Media Reflection

            As we finish critical thinking I felt that it has made me more aware to the world around me. I have come to realize how much media affects me and how it has become such a large part of my life. I’ve come to realize that I consume a lot of media, purposefully and just in the world around me. I consume a lot more media then I should, and I knew it was a problem, but critical thinking has helped me realize how much of a problem it is. It distracts me and I feel like I have a shorter attention span because I’m on it so much. It makes whatever task I’m working on take so much longer because I take “breaks” on my phone that take a very long time. Even this reflection is taking me a longer time than necessary. I’ve always been aware that advertisers aren’t making this product for me, they just want to make more money. But now I’ve learned what they use to grab people’s attention. I’ve learned to filter out advertisements because there is just so many that try to catch people’s eye. This class has helped me filter out even more things, things I didn’t even know they were advertising. I’ve realized that even though there are advertisements you can buy on social media to advertise products; people also advertise things for free when they post about it.

            My media habits have definitely changed. I am able to put my phone down in a different room so I can focus better. I’m also more aware of my media consumption and have been trying to reduce it. I’ve thought that how much media I consume is normal, and while it may be normal for people my age, it isn’t healthy. I’ve realized I’ve been using the bandwagon fallacy and need to change that. I’ve also come to realize how stressed out social media makes me. It stresses me out more than it should when I already have enough stress on my plate.

            It is extremely important to have media literacy. If we don’t, then people won’t realize that people don’t always have your best interest in mind. Advertisers don’t care if you are spending all of your money on a product, they just want your money. It is also important to have media literacy because then you can realize that not everyone on social media is trustworthy. This class has helped me broaden my media literacy and understand advertising. Being an educated consumer is also extremely important. Advertisers love to lead you down the wrong path, and if we aren’t educated into what we are buying, we could buy something we don’t need or something we don’t even want. It’s important to keep in mind that the brand of the product doesn’t matter. Even if other advertisers say that the brand is important, ignore them because in reality they are selling the same thing as their competitors.

            From keeping this log, I’ve been able to understand more of what we were learning as I was writing. This blog allowed me to analyze social media and advertisements further. It has also shown me how much I’ve learned in this unit and how much more I know.

Brand Loyalty

       As consumers we have at least one brand loyalty, whether it be for shampoo, laundry detergent, phones, or chocolate. We have a brand that we go to and trust the most. People have a large brand loyalty to Starbucks for example. There are so many different coffee shops we could try, and many of them could be better than this one. But, we go to what we are used to and what we are comfortable with, making it even more desirable to have a brand loyalty. Another example of this was Quickly and D-Cup. (I think D-Cup closed, but now it's re-opened) Both of these places have boba and both are good, but a lot of people wen to Quickly instead because it was what they were used to. We would rather stay in our comfort zones rather than branching out and trying new things. 
       This also makes it  harder for smaller companies to start and do well without closing like D-Cup did. And while the larger companies like Starbucks and Quickly are doing great, smaller local companies suffer. 

Oprah and the Golden Globes

       On January 7, 2018 millions of people watched the Golden Globes. But it wasn't only a night of award winning television being recognized, it was an awakening. Oprah gave a speech saying that we will be silent no more and "the time is up." The time of men dominating the entertainment industry is up. The time of women staying silent is up. When Oprah gave her speech I felt stronger, as did millions of other people who say it. It was more than a speech, it was a declaration. Oprah became an inspiration to girls around the world. This showed how much the entertainment industry can influence how we see things and how it can influence our younger generations. We have be careful in how we use media because we sometimes forget how influential it is. Oprah did a great job in taking a step in the right direction and spreading awareness on this issue. 
       I also loved how they used the Golden Globes as a way to spread awareness. Men and women wore black to raise awareness about sexual assault. They wore black as a kind of way of saying you are not alone and we hear you. 

Miss Representation

       Over winter break I watched Miss Representation. I've always known we have a lot of unrealistic standards for women and girls but when they showed us the statistics of mental health, women in media, and body standards, it was shocking. I hadn't realized how affected girls are by the media, and how much of the media is dominated by men. Women can't feel empowered if they are not properly given a voice in media. In movies and on TV shows, men objectify women a lot, and it just shows boys at an early age that it's ok for them to do it too. When women are the main character in movies, a lot of the times, the entire plot is them looking for love. An example of this are Disney movies, many early Disney movies have a female character, and the entire movie is about her finding love and being saved. This shows girls at an early age that their purpose in life is to find a spouse and tells young boys that they are the prize. What I also found interesting was how our beauty standard and what we think of as the ideal women, is an image drawn up by men because they make up most of the entertainment industry. And this image of the "ideal women" isn't even realistic. They take an image of a woman, and alter it, making her waist thinner and eyes larger and making girls feel like they have to achieve this unrealistic image. 
       What I also liked about this documentary was them pointing out the issue of having standards for men and boys too. We've created these expectations of men not being able to have feelings or show their emotions. I think in the documentary they used the term "emotional constipation." We've created a society where we tell men and boys that crying is weakness, and they cannot show weakness. If people kept all of their emotions on the inside, this can turn extremely unhealthy. 

A Bash on The Bachelor

       The first episode of season 22 of the Bachelor aired on January 1, 2018. The Bachelor is a TV shows on ABC and is about 29 women on the show "competing" for the bachelor who is Arie Luyendyk Jr. The women compete for the man and he is trying to find "the one"... on national television. They say it is a reality TV show. When it has scripts and created speeches, just not as many as other channels. They say they are looking for love when they just want to be on TV. I'm sure some of them are looking for love when they go on, but there are a bunch of cameras when you go on a date. Your love life is put on live television, while you are looking for the love of your life. It's just a very fake show. They say they have chemistry with people after talking to them for 30 seconds.  It's unrealistic and you likely aren't going to meet someone you meet on TV. 
       The show is also extremely not diverse. This show features tall women with long hair. 20 out of the 29 contestants were caucasian. Last year was the first time there have been a person of color as the bachelorette. There have been no people of color as the bachelor. 

       This show appeals to our need to satisfy curiosity. People keep watching so to see who wins. They want to see who he will pick at the end. They also keep you watching to stays at the end of the episode.

Banks Hate Her! Drop $3,500 from Your Mortgage!

        Clickbait. It's something we see on social media and different websites all the time. We don't think much of them, and just look past them. When you see the article titles to get you to click on them, they end up just being boring articles that have nothing to do with the actual topic. So why are they still a thing, and what do they actually do? Well, for clickbait to be a thing, or anything to still be around, people have to use it, or in this case, click on it. Clickbait is used to draw you to a certain page. They want to appeal to your need to satisfy curiosity, making you have the desire to go on that website/page. Another thing I’ve heard about clickbait is that it can potentially give your computer viruses or make your devise slower. This is why I don’t go on clickbait, otherwise I would use it as another way to procrastinate. 
        Companies like the New York Times have slots for other companies to pay them and get an advertisement or clickbait ad. These big companies know what people are putting on their websites and are fine with it, all they want is the money, they don't care about the content. We have learned to filter out these kinds of things. We may see them, but normally just ignore them so, to entice people to actually see the article, people use clickbait. They come up with these outrageous titles to get you to notice them. It's all one big competition.