C4T #1

Straight Up Love is Louder

      For my first C4T I was assigned to the blog 21apples. The first post on the blog that I saw was a video called The Straight Up Love is Louder Story. The video is part the story of a massive movement to get people to accept others for who they are. In 2012, a group of guys from NYC made videos expressing support for their gay peers. This group consisted of captains from the lacrosse and basketball teams, performers, and artist. Other students joined in and together they were changing their school’s culture. They knew it was hard for students to come out and tell their peers they were gay, and it was equally hard for straight students to show support for their gay peers. Their work to make their school a place where everyone felt included and supported was the inspiration for the national campaign: Straight Up Love is Louder, which was founded by the Jed Foundation and MTV. Their goal is to stop stereotypes and create an environment where everyone is treated with love and respect.

My comment on the blog post:

      This campaign is amazing. I lot of people say they support people who are gay, but if you ask a person in front of a crowd, many of them will start shutting down and denying their true feelings on the subject, for fear of being judged. Many times, it takes campaigns like this, which are supported by MTV and other famous stations/people, to allow people to admit their true feelings. Silly, I know, but it is the cold truth. That is why I think the group of boys at Trinity School are amazing. They had no celebrities telling them it was “cool” to support the gay students at their school, they did it because it was the right thing to do! The group of boys, also had the dedication to make Straight Up Love is Louder a national campaign. Watching this video gave me faith in humanity. I am a student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama taking EDM 310, and although I would love to say this campaign has become well known around here, it has not. This is my first time hearing about it, but you can be sure that I will share this video and spread the word! Thanks for sharing!

Hi friends and strangers, please interact with me, not your mobile device

      The second post I read on 21apples, was Hi friends and strangers, please interact with me, not your mobile device. The author of the blog, arvind s. grover, the Dean of Faculty at the Grace Church School in New York City, said that phone addiction has gotten out of hand. He said that he understands using technology when needed, but when it gets in the way of our ability to love and interact with each other, things have gone too far. He said that we should control our phone devices, not the other way around, which is absolutely correct.
       A short, two minute, video called I Forgot My Phone was also posted and it hit the nail on the head! The video showed a wide variety of different scenarios where people are either ignoring those around them to play on their phone or taking pictures and videos of special moments and not paying attention to the actual moment. It was upsetting to see just how much phones have really taken over.

My comment on the blog post:

      It is so sad that the video is spot on. Everyone is so concerned with making sure everyone else on social media knows what they are doing, that they often miss the special moments, themselves. It is sad to say, but every scenario on the video I have seen for myself. Phone addiction makes you lose sight of the people and moments right in front of your face! I am a student at the University of South Alabama, taking EDM 310 and would love it if people took a look at my blog at: http://checklindaedm310.blogspot.com/.