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The Note-Taking Clique

Muji pens, Kanken backpacks, pastel Zebra highlighters, and bullet journals are only some of the motifs and symbols that make up the hidden world of the Studyblr digital discourse. The Studyblr community on Tumblr and Instagram is a community that prides itself on being neat, orderly, and productive while crafting a community that is open, accepting, and filled with room for improvement. It is filled with members that post photos of their note taking endeavors in order to keep accountability of themselves while also showing others ways that one can be productive too. In addition to this, there are also postings of products that enhance the studying “aesthetic” that the community has curated from the bottom up.

By curating a new “aesthetic” within a process that typically does not involve beauty, the studyblr community is redefining what it can possibly mean to take notes. In this way, it is as though the desire for beauty supersedes the original intentions of note taking, which is to have well articulated notes. However, that is not to say that these glamorized notes do not have information organized well within them, but it is to say that it is now more of a priority to have aesthetically pleasing notes. Furthermore, if the online aspect did not exist, then maybe it could be assumed that the beautifying is merely just for the note-taker, but by publishing these eloquent papers online, it almost appears that these notes are done-up like this for the approval of others rather than just oneself.

While this goes on, there are also members that prefer to gaze upon the ability that such people have to turn their “boring” school notes into works of art. There are also a variety of “challenges” for users to adhere to in order to show off their progress and to spread the pleasures of an act that on the surface appears to be unpleasurable. These challenges range from showing off one’s supplies, to showing off a photo of one’s to-do list, to even showing off their handwriting. Mundane challenges such as these that fans commit to only round out the group and even serve to indirectly spread knowledge on what may be effective to enhance school life, but in some ways, this sort of emphasis could cause an opposite effect; the studyblr way of life could deploy feelings of inadequacy and cause a pressure on users for how one takes notes, and might even decrease their desire to attempt to live up to such standards.

This sort of hidden unhappiness from such a cheery community is shown within posts made by popular studyblr muses that show off their perfectly handwritten notes with color schemes being utilized that would not typically be cared about when it comes to school notes. Some users go as far as to even draw banners or other art motifs to beautify their notes. Vanguards of the niche that go to these lengths put out community posts every now and then in order to remind other users that one does not have to adhere to a sort of perfection that one may think that their notes have to conform to, because at the end of the day, the Studyblr community comes with no rules. 

Although this is great in theory, there’s also the self consciousness that some users have about various aspects of their own personal Studyblr posts. This is due to the fact that no matter what the community or trend may be, and no matter how mainstream or underground it may be, there are still negative effects that the media can cause its consumers. As noted by Makayla Carney in her article Unrealistic Expectations In Media, “Representation matters. Be it physical, religious, sexuality, or any number of things, seeing someone like yourself portrayed in media is a beautiful thing. Because otherwise we are left grasping at straws. And not the best straws at that.” This realization matters greatly, because it displays the ways in which the smallest ideas, communities, and even facets of life can damage the self esteem of others. Sometimes it’s the lack of high quality photos that brings on discouragement. Other times it’s the inability to afford non-related school items, such as the expensive mustard toned Kanken backpacks, that bring on this idea of merely being mediocre in comparison to every other notetaker. 

The other issue with this though, is that the painstakingly unbelievable and beautiful notes are the ones that thrive and prosper in the community. A quick Instagram or Tumblr search of the hashtag “Studyblr” will reveal beautiful posts with hundreds, if not thousands, of likes or “notes”. On the other hand, more regular looking notes may not even reach half of that amount. It can be assumed that less users want to see the plain and typical notes that could actually be created in a classroom setting, and this is a pattern that almost seems to disqualify the belief that the community values less than going above and beyond. Plus, when considering the questions one should ask when thinking of their audience, as noted by Alex Reid, this assumption becomes even more apparent and truthful. His blog post Introducing Composition Students to Blogging notes that one should ask, “Who is my audience? What do they expect from me? What do they already know about the subject of the text I am composing? How will they react to my message?” Without an audience existing to appreciate their contributions, how will fellow bloggers feel as though their work and “lesser” form of art is appreciated if there is no one there to appreciate it?

Then, the community online is somewhat not personal. Although Tumblr is a fairly social website, it does not allow for the easiest access to view the comments that one has received on a post. However, it is fairly easy to see how many people have shared your post onto their blog. This means that the standard that users gain validation from the most is how much their content is shared, and that is displayed by a number. If that number does not surge fairly quickly within the first day-or-so of posting, the creator may find themselves not as happy about the lack of traction received. This is how bloggers can see themselves as “lesser” as opposed to other, more established studyblr users that quickly gain surges of shares due to their over the top notes and high follower counts.

