A Post About Whatever I Want

I found Miller’s and Shepherd’s article on “Blogging as Social Action” quite interesting this week. I thought the concept that the confessional nature of blogs has blurred the line between private and public was entirely truthful and fascinating. The authors mention how these social media platforms create a unique opportunity for kairos, saying the right thing in the right amount at the right time. More so than blogging, though, I think that kairos has become the defining factor of Twitter. Creating concise witticisms that take up no more than 140 characters takes discipline and practice, and not everyone can achieve this form of kairos. Twitter even released a manual instructing politicians how to best use the platform to craft their messages to followers (and I suppose that Trump and Carson have used different strategies than advised, as their shared goal only seems to be sounding freaking crazy to garner attention).

Miller and Shepherd point out that these types of platforms can “seize on the unique opportunity of a fleeting moment to create a new rhetorical possibility.” Anyone, with proper understanding of how to craft a concise message, can become famous almost overnight through social media. We literally have a category of social media stars these days, who find their voice on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, etc. What fascinates me about this, though, is the fact that we all daily see individuals who use these platforms almost unsuccessfully; people tend to mix up intended uses for each medium. For example:

• ·      Using blogs/Facebook/Twitter as a diary or journal
• ·      Using Facebook as Google
• ·      Using Facebook/Instagram/Twitter as free advertisements (you know, the post with ONE MILLION hashtags)
• ·      Using Facebook walls in place of private messaging/text messaging
• ·      And finally, not allowing for the restrictions of an online medium. The post is too long, not broken up enough, or just looks uninteresting. We all know this feeling:
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Online writing and writing is exponentially different than offline. Miller and Shepherd point out this concept of voyeurism through social media; they assert, “The technology of the internet makes it easier than ever for anyone to be either voyeur or an exhibitionist.” We tend to make ourselves into willing subjects, creating a social media identity, or as we refer to it in professional domains, social media presence. On the other end of the spectrum, we “creep” on other individuals that have created a web presence for themselves. Facebook was revolutionary in this regard—generations had never before grown up with an ability to instantly gain knowledge about another person without actually interacting with said person. This is so engrained in our society that it has now become a common courtesy to Facebook “friend” any acquaintances in everyday life. Our immediate reaction is to search for someone online in order to get to know him/her.

I am fascinated with how this online presence bleeds into job searches. I, among hundreds of thousands of users, have spent ridiculous amounts of time crafting my LinkedIn profile in the past, thinking that this would have a grand influence on any potential job opportunities. However, now, it seems to me that to be professional online, one should concentrate on one’s own domain space like we’ve been discussing in class. I am still trying to figure out how this would look for someone in my specialization, as I do not have much experience with publications or conferences.

Overall, I think we are all still figuring out what the Internet and social media presence can do for us, or how misuse of it will negatively affect a version of our identities.