As per Adrians suggestion, I have decided to contemplate the many ways I user the internet.

In the morning, I check Instagram, Facebook, the weather forecast and my emails, all through my phone.
As I’m eating breakfast, I check the train times from the PTV app so I know what time to leave. On the way driving to an unfamiliar station, I use Google maps on my phone.
When I get onto the train, I check my Netbank through the app to see if I got paid. I also continue to scroll through Facebook and Instagram.
My phone and laptop connects to the Wi-Fi as soon as I get into uni and I log onto myRMIT to get access to some readings.
I then work on an assignment where I open 15+ sites in order to get the information I need. Simultaneously I’m consulting with my group member through Facebook and receiving iMessages from some friends on my phone.
During my day at uni, I continue to use my laptop to surf the web. Before the day ends I also transfer some money to a friend through my phone, continuously update my social networking sites, use the online dictionary on my phone to look up a word, check my work roster online, access my pay slip and email my boss.
That night, as I sit around chatting to my family I Google a variety of things that come up in conversation including how to apply for Family Feud, how old David Attenborough is (88 in case you were wondering), a healthy dairy-free slice recipe and what Outlander the new TV series gets on IMDB… just to name a few.

All of which I did without being consciously aware of my utter reliance and dependability on the internet. I think this is interesting based on what we were discussing in the lecture about people being attached to books and disliking any process that would transfer them online. It’s interesting because I have been quite passionately one of those people: looking down on the way-too-common Kindle users and still fondly frequenting the library to borrow my books. And yet I use e-books and peer reviewed journals on a weekly basis, and love the ease of the online RMIT library. Am I a hypocrite or can I love both for different reasons?

So I got a flickr account and turns out there are millions of creative common photos that are accessible to us! Thought I would share some of the wide variety of images I found.
Everything from Landscapes,

Image sourced From: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobenis/14798884726/

Image sourced from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/maurizio_mwg/14808343615/

To portraits;

Image sourced from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/intermundia/14747436684/

Image sourced from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikey-a-tucker/14786132101/

To of course, the obligatory cats;

Image sourced from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sejism/14586418568/

Cannot wait to explore the creative commons realm more!

Something Betty mentioned in the tutorial this week is the importance of creating an online presence, in a professional manner. She mentioned things like Linkedin and Twitter as two key platforms to present yourself as a future employee.

This got me thinking about the fact that not only do I not have a Linkedin account, but, and I feel like a failed media student to say this, I literally have no idea how to use Twitter.
Are there others in the same boat as me or should I just leave?
Don’t get me wrong, I have an account and I follow some obligatory profiles like Jimmy Fallon, The Age and ahem, Justin Bieber. But I get confused as soon I have to favourite something… Is that just like liking it? Or does it carry more weight, like the word would suggest? And apologies for trying again to draw similarities to Facebook,  but is retweeting a post just like sharing something? Because it seems to me people retweet bloody everything. Is it awkward if noone retweets your post? So many questions, such confusion.

Anyhow, here is my twitter account: @GonzalezKarlee feel free to add me if you know what you are doing and I will try to learn by example.

Much obliged xx

Here I am, a second year Professional Communications student and aspiring journalist starting my first ever blog. My biggest dilemma, what do I title it?

I would like to blame this fierce obstacle of commitment issues for my lack of online presence. And for why it took the inclusion of a blog into the curriculum for me to actually get serious about it. Truly, starting my own blog has been on my agenda for most of my high school life and indeed the entirety of my university life and yet previously, when I got proactive about creating one, I got caught up in the pressures of a perfect header and quirky avatar and then I would bail with a sharp slam of my laptop and a trip to the fridge.

It’s not about the physically writing of content, as this is indeed my passion. More so, I’m just panicked at the concept of a blog truly being an insight into me as person. There is no style guide to follow, as there is when writing for any given publication. The whole thing is up to me… and there are too many questions to address; Who is my audience? Why am I writing this? Do people care? And no matter what I write, the most terrifying concept is that as soon as I press that ‘publish’ button, it is exposed in the public domain that is the Internet.

Adrian Miles addresses this idea of the Internet as a public sphere in the Week 1 reading, and highlights the integral care we must take when posting public content. As he states, we are creating our online persona, of which we are in control of. It this idea of how I want to be portrayed that has me so bewildered, as it makes me second guess who I am away from the internet. This train of thought then, has allowed me to come to the realisation that my personality is not a tangible and absolute thing and that it grows and evolves continually. My online persona then, should simply be a reflection of this and therefore I must allow it to grow as I work my way through this course.

And so I would like to officially welcome you to my blog, and to invite you on the journey that I undertake as I work to build my online presence and voice.