Introduction
Since the 20th century, there have been unbelievable advancements in technology. From the invention of the airplane (The Wright Brothers) to the creation of the cell phone, (Seward) technology has made our lives more convenient. Even in the past 50 years, we have made leaps and bounds to benefit our lives. We are now more interconnected than ever, making what was previously huge distances develop into places that are now attainable to reach. People who previously had no means of contacting one another could now do so instantly through social media apps such as Snapchat and Instagram.
With the advent of social media, the increased interconnectedness has led to an increase in the ability for everyone to spout their opinions on public forums such as twitter. This can lead to more disputes with strangers over topics such as religion, politics, or social issues. As the internet becomes more and more relevant, studying the culture of social media and the internet as a whole will see its value increase exponentially.
In my semester in this class, I had to step outside of my comfort zone and engage more with technology than I am used to. I've never used online video recording software or Audacity, and there was definitely a learning curve to use each of the programs. I also learned to hone soft skills that I can take outside of the class. Before this semester, I had never truly regarded constructive criticism before. However, the unique aspect of the internet as a public forum made me value the criticism much more. I needed to hone skills such as collaboration and creativity as well in order to create the best possible product to carry an argument.
From Twitter Reports to Portfolio Videos, this semester has brought me on a journey filled with learning about new media of technology that I had not previously considered. Growing up on the internet has led be to believe that I have know all there is to know about the internet. This semester has taught the nuances of internet culture and society, and demonstrated how to argue an effective point in a community that can be ruled by emotion.
Twitter Report: Emotions Reign Supreme on Internet Arguments
The Twitter Report was a very interesting way to analyze popular discourse regarding controversial topics. For my argument, I decided to learn about Planned Parenthood. I knew that Planned Parenthood would generate a lot of tweets given its controversy by nature, and wanted to see the type of arguments that people use when arguing this controversial point. Since people feel so strongly about their points of view, they simultaneously would want to both argue a point as strongly as possible while still never being able to consider other potentially well argued points.
I used the software TAGS in order to analyze hundreds of tweets in a very short time. The information was then put into google sheets, and I was able to see many tweets, as well as its collection data.
After analyzing these tweets, I used it to write the first draft of my twitter report.
I filtered through the most recent hundred tweets, and looked to the type of language that each twitter user used in their argument. As I had suspected, twitter users had very strongly held opinions, with very little neutral ground. Those considered "neutral" were mostly just news sources reporting updates on Planned Parenthood's status, as I explain in the picture below.
I also found that people were divided sharply on party lines. Only one person crossed party lines in their opinions on Planned Parenthood, whose status was questionable.
It became possible for "Mr Grey Ghost" to simply be a character. There were no pictures of this person in real life. The only thing indicating their race is a self-identification as black, and a profile picture from a black character from South Park. Their tweets were very odd, as well.
This led me to question the legitimacy of being able to register true opinions about Planned Parenthood through twitter. If there are no solid indications of someone's identity in real life, should they count towards popular opinions? I decided that even though there were no indications of their true identity, their voice is likely a person who is not proud of their opinions, and wishes to hide their identity to avoid scrutiny. This is likely the same for many people. There's no solid way to determine someone as a twitter bot versus a disguised person, and therefore will be considered disguised people, simply for the fact that Planned Parenthood is not a big enough topic of interest to attract the attention of bots. Planned Parenthood doesn't impact the outcome of elections, so there is no reason for time to be wasted on this issue by bots.
Twitter Report: Revisions
I was very happy with my twitter report, and felt that there wasn't very much to revise. Most of my revisions were elaborations on previous points that I'd made in my first draft or fixing citations. I felt that the twitter report was a very good representation of my argument. Because of this, I did not need to fundamentally change it.
