Emerging Medium: From Utopian Ideals to the Focus on Monetizing

Historically, advertising has responded to changing business demands, media technologies, and cultural contexts. Advertising agencies, formerly in the business of peddling advertising space in local newspapers and a limited range of magazines, have become servants of the new national advertisers, designing copy and artwork and placing advertisements in the places most likely to attract buyer attention. In this era of diminishing revenues – and audiences – from traditional publishing channels like newspapers and magazines, email monetization provides publishers, advertisers and audiences with a modern method of driving revenue, new customer growth and knowledge of new products previously only available via print ads and television. Furthermore, every website has a bunch of web pages which get more search traffic than others. These pages are constantly visited daily by new visitors, people who have never seen the site in question before. I call these ‘money pages’ because they are a reliable source of immediate and future income. But they’re not just ‘money’ because they bring in revenue: they are one of the easiest ways to grow your audience without much work. If you learn how to optimize these money pages (its not hard to do), you’ll really improve your website in so many ways. More revenue, more members, more influence and authority.
The faster technology develops, the more it can be used to target consumers with personalised messaging and drive sales.
Digital media -- from Web 2.0 to 3G mobile to Bluetooth, wi-fi and new generation outdoor and point of sale communications -- will redefine the retail landscape by giving marketers the ability to make their messages more personal to consumers and therefore more relevant. The right technology used in the right way at the right time in the right place for the right people works.

The internet, mobile telephony, digital outdoor advertising and digital point of sale are, or can be, all connected to one another. This makes monetization a single media with many tools and routes to the consumer. Treated as such, brands can seek out customers accurately and engagingly and makes it easy for brands that want to deliver engaging, relevant, well-targeted and powerfully persuasive marketing at the moment consumers will be most interested. This makes advertising and monetization very personal and in your face.

Digital Technology Transformed By Its Users/Audience

If you were reading these words "back in the day", chances are you would have read it on paper -- with a printed newspaper or magazine in your hands. Today, you are probably reading it on a desktop computer, a laptop (or as a printout from either of these), or perhaps even on your Blackberry or iPhone. These transformations are fueled by innovations that meet the needs of their users and/or audiences. Innovation is something new that creates new opportunities for growth and development. Cellular technology is a prime example, despite the few "Cell Refusenicks", there are if I remember correctly, close to three-and-a-half-billion people who have a mobile device and are connected to each other.

Almost all product design is in fact innovation, but the converse is not true. Many successful innovations begin with a user need. Some innovations occur because of some serendipitous event or some scientific discovery. The innovator goes and looks for the user and looks for an application of the technology. Winston asks and answers, "Why for example, are some prototypes abandoned while others are not?...The protoype can be accepted because the early and incomplete operation of a supervening necessity has created a partial need with which the prototype partially fills." Basically digital technology is transformed by its users and audiences when the audience looks at a particular invention and says, "We need this! We want this! Improve on this"!

As a result of digital technology being transformed by it's users it has empowered them, particularly when they function as consumers. They can say exactly what they think of brands in an instant to a wide audience, check prices online before buying in store, check price comparison websites for the best deals, circulate vouchers and news of special offers -- all through social media and other online methods. Brands can no longer dictate the relationship between themselves and consumers. Instead, they must find ways to connect with people in respectful, relevant, timely and non-intrusive ways. Brands that break these rules will find it very difficult to bounce back.

"Intellectual Technologies" - Is Google Making Us Stupid?

The topic being discussed in the article, "is Google Making Us Stupid" is how Internet use affects human cognition. Nicholas Carr argues in his most recent article in the Atlantic that the Internet is beginning to have a profound impact on reading skills which has an accompanying negative consequence for deep thinking and cognition. The explosion of online information has lead to an almost obsessive compulsion among many users to try to keep on top of all new information within a given subject area. Since so much information is being produced it leads to a very shallow type of "skimming" necessary to cover the breadth of data produced on a daily basis. Carr's article notes a University College London five-year study of user online behavior which concludes "It is clear that users are not reading online in the traditional sense; indeed there are signs that new forms of “reading” are emerging as users “power browse” horizontally through titles, contents pages and abstracts going for quick wins. It almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense." The problem with power browsing is that it does not promote deep or critical thinking about the subject matter. While there is not yet strong empirical evidence to support the claim that we are 're-wiring" our brains this is a critical time for reflection on how the tools we may be relying on may be altering our perception.

Though it appears that in this digital age and the plethora if information it entails, we would increase our cognitive value, the fact of the matter is that Google is feeding us instead of us feeding Google. "MacLuhan calls this externalizing our inside capabilities", quotes internet strategist Jesse Hirsch in the YouTube video posted above. As MacLuhan's Medium theory notes, technology itself is changing individuals and society. In my observation we no longer use our brains and mental capacities to filter sense from nonsense; instead we act as passive sponges, utilizing our portals to absorb every piece of information available with little to no time devoted to an evaluation of or comparison to what we are ingesting. In this wave of mass communication little effort is put forth in writing or reading with objectivity from subjectivity.

