Picked Norah up from Campfirmation. Got the traditional picture with her counselor. #lutheridge
Grad School Recap, Spring 2019
This post was originally posted on June 22, 2019 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
I haven’t written this much since my senior thesis.
I just wrapped up another semester of graduate school working part time towards a masters degree in mass communications. I intended to recap the semester right after classes were over, but I’ll be honest… the volume of reading, research and writing this semester (while working full time) completely exhausted me. A month-and-a-half later, I’m mostly recovered. It was a great semester and I’ve got a much better idea of where I’m heading with my thesis and plenty of ideas for future research.
This spring, I took two classes — one on the history of mass media and an introduction to content analysis.
For the mass media history class, I researched the introduction of the Linotype into weekly newspapers across South Carolina in the early 1900s. My project involved digging through newspaper archives and discovering fascinating stories about community papers at the turn of the century. I’m happy with the final paper and want to rework it a little bit before submitting it for conference consideration.
Content analysis is the process of systematically researching the patterns and content of documents and other communications materials. I performed a quantitative content analysis project looking at logo reviews on Brand New and how the content of the review affected reader reaction. The final paper was accepted by AEJMC’s Visual Communication division for presentation at the annual conference in Toronto this August. I’m really excited — and more than a little bit nervous — for my first academic conference presentation.
I enjoyed both classes, but the semester was exceptionally intense. I spent many evenings studying, reading and writing at the new Starbucks not too far from my house. I’m proud of both of my major papers and have many ideas of how to extend them into future research. A few other observations from the semester:
- Last fall, I realized that I needed software to track all the journal articles I was reading. I was surprised that most of the faculty members I talked to were using any kind of reference management software. I eventually settled on Zotero. Don’t let the brutalist interface fool you… The service is exceptionally powerful, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of what it can do. The free level had just enough cloud storage for this semester, but I’ll be upgrading to the paid tier for more storage next semester.
- I’m using Ulysses to write everything, but I may switch to using Scrivener for longer research papers. I’m also intrigued at the integration between Zotero and Google Docs, but I really don’t want to write everything in Google Docs.
- The solution to all problems in grad school is “read more.” I’ve read more in the last six months than I have in my life — mostly academic journal articles. And every time I had a question or a problem, the answer always started with “Have you read…?”
Next semester, I’m taking a single class — Literature of Mass Communication — and I’m teaching a class. I’m looking forward to another semester of research and what I assume will be a significant reading load.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, researcher, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create.
Another “Why I am quitting Facebook” post...
This post was originally posted on June 22, 2019 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
The benefits of posting less.
I pretty much abandoned Facebook late last year. Quitting Facebook has become trendy as it’s become apparent that the service is creepy and maybe a little evil. And while there are no shortage of “Why I quit Facebook” blog posts, I felt like I wanted to add my thoughts.
I didn’t leave Facebook because of some sort of protest against their obvious ethical shortcomings and lack of respect for user privacy.
I noted at the start of the year that I felt like I needed to change my relationship with social media. My Facebook departure started as a “think before posting” exercise, reflecting on why I was posting, commenting or liking things before I actually did. And the result was that I started posting less. Posting less meant that I wasn’t popping in to check on responses to my posts. And the fact that I wasn’t in Facebook as much meant that I wasn’t reading as many posts. And then something else happened…
I was happier.
I stopped posting in Facebook all together around the start of the year. Any post you saw from me originated in Instagram. I would occasionally still like or comment on other’s posts if I saw them, but as I transitioned away from posting on Facebook, I saw far fewer posts. I’m pretty sure no one noticed. No one has said anything. My wife is still posting so close friends are still seeing pictures of my family and hearing funny stories.
So why am I happier? I honestly don’t know.
I listened to a podcast this week where Cal Newport discussed his book Digital Minimalism. I haven’t read the book yet, but his argument seems to be that social media is engineered to suck you in, and by opting out of the social media hamster wheel, you’ll be more productive and happier. I think that’s definitely part of it.
I also think part of it is that I don’t have to see the worst of people. People I know routinely post obviously fake things to Facebook. I see ignorance and hate from people that I assumed were good people. But on Facebook, they allow themselves to be different. It’s frustrating to see that hypocrisy and it makes the whole Facebook experience completely miserable.
Even though I’ve deleted the app off my phone, I still visit Facebook every so often to look at my memories from the last 11 years. There are so many great nuggets from my wife and kiddos — comments and pictures that make me happy. I’m currently working on a way to preserve those in a more tangible format.* I also need an account to connect with some groups that only communicate through Facebook. So I can’t completely delete my account yet.
My goal is to stay under 30 minutes of total social media use a day and I’m using Apple’s ScreenTime settings to keep me honest. I still enjoy posting on Instagram occasionally, even if it is owned by Facebook. I use Twitter, but I’m actually starting to limit my Twitter usage, too.** My hope is that I’ll be able to reclaim some of the time that I was spending on social media and channel that energy into other endeavors.
* I will blog about that process here.
** My Twitter posts are actually microblog posts that originate on my own blog and are shared through Micro.Blog and then Twitter.
Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, researcher, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create.
VBS ending songs. Fun hanging out with these kiddos this week.
Ryan got bored waiting for Norah’s lacrosse practice to end.
Got to see Norah and her @chapinmiddleschool classmates perform poems and monologues as part of their annual Speak Out program. They all did amazing.
Date night in Soda City.
Happy Mother’s Day to my amazing wife and parenting partner-in-crime, Liz. (She’s recovering from a wisdom tooth extraction so we aren’t exactly celebrating this weekend, but we’ll make up for it later.)
The things you find walking around @uofsc
Beautiful day to stand up for education. #alloutmay1
Congrats to Chapin Varsity Lacrosse on finishing undefeated and winning the S.C. State Championship.
Post-Endgame selfie. #avengersendgame
