The purpose of this essay is for you to have an opportunity to form your opinion about a contemporary media phenomenon based on your own media experiences and observations, as well as media theories/concepts you learned.

 Essay-writing Procedure for Option 1: 1. Come up with one debatable question about any contemporary media phenomenon. It should be interesting and thought-provoking to you. For instance, the list of questions includes followings, but is not limited to: 

 Does social media make people happier? - Is it true that we are replacing face-to-face relationships with on-screen life? - Are we becoming more narcissistic with the rise of selfies? - Does social media create or suppress political action? - Does social media destroy privacy? - Does social media become the only way to sell something? - Are we becoming more individual or more social? - Does equality online fail or succeed to shift inequality offline? - Did memes become the moral police of the internet? - Do online politics or networked activism promote democracy? - Do digital technologies have impact on how our labor is valued? - Do social media and any other digital technologies contribute to surveillance society? 

 Essay-writing Procedure for Option 2: 1. Reflect on what you have experienced during the COVID-19 global pandemic in terms of how you use media and/or related media phenomenon (e.g., new hashtags, pandemic memes, the popularity of TikTok, hate crime targeting Asians, commercials or phishing emails preying on fear and confusion) and answer to this question: What did you learn through this experience? 

 Length: 1,000 to 1,200 word-essay (References are not counted.) 

 Typed in black, 12-point, Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with one-inch  margins, & APA citation style (see only in-text citation & reference; Refer to the online source at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/)