Twitter Report: Value Through Thoughtful Analysis
In my twitter report, I felt that I was able to learn a valuable lesson about the fundamentals of arguing on the internet. Arguments typically were heavily emotional. People have strongly held opinions, and wish to make them known. They also are not receptive to other opinions. Form this report, I took away the value of a well formulated argument. The most persuasive tweets were those that used factual information to help their argument. Those that used completely emotional arguments made me roll my eyes and keep reading more tweets. If I want to persuade others, I need to make sure that I use reliable evidence.
Audio Essay: Venturing Out of my Comfort Zone
The audio essay was one of the more difficult things that I accomplished in this class. Since I'm certified in a few adobe programs, using adobe programs came pretty easy to me. Audacity, though, was another story. I've never made things that are specifically using only audio as a medium. I'm not experienced in narration, which made the podcast more difficult than the other projects.
Going in, I wanted to use my experience listening to things such as podcasts and shows that use monologues such as Last Week Tonight with John Oliver to find strategies to make an effective audio essay. One of the things which I found to be most effective is to break up the audio dispersed between recorder video clips from news stories, interviews, and TV shows.
Through an audio recording software, I was able to include several videos that I found to be both informational and entertaining. I spliced them and then put them into my audio essay. This stage was something that I had entered the class with zero idea of how to do it. Through enough in class lessons, I was able to figure out and get it to work effectively.
I used this practice when I wrote my script. I would write about a paragraph, then at the end of the paragraph, have the argument also lead to the video clip. At first, I did not want to include transitions because I felt like they were too predictable and robotic. This would change in my final copy.
One thing which I took to heart during our class planning was the use of introduction and conclusion music. At first, I thought I wanted to jump right into the script so that the podcast wouldn't be extremely long, but after listening to a few in-class examples, I thought that it might be effective to add in music clips to bookend the essay. I found a few music clips, and then placed the into the start and finish of the essay.
After listening to my draft through my computer speaker, I was satisfied and submitted it for peer review.
Audio Essay: Feedback and Edits
In turning in my audio essay, I was surprised to find that my main concerns were not the main concerns of those who I asked to listen to my project in class. I thought that my voice was a little too dull and monotone, but it didn't seem to be a significant problem to the listeners, which was a nice relief. The main things which they had concerns about were to make the introduction and conclusion music the same, add transitional phrases and sentences into video clips, and most surprisingly, to adjust volume levels of video clips compared to my narration.
When I first listened to the audio essay, I did so through the speaker. I feel that the disconnect between my listening experience and the listening experience of others was due to listening through my laptop speaker versus through headphones. I turned the volume louder, and it became more noticeable. Because of this, I went in audacity and changed the amplification of the video and interview clips, turning them down to allow for a consistent listening experience.
This allowed me to have room to add in transitions into the videos and interviews. I decided to switch between no introductions and introductions sporadically throughout the piece so it would not be as methodical, and hopefully better retain the listener's attention.
Lastly, I took the advice of my peers and made the introduction and end music the same tune, as a better way to bookend the piece. Although I don't necessarily agree with having the same introduction and conclusion music, I feel that my argument needs to be appealing to all people, not just myself. I needed to learn to value the feedback of others, especially when more than one person says the same thing. After making these changes, I thought my essay was much more polished. I felt that since my voice was not a major issue according to others, I was just overthinking the issue. After finalizing and exporting my project, I turned in the final product.
Audio Essay: The Power of Constructive Criticism
As I previously stated, the audio essay was one of the most challenging parts of my experience in the class. However, I feel that it set me up very well for future projects. By completing the audio essay, I learned how to better take constructive criticism regarding my projects. I also felt that I wasn't as limited by my own opinion. I felt that my voice was the biggest detractor in the podcast, but my fears were dissuaded by me peers. In the past, I've considered my opinion more strongly. If someone said something I don't agree with when editing a project, I would overrule it and keep it how I liked it. However, even if I like something in a project, I need to think of the universality of an argument for when it is posted on the internet. The argument needs to reach as large of an audience as possible to have the most weight and achieve its main purpose. I can enjoy part of my project as much as possible, but if the target audience is not as receptive to my project, I haven't achieved my goal. After this semester, I've learned to value constructive criticism more.
