Parting words and resolutions

My semester in Interpersonal Media has taught me a whole bunch about how I interact with the people in my life. I notice myself keeping track of how much I talk to my housemates face-to-face in relation to how much I communicate with them over EMC. Same with my parents, my boyfriend, even my professors. The class has provided me with some valuable skills related to managing groups of people, especially over the Internet. As someone who uses the Internet and google docs to communicate with people extensively (thank you, Pioneer Log...), it has been helpful to learn ways to get online communication to be more productive.

And so this is the last entry in my blog. I'll miss Blogger, I have to say! I've been pleasantly surprised by how much the interface has changed in the past decade. I plan on writing about this more in my portfolio, but the blog is one of the most valuable things I will take away from this class! On that note, I've come up with a few resolutions that I want to keep based on my experience in Interpersonal Media this semester.

1. Set up and adhere to a schedule for my music blog : Last summer, I created Whiskey Kiss: A Music Blog in the hopes of building up my clips and gaining a following in the Portland music scene. It went pretty well! I gained a ton of followers on Twitter and even heard feedback from bands and others who appreciated my posts. I resolve to apply what I've learned about blogging to my little music blog. I plan on creating a schedule (like, if I want to have two posts a week, I'll make sure I have a post every Wednesday and Saturday by 7am or something like that). I also plan on utilizing more links and connection my blog to other blogs and band websites and things like that.
2. Do a better job of branding myself : I feel that I already use Twitter at a high functioning level, but I'd love to see myself becoming more professional and marketable. I want to use my Twitter to attract people to my projects (my blog, the newspaper, etc), and connect with people in the fields that interest me.
3. Pay more attention to the way that I interact online : Specifically, through email and Facebook. My Facebook use has gotten pretty casual, and it is easy for me to forget that the things I say on there can have real-world repercussions. For example, I'm not just "Zibby Pillote" on Facebook, I'm "Zibby Pillote: Editor, daughter, employee, friend, student." I need to be more aware of the way I talk to people.

And with that, I'm off to start my life as a more informed internet user and overall communicator. Thank you for reading my blog all semester long! Cheers!