My week as a curator began with a picture of a cool floor quote I happened to find during my time in New York this past September. The quote read: Slide the light off you may find some peace. I only saw this graffiti because I was looking down at my phone and happened to glimpse at it. It hit me. I’m visiting a wonderful city, why would I need my phone out? Along with the picture, I tweeted a video that reminds people about the importance of living in the presence and minimizing the distraction of media in our world. Although I agree to some extent, I think that finding a perfect balance between living with a phone stuck to your palm or a phone that’s always forgotten is the best way to live. In my attempt to represent this challenge during my week as curator, I decided to make my posts on instagram and twitter informational, entertaining, and hopefully show you all a little bit of who I am. I also attempted to create a method of media/classroom interaction through a snapchat filter for the class that asked students to write a six word memoir of their day so far. I had a great time sharing about my vacations, the inevitable coffee picture of my harry potter cappuccino, a wonderful slam poetry video, and a local exhibition going on in our city. To end this week and to share a little bit more of who I am, I have pasted a link to my spotify playlist for the class. Hope you enjoy!
Sofia Carballar
I definitely agree with your point that finding a balance in using your phone/social media is important. They can definitely add on or take away from an experience depending on how they are used. I was very impressed by your snapchat filter! I’ve always wanted to make one for some of my organization’s events, but the price tag is up there. Either way, it was very cool to show my friends that my class had a snapchat filter. Thanks for sharing your playlist too – I really dig the throwback songs!
Hey Sofia, I love the artists you included in your playlist! You definitely included a bunch of my favorite artists, but also artists I haven’t heard of before. I’ll have to give them a listen! Anyways, I also agree with William and you regarding the balance between being glued to our phones and distancing ourselves from them. It seems that the quote in NY was a beneficial reminder that the real world is far more interesting than the media world. It’s upsetting that we live in such a media-heavy society, but it definitely comes with perks too- like the informational aspect that you practiced during your week as the curator! I enjoyed your informational posts and seriously can’t wait to listen to your playlist!
Sofia, I think that’s so cool that in on of the busiest cities something jumped out at you saying “take a second to stop and look around.” It’s so easy to get caught up in the endless cycle of checking different forms of social media, and we forget that what’s happening around us can be just as, if not more, entertaining. I also loved all of your Instagrams, and that you put in the effort to even make a geofilter on Snapchat!
I definitely have to balance out when it comes to using my phone. It definitely is hard to distribute time well. I must say that I really do love your playlist. It definitely has a big variety of music in one playlist, which I love! It’s now my new study play list. One advice is that you should definitely add in some more Frank Sinatra!
I agree that finding a balance when it comes to social media is probably the best way to go. However, I am curious if it wasn’t possible find a balance would you choose to spend all your time on experiencing things through social media or would you choose to go out on adventures knowing that no one would know about them?
I think you did a really good job as the media curator! I loved the Snapchat filter and thought that was a really good and creative idea. I like your interpretation of the quote you found in New York and really liked the video you shared with us to further this idea of appreciating the real world instead of always being attached to the media world. However, I do also agree that technology and the media have become major parts of our lives and finding a good balance between our technology use and living without our phones always attached to us would be beneficial to our lives.
I can completely relate to the guilt you felt by being stuck to your phone in such an awesome place where you should be soaking it all up. I sometimes find myself too invested in capturing my experiences for others to see rather than taking the time to enjoy them for myself. I feel like social media is an amazing and efficient way to connect with people, but it can sometimes take away from more important life moments. I am glad you found a good balance between being curator and showing your true self. I enjoyed your Instagram posts and your Spotify playlist. The Snapchat geotag was awesome and very creative. Thanks for doing that for our class!
Sofia,
I loved your post (Really). I’ve never been to New York, but I can imagine that it is a very fast paced city to be in. When I vacation I tend to take a lot of photos and videos as well, but just for the reason that who knows if i’ll be able to come back to this place ever again, ya know? Also, I really liked your snapchat filter creation! that was honestly so cool. Thanks for doing that for our class. You are a pretty cool person, and I hope to see you around campus!
Your playlist was pretty legit too!
Your playlist is super interesting. There are a lot of different songs on there and I think it just shows how diverse you are in your taste of music. Listening to Hey There Delilah was definitely nostalgic for me. I agree with you that we can sometimes be glued to our phones. I’m actually in the process of upgrading my phone to one with higher gigs because I refuse to delete my texts and photos. That just goes to show you how glued I am to my phone. I do agree though that isn’t as black and white as it may seem. Going through my texts and pictures let me relive certain moments long after I’ve left which requires me bringing out my phone during the moment. I guess we just have to learn to do it in moderation.
Sofia-I absolutely loved your curator week. Your posts and tweets were so unique and thoughtful, and they definitely showed us a glimpse of who you are as a person! I think that is why we were so engaged with your digital trail, you made your week meaningful and personal. You take really pretty pictures too! I completely agree with you-balance is key! Social media can be a wonderful tool for human connection, in so far as there is balance! I am constantly trying to remind my parents that social media is a great way to be in sync with those around you, but it’s hard to convince them with a 18 year old brother who is glued to his phone! 🙂 I think you perfectly represented the challenge of balance, your posts were not only entertaining and thoughtful, but also informational!
I love the little hook you included in this post! It really caught me off-guard and made me realize how this class has transformed us as writers. It’s truly great that you find the genuine aspects of life despite how much you’re immersed in social media and the stigma some people may have towards it. I’m definitely going to have your playlist on repeat for the next couple of weeks with how close it correlates to my music tastes!
I am the type whose face will always be stuck staring down at his phone unless there’s something to do. However, I agree that there should be a balance in where people should direct their attention. The geotag caught me pretty off-guard, as that was totally unexpected, so thumbs up for you!
I think it’s awesome that you saw that floor quote which reminded you to spend time away from your phone. It is way too easy for us to get lost in our phone and not enjoy our surroundings when we are in cool places. What you said about finding a balance was spot-on. Your Instagram pictures did in fact teach us something about you, and I even spotted a friend of mine in the background of one of your pictures! The filter you created for our class was awesome! You are the first person I know who has personally created a filter for something I was involved in. So thanks for doing that for us all. Also, your video presentation was really cool and I loved that you actually went out and accomplished something good on campus as a product of this assignment. Awesome work!!!