Mikael Michalik's Learning Journey

 This week's readings did not surprise me that much with the information and developments presented. Even though I only use a few social media sites, I understand what the current trends are. Multiple sources have stated the popularity and importance of TikTok and short videos over longer videos as well as the growth of online shopping and the use of micro-influencers (Floor Covering News 2022, Influencer Marketing Hub 2021). While I do not use TikTok, this trend began years ago with the short, but massive, popularity of Vine and even earlier with the idea of the "YouTube Haiku", both genres being populated by short, and often funny, videos. TikTok was the next logical step and its popularity is no surprise to me. In this day and age where there is too much content to consume, shorter videos are more efficient than the 30+ minute videos that the YouTube algorithm looks for. It's only logical that such short videos would take over various sites and be most effective in...

 The readings from the past couple of weeks have been interesting and informative. I had never before compared blogs and wikis as different ways to provide information and form communities. To me, wikis and blogs had been two completely separate spheres of the internet. I thought of wikis as information and blogs as personal. However, reading about how both can be used for similar purposes changed my perspective. I hadn't thought about using blogs in an informative manner, and I hadn't thought about the community surrounding wikis. When Byington (2011) included a table comparing wikis and blogs, it was unexpected. However, comparing wikis to blogs made me consider how they can be used to connect groups through collaborative information sharing and project work. I hadn't considered it, but it opened my eyes that I already use wikis as a community-forming platform. My friends and I have been working on a wiki for a story we plan to co-write, and building community around it a...

 I decided to track my usage of YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch. Because I mainly tracked my use over the weekend so that I could include the two days I use Twitch, the length of time I used each one is likely greater than it would be during the week due to classes and homework, however I don't think this made too great a difference and used my busiest class day, Thursday, to even it out.  YouTube was my most used app, with time used ranging from 4.5 hours and 7 hours a day, averaging 5.5 hours a day over these four days. I used YouTube the most on Sunday and Saturday, which is not a surprise as those days I have the most free time. I often use YouTube as background noise, playing music or videos while I do other things to help keep me from feeling bored or under-stimulated. However, when I am walking, in class, or doing certain homework assignments I prefer to go without this background noise. I almost always use my iPhone for YouTube, as it is the most convenient and portable d...