What interests me most about new media is its incredible diversity and its wide accessibility. The Internet has pioneered communication in ways nobody could have thought possible at the time of its inception, and new media contributes to this immensely by way of not only social media, but also any experience that can be shared by more than one person online.

My generation was raised in tandem with the rise of social media platforms, and as such it has become almost second nature for many of us to explore as many as we can in order to maximize our connections with others. While I don’t necessarily have experience composing new media per se, I have extensive years of participating in it under my belt. My interactions with others on social media have led to the creation of years-long friendships that are maintained to this day; for others, more casual interactions in online MMO sessions are the ideal socialization tactic. The self-determined user experience is part of what makes all forms of new media so influential and therefore vital to the shaping of the modern adult identity.

There is so much choice involved with new media that one doesn’t have to interact directly with other people at all to feel satisfied; we attain joy from listening to podcasts and watching videos created by YouTube influencers despite having no personal connection with the content creators whatsoever. Even looking through the comments on a Facebook post can make us feel connected to the rest of the world. I wouldn’t normally care what some random person from India got on a Buzzfeed quiz, but damn if I don’t marvel at my ability to know what it is anyway.

New media additionally makes it extremely simple to fall into a rabbit hole of hypertext through natural human curiosity. And each rabbit hole is entirely customizable, whether by the autonomy of clicking a link or by the suggestibility of a recommended videos list. And then suddenly it’s 3 AM and you’re reading the Wikipedia page for obscure dental procedures when you began your journey in another tab, intrigued by a piece of trivia that boarded the train of thought with an express ticket to Procrastination Station. During my time in this class, I have to admit that I’m most excited about storing away random factoids–any little bits of information that make me go “Huh!” and are then tucked away in my long term memory. The analysis of social phenomena is, for me, an important part of staying self-aware in our current interpersonal climate, so as not to blindly take the world at face value and think critically about everything I can. The last thing I want to be is ignorant, and with the commercialization of new media running rampant, I’m eager to understand more about its construction and composition.