Privacy in the age of Google

"At Google, we are keenly aware of the trust you place in us and our responsibility to protect your privacy. As part of this responsibility, we let you know what information we collect when you use our products and services, why we collect it and how we use it to improve your experience." This quote comes directly from the google site that provides the teaching video provided above. While Google claims to be concerned about the privacy of it's viewers, in the "Age of Google" in which we live, privacy is hard to come by. I write this with a bit of cynicism, with a numb sense of "isn't it obvious by now that privacy was lost with the invention of the Internet?"; however, as I read the article from the August 3 2008 edition of the New York Times entitled "The Trolls Among Us.", my smug cynicism transformed into a righteous indignation at the audacity of anyone to invade another's privacy and worse use it to harm them. The article tells of a seventh grader who committed suicide. In his goodbye note, he randomly mentioned his ipod that had recently been stolen. Some hackers got wind of this and hacked his MySpace page, placed an i-pod on his grave, took a superimposed picture of it (see above) and posted it on a random board of 4chan.org. As if that wasn't enough, the hackers took it a step further and posted a dramatic re-enactment of Henderson's suicide on YouTUbe. This incited numerous prank calls to the home of this youngsters grieving parents which as you can imagine thoroughly upset them, especially his mother. Has the Google Age brought with it a lack of respect? Unfortunately, I think the answer to that question is "yes." You see, it's not about privacy as it is about respect. That's what has been lost in the transition from old media to new media. Media is now a free for all of some members of the all just don't respect others and their privacy.

I used to think that when it comes to privacy, it all boils down to, just like most anything else, money! Just like there are two types of justices - one for the rich and one for the poor, there are two kinds of privacy, also: the kind of privacy you and I should expect, and the kind of privacy the rich and affluent should expect. Then, the Tiger scandal broke and I began to revise that frame of thought. Monetization of media is real but, aach of us is fair game, regardless of socio-economic status. Privacy doesn't make any difference to Google's bottom line - but your privacy does, just as it does with Facebook. The more you share the more data can be mined; the more adverts can be targeted; the more money can be made. That's why Facebook's nudging you towards sharing more, and it's why Google is now personalising search for everybody whether they want it or not. It's not that they're evil; it's that they simply don't see why anybody would worry - and because they don't get it, they're going to continue to attack your privacy for no other reason than because they can.

What they don't seem to understand is that online privacy is like curtains: you don't block the windows because you're running a meth lab or a brothel in your house; you block them because you don't want weirdoes peering through the window when you're watching TV and sharing personal, private time with those who really matter in your life.

From Mary Dyck to Twitter followers: Electronically Mediated Relationships

The arrival of radio meant that for the first time,news and information, sports and religion, music and comedy – all were available with the twist of a dial, even in America’s remotest corners. "It brought a common culture to individuals living in vastly different environments , and opened up new possibilities for people living beyond the easy reach of much of the popular culture of the day" (Riney-Kehrberg 1). Radio brought formerly isolated homes into close daily contact with the rest of the
nation. This led many of radio’s developers to believe that the new medium’s greatest promise would be realized in serving rural listeners. Specifically, for rural farm women like Mary Dyck, the radio not only provided entertaining programming but, more importantly, a parasocial relationship with program characters that substituted for the human interaction that was inaccessible. While radio still exists, it is, in my observation, still an old medium that no longer provides members of society with the parasocial relationships so prevalent in Mary Dyck's time. Nowadays, Twitter has become the new "poster technology" for parasocial relationships and our society's insatiable need for an ambient awareness of all that goes on in the lives of our friends and "friends in our head."

Our culture has become, more and more, celebrity obsessed. Additional exposure from new media technology and increased number of media channels has likely intensified this effect. From television to radio to film to print to the internet, fans can easily obtain more than a glimpse into the lives of the famous faces. Mass media increasingly give the illusion of a face-to-face relationship between a spectator and a performer. Today’s media frenzy and explosion of paparazzi includes non-stop exposure to celebrities’ on-screen as well as off-screen lives. The addition of reality television shows, which claim to showcase the “real” lives of these famous individuals, and celebrity news programs has perhaps increased obsession with celebrity personae. The mainstream press offers minute by minute details which one can follow his or her favorite celebrity. Current Websites such as “gawker.com” allows fans to post real-time sightings of celebrities on the streets of Manhattan. The site even provides maps to show fans celebrities’ exact locations. Various celebrities have become incorporated into the daily routines of their spectator’s lives.

The New York magazine article entitled "How Tweet It Is" poses a question that eloquently investigates the above-mentioned: Are we really becoming a nation of people who reflexively share information with everyone the minute we have it? I believe the answer to that question is "yes". The article speaks of the Hudson River airplane crash and how the "Tweet" of a passerby reported this breaking news hours before even the New York Times. This is a positive example of how being on the pulse of what is taking place provides meaningful and important information. While all information disseminated on Twitter and other social network agencies is not of this magnitude of importance, this has, like it or not, become the way in which most of us mediate our various relationships electronically.

Tabloids and Celebrities

December 1, 2009 - ENQUIRER EXCLUSIVE / WORLD EXCLUSIVE: WOMAN AT CENTER OF TOGER WOODS CHEATING SCANDAL EXPOSED!!

