Lots of discussions and equal number of subjects had been flying around the room during Media Studies 160 this Fall 2010. You have heard lectures ranging from virtual reality to techniques to create a mass mediated reality. It is now your turn to define, as a final examination for this class, what your position is about the contents you have been exposed to as well as those you have explored.
What to do? What you have to do now is to produce a podcast (or what call an aural-essay) describing your position about the role of Mass Media Technology, the Cyberspace, Advertising, and Branding in the construction of Reality and the Sense of Trust as presented during class time.
You may use as many references to the texts analyzed during class time. You have to keep in mind that by "text" I mean any "intellectual fabric" constructed with one or many codes and expressed through any media such as: video, audio, print, interactive, etc
How to present it MP3 FILE (ONLY) or PODCAST produced on campus delivered via the student shared folder for this course or via email if the product is the link to a podcast.
ORAL PRESENTATION. DRESS UP FOR A PUBLIC PRESENTATION.
When? Thursday, Dec. 16, 9:00-12:00 pm
(please notice the extra hour and schedule your activities accordingly)
Final Step:
Listen to A MINUMUM OF TWO aural essays from your classmates and provide a brief critical response [IN THIS BLOG] to each one of the chosen ones making a reference to the name of the author.
HERE, THE FINAL AURAL-ESSAYS (alphabetical order)
Guido Alvarez Academic Exercises © 2010 for Saint Olaf College's Media Studies Department
Adam stated that social networking sites are hollowing us out as humans. I believe, however, that social networking sites such as facebook actually enhance our social lives. Sure, compared to physically being with someone and interacting face-to-face, it’s a step down. But what about all of the connections that are fostered when that interaction would have been forgotten about otherwise? How we portray ourselves online does not need to reflect who we actually are, but it certainly can.
Katie brought up a good point about second life. She said that it is beginning to change the way we interact and therefore our perception of reality. Instead of the virtual world becoming more like reality, I think what is actually happening is that these virtual settings are providing us with a sharp contrast. One could argue that with sites like second life, the gap between reality and virtual life is not shrinking, but rather growing.
Posted by: Michelle Wheeler | 12/17/2010 at 10:05 PM
Michelle brought up many good points about how technology is "taking over our society and making us lose touch with humanity." The stories about the boy shooting his mom over technology or the kids saying "I love you" via texts reveal that people, especially kids, are becoming too dependent on technology and too out of touch with the real world. I liked how she presented both sides of the argument via the conversation with her friend John. The end is especially interesting, how her friend is mechanical, so she is having this in depth conversation about technology is ruining humanity with a computer. Very ironic, Michelle, well done.
Adam focuses more on personal branding. He compares humans with a bell - pretty and sometimes useful but empty on the inside. This is a harsh but possibly accurate view of where society is heading. By trying to create personal brands through things (like clothes and technology), we are losing the individuality that makes us human. There are only so many different types and combinations of products out there (millions or billions, yes, but still a finite number), so eventually we will no longer be able to distinguish ourselves from someone else. Or at least that is my interpretation of Adam's bell argument. He also makes a good point about Song Airlines. He says that people are looking for transparency in airlines and Song was clouded. Advertising and branding is meant to help people choose between too many choices, but if the brand you create doesn't fit the product/service, it will be an ineffectual brand.
Posted by: Amy Mund | 12/18/2010 at 11:31 AM
I liked Katie's statement that the reason facebook has been so succesful thus far in branding its users is because currently there is no alternative to this medium of communication. I have to wonder though, what will happen to facebook once it encounters competition? We all watched sites such as Myspace and Xenga become overtaken by Facebook's surge of popularity, and I am interested to see what type of social networking site will draw users away from Facebook in the future...
Michelle's podcast brings up the important question of our modern reliance on technology. Her podcast suggests that regardless of technology's aid in progressing or degressing humanity, humans have reached a point of no return--in which we can no longer turn our backs on the advances of science. This is a powerful, and frightening claim, but I must admit that I agree with her statement. When we went to the early screening of The Social Network, almost everyone in the class reflected on their sense of unease at being seperated from their cell phones during the duration of the film. We rely on forms of technologies, such as cell phones, to communicate with others, and now that they have become embedded within our culture, we are not willing to give them up.
Posted by: Julie Fergus | 12/18/2010 at 11:52 AM
Chris made an important point that the news has a great amount of power when it chooses to cover certain current events. Like he said when AIDS was greatly covered during the 80's our reality was changed in that AIDS became one of the most important topics. Nowadays most coverage is based on the War on Terror and AIDS is nowhere to be found. This raises the question of weather solutions for the AIDS epidemic are still being made at the same pace even if the news is not covering it or if our fear of terrorism is higher because of the coverage on the war. Similarly he mentions the issues of the news covering road rage and how it misinformed viewers about the extent road rage was happening. It difficult to know how we should handle the news media in an ethical sense since we want factual news but we also want to give all topics equal air time and not exclude any other topics. Furthermore having the news separate from the government is vital for democracy but at the same time what happens when a news organization chooses to align itself to a political movement but its viewers aren't aware of the bias present in its journalism.
