Hey,
You can call me Oz. They/Them Please
I am a 32-year-old going on 33 this October and a resident of the city of Chicago.
I am completing my Master's in Library Informatics Sciences to become a Librarian with this class, and a class starting later this Spring will be my final semester at Dominican University.
I have two cats named Midnight, a black cat, Bob, a gray cat with no tail, and one dog named Cooper. My favorite color is yellow, and my favorite animals are cows, cats, and alligators. I enjoy painting and reading about cowboys (not the sports team) in my spare time.
I currently have two jobs, one in retail and the other as a part-time library clerk at a City of Chicago branch. I have worked in the public library field since the summer of 2019, starting as a page.
I aim to become a research librarian, as I love reading and listening to informative "essays" on various topics. Recently, the ones I find the most interesting are ones about social/cultural "norms" and how they got ingrained into societal structures. Such as beauty/fashion trends and gender identity/sexuality "taboos."
My experience with social media is that I use it as a tool to keep in contact with my friends and stay informed of current events in the world around me. I tend to reblog or comment on social media instead of posting my original "content." If I did post my own "content," it would most likely be pictures of my cats or some sort of art or activity I finished, such as completing a new Lego set.
Growing up in the early internet, I was repeatedly told not to give out my real name, and I still hold that ideal. Seeing others who post their full names and locations gives me a bit of unease. Still, there is nothing I can do about it, with more and more social media sites forcing users to use their "real" names to either make an account or get protection from stalking/harassment for being a marginalized identity.
Being a Millenial, I am smack dab in the middle of generations that picked up social media later on and generations who were born with it, and it's a weird dichotomy to see, especially when one "generation" is passing laws trying to regulate social media. It's more complicated than that, with issues of "freedom of speech" and content moderators not being compensated enough, along with AI spewing "data" at alarming speeds, making it difficult for social media users to find the real stuff. There is also the issue of censorship, with LGBTQIA+ (Queer) and human rights issues currently happening in the Middle East being erased from social media accounts. At the same time, conspiracy and other bigoted beliefs are allowed to spread like a virus hellbent on taking everything with them.
All of this concerns me as a librarian whose job is to help individuals find the information they are looking for and protect users' privacy within the library itself. I hope this class will give me the tools and information to share with my patrons to be an effective social media user in this age of misinformation and discourse.
Bob- Taken by Me 
Midnight- by Me
Nice to meet you, Oz. Thanks for the introduction. Your cats are adorable! Social media is one of those topics that can divide people in that some like to maintain confidentiality while others choose to live pubicly. There is no correct way to do it which makes it both positive and negative! Looking forward to learning with you.
ReplyDeleteHi! It seems like you've got a lot of different experiences and interests that match up nicely with your goal of becoming a research librarian. I totally get where you're coming from with your approach to social media—it's important to be careful about privacy and personal boundaries, especially with all the changes happening online these days. Thank you for sharing, it was a pleasure learning about you.
ReplyDeleteHello Oz, it is really nice to meet you. I grew up in the generation that just started having regular access to modern technology so I kinda get where you are coming from. It takes a while to get up to speed with the current technological trends and because of that I never really found social media as necessary as other people around my age.
ReplyDeleteIt is really nice to meet you Oz!
Hello Oz! Great post I love how you shared your career field and experience within a public library setting. I wish to work for CPL if given the opportunity and wishfully within any early childhood department. I liked how you reflected on social media which you explained a negative and positive side about it. Social media is a great tool but can also be very harmful. I like how you discussed that because of social media we are able to see firsthand world news with the civilans experiencing tradegies to say the least. Nice to meet you:)
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