Post 1: Who Do You *Think* You Are?

I doodled this randomly a few weeks ago.
Watercolor and ink

My name is Shannon Ho, and I am a sophomore studying media with a journalism concentration and psychology. I have always had a passion for telling stories, both textually and visually (I love to paint). On the other side of telling stories is absorbing the stories that others tell, and this can be done via various media. 

While I do love reading the New York Times (my dream job would be writing for their sports section), I would by lying if I said my consumption of media wasn't primarily from the social media on my phone. Twitter holds a fair chunk of my time each day, acting as a minute-by-minute source of news both trivial and serious/important. I am also a huge fan of Instagram, which is both a creative way of documenting things and a method of telling a story (a picture's worth 1000 words). And in this day and age, I think it's accurate to say that a lot of our common experiences involve a social media presence as well. When I think about events that have recently effected my community/city/country, I think of the Twitter outcries, pictures on Instagram, statuses on Facebook, and, of course, hashtags- #BlackLivesMatter #crimeswhilewhite just to name a couple. 

Media has naturally become a part of my life and identity because of its omnipresence in my life. Again, I carry a piece of my identity in my pocket, on my phone. I use my own social media to document significant -but not necessarily important- things, people, and events that I experience. It may sound superficial to hold these experiences as they are perceived on social media to high esteem, but that's the norm. "Likes" and "favorites" are signifiers of acceptance. I can say confidently that the number of likes or favorites doesn't affect me, who I am, or what I post on social media, but for a while it did. And I know many of my girlfriends who care very much about their social image on the Internet. I think now, my social media perfectly depicts who I am, my values and my interests that are consistent with my identity and self. 

While I've noticed that women and girls in my life care deeply about their social media appearance, there has been a huge movement in empowerment advertising for women, "empowertising." I don't think this is a coincidence. Media has recently brought attention to the need for women to be equal, have higher esteems, while recognizing inner/outer strength in the process. One of my favorite examples of this is Under Armour's campaign "I Will What I Want," which features female athletes advocating for their goals despite societal setbacks. Media's influence grows stronger each day and it's important to use it for positive messages.