In this assignment, I ask that you a personal essay of 750-1,000 words about the role of digital media in your life. To make this more specific, you should choose one Web 2.0 service, site, or platform (such Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, Netflix, or Wikipedia) or a particular gadget (Apple, Android, etc) and discuss how it has changed some aspect of your life, such as communication with friends, knowledge acquisition, or leisure time. You should consider what this technology allows you to do, as well as what restrictions it has and/or what concerns you may have about it (such as regarding privacy, copyright, piracy, or miscommunication).

 

Be sure to include some reference to ideology, interpellation, or gadgetry in your essay. In so doing, you need to quote and/or paraphrase at least two of our class readings.

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Since this is a personal essay, you’ll need to use "I" and talk about your own ideas and reactions. The style of the essay can be less formal and more creative. Much of the personal essay is about storytelling, so feel free to tell one long story that’s relevant to the assignment, or to use a few anecdotes to make your point.

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You may draft an essay in response to one of these prompts, or invent your own:

• Do you feel "interpellated" by new media in a deleterious way?

• In what way does digital media allow you to communicate in a way that was previously unavailable? How does that affect your life?

• To what extent do you feel there is a barrier between your online life and your offline life? What is the significance of this to you?

• How does the Internet change your relationship to other people, to your schoolwork, to your work or other activities? What would these be like without the Internet? What can you generalize from this about the role of the Internet in contemporary culture?

• How reliant are you on media? What roles do they play in your life? Which of these is most important? What would your life be like without media?

• Do you feel that digital media keep you more informed about the world around you or less? What can you generalize about the function of digital media in our lives today?

 

Make sure your essay has a major idea or point to it. It does not need to have a formal “argument,” but it should draw specific conclusions or make general points.

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As always, to make this truly a "digital essay," you must use at least three non-text elements in your post, such as links to other sites, images, embedded videos, or GIFs. Consider the whole post (including visual elements and links) as part of your composition. Arrange your visual material carefully to both look nice and relate to/support your writing.