Reflection Blog #3 (COM 601)
After reviewing the seven traditions, I feel that I most understand the socio-cultural and phenomenological traditions. With both of these traditions, I feel personally connected with how they affect my everyday life working in the digital space. I have been able to notice how I communicate with others by relating to their experiences and our shared identities within the digital space and are able to communicate more effectively.
A great example I’ve experienced recently is through community online through Youtube. Although I’ve always been an avid viewer of content through the platform, I never interacted with the community. I’ve always stayed at arms length and never really scrolled down through the comments section. However, as friends and acquaintances have referred me to various creators online, I find myself more and more intrigued by their communities they’ve created just by inviting people into their life.
Creator pairs such as “Rhett and Link” and “The VlogBrothers” have created entire followings that have grown into sustainable businesses just by creating positive and education based communities. The “Holy Trinity of Youtube,” although each based on their own channels, have developed an entire fandom specifically dedicated to supporting the trio of female entertainers. Even the convention, Vid-Con (which just recently ended this weekend in California) invites members of these fandoms/communities to meet with their creators face to face and become apart of a physical community they would only normally interact with online. These communities are built on the commonality of being fans: a shared cultural identity through the experience of one’s business/job/art.
Through the socio-cultural tradition, I’ve grown to understand this community, how it’s built, and how it communicates on a deeper level. It’s not just about responding, but engaging in conversations that shape the community and ultimately the fandom. It shapes people’s experiences with an online platform. It’s powerful to think about as we continue into the 21st tech-century.