In this article, Ashley Simpson, friend of Rachel Uchitel, the woman accused of having an extra-marital affair with Tiger Woods speaks as the sole source of information about this supossed relationship. Although this story does constitute news (other reputable sources i.e. Good Morning America, The New York Post, etc. are covering this story), this story has a gossipy edge to it's delivery that renders it unreputable. The headline, with the use of "WORLD EXCLUSIVE" in capital and bolded letters, gives it a grandiose, larger-than-life feel that, quite frankly, the meager substance of the article does not substantiate; furthermore, punctuality, adverbs, and adjectives seem to purposefully used to add hype and emphasis and sensationalism to the story. Three times the story cites that this "blockbuster cover story was verified with polygraphs"; however, I question the reliability of lie-detector tests, especially when this is the only method used to verify sources. The entire story is based on the hearsay of Ashley Simpson, a woman who claims to be the friend of Rachel Uchital, the woman Tiger allegedly cheated on his family with. Photographs are used to comment on Rachel's lifestyle (raunchy, lewd, "party-girl"). It is interesting that the pictures features Ashley and were supplied by Ashley, as well. One might conclude that Ashley is seeking her own fifteen minutes of the spotlight.
In a highly regarded newspaper like the New York Times or Washington Post, the facts in a news story are meticulously checked and confirmed with multiple sources (when everything goes as it should). Editors and writers conform to journalistic standards and work hard to maintain an overall sense of objectivity. Tabloids don't seem to follow any of these rules. The key to tabloid story writing is that something doesn't have to be true to print -- someone just has to have said that it was true. Writers can bring in sources and experts to confirm just about anything. They will use leading questions to get a "money quote" from a source, or offer up the quote themselves and use it as long as the source agrees with them.
As the video clip states,a symbiotic relationship exists between tabloids and celebrities. A large proportion of tabloid celebrity news comes from celebrities themselves, often by way of their publicists. Some stars build a working relationship with a tabloid, offering inside stories in exchange for the free publicity. At other times, the tabloid will accept inside stories while agreeing to avoid running harsh or negative stories about a certain star. The studios even leak information about upcoming movies or the scripts for the new season of a TV show to get publicity for the show. We buy these tabloids and read these stories because we want to have an ambient awareness of and para-social relationship with celebrities. For more "info" on this story see:http://www.nationalenquirer.com/tiger_woods_cheating_rachel_uchitel_exposed_source/celebrity/67747#

Scary Movies: A Feminist Perspective

Growing up, my siblings and I were not allowed to watch scary movies. Our parents were very concerned about what we fed our minds and saw absolutely nothing edifying about watching blood, guts, and violence. When I was about 11 years old, I disobeyed and watched "Nightmare on Elm Street". I was scared out of my wits! I had nightmares, had to sleep with the lights on for a long time, and it changed the way I sang nursery rhyme songs on the playground while jumping rope ("One, Twp, Freddy's coming for you..."

About three years ago, I, against my better judgement and after over twenty years of abstaining from scary movies, I saw the movie "The Hills Have Eyes," which depicts violent rape and sexual assault against a woman rather vividly. It made me very uncomfortable. I felt devalued by the rape and violent acts towards women that I witnessed on the screen. It also bothered me that so many men (and women) can watch violence toward women onscreen and see it as nothing but entertainment. The movie was horrifying, but I was too angry at it, to be scared by it. My anger raised a number of questions that this assignment allows me to explore further. Is sexual violence toward women a valid subject matter for any movie, and is there a right and wrong way to portray it? Does violence toward women in the media contribute to the devaluing of women in our society? Is it right for the entertainment industry to capitalize on a violent crime (rape) that is both very real and very devastating to those who experience it? Is there anything that can be done about it, and if so, what?

I am a very visual learner; as such, images resonate within my mind long after whatever was viewed is over. I am not comfortable watching the gory, bloody, violent depictions expressed in slasher films or any other genre of films that does so "in the name of entertainment". As a feminist, I tend not to want to see movies that are characterized as your run of the mill horror flicks because they portray excessive gore and unnecessary violence of the human body and predominantly, the female body. Clover supports this feminist perspective of horror movies when she states that, "Horror and pornography are the only two genres [of film] specifically devoted to the arousal of bodily sensation. They exist solely to horrify and stimulate, not always respectively, and their ability to do so is the sole measure of their success" (169). I feel that violence towards women in that context is very unnecessary and it only promotes degradation. Some rape scenes are only there for titilation, appealing to the lowest, prurient interests of the moviegoing audience. Im offended when the woman being raped begins to respond, because "He's so good, she just cant help herself". This sends a dangerous message that lurking beneath a women's modest female exterior is a subconscious desire to be ravished. In my opinion, it is for the pleasure of the armchair rapist that detailed accounts of violent rapes exist in the media. This furthers the seemingly inseparable marriage of male sexuality and violence in our culture. Furthermore, the movie trailer clip of "The Hills Have Eyes" included in this blog provides a visual aide for precisely what Clover denotes in "The Body" portion of her essay: "...The killer is with few exceptions recognizably human and distinctly male: his fury is unmistakably sexual in both roots and expression; his victims are mostly women, often sexually free and always young and beautiful ones..." (176).

In comparison, movies like The Accused and Eye for An Eye, where the violation is a central part of the story, is a different matter. While still very disturbing, they promote the story in a way that is necessary for understanding the character. Often times, these are true stories that are made into films for societal awareness and educational purposes. In a perfect world, there would be no violence at all, but until then, we should see things that make us more sympathetic and understanding of woman who were victims of acts like that. I think movies can be scary without all the blood and gore and violence. Watching this violence, to a large extent, desensitizes the viewer and helps promote behavior that is not in accordance with the betterment of society. Whether we, as media consumers, choose to hold the media accountable for the inherent responsibility they have to us, that responsibility is present. By refusing to support movies that are not in agreement with my values, I can, on a personal level and small scale, relegate the media's potential effect on my mind and in my life.

