Week 1: Reading Responses

A funny thing to note before I dive into my response to the video is I typically watch longer YouTube videos in increased speed, and didn't realize it was on until I had the thought "why is he talking so fast?". Moving on, I enjoyed watching this video, and felt like I took away a few key points. The first of his 10 points "make meaning" resonated the most with me. I think that this point means the most to me because when I work on my own personal projects I always want it to have an impact on the viewer. For me, one of the first questions that comes up in my creative process is, what am I aiming to accomplish by making this, and how will a viewer be impacted by it or what will they take away from it. Another point he made that I liked was "don't worry, be crappy". I think that often when working on projects there will always be versions that are failures or aren't the best. But that's one of the best parts of working on a project. When you do fail you learn not only what not to do next time, but you come up with new solutions to make your work better than before. Failure is one of the best part of the iterative process because things can only get better from that point! The last point he made that I enjoyed was "let 100 flowers blossom". An important part of making really anything that people consume is that they will come up with more ways to use it than you ever possibly imagined. This holds a bit different to my projects, because the 100 flowers that blossom are usually related to how the person views my work and what they take away from it. I've asked people after they view their work what their thoughts are and I am often surprised at how differently people can interpret my work or how they personalize the meaning of my work to fit into their life. It's always something so cool to see. I really did enjoy this Ted talk though, and I not only did I learn but it made me feel more confident about my design process.

I think growing up online is something that a lot of people in my generation (Gen Z) and older can relate to. We go online often because like Molly Soda we want to find a place where we can belong and be who we are transparently. In middle school I would constantly be on Twitter and Tumblr making friends and developing friendships with people who were like me from all over the world. I still have some of the friendships I had when I was 13 on Twitter, 8 years later. Along with that Molly Soda's work shows a side of online habits that we're all aware of but don't always address. Often with men perving on younger women, people defining themselves with likes, censorship in social media, and the desire to be "relevant". Molly shows this side of social media that is unsaid and I think she does it in such a raw and captivating way. Her Instagram live stood out to me the most, feeling like we have to preform for others but letting the amount of views and comments we get impact us. The feeling of sadness when you're not as seen as you wish to be, especially online, a place where many turn to for validation and for people to really see them. Online behavior has changed so much of our lives and really ties a lot into self worth and self image. Growing up online is hard, whether you're doing it in your childhood, adolescence, or younger adult years. You're still trying to figure out who you are while navigating a world of people constantly pushing their opinions and perceptions of you in your face.