Blog # 8 Nosey Commentators

The main acts of surveillance I commit are done through facebook and the television. This weekend, I spent the majority of Saturday doing homework and watching football all of Sunday. Due to the fact, that I spent Saturday completing an essay, I can honestly say I didn’t participate in any surveillance that day. My paper didn’t involve the use of the internet and my head was stuck inside a book the majority of the day. On the other hand, I am unaware of who was participating acts of surveillance on me. I am sure at least one person, roamed my facebook page. On Sunday, I obviously watched the Redskins game, and the other football games that went on way past 12:00am. Although I am intrigued by the actual game and nothing else, I can’t help but hear the commentators in the background discussing the players “baggage” or other information they find necessary to discuss. Listening to the commentators caused me to participate in different acts of surveillance. I can honestly say, I feel bad for the players. Here they are struggling to play and win a football game, while these nosey reporters are discussing their personal lives with the general public. Sometimes they are speaking positively about them, but most of the time, negative baggage is discussed, anything they think will intrigue and amuse their audience. This highlights the fact that people participate in surveillance, without even attempting to. The mainstream media forces it upon our society, making it almost impossible to ignore.

Blog # 7 My Google Search

"What you don't know won't hurt you."

My facebook page is the first thing that came up, after I entered my name in the google website, followed by a few digital stories that I had produced on youtube.com. The websites fortunately couldn’t tell a stranger much about my character, unless they were to further research my interests on facebook. After reading some of our texts, I began to question whether or not I should even have a facebook page. This is because all the information and pictures on facebook could essentially tell a complete stranger a lot of personal information about me. With this being said, I still feel fortunate to have a unique first and last name. I had about 6 websites that were about me, yet thousands of sites were directed to the meaning of my name. People with my last name often spell it with one “a.” My unique name gives me a sense of isolation, becoming aware of the fact that information about me is less likely to be searched and identified. However, I would much rather have a more common name, when it comes to a digital profile, mostly for privacy purposes. With all the harmful acts that are committed through the internet, my unique name allows someone to find me easier than they could find a person with a more common name. There are a lot more people with the name “John Smith” than there are of me. Although, my name contributes to my uniqueness, it also allows someone to get to know me a lot faster, because of the internet.

Free # 5 Production, Consumption and Reception

It is important to question what is knowledgeable as well as what is communicable in our everyday lives. The field of media and communication allows students to analyze the different ways our society relays information. In order to do this, it is essential to become educated on the study of media. Media studies is used by scholars to analyze the content, meaning, and history of the various ways to communicate information. Many theorists would agree that the ways in which media has changed has broken the traditional boundaries between the producer and the consumer.

Our society is filled with consumers that are easily influenced by the media. Social power or the power behind the media refers to the elite (wealthy) which essentially take power (money) away from the working class. This concept is related to critical media theory. The critical media theory looks at the impact of corporate ownership of media production and distribution. Essentially, it explains the effects that media has on the lower and upper class. The “Circuit of Culture,” involves the text, production and reception of a product. The text is the actual meaning that is conveyed in the book, magazine, or newspaper. It deals with what the actual message conveys. Just to clarify, this is the opposite of Marshall McLuhan’s concept, “The Medium is the Message.” The production is where, how, and why something is made. Production looks at who is involved, and how it is produced and distributed. Lastly, the reception which always depends on the actual text is how the audience or consumer responds.

Free # 4 The Hidden Agenda

Because our society is so influenced by the media, technology has the potential to affect the way people consume and produce media. This has a lot to do with the idea of “Technological Determinism.” Different forms of media must cater to the different interests of society. Examining how technology is being developed and used is best done by becoming familiar with certain components of technology. While examining a specific medium, it is important to understand certain actions that are especially, time consuming and more difficult. Producers can then develop a more advanced medium that is easier for consumers to operate. For example, when people began to express difficulties with the television antenna, producers came up with a control system they had complete power over. This eliminated the frequent problems people faced while constantly trying to adjust the device. On the other hand, we have learned that producers often have a hidden agenda. For instance, Tivo goes for the idea of targeted monitoring. They give their consumers the false promise of having more control. In actuality, consumers don’t have a lot more control. Consumers can only manage how they watch, but not what they watch. Tivo was created to eliminate the hassle that goes along with the VCR, yet the real reason it was created was to keep track and “spy” on consumer’s interests. As producers invent and create new products, our society becomes lazier and overall more obsessed with mainstream media. The more obsessed society becomes with technology, the more knowledge producers gain to advance and perfect their products.