Media and Refuseniks

I've chosen to react to the NY Times article entitled "The Cell Refuseniks, an Ever-Shrinking Club." The article, for those that may not have had a chance to read it, discusses the few sole survivors who refuse to live life without a cell phone. According to the article, "those [people] who still do not have them [cell phones]...tend to be older or less educated Americans or those unable to afford phones. These are people who have a bunch of other struggles in their lives and the expense of maintaining technology and mastering it is also pretty significant to them..." What we see in this statement is that one's access to media technology is directly correlated to their age, amount of education, and socioeconomic status. For many of us the idea of not having a cell phone is unfathomable; however, for may Americans, this "working poor" status is reality. The Department of Social Services recently enacted a plan that gives free pre-paid cell phones to those who receive Food Stamps and or Medicaid. Poor people have emergencies just like anybody else and need a means of communication that is easily accessible and readily available.

Not everyone who doesn't have a cell phone is poor, however. Many of these people, according to the article, choose not to be tied down with cell phones and the expectations that they bring of always being reachable, anytime, anywhere. As a society, we've gotten so accustomed to 24-hour accessibility that we no longer understand the concept f NOT being able to reach someone or someone NOT wanting to be reached. I experienced this first-hand during the media deprivation experiment. People were like, "What do you mean you're not on Facebook?" Many times on the weekends when I am surrounded by my family, I become a "refusenik" and willfully don't answer my cell phone. Whoever it is can wait! If it's that important, they'll call me at home and/or leave a message. I simply want to have time with y loved ones without interruption. Has technology gotten us to a point where this is beyond our scope of reasoning? Yes. "Cell refuseniks are making a statement that they control their availability."

Media and Female Sexual Objectification

Today, my daughter, Cereta, and I, sat down on the couch, played with her dollies, and watched t.v. together, laughing and giggling as we so often do together. We were paying more attention to each other than to the dolls or the programming (this is a good thing!) She picked up the remote to flip through the channels and I noticed how much the advertisements were focused on females and the importance of them looking, smelling, acting, and being sexy in an effort to get the approval of the opposite sex. Everything from ads for ice cream to make up and everything in-between had under and over tones of sex built into it. I even noticed the dolls we were playing with (Bratz Dolls), which she's had for a few years, were "sexualized" in their clothing. Although these dolls may present no more sexualization of girls or women than is seen in MTV videos, it is worrisome when dolls designed specifically for 4- to 8-year-olds are associated with an objectified adult sexuality. I'm constantly talking to my children about sex so I started to matter-of-factly ask Cereta what she thought about the ads. She intuitively caught on to the sexy quality of the ads and of the programs, as well. It spawned a dialogue between us that ran the gamut of menstrual cycles to fashion, makeup, dieting, careers, education, children, boyfriends, and much more. All of this encouraged to a great degree by the t.v ads and programming and their consistent use of sex and sexiness as a major selling point and audience captivator of all ages. By so doing, media, as MacLuhan postulates, in and of itself, functions as a catalyst for change in individuals and society, negative though it may be. I looked at Cereta's Bratz doll and the t.v. advertisements and observed even in their isolation the changes they spawned in out society.

As a young girl, I noticed this interesting sexual power that women had and I liked. I like it still. I'd even go so far as to say I love the power that being naturally feminine (being biologically and innately female) affords me. There is power in the curves of my body. There is power in my beautifully long eyelashes that with a mere bat of them, can move mountains. There is power in my chosen tone of voice that when gauged properly, can set the desired mood of those around me. There is life-giving power in the treasure that lies between my legs. However, being desired sexually becomes a curse when it is the only aspect of her being that a women chooses to cultivate. Society perpetuates this ill-thinking, in large part, with the help of media and television advertising. There is much more to myself, to every woman than physical beauty and sexual desire. Our academic and emotional intellect must be properly nurtured in order to become a woman in the truest sense of the word. we must embrace ourselves, in our totality and concertedly in order for long-lasting changes in not only the way we are viewed, but more importantly, in how we, as a gender, view ourselves.

I walked away from the conversation with my darling Cereta a hint of sadness; sad because the age of innocence seems to be decreasing as our society becomes more and more perverse. No longer can kids just be kids. We have to begin explain what used to be adult things to them earlier and earlier; if not, we risk their ignorance being their demise. What does this say about our society when the young and innocent are so vulnerable? How can media perpetuate or resolve these issues? It is my hope that we come up with answers and solutions that are effective and meaningful and teach us to utilize media in a way that edifies our young, burgeoning minds, not corrupt them with unrestrained images of sex and "sexiness" as a means to an end for happiness and success in one's life.

Media and Racism

In a segment entitled Digital Life on NPR, hosts Michel Martin with Anna Holmes, editor in chief of Jezebel.com, and Terence Samuel, editor of The Root.com, conducted a show dedicated to the increase in Online Racism reported following the recent arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. According to the views expressed in the broadcast, online postings often get out of hand, often spewing racially offensive epitafths. In my observation and experience, racism is a major thread used to weave the fabric of this country. It, along with capitalism, are the foundation upon which the crux of this country has been built. Racism is the core of what America is all about. It is an inextricable component of the way in which this country is governed. Just look at the alarmingly disproportionate amount of black men incarcerated in prisons across America in comparison to their white counterparts for committing the same offenses as an example. Where most scenarios are concerned, I weigh in on the side of positivity and hope, choosing to see the proverbial glass half-full; however, with regard to the question of whether or not media in ll of its forms contribute to racism in America, I am a realist and emphatically say yes, it does. Furthermore, as unfortunate as this is, until there is a genuine desire on the part of white America to end racism, situations for people of color will remain an uphill battle. The people who make the decisions and decide what is and is not news are not black people. This lack of minorities in decision-making roles affects how well minorities are portrayed and perceived.

