Midterm Blog Post

When reflecting back upon the first half of this semester, I think about how I really enjoy this class more than most of my others. I really enjoy the intellectual discussions we share on pieces from Rereading America and any other kind of opinionated discussions we have on other topics. It’s really interesting to compare ideas on different subjects, and from the things we have learned about so far has really given me an insight to today’s culture in a whole new way. 

There is nothing in particular that I would change about the class, I like the setting and the way it’s structured and I really like the curriculum. This is probably the most interesting writing class that I’ve ever taken. You kind of learn in a different hands on experience, and I’ve enjoyed the papers we have written thus far. My favorite paper I’ve written probably has to be the “Analyzing Popular Culture” paper. When I picked the Levi’s Legacy campaign commercial for my basis, I liked being able to research the background on how it all started and I could relate the freedom and liberation of the idea. That has definitely been my favorite overall.

I like the overall vibe of the class. We all respect each other and our opinions in a great way, and I feel like I’ve personally taken on some great skills since I’ve begun the course. I really like our teachers style and I enjoy the company of the class as well. I think my grade does correspond to the effort I put into the class, definitely. I think it’s important to immerse yourself in the curriculum of the course because I feel like you learn best that way in the end. It’s been great this first half the semester, and I’m looking forward to the next following half.

Blog Assignment #3

Twitter is one of the biggest social networking websites on the Internet to date. Who knew 140 characters of space to write whatever the hell you want could actually be so efficient? Celebrities all across the nation are using Twitter as an outlet to connect with their fans in a more personal and intimate way. I think pretty much anyone who has a favorite celebrity would like to know what they’re doing that day, or week, or month. Twitter has also been a way to hold giveaways to give to fans, information on touring and new releases of music, etc. 

A celebrity that comes to my mind when I think of who I follow on Twitter is Katy Perry. Her following is incredibly impressive and also conveys how large her fan base actually is. At this moment, Katy Perry has a whopping 27,249,704 people who are following her to find out the infamous question to Twitter’s overall question, “What’s happening?” In the last five minutes I’ve refreshed the webpage, her following has gained by 200. This shows how fast people are joining the site, discovering the access they have to a celebrities life, and how easy and quick Twitter makes it accessible to do so. 

One of the things I love about Katy’s presence on Twitter is the realness each tweet has to it’s text. You can tell that it’s actually her behind the screen by the honesty and quirkiness she has to her personality in general, and not just another person who works for her who handles her social media publicity. On September 28th, she expressed her gratitude to her Japanese fans, “Excited to hang out with my Japanese fans tonight & FINALLY premiere my movie PART OF ME! Saved the best for last of course..” It’s a great thing to see a celebrity with such a huge fan base and success behind her that still takes time out of her day to thank her fans and express her love for all of them around the world. 

On September 6th, Katy tweeted, “Success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.” I think this says a lot about her image as an artist and individual. You can recognize the goodness in her as a human being, and I think tweets like this make people in all want to know more about Katy, which essentially makes it easier for people to want to know what she’s going to say next. She also gives fans a better outlook in her personal life by using TwitPic as an outlet as well; while browsing through her tweets, she is sending out TwitPic’s to followers a couple every tweets. You can tell her political views in one TwitPic she posts of her standing in front of a screen with Barack Obama giving a speech; she tweets a long with the photo saying, “Yes we can!” 

I think personally, she balances out all the aspects of her life on Twitter in a really great way. She showcases personal tweets, tweets about her touring, tweets about her music/singles/accomplishments and one thing Katy Perry especially showcases is her gratefulness for her achievements and the amount of love she has for the people who have been there with her every single step a long the way.