I am My Content
Content never had a name for most of my life– it sort of just… existed. From the gifs, fan edits, and funny posts of my teenage Tumblr days; to the news articles, websites, and multimedia projects of my college years; and then the blogs, social media posts, and press materials of my professional experiences, the content’s never stopped. And in a world that has made such bounding strides in the effort to virtualize every aspect of life, it’s evident that content will never stop.
Most of the content that I’ve focused on has been digital. Physical media is of the past – at least that’s what every introduction to journalism course says – “print is dead!” It’s a phrase that I’ve tolerated but never accepted. I’ve always thought that there’s nothing better than reading and engaging with physical content. As a journalist, seeing my name in print has always made me feel proudest, and maybe it’s because opportunities like that don’t strike very often in my industry that it feels so special to hold something you worked on for days to even months. This tangible thing so rare and rewarding.
My home is full of “content.” The first type that comes to mind is books. They’re everywhere, and still, I can’t get enough of them. Then there are magazines, art prints, vinyl records, and photographs all around me, covering my walls and filling my shelves (and yes, I do identify as a maximalist, how did you guess?). My digital home (a.k.a. my laptop) has everything neatly filed into folders that I clean out and rearrange every few weeks. I’ve always been the organized-chaos type of person. And it shows in my content.
I’ve definitely been described as a bit “extra” or “busy” when I write and design the content I create. It’s definitely a delicate balance that I’m still figuring out. I’m drawn to colorful aesthetics, collage art, and precise line work. My writing leans toward a conversational, stream-of-consciousness tone. I think that I just like talking to the reader the way I talk to my friends. No matter what I end up making, it has to read as “Glo.” And in that way, I am my content through and through.