Digital Studies Portfolio
How and why I chose digital studies
When I first arrived at UW-Madison, I didn’t fully understand how minors or certificates worked. During my first year, I enrolled in a First-Year Interest Group (FIG), a set of classes taken alongside a cohort of freshmen. My FIG was on “Internet and Society” and included courses such as LIS 202, LIS 301, and COM ARTS 346. Through these courses, I was introduced to the ways technology shapes communication, information, and society. What started as part of a structured first-year experience quickly turned into a genuine interest that I could later go on to pursue as a certificate.
It was then brought to my attention that I could pursue a certificate in Digital Studies and that the courses I had completed through my FIG would count toward it. Given my interest in the subject and the foundation I had already built, the decision felt like a no-brainer. I also began to see clear connections between my economics major and the Digital Studies certificate, particularly in how data, technology, and digital platforms influence markets and decision-making.
My Work in digital studies
In this section, you will find a collection of my work from the Digital Studies certificate, including essays, projects, and other pieces that reflect my learning and growth.
Media Censorship Infographic Analysis Project
This infographic was created during my freshman year as part of my FIG course, LIS 301: Information Literacies in Online Spaces. One of the central themes we explored throughout the course was media censorship, particularly in the context of digital platforms and the growing influence of social media companies on public discourse. I completed this project during the 2022 midterm election season, a time when conversations surrounding misinformation, fact-checking, and platform regulation were especially prominent and politically charged. At the same time, this period coincided with Twitter finalizing its acquisition by Elon Musk, which later led to its transformation into X. This moment reflected a broader shift in how social media platforms approached content moderation and how users consumed news and information.
For this project, I aimed to visually represent public opinion on media censorship using real data, primarily from Pew Research. The infographic highlights key statistics about how Americans perceive social media companies’ role in labeling or removing content, as well as the level of trust people have in these platforms to determine what is considered “misleading” or “false.” I also incorporated political differences in perception, showing how views on censorship vary significantly between Republican and Democratic voters. Turning data into visual work was especially important to me, as this course emphasized both media literacy and data literacy, understanding not just the information itself, but how it is presented, interpreted, and consumed. By designing this infographic, I worked to make complex and often polarized information more accessible and engaging for a broader audience.
Through this project, I developed a stronger ability to translate complex political and social issues into clear, engaging visual communication. It reinforced my understanding of how data presentation can influence interpretation and public perception, especially in digital environments. Experiencing this project during a period of rapid change in the social media landscape deepened my awareness of how information ecosystems evolve and how those shifts impact trust, discourse, and decision-making. This project ultimately sparked my interest in exploring how digital platforms influence economics and politics
This project was created my Sophomore year in LIS 201: The Information Society, where we explored how technology shapes society and how information is created and interpreted in digital environments. For this assignment, we were asked to develop a design fiction, a fictional narrative centered around a current or near-future technological issue, and connect it to course themes like media literacy, ethics, and the societal impacts of technology.
I created a fictional and futuristic Chicago Tribune newspaper from the year 2080 titled “Autonomous Vehicle Crash Causes Insurance Claim Headache.” The story presents a scenario where two self-driving cars collide, raising questions about liability when artificial intelligence replaces human drivers. I chose a newspaper format to make the scenario feel realistic and to reflect how people consume and trust information through established media sources.
Turning this concept into a visual project was especially fun to do, as the course emphasized both media literacy and data literacy, understanding not just information itself, but how its presentation shapes interpretation. I took this class in 2023, when AI was still relatively new in everyday use, and even experimented with it by generating an image for the newspaper cover. Looking back, it’s interesting to see how quickly AI has evolved from a tool I was exploring for a class project to something deeply embedded in how we create and consume information today.
This project strengthened my ability to communicate complex technological issues through creative and accessible formats while also deepening my understanding of how media influences perception and trust. It sparked my interest in how emerging technologies intersect with policy, economics, and information systems, which continues to shape my academic work.
Design Fiction Project
Fictional Letter to CEO Project/Essay
This project was created for COM ARTS 346: Critical Internet Studies, where we examined how digital platforms shape communication, culture, and power in online spaces. For this assignment, we were asked to write a letter to the CEO of a fictional company specializing in digitizing and archiving the internet, proposing what aspects of the internet should be preserved and why.
In my letter, I argued for the importance of archiving hashtags as a critical part of digital history. I explained how hashtags go beyond simple categorization tools and instead serve as records of public sentiment, cultural trends, and social movements. By using examples such as #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo, I highlighted how hashtags have played a major role in activism, allowing individuals to share experiences, mobilize communities, and shape public discourse. I also explored how hashtags reflect broader patterns in how people interact online, from activism to marketing to viral trends, making them valuable for future historians studying human behavior in the digital age.
This project strengthened my ability to analyze digital communication through a critical lens and to connect everyday online behaviors to larger social and historical implications. It deepened my understanding of how seemingly simple features of the internet, like hashtags, can carry significant cultural and political meaning. More broadly, it reinforced my interest in how digital platforms influence society, communication, and the preservation of information over time.
Interactive App/Game Project
This project was created for ART 107: Introduction to Digital Forms, where we explored how coding can be used as a medium for artistic expression. For this assignment, we were asked to build an interactive application using p5.js, a JavaScript library for creative coding, and design a piece that responds to user input such as mouse or keyboard interaction.
For this project, I created an interactive scene set on a soccer field. The user interacts with the soccer ball—represented as a white circle—by using the arrow keys to control its movement across the field. This design allowed me to focus on how simple shapes, motion, and user input can come together to create an engaging and responsive digital environment.
You can view the project here:
https://editor.p5js.org/ddasilva2/sketches/1TXlzHjfp
This project introduced me to the concept of creative coding, where code becomes a form of digital art. It strengthened both my technical skills and my ability to think about interactivity, movement, and user experience. More broadly, it helped me see how programming can be used not just for functionality, but also for creativity and expression—an idea that connects closely to my work in digital studies.