Thursday, February 16, 2006
Heather Has Two Mommies and Videoblogs at Smith
A few days ago, an article focusing on my blog and vlog appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The article is available here, although you must be a subscriber to access the complete text. Typically, I am all for publicity. I enjoy people exploring my blog and sharing their own work and life experiences with me. All and all, I see the internet as an extremely powerful and inspiring medium and I am grateful that I am able to participate in it. I have met some truly fabulous people online through communities like Blogger, Vimeo and Flickr.
The article, however, has done nothing but upset me. Although my initial interaction with the journalist, Andrea Foster, was positive, she appears to have taken something she claimed to be interested in and excited by and translated it into something grotesque and overly indulgent. Taken out of context, I seem to come off as a manic hedonist with a thirst for exhibition and exploitation. For the record, I am not a meth-hitting co-ed. My friends are not midnight cowgirls or brazen alcoholics. We are, in fact, a group of young women who are passionate about our education and take advantage of the unique environment that Smith fosters.
While the videos I post on Vimeo depict many aspects of college life, they do not in any way promote the other videos described within the article, such as students at the University of Indiana vomiting in jockstraps. I am not, in the words of Andrea Foster, attracted to Vimeo because it is "replete with immodesty, in behavior and dress". My favorite videos on Vimeo are those that illustrate simple shared moments. For example, my mother walking through Yankee Candle or Hoffman and Mim singing Nico at Jittery's.
What originally appealed to me about Vimeo's format is the brevity and variety of the clips. As Foster noted in her article, I am interested in "collecting mementos" of my life. Documentation of the simple and everyday intrigues me. Videos like KDunk's Untitled or simpolman's Fish, provide momentary glimpses into individual lives. In a culture dominated by large media outlets, Vimeo provides a space for a diverse group of people, artists, students and families alike, to document what is important to them. While many videos on Vimeo are lighthearted and often hilarious, they are nothing like the Dionysian orgy Foster describes.
In short, if you're looking for binge drinking and fight songs, keep searching. I am not the poster child for LGBT families, although I am proud of my background and love my parents. I am not the spokeswoman for Crohn's disease, although my medication drawer may provide information to the contrary. More importantly, I am not merely a college student with a digital camera. I am an individual interested in documenting and sharing my life both online and in the physical world.
In the words of Mrs. Kennedy, "writing well is the best revenge".
A few days ago, an article focusing on my blog and vlog appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The article is available here, although you must be a subscriber to access the complete text. Typically, I am all for publicity. I enjoy people exploring my blog and sharing their own work and life experiences with me. All and all, I see the internet as an extremely powerful and inspiring medium and I am grateful that I am able to participate in it. I have met some truly fabulous people online through communities like Blogger, Vimeo and Flickr.
The article, however, has done nothing but upset me. Although my initial interaction with the journalist, Andrea Foster, was positive, she appears to have taken something she claimed to be interested in and excited by and translated it into something grotesque and overly indulgent. Taken out of context, I seem to come off as a manic hedonist with a thirst for exhibition and exploitation. For the record, I am not a meth-hitting co-ed. My friends are not midnight cowgirls or brazen alcoholics. We are, in fact, a group of young women who are passionate about our education and take advantage of the unique environment that Smith fosters.
While the videos I post on Vimeo depict many aspects of college life, they do not in any way promote the other videos described within the article, such as students at the University of Indiana vomiting in jockstraps. I am not, in the words of Andrea Foster, attracted to Vimeo because it is "replete with immodesty, in behavior and dress". My favorite videos on Vimeo are those that illustrate simple shared moments. For example, my mother walking through Yankee Candle or Hoffman and Mim singing Nico at Jittery's.
What originally appealed to me about Vimeo's format is the brevity and variety of the clips. As Foster noted in her article, I am interested in "collecting mementos" of my life. Documentation of the simple and everyday intrigues me. Videos like KDunk's Untitled or simpolman's Fish, provide momentary glimpses into individual lives. In a culture dominated by large media outlets, Vimeo provides a space for a diverse group of people, artists, students and families alike, to document what is important to them. While many videos on Vimeo are lighthearted and often hilarious, they are nothing like the Dionysian orgy Foster describes.
In short, if you're looking for binge drinking and fight songs, keep searching. I am not the poster child for LGBT families, although I am proud of my background and love my parents. I am not the spokeswoman for Crohn's disease, although my medication drawer may provide information to the contrary. More importantly, I am not merely a college student with a digital camera. I am an individual interested in documenting and sharing my life both online and in the physical world.
In the words of Mrs. Kennedy, "writing well is the best revenge".
