looking back... (final post)

first of all, i can't believe that this semester is over. time does fly.
looking back on 680, a lot of things happened to me. for the first time in my life, i started blog, social networking site, podcasting....
through these web 2.0 tools, i'm heading toward media literacy away from a prolonged era of media illiteracy. in terms of technology, i was sort of a traditionalist, and maybe i'll never become someone whose primary pleasure and hobby is being 'on-line'.
after using blogs and sns, i got connected to many people around me. the 'online' connection is certainly different from real life one, and i never expect them to be the same. through these media, i connect with people i know very well and also people i know only a little. in real life situation i'll be too shy to start a conversation to someone that i don't know very well, but online i get less hesitant. is this so-called the power of medium that changes 'contents' : the way we think and behave?
although such connection is never the same as deep friendship or relationship we have in real world, it certainly opens a door for broader conversation, interaction and exchange.

the most important thing happened to me through this course is the shift in my view on media.
i only saw it as literally 'medium'. as defined in dictionaries, 'something in the middle position', 'a means of effecting and conveying something'. i did not see medium as something that can change what it conveys, and i honestly didn't explore the potential well enough so far.
the impact of media and technology on our everyday life is easily taken for granted without much contemplation as it is like the atmosphere that we 'live in' and 'breathe through'.

one of my classmates from other course recently added me as a friend through facebook. it was sort of a surprise, and i willingly accepted her request. although we don't know each other very well, and rarely talk in real life, we somehow started a conversation on the online platform. and we started talking to each other more often in real life. i felt that we knew each other already from our online interaction. i wonder if i would have ever become close to this person, if it weren't for the new medium. honestly, i doubt it because me and the other person sort of belong to 'shy' species. i'm glad that new media give us more ways to let ourselves known to others and get connected with them. although this course is coming to an end, what i got out of it will last, last, last......