Who Do You Think You Are?

I am.

Hi, I'm Eric Peña. People have given me plenty of titles such as a friend, son, brother, classmate, clown, coworker, etc. All of these do resonate and ring true with me; I am blessed to be the son of two beautiful parents, I bless my sister with my presence, and I'm always cracking jokes 24/7. My reason for always trying to have a laugh really connects to my relationship with mi Tia. One of the last things she ever told me was to always remain positive and laughing whenever you can, because all the hardships you endure and bad things you hear on the news can never outlast pure joy. I took this to heart because mi Tia was someone who spent most of her young adult years tuned into the worst news possible while living through the heart of the Salvadoran civil war, and so I've tailored myself to do the same with my media consumption.

So that's why people call me a clown.

But being honest here, if I were to give myself titles that describe my current self it would be young and dumb. Recently, I've started to realize that I have misconstrued the message mi Tia Liliana told me. Most of my media consumption consists of shitposts, memes, and getting caught in never ending RIP Vine! compilations. I'm doing everything she told me to do, but I've conflicted myself by not consuming the right kind of media that will educate me, keep me up to date with current events, and spark the change in my life that will propel me to becoming my best self possible. I hope that this course will help me make better choices and establish habits for success.

Youtube plays a big a part of my life. It's a media outlet that I've come to enjoy and appreciate over the years because I feel like content creators have the liberty to produce and post whatever they want and reach anyone from a few friends to millions of people. As a Video Production major, people always ask me which movie directors and films influenced me to pursue this major but I don't even watch many movies to be real with you, my main influences just come from Youtube videos. What I find most intriguing about the platform is how anyone can fall into a blackhole and just fall into hours worth of binge watching random videos. It might just be me but I know damn well it's not. I've posted things such as this (leave a like and subscribe, episode 2 coming soon), and hope to produce content that inspires change and leaves an impact as well as a good laugh.

Who I am

I scroll, scroll and scroll until I come across something I like. Compared to others I feel as if I use my likes for many reasons whether they be educational or for self preference. I don't fall into the trap of liking everything that comes to my feed just because I follow them. I use that space to an advantage, kind of like a reference section in the chapters of my life. I like to organize my thoughts through out my Instagram feed. When I'm on Instagram I use it as inspiration for when I design or create illustrations. 

Sometimes I get some free time and I do try my best to attend art shows. I feel as if a lot of the mixed media I get to observe helps build inspiration and helps initiate my creative thought process. I have a great interest in graphic design and when I see crisp and prestigious works I appreciate all of the elements because of my experience in it. One of the things i've taken from it is patience. I have had moments where everything will be going perfect until I make one wrong design decision and it all goes to waste. I've had to take a moment and realize that things need to go wrong until you can succeed. 

The creative process provides me endless opportunities to succeed through trial and error. Even though I've learned it through graphic design, it relates back to my personal life where all i've really needed was patience. Always sprinting to fix the problem never really lets you understand what is happening. It's helped me find organization through patience.  Future wise, I think graphic design and the many mixed media inspirations are going to continue leading me in the right direction. For example, currently I am really passionate about merging my feelings toward what is going on in Venezuela, and my graphic design to make pieces against the Venezuelan illegitimate government. Amongst my creative process, I feel as if it's gearing me toward potentially working in the field of social design. I feel my designs are always a space where I can visually represent my opinions and critiques. 

My relationship to imagery is probably top 6 of 10. When I first started noticing I wanted to be part of an ACM program, I  was into photography. Most of my photos were inspired by personal interests and my everyday life. I didn't think about incorporating the documentary aspects of photography as I should have been. As soon as I realized it was a tool, I realized how my perspective behind the lens could tell someone else a narrative. After that most of my photos were related to a subjective perspective that no one could really read except for me. Graphic Design introduced me to imagery related to typography and I was really inspired by poster design. It was a loop hole to telling a narrative without fulling telling all the quirks and special remarks. For that I feel in love with my future career and realized my purpose. 

                         my social designs

A woman holds up a banner with a play on the word "calle" that reads in Spanish; "Don't let the streets get quiet," during a rally with human rights activists, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday. (Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press)

Who do you think you are?

As a Journalism major I believe it is crucial to know what is going on, so I try my best to stay up to date with the news. Therefore, I am usually checking my phone for the news. I use various apps and monitor different media outlets. I also read newspapers and literary magazines. I’ll occasionally watch the news on television. I have yet to publish anything, but I hope to do so soon.

I’m constantly using my phone whether it’s for leisure, school, or communication. I would like to say I don’t use it as much, but the connectivity makes it almost impossible to stay away. When I do use social media I try not to spend too much time on it. However, I don’t post on these sites. I deleted my Instagram about a month ago because I felt like I cared too much about the likes I got on my posts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6e1riShmak

I follow a lot of media outlets on Twitter because I find the correlation between media and digital technology interesting. It is definitely affecting Journalism and I’m curious as to how this will change in the future.

I’m constantly consuming media so I’d say it’s a big part of my identity and life. I’m sure it’ll continue into my future. However, I hope media will change in the future because it’s beginning to have a negative impact and it can be used for worse. Sometimes media platforms are used in a bad way, which can make me question my identity.

