This class reminds me of Broadcast Media (which infinitely stressed me out) but, where that class was learning about the history of radio and television broadcasting, this class is about the Internet and social media (Instagram, specifically).
In Adrian Miles’ article, “Blogs in Media Education: A Beginning”, Miles covers how to utilise blogs to make an educational space more engaging and communicative. Miles (2006, p. 67) also claims that ‘since students can now see each other’s writing … they can also more effectively see and understand the differences that exist between each other’s capabilities.’
Let’s bypass his example of high achieving and low achieving students (Miles 2006).
As a creative writing student, I feel like I’m always floundering when it comes to anything not creative writing based. Perusing the blogs of other students is helpful; I get to see how people with a more design/media related mind explore how to use the blog. And well, being me, I assume other people’s way is the right way to blog so I try to emulate their style of personal reflection with the week’s reading/s.
Miles (2006, p. 96) also says that as students use ‘their blogs, simple but essential questions about copyright, intellectual property and internet ethics will arise’.
It’s important, obviously, not to infringe on someone else’s content. Even now, I’m wondering what kind of images I can embed into my posts. I know there are websites that host libraries of images under the CC0 License (unsplash, pexels, pixabay).
What kind of content can I use to enhance the experience of my blog. If I make references to pop culture or Vines (rip) or memes, should I credit the original creator/s? Perhaps I’m putting too much unnecessary thought into this.
So, as a reader, you wouldn’t have noticed this but I took a lengthy break in which I browsed through other people’s blogs to see what kind of images were being embedded. I’ve come to the conclusion that it should be alright. Perhaps I’ll reserve them for post 2. Or 3. Or 4, even.
References
Miles, A 2006, ‘Blogs in Media Education: A Beginning’, Screen Education, no. 43, pp. 66-69.