Module 3 Blog Post

     There was so much information this week that I'm not even sure where to start! Digital amnesia, Google knows everything, #TheDress, viral posts, memes; all of our favorite things about the internet! 

    The content in this week's module sparked some conversation between myself and my family. I asked them all why they started using social media in the first place. My sister said, "I joined Twitter before Smartphones to find out which Waffle House Donnie Wahlberg might go to after a show," and I haven't been the same since! It's one aspect of social media that I hadn't even considered before that moment, even after reading all the materials so far. Before the digital era, was meeting a celebrity or knowing where they are having dinner even a possibility? Sure, Seventeen Magazine might do a cover story on it next week, but what about in the moment? We think of social media as a way to keep in touch with friends and family, but really, it's just a connection to literally everyone in the world regardless of who you are or where you are from. 

Some of us would interact through memes all day every day if we could. I mean, why not? They are generally funny, they say things we wouldn't necessarily say ourselves, and address all sorts of topics. Once, I was at work and my daughter got stuck there with me after school. She was working on her homework and the internet kept dropping. I was super busy, but she was relentless. "Mooooom, fix the internet! Moooooom." I snapped at her a couple times but finally caved; and I felt kinda bad about being snappy with her. After fixing the internet and checking her laptop for proper connection, I changed her desktop background to a wild eyed meme of Willem Dafoe saying "You're welcome," and maybe that doesn't sound so funny by description (which is kinda the whole point of meme--so you can SEE it), but three years later, she still talks about it and gets a good laugh. 

So for as much as the internet and all things digital have made our brains mush, the return is something greater, something better. Connection. Maybe it doesn't look the way it once did, maybe it's not the same, maybe it seems a little impersonal; but connected is connected. 

And the dress is definitely white and gold and nothing will ever change my mind--even the "breaking news" that supposedly the "real" dress is blue and black. I mean, you can't believe EVERYTHING you read on the internet after all. 😝