Media unquestionably fuels and funds this promulgation of racist ideas upheld as norms in American society. Radio and magazine advertising has helped promote racial and ethnic inequality in the United States by limiting minority visibility, exploiting minority consumers and perpetuating stereotypes in the ads themselves. An example of this would be the advertising done by cigarette companies. Cigarette advertising in most magazines surged in the 1970s when tobacco companies withdrew from radio and television in compliance with FCC-mandated Fairness Doctrine messages to the American Cancer Society and other health organizations. By the early 1990s, cigarette companies were shifting their focus away from the educated, affluent readership favored by many magazines and toward low-income women and minorities. While this trend may have boosted advertising revenues for some minority magazines, it was clearly not in the best interests of their readers' health. I am an avid reader of black magazines like Essence, Ebony, and Jet and I see the way in which cigarettes, particularly Newports are portrayed with images of black people as sexy, good, and of no consequence. Advertisers who once shunned minority audiences have proven themselves all too willing to exploit them.

Do not misconstrue my interpretation: I am by no means saying that all white people are racist. Clearly, they are not; however, all white people simply by way of being white benefit from racism, even if it is by default. They enjoy a very real white privilege that many feel is their God-given right because they know nothing else. Media, in all it's venues, promotes the wrongly upheld notion that being white is inherently better than being black, In both my observation and my experience, the overwhelming majority of white people I've encountered throughout my life either turn a blind eye to racism and pretend like it doesn't even exist OR better yet, they ask me, as an intelligent, educated black women, to turn off my sensibilities and powers of observation when confronted with racism, in an effort to make them feel better about a system of oppression that their forefathers instituted and that they actively benefit from. I have real concerns with the media's role in creating perceptions about race and race relations. I think that the media can be, and really has been, very damaging as far as race relations are concerned.

Whites, on a whole, experience benefits simply because they are white. As black people in America, we learn everything about white people and many of their respective cultures and histories from the day we are born. A large part of this learning comes from the media. Yet, white people still can't distinguish whether or not my hair is braided or dreadlocked or if I wash my hair or "take it out" to wash it (whatever that means?!?!). There is a gaping disparity in awareness about what I, as a black woman in America, am about or have to endure. Does this on some level have to do with the media's denial of the portrayal of positive African-American images in it's movies, commercials, news broadcasts, magazines, and billboards? I believe it does. Racism comes in many overt and subversive forms, many of which are controlled by the media. People talk about the media as if it were something removed from them, something alien, when in fact, the media is simply a projection of our society. We have deep, profound, tragic problems with race relations in the media because we have deep, profound, tragic problems with race relations in this society.

Media, Masculinity, and Violence

I was deeply moved by the movies, Tough Guise and The Killing Screens; so much so that I took over two pages of notes while watching them. All of what is presented is relevant on a variety of levels and brings to our collective consciousness some profound truths about the effects media is having on men and women in our society, particularly our young, impressionable adolescents. The media is negatively defining what masculinity is and how "real" men must act in order to be validated.

Some key points that stood out to me were:
- If you want to understand something in society, look at its representation in the media.
- Guns in movies, in addition to being phallic symbols, have gotten bigger over the last four decades, as have the bicept size of action figures from 1970 to today.
- Outsiders who don't fit in i.e. Columbine, use guns as the great equalizer. Disproportionately, the outsiders are male.
- Especially interesting is the medias portrayal of poor urban black men and men of color overall. They are almost always defined as tough guys.
-This portrayal of tough guys has found it's way into the mainstream society, comprised of white middle class males.
- Part of the normal training and social conditioning of men is the notion that manhood is inextricably linked to power and violence, particularly sexual violence perpetrated against women.
- The Marlboro Man ethos teaches that interdependence and interconnectedness are not manly qualities; crying is for women; If you fail, it's your own fault.
- The porn industry overwhelmingly controlled by and geared towards pleasing men via the overt sexual objectification of women.
-Manhood means a flagrant disregard for personal health and wellness i.e. binge drinking.

The conclusion that the narrator of this piece came to is one that I agree with wholeheartedly: We need to change the definitions of manhood as a key step in reducing violence in our society.

Media and Body Image

Growing up, I do believe that gender stereotypes affected my development and learning in a negative fashion. Being a female, more emphasis was placed on the importance of my appearance from external and subsequently internal sources. Teachers always commented on how "nicely" I was dressed or how "pretty" my hair looked. I've always been into fashion and style and knowing that I was being observed made me more self-conscious. This emphasis on appearance, fashion, and weight can have more of an negative affect on girls than on boys. The media, more so than parents, peers, or members of the opposite sex, puts pressure on females to "look good." Advertising and media images that encourage girls to focus on looks and sexuality are harmful to their emotional and physical health.

I read a book a few years ago entitled Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. In the book, which is set in China circa the mid 1800's, none of the women, with the exception of Third Sister, knew themselves aside from being beautiful adornments for their husbands. They were indoctrinated from a very young age to believe that their sole purpose in life was to have their feet bound so that they could get a husband and be a servant to him and his family.

