Peer Review #1

This week I got to look through Darien’s Website. I was immediately interested in what they had to say, as the title peaked my interest. Sixtyfourtythree…what does that mean? My curiosity took over, so I started to read hoping that I would soon get an explanation of why a photography website would be called that. I have yet to understand the significance of the title, but maybe this is Darien’s way of making sure that I revisit their page to find out its meaning. I think doing a blog post of some sort explaining the meaning behind the title would be very well received by their audience. 

I have found Darien’s writing easy to read. There are no grammatical errors and they have done a good job of informing the readers what they should expect from their work. Their writing is simplistic which I think works well with the content they are sharing on their site. It allows for the great pictures to jump out on the page and pull you into the content. I like how the format of the layout allows you to just continue to scroll through the content instead of having to click on a new post. I believe this kind of layout can help your audience stay on your website for longer than they might have meant to.

When I was reading the introduction of the website I struggled with understanding what it was Darien was trying to say. In their text they said “a lot of the photos and videos I share are not actually from work that I have done. A majority of the content you see on this website are my personal photos of which I was not paid to take”. I thought that these two sentences were contradicting each other, so I was very confused on what they meant. Once I read it a few more times, and after discussing it with a friend I think I now know what they were trying to say. I think it may be beneficial for Darien to rephrase what they are saying here, as to prevent any confusion for future readers.

In the future I hope to see more content that really showcases their work and the talent they have. I’m interested in hearing about their experiences while capturing certain shots, and just learning more about the photography and videography world. I would also love to get to know why Darien has used the name Sixtyfourtythree for their website and photography business. I would also like to know who Darien Smallboy is. What led to their interest in photography and videography? Does it run in their family, or did they just stumble upon it and the rest is history? 

On the other hand maybe Darien doesn’t want to share who they are. In Erin Hollenbaughs paper Self Presentation in Social Media she discusses how social media platforms allow for anonymity. Darien is a photographer, which means they are always the one behind the screen capturing everyone else’s lives and never their own. I feel as though Darien is configuring the person they want to be online. I believe Hollenbaugh said it best by saying “anonymity moderates the relationship between presentation motives and content, such that increased anonymity allows for presentation that fits our ideal self better” (Hollenbaugh, 2021, pg. 85). Although I may wish to know the person behind the screen, Darien may have other plans in creating a version of themselves that they feel may be best received by their audience. In this state of anonymity Suler in his piece The Online Disinhibition Effect posed two ideas one of how people “in some online situations become disinhibited and reveal aspects of themselves” (Suler, 2004, para. 28) and on the other hand when they suppress exposing themselves online they miss out on the “important personality dynamics [that] are embedded in that anxiety” (Suler, 2004, para. 28). I’m curious as to how much Darien will reveal of themselves, as I think it can be neat to keep a bit of anonymity as long as it’s not a crutch that will keep them from growing in their work.