Introduction

 

(image source: Photo Taken by @byrochelephoto)

Where you can find me: 

Instagram                                                    TikTok                              Linked in                                   Facebook

    Personal: @hana.daccha                          @hana.daccha              Hanako Ishizuka-Gunderson      Hanako Ishizuka-Gunderson

    Librarian: @librarian.in.louboutins

I'm all over the place when it comes to social media bios, so let's keep it as concise as humanly possible  (JOKES ON YOU I HAVE NO CONCEPT OF BREVITY). 

Hi! My name is Hanako. I'm a 33-year-old mother of 2, currently aspiring to get my master's degree in Library and Information Science. I've been in the library field for over a decade now, and have finally taken the leap to continue my education. I currently work as a public service library assistant at my current institution (University of California, Irvine). I absolutely love my job, and the fun things I get to do! 

(Image Credit: Allan Helmick From UCI)

Here's a photo of myself showing visitors a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio during University of California, Irvine's Annual First Folio Friday Event. You can view more photos from that event here

I've even made it into the LA Times for the First Folio's 400th anniversary exhibit event in spring of 2023. 

As you can see from the links above, and probably going by my age, I've been engrossed in the social media world since my adolescent years. This essentially means that my entire personality consists of bad memes and overplayed, once-viral internet references of the mid-aughts. Basically what that means is that I am the epitome of cringe culture and I revel in it. As mentioned, social media has played a rather integral role in my upbringing - I remember the before times when my entire life wasn't on the internet for all to see - what I like to refer to as the Dark Ages - and remember the rise of shady chatrooms (I was about that AIM and MSN messenger life), online virtual worlds (looking at you, Gaiaonline), and of course the big bang of social media sites like Xanga and Myspace. Before you ask, yes I was a scene kid, yes it is absolutely PAINFUL knowingly looking at all of those selfies, and NO, not one person loved me enough to pull me aside to question my approach to self-expression. But hey, at least now I can laugh at myself. This also means that I am completely and irrevocably obsessed with myself (because the glow-up that I had is truly remarkable). 

                 

                        (Image Credit: Me. Circa 2005? Truly Tragique)                 (Image Credit: Me 2023)


With that being said social media has changed my life in so many ways. I've met the love of my life - now husband on instagram. Or rather, I saw him at a convention, found him on Instagram and then slid into his DMs - resulting in two amazing kids and a partnership filled with so much laughter and love that sometimes, it makes ME cringe. My husband and I both cosplay, so social media is utilized of course to showcase our art. 

(Image Credit: @Jon York) 
Me as Gamora @the_cosplay_r as Starlord

From Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

(Image Credit: Oliver Ayala) 
Me as Princess Tiana 

From Disney's Princess and the Frog

(Image Credit: Robert Torres)
Me as Lilo Pelekai and Morgan Hofer as Mertle Edmonds 

From Disney's Lilo and Stitch

(Image Credit: Brandon Jackson) 

Me as Jade Nguyen AKA Cheshire and @the_cosplay_r as Roy Harper AKA Arsenal 

From DC Comics

(Image Credit: Schelsy Timmons) 

Me as Poison Ivy and Schelsy as Harley Quinn

(Image Credit: Robert Gunderson)

Me as Zatanna 

from DC Comics 

My vanity knows no bounds - truly - and I know for a fact that social media and my online presence have only fueled my narcissism. But I digress...

I've also met some of my lifelong friends online, and have been able to reconnect with friends that I thought I'd lost all contact with. One of my best friends from kindergarten found me again on facebook after 20+ years and we've kept in touch since!

While social media has provided me with a lot of positive aspects in my life, as can also be seen from this post, it has truly enlarged my ego to unforeseen magnitudes. I have had to build interesting coping mechanisms to ensure that my mental health doesn't deteriorate from frequenting these platforms. 

The internet in the early 2000s was wild - amidst 4chan and a newly found sense of anonymity, users really used these platforms to be the worst versions of themselves and inflict some of the most damaging impacts on a lot of people's self-worth and self-esteem. On the one hand in more recent years, I've been able to validate my experience as a multiracial woman of colour and learn so much about myself, my culture and the history of my peoples due to the connections social media have provided. Despite having to battle through some of the most incensed abuse thrown my way, social media I feel has largely shaped how I view myself today. 

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading my introductory post. I apologize for how long this ended up being, but when the professor gave us the prompt to talk about ourselves, I took that to mean "ramble aimlessly without interruption because at least nobody ACTUALLY has to read through all of this".

What's your favorite social media platform to use? What are some long-forgotten platforms or sites that you used to visit? Do you find the transition of the utilization of social media in professional interesting? I remember a time when social media was completely blocked from our schools and now seeing those same schools use social media as a tool has been really interesting.

I hope to get to know all of you, and am excited to read everyone else's posts!