Browse Exhibits (1 total)

Three roommates. Three distinct lives. Three different schedules. One message board to keep them connected. 

What might sound like a failed reboot of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants actually offers an interesting viewpoint of the subject of everyday writing and how it can facilitate conversation. 

In college, everyone has their own class schedule, homework, internships, jobs, etc. So much of a college student's life revolves around their schedule, and no one's is exactly the same. For me and my two roommates, this means that we are very rarely all together in the townhouse we share. Despite having been friends since freshman year, our separate lives often pull us in different directions, making it difficult to really connect with each other like we once did. 

Enter a message board from Target. At first it was merely decoration, but as time went on, we began to use it for a lot more than that. Now we use it to communicate plans to one another, to congratulate each other on our various accomplishments, and to offer messages we might not be able to give in person. This simple act of everyday writing doesn't make us necessarily closer, but, it does keep us communicating in a way that feels personal.

This exhibit depicts our messages to one another, more than that though, it demonstrates how everyday writing is used to facilitate conversations between people. Having been to many a college party in my day, I've seen these message boards in a lot of other apartments, so I'd only assume some of them might be similar to our own. 

In the busy lives we lead as college students, something like a message board can help us slow down and actually put some thought into what we'd like to say to those who view it. It is a form of everyday writing that demonstrates a way for people to communicate without direct contact. A way to join people into conversation in unconventional ways.

When we engage with a message board, or really, with any form of everyday writing, we are really engaging in a greater conversation. This conversation can be with the creator, with those who have added to the original idea, or with the many others who view the everyday writing over time. It is this factor that makes a message board important in the grand scheme of everyday writing as a whole.

A message board isn't only important for college students though. Any sort of message board where people can not only put their own ideas, but can respond to other people's ideas is a great tool for communication in the world beyond my personal small scope of life as a college student. 

Within the scope of everyday writing, message boards, dry erase boards, chalk boards; they all accomplish the same thing. Unlike when people write their ideas on walls, or etch them into public surfaces, a board allows for easier communication to flow between contributors. Although, it is also not without certain constraints that don't affect other mediums of everyday writing. For example, with a chalk or dry erase board, messages can be erased, never to be written the exact same way again. This isn't something that would be a problem with more permanent forms of everyday writing.

Even with this constraint though, I think the ease of use for the aforementioned boards make it easy to express one's opinions at the liberty of erasing or rearranging letters. This flexibility allows for more honest, open conversation because the creator might feel free to say what they need to say without fear of having to keep their message there forever. 

In our internet age, if we post something on the internet, it stays there forever. Even if we delete it, there is an archive of our word somewhere. I think the simplicity of a message board in our day and age is important. By using something that can be altered with the flow of time and the changing of ideas, it is easier for us to express ourselves. And with the nature of message boards allowing contributors to openly interact with one another, they provide a way to communicate that is much different from other modes of everyday writing we might encounter more often.