Media & Digital Identity
During the Summer Institute of 2021, one of the Institute’s leaders (I believe it was Kristen Ziemke), led us in creating a Padlet that listed all of the media that we consumed over the last set period of time (a week, a month?). While I don’t recall all of the details of the exercise, what struck and stuck with me were two outcomes from this exercise. The first, just how much media surrounds us and the second how focused and small my own personal consumption is.
In reflecting on the questions “how have my own media consumption habits changed over time?” and “how have my life experiences shaped my identity as a reader / writer as a digital author?” I can clearly see several factors that bubble up to the surface.
The first would be my role as a teacher librarian at the regional high school in my town. As I live in the town where I work, and have worked at another school in town, as well as for the town as the Town Archivist, I have had a lot of exposure in the newspapers and local news outlets for different projects or articles published. My town is a decent size, but it is a town where everyone knows one another (or at least of them) and this has influenced me a great deal. I am very conscious of the information that I put out, personally and professionally, as it is always a reflection of who I am and my role in the community. This is further compounded by the fact that my husband runs a business in our town and that his family is rather well known for our family farm and the part it has played in our community. Due to this it is my usual method of operation to not share too much publicly.
The second major influence on my life experience comes from a tragic event. In 2015 my husband’s only brother was killed during Hurricane Joaquin on the cargo ship the SS El Faro. This event changed our world. As we are a well-known family in town, the local media coverage was expected. What was not expected was the national coverage. Watching my in-laws and sister-in-law as well as my husband (and myself) have to deal with the bombardment of the media in a time of unimaginable grief completely reshaped the way that I see the media, what it creates and even more so what it can consume.
Finally, the last major influence has been time. I have noticed that the older I get (mid-40s now), I am more aware of actively seeking media more consciously. I value time with my family and friends and being in the moment a lot more than I do finding the perfect shot, or putting together a video or newsletter about what’s going on in my world. I am seeking out media that helps me learn (based on my personal interests) and actively avoiding media that is toxic, or that just doesn’t matter. I enjoy what I like and tend to stay in that realm and explore outside of my interests in smaller snippets than I did, say 10–15 years ago.
I think this is influenced by many different things including the past couple of years and the pandemic, the amount of negativity that mass media focuses on, the amount of violence that is portrayed in a lot of mass entertainment, as well as I think by being a mom to a preteen. Between working full-time as a library teacher (as well as an AV club and class advisor), having what seems like another full time job managing my family, house, and our world in general, and monitoring what my daughter is actively exploring, by the time any time actually rolls around for myself, I am just done with media influencing me and would rather focus on being in the moment with family, friends, or even just by myself (a long walk with the dogs perhaps?).
This of course does not mean that I am not interested in media and information and digital literacy. As it plays a major role in my profession I find it fascinating and I enjoy sharing information (and stories — and isn’t all information somehow a form of a story?) with students and colleagues. I enjoy watching the trends as much as I enjoy helping my students and staff find their voices and create content. Watching the pieces of the puzzle come together and helping my students to collaborate and find the tools that they need to make their creations come to life and to help make my amazing high school shine is one of the many reasons why I love my job so much.
I do find it an ironic juxtaposition that my job entails so much digital literacy and exploration of media and that in my personal life, I focus on it on a much smaller scale. However I am going to view this as an opportunity (thanks to the Summer Institute for instilling in me to “SWOT” so many of my life choices). I think my main opportunity lies in the ability to want to constantly learn and explore what will help my students and staff and in the end, if I decide to expand myself on a personal basis as a digital author, then I will be ready with the tools that I have gathered for my students and will be able to apply them to my personal life as well.