Podcast: Creativity, Collaborations, and Pleasant Surprises
The podcast project concerned me, but not for technological reasons. The concept of a group project reliant on technology always raises red flags for me, based on past experiences. With technology, all of the materials for the project are available to each group member. That way, if a group member doesn't want to do their part, it is much easier for the other group members to pick up the slack. In that way, it provides incentive for group members to "forget" to do their parts.
Additionally, I was concerned with the sheer amount of content that we had to create as only a four-person group. I felt that talking for even five minutes would be a challenge, much less for more than twenty-five minutes. Because of this, we had to divide ourselves evenly and get as many sources and topics for conversation as possible, then come together to be able to create a podcast around these topics.
Podcast Notes
The Podcast note taking time was where my fears began to be alleviated. Every person in my group worked together well and pulled their weight in the proper manner. We rehearsed it, and allowed every person to give their points in a thoughtful way. People shared their own experiences, and we related them to one another to persuade our central arguments for each topic of conversation more creatively.
Podcast Draft
Podcast: Revisions
Something that was slightly embarrassing was the amount of times that I stuttered or said "um" in the podcast. I am thankful that I was able to go back and edit these mistakes out of the final product.
Furthermore, one thing that shocked me in editing the podcast was the sheer amount of time I was able to cut out of the podcast. From just stutters, dead air, and filler words such as "like", "uh", or "um", I was able to cut out 2 minutes and 58 seconds. I thought my podcast draft was condensed and full of content, but didn't realize how much is able to be cut out from simple pauses and stutters. One thing that surprised me, though, was the fact that everyone's voices were similar pitches, to the point of where editing amplification was not a major factor outside of music and the Jake Paul clip being played. When playing it back, I was shocked to find how much better the already good podcast was by simple edits and cuts.
Podcast: What I Learned
This taught me that although large changes can be good, sometimes all a good project needs are slight changes to make things flow more smoothly. I don't need to cut out on actual content to keep the argument strong, something that I will face once again in the app argument.
I also found lots of similarities between the audio essay and podcast which helped me improve on my abilities to edit the final product. As I stated in a comment; "in comparing the audio essay to the podcast, I found that audio essays are somewhat similar to podcasts in the way that there is an attempt to provide a conversational way of taking in information. There appears to be a back and forth between both podcasts and arguments. However, many of these audio arguments use clips, rather than separate speakers, throughout the length of the audio. In my opinion, the best podcasts are those with multiple people on the panel to help break up the monotony of one voice. This is not necessarily the truth for audio arguments and audio essays. Audio arguments, in my opinion, should utilize clips rather than multiple speakers, whereas audio essays should use sound effects to help keep the listeners interest. Podcasts are also less rehearsed. There's no redos, outtakes, etc. which means that they are more natural. If someone misspeaks on an essay or argument, they can always redo the take. Audio arguments and essays both require flow in order to not lose track of the arguments."
App Argument: Spinning Creativity to Teach a Lesson
The app argument project was very interesting. Although I'd never used Adobe XD before, I found it similar to programs I was already experienced in, such as Adobe InDesign. In order to start my project, I needed to find a color scheme on google to fit my app. I wanted to give it a "game show" quality, with bright yellows and blues, as if it were a game show similar to Family Feud.
I used this color scheme to creatively prime the reader to be ready for a game. The game I wanted to do would tackle a relatively new issue dealing with the rise of social media, being fake news. In order to stick to a fun, comedic tone, I wanted my first point to be regarding "Florida Man", an online phenomenon relating to news stories. In this phenomenon, it has been noticed that the most outrageous news stories always were caused by a man living in Florida. In this case, I would take several stories, all except for one being from Florida. I would give them the opportunity to read the most important parts of the story, and let them find out which story did not come from Florida. If they got it wrong, they are allowed to retry until they get it right. However, if they do get the answer wrong, I would give them a piece of advice that bolsters my argument.
