The Digital Spin

When I reflect on my earliest memories of interacting with media, I vaguely remember Tom and Jerry. Television was my first experience with media, and as a child, I was obsessed with cartoons. They not only catered to my childhood fantasies but also fueled my imagination and molded my perception of the world at that time. As a child, my media exposure wasn’t limited to just television. Unlike most children who dive into children's books, my first exposure to reading came from newspapers. Filled with black-and-white characters narrating grown-up problems. While I didn't understand everything, I still gravitated toward snippets of information. Over time, I understood a pattern in the mainstream narrative that seemingly worked to social engineer certain narratives.  The transition from printed media to digital media felt natural to me. I saw digital media as an extension of our three-dimensional reality. I tend to limit my digital presence to two platforms: WordPress and Twitter. ...

In modern day, the media has become a vital part of my life. My first media related stories as a child in Nepal were from watching local TV shows (Durdarshan) and newscasts. However, I sill remember the first time I watched  cartoons on the old television with my siblings. The shows like Tom and Jerry, Mickey Mouse, and Doraemon made my childhood enjoyable and imaginative. Those cartoons were my introduction to a world of creation, and they brought me a sense of joy that I will never forget. Despite the fact that digital media has taken over my life, I still value conventional media. To keep up with local news, I read Kantipur and The Himalayan Times newspaper. In the same way, I stay up to date on national events. The greater part of my media consumption has been taken over by digital media. I use Facebook or whatsapp to keep in contact with friends and family, I use Instagram to share pictures and follow famous people. In addition, I would say that YouTube has turned out to ...

  Exclusion or inclusion? The first feeling I remember getting from social media was jealousy. My friends were on  Musical.ly, Instagram and Snapchat and I wasn't . I wouldn't say it was because my parents were against having social media at a young age , even though it did have an effect. The biggest reason was my own fear towards social media. I had heard all these horrible things that had happened to my friends on social media, from bullying to creepy men sending pictures and texts. Not taking in the fact that in school there were a lot of classes and interventions about social media. A lot of teachers warned us of hackers, catfish ers and predators on different platforms. I didn't understand why after all this my friends still chose to stay on these platforms and publish their videos and pictures. At the same time, I felt like I was being left out because I didn't know about the picture someone had posted, or I didn't understand why someone could get mad becaus...