Despite publicity not being the main purpose of posting such notes and experiences online, it does instill a sort of encouragement to its participants to continue to charge towards their studying and organizational goals. If a community member is not able to attain publicity, then that could only serve to decrease their desire to participate both in curating their own posts, and continuing to follow the posts of others. Without the important audience aspect behind less flashy users, there could be a dwindling diversity of what sorts of notes exist in the note taking world of the Studyblr users. So in a way, looking at the Studyblr community from this angle redefines the purpose of this internet genre to one based more around publicity than truly helping one another. The publicity gained from having others examine one’s artistic endeavours through an unconventional medium provides a validation that cannot be gained if the audience does not enjoy one’s works.

[tiaraklowery]

Self Assessment

1. In this course, what have you learned about yourself—as a writer and a researcher? How might you apply this learning to future writing situations (in your major and/or future profession)?

2. How have the course assignments and in-class discussions influenced your understanding of the course themes: technology and writing, and digital literacy?

3. How have you come to read and write differently when encountering writing in different digital and visual genres (i.e. websites, digital stories, memes, a comic book style textbook like Understanding Rhetoric)?

4. How does your portfolio address 2-3 of the course objectives? You’ll need to refer to specific pieces of your writing as you address these objectives. Choose 2-3 from the following course objectives: 1) Research Writing as Situated Process (Students will recognize and act upon the ways research varies according to the situation.) 2) Research and Evaluating Sources Rhetorically (Students will evaluate reading strategies for invention, rhetorical engagement with sources, and critical dialogue.) 3) Research Writing Within and Across Genres (Students will recognize the role genre plays in determining research forms and practices.) 4) Research and Writing as Rhetorical Action (Students will understand research as itself a rhetorical action.) 5) Research Writing as Social Practice (Students will analyze, reflect on, and respond to the social nature and consequences of research beyond the classroom.)

1. As a researcher, I have learned that I can easily get carried away with my own theories and questions. With the final extended inquiry project, I found myself developing question after question to be researched before realizing that I was more involved with my own research than I originally believed that I would be. From this I also realized that I am more of a researcher than I thought I was. I assume that I thought that I was not much of a researcher due to the drab projects that I had between elementary and high school, but now that college has provided me with a wider span of topics and presentation methods, I am far more involved with my research. This proved to be a very beneficial change within me, because it allowed me to become more dedicated and thorough with my research instead of being more detached as I have been with prior research projects.

This learning will definitely assist me with future writing situations in both my major (Writing and Rhetorical Studies) and my potential future professions. While I do not have a specific profession that I would like to work in, I know that I want to do something related to writing on a website or consulting for different writing agencies. Due to how expansive technology is and how writing is unavoidably involved in technology, I know that these skills will help me in the future. This course gave me the best foundation to build upon as I continue my collegiate journey.

2.The course assignments and in-class discussions have influenced my understanding of technology and writing along with digital literacy by showing me how to more effectively be a writer within technology. For this information, I primarily credit Alex Reid’s blog post titled “Introducing Composition Students to Blogging.” This is a text that I constantly referred back to in order to remind myself of how writing through technology truly has a whole different process than typical essay writing. Although standard essay writing does have aspects to consider like audience, purpose, and genre, it truly is a different playing field when it comes to technological writing. For instance, instead of merely just considering the genre of voice that I would be taking on, I would now have to consider the genre of medium that I would use to express my writing and the genre of my voice. I would now also have to consider a wider spectrum of audience that would be reading my material on the specific genre that I chose (which would have to correlate to the medium that audience may primarily use). It gave me a lot more of a deeper thought into what goes into writing through technology and truly simplified the process so that I could create my own works effectively.

3. I have come to read and write differently when encountering a medium such as “memes,” because now I realize that there is more to a meme than it seems. The foundation of such ideas that I have of this is based off of the Maggie Collins text titled “The Enthymeme: An Analysis of Sexist Advice Animals.” This text made me understand that in some cases, there are hidden connotations to even the simplest of internet memes. Take for instance, the overly attached girlfriend meme. Although that meme is a pure joke that does not show how one expects someone to act normally, it does show the perception that people may have about people who are a little too clingy. It is also in some ways teaching others what should and should not be done in a relationship, and how certain actions will be taken as a joke and criticised as opposed to others. This article and lesson during the lecture was a big lesson on how even through jokes we could potentially be teaching one another what is acceptable in society and what is frowned upon. In many ways, this made me think deeper about the responsibility that comes with posting any sort of content onto social media and websites. Even with posting jokes or facts found on the internet, there has to be a moment of thought where the content creator must evaluate the validity of the content, the connotations of the content, and the portrayal of the content. If we allow ourselves to blindly quote sources or post content without deeply evaluating the content itself, then we run the risk of potentially being insulting towards others without intending to do so.