This, in my observation, is so warped; and yet, we see this same fixation with gender socialization and false perceptions of beauty for women/girls in our own American society. Media plays on this fixation with seemingly no regard. We're stuck on stupid when it comes to our looks. Girls as young as seven and eight are concerned with their weight and some are even on diets. The media is flooded with false and unrealistic ideas and images of what the ideal women should look like. There is an undercurrent of urgency and desperation to "get and keep a man" that is driving many women to the plastic surgeon's office in droves.

The media in almost all of it's forms teaches girls that they must look a certain way if they want to attract the attention of a man. Little consideration is given to ensuring high self esteem, self-worth and self-concept in our girls. As a society, we fail to indoctrinate them with the knowledge that they, girls who will grow into fine women, are our best and most coveted natural resources. In order for there to be a paradoxical change in the way women are viewed, mothers, fathers, teaches and coaches must teach girls and boys about being beautiful inside. Kind hearts and caring souls need to be cultivated, first and foremost. We have to exemplify for our girls, the change that we want to see. As a society, we all bear the responsibility for ensuring that future generations have more positive images and less restrictive expectations for women. We must hold those who control what the media disseminates to the masses accountable for the expressed and implied ramifications of it's portrayals of girls/women and their bodies.

Media and Family

I came home from a day in N.J. to find my boyfriend sitting at the kitchen table, shopping online. As I watched a dvr'd episode of Grey's Anatomy, I marvelled in how much of our family conversations revolved around the commercials that played in between segments of the show. Our interactions, overall, contained some element of media and technology in them. Traditionally, families and households have been defined as social systems. However, modern households possess an additional technological dimension brought about by several media technologies--television sets, dvd players, dvr's, cellular phones, answering machines, voicemail boxes, radios,computers, i-pods, etc. The use of online media in my household continues to expand. Our home is a technologically complex environment with multiple television sets, radios, telephones, fax machines, computers, cellular phones, gaming systems and so on. The use of these technologies as a form of communication amongst my family members has become significant. Whether it is the use of a cell phone to call and tell me they got home safely from school or work, or a conversation at the dinner table about the new Droid commercial dissing the i-phone, media and media technologies have become commonplace in our lives.

Directly and indirectly, television provides bases for family interaction. More specifically, the viewing of television programs as a staple family time activity, I find those moments excellent in their ability to provide teaching moments between Wayne, Christian, Cereta, and I. The adult responses that Wayne and I give to questions Christian and Cereta may have, aid in the children's understanding of program content, foster critical viewing skills, and increase their recall of information when referred to in later conversations and experiences.

Watching and commenting on t.v. shows within the context of our home, helps to reinforce conventional ways of comprehending both the medium and social reality in general. This, in essence, is what Winston is referring to when he focuses his attention on the process whereby society and individuals incorporate media technologies into the fabric of daily life asa response to changes, not the origin of those changes.

Media and Education: Part II

As an Honors Student, every year I am, along with the rest of my Honors' colleagues, required to attend a day of conferences on a variety of perspectives about a given topic as a component of the Honors Fellowship grant that we receive . This year the topic was Environment. As I sat in each of the five conferences that I attended to day, I recognized the presence of technology and the Media in just about all of them; some overtly, some subtly. The first conference I attended, entitled The Outdoor Classroom: A Cure for the "Nature Deficit Disorder", was presented by Dr. Karen Megay-Nespoli, Professor of Education, St. Joseph's College. Her presentation was dynamic, to say the least, and successfully modeled how to engage students in the classroom with technology. She had polls within her powerpoint slides that were interactive and allowed for us to text our answers to poll questions via a site named polleverywhere.com. It was so exciting to text my answer to the question, "What was your favorite childhood game to play outside?", and see it almost instantly pop up on the screen! Not only was my answer represented but it was cool to see the responses of my peers flash on the screen, as well. What was even more profound was the fact that we were allowed to use our cells phones openly in class! The professor okay'd it! She was using her's, too! She must have read the expression of utter surprise on my face because she said the cell phones are "The Device" According to Megay-Nespoli, in Korea, China, and all over Europe, cellular ohione use in the classroom is common place. They are used for everything from note-taking to presentations to video-conferencing inter-classrooms and every in-between.

As a burgeoning educator, I would incorporate the use of cell phones as a learning tool in my classroom. With development and adherence to specific rules, students could feasibly use cell phones to create short movies, set homework reminders, record their teachers' readings of poems, time experiments via phone stopwatches, access relevant Web sites, and transfer electronic files between school and home. For a school with a limited number of digital cameras and limited Internet access in classrooms, cell phones can help fill in the gaps, serving almost as mobile computers. In this way, cell phones behave as Meyrowitz says it does: It changes the way we behave in a certain social setting. In this case, the social setting being altered in the classroom. The cell phone affords students the opportunity to transcend the confines of the classroom and explore alternative ways of evidencing their learning that more effectively represents their personal and collective fields of intelligences. Access to information and ideas is brought to another, and in my observation, more elevated level.

With a cell phone in the classroom, a teacher might be able to simulate or supervise a student's phone interview for a possible internship or apprenticeship. For a student interested in information technology or telecommunications, a cell phone can certainly be a learning tool. Maybe I'm being too naive or unrealistically positive about the integration of cell phones into the classroom but, one thing seems clear: cell phones are not going away anytime soon, and when they do, it will be because they have been replaced by some new technology with its own benefits and drawbacks. Why not find a way to turn them into a teachable moment instead of a teaching distraction!

