Do Something on the Internet about the Internet

For my Final Project, I wanted to follow in one of the directions presented to us by Dr. Stommel — creating a word cloud and using the piece it creates for textual analysis. For the words I wanted to include something that would relate to the class and some of the topics we’ve been talking about. So, I decided to research some poems that discussed the topic of the Internet in general and the impact that it has had on society since its origination.

Below is the word cloud that I created:

Process:

In order to create this word cloud, I used the website www.wordclouds.com provided by Dr. Stommel. This was a fairly easy application to use and I really wanted to orient and create the image to have a meaningful message. I first took two poems I came across — the first one was titled, “((Internet-Haiku))” by Marvin Brato Sr. and the second was titled “Just a Click Away” by an author unnamed. I then took these words and pasted them into the website and began the creation process. I wanted to stick to the theme of the internet/web, so I chose the shape to be that of a wifi signal (hopefully you can tell now that I’ve said it). I also wanted the colors to match a computer theme as well, so I chose our basic coding colors.

Textual Analysis:

When thinking about the words generated and then how they were constructed I couldn’t help but think about the different layers of the internet that this image portrays. This system that we have built as a society as grown and developed into something that keeps our world spinning on the axis. It is our source of information, from the weather to the latest political or societal new updates. It serves as many of ours main source of communication and system of contact with friends, family members in different countries, and even strangers. The internet, finally, is our voice — it has become our place of outlet and serves as our place to share— whether that is approval, anger, conflict, discourse, or agreement.

When looking at the image, the main word that sticks out to me, and I’m sure to the viewer on their first take, would be the word “dream”. The internet provides a space for creative ideas to flow. We can create, edit, and re-create until we build something we could only dream of. It serves as our blank canvas and awaits our every move that will decide the fate. In doing so, we learn about who we are as people and the qualities and values we find important. We can choose our own path in hopes of reaching the goals we dream of. In addition to the word dream, it also contains words like, “anger and illegal” that are associated with negative connotations, but cans how us that the internet, although can bring joy, it can also lead to hurt. In knowing this, we have to be careful of what we say and do on the internet, as we don’t know who may be watching and who could become vulnerables at the hands of your words.

Lastly, I want to talk about the question I hope that these collection of words raise — which is: Do you use the internet or have you let it begin to use you? The word information sits at the top of this image for a reason. I think it is important to keep in perspective what the internet is. It’s a tool and we should always use it and never let the roles become reversed, because in that we create a society built upon unrealistic expectations. In everything we must keep things like this in mind.

Thanks for reading!!!

Jordan.