New Blog Post is in order.

Start by doing an Internet search for; “Are memes ART?” – See what you discover, gather those links and be prepared to share them in your post. No matter how you cut it, memes are here to stay… but is this good or bad for Art? Is this good or bad for communication? Are memes simply just forms of self-expression? Or are they MORE? Well, why or why not? I want to know what you think. Lets create a compelling way to share our response. And by all means plan to create, search for, discover and share your favorite existing Memes via an image or URL, or embed them into your new blog post for this coming week. How will you craft a narrative between using Memes and your own personal experiences?

**Oh, and, you MUST create at least 1 of your own memes to also express your sentiments for our CT101 class! Be sure to include the words “CT101” in your meme!

Perhaps, you will say “CT101 be like…”

OR, “What if I told you that CT101….”

All of this nestles quite well into in new Blog post! (thats your assignment!) Please consider the formatting of this blog post that you are reading right now. Notice how we see a mixture of images, video and hyperlinks that help give context and reference to where we are drawing resources from. (wink wink – you all need this reminder).

Some Online Tools for making Memes:

Giphy.com – (create a free account)

Imgur.com – (create a free account)

Make a Meme – work with some of the Internet’s classic templates

Mashable’s top 6 Meme Maker Picks – various tools

Are there more MEME making tools that you know about? Add them both to your post as also in the comments section below so that others may also learn about them.

More Insight on MEMEs:

The Wiki Definition(s)

A good synopsis via how-to-geek.com

Another Take via theVerge.com

————————————————–

***The CT101 Meme Project will later be exhibited on the NET-ART website as a collaboration project!  More details coming soon – Check out some of the other projects on display there now – https://netart.commons.gc.cuny.edu/galleries-exhibitions/

————————————————–

Are Memes the Pop Culture Art of our Era? Kate Knibbs

Read the essay above and draw insight and context from it.

(I know, I know, its a dream come true assignment!)

Have fun!

**The Zoom class video recording and tutorial for Week #4 will be posted below after class on 9/28

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/aNfIUA7lWIFDDaSacYwuTrPB4aFpkxCmvJXRyKQ2nr5wGCQ_YNn6_47JozDZ69BV.V-_dvjCHXD3Ss0BZ

Passcode-  .@f5nwcw

Lets address the first day of CT 101…

Actually I was sold on this class from the moment Professor Seslow said we’d be online the entire semester.

So far this class is unlike many in my 8 off and on years of college. It’s engaging, interesting, and informative. I have really enjoyed learning about the content as the days went on…

Lets go ! Saitama

As a 30 year old who’s always late to social media memes and platforms I feel like this class is finally catching me up to my younger siblings who were born into this social media and internet tech generation! My other classes lack the freedom to express and enjoy the “work” we do outside the classroom.

Finding innovative ways to share and balancing the “right” images or links with the almost infinite choices — is more enjoyable than work… for once. To be honest I was not a fan! Pictures and images from culture, get a life. But having delved in GIFs and Posts are nothing like I imagined…

Hypnotic

…it’s another language that any one can become fluent in. That is also absolutely individual. The potential for this class is actually endless because there is never going to be an end to clips, images, or events to comment or share from. I’m glad I signed up to get this ball rolling.

Personally, I wanted to join this class to add to my resume. Who doesn’t want to get more bread (money)?

View post on imgur.com

But beyond the syllabus and my growing journalism resume — I can use this class’ information in my everyday (or social) life. I’m grateful for the lessons thus far and excited to continue learning with you all!