Skip to main content

Blog #15 - Pop Culture


Today’s lesson was based on the idea of how social media uses things like celebrities and statistics based on clicks of “likes” and “shares” and I understand how this can construct a deeper understanding of core concepts of the unit.

Form the first component is that we know this needs to be seamless and invisible to the consumer, this is to buy the consumer not having to do anything special. What social networking does is tracks and caches all user activities and through use of computer algorithms, it works to direct ads for things you have seen before or things that are a target to you to essentially pester the target audience until they go out and buy it. There is a goal to make the reader associate themselves with the product thus, the use of celebrities is an organic way of doing so that seems innocent to the consumer but it still highly effective in the business world.

We depend on the media to understand a range of different cultures, for instance, patents and older people will attempt to use the media to have a feel for what the youth is into their pop culture. Also, once again the use of celebrities defines the concept of the culture since they bring moments that are seemingly omnipresent it increases the probability for someone to identify with the movement.

In the idea like how it helps to push sales for a company, your like points can be converted to money, because these companies who manage social networking store and sell this information to advertisers to understand their demographics and based on that they will adapt your marketing strategy, hence they will push relevant ads to the market that is most likely to go with it. So, ford might market the ‘Fiesta’ to people ages 16 in the US looking to buy a first cheep and safe car.

The way we create meaning through social media form what I see now and understand is very limited. The way humans tend to work now is almost like a moth and just follow whatever is dangled right in front of them. What is important to understand that Facebook's terms and conditions that are handed over to us when we sign up for the platform are 5,830 words while all the rules that govern the United States ‘The US constitution is’ 4,543 words. We must ask ourselves, what did we approve as consumers. “I will say it is a bunch of jargon that no one stops to read. and why?”

Comments

  1. Nice and summarized to read unlike mine - you related roughly to about 3 of these core concepts quite clearly - unlike mine - although I didn't see much focus on the core concept relating to how advertising and media is what shapes the world around us. I enjoyed your other insights into the core concepts such as the 'the consumer works for the company' kind of ideology and as to how we are tracked down by these advertising corporations nowadays. I believe there's quite a bit more to talk about in relation to the portrayal of the world through media, but overall this was a good, summary of what we've learned so far. I also enjoyed that last little addition to your conclusion there, referring back to the US constitution and creating a small, yet meaningful contrast against facebook's terms and conditions. Impactful.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog #5 - Language and Community in the words of Tupac – ‘Changes’

In the song ‘changes’ Tupac speaks to his own social group, to the American African-Americans also commonly known as the ‘blacks’. His word choice, tone, and voice come from the heart telling his audience, in an encouraging voice, to essentially ‘Improvise. Adapt and Overcome’ the daily adversity they face. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the intended audience and purpose of Tupac’s speech in the song ‘Changes’. The song discusses two major social/political issues. The first being “being poor and even worse I’m black” the link of discrimination due to uncontrollable physical characteristics. The second issue is politically supported by the quote “ We ain't ready, to see a black President, uhh” . This adds to the previous points of discrimination and the public view of the ‘black’ community as less than human. Tupac chooses to communicate and address these political and social perspectives because he wants to share stories of opinion, heritage, and hardship...

Blog #23: GAZA 1

This summer I embarked on a journey that had absolutely no certainty. All I had was a destination: ‘Gaza’ and the very real prospect of getting stuck in Gaza for much longer that animated. SPOILER ALERT, that did happen. There are 3 main obstacles to my journey. Finding an airline to fly you to Cairo, the Egyptian ferry, and the Egyptian border. None with any sort of order or correct structure. Gaza’s airport was bombed and destroyed 12 years ago so the only way in or out of the west bank is through the Egyptian border or that through the Israeli occupied territory. As a holder of a Palestinian identity I am not allowed enter that territory. Finding an airline that will fly me to Cairo I scarce, I am forced to book a flight and show up to the airport with the big possibility of not being able to board to Cairo because of an uncertainty whether or not the border will be open at the time of arrival . So, I showed up to the airport with my bags and actually was turned around f...