Reflection
Goals
At the Beginning: When this project first started, my goals consisted of learning more about social media, bettering my own life, and passing my thesis/capstone. I did learn a lot about social media. From my research, I learned about the more specific positive and negative aspects of social media. From my experience, I learned what I found to be parts of social media that I was glad to be rid of such as feeling bad after being on it, accidentally spending hours scrolling, and not having much time left in my day after being on social media. I also recognized the parts I missed. I have had a harder time staying up to date on news and my friends' updates. I have also had to sacrifice time with Riley and my brother when they want to watch TikToks together. That time spent together is something I have missed a lot. I miss being able to give my brain a break. Sometimes, you need to take some time and relax. It is a difficult balance, learning how long to allow yourself to scroll before it takes up too much time, but it is something I'd like to explore. This project also taught me about what I can do to make my days better. I found activities that I enjoy, and I discovered a new lifestyle without constant distraction.
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In the End: Now that this project has come to an end, my biggest goal is to help other people. This was not something I had considered before, but my entire project has grown into a resource for others to learn about my experience, read the research I have done, and determine for themselves if they want to change something. When I would tell people about my project, they would always say how much they dislike social media, how they wish they weren't always on it, and how they want to do what I am doing. This has consistently been followed up by jokes about how that'll never happen or how it would be too difficult. My ultimate hope for this project is to show other people that they can make a change if they want to. Moreover, I want to show people that technology does not need to only be a distraction, and it is how we decide to use technology that makes it great.
Analysis of Process:
Journals
Process: Journal entries, from the beginning of this idea, were a set plan. I knew I wanted to write daily about what I was doing and how I was feeling. This way, I could remember and look back on the entire experience in physical form rather than piece together faint memories. I bought two journals before the project started: one to take with me and one to leave at home. My travel one was meant to recount moments away from home, but it shifted to include all of my notes about the evolution of my project with some moments of people watching. My home journal became the place where I would check in every day and give a full daily breakdown. While I did have moments of reflection in the journals, the majority of my reflections were saved to be discussed on the reflection page.
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Difficult Moments: While I did appreciate the role my journal took on, I had many moments where I lost my motivation to write. Many times, my journal became just another homework assignment, which resulted in me reluctantly writing short entries, only recounting the bare minimum, and forgetting to journal altogether at times. During those moments, I did not enjoy this part of the project. However, those times were not a frequent occurrence. Moreover, the positives I associate with the journals severely outweigh the negatives.
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Successful Moments: My journal became a new, healthy practice in itself. Journaling before bed was a great way to ground me, and I enjoyed having that outlet. Moreover, it became a space to reflect on the project as a whole. Whether I was writing about trying new hobbies, missing social media, or working on the website, I gave myself the opportunity to release my feelings about each subject. Looking back on the entries, I can see moments of excitement, stress, momentary regret, undeniable gratitude, and more.
Analysis of Process:
Short Films
The Before: This short film was filmed over the course of five days, then put together and edited over one week. Following this, I sent the film to my advisors and my English Honors class for feedback and then edited it accordingly. With filming, my idea was to get shots that were all similar and only showed me doing homework, riding the bus, playing on my phone, etc. That way, I could push the ideas of repetitiveness and distraction. With audio, I found a song that was darker, slower, and repetitive to further those emotions in the film. I have a background in video editing, so I was already familiar with that process. I put all of the clips into IMovie then edited them to match the music beats.
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The After: This short film was harder to put together because I had to get clips throughout the semester before I could edit them together. I meant for this film to reflect the positives that have come from this experience. With filming, I gathered shots of me doing the new activities and spending time with people. A few of the shots were intentionally filmed for the ending. These were purposefully happy and involved a lot of goofing around and dancing. With sound, I used two different music tracks and I recorded a voiceover. Both of the music tracks were more upbeat. The first track was meant to represent what I still did (homework, riding the bus, going to class), but in the updated and positive way I do it now. So, it was more upbeat than the first film but it still had elements of repetition. The second track was more upbeat than the first to highlight all of the new activities I was doing. I was trying to find music that was happier than in the first film, but I also wanted the feeling of inspiration and hope to come through in the music as well. The voiceover was my way of adding more of myself into the film. I wanted to include a human element into the film beyond the clips themselves. For editing, I followed the same method of matching the clips to the music as I had before.
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Difficult Moments: With the second film, the lack of structured time to film made the process stressful. The number of shots I had solely depended on me going and doing different things. Also, trying to record a voiceover was difficult. I ended up having to record under a blanket in order to get the right sound without echoes. It was a difficult process, but I think it turned out well.
