We hope you enjoyed this adventure in the new and digital online environment. Your participation and willingness to learn and create help the web become a better place and make you a personal brand that will lead the new and digital media industries.
For a user of digital media, there are many forms of online community to join, whether they are on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, user-generated visual platforms for exciting visual media, image and threaded forums, or gaming communities. Each community is geared toward your interest, benefits from your participation, and changes the way you interact with the chosen digital platform and what content you create. Whatever community you join and contribute to through the digital content you create, you will become a better storyteller. Now that you know the history and importance of the hashtag, you know how to contribute to the conversations and research of the world and help inform users globally on topics and activist movements. In using all of these communities, you are posting and being expressive, letting your personality shine through in one or multiple contexts through sound, writing, photography, and video elements on each platform. To be a part of the full experience an online community can offer, you have become a creator and engaged user and you interact along with being expressive. This short-form creativity connects you to users who will allow you to grow as an artist and share your story to the world.
We hope you have benefitted from learning how the web works, using and understanding the languages the digital environment offers. Language is a shared experience, and the digital media languages will assist in your future success. It is vital for you to know how to read and write web languages in order to advance yourself in the changing industries. Understanding code, such as HTML5, jQuery, and CSS, will help you gain knowledge of how web designers and all those who have successfully created products we engage with daily have created a platform that connects you to everyone. Now that you know how to build and create, your web literacy will make you a better reader of the web, so that you know why certain designs have been published and can help others understand as well.
After you read about memes, we hope you have been inspired to understand how something such as an image can provide meaning and influence a culture. A meme incites a reaction owing to our culture being a visual language that wants to tell stories and send messages through pictures. What makes memes work is that the online world offers a space for users to create and remix a story and share these images with others in their online community. You now have a comprehension of the difference between memes and virals. An understanding of how a piece of content goes viral is an important part of understanding how digital media work through their strong reach, along with our culture of wanting to find videos that we can laugh at, while major companies are looking for the next big hit. After reading this chapter, not only do you have knowledge of the history of virals, you also know what makes a video go viral, through sharing, the backing of major corporations, and trends that relate to popular culture. Through the case studies showcased in the chapter, you too can create a meme or video that can become viral by being spread through the web.
We hope you participate in multimedia storytelling through web television and as a YouTube personality. Knowing the history of web television hopefully inspires you to become a creator, making your own YouTube channel that includes a vlog or web series. From history, to narrative storytelling, to writing the characters that connect with the audience, these are important elements for making a video and for you to become a YouTube and online video user. As you continually have a presence on the web by creating content, joining social media, and having a voice, it is important for you to remember to pay attention to your online presence, which we use as a culminating chapter. As you post information that search engines are collecting each day online, you’re creating a digital footprint. Users can search this footprint and discover information about you on the web, and learning to create a brand for yourself and controlling your online identity are important tools to use as you enter the digital space. This is accomplished by managing your space and social media presence, creating content, and putting thought into each piece of data posted online.
It is now time for you to create! Being in new and digital media involves not only reading about its context, but participating and creating in its various forms. Keep this book next to you at your desktop computer, laptop, or tablet, as you enter the digital world. This will be your manual and guide throughout the entire process, as you try out each phase. Look for an online community where you can participate. It can be through social media, on Twitter, where you want to tweet about a television show with fellow fans, or a short-form community on Vine where you connect with fellows who enjoy making short video animation. Finding others on the web who share your interest will not only help you stay engaged online, but will motivate you to start creating. Now that you have the knowledge of how the web works, write a website, customize a WordPress page, create an image macro meme, shoot a vlog. Regardless of what you choose to create, promote yourself on social media platforms that bring out the best in your writing and storytelling abilities. Whether it’s writing a blog, producing a podcast, or joining in conversations with communities, by creating content you are a step ahead of those who do not understand digital tools and how to use the web to their advantage. This advantage is to your benefit, as most users do not consider the power of their online presence. The content associated with your name can be used in a variety of ways, such as career advancement, education, information, and being a member of society in new forms.
As you create, it is not just posting a video of your cat or a remixed meme in hopes of making your followers on Tumblr laugh. After reading this book, you can incorporate knowledge into the theory and use of the web in ways that can bring users together in one space. You can do this as responsible, engaged, online citizens. You can discuss societal and political issues on the web in hopes of gathering individuals together for a cause or a belief that you have. You can use the web to be an activist and for the social good. Savvy users can discuss topics of race, politics, and other important issues affecting society. Therefore, as a savvy user, you will use digital tools to discuss these important issues on the web. Being savvy allows you to notice issues affecting the world and want to make a difference. The digital sphere allows you to make that difference, because we all have a voice through social media.
You can create massive amounts of new and digital media content, have a voice on the web, and a presence. Be innovative and always be creative. Be who you are online. Be yourself. Be authentic. Let your personality shine through and don’t be shy. Be inspired and be unique. There are a lot of benefits and rewards in the digital space, if you stay positive and consistently creative. Most importantly, remember, when you are writing a blog or producing your video, keep your digital footprint and what your online identity is in your mind. Think first, post second. You control your digital footprint and how you will be represented online. Not only do you control your identity, but also you control your digital material and culture.
The web is open to all, and those who are savvy will succeed. Be strong, be creative, and, to prepare for success, prepare for criticism. As long as you are a responsible, engaged, and savvy citizen on the web, you will be a new and digital media leader.
Good luck. Have fun down the path you are about to take. Enjoy all the tools and utilities new and digital media will bring to you.