Introducing Myself

My name is Jed Arnold. I currently live in a small town in central Illinois, but in 3 weeks I am moving to Chicago. I am working towards a degree in psychology to hopefully become an addictions counselor in the near future. I have worked in a probation office as well as a local library and oddly enough, both have given me a great insight into the nature of addiction. I have never felt a great desire for any career until I started dealing with those struggling with addiction.

I am currently a Circulation Manager at the library I work at, which basically comes down to customer service and making sure everyone knows how to shelve books properly. The key is to know the alphabet. I am engaged to a wonderful woman who hopefully follows through and marries me in February. So, you could say that planning a wedding as my current hobby. I feel like my mind has been spent on the proper colors for a table runner as well as why certain flowers are not allowed to be paired with other flowers for the past 5 months. I cannot seem to find time for my former hobbies like book clubs and dodgeball games.

I love showing off this picture because I honestly feel like it was the only one that I was happy about on the day it was taken. A lovely storm coming in and the photographer had this great idea where I pick up and carry my fiancé in my arms for an hour for pictures. This is the first one where I was able to put her down.

I really hope that I can take away from this class is just a better understanding of how we as a society communicate online. I have fallen to the wayside when it comes to online communication and social media. I use my email for my job and that has become essential to me.

Other than that, I have found that I do better the less I am involved with online communication. But I also realize that that is no way to go through life. I need a better understanding of social media and a better understanding of how people communicate online if I want to grow and become an addictions counselor, especially when it comes to building interpersonal relationships. Just because I don't understand something, doesn't mean I should be afraid of learning about it I realized.

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Communication Junkie Lessons

I personally tend to listen to comedy or horror podcasts on regular basis. If I am feeling smart and educated, sometimes I listen to a random Harvard Business Review IdeaCasts episode just to feel like I fit in with my wife. That changed when I started taking this class. I saw that we had to complete a podcast as an assignment, so I started compiling a list of podcasts on communication. Luckily enough, when this assignment came up, I had a repertoire of podcasts built up that dealt with this very topic. I chose to do this assignment on Communication Junkie's podcast, and specifically the one titled, " Surviving Social Media " where the host, Steven Fuller, talks about the time he posted a tweet that caused some difficulties with his job. In a short rundown, though I suggest listening to the podcast since it is only 10 minutes or so long, the host explains how he sent a tweet out in as a joke. (Fuller, 2019) How the public perceived the tweet and the fallo...

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Social Semiotics

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Jed Arnold

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