When I signed up for Digital Culture, I expected to only analyze
the rhetoric of social media since at the time social was the only type of
digital “culture” that I was aware of. We did analyze things like status
updates, and hashtags, but much more briefly than I had planned on. Instead of
merely analyzing the online world that I knew and had become accustomed to, a
whole new world and a whole new way of thinking opened up to me, and I don’t
think I’m ever going to be able to see the Digital the same way ever again.
In Dr. Burton’s blog post A Call for Digital Explorers,
he encourages, if not pleads for, us “to work through the learning curves of
the new media not only for practical purposes, but for those lively impractical
purposes of art, play, and discovery.” He begs us to no longer allow “the
changes that technology thrusts upon us bury [us] in triviality,” and instead
to “launch [us] to new lands.” He shows too that venturing out into the world
of the digital does not need to be expensive or time-consuming; it just
requires a new way of thinking and a new way of exercising the creativity that
is already in each of us.
Over the course of the semester, I have taken Dr. Burton’s
call to heart, and I have seen others take it to heart as well. I am so
impressed, and so grateful, for Shelly Russon’s project advocating for
e-readers for children. Not only did she cast away old notions that technology
is harmful to children, but she also advocated for e-readers, which as far as I
can tell are not entirely popular with English majors yet. We still love the
smell of books and the ability to hold them. But these notions and traditional
feelings did not stop Shelly from stepping out and exploring what else was out
there. I was able to read the first draft of her paper, and was impressed with
her argument about the benefits of children using e-readers. I actually even
wanted an e-reader after reading it.
I was also introduced to a new way of seeing literature with
Dr. Burton’s blog post Emerging Genres of Video Poetry. I have never liked
poetry very much because I’ve never enjoyed dissecting the symbolism, imagery,
line breaks, etc. I recognize it as a form of art, and respect it for that, but
it has never spoken to me, and I’ve always felt like I was missing out on
something. Therefore, I am grateful that some poets, or poetry enthusiasts,
have embraced the digital, been willing to explore, and put poetry they or
others have written in digital form. I actually enjoyed listening and watching the poems in Dr. Burton’s post
and gained a new, if not completely different, appreciation for poetry. Now
when I’m required to read a poem for an English class, I think I’ll look it up
on YouTube instead of just reading it from my textbook.
This new world is not without its faults. It is still new
territory being developed, and there are still dangerous items out in the
Digital, so while we should explore, we should also be cautious. However, I’m
grateful that many of my concerns about exploring (plagiarism, security, and
publishing before an idea is fully developed) have largely been calmed. I’m glad
that I know of new ways to do writing and research, and I’m glad that I’ve been
able to receive the push I need to take a personal project in the direction it
needed to go. I wouldn’t have been able to do these things without this class.
I look forward to being part of digital culture, and hope that I’ll have many
opportunities to introduce others to it as I continue to venture into this new
world.
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