Media and Education: Part I

I thought I would take the opportunity to use this first blog midterm entry to voice the connection I've noticed between my intended career as a high school English teacher and my current educational coursework here at Post. This is my last semester of classroom instruction before student teaching in the spring. I am taking many methods courses and as I engage in the research and assignments required for them, I notice that a major focus of education is technology; specifically, the incorporation of technology into the lessons that teachers plan to teach their students - every lesson. This is so much the case that technology is even included in the NYS Standards for each content area of instruction i.e. English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Art, Music, and the like.

I recently reviewed a lesson on Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre that set out to teach students about and help them explore the limitations and expectations placed on Victorian women during that time in history.What impressed me most about this lesson with regard to it’s incorporation of media is the fact that it manages to successfully employ media into every aspect of the three class period lesson plan. For example, the full e-text of Jane Eyre is available via the EdSitement-reviewed University of Virginia Electronic Text Center. This makes it easily accessible for the students and minimizes potential problems when reading /teaching a novel like leaving the book at home or not being able to procure a copy from the library. Also, a really fun part of the lesson is the “Victorian Women’s Rights” online game. The game is played by knocking on the proverbial doors of Victorian opportunity in an effort to answer questions about the lifestyles and expectations of Victorian women i.e. When did women win the right to a university education? When could they keep their earnings for themselves? This could be used as an introductory/motivational activity that serves a dual purpose of assessing students’ prior knowledge of the subject matter being presented.

The two examples mentioned above are just two of approximately ten websites utilized in this lesson as a means of bringing technology into the classroom and using it to assist in making the information presented clear, interesting, and hopefully relevant to the students to whom it is being taught. The use of technological supplements to a lesson, when done properly, has the overwhelming potential to improve hands on learning and increase experiential learning activities. It was impossible that the development and the wide usage of technology in our daily life wouldn’t affect the educational system. Since the beginning of 90’s, where the first personal computers appeared in schools, many other technologies have penetrated the education, and teachers have gained experience on using technology. As the technical skills of instructors increase, so do their ideas; technical departments are increasingly pressed to provide solutions. One of the most recent solutions on that area is what is called Media rich learning. “Media-rich” can be defined as incorporating the use of high-quality video, audio and animation as part of the learner’s experience. When used in the right environment, media-rich learning methods improve skills dramatically. They help boost retention and improve learner satisfaction, while decreasing learning costs and time. 

Technologies make possible new approaches to learning/teaching, new contexts for learning/teaching, new tools to support learning/teaching, and new ideas of what can be learned/taught. I believe the websites used in this lesson plan achieve all of these proposals. It has, much to the credit of the integration of technology, taken what could be initially viewed by students as an old and boring novel and transform it into a piece of literature that stretches the minds of those who read it, irrespective of culture, class, or time in history.

12:01am Tuesday

Here I am at the conclusion of this experiment and I'm happy to say that I made it through without cheating. Although I desired to check my facebook page every now and again, cheating on the assignment never even crossed my mind. It would have defeated the purpose about identifying the effects that media deprivation had on me. Honestly, pretty much by Sunday this experiment was over for me. By that I mean that, the first couple days were hard because it was new and I focused on the imposed denial of something on myself. Once I got over that and really once the reality of my other schoolwork and life outside of school set in, facebook was only on my mind because I had to write about it for this blog. Other than that, I was fine without. It's like someone in class said about their preferred medium of choice: "I can stop using it anytime I want - I just never want to!" That hit the nail on the head! I like social networking on facebook and it has alot of perks; however, in the big scheme of things, it's not serious. There's way more going on in my life than facebook. Tons more!

In the final analysis, I think I have a healthy balance of media in my life. They serve me well by making loved ones accessible, thoughts more globally conveyed, and, as mentioned in an earlier blog, the quality of my life more pleasurable overall. The experiment was a good tool for introspection and self-analysis.

Officially logging off. Be well.

-Double Consciousness

Quick thougt

This is it! It's over! In a couple of hours I can officially check my facebook account. Suprisingly enough, I'm not even that psyched about checking it; don't get me wrong, I'm not deleting my account or anything but this experiment helped me put facebook in the proper perspective. The thrill is gone. I enjoy it! It's great! It serves a purpose but my no means am I addicted to facebook. My life is filled with so many other more meaningful events that not being on facebook was less like a deprivation and more like a fast, a cleansing, of sorts.

FInal Day Drawing Nigh

The past 24 hours have posed little challenge for me and possible temptation to view facebook. I'm actually doing quite fine without it. This is midterm week for me in may of my classes so, there's been hardly any time allotted in my schedule for facebook. It's more of a "downtime" or "leisure time" activity for me and by the looks of things, there'll be no time for that over the next few days. Gotta get ready for class....Later!

Reflections

It's getting late and I'm about to go to bed but before I retire for the night I wanted to share the following thoughts with you: These past few days without facebook have been....well....what's the word.....I'll go with enlightening. I've confirmed qualities in myself that I already knew (loyal, dedicated, good amt. of willpower, etc.); more importantly, I've learned more about myself and this social networking tool than I ever imagined possible when I initially embarked upon this semi-self-imposed media deprivation project. Prior to this, I described myself as an analog girl in a digital world and while I still subscribe to that definition, it has been slightly altered. The more I deny myself of facebook the more I realize and admit just how much I rely on this medium (and others) to, for all intensive purposes, make my life more pleasurable....I have more to say and will do so...later... my thoughts are incoherent right now. I'm sleepy. Rest calls...I answer. TTYL.

