Reflection Time

Wow, this unit has certainly made me realize how much of a robot I am. Honestly, everything I do is highly influenced by the media and social pressures. I consume a ton of media. I literally get anxiety when I don't know where my phone is. If I can't feel it in my pocket I have this mini heart attack. It really isn't healthy. Not all the media I consume is voluntary. Where ever I turn, somebody is telling me to buy something. On ads, magazines, and posters, people are trying to reach consumers through the clutter they have created. This was talked about in the second Frontline production that we watched. Because of all the clutter that surrounds my life, I begin to center my identity around it. I try to dress like certain people and buy things that other people have. My personality and appearance start to blend into the crowd rather than shine for it uniqueness. However, this unit has also taught me how to fix this. Now that I am aware of these atrocities, I can adjust the way I let them impact me.

I would say that the only reason my media consumption has changed this semester, is because I have too much work to even think about distractions. Sophomore year has defiantly met the standards survivors have explained. There is no time for anything. Other than that, I do not believe my media patterns have changed that dramatically. I still consume that same about of media, I am just more aware of it now. For example, I might be surfing Instagram and see and ad for delicious Oreos. Before this class, I would have gone out looking for Oreos because the ads reached into my brain and pulled my Oreos lever. Now I keep this lever safe from advertisers. It it for my use, and my use only. I will eat Oreos when ever I want to. Not when they want me to.

Keeping this blog has been super cool. I didn't realize how tech savy I can be. Also, it has forced me to analyze the messages around me. I have discovered many things about the medias around me, because I had to do it for homework. Although I do not always like homework, I did enjoy these assignments. They really showed me and snapshot of what my media consists of. I think it is also really important as a writer to have other people read my work and comment on it. At first, I was sort of nerve racking having the class read my work. After a couple of posts I got more comfortable which was really cool.

As a consumer, I think it is super important to know what companies are trying to feed you. Capitalism runs the world. It is an unfortunate reality of our generation. As one little person in a world of crazy buyers, you need to differentiate yourself and not buy everything you see. It contributes to awful companies who manipulate costumers and sucks all your money away. In order to do this, consumers have to be educated. They have to learn and practice how to stay away from awful messages. The only way to do this is to educated people and set an example.

This unit has opened my eyes to so many ways that I can avoid being controlled by corporations. These media life styles scare me. Screens run our lives. They are little portable devices that depict us. We need to learn how to use it as a tool because many people are using it to define themselves. Media and the internet are for the projection of your wonderfulness. Not a definer.  

Humans Becoming Dumber

     Our generation experiences much more brain stimulation than previous human generations. Ads create colorful distractions, microwaves heat our food without fire, and we can talk to people within seconds that are hundred of miles away. It is easy for us to see earlier generations, for example the 17th century, as stupider. Lots of history classes focus on all the faults of the past. It might give students bad impressions on our past and thinking of them as less intelligent. This is proving not to be the case however. Stanford did a study that concluded we have less of a survival motive so we are evoking to be less dependent and stupider Stanford Study-TIME. With this logic, the human intelligence actually peaked before our ancestors left Africa. Our technology surge has caused our lives to become much easier. We have things at the touch of a button and the media has transformed communication. Because of all these simplifications, we have lost the need to survive which propelled our intelligence. When all of our actions were fueled by the need to eat and breath, we acted faster and more urgency. After we got the whole survival thing down, we started to evolve or tools and such. After centuries and centuries of this improving, most humans can live with ease. With the loss of motivation, we have stopped evolution our brains. This is a theory researchers are still developing, but the facts seem legit to me. 