I repeated this process for the second round, a series of memes from Donald Trump. As someone who frequently finds himself in controversy, I wanted the reader to understand that just because a quote is written on a meme does not mean that the quote is real. These memes did not have any background information, or information that can be researched through the app. This reflects the reality of memes. You have to take them at face value, which means that they are a much riskier means of information. Like the last round, if people guessed wrong, they could try again after being given a lesson.
After the second round, the app was complete. I did not want to hamper the app down with too many rounds. I wanted it to be quick, succinct, and keep the player's attention long enough to still have them understand the main point of the app.
App Argument Draft
App Argument: Continuing to Use Constructive Criticism
After the app draft was due, my app was shared with the class. One thing that was brought up was the thought that there were too many options that were text-heavy. I needed to reduce my number of options to create a more effective argument. At first, I did not agree with this. I thought that there were enough sources to both give the reader options to be wrong, and the correct options would not be drowned out by the total number.
However, I thought back to my audio essay, and thought about the universality of my argument. I didn't want the app to be boring, and reducing the number of options would not make the app any more boring. It would allow people to get through the rounds more quickly, and by extension, understand the argument more quickly. In this way, I found it to be editing similar to the podcast. I removed filler while still maintaining the integrity of the argument. I also fixed some miscellaneous design components to fit for the reduced number of options.
App Argument Revisions
App Argument: Old Lessons, New Media
In the app argument, I was able to use my preexisting skills combined with a bit of creativity in order to most successfully create an argument. I've never made an app argument like this before. The most similar thing I've done before is create powerpoints. Those, though, were not interactive and were mainly used to help me verbally explain my arguments. For this project, I needed to explain my argument solely through the usage of written text and images. I thought that it was an interesting project, and one that had reinforced the lessons that I have learned in prior projects.
Memes: Re-Entering My Comfort Zone
The meme project was the project I was most excited about. I always have exposure to memes in my daily life, from going on Instagram or Twitter between classes, or even when I'm watching the news. Memes are things which used to be exclusively on the internet, but now are ingrained as a popular part of our society. It's not uncommon for memes to trickle in to daily conversation and life. When it became time for me to make my own memes, I was filled with excitement.
I was able to utilize both my previous certification in Adobe Photoshop and my current meme knowledge to best construct my own memes. From prior knowledge, I had known that Spongebob memes were very popular, as well as the usage of clowns to mock other people for behaving in a silly way. I decided to combine these templates with arguments that were both controversial and subject to popular discourse.
For my first meme, I selected images of spongebob, squidward, and a crowd of unamused characters from Spongebob Squarepants to convey an argument. I used a layer mask to hide their backgrounds, and brought a new background to give a change in location.
I wanted to connect the habitat of the characters of Spongebob, Bikini Bottom, to a real life argument. The best way to do so would be to tackle the argument of climate change. In this image, I enjoyed an implicit, yet clear, argument. The facial expressions of the characters staring back at the viewer for saying "Climate Change Doesn't Exist" is very clear, so I don't have to say that climate change is, in fact, real. It is also supported by the dead coral reef in the background. The message is that while people are still denying climate change, the oceans are dying. The consequences are very clear to Spongebob and other characters, so their blank, unamused expressions benefit my argument greatly.
This meme followed my Spongebob format, and used a more simplistic meme technique of adding mini-captions to each character in an image in order to convey an argument. I wanted to use a scene that I remember from watching spongebob as a kid, and used an argument that I'd previously addressed, the topic of vaccination.
In this scene, the sea bear ("Measles" in this case) mauls squidward ("Antivax Kid" in this case), while Spongebob and Patrick ("Vaccinated Kids" in this case) were able to escape without being attacked. In this way, I wanted to provide an implicit argument of context. People who haven't seen spongebob somewhat know what is going to happen by seeing Measles menacingly look at Antivax Kid, but might want to check the scene out for themselves. People who have seen Spongebob, though, know exactly what is about to happen to Antivax Kid, and further understand the argument that is there.