Photo Credit: 

John Cole

Cagle Cartoons

Who I Think I Am I Guess.

I'm Ronaldo Spooner. I like to draw stuff, like cartoons and stuff. I've been drawing since I was a little kid, so that's my role in media-making; cartoons. Until very recently I didn't really like to share my art aside from comics I would make every now and then, but more recently I have been more comfortable sharing my art online because I don't care about anything anymore.

I usually use my phone for music and I can barely function without it, which is not okay. Aside from that, media is my way to see into the world of comedy, something I'm very fond of. Whether it be Youtube or Reddit, I enjoy media that can make me laugh. I'm not the most talkative or extroverted person, so media is a way for me to make people laugh with cartoons and memes and stuff I guess. I spend way to much time on Reddit because the stuff on there is way too funny.

Aside from art and music, my main intake of media consumption is definitely video games. Its one of the main things I do aside from listening to music. I'd say its my primary hobby, and a borderline addiction due to how often I play.

So cartoons and stuff have been tied to my identity for as long as I can remember, growing up that's just what people identify me as. That and video games are things I do so often that they sort of define me as a person, in the eyes of people that don't know me too well.

https://www.cartoonnetwork.com/

WHO AM I

Who am I? My name is Isaiah Jones and I come from one of the roughest backstories available. Battled violence, homelessness, drug users trying to lure me in in the streets, and that was just on the way to school. Yet, here I am. I am a man caught between many things. More money than poor, yet not even middle class. I get the feeling of being average, until I see average or below. Even then, I still never consider myself upper echelon.

Outside of school, I'm a recording artist that has worked with Atlantic, Universal and Republic Records. I have eclipsed over four million Soundcloud plays in under a year as an independent artist. My music competes with some of the best all over the world, yet I still feel the need to compete with those who I've grown up around.

Currently, I major in Music and a 2nd Concentration in Urban Education. My goal is to teach a class about the history of Hip-Hop. I believe the history of our music can tell the complete story of the African American. From the Black Panther led "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy in 1989 to "What's Free?" by Meek Mill in 2018. Hip-Hop has been a constant in our community and the history of it should never be forgotten as it tells our story through rhythm and rhyme.

Media has influenced me as an artist because the media keeps artists "relevant". I want to master the media to grow as an artist moving forward.

Who do you think you are?

Media consumption plays a major role in our lives. It seems that nowadays, you can’t seem to avoid it. There are many forms of media and each one benefits us in different ways. It seems that we most likely get informed by Via Twitter or the news on TV.  We are also depending on media to entertain us whether its Netflix, TV, or Social media. I know that for me, social media plays a huge role in my daily life. I can spend hours on social media alone and not even notice. 

Instagram is where I spend most my time on. You can scroll down and even go on their explore page and skim through hundreds of posts. My experiences involve shared “art” such as sharing my photos, videos, and thoughts. All of those experiences are throughout Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook.

In my life, I would say I am always going to be that person that depends on media. My identity revolves around feeling confident taking pictures and expressing myself. This can make me confident in the way I view myself or the way my pictures came out. Media also helps me express myself as an artist. My future also depends on media. My dream job is to become a graphic designer and my main tools rely on media. 

Imagery is also important because in the future I would have to turn my client’s thoughts into a great design. My relationship with identity consists of what I love to do and my future job. I define myself as happy, artistic, beautiful individual and hope that I can express myself in a way that others can see through my work. Culture is also a big part of my identity, our traditions, music, and looks define my family tree which makes me different from other individuals.

 Media consumption may not be so bad after all. It helps us express ourselves, inform us, and entertain us.

https://e-professionalism.umn.edu/students/topics/free-speech/

I am...

Hello, Im Jan and as an artist, media consumption is essential to my process. We live in a time where there is constant information accessible to us, but too much of it could cost us our own contentment and well being.

For my own peace of mind, I made sure not to follow any of the biggest celebrities and social media influencers such as the Kardashians, Kanye and the other reality TV show stars and super models. Every now and then I would cleanse my accounts and unfollow the people with the largest followers on my list. Those people are usually the ones who post about their luxurious lifestyles, product advertisements and selfies with their new lip injections. These are the people I do not want to be associated with, for I don't care about their money or expensive clothes. I feel like I am constantly being poisoned by narcissism in a world that revolves around the number of likes a picture gets. That's a sad world to live in.

As a visual artist, I try my best to produce and share art that will bring positivity and significance in this materialistic, and shallow online world. I try to document and share my bright colored paintings so that maybe kids could see them, in hopes of uplifting and affecting others in a positive way. But because of this, I have developed anxiety whenever I would post on Instagram because of the fear of being judged by others online in which a lot of people can relate to today. This is something I have been trying to overcome by trying to come out of my comfort zone.

We have to be more cautious of the materials we intake from our social media platforms. Choose the people you will want to influence your life. Just like our bodies, we need to take care of our mental health as well. These are our food for the soul. We might not recognize it, but this consumption is as crucial as our nutritional diet. Our brain absorbs all the photos we see on Instagram, the tweets we read on Twitter, and the Videos we see on Youtube. There are times where I physically feel lightheaded from scrolling through Instagram for hours looking at meaningless content realizing I should spend my time being more productive rather than scrolling on my phone for hours like a robot.

https://childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/