This connects directly to the media. Because the media is so accessible, people do not need to work hard to learn new things. It is an example of something we have developed from stick tools I guess. Even 15 years ago people had to go to the libraries to research things. Now we can just go to Questia and have access to 8 million reliable sources. This is even more useful than a library! As a result, students might not work as hard. I don't think we know how to appreciate how much we have. Back in the 90's, if some body wanted to know the average length of a sloth, they would have to ride their bike all the way to the library to learn. Now I can look it up within a matter of seconds. (The answer is 17-31 inches by the way). This has many connections with the Frontline documentary Digital Media. It talked a little about how kids these days think less because they have access to so much information. A critical thinker has to know how to research. On the internet there are many, many sources. Not all of them are reliable. Teenagers today don't think through the consequences of using the first source that pops up. It might not be that they are getting dumber, but they might be getting their information for the wrong sources because they don't have to work for it. Solutions to this vary. One could be that we eliminate all technology on the face of the Earth and live like cave men again. Then, the survival instincts will kick in again and we can evolve or brains some more. This seems super unethical right, however, and I am really comfortable sitting under my roof. A more reasonable one might be to educate people on the dangers of research and media. Or we could just accept that our brains will slowly turn to mush. I mean there no harm if we are happy, right?

Miss Representation

 I had not really experienced the direct affect of sexism until this summer. I always knew it was there, but I was used to it that it didn't bother me. After given specific rules at church that girls were not allowed to wear bikinis, I challenged the rule with church leaders. They told me that I was to cover my body up in order to show love to the boys. They said the boys struggle with their sexuality when the girls display their bodies, so they must be covered. This infuriated me. Why was I suppose to suffer the consequences because the boys had issues? This, among other sexist implications, prompted me to leave the church.

The documentary Miss Representation represented these ideas for me. It talked about how the messages in the media cause people of all genders to look at woman differently. The woman that have significant influences on our society present themselves in a sexual and inaccurate matter and we start to see all woman this way. Little girls grow up with a desire to look super skinny and pretty to have worth. Men grow up to be very critical of woman because they do not meet expectations. It is a bad effect on woman everywhere. As a result we see less woman in office, as CEO's, and in leadership positions.

The girls we do see elaborated by the media are stereotypes that to not describe woman as a whole. People like the Kardasians are showing girls that they need to have good bodies in order to be accepted. Then, girls become insecure when they do not meet these unrealistic expectations for themselves. This causes eating disorders, depression, and a negative attitude towards woman. The girls that are given big roles in the media, like movie stars, are asked to portray a  disturbing perception of woman. Girls are shown to be out of the ordinary, like stupid, needy, or mean. Movies and TV shows revolve around men. The man usually has a savior role and then his woman is added in the background. When movies are made about woman, there has to be a man that supports her or that she is casing after. In super hero movies, the woman roles exist for the satisfaction of men. The woman are dress provocatively to attract male views. Little girls that grow up with these images around them and believe that they have to fit these models.



When girls see less woman in leadership roles, they feel less motivated to be in these strive for these. To defy these standards we must encourage girls to go for these leadership roles to inspire other girls. Men and woman have to step up to make an environment where girls are excited to step past gender barriers. We must stop ridicule and start spreading the love.

Obama on Insta

Over the last couple of years, politicians have jumped on the social media train. They go where ever the people go in order to gain popularity in and out of office. In fact, I am following Obama, the White House, Michelle Obama, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Hilary Clinton at this moment. It is funny to see how they appeal to the crowds. Bernie posted a sign that said "Feel the Bern, Native Americans for Sanders" and Donald Trump posted about his hashtag #Trumptrain.

Social Media is playing a big role in the current election. It is used as advertisement but on a whole new level. This campaign for President is getting more attention than most and I think social media has a lot of responsibility in that. I haven't seen as many TV ads or mail for candidates that I have seen in previous elections. I think this is because ads like this cost a lot of money. One of the biggest burdens that come with running for president is the cost. Air time, postage, and printing ads costs million of dollars that the candidates have to raise on top of pushing for popularity. Social media is a great resource because it is free and reaches more people. More and more of the public are turning away from resources like paper newspapers and actual television and turning to things like digital papers and Netflix. The candidates have caught on to this and adopted the mindset of the voters.

Social media also helps supports those who are in office. One of my favorite accounts that I follow is the president's photographer. He provides a unique insight into the life of Obama that I could not get anywhere else. He also posts about important things that Obama does which I would not normally check up on. I know where Obama is and what he is accomplishment in a non-stalkerish way. Mrs. Obama does that same thing. It makes the public more willing to like them because it appeals to the crowds right to their screen. People don't have to go searching for updates because it is built into their everyday life.

