Social Media and Two-way Communication

With the ease of social media today, not only are we consumers, we are creators. We are able to create our own content and share our thoughts with the world. We can also share our lives easier than ever. In fact, social media is the only form of communication that excels interpersonal communication with its ability to send and receive feedback. Although, interpersonal communication is still the most efficient for connecting. We are able to understand someone by listening to what they have to say as well as reading body language and facial expressions. Even though social media allows for superior feedback, it is important to connect with people in real life and in real time.

Fast Fashion vs Slow Fashion

Recently, fast-fashion has taken over the fashion industry. Big companies are mass-producing cheaply-made items made by labourers and low prices entice us into buying more even though we may not need more. First off, we can try and buy the things we need and want, instead of buying something because its cheap. An awesome alternative to fast-fashion is shopping thrift. Not only are we supporting the world of slow-fashion, we can often find a wide range of styles and many one of a kind pieces."Extending the life of clothing by a further 9 months would reduce carbon, waste and water footprints by around 20-30% each,” says Fashion Revolution on Instagram. 

There are many amazing thrift and vintage stores available locally in Victoria. A few of my personal favourites are Flavour Upstairs, Vintage After Death, Luna Collective and Open House.

I also co-own an online thrift and vintage brand with my friend Danika called days + hazy thrift. We are going to be attending Heartwood & Co's Holiday Night Market as a vendor next week on Thursday. If you would like to check out our selection among the many other amazing local vendors, come to 1402 Broad street next Thursday, December 12th at 5pm. Click here for more info. 

If you want to learn more about the harmful effects of the fashion industry, check out the ‘Earth Awareness’ highlight section on our Instagram profile page, (click here)!

If you have clothing that you no longer want or need, here is a helpful blog post by the bloggers of My New Neighbour

Supporting a Local Business

Did you know that when we shop locally, we are living more sustainably? When you purchase items that are made locally, not only are you supporting a local person or family, your money goes farther, because one small purchase means so much more to them. You are also buying a product that has less of a carbon footprint than if you purchased from a large company. And if you can't make a purchase to show your support for a local business, that's okay. Instead, you can do any of these things here, for free! We as consumers have the power of choice.

Check out this awesome blog post about shopping local by the Canadian bloggers of My New Neighbour. The blog is run by three individuals who live in Calgary and they post about shopping locally and ethically in Canada.

A Vision of Students Today

Over ten years ago, Michael Wesch asked his students, "What is it like being a student in 2007?". From this one question, he opened a Google Doc and left the rest up to his students. They created and edited comments, compiled the messages, posed for the camera, and shot and edited the video. Wesch's goal for the project was to encourage students to use media differently and they did. Not only was this project creative and collaborative, this use of media promoted change.

In CMNS 150, we recreated this by asking ourselves, "What is it like being a student in 2019?". Here is the video that my teammate Janice and I created inspired by Michael Wesch's idea.

https://youtu.be/R--Iu74jamg

Photo Essay - Behind the Scenes of Alex S. Yu

In September, I attended Vancouver Fashion Week to walk in my friend's fashion show, The Jejune Certainty by Alex S. Yu. This Photo Essay gives a behind the scenes take on the wonderful madness that happens backstage, each time at one of Alex's shows. It was hard to find him sometimes because he was running around getting everything together although, I wanted to showcase his amazing collection before it debuted on the runway.

Here is the link to my Photo Essay, I hope you enjoy.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/heKTtasVwj9ZPcjMA

The Appeal of Perfection and the Fear of Solitude

          Technology is appealing to humans because we are imperfect. Sherry Turkle explains in her TED talk Connected, but alone? that real human relationships are messy, and technology has the ability to clean us up (2012). In fact, social media makes it possible to edit ourselves into an idealized self. The truth is, humans cannot manufacture perfect lives or perfect conversations. We are losing the ability to connect with each other face to face because we feel too human, too imperfect. Turkle explains that technology is starting to reach the point of major disruption. It seems a common trend that we want to be at distance from our friends and family but connected to them on our phones. Recently, being alone without the instant gratification of technology seems like torture when in fact, solitude is an important part of being human. Turkle says that “solitude is where you find yourself so you can reach out to other people and make connections” (2012). It is in the moments alone that you discover yourself so you can connect with others. Without solitude, how can we learn how to talk to people in real time if we are constantly hung up on social media.

 References

TED. (2012, February). Sherry Turkle: Connected, but alone? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together#t-2693