10 Media
Revelations
1. Technology and the Internet have become
an important aspect of almost every part of life in this new and modern digital
age. Due to the convergence of media, particularly through computers, phones,
and tablets, mass amounts of information can be accessed from anywhere at any
time. No matter where a person, is they can be accessing their media of choice,
whether it is social media or other forms of media, that are tailored to their
lifestyle and personal taste. This convergence of media also helps media
corporations to cut down on their own expenses.
- “For example, you can still get the New York Times in print, but it’s also now accessible on laptops and smartphones via the Internet. (Campbell, 11).”
- “So rather than having each radio station, TV station, newspaper, and online news site generate diverse and independent stories about an issue, a media corporation employing the convergence model can use fewer employees to generate multiple versions of the same story (Campbell, 12).”
- Digital Nation http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/
2. Multitaskers are remarkably terrible at
multitasking. Research has proven that it is physically impossible for the
brain to be doing more than one thing at once, so instead the brain is actually
just toggling back and forth between different activities really quickly. This
gives multitaskers the illusion of actually accomplishing two things at once,
but in the end the multitasker actually loses focus and productivity. This has
become a common practice, particularly among students. While the convergence of
media makes multitasking easier, it does not make people any more
productive.
- “Some critics and educators feel that media multitasking means that we are more distracted, that we engage less with each type of media we consume, and that we often pay closer attention to the media we are using than to people immediately in our presence (Campbell, 13)”
- “Media multitasking has led to growing media consumption, particularly for younger people. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found that today’s youth-now doing two or more things at once- packed ten hours and forty-five minutes worth of media content into the seven and a half hours they spent daily consuming media (Campbell, 13).”
- Digital Nation http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/
3. Increased use of technology can come
with social costs, depending on how one controls their technology use when in a
social setting. It is hard to determine whether media has altered society or
whether it has enhanced what already existed. Although this has not been
figured out, it is evident that technology has changed the way people interact
with one another. Both technology and media have the power to become a
distraction from living life “in the moment” because they take up large amounts
of people's time and energy.
- “This video clip contrasts life with a cell phone versus life without a cell phone. But rather than focusing on the advantages of cell phones, this clip mainly highlights issues of having a cell phone – making “forgetting” a cell phone seem more appealing (Allyson's presentation).”
- “Yet how much the media shape society - and how much they simply respond to existing cultural issues - is still unknown (Campbell, 16).”
- I forgot my phone (Allyson's presentation) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OINa46HeWg8
4. Privacy is disappearing at a rapid rate
in the digital age. Today, everything that is done on the Internet has the
potential to be monitored by advertisers, the government, and other industries.
This being said, what you do on the Internet is never truly private. Every
keystroke and click that you make can be collected, evaluated, and filed away
in a profile by any number of industries for a variety of purposes. Even the
information that you put out on the Internet has the potential of spreading
beyond your knowledge and staying there the cyberspace.
- “And given the endless archives of the Internet, such images never really go away but can be accessed by anyone with enough skills to find them (Campbell, 559).”
- “However, when you use the Internet, whether you are signing up for an email account, shopping online, or even just surfing the Web, you give away personal information - voluntarily or not (Campbell, 68).”
- We Steal Secrets – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUjA_hcYzzI
5. Newspapers are dying, but not news.
Newspapers are on the decline, not because they do not produce quality
journalism, but because their advertisers have taken their money out of the
print industry and moved it to the more targeted area of digital advertising.
Without the cash flow that advertisers provided, the newspapers needed to do
one of two things: accept defeat and go out of business OR become more
modernized and launch themselves into the digital age. Regardless, even if the
newspaper were to die, the industry itself would not. No matter what form the
news comes in to consumers, there will always be a demand for it.
- “Remarkably, while the United States continues to experience declines in newspaper readership and advertising dollars, many other nations-where Internet news is still emerging-have experienced increases (Campbell, 301).”
- “While some observers think newspapers are on the verge of extinction as the digital age eclipses the print era, the industry is no dinosaur (Campbell, 304).”
