8 weeks and a few projects later, here we are! I cannot believe it’s already over. I knew graduate school would be a new step, but I didn’t realize how exciting of an experience it would be getting to collaborate with students online and be able to dive into an entirely new way of understanding communication.

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This essay is observing the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s for women in the 21st century as an equipment for living for the balance between desiring independence and self-reliance, and a lasting romantic relationship. Holly Golightly is a woman who thrives off her independence, desiring to be wild and “untamed.” However, she begins to desire the relationship she had never experienced before: a true partnership based off of friendship and mutual respect. Using the socio-cultural and phenomenological tradition as a basis for the methodology, this essay will be observing the film itself and researching the film’s impact on women from three key demographics and two relational statuses.

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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.

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Although they are most commonly used as a citation format, style guides help a writer and an audience communicate effectively. Common formats include MLA, APA, AP Style, and more. An example of these would be the importance of referencing page numbers in APA style. So why would we have so many variations of a commonly required style system?

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I will be perfectly honest: as much as I appreciate the need for citations, and the need for a coherent and organized paper structure, I never liked style guides. Even in high school, where every paper rubric was 40 percent formatting, I always seemed to miss the mark on how to cite correctly. I jumped from MLA, to AP style, then to APA, and I never felt like I actually learned how to correctly format a paper within one formatting guide. Luckily for me, the internet exists and Youtube tutorials now extend to style guides.

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From the early days of Netflix, stream able content was even a stretch. The company was initially deemed “doom to fail” actually mailing out content via postal mail. At the time, the competition of “ready to watch” content was still heavy, within person stores like Blockbuster still holding on tightly to rentals. Even Chuck Tryon stated, “Although the intersections between the film industry and the new media are often marked by the rhetoric of novelty and anticipation – the promises of fast, cheap, and ubiquitous content – some users are often reluctant to embrace new technologies, ensuring that the adaptation (sic) of these tools is far from seamless.”

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Even as a kid, I considered myself a creator, using the internet as a tool to publish blogs, photographs, and even videos. Eventually I made this into my first small business and became a part of an inclusive and almost fully entrepreneur-led industry. Now, as content generation becomes a dense and fierce force in the entertainment industry, it’s more important than ever to understand content creators, the platforms they use, and why now getting to have someone “share” is almost as important as having someone “buy.”

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For the first step in my inquiry project, I wanted to dive deeper into a field I’ve always been curious about: content creation. I wanted to focus specifically on digital creators (bloggers, Youtubers, etc.) who have virtually created careers and full fledged careers on the content they create online. To begin, I chose Steinar Ellingsen’s article, “Seismic Shifts: Platforms, Content Creators, and Spreadable Media.”

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In beginning my first week of graduate classes, I knew I would have to stay on top of updates and ensure that I was prepared on every front. Thankfully I had a majority of my blog sites and digital media platforms established prior to beginning classes. I knew I had my basics: The top 3 (Intagram, Twitter, and Facebook) and Youtube. With the others, I knew it would take a little bit of work since I had also not logged onto a few of theses sites for active use in a while. Without fail, I ran into my first obstacle.

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