This week was all about exploring authenticity in the online world. I really enjoyed this week as I reflected upon my own encounters with online media through what I create, what people I know create and what people I don’t know create. In a way, many people feel that the people they don’t know such as YouTubers or Instagrammers aren’t complete strangers to them and so, they kind of do know them. But, there comes a time when it is useful to question the importance of authenticity. From my own perspective, I think that authenticity is important for the reasons that I want what I am consuming to be from a place of genuine passion. Through this week’s reading I was able to contextualise this further by which the discussion became focused around branding. Once you brand yourself, it seems there is a duty to remain genuine to your brand. This however, strips one’s own agency as if a desire to evolve emerges, then consumers may try to dissuade them from doing so. It is for this reason that I believe authenticity is of utmost importance as if you remain genuine to who you are from the start, then no matter the external pressure, you know that you are changing for you rather than for the sake of a character that you portray. In saying all of this, I enjoyed using the Zoom F4s for the first time as I love how captivating sound is. It was eye opening to hear the opinions of others as well as edit it together to form an audio piece which showcased contrasting views. Overall, I learnt a lot both conceptually and technically this week and so, I thoroughly enjoyed it.