The final argument, I decided to provide a change in form, shifting away from Spnogebob to clowns. I selected five pictures of clowns, layer masking the pictures to erase the backgrounds of them. That way, they are able to stack upon one another while without looking sloppy. I added the clown college image for further mocking effect.
People spreading fake news is an extremely pressing issue on social media. The point of my argument was to make people who don't check their sources to feel bad, equating them to clowns. This argument was more explicit. By equating them to clowns, I am attempting to shame people into being positive citizens on the internet and not spread fake news.
Memes: Peer Argument
In looking at memes from other classmates, I was amused to see different takes on similar arguments. One classmate made another argument about vaccination. It's interesting to see the similarities and differences in interpretations while still containing a core message. Both were pro-vaccination, mocking those who do not believe in it and saying that they do not view the reality of vaccination. Both also were of cartoons, which allows the argument to be more comedic and allows the readers, who might not originally consider this argument, to take what we are having to say into account.
Memes: My Revision
My revision regarded the cosmetic look of the clown meme. I felt that all three of my arguments were logically sound, comedic, and persuasive, and the captions did not need changing. I felt, though, that I could emphasize the clown characters more on the meme. I added in an additional clown to create symmetry on both sides to allow the viewer to have a more visually pleasing experience. I also shifted the background upwards to make "Krusty's Clown College" more apparent to the viewer after they read the caption, to the point of where it is nearly part of the caption, yet still part of the meme. It allows for the eyes to flow more naturally downwards to the horde of clowns mocking the reader for not checking their sources before they tweet.
Memes: Applicable Previous Skills
Overall, I was very satisfied with the memes I have created. I used the skills I currently have in order to develop an argument that I wanted to convey to a wider audience. I felt that my Photoshop certification was the most applicable in this argument, and found it to be the most enjoyable project that I'd created.
Animated GIFs: A Unique Combination of Weaknesses and Strengths
GIFs were one of the most unique projects that I completed over the course of this semester. It combined my strengths, using Adobe programs that I have been certified in with programs such as SnagIt that I have zero experience with. For the first project, I looked back to a YouTube video clip that I had previously seen by the channel "The Ace Family". In it, the Ace Family father frequently flaunts his wealth. In this clip specifically, the father bought a jet ski for his in-ground pool, and did donuts in the pool. Not shown in the clip is the fact that he caused mudslides on the house below, ruining their backyard. This excessive wealth combined with a complete lack of regard for the well-being of others has always bothered me.
I downloaded SnagIt and recorded a few seconds of the video. I also combined the video clip of The Ace Family with a homeless camp to juxtapose the extravagant wealth with the poverty that others suffered through in the same state. I added "Meanwhile" to further explain my argument. When importing these videos into Photoshop, I decided to only import every other frame to prevent too large of a file size.
My first draft of the GIF was more than 5 seconds long. I had originally had the periods in "Meanwhile..." to blink one after another. However, I needed to get the time down, so I let the first to blinks be implicit, while showing the blink of the last period. I exported the GIF, and it was complete.
The next GIF I wanted to have a play-on-words with the brand Windows. With real-life windows, people use them to see outside. With the internet, people can see exotic locations from the push of a button, almost as if it were a window to the rest of the world. With this in mind, I opened Photoshop and made 11 layers of windows desktops, as well as several background images which I found to be beautiful and representative of all that the world had to offer.
I made the window in most areas transparent and of varying sizes to indicate movement, as if someone is stepping towards a window. I created a timeline, and set each image to the same length of time. I did not include text in order to make the argument in a GIF more implicit. With that, my GIF was completed.
