The consequences of Oversharing on the internetThe example of digital communication breakdown that I have chosen is a classic case of why we should avoid oversharing on the internet. There are some problems that must be dealt with offline. Taking personal issues like heartbreak to the internet when both members of the relationship are a rather well-known celebrities is sure to end in disaster. Youtuber Trisha Paytas, the “author” of this digital communication breakdown, is known for being a little bit too comfortable on the internet. For example, the majority of her videos are of her having a meltdown on her kitchen floor. She met her now ex-boyfriend Jason Nash through vlogger David Dobrik, who Trisha was friends with before her and Jason’s relationship went sour. The context of this breakdown was Trisha and Jason’s rather nasty breakup, which took place in private yet was blasted all over the internet by none other than Trisha herself. Trisha posted a series of videos after the breakup, bashing Jason for alleged fat-shaming and attacking David for being an allegedly cruel “friend”. These videos caused mass hysteria on the internet, as most of her shaming videos do. Her audience was intended to be Jason and David, but she knew that she would also be speaking to their fan bases as well. David and Jason refused to respond to these videos, although they have noticeably distanced themselves from her. Surprisingly, Trisha seemed to receive more hate for these videos than her targets did. She has been called nasty names by fans of David and Jason, who call her out for her attention-seeking nature and constant need for sympathy. Trisha very much so likes to play the victim. Every dispute and controversy she has had involving another Youtuber, in her eyes, is entirely not her fault. In an attempt to save face, she has deleted some of her videos directly attacking David and Jason. However, as we all should know, nothing is ever really gone from the internet. Superfans have re-uploaded most of her deleted videos. In fact, some channels are entirely devoted to these re-uploads.
We can’t be quite sure what Trisha’s purpose was for making these videos. Was it just out of pure hatred? Or did she just want another second in the spotlight? There are many Youtubers that thrive on controversy and I certainly believe that she is one of them. Furthermore, she can make money off of these videos if they exceed a certain amount of views. These shaming videos are usually her most viewed, as everyone wants to feel like they’re a part of the controversy. This leads me to believe that Trisha’s motives are fueled by “some toxic mixture of insecurity and ambition”, as Jon Ronson calls it in So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed. Unfortunately, there is no straight and narrow path to solving problems like this. Oversharing is an individual problem. People want to believe that the internet is a safe space for sharing their emotions and opinions, despite the feedback that they may receive. Those who usually participate in this behavior are those who also do not comprehend the impact that their behavior may have on their audience. Jon Ronson muses, “...with social media, we’ve created a stage for constant artificial high drama. Every day a new person emerges as a magnificent hero or a sickening villain. It’s all very sweeping, and not the way we actually are as people” (79). Just as the internet chose to make Justine Sacco the villain one day, Trisha’s case is all about this idea of pointing fingers and selecting who should be shamed. The best we can do is reduce our personal contributions to this artificial high drama. Views, retweets, and comments only boost these Youtubers’ paychecks and egos. While the internet should always remain a place for free speech, I believe we should attempt to monitor oversharing for the purpose of starting drama and more importantly, we must avoid promoting those who do.
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Design JustificationMy logo for the archive consists of purple palm trees with a large yellow circle in the background. The general design of the logo is meant to depict the island that Prospero and his daughter Miranda are stranded on. I chose these colors because purple is commonly associated with magic and yellow often represents forgiveness and new life. These are major themes of The Tempest and therefore I found it necessary to integrate them into the logo. I chose the font Yellowtail because I believe it looks whimsical, which is the overall tone of the Nashville Shakespeare’s Festival interpretation of The Tempest. In my mockup, I placed this logo in the top right corner and once again used the font Yellowtail for the heading. As for the rest of the layout, I tried to hone in on the design principles of contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. For contrast, I incorporated two other fonts along with Yellowtail. I used the simple Marion font so that the longer sections of text in the body are easier to read and Bebas Neue for subheadings and the menu bar. For repetition, I kept the color scheme consistent. The menu bar and the palm trees within the logo are the same color (R:188 G:178 B:186) so they blend together to look cohesive. The body of the content page is a few shades lighter, but remains within the color scheme (R:245 G:241 B:242). As for alignment, I aligned the main heading to the left and the logo to the right. The second heading under the navigation bar is centered with a description also centered below it. However, below this second heading I staggered the alignment of photos and their matching descriptions to prevent the page from looking too repetitive and therefore dull. This strategy also allowed me to increase the proximity between the descriptions and the corresponding pictures so the information does not appear cramped together or overstimulating. I believe that organizing the content in this way creates a perfect medium between these two extremes. I believe that both my site design and logo will appeal to all potential audiences. Although it is specific to the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, the content is arranged and presented in a fashion that is universally applicable, as it is easy to navigate and well organized. Furthermore, I think that the content specific to Nashville should all be contained within the “OneC1ty” content page that focuses on the venue. In doing so, we as the site designers will improve our chances of the audience being able to take the information provided by the archive and compare it to a larger variety of The Tempest productions rather than simply other productions in Nashville. By utilizing all of these elements and design principles and incorporating them into the site layout, we will be better serving the purpose of this archive as a whole.
A look inside Shakespeare's GlobeShakespeare's Globe website is a digital performance archive and educational resource for one of the most famous venues in theatrical history. The purpose of this site is to promote the Globe, to encourage people to come to the shows or donate to the theater, and to generally inform visitors about showtimes. For people who may be visiting the site for academic reasons, the site can serve as an information outlet about the history of the Globe. The context of this site tells the audience very generally about the location and function of the Globe itself. These details about the Globe can be found in the introductory paragraph on the homepage below the video. This informs the reader that the Globe is a world-renowned performing arts venue located on the bank of the River Thames in London, UK. While the author providing all of this information is not clearly cited, it is most likely that he or she is the director of social media and communications for Shakespeare’s Globe. The author could also be hired website designer using information provided by an expert or director of events for the Globe. The audience of this website is, in the most general sense, fans of theatre and of Shakespeare. However, the audience could also include students, teachers, and even actors who have come to the site looking for additional information about the performances. The website includes conventions such as a main menu, images and videos of the Globe and their performances, a performance calendar, and access to Shakespeare films on demand. It also allows users to create an account with the Globe so they are able to purchase tickets and memberships. Another very useful feature provided is located at the bottom of the homepage, which allows users to listen to and translate the website with Browsealoud. I admire the design features of this website most because they make the site look colorful, entertaining, and easy to navigate. When considering what features would be most useful in making my own website, I noticed that the tab titled “Learn” is very informative and can act as a resource to teachers, students, and scholars. This page provides access to workshops, courses, and resources to people of all ages starting as young as primary school (ages 4-11). Yet another useful feature on this website is the well organized event calendar. When clicking on the “What’s On?” icon, the user is redirected to a calendar organized according to season. Below each event, there is a “Book Now” button that takes the user to checkout. This streamlined process is easy for the user and therefore is more likely to increase sales than a website with a complicated ordering process would. We would benefit from incorporating this into our site by providing our audience the opportunity to stay updated with the upcoming performance dates and to book their tickets with ease. The Globe's website is serving its purpose to the fullest because it is useful to the audience in providing information about current and past performances as well as acting as a guide to people who may be interested in becoming involved with the Globe. |
Olivia LongHi! My name is Olivia and I'm a sophomore Publishing major at Belmont University. Archives
November 2019
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