This week, as a media curator, I had an ambivalent reaction towards the social networks we use in the class. In the case of Twitter, I got to experience using the platform actively, which I had never done before; and in the case of Instagram, I faced the same challenges I face with my regular account. Furthermore, I had to dust off Spotify for the first time since I switched to Apple Music. Overall, the assignment was enjoyable and blended in my daily life, features that in my opinion speak loudly about the general quality of the class.
Specifically regarding Twitter, despite my lack of experience with it, I found it extremely easy to post on it. I am glad I was able to experiment in one of my posts with the GIF feature on the iPhone app. Although the joke I used it for was not particularly funny, I liked the fact that searching GIFs using a phrase can elicit ideas for actual tweets. In general, I tried to be helpful academically. Personally, when checking the class Twitter account, I was grateful to find reminders about assignment deadlines, and consequently tried to offer some assistance for the Revise Project.
On the other hand, Instagram was slightly more challenging to use. When I consider posting on my personal account, I always try to take into account the relevance of my post to my limited audience. Since I always doubt they would enjoy seeing yet another food picture, I refrain from participating regularly. The same thing happened with the class Instagram account, but in this case I opted to follow trends that I noticed within the account itself. In that way, I knew I would at least relate to previous curators.
Finally, since the playlist is supposed to be biopic, I just selected songs that I remembered liking at certain ages. Unfortunately, my memory could only really go as far back as middle school, so my playlist is populated by some emo classics. Hopefully, I’m not the only one in the class who went through that phase. Unlike other curators though, I cannot really say I was able to reminisce when compiling the playlist, since I usually just play my whole library on shuffle and re-listen songs constantly.
I hope my posts fulfilled their objectives and helped everyone in some way.
https://open.spotify.com/user/penha1618/playlist/4j9XKFaMOLvb8ApN5qPH7Z
Hey Juan,
I thought it was interesting that your thoughts on using the class Twitter and Instagram accounts were almost the complete opposite of mine. You did not seem to feel any pressure posting on the class Twitter account. During my time as the media curator, I contemplated what I would post for a brief moment even though it was unlikely that anyone outside the class would ever see the post. Instagram, on the other hand, is the social media platform that I enjoy using so I had a large amount of pictures ready to post. I use the platform so much that it was very easy for me to walk through the process of posting a picture without much thought given to who would see the image and how it would be received by the audience of the account.
Cheers,
Adam
Hi Juan,
I really enjoyed reading your post! I agree with you that Twitter was very interesting to use because of the GIFs and I learned so much about Twitter through my curator week. I also agree that Instagram is more challenging to use because sometimes the audience makes me feel limited by what I can or can’t post. I also liked your spotify playlist! I think we all go through that emo phase sometime in our lives and I listened to so much kpop during mine…
-Tiffany
Hi Juan!
I really enjoyed your week as media curator. I especially relate to your comment about Instagram. During my week I found it difficult as well to post on the app because I’m so used to following the norms of Insta on my actual account. I curated very early in the semester and couldn’t really gauge what the rest of the class would eventually post but I did what you did and went off of what the people did before me, it made it easier and less stressful to follow their lead. (BTW I went through an emo phase and middle school too.)
-Ebony Nwanebu
Hi Juan,
I thought that you did a great job as curator last week. All of your posts were interesting and/or helpful in some way. I can relate with you as I had to revisit Spotify after about a year, as I have also switched over to Apple Music. Luckily, it is so easy to use so it was not a hard adjustment to make overall. As far as Twitter, I can also relate to you as I have not used this application in quite some time, but once I got back on it was easy to learn again.
-Meg
Hi Juan!
I enjoyed your post and also really liked your Instagram posts. I noticed you posted about Florence being one of your favorite cities, so we definitely share that in common. I tend to think a lot about my Instagram audience when posting on my personal account so I completely relate to that.
-Ali
Hey Juan,
I think that your post made for an enjoyable read. I particularly like how you remarked that the act of searching for a GIF on Twitter could help you to formulate new ideas for your tweets. I am definitely going to try experimenting that with my Facebook account to see what ideas I might conjure up with. Furthermore, I also can relate to your Spotify playlist which has a generous amount of tracks from Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance. I can confidently say that you are not alone in having that phase.
– Shannon
Hi Juan,
For my media curator week I experienced the opposite. Twitter was harder for me to use than Instagram. I had a hard time thinking about what to post, that I mostly tweeted class reminders; so it’s good to hear you found that helpful from past curators. Instagram was easier for me to use considering it’s my favorite app, however, I also looked through past posts from media curators to get an idea on what I could post.
-Johana
Hi Juan,
I never had an emo phase, but I recognized some of these songs! I also think it’s interesting that through all of the changes that Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify go through, that Twitter never changes its’ interface. I agree that it is definitely easier to navigate Twitter.
I’m also curious why you prefer Apple Music to Spotify? I’d be open to switching if it is that much better even though I currently do take advantage of the Spotify Student Discount
Hi Spencer,
Thanks for your input! In regards to the Apple Music vs. Spotify question, I think it’s a matter of personal taste. I like the fact that I can use Apple Music with the regular music app on my iPhone and don’t need any third party apps. Additionally, I also enjoy the exclusives Apple Music has. For example, the latest Drake album (or playlist) was first released through one of Apple Music’s features. On the other hand though, Spotify is much better when speaking about indie artists, since some of them are not even featured in Apple’s streaming service. Apple Music also has a student discount in case you want to try it out.
Juan
Juan:
I totally agree with your thoughts on Instagram, it was sometimes hard to chose what to post. I thought it was really interesting that you observed the trend in the class Instagram account to see what pictures to post on it. I also liked that you posted helpful tweets.
-Ana
Hey Juan,
I noticed that your thoughts on Instagram and Twitter were opposite to my own. I found Instagram very easy to use, but struggled with what I should tweet. Either way, I think you did a great job as media curator!
Jacob
Whats up JP!
Your comments on twitter were a direct mirror of what I experienced during my week as media curator. Because I don’t know much about iMovie, I found your simple tweets more helpful than you would think. Using GIFs in tweets is a nice touch that I wish I utilized more often for my minute group of followers. I like how you used music from different time periods in your life to create your playlist. Great job!
– JB
Hi Juan,
You did a great job as curator for the week! Don’t worry you were not the only one in the class who went through an emo phase. I really enjoyed your Spotify playlist. I forgot about so many of those songs. I found instagram to be a challenging medium for this assignment as well. Great work!
-PP