The Adobe Photoshop Style of GIF was much easier for me to create. Because of that, I decided to continue it with my third and final GIF. For this GIF, I wanted to capitalize on a current, relevant topic, that of "Ok Boomer". I think it is a funny joke meant to poke fun at a generation that has been rather demeaning to other generations over the course of many years. Milennials and Gen-Z people get talked down to, called lazy, whiny, and entitled. The moment that either of the two generations throw anything disrespectful back at other generations, it gets called a slur.
In my opinion, there are much more pressing issues to deal with than a simple joke. Is it mean? Absolutely. Why, though, is "Ok boomer" generating headlines when issues like college debt and climate change pose a threat to the future success of our country? I wanted my project to reflect this through a use of verbal and visual strategies.
In Photoshop, I combined pictures with older people laughing to issues that I find pressing, such as college affordability, climate change, and the housing market. I paired them with older people laughing to juxtapose the anger with the phrase "Ok Boomer". This argument is the most explicit of the arguments I present as GIFs. It is a more confrontational strategy which I haven't previously explored, but still find it useful.
Animated GIFs: Peer Arguments
For my peer's GIF, I selected one that once again used an opposite argument, yet similar imagery to the app argument that I created. It uses a beautiful imagery in a GIF format in order to encourage people to explore, as explicitly stated by the caption in the bottom right corner. Mine, on the other hand, uses similar imagery to show that the internet can bring so many opportunities to see things that people normally aren't able to find.
I find it representative of arguments on the internet. Just as in my twitter report, people use the same general information, but depending on how they frame it, leads the viewer to two opposite conclusions.
Animated GIFs: My Revision
I revised my confrontational "Ok Boomer" GIF, in order to make it more succinct. I decided I could take out two images, and one phrase in order to make there have less text to read. My argument still remained just as strong, yet it was less cumbersome for the reader to try to get through in one GIF-loop.
Animated GIFs: What I Learned
By revising my GIFs, the value of a succinct argument when on the internet was reinforced to me. The point of an internet argument is not to prove yourself right, it's to have other people know you are right. People will not know you're right if they are too bored to finish interpreting your argument. Like in the app argument, I removed a part of the project itself in order to make my argument flow better.
Portfolio Video: Frustrations, Technology Issues, and Learning Experiences
The Portfolio Video was by far the most frustrating experience of the semester. Making the script itself was not hard, but still showed warning signs of what is to come. I didn't know how to relate my script to timestamps. Although this isn't an issue, it is demonstrative of how out of my element I truly was. In my storyboard, I thought that the video would only be 5 minutes and 30 seconds long. It turned out to be over seven minutes long by the end of my final copy.
Storyboard
To make the portfolio video, I had to use the program SnagIt. Unfortunately, my free trial had already expired for the program, so I had to redownload the program. For some reason, every time I wished to make a new video, it made me reinstall the program, making for a very frustrating recording process.
On top of that, I could not manage to read the script while simultaneously using the computer. It made for many mistakes, and a short video turned into over an hour-long ordeal. The passage of time is evident in both my draft and my final videos, as the viewer can see in the bottom-right corner. It was hard to feign enthusiasm or emotion when I was frustrated and exhausted with the video process. It was not anything like an Adobe Program that I'm used to, and I felt as if I were starting from point zero once again. As my draft, the raw footage is full of errors, mind-blanks, and sighs of frustration.
Portfolio Video: Working Through the Storm
After this frustration, though, my determination and perseverance kicked in. I was determined to make this video a success, regardless of having never done anything like this before. I edited closely to attempt to make the video as professional as possible despite my limited recording, editing, and commentary skills. By the time my edits were complete, I cut well over 15 takes out of the video, and a combined total of three and a half minutes of content that was simply misspeaking, using the wrong button, or forgetting a line. To give a comparison, that is as much content removed from the 27-minute-long podcast.
