Blog #2

        The three writers of the articles have used social media to create a sort of identity for themselves.  By choosing not to post the “fake” picture on Facebook, Erin Zammett Ruddy chose to keep herself an honest person and to not seem fake, even on social media.  Kima Jones and Bev Gooden have used social media in order to spread a message and form more of a group identity.  Kima Jones discussed how she, as well as many others, uses Twitter to spread her writing to others.  Apparently, many people of minority, including Kima, use social media as a tool to spread their writing because it is typically harder for them to do so otherwise.  Bev Gooden created #WhyIStayed on Twitter initially to answer the question of “why does she stay?” from her personal experience, but it then grew into something bigger.  She created a sort of identity for women who stayed in abusive relationships.  As she said in the article, she was not supporting staying in an abusive relationship.  Rather, she and these other women were answering the question of why they stayed, as well as allowing others to know they are definitely not alone.

         Harris might say these three authors are creating discourse communities based on the way they speak.  For example, Kima Jones and the other people of Twitter communicate through poetry, sending strong messages through words that not everyone is willing to hear.  Harris says “…They (theorists) have helped us to see that it is only through being part of some ongoing discourse that we can, as individual writers, have things like points to make and purposes to achieve.”  By speaking to people of their own discourse community, these individual writers are able to put their words on social media, creating a stronger message and making points with a whole group of people.  When explaining David Bartholomae’s quote, Harris says “We do not write simply as individuals, but we do not write simply as members of a community either.”  Each person on social media, including the authors of the three articles, has something to say, important or not.  Everyone will have points that other people agree with and they will also have points that no one else will agree with at all.  This is essentially why no one is completely a member of the writing community, but also not completely an individual writer.

         The only online community I am really a part of is Facebook, though I rarely use it anyway.  This community is marked by discourse because although you can write a lot if you choose, people’s posts and comments are typically shorter.  That is how Facebook is—shorter, more direct comments are usually expected.