- Page One: Inside the NYT - http://www.magpictures.com/pageone/
6. The advertising industry discovered
that targeting the limbic brain is very affective for generating business. The
limbic brain is the part of the brain that processes music and images and
because of this, the advertising industry most appeals to the limbic brain
through song choices, nostalgic scenes, or emotional situations when
filming/producing their advertisements. The limbic brain relates to the moods
or stories that advertisements often depict as well as make the association with
personal experiences, making a stronger connection with the consumer without
them even knowing it.
- “Most consumer ads, however, merely create a mood or tell stories about products without revealing much else (Campbell, 399).”
- “The imagery of how happy the family is spending time together on this perfect family vacation to Universal Studios makes the viewer long to be a part of a similar experience with their own family. The music also plays a role in targeting the emotional brain because throughout the video, the music sets the mood as being warm and happy. At the same time, the music is a new arrangement of the “theme song” for most Universal Studios commercial, keeping the same familiar melody but expanding upon it. This causes the viewer to make an automatic connection with the song that they already know, but experience it in a different way (My presentation).”
- Budweiser “Puppy Love” Commercial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQB7QRyF4p4
7. In today’s digital age, the behavior of
youth is easily influenced by the media. Many studies have shown that when
children and young adults view violent films or video games, they have a higher
tendency to then in turn behave in a similar manner. Their buying behaviors are
also heavily influenced by advertisements. The ads that they view when watching
their favorite TV shows or surfing the web get in their head at a young age.
Advertisers target that specific demographic with fun characters or warm and
fuzzy advertisements. Now that society is aware of these influences, they have
created things such as movie ratings, advertising restrictions, and age limits
on product purchasing in order to attempt to control this.
- “In a 2011 study of more than three thousand third to eighth graders from Singapore, one in ten were considered pathological gamers, meaning their gaming addiction was jeopardizing multiple areas of their lives, including school, social and family relations, and psychological well being (Campbell, 98).”
- “Because the groups were randomly selected and the only measurable difference between them [two groups of 10 year old boys] was the viewing of the movie, researchers may conclude that under these conditions the violent film caused a different behavior (Campbell, 529).”
- Generation Like http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/generation-like/
8. The shift from mass to personal has
greatly influenced how we use technology. In the past, newspapers or TV shows
were accessed by everyone at the same time, with limited options. However,
today there is a TV show, music genre, gaming system, and social media site for
every person’s specific preference at their convenience. Media is no longer
delivered on a mass basis, but on a more personal level that is designed to
give a special experience for each person who uses it. Individuals can decide
exactly what media they want to view, how they want to view it, and when they
want to view it.
- “We are also increasingly making our media choices on the basis of Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter recommendations from friends (Campbell, 13).”
- “Some media critics even posit that having more choice actually makes us more engaged media consumers, because we have to actively choose the media we want to consume from the growing list of options (Campbell, 14).”
- DirecTV Commercial (DVR) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D03ZLePhoLA
9. Advertisers often use consumers to do
their job, particularly through social media. Using this technique, advertisers
are able to have consumers promote their product without having to pay for the
costs of advertisements and creating an even stronger “fan base” for their
product. When a consumer finds something they like, they will advertise for the
agencies without even knowing it by liking it on Facebook, sharing it on
Twitter, or even making videos about it and posting them on YouTube. Social
media allows for consumers to take part in the advertisement and promotion of
the products they love without even knowing that they are doing so.
- “The commercial featuring Robin Thicke and his #uwantit video is a very clear example of how media has grown to use peoples emotions against them when trying to sell products (Chris’s presentation).”
- “Social media are helping advertisers use such personal endorsements to further their own products and marketing messages- basically, letting consumers do the work for them (Campbell, 398).”
- Fan Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnniEpggfp0
10. Social media has become a major player
in society. Facebook in particular has the ability to alter the way we interact
with other people. We can like, share, or comment on people’s photos and lives
at any point. We can make our own opinions and thoughts known to a large group
of people instantly. Social media allows us to show what our talents and desires
are, and actually provides an outlet for reaching our goals.
- “While these options allow us to connect with friends or family and give us more choices, they also break down shared media experiences in favor of our individual interests and pursuits (Campbell, 13).”
- “Social media tools have put unprecedented power in our hands to produce and distribute our own media. We can share our thoughts and opinions, write or update and encyclopedic entry, start a petition or fundraising campaign, post a video, and create and explore virtual worlds (Campbell, 54).”
- Generation Like http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/generation-like/