Portfolio Video: Making it to the Other Side
When my portfolio video was complete, I felt pure relief. I was finally done with the last major project of the semester, and I had learned a lot. Although it was frustrating to spend more than an hour making a seven-minute-long video, I am very proud of myself for not giving up. This project taught me the technical skills of argumentative video creation. What is perhaps more important going forward, though, is the belief that I can do anything, even if I have no prior experience. When I was done with my draft, I thought the video would be a train wreck. However, in watching the video, I'm proud of what I was able to create. I forced myself through the learning curve, and came out on the other side with a polished video.
Comments and Reflection
Pizzagate
GIFs
Thoughts
Peer Review
Class Animation
From Print To Audio
Compelling Photo
Test Meme
Audio Essay Brainstorm
Baby We Were Born To Tweet Response
App Idea
The Hashtag Is Ruining The English Language Response
App Test
Argumentative Memes
Audio Essays
Edited Meme
The comments, I feel, were a great way to supplementally learn about the tasks at hand without having to embark on new projects. Our daily assignments taught us how to use skills if we did not already have them such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe xd. The reading responses at the start of the semester primed us to learn about internet culture and how it is changing our society. By using this mentality, we were allowed to open our minds to analyze the internet and how people construct arguments. Peer reviews allowed us to give suggestions to our classmates, while taking into consideration what they do correctly and being able to incorporate their strategies into our own projects.
Takeaways From My Semester
Going in to this class, I didn't really know what to expect. I found myself to be pleasantly surprised by the class and the people in it.This semester taught me technical skills with programs that I've never used before such as SnagIt and TAGS. In combination with this technology, I learned many valuable soft skills that I can take to future classes or my career. I learned the value of constructive criticism and being able to polish my product based on suggestions that other people are willing to offer. I also saw the benefit to positive team collaboration, as the podcast was one of my favorite projects to work on. Each member of my team was hard-working, well spoken, and a great perspective to include. I further used my creative skills in tandem with my argumentative skills to formulate a funny, but pointed, argument.
Perhaps most importantly, though, I was able to relearn the power of perseverance and stepping out of my comfort zone. In coming to Carolina, I've been afraid to step out of my comfort zone in my education. I've been afraid to take computer science classes, despite knowing that they're very beneficial for a future which is becoming more and more dependent on technology. By forcing myself to work through the portfolio video without having prior experience, and skill succeeding, I'm no longer afraid of failure and know not to give up. When the project (or class) is over, I'll be able to look back on it as a positive experience. This class has definitely reduced my fears of trying something new educationally, something that I'll continue to consider throughout my time at Carolina.
Conclusion
The projects which we worked on in this class combined a use of both logic and emotions. It was not necessarily black and white, but more gray. The arguments we made and observed came from a place of emotions, as do nearly all arguments on the internet. However, they key point in this class is to make sure we have a valid, researched, and accurate argument.
Being on the internet, there are a variety of sources of information for people to take into account. The best thing that people can to to make sure that they are correct is to find the facts related to the argument, and follow them logically. We have seen when keeping track of twitter hashtags outside of the class, that arguments on the internet seldom use facts. Instead, it is more so "shouting into the void" their opinions, and using little facts to back it up. I felt that many speak for the sake of speaking, rather than contributing something to the overall conversation. Arguments, though, were not exclusively related to twitter. Other technological media such as memes, apps, podcasts, and videos, could also spread arguments in a productive and creative manner.
Going forward, in my opinion, there needs to be a larger shift in internet culture. People need to automatically cite their sources in order to destroy fake news. Those with opposing viewpoints also need to remain receptive and open to others. There are very few issues where middle ground can not be met. With the amount of information at an internet user's fingertips, there is no reason to not be able to understand the other side. By being able to break out of our own echo chambers, many problems that face internet culture today can be solved.
Works Cited
Seward, Zachary M. “The First Mobile Phone Call Was Made 40 Years Ago Today.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 3 Apr. 2013, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/04/the-first-mobile-phone-call-was-made-40-years-ago-today/274611/.
“The Wright Brothers: The First Successful Airplane.” The Wright Brothers | The First Successful Airplane, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/online/fly/1903/.