Blogging is something that I’ve previously never really considered doing. I’ve always thought who cares about what I think? And who would even take the time to read or view something that I’ve posted? Upon reading Adrian Miles ‘Blogs in Media Education: A Beginning’ I started to realise how I, and I’m sure many others have used other mediums such as Instagram or Tumblr as a way to create our very own blogs. My initial thoughts about blogs was that it always had to be in some sort of written form, I think that I was just shallow to the idea that I had a blog myself in that of Instagram.
An interesting point that made me think about blogging in my day to day life was “ A blog can be linked to by others” (Miles,2006,Pg 67). On reading this line I instantly thought about how when I find a photographer I like on Instagram I often find them through photographers that I already follow. I constantly see in my news feed other people putting other photographers work on their story as this sort of shout out to get more views on that particular image. This is in essence what Adrian Miles is talking about in his article, about blogs being “Interlinked”. I only really started taking photography and Instagram seriously last year, where I felt lost and figured I would actually do something productive with my time. So what did I do? I went out and got a new camera and started shooting. For sure I felt like at the start, my photos weren’t good enough but what helped me to continue to post was that tight knit community of people interested in photography. Sure I had mates who were also photographers which meant it was easier for me to just meet up and shoot, but it was the learning experiences and the people that I’ve met as a result of posting that keeps me wanting to shoot today. If I can post a photo where people acknowledge my work, there is honestly no better feeling.
“Another such collateral outcome is in the development of an online portfolio” (Miles,2006,Pg 69). This sentence upon reading it was something that really stood out for me. I had never really considered my Instagram an online portfolio just because I had been posting photos as I wanted to, not because someone was telling me to. But I truly believe that my Instagram would be the best way to show case my work if I did choose to pursue a path as a photographer, it also helps me to show my work to other people that I would like to collaborate with in the near future. This is the collaborative effect of having yourself invested into something like Instagram, it helps you to meet new people who have the same passion as you, where creators can collaborate and put something special together.
This weeks reading: Miles, Adrian. “Blogs in Media Education: A Beginning.” Australian Screen Ed 41 (2006)