Be well.

-Double Consciousness

Facebook Status': Things that make you go, "Hmmmmm....."

I watched this video on youtube and found it to be so funny! When I got up this morning, I was looking for a clip to post I was thinking that one of the things I miss about not "facebooking" these past few days is not being able to share my status' and view the status' of others. Aside from the personal nuances that ones' status reveals (crazy, indifferent, nonsensical, or otherwise), I often find that, when utilized mindfully, they can be really inspiring. They're usually quotes that make me and the majority of those within my network say, "Hmmmm..." At least one of my "friends" has posted a status that is so on point with something that is going on in my own life, I'm like, "Dag, how do they know?", "Get outta my head!", or "Thanks for articulating that which I, for whatever reason, could not." My status updates have had the same effect on others, I've been told. As a writer, I think that is a large part of facebooks appeal to me: It provides me with a textual vehicle with which to reach out to people and share thoughts, ideas, revelations, questions, etc. and receive what nine times out of ten turns out to be very timely and poignant responses. It's therapeutic and, for me, behaves like an ongoing social case study into not only the idea that there are only six degrees of separation between each human being on the earth but even moreso, that we are more alike than we are different. There are just some things that as social beings we all can relate to. Facebook helps us relate.

(On a somewhat different note, my cousins had a "girls night" last night but I wasn't able to attend and I'm dying to see the pic's on facebook - ;0( Tuesday can't come soon enough!)

Ta-Ta! Be Well.

-Double Consciousness

A New Day

I'm a Sabbath-observing christian so I haven't been on the computer since sunset on Friday. Because this is a regular part of my life's routine, it was not foreign at all for me to go over 24 hours without checking on facebook or without being on the computer at all. I didn't think about it because my time was filled with other, more meaningful and uplifting activities. In some ways, I feel like that's what facebook is to me: a time-filling voyeuristic medium. It's not all bad...but I'd be lying if I said that the time I spend on facebook is all good. When last I wrote I was contemplating to what extent I relied upon facebook to communicate with others and whether that level of dependency was to my benefit or my demise. While I still don't have an answer, I feel better about analyzing the situation and attempting to put media in my life in the proper perspective. I'm learning...that's always good.

That's all (for now) folks.

Be Well.

-Double Consciousness

Facebook and Freud...and Me

This morning when I got up, I fought the urge to log on to my facebook account and check out what had transpired during my night's slumber. Instead, I blogged.....and commented on the blogs of others....and customized my blog page......and blogged some more. I didn't see a problem with this; after all, I was doing my homewok, right? Wrong! What I was doing was a classic case of what Freud titled transference: The time that I would normally have spent on the computer, on facebook was now being allotted to or transferred to customizing my blog. I simply found another way to use technology to express myself and keep me connected to others with whom I share a common interest. Social networking has embedded itself into the fabric of my life and into how I choose to relate to myself and others. With that being said, the question I find myself asking at this juncture in the media deprivation experiment is: Is this aforementioned "embedding" a positive or a negative thing? Excuse me while I ponder....

Be well.

-Double Consciousness

"On your marks......Get set......GO!"

Well, It's been about 7 1/2 hours into my facebook media deprivation experiment and I've already begun to identify what an integral part social networking plays in my life. As mentioned in my blog yesterday, I officially logged off of facebook at 11:59 pm last night; however, prior to that, I spent a few hours on facebook connecting with my friends, checking messages and updates, and just checking out the "goings-on". While so doing, a close friend of mine (we share the same birthday and were roommates in our late teens/early twenties), who now lives in Florida, IM'd me and let me know that she took and impromptu trip to NY and was in the Chelsea section of Manhattan - live and direct! I was so excited! We chatted and made plans to get together today, as she is leaving early Sunday a.m. to return home. As we finalized our plans, we exchanged numbers and said "Ta-Ta".

As I smiled in my head at the prospect of seeing my good friend in just a few hours I thought, "What if I'd chosen to begin this experiment earlier in the day and hadn't been on facebook at that time? I would not have known she was in town because she didn't have my phone number." That's pretty profound. It doesn't end there, either. To further illustrate just how much my "peoples" and I use facebook to communicate, in those two hours or so that I was on facebook last night I learned that just yesterday alone a friend of mine got married at the courthouse, another was in L.A. in 85 degree weather on a business trip, another's elderly mother moved in with she and her husband since we last spoke, and was able to view great pictures that my cousin posted of my children having a blast at her son's 11th birthday party last weekend.

This is the sort of "omnipresent knowledge" that Thompson talks about in his New York Times article, Brave New World of Digital Intimacy makes Facebook so interesting, intriguing, and addictive. For me, and I believe for the millions of other facebook users out there, there is something quite engaging about, irrespective of physical proximity, being "ambiently aware" of the intricacies and nuances of my friends daily lives. This is what attracts me to facebook. This is the luxury that this particular technological medium affords me. This, ultimately, is what I am being deprived of during this experiment.

-Double Consciousness

"Last Supper"

Hello, out there, ;)

As per an assignment in my media class, today is the last day that I will log onto my Facebook account until next week Tuesday. Media Deprivation - aaaahhh! No, but seriously, I think I'll be okay. I'm going into this thing head on and Facebook off (LOL!) I'm gonna OD and stay on FB until 11:59 tonight! - LATER!

-"Double Consciousness"