I was the girl in middle school who lived in chat rooms. Yes, I was a chat room addict. My go-to room was baseball themed because I was obsessed with baseball at the time. I was either there, or you could find me in a video game chat room, spewing love about my favorite game, keeping up with all the other gamers. These chat rooms were all I cared about because it was there that I felt I could be most like myself. Middle and high school was a rough time for me, but these chat rooms provided an escape, a way to connect with others who were just like me when people in the real world proved heartbreaking.But then my knowledge of social media expanded, and I discovered Deviantart.
Like the chat rooms, drawing used to be my escape. As lovely as drawing for myself would be, I still did not get the critical feedback that I so desired in order to improve. Discovering Deviantart was a blessing in disguise because it allowed me to share my art and to connect with others who were doing the same thing I was doing. I made a couple of friends through that site that I still talk to occasionally to this day. Inspiration came daily through that site, inspiring me to work on a drawing almost every day. I even started a long project that I vowed to finish (it's a nerdy project, I'll spare you the details) because it made me feel good. Here's my deviantart, if you're curious: Awesome Art .
Knowing how much my limited experience with social media helped me, I can only say how important it is for there to be media and social technology in urban, English classrooms. Growing up in a world surrounded by social media, it was a necessary and useful skill for children to learn and know. The potentials of knowing how to work around social media are great. It allows people to express themselves and to realize what is important to them. It can allow people to connect in ways that might be difficult in the real world, and it also allows for networking, which is an important thing for job hunting once school is over. Depriving students of digital media in schools can only prove detrimental in the long run. I cannot help but think of people (like senior citizens) who did not grow up in a world of technology. They have a hard time learning how to use computers or even cell phones, and sometimes this can cause problems on their everyday lives.
People may complain that technology is taking over our lives, but that's only because it is. It is a fact in today's world that if you want to be successful, knowing how to use technology is a must. It was my love of video games and, yes, chat rooms, that spurred me to know more about social media. Maybe being a chat room addict wasn't such a bad thing after all.
It's interesting to see this side of the classic argument for technology/chatrooms, etc. Quite often people suggest that these social media sites & chatrooms diminish the quality of interactions by making face-to-face conversations more difficult (because people become used and accustomed to talking online). I don't necessarily know either way, since I've always had difficulty with face2face interactions, and, after using social media as a teenager, saw no definite difference either way; I neither improved or weakened my social skills. IT would be interesting to somehow compare the social skills of the prior generation to our generation, or the next generation to see if social media and digital conversation makes any difference. You say that you prefer texting/chatrooms and many may prefer face to face discussion. Perhaps much of it is up to the individual & the issue isn't as black-and-white as some folks make it out to be
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your opinion on face-to-face chatting. As you probably already know, I also started on Deviantart, and being able to talk to people over comments or notes was much easier for me. I don't think it negatively affected my ability to talk to people in person, honestly I think it helped me. I was able to explore how I interact with people without having to worry about leaving a lasting bad impression (in my experience anyway), and lead to meeting some of the coolest people I know. It's just another form of socializing at the end of the day, and just as valuable as speaking in person. (your art is super cute by the way!)
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting read. I am very much considering getting a blog as well. Keep up the good work!
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