Class Highlights

When I read the description for this class, I honestly didn't think that I'd enjoy it as much as I really did. But it went beyond just the history of media, and how it may have impacted societies in the past, but it really talked about how media affects our society and our lives. Somethings that really led me to think were:

1. When I realized that correlation may not necessarily mean causation; it makes you think qualitatively and not just quantitatively. It forces you to really look at the why, as well as the what.
2. That countries like our with really liberal freedom of speech/press laws have so much power in our words. I think if the media took proper care of their responsibilities and stopped caring about what ideas will sell, we'd be much better off. It's a shame that we have all this freedom from our first amendment, yet we hardly use it on much that matters. Because I don't care if Kim Kardashian has a baby or not, quit giving a whiny baby like herself more publicity.
3. Advertisement is almost evil. There is SO much product placement in movies, it's really hard to not to recognize it when it's there after the veil has been torn. I really can't enjoy a movie without a cynical thought to the company that the movie has been advertising for.
4. Because T.V. has been around long enough that the character the television show broadcasts to its likewise adolescent viewers to are so over exaggerated that it's redefining what kids should act/think like. I think we'd have a lot less people pulling the same stupid stunts in real life if it wasn't present firsthand on television.
5. You can't trust everything that you find on the Internet. There are some serious trolls in the world and the Internet is their bridge that they exploit. Enough said.

I think these were the key "Aha" moments that I got from this class that I'll be holding onto.

Media Ethics

There was a lot of controversy about a Facebook photo that had been circulated by a Steph Strayer, stating, 

"If this is your husband, I have endured a 2 hour train ride from Philadelphia listening to this loser and his friends brag about their multiple affairs and how their wives are too stupid to catch on. Oh please repost..."

Although Strayer is not a professional journalist mandated into following media ethics, I do believe that she invaded a certain kind of personal space regarding the relationship between a man and his wife. Granted, that man was a infidel imbecile who deserved to be shamed, however I do not think that his wife should be involved in that kind of humiliation. Regardless of whether the man was telling the truth or not, this act of posting on a social networking media the internet, where it will never be erased, is obscene and it's not any stranger's moral duty to let such a fragile piece of information be delivered to a person in such an insensitive way.

Advertising: Propaganda Techniques

Looking back, I remember as a kid I got annoyed by commercials. I mean to an extent, everyone does, but I was SO infuriated by them that the level of anger and frustration I felt by commercials were irrational. I guess I just loved Pokémon too much.

Say hello to Pikachu!

I guess to a certain level that my reaction did make sense, because some advertisements really are meant to annoy the living fecal substances out of you, until you have some kind of unholy resemblance to Mr. Hankey, of the comedy TV series South Park. In all seriousness, here are some of the propaganda techniques that you definitely have seen at least once when watching commercials, otherwise I'm thinking it's safe to think that perhaps you were of amish background. I'm not here to judge.

REPITITION
The trick to this line of advertisement is as simple as creating an earworm of a jingle and overstating your products name so that you make sure your product is as remembered as the names of immediate family members. Par example:

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
Now, the title to this technique is a little overstated, especially with the example I have posted below. To emphasize the company's ethos, they use popular celebrities or beautiful people that appears as if their lives have made drastically better by using this product. But to refresh your memory, here is awkward prepubescent Justin Bieber telling you about Proactiv:

INTERNET: SHOPPING

Have you used the Internet for shopping, gaming or dating, or do you know someone who has? Do you know anyone who has developed an addiction (or time-consuming habit) of one of these activities? Explain how it affected their lives and how they put a stop to it, if they did. Include user-friendly links to any specific sites you mention.

 Personally, I prefer Internet shopping in some ways compared to shopping out in public; there are just some many more conveniences when it comes to shopping online. Although shopping online hasn't escalated to the point of an addiction, there were definitely some times where I felt like it had gotten out of control.
When I first got a job, I was so excited that I would finally be able to budget for myself and buy all of the things that I wanted. One of the things that I was especially fond of, and particularly excited to buy were clothes.
I had gotten a tip from a friend a while ago that it's easier to save money if you have a bank account, because it's so much easier to regulate your spendings –– due to the fact that when you physically do not carry money, you're less likely to just spend freely without knowing how much you'll have leftover. Wanting to be wise with my spending, I rarely carried cash with me, to discourage buying stuff.
But while browsing online on a blog, I noticed that someone started advertising for one of my favorite clothing stores: Urban Outfitters. Out of curiosity for the sale, I started to browse online developing a less favorable habit of wanting basically everything that I liked. Because I knew that all of my money was in the bank, the temptation was palpable.
Thankfully this habit didn't last too long, because the repercussion of my wreckless spending led me to cry every single time I actually needed to buy something. After nearly two months of not being able to buy necessities, I got the slap across the head that restored some sense of responsibility that I really needed.