As a gen X’er parenting 8-year-old Madeline in a time where media technology is infused within most of our daily lives has been difficult to find the most appropriate ways and balance of media intake for her. We made an important decision to introduce Maddie to the iPad and gaming at the start of the pandemic as a means to help her find community when she was abruptly cut off from her peers in the middle of 1st grade. Until these past couple of years, we feared exposure to media such as YouTube and gaming (Minecraft, Roblox, and various X-Box games). What I appreciated most about the article “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture”, is Jenkins and his team highlight research regarding affinity spaces where there are social connections and being able to contribute ideas however best one can and still feel a “sense of value”. I have the privilege of having the time to learn about and play with Maddie, joining her on the gaming servers she’s learned how to create. In the worlds she develops, I’ve witnessed the peer-to-peer learning moments, turn-taking, establishing community rules/guidelines, and “respecting the intellectual property of other gamers” (pg12) while playing with her classmates and friends.
In Berger’s “Ways of Seeing” I enjoyed (at 18:51) when Berger gave examples of pairing moving images while playing an unexpected paired sound at a differentiated time. Where the most obvious ways of manipulating the still images are by movement, added words, and sound where the stillness of the image is “no longer a constant”. In explaining it in these terms- it became clear to me that in the slightest manipulation of media - one can make a big impact, and it’s not only by the use of complicated forums of technology. This is concept is repeated in the example Quijada offers in her Ted X talk where students take common still-life advertisements from magazines and allow them to reclaim the message by rearranging, adding new words, and slightly changing the imagery to expose a deeper meaning.
My favorite takeaway from Mirzoeff’s interview “VISUAL CULTURE, EVERYDAY LIFE, DIFFERENCE, AND VISUAL LITERACY” was his experience “watching the Iraq war with a Western viewpoint as a European based in the U.S. &watchng by way of U.S. television and wanting to disidentify with the viewpoint.” It made me realize how I’ve never peeled apart my experience absorbing the news I listen to (NPR) or the news stories I may catch on all of the “ambient media” played in airports, bars, waiting rooms…” This will be a new way for me to start reevaluating my media consumed moments and a new way in which to discuss this with Maddie.