Free # 3 The Beauty Standard

Mark Andrejevic focuses his book on certain ideologies. He is aware of the desires and needs of our society and states the actual solution to any problem is often replaced with an easy way out or simply a “quick fix.” This relates to society’s beauty standards. Our economy tries to sell us on diets, surgeries and make-up, while ignoring the real matter of the problem. Beauty advertisements often have the capability to give an audience misrepresentations and distortions of what beauty actually consists of. The media message is that if you try hard enough, spend enough, or suffer enough, you will have the look you want, and that being beautiful somehow brings you happiness and success. The average beauty product claims that when you buy their merchandise; you will instantly look tighter, younger, firmer, softer, smaller, thinner, and overall more beautiful. This is clearly not entirely true. Our society has the ability to affect a young girl or woman’s self esteem negatively or positively. This all depends on how well she rejects society’s demands for what they see as beautiful. People desire a solution, yet the only way to fix the weight problem or get healthy is to diet and exercise. Because this is extremely hard work and time consuming, consumers often desire a “quick fix” solution or an easy way out. This is because advertisements are constantly telling us not to fix America’s weight problem the “healthy” way, but the “fastest” way.

Free # 2 My Career Goal

The Cult of the Amateur reiterated my dream of obtaining a career, rather than a job, following graduation. I am a Media and Communications major and hope to one day achieve a career in the radio industry. My main goal is to become a sports newscaster, preferably for the one and only Washington Redskins. Not only do I love sports, but I am also highly interested in all aspects of the radio business. I have had the opportunity to be exposed to the full range of Media and Communication courses, all of which tend to reinforce and solidify my intense interest in my major. Each course pertaining to my major have been enjoyable and enlightening, providing me with a new and different perspective on the world in which we live. Working at different radio stations has educated me on the many different components of the industry, as a whole. The knowledge and experience I have acquired has given me the devotion and ambition I need to achieve my ultimate career goal.

Free # 1 "The Kindle"

Being a Media and Communications major, I have become aware of the large influence technology has on our society. Many people are unaware of the fact that new forms of media are only made possible with help from the old forms. For example, the yearbook can be seen as the major contribution to the evolution of Facebook. With technology continuing to advance, one might wonder if/when old forms of media will ever die out. The Amazon device, the Kindle is a “wireless reading device,” that is a remediation of the written word. Creators state it is the “future of book reading.” The Kindle “borrows” concepts from other forms of media which has contributed to its creation. The device is a remediation of the book, magazine, newspaper, internet and the library. It is a 10.3 ounce device which is lighter than most paperback books. It performs the same tasks done with a computer, in a faster, less demanding way. Purchasing a Kindle is essentially the same as purchasing 200 different books, magazines or newspapers. Although there are certain limitations, the Kindle has the capability to replace any medium that applies the written word to communicate information. The device separates the user and the desired reading material with another technology based medium in between. As technology continues to advance, more people tend to ignore the old, more time consuming forms of media. Can these advanced creations of technology ever turn old forms of media such as books, newspapers and magazines to totally technology based devices?

Blog # 6 The Internet as the Enemy?

Along with Keen, I believe that people should force themselves to think critically and intellectually, without the help from the internet. Even though the internet has errors and flaws, it often has the ability to educate people if used properly. If people are thinking critically while using the internet, they should be able to filter out certain information that seems to be imprecise. In other words, as long as people are using internet sources to enhance some of their previous knowledge, students can often benefit from these sources. I agree with Lessig that some websites should be seen as a “social benefit.” People should be able to learn from one another, even if it does come from an online source. Many professors even enforce their students to educate themselves from different online sources. On the other hand, I can see how the strong demands from professors often temp students to “plagiarize.” Websites such as Wiki, can teach users the significance of the technique to filter out certain false or inaccurate information.

Keen states that if we don’t give credit to the creators, than soon a large part of our culture will die out. Yet, as Lessig states, Keen seems uneducated about the economic issues that would cause this to happen. I think the internet has the ability to spread art and culture around to an extremely diverse group of people. I believe that if the public enjoys the creation enough, the talent, artist, or creator will make money either way. As long as people use the internet merely to educate themselves, rather than “steal” information, certain online sources can be seen as very beneficial.

Blog # 5 Passion Versus Pressure

I was on the Cross Country team during high school and my first year of college. Yet, my desire to run developed only after I quit the team. After a 2 year injury, I started back up again. My love for running began when I started to do it for myself and there were no “external motivations” involved. No one forces me to run and I do it for no reason other than the fact that it relieves my stress and gives me the opportunity to enjoy some “alone time.” I could say that I am an amateur at shopping or singing, but neither of the two give me the passion and “high” I get before, during, and after my run. Although, running rewards me with health and fitness, I can honestly say that I run merely because I get pleasure out of it. The health and fitness are just perks. I often wake up extremely early to guarantee myself a 2 hour time period for my run. I am lucky enough to have a passion that keeps me healthy and stress-free. Whether it’s cold or hot outside, my run is my only “escape” from school work and the other stresses that often have the ability to take over my mind. After my run, I become more motivated with energy to complete other necessary tasks. I would never combine something I enjoy to anything complicated such as a career because it would only add stress and pressure to my passion.