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Successful Moments: With the first film, the set time range and the specific shots allowed me to create the film in a relatively quick and successful way. The second film was more fun to make by far, which kept me interested and excited during the process. Being able to record my family and me dancing and goofing around was a lot of fun. A huge goal I had for these short films was for them to contrast each other, and I think that aspect was successful. The first one was starkly different from the second from shots to music to colors to sound.
Learning the Software: I have used Wix before for smaller projects, but this was the largest and most complex project I had done through the software. I spent a lot of time playing around with different features, and I ended up teaching myself the program. From adding photos and videos to creating lightboxes and hover features, this process took me a long time just to get the shell of my website created. Overall, I am extremely proud of how the website turned out and proud of the work I was able to put into it.
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Creating the Pages: I started the website by creating the basic designs of each page; however, almost every original design plan was changed and changed again as I started filling them in. I knew that the home page needed to have a short nod to what the project was about. I intended for the about page and the Reflection page to cover the requirements in an academic artist's statement: background, the evolution of the project, research, goals, successes/downfalls, the process, etc. The short films page was the only one that stayed mostly true to its original concept. I wanted that page to be relatively simple so the films themselves were the main focus. The journals page was tricky to assemble because the Wix blog format is difficult to understand. I also changed the page halfway through, with the advice from my mentor, to show the entire text rather than a list that needed to be clicked on. This makes the journals easier to follow and read through. The new hobbies page was the hardest to put together because I had to have the hobby done in order to add it, and this page has the most additional features. I like how this page turned out because it does show just how much you can do in your time without social media. The page is a little overwhelming, but ultimately the task of finding new hobbies was also overwhelming. The research page went through multiple revisions before I settled on the final design. I wanted it to look professional, easy to follow, and informative without looking too heavy. I decided to add a discussion page for people visiting the website to share their thoughts. I also intended for this page to create a community of sorts for people to come to and learn from. The sources page was the simplest to create because it serves as a collection for all of my sources without extra fireworks needed.
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Filling the Pages: Each page has a unique design with unique features, but I connected them all through the color scheme of light purple, light green, and light blue. To me, these colors represent a balance of openness, positivity, growth, excitement, and calmness. Within the pages, I was able to play around with design features such as boxes, lines, and other decoration options. The more complicated additions were the lightboxes on the new hobbies page, the hover feature on the reflection page, and the buttons throughout. Lightboxes are the boxes that pop up with more photos or information when a hobby photo is clicked. These were difficult to create just because it was a feature I was completely unfamiliar with. Because of this unfamiliarity, it took me a while to get them exactly how I wanted. The hover feature was also tricky to figure out. With this, I had to bounce between realms of the website: one would let me edit the main page and one would let me edit the hover version. After a few minutes of playing with the hover option, though, I got the hang of it. The buttons were another feature that I was able to figure out after a little while, but the struggle with those came when finalizing the website. For every button, there was a link, and every link needed to be triple-checked. Overall, these features, while tricky and time-consuming, made my website visually exciting and interactive.
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Difficult Moments: Besides the task of figuring out the software as I created the website, the only part that was difficult was combatting my own brain. Creating a website is a lot of work, and I really enjoyed making it; however, it was often a battle with myself to sit down and put it together. I also had many times where I trashed a whole page and started over because my brain did not like it enough. These moments did not happen often, though, and I think the redesigned pages worked out for the best.
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Successful Moments: I consider the execution of this website, with my lack of previous experience, a huge success for this project. The website was not a part of the original concept, so I also did not have much time to plan it. I feel confident in my newfound web design abilities and proud of myself for acquiring them on my own.
Analysis of Process:
Website
Future Plans
This project has grown into so much more than I initially imagined. What started out as a month of journals, one small short film, and a traditional reflection paper turned into a complete website that included two short films, three months of journals, a bunch of research, and so much more. Now that it is coming to an end, a lot of questions have begun to fill my brain. Will I continue adding to the website? Will I keep trying new hobbies? Will I re-download social media? I can tell you my plan. I can say that I'd love to add a few updates to the website in the future. I can tell you that I have a lot more hobbies yet to try, and I'm excited to spend my summer doing so. I can say that I plan to re-download my social media apps after my defense with the promise to myself that if I revert to my old ways, I will delete them again. There is a lot I have missed about social media. My brother, Riley, and I bond over watching TikToks together. I get to follow along with how my extended family is doing. I get to take a break from the stress of my assignments without the stress of making that time always count. I want to check in on my social media, but I do not want this project to be negated in doing so. I have learned a lot during this experience about social media, the opportunity free time gives me, and more about myself. I am grateful for this experience and everything that has come with it. I look forward to seeing how this website continues, and where my personal experiment can go.