My perceptions of blogging have altered immensely over the course of this semester. I entered the blogging thread in a state of hesitance. I might go as far as to label it pure terror. I was cautious to begin blogging, largely due to the stigma surrounding the very act of blogging itself. I remember feeling as though blogging held a spot on my personal taboo list. In the back of my mind, I continually affirmed and reaffirmed the fact that this was necessary for class. The first post was definitely a challenge. I remember staring at the computer screen, still struggling to fathom the fact that I had committed the un-thinkable. I had finally logged into a blogging platform. I had no idea what Bloggr was, but I was sure that I was on my way to becoming the very person I was so critical of: the overly-emotional diarist. That wasn’t even the end of my worries. From there, I questioned my own take on blogging. How do I set my tone? How do I want to portray myself? How might other bloggers categorize my writing style? It goes without saying that if it were not for New Media: The Interplay of Text and Image, I may have been to afraid to begin blogging at all.
Placing students in blogging groups was a great format for the bogging forums. I feel as though Media Jamss was a group of like-minded students, most of which were at the same blogging level as I was. Surprisingly, easing into the conversation was effortless and rewarding. Looking back upon this semester’s posts, I cannot even imagine completing the blog portion of the course via an independent blog forum. Sydney, Allie, Mckenna, and Jordan’s input on our blogging thread provided support, a variety of opinions, and examples of formats for blogging styles. I really did feel as though our group had formed an online community through which we were able to express exactly what we thought, in words uninhibited by dry, academic writing tone. We commented upon each other’s thoughts, and learned immensely from one another along the way. Media Jamss became a safety blanket under which I was able to overcome my prior blog anxiety and misconceptions on blogging. No blog can survive without writers and readers, and as the semester progressed, I began to see that Media Jamss would not have been so successful without the constant exchange of information exercised by its users.
In terms of future blog posts, I am not sure as to whether I will continue blogging upon the completion of this course. Though I would be interested in blogging about personal interests outside of a class setting, I am quite honestly afraid of blogging without my safety blanket. Writing for a larger public still seems a bit unnerving, but I am positive that the necessity to blog for my career will arise in the future. In class today, Mckenna made a valid point: While blogging may not have been the best learning tool for students, it was an experience she was glad to have encountered, primarily because of its future implications. If anything is to be learned from this course, it is that New Media has infiltrated a variety of aspects of our everyday lives, and it will continue to expand. Ten years from now, blogging may be taken to an entirely new level, a form of communication that will become a vital tool for all disciplines, careers, and companies. It is at that point that I will look back upon this forum today, thankful that I was able to experience blogging within such an exceptional platform.
And so, here’s to you Media Jamss—Thanks for a great semester and most definitely the best blogging experience I will ever encounter.
Signing off,
~Sheena
Sheena,
ReplyDeleteI loved this post. Oddly enough it made me a bit nostalgic, but that could be the fact that I'm two weeks away from graduating and, at this point, every little thing is making me nostalgic and sort of sad. I think you're so right saying that we were all like-minded people. We worked really well together. I think that we can all agree that our perceptions of blogging and even our abilities to blog have changed over the semester. As we talked about in our small group activity yesterday, we all worked well together and I can honestly say that a lot of the stuff I learned about blogging was through my fellow Media Jamss bloggers.
This was a great final post and a perfect summary of our semester together on Media Jamss.
Sheena-
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Allie in the sense that throughout your entire post, I was reflecting upon my overall experience with MEDIA JAMSS as a whole, and how much I learned from blogging with all of you.
Like you, I too feel that "Media Jamss became a safety blanket under which I was able to overcome my prior blog anxiety and misconceptions on blogging." Without it, and without the help of all the commentary I received from you guys, I do not think I would be the blogger I am today--although still learning, definitely mindful of my surroundings in the blogosphere.
I loved the way our group communicated as a whole-via Media Jamms, and we really did work well together. I always loved reading all of your blog posts and I hope that I can someday write as eloquently as you can!
Deer Sheena,
ReplyDeleteTwo things you said that stuck out to me:
First, I think I took for granted how important our group was. When i first saw the length of posts, I was upset. There was no way I was going to read these incredibly long entries. Amazingly though, because of the quality of writing and content, I found it hard to turn away. And the dedication shown in creating a well-thought out product was so immense that I, as the reader, was more encouraged to create a response that was equally thorough. I found that our group became a terrific paradigm for what new media is because we had conversations and we learned from each other.
The second thing that jumped out was the idea that we would "need blogging" for a future profession. I'm not sure I totally agree, few professions would ask for such candid opinions. I do however think that blogging is a terrific way to keep our writing minds sharp and in that way, we would be set for any job.