I was reading through and editing one of my past blog posts, "Do we REALLY want to know?". After reading the first couple of sentences I began to drift into a daydream, thinking about this and that, when suddenly I got a crazy idea. Being as curious as I am, I copied those first couple of sentences from my blog entry and pasted them into a Google search bar. I bit my lip as I clicked down on the 'search' key. The next page loaded as I held my breath for a moment, quickly scrolling down the page. Nothing. I clicked 'next' and continued onto the next page. As I scrolled down once again, I saw something. Could it be? Was that actually me? There, sitting halfway down the page on the largest search engine via the World Wide Web was my name, my blog, my thoughts and my words. Ladies and gentlemen of the Web, I, Alex Doria, have never been more inspired to write a blog entry as I am at this moment.
I began this blogging assignment completely clueless as to how to create my blog, what to write and how to access my own information after I had finished writing. I quickly solved all of these issues, of course, and began my blogging journey. In my first post I wrote about how I was nervous and excited to begin writing, interested in who would read my thoughts once I posted them. To have started posting only three months ago and to find my writing on Google today was astounding. I have opened a gateway for others into my mind through the Internet, not negatively of course, or else I would never have begun to post in the first place. Instead I have shared my academic discoveries with a grand audience through the Web, and am proud to know that my work can be referenced too by anyone who may stumble upon it. This, my friends, is the pinnacle of participatory culture.
Now that I have published my writing it will remain on the Web for as long as the Web remains. According to Henry Jenkins, that may be forever, "A medium's content may shift, its audience may change and its social status may rise or fall, but once a medium establishes itself it continues to be part of the media ecosystem" (Jenkins). Thus, I have been fitted into the equation as part of the "media ecosystem", and I'm more proud to be a part of it than I thought I might have been three months ago. If I was writing about what I did on my summer vacation, or how my dog likes to do tricks for my friends then that would be one thing. On the other end of the spectrum, my writing has been legitimate, academically-influenced information that I have learned throughout my first year of university.
Engaging in our 21st century participatory culture has been informative, fun and exciting. Blogging will most likely continue for me after Mass Communication has concluded, and why not? Engaging with such a vast online audience is a like riding an online roller coaster: It starts off slowly, but once it gets going you sometimes never want it to end. It's thrilling, and as soon as it's finished you often want to get right back on again. Sometimes though you just need a break to avoid getting a headache, which is why I like to take a few days off after I post. I just need to take a deep breath and rejuvenate my thoughts. I encourage you to hop on board if you haven't already, you never know when the ride will end, or if it ever will.
Works Cited
Jenkins, Henry. "Convergence? I Diverge." Technology Review June 2001. 24 Nov 2008
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