my digital culture

it is interesting for me to analyze my own digital presence as we talk in class about consuming, creating and connecting. this class is already pushing me to consume, create and connect more on the internet than i do. i am also recognizing my own habits, misuses and under-utilization of the world wide web. 

consume-i'm not a very good consumer in that i don't explore what digital culture has to offer. i am the one who is always the latecomer to new social media, who won't update their facebook to the newest version until it's forced on me, and who never downloads new apps on her phone. i consume a lot of digital media, meaning i constantly have my iphone in my hand, but i NEVER get sucked into youtube-watching marathons and i spend more time looking for something to view on netflix than actually watching it. already in this class, i've had to watch various videos and check out many different websites. in our milton class, we are listening to paradise lost via audible and reading milton on kindles. 

create-i have a personal blog, which i update once every month or few months. my goal was to journal all the fun things my husband and i do because i don't keep a written journal (bad, i know). after talking about subcultures, i realize i have the chance to create new identities, memes, websites, videos, rants...whatever i want! this is pertinent to me because my husband and i are looking for jobs and he has been especially diligent in building up his linkedin profile and you know what? he has already had multiple companies contact him and ask for interviews, just because he has fidgeted with an online business profile for himself (for the record, he just texted me as i wrote that to tell me he has 321 connections...). 

connect-this is my favorite use of digital culture because the internet does wonders at allowing people to connect! cory and i facetime our grandparents and parents every sunday...aside from family group texts and emails. i have a twitter, instagram, facebook, pinterest and now google+! those are the apps that i check most regularly and allow me to stay in touch with friends and family. as weird as this sounds, i don't think i'd be married to my husband without digital culture because the first four months we seriously dated, we were in separate states. instead we had facetime, skype, text, phone, email, facebook, twitter and voxer (a walkie talkie app) that allowed us to always be in communication. 

i would be intrigued to see how digital culture has affected relationships. my great-grandmother (106 years old) spent a summer apart from her husband (then-boyfriend) and they got to talk on the phone once or twice and wrote letters to each other. another thing i am looking forward to learning about is the effect digital culture has on various generations. i know my mom always complained to me about my phone, but now that she has an iphone and an ipad and a laptop she is both gratified and appalled at what she can do. she is currently addicted to houzz. do you guys have a particularly small or large digital presence? i am looking to make mine look more professional, i guess. i've enjoyed all your posts so far-i too,  had an embarrassing first email address/screen name (littlepinkalien2). and heidi, i thought the video was a little outdated. our class should make a newer version incorporating some of your suggestions!