For this assignment, I decided to make an infographic on one of America’s more notable serial killers, Ted Bundy. I previously had a wealth of knowledge on Bundy due to the amount of documentaries, movies, and crime podcasts I listen to. Due to this, I didn’t have to indulge in extensive research about Bundy. I did however use some quick resources that are linked at the bottom. I used a Canva template to create this piece. When conjuring up some design ideas in my head, I didn’t want to use a sinister looking photo of Bundy, like his mug shot. In the photo above, Bundy looks happy as a clam, being that it was taken while he was on trial for double-homocide. I used the red & green bubbles to guide your eyes throughout the infographic. I didn’t want to make the infographic entirely about murder, so instead I attempted to add some not-so-dreary facts about his antics. Hope you enjoy!

Writing is extremely therapeutic for me, and it was through this course that I was able to reignite my passion for writing that I lost a few years ago. Throughout this semester, I found comfort in sitting down with a cup of coffee and putting thoughts, feelings, and words onto a page. While this type of topic oriented blogging isn’t exactly up my alley, I am grateful to now know how to strategically develop and run a successful blog.

As for suggestions and implementation strategies of how to improve this course in the future, I have a few ideas. I think students who take this class in the future might find it beneficial to have the units run from a Monday – Sunday basis, meaning that all assignments are due at midnight on Sunday. While I understand students already have a full week to submit a unit, I think assignments due on Sunday night, instead of Friday night, would produce much better grades. Not all students have the best time management skills, and while giving them until Sunday night crutches them, I think Dr. Magolis might see a positive spike in grades. Another change I would personally implement if I were in charge of the course, is the option to not respond to your classmates’ discussion posts. While I understand that this creates communication and discussion within the online classroom, it is very rare that the person answers, or even looks at the comment made on their discussion post. It is almost like you are talking to a wall, rather than having an engaging discussion. Aside from those changes, I think the flow of the content and units went very well. As tedious as the quizzes were sometimes, it helped me gage my understanding of that week’s topic. I especially enjoyed the Youtube assignment! That was by far my favorite assignment of the semester.

Overall I think everyone should take this course, or at least expose themselves to what it means to be media literate. In a day and age where I feel like a lot of people (of all ages might I add) need a life lesson in social media and their online practices, this course will show you how to do just that. I am also grateful to now have a professional Twitter account, and the closer I get to graduation next year, the more I will look into developing a professional Instagram account. Thank you to Dr. Magolis and all of my classmates in guiding me through this course!

Catch ya on the flip side✰✰✰

-Jess

Privacy is a taboo topic, and something I never really thought about in life until pretty recently. About a year ago, a girl I had not known personally, had a stalker that ended up committing suicide, after police found a paper trail that eventually led to his doorstep.

This girl is your average college student, who went about her days without a care in the world. She never expected her privacy to be violated…she never expected him to write creepy letters and put them in her mailbox…she never expected him to mail her pictures of herself from when she was a child. Yet this is where she went wrong. Her guard was down, and he took full advantage of that.

While there wasn’t much she could’ve done to protect herself in this haunting situation, it made me reflect on my own privacy. This man could have chosen anyone…me, my best friend, my roommate, anyone. But he chose her. This man walked up and down our street, night after night, stalking her through her own windows in the darkness of the night. It still sends chills down my spine just thinking about it.

Since the day I heard this story, my guard has been up. I am not only more wary about my physical surroundings, I am consciously aware of the traces I leave on my social media accounts. I use to have my location available through multiple apps for people to see. Frankly, majority of these people don’t need to know what I’m up to, let alone where I am at any given moment of the day. I value privacy in my life now more than I ever have before.

While I am grateful that I’ve never been put in a privacy-breach or stalker situation, I’ve taken steps to ensure the safety of myself, friends, and family much more seriously. I encourage everyone to be consciously aware of how private they are. Your business should be your’s and your’s only. The more private you are, the less danger you’re putting yourself in.

In my Emergent Media class this past week, we tracked our media usage…very closely 👀. This assignment truly opened my eyes to how much time I am absolutely wasting and taking for granted. In case you were wondering, I spent around 11 hours on various media IN ONE DAY.

Do you know what I could do in 11 hours…? A lot more than I am doing now. I could very potentially bang out two research term papers, if not more, and still have time to take care of myself and make breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I won’t even bother mentioning how much better my grades would be if I used my time more wisely. If I chipped out an hour or two a day, I would be able to accomplish a lot more. I use my phone as an aid or a crutch when I’m stressed. A horrible habit I have is that if there is an assignment I don’t want to think about or work on, the first thing I do is grab my phone to distract myself. I often find myself using the excuse that my screen time is my way to unwind and destress, but to be completely honest, it doesn’t calm me down & it makes me more distracted.

Time management and multi-tasking have always been two huge problems for me. Like I said, I get distracted way too easily, especially when it comes to throwing myself on my bed and unlocking my phone for hours at a time. I don’t like to multitask either because I do not have the best attention span, and I prefer to concentrate my energy on one task at a time. I am however a list fanatic. I love creating and organizing my tasks into lists. The feeling of crossing off what I have accomplished is exhilarating to me.

In general, my media usage is ~way~ higher than I would like it to be. In large part I think this is due to the fact that younger Americans grew up with a phone in their hand, so it’s very hard for us to break old habits. This has challenged me to turn my phone off and concentrate on more important things.

My over-usage of media hinders my ability to perform as a student. I am grateful that this experience of logging my media usage has opened my eyes. From now on, I focus more on time management and less on endless amounts of media.

The first time I truly realized how much different each country is from the next, was my first trip to Epcot in Disney World as a child. It was fascinating to me to see just how much different each culture can be from the next. The traditions, the food, the people…all of it was enticing to me at such a young age. That is something that hasn’t changed since my first trip ever. What has changed, however, is the way people around the world use media. The entire internet realm has changed so much in the past ten or so years, and largely in part because of the United States’ contribution to technology. From the slow dial-up computer that I grew up around (and can still hear in my head), to the MacBook I am now typing on, there’s no denying that the entire world contributed to media as we know it today.

It is important to remember that with great power, (like having the world at our fingertips 24/7), comes great responsibility. Unfortunately, not all cultures, including our own, understand this concept. Being a competent media user is not as easy as it may seem…especially if you’re a part of the 99% of people who skip over the “Terms & Conditions” and immediately hit “accept terms”. In other words, media literacy is multidimensional. To break it down into simpler terms, let’s recall the four dimensions:

1 – Aesthetic refers to information about the production of a message, or what is pleasing to our senses. Professional social media users will create an aesthetic on their platform to catch your attention.

2 – Cognitive refers to factual information such as names, dates, and definitions.

3 – Emotional refers to information about feelings that we hold near and dear to our heart. For example, the SPCA commercials/media play off of your emotions of sadness, love, and guilt to draw you towards their company.

4 – Moral refers to information about values such as your own judgments of what you consider to be right or wrong. In media, we often see a pattern of political figures looking to gain your attention or votes through pointing out the faults of their opponent, and pushing your moral compass to make a decision about who is “right” and who is “wrong”.

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As highlighted in my notes, we must adapt to our changing world, rather than deny or ignore the change!

❀ That’s all for this week ❀ Come back next week for Blog Post numero dos!

Welcome to my blog lifeツ

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✰ check in here throughout the semester to see what I’m up to ✰

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FIND SOMETHING NEW TO L♡VE EVERY DAY