4. My writing this semester has achieved the goal of understanding how to research and evaluate sources rhetorically through the ways in which I have articulated different sources both found and given, and then have understood the underlying messages behind them. For instance, in a thought piece done about studies involving education and technology, I read through the data in an attempt to understand how genuine the research is and to see if the research is written in such a way with a bias towards a certain audience. While I did find that the research was fairly negative about technology in the classroom, it did show me how audience will instantly affect the findings out research.

When it comes to research writing as a social practice, my portfolio addresses this objective through the thought piece on memes, and even through this self assessment itself. The thought piece of memes goes into a short analysis about how memes can greatly affect our mindsets, and how the relatable nature of memes can contribute to a sense of satisfaction when reading and creating them. Also, it shows how very niche memes can cater specific feelings to a memes that go farther than a typical joke.

[tiaraklowery]

Statement of Goals & Choices

When it comes to rhetorical appeals, my attempt was to make it as filled with logos and ethos as possible. For instance, the logos and ethos is stored within the different types of sources being used. I attempted to use more sources with very credible names (such as Forbes), in order to convey that the research and analysis being provided has truth and seriousness to it. Then, I have arranged the sources and the analysis in such a way that would make it flow well from thought to thought and make the most sense. This way, my logos would be strengthened and together, the ethos and logos would make the text’s credibility and writing stronger. The pathos argument within the text would be used to inform the reader of the changing times that are occurring with the prevalence of online shopping and outdated malls.

The limitations that exist with my primary research plan is the scope of who I am able to question and if they’ll be able to or desire to answer the questions in the first place. Due to me being a college student, it is more probable that my research will mainly come from fellow college students. This lack of age range is what could cause a more narrow field of research. In addition, due to the busy schedules of students, it is more difficult to get students to take the questionnaire since there are other pressing issues that other students may be facing with finals and the end of the year coming closer. In order to counter this issue, I will attempt to interview students from different schools and parts of the country, so that way there will at least be different regional demographics responding to my questions.

From the primary research, I would hope to understand the reasoning behind the decisions to shop online rather than in store and vice versa. Although there is research that states the decisions that some consumers are making, it doesn’t really state why this change is occurring in the first place. I intend to pursue different reasonings such as convenience, cost, and expansive options, but there will also be a space for those being surveyed to type in any other reason that they may have for why they choose to shop the way that they do. This way, I can pinpoint certain frequent reasons that one may choose to shop online while also exploring different reasons that I may not have been aware of prior.

[tiaraklowery]

A Thought Piece on Research About Technology in Schools

Survey in question: http://pewrsr.ch/1nHtSO9

In a survey of 2,462 AP and NWP teachers, it has been displayed that while technology can be helpful to students, it can also be detrimental to their writing abilities. The data was collected by the Pew Research Center in 2013 in order to get a first hand account from teachers on how they believe the changes in technology are shaping their students. This research is definitely catering to an audience of fellow teachers, considering that it goes into depth about how the teachers may rate different aspects of their student's writing aside from the technological aspects. For instance, there's survey questions about how well they believe their students can "conduct a strong argument," or "use tone and style appropriate for their intended audience." Such in depth details like these would be more suited to an audience of fellow teachers.

The interesting findings basically displayed that more than half of teachers (68%) believed that digital tools make students more likely to put less effort into their writing. There's also a little less than half of the teachers that believe that said technologies can cause their students to "write too fast" and to be "careless" with their writing. Lastly, there's an interesting difference between how although 40% of the teachers said that today's technologies will make students more likely to make poor grammar choices, 38% said that the technologies would make students less likely to do this.

[tiaraklowery]

A Thought Piece on Memes

Within the sphere of Classical Art Memes, there’s a lot of new meaning added to the original photos. Take for instance the photo I have attached. In this meme, there is a photo of a regular painted artwork that typically would be given more of an artistically critical comment. Instead, social media users have rebranded how classical art can be approached and have made a time period that we may never experience again highly relatable.

Consumers of the meme may find themselves influenced in a way that changes how they perceive people who fit the criteria of being a “psychopath” in their relationship. It can also influence audiences to rethink the way that a “psychopath” is defined. People may now think that a psychopath in a relationship is more of a person viewed as “crazy,” rather than a murderer or anything else that would be life threatening. Also, the way that audiences spread the meme around while noting that it’s relatable gives may influence people to believe that this happens far more frequently than it actually does.

