Thank you

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This is it! Tonight is my last official post for EME6414, Summer 2023. What to write about? If you had asked me a few hours earlier, my honest answer would have been "no idea". It's not I don't have anything on my mind (I may have too much actually), but I was not sure how to approach this last post. So, I've decided I'll do just as usual and draw a few personal reflections. To help me tackle this last challenge, I went back to Canvas and get an overview of our Modules Main Page. Gosh, what a journey it has been! The first image that comes to my mind is the iceberg metaphor. You know, this impression that for years, you had been exploring the World Wide Web with confidence, as if you were in your own neighborhood, with your own habits, hanging out with the same people, getting what you were looking for, not less, not more. And one day, you realize that you were just scratching the surface and that a whole world was lying underneath, inviting you to a whole new...
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Looking for my blogging style

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One thing I got from this course is that social media are not what they look like. And that living and growing on Web 2.0 is much more complex than it seems. At least when you're reflecting on your actions and what you want from your digital self.

That's what I did this summer. While experimenting with new tools, and initiating myself to new skills, I reflected on each of those experiences, how it made me feel, and whether I should develop my online self and activities.

Blogging was not something I had done before. I participated in threaded discussions, replied to posts on LinkedIn or Facebook, and even write a few posts myself. But blogging is much more demanding, as it requires frequent writing, replying to others, figuring out how to be interesting AND interested. We must pick the right topic, find the perfect catchy title, avoid writing endless posts that will discourage other online visitors. As we experiment, we might want to include others' reflections as well and share them using links and gadgets on the sidebars of our personal space.

And then, in one of our reflective times, we realize that our blog turned into a versatile strategy as we reflect on our journey, interact with other online users and serve as a resources hub, sometimes all at the same time.

My experience as a junior blogger was quite insightful. I found blogging was very helpful to practice reflexivity on a daily basis, even if writing 3 blogs a week was definitely too much in my already overloaded schedule. Also, being forced to blog was sometimes challenging because I was not sure about what to blog. Sometimes, it felt pointless as my posts remained mostly unread, so I thought "what's the point?".
It was helpful though, for me. This exercise helped me understand that, in order to thrive and really benefit from our Web 2.0 presence, it was important to consume, produce and share. As mentioned above, blogging and designing a blogging space make it possible to meet all three objectives.

That's what I plan to do in the future. I started to think about it more concretely in our PLN paper. As I am about to start my last semester in our master's program, I thought I could take advantage of the portfolio to add a blogging section on my personal website, so I could combine multiple aspects of my identity into a single space:
- blogging about ah-ah moments, experiences in the field, reflections on hot topics, reactions to others' thoughts
- sharing others' input that influences me by adding links and a dedicated section in a sidebar or elsewhere
- link my other spaces like my Twitter account if I keep it, maybe a professional Instagram account as well
- showcase my personal projects on a portfolio page

These are just plans at the moment, but I think these will help me keep the momentum after next Friday ;-).

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