Obama's Insta
Obama's Photographer's Insta

Merchants of Cool

The Frontline production, Merchants of Cool, really opened my eyes to see how manipulated teens are. Marketers treat teenagers as an unreachable phenomenon that can only be accessed through manipulation. We are an industry in itself because we have money we don't need to be spent on bills. The big corporations study young people as a science to discover the secrets to sucking the money out of them. They have come up with two characters to impose on us. The boys are assigned to the Mook, or childlike idiot, and the girls the Midriff, or sexy idol. Teenagers across the world have adopted these roles and bought products to perpetuate them.

It is this pathetic cycle where the marketers study the idolized teenagers and imitate them through their products. After these things have hit the markets, other teenagers catch on and soon everybody is participating. There is a huge downside, however, because as soon as young people notice that everybody has caught on to the trend, it become uncool. This causes the markets to constantly search for the next best thing to one up the previous. When I first heard of this cat chase, I thought, "There must be another way to appeal to teens long term." But after some more thought, I discovered there isn't. A key factor to being a teenager is we are hormonal beings who are very concerned with what other people think and want to grow up faster. The marketers play off these characteristics. If all the corporations were concerned about how they could service us and play to our individuality through their products, then everybody would be fine. We would invest our allowances not in CEO's Hampton homes, but in their desire to help people achieve their dreams. 

I am also confronted with the disappointing reality that I play into this as well. I have become so caught up in the rat race that I cannot stop. I keep running through the ways I could avoid this manipulation, but I am not motivated enough to stop. The truth is, their tactics may be sad and desperate, but they really do work. All of the alternatives to competing for acceptance way too out side of my comfort zone for me to even consider. In fact, the only solution I could think of is moving to the middle of no where, such as working on a rice field in the middle of Thailand, and not accessing the internet or media at all. 

Is that a Buick?

My favorite thing to watch on TV is car commercials. I will literally skip through the actual TV shows to watch the car commercials. They make me really happy. Everything is right in the world in the 30 second clip and often times Santa Claus is giving out free cars. Of course I realize that these are not entirely realistic, but I like to escape for the time that it lasts. It is sort of unusual, yes, because I am not the target audience for buying cars, but I think they acknowledge that everyone has a desire for a non chaotic,simple life where Santa Claus gives out free Bentleys.

One car commercial that stands out to me is Buick commercial. They are all centered around the new looking Buick. Every single person in the commercial is with a friends that are impressed by their car selection. This shows the audience that if they have a Buick, they will have friends and they will stand out. The main message Buick is trying to relay is that the new Buick will stand out to people so they will be more likely to like you. The new look of the Buick leave the past behind and focuses on the magic ingredient of the future. Buicks have always been a little ahead of their time and this is just reinforcing that idea. It comes with the idea that if you have the old Buick, you blend in with the crowd. This is best expressed when the valet guy is running up and down the parking lot trying to find the old Buick because he expects it to blend in. The new Buick is different and stands out with autonomy.

This is a really important idea for Buick to enforce because over the last decade they have not been doing so swell. The cars have gotten a reputation for driving old people and not being the best quality.

I also noticed they use very dark, sophisticated lighting in the commercial. This goes more for a sophisticated audience. Also, the scenarios that the commercial expresses target an upper middle class family. They show people at crowded night clubs, in expensive neighborhoods, and at places with valets. This targets an audience who likes to go out a lot and see people. It sticks out in places where everybody is trying to show that they are the best. In the Buick commercial featuring Kelly Frye, she is featured as a young woman looking for her friend in a Buick. When she gets in the old version of the Buick with a bad looking young man eating a sandwich, the audience compares them and sees her as better. After the better person, Kelly Frye, gets in the new Buick, they associate the new Buick with being cooler. Also, by using a famous actor in their show, they are using the testimonial technique to show that if Kelly Frye likes this car, you must too.

Buick also uses the same song in their recent ad campaign Its Alright by Matt and Kim. This song is very upbeat and slightly techno. This is a newer music category showing that Buick really wants to focus on being modern and leaving the old model behind. The audience really doesn't want to feel old so they will want to buy this new, young car.

