Post 1

As a young person and a Media Studies major, media is all around me. I am fairly active on most social media sites (for better or worse); after all I was introduced as Facebook girl. However, I try to limit my activity on social media because a lot of the time it makes me feel as though my soul is dying and everything is terrible. I think this is due in large part to my newsfeed. However, Facebook and to a greater degree Tumblr have informed me. Tumblr opened my eyes to issues that are hardly ever addressed in mainstream culture/media. Social networking platforms have definitely linked us together. As more websites try to integrate news features, the more we become exposed to the same trending topics. Most everyone is on one or more networking site, even if it's LinkedIn.

My media consumption extends beyond the internet realm. I will occasionally watch TV (I usually catch up on all my reality TV shows on holiday breaks). I love to read--books of all kinds, articles, etc. I also love movies. I would say my media consumption has led me to discover new communities, ways of life, and ways of thinking. The internet has made a huge impact in my life. However, there have also been detrimental effects as well. It's no secret that the media has an agenda when it comes to how women should look and act, which definitely had an effect on me when I was growing up (and probably to a degree even today).

A screenshot from Broadly, a new site I like visiting.

Since the nature of media making is also changing in order to foster a more accessible landscape, I have been able to create projects and post them for the world to see (via YouTube). I think it is really inspiring to see how the industry is changing and allowing the general public to create their own content. The more this evolves, the greater impact it will have on my relationship with media.