Category: new media

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welcome to Lent

I’d like to say I’m a little more animated than the stoned expression on my face, but I haven’t slept more than a few hours at a time since Saturday and bla bla bla…whatever. I’m especially proud of the burgeoning afro — the humidity is killing me. I do think I have a nice shot of my brown eyes…and of course, the ashes.

Whatever. I invite you to join the conversation about new media that’s being hosted by Sean and many others over at Catholic Roundup and elsewhere on the web. Join us. It’s an important discussion about new media, how we’re using it, what’s going on with it, what’s the future, how we can work together, and most importantly, how all this serves to glorify God.

Do a few things to get started. First, go read this post, Announcing 40 Days of Catholic Media 2011 and work your way backward. Sorry I’m a little late in getting the word out, but I’ve had some family business that takes precedence. Then read this post about introducing yourself on the Facebook page and jumping into the discussions.

Anyway, read about it, and see where you fit into the puzzle. We are all, to a degree, consumers as well as producers, but most importantly, we are brothers and sisters in Christ embarking on this great journey.

Join us. There’s room for everyone.

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you know what?

I had an interesting experience in my evening composition classes. I teach two sections of what most people know as Freshman Composition I. It’s a challenging class during the day. Add to the mix the likelihood that the majority of my students are older adults returning to school after years of raising kids and working full time, and the difficulty grows exponentially. I have to compete with the kids who are constantly textmessaging and the older folks freaking out because I expect them to submit their papers to an on-line plagiarism detection site and they can’t handle the technology. And to think I used to believe the challenge was getting them to back up their work.

Last night’s lesson revolved around the creation of effective thesis statements. Ladies and gentlemen, I have been doing this for almost 25 years. I can create an academic thesis statement on any mundane insipid topic you throw at me. I can write about healthcare, war, and ice cream.

I discovered last night that I can do this in 140 characters or less.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Are you kidding me? Has Twitter affected the way I write? I’m a little depressed. And a lot amused. Sadly, only a couple of people got it when I did my little dance of incredulity. Oh well.

As a result, I present to you this neat little video that might get you thinking about your own social media use.

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