Because of this the Buick overall message is that if you buy a Buick you will be unique with lots of friends. Your Buick will stand out in a sea of old Buick and your friends and others will notice and pay more attention to you because that is what you want- attention.

Modern Day Love

How Media is affecting modern day relationships.

Relationships have greatly evolved over history. During most of history, people have practiced arranged marriages with the purpose of continuing the family lines and having cultural advantages. Over time, they have been influenced by various types of media and transformed relationships to be based on love. It makes us wonder is love is a society based idea or one we were bound to discover.

All over social media, we see couples couples couples. Celebrities, teenagers, politicians, and characters. We use this as a construct for what our relationships should look like and base them off of the ones we see on TV. It is a form of the bandwagon tactic or trying to be included because it is what all the “cool” people are doing.

Has media had a positive or negative affect on our relationships? Do we base what our relationships should look like and/or feel like on what we see around us? Has forms of social media made our relationships less intimate? Is this a bad thing?

Social media has certainly made communication easier. By not talking face to face, people can be more thoughtful about their words because they do not have to talk in person. They say 70% of conversation is based off of facial gestures which is eliminated during internet messaging. This means that when we talk to loved ones over the internet, our conversations with them are not as profound perhaps as they would be in person. Social media takes out some of the emotion from conversation and makes it easier.

However, this is completely necessary in many situations. Media nowadays spreads ideas and words much faster over greater distances. People can reach each other in farther places. This is a great thing because people who could not be together normally now can. It is a worthy consequence over no communication at all.

How has love fit is to all of this?

It has definitely been added to our relationships on a whole new level. In our culture, people are getting married because they want to and not for their family. It is still true in some parts of the world that people are in arranged marriages, however, most of these places have little connection to the sorts of media that we experience, either by choice or by environmental factors. This leads me to believe that the media has highly influenced our society's marriages and relationships.

Yes, it is possible that the media has dramatically changed the way we come to love one another, but that doesn't mean our relationships are any less profound than those 200 years ago. Maybe it has opened us up to what we really need. Love might be a society drive concept, yes, but nobody seems to have a problem with it because it is bringing them more happiness than distress. Social media takes some emotion out of conversation, but it also lets people connect that otherwise would not. In my opinion, it has been a God sent for the world and it should be more accessible to those who do not have it.

This is the article that sparked my interest.

link

Advertising Spots

     There is definitely something ironic about advertising for advertising spots. Throughout critical thinking, I have taken note of the tactics people use to pull in these advertisers. The advertising world has to collaborate in order to succeed and therefore the people who are selling the ad space don't have to play the same mind tricks. There are two sides to the equation. The people who have the ads and those who sell the ad space. Something they both have in common is their desire to make money.

I have noticed that when people advertise for advertising space, they don’t use the normal, complex tactics. For example, on bus benches, there are usually messages as simple as this:

This is less manipulative than the people that buy the spots such as:

This is probably because the bench owners recognize that the people they are selling the benches to understand the manipulation that consumers experience. This really goes to show how much the sellers customize their product and ads to the customers. You may argue that the bench company is using the technique “the bare necessities” but I think they literally just alerting the people looking for places to put their ads. The people buying the ad space are seeking the bench sellers opposed to normal consumers who just flick through a magazine and come across ads.

In order to make ads successful, it is completely necessary to find good ad space. It gives the ads purpose and reaches the audience. It is just as important as the ad itself.

Before studying marketing tactics, I didn't realize how much goes on behind the scenes. It always sparked curiosity in me to wonder how much time people take to develop the ads. I now realize that a lot of thought goes into it. They take into account the gender, race, placement, and number of people throughout the ad in order to manipulate the audience to believe the quality of their lives will be improved by falling for the product or service. By noticing empty street bench ads, I noticed a whole other side to campaigning. In order for people to see the ads, there must be somewhere to put them.

In order to reach a wide array of audiences, advertisers must evaluate where these people go to seek the media. For example, I would figure a diaper ad would not be in a men's health magazine because it is a common reality assumption that women are likely to buy the diapers. Therefore, diaper ads are more likely to be in a parenting magazine where the audience actually seeks out diapers.