Meme for reference: http://bit.ly/2k7IcBa

[tiaraklowery]

As times change drastically over short periods of time, many areas of life are being affected and brought into the spotlight suddenly. To illustrate this, take the modern day mall. The growth of online shopping technologies may be a factor that is causing some brick-and-mortar operations to shut down.

These technologies span from pointing-and-clicking a mouse to buy a product online to utilizing the various e-commerce applications on one’s mobile or tablet device to purchase products from other businesses and fellow shoppers. Despite Jennifer Kiel’s academic article that highlights how consumers are frightened to spend even if they have the money to spend in the first place due to the current economic climate, it is crucial to understand that there are many facets to the cessation of certain brick-and-mortar establishments.

Convenience and assurance is an edge that online shopping provides over brick-and-mortar shopping. In a short survey conducted by myself, 43% of those interviewed stated that they prefer to shop online due to the convenience it provides. Likewise evidenced in Taylor Lane Stout’s academic article, the increase in employment for females especially leaves far less time to shop. With certainty, convenience plays a large role in why one may desire to shop online rather than in store. Other reasons noted as to why those surveyed prefer online shopping to brick-and-mortar establishments are the abundance of options that the internet provides and sizing difficulties that online shopping resolves.

Equally important is Emerald Insight’s academic research which highlights that consumers who desire an item yet lack trust for an online transaction may opt to search for information on the product while at the store in question. While using the internet and reading information on the product, consumers then decide if they want to pursue purchasing the item. Similarly, this notion is seconded by U.S. News, which states that 65% of Americans—in the study that they examined—will compare the price that they can get in store versus online prior to making their purchase on either medium.

For the malls and stores that find themselves dissolving due to heightened online presences, it is clear that these stores are staying stagnant in a world of advancing shopping technologies. An article by The Atlantic and an academic article by Richard J. Lee, Ipek N. Sener, Patricia L. Mokhtarian, Susan L. Handy, has reasoned that although online shopping has done well in categories such as books and entertainment, it is the softened return policies of apparel shopping that has also allowed for immense growth in online purchases.

In addition, smartphones and other smart devices are becoming more accessible to online purchases, as noted by Fortune. As an example of such growth, two Pew Research technology studies displayed how in a June 2000 survey, only 22% of Americans were shopping online, while now at least 80% of Americans do some shopping online with 43% noting in the survey that they make weekly or monthly purchases.

This data illustrates that as it becomes more effortless to purchase items over the internet, malls will inevitably become less frequented due to this ease of access. Without the continuous growth of brick-and-mortar establishments to adapt to the changing times, they may continue to be subjected to harsh bankruptcies and closures as the years go on.

Works Cited

Chiou, Jyh-Shen, Szu-Yu Chou, and George Chung-Chi Shen. "Consumer Choice of Multichannel Shopping." Internet Research 27.1 (2017): 2-20. Web. 5 May 2017.

Farber, Madeline. "Consumers Are Now Doing Most of Their Shopping Online." A New Survey Shows a Drastic Increase In Online Shopping. Fortune, 08 June 2016. Web. 05 May 2017. http://fortune.com/2016/06/08/online-shopping-increases/.

Kiel, Jennifer. Regenerative Mall: From Spaces of Consumption to Places of Production, Rice University, Ann Arbor, 2010, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, https://search.proquest.com/docview/750983277?accountid=14214.

Lee, Richard J., Ipek N. Sener, Patricia L. Mokhtarian, and Susan L. Handy. "Relationships between the Online and In-store Shopping Frequency of Davis, California Residents."Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 100 (2017): 40-52. ScienceDirect. Web. 5 May 2017. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856416300416.

Lowery, Tiara Kristina. Online vs Brick-and-Mortar. 5 May 2017. Raw data. Syracuse University, Syracuse.

Smith, Aaron, and Monica Anderson. "Online Shopping and E-Commerce." Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. Pew Research Center, 19 Dec. 2016. Web. 05 May 2017. http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/12/19/online-shopping-and-e-commerce/.

Soergel, Andrew. "Is Brick-and-Mortar on the Way Out?" U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report, 20 Dec. 2016. Web. 05 May 2017. https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-12-20/with-online-sales-booming-is-brick-and-mortar-on-the-way-out.

Stout, Taylor L. Left for Dead: Reurbanizing and Adapting Failing American Malls, University of Maryland, College Park, Ann Arbor, 2015, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, https://search.proquest.com/docview/1766133885?accountid=14214.

Thompson, Derek. "What in the World Is Causing the Retail Meltdown of 2017?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 10 Apr. 2017. Web. 05 May 2017. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/retail-meltdown-of-2017/522384/. 

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