Why Blog? I’m Not Sure, and That’s Why I’m Here.

Break out your a glass of Pinot Noir, high-wasted professional pants, and all of your technological savvy, we’re going to blog and it’s going to be fabulous!

I should be upfront with something. I am a Millennial with near zero understanding of why people blog. As a 20-something with 1 1/2 liberal arts degrees, a lengthy but totally impractical resume, and no discernible life skills whatsoever, I have consistently received two pieces of career advice:
 
1. “Do something creative, and make it social!” (by that, I think, they mean viral?)
2. “Start a Blog!”

Which for me seems like a real Catch-22, I don’t know much about anything, at least not enough to feel confident to publicly voicing my opinion, but in order to get secure a job that will give any noteworthy experience, I am required to master digital/social/new media.
Unfortunately, I spent my life studying things like the  “symbolic role wearing wigs during the establishment of a new social hierarchy in 18^th-Century Colonial America” and worked weekends as an historical re-enactor was precisely to avoid a life where popularity or social skills would play any sort of factor. However, nowadays-even colonial-style wigmakers need to get viral to stay in the game.
Now don’t get me wrong, I can navigate, Facebook, Linkedin, and Instagram as well as your former high school Spanish teacher that now follows you and twitter and refers to herself as “hip” and “still 17 at heart.” But, knowing how to use new media does not automatically give one the ability to generate something with an impact.

I am certain that I am in the majority of students or recent students (or all students since the printing press) who have experienced the dispassionate educator who happened to kept in step with evolving technology. They first transferred their block paragraphs of lecture notes onto a poorly designed PowerPoint slides, then perhaps threw that presentation up onto the class website or Dropbox account. While that educator did have some technological know-how, they did nothing but disengage their students on multiple. I learned a great deal more from educators who worked carousel projectors and record players like pros, it was because they were confident in their abilities using those tools (which were the “new” media of their own day.) Creative, passionate, innovative teachers like them now have more tools than ever at their dispose.

There is no doubt that new media hold unlimited potential for connecting people, sharing ideas, and generating entire communities. It offers potential for educators and learners and enthusiasts to connect in ways they never have before. But, like any good practice, a how-to guide and can only get you so far. I have always found that the only way to know I truly understand something is if I can teach it. On the flip side, my most rewarding and engaging experiences as a learner has been when an educator is learning right along with me. That’s when learning is truly active, and that’s when it gets exciting.
So that right there is why I am blogging. Motivation. I want to connect with others who are just as excited about learning and creating.

*This post originally appeared on my wordpress hosted blog: musinginmuseums.wordpress.com