Here They Come!

2nd September, 2015.

Today we were introduced to the Professors from Arizona State University, Erika Hughes and Boyd Branch who discussed their specialization with us. After the initial introductions were over, they asked us what a performance is. One of the answers that stood out among the others was that a performance is where you ‘basically present something in front of someone (like a group of people)’. From there Dr. Hughes moved on to discuss what ‘Ethnotheater’ is, having asked the class what they thought about it, she along with Dr. Branch described it as theater giving a collective life, giving a story a life, for instance, giving a story about yourself life.

Having discussed the two important terms, they moved the topic of discussion towards social media and its impact in the world of today. Focusing primarily on social media websites such as; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and others like them, the Professors in their discussion with the class highlighted the various pros and cons, and the social evils vs. social responsibilities of the people indulging in the use of these websites.

The discussion basically revolving around the idea that these websites are the common man(s)/woman(s) way of expressing themselves, in which one student pointed out that the people most vocal on these cites tend to be very different in real life, in today’s common usage, they may be social rejects, or people normally afraid of voicing their opinions. In this regard an example of Shia LaBeouf was shared. This led another student to describe one’s social media identity as one’s baby that has to fly away and experience life through its flight. The idea being that you leave your baby to be criticized by the world so the baby might learn and grow. Similarly, our social media identities are helping us grow. As far as criticism is concerned, a word once written is written forever and cannot be unwritten, similarly, once something is posted on-line it can either make someone or break someone because it can either get you lots of followers or haunt you till you deactivate your account.