Okay, so when we create a social media profile, how much of it is actually ours? For me personally, most of what I post online reflects who I am and what I like. I think hard about my pictures, captions, and the feel that I want it to have. Kristin L. Arola’s article, “The Design of Web 2.0: The Rise of the Template, The Fall of Design,” made me think about something else: who controls how everything looks?
How Templates Shape Our Online Identity
Arola explains that when it comes to people creating their own homepages, they have complete control over their designs. We know that they can choose their own colors, fonts, and layouts that represent who they are. On the contrary, when it comes to social networking sites, although people can share their own content the platform is what mainly controls its presentation. This makes posting much easier but it also limits the way that we express ourselves.
Design Communicates Meaning
Throughout the entire article, one part that really stuck out to me was the idea that design communicates meaning too. Although this is obvious, the more I thought about it the more it made me see how when we focus on what someone says, it is really their message that can influence how we understand it.
We can listen to what they’re saying no problem, but the message they are trying to convey can be a whole different story. For example, if I wanted my page to feel creative and dramatic a regular boring template won’t really show my personality. Although my words and photos would still be mine, the presentation wouldn’t necessarily show that.
It also made me think about how convenient templates are. Sometimes I want something that looks organized without having to do everything on my own. However, convenience can make us overlook the choices being made for us. My main takeaway is that digital communication includes both content and design. We should think about what we post and how the platform shapes the way other people see it.
Leave a Reply