As a millennial, my outlook on media and news channels definitely varies from those of my parents who grew up in the 80’s. I’m sure we’ve all heard it before: “why don’t you open up a damn newspaper and read something real for once!” Honestly, it has taken my parents FOREVER to understand the significance of technology for our generation, and sometimes I think that they still don’t even get it. It’s a concept that’s entirely new to them being that they grew up in an age where the most high-tech way of spreading information was through television broadcasts and phone calls.
For me, the news is everywhere. With every scroll through Facebook or Instagram I’m undoubtedly seeing links and posts about everything from sports, to politics, to the newest cookie dough recipe. The way in which we are exposed to the media on such a massive scale is entirely unique to our generation. It’s never been so easy to simple Google “what’s going on in the world today” and receive 24 pages of links describing the day’s occurrences.
One media platform that immediately comes to mind when thinking of modern media is BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed is an entirely new concept in itself. There is nothing that isn’t on BuzzFeed: it encompasses all that a news platform hopes to achieve. It’s relatable, easy to navigate, approachable, free, and has something for EVERYONE. My personal favorite is their multitude of fun quizzes that they post (my friends and I send them back and forth in our group chat on the daily.) Check them out and let me know your results https://www.buzzfeed.com/quizzes !!! Whether you’re looking to learn about the latest clothing trends or read a collection of embarrassing childhood stories, BuzzFeed has it all.
My favorite part about BuzzFeed is its often casual-feel. Whenever I click on an article, I never feel intimidated by the way in which the piece is written. I think that this is what makes the genre of a BuzzFeed article so perfect for my next experiment. I initially struggled trying to conceptualize how I can take my jumbled thoughts and compose them into another piece of writing. After re-reading my notes and talking with Julie, we realized that a central theme threaded through the majority of my notes were long distance relationships. As a result, I figured I could use these raw feelings and thoughts and use them to compose a piece that discusses the ups and down of a long distance relationship in college. Although I definitely don’t have a concrete solution for how to get through it (yet,) I think writing about my personal experience in this form could be helpful to those either going through it themselves or interested in hearing the struggles of transitioning from high school to college with a “home” boyfriend.