Ben makes the point that the reason why Facebook was able to take off more so then second life was because people couldn't tell the difference from reality to Facebook in the same manner one can clearly see the difference in second life. For a brand or product to become successful people have to believe that joining the tribe of that product or brand is their own and best choice possible. Furthermore Ben goes on to talk about how a brand can greatly effective a person's subjective view on something, such as the case he makes with his basketball team. In his basketball team it was widely believed that having Nike gear would make them look like better players because they believed that only the best played in Nikes.
Posted by: Hugh Kenety | 12/18/2010 at 03:13 PM
I thought Michelle's podcasts were very insightful because she brought up the duality of mass media. On one hand, the Internet and cell phones can help to speed up communication and rekindle relationships between people. However, I liked that Michelle brought up the point that we our losing touch with ourselves and that with each step forward we are really taking two steps back. The way Michelle ended her podcast with the lurking question of whether or not mass media is progressive or regressive was very clever. I feel that most people generally take one side to argue and overlook the other side of the argument.
Another podcast I thought particularly illustrated the duality of mass media was Stipe’s. Stipe discussed the intended and non-intended effects of mass media and how often times not even the producers are sure what the effects will be. The main reason for this unpredictability is that the consumers define the brand, not the producer.
Krista’s podcast touched on subliminal images within the media, and how we have to be careful about what messages we take away from various types of media such as television and movies. Krista also told a personal story about growing up in Lake Forest, Illinois and how that experience affected her. Being a very materialistic town, mass media in Lake Forest often defined people’s realities by encouraging them to buy high end products. Krista spoke about how she had to try to force herself away from this reality to become a more well-rounded person and hold onto her own values rather than the values media tries to impose on the public. Although most people talked about how people’s perceptions of reality change depending on the media available, Krista brought up the very interesting and true point that although there are certain perceptions of reality that are individualistic and can be controlled by media, there are certain aspects of reality that we all share that are not in fact controlled by the media. As an example Krista says, “If the ice caps melt, they’ve melted.” I think this analysis is very insightful because it shows the influences that mass media have on our individual perceptions, but how mass media does not always completely obliterate or control an overall collective perception of reality.
Posted by: Katie Caffrey | 12/18/2010 at 05:06 PM
Erik’s reaction to what he’s learned about mass media was very similar to my own. He began with explaining how bombarded we are by mass media just on the St. Olaf campus. A student really can’t go anywhere without seeing flyers, posters, newspapers and advertisements selling some event or product. He also mentions how connected we are by using our smartphones and Facebook in almost an obsessive manner. Rarely do I walk through campus and not see somebody texting, talking or checking their e-mail on their phones. Erik also mentions the power of advertising and branding we experience on a daily basis and how advertisement has become personalized, taking the selling of a product to a whole new level. He comments on how Facebook creates ads on the side of our profiles that relate to our personal interests in some way, which most of us just choose to ignore, but we’re still being exposed to a product. I thought it was important that Erik brought up the issue of security, especially since there is so much of our personal information online and floating around in cyberspace. This is an important thing to be aware of and to be careful of when putting information about ourselves out there. The last thing I wanted to mention about his response was the idea of cyberspace and having the ability to create avatars of ourselves in Second Life. I still feel slightly uncomfortable with the idea of Second Life. But in all of this, as long as we can, in the words of William Gibson, “resist outside sources to influence our beliefs and morals,” we should be okay. Maybe. We’ll see.
I enjoyed Alora’s podcast because much of what she had to say was related to how mass media affects her personally. I appreciate how she separated media sources into four areas: television, radio, print and the internet. What I found most interesting was her reaction to the internet and how it can be both a mindless, time wasting source and an incredibly useful world of information. She explains how the internet is embedded with an immense amount of advertising. I agree with her when she says that if an advertisement is creative, original and well produced, then she’ll actually pay attention; but if it’s boring and only transmits an “ooh, shiny” response, she won’t give it a second glance. The only advertisements that affect me are the ones that stand out because it’s different or because it’s related to my interests in some way. Otherwise I agree, they can be extremely irritating. I would join her in “punching annoying advertisement in its metaphorical face.” I also thought Alora’s thoughts of how cyberspace/the internet should be unregulated is an interesting reaction. Since she knows more about computer programming and such things, she probably has a much more knowledgeable reaction on freedom of speech in the internet world, so I find her response to be very intriguing.
Posted by: Abby Benson | 12/20/2010 at 01:28 PM
I listened to Clair Scott's aural essays for Sex and the City" and Media. I totally agree with her in the fact that the movie is just a 2 hour long ad. They were dropping designer names all over the place. And if they weren't mentioned in a conversation, you would see them on billboards or on shopping bags. It's just non-stop. Then again that's not really any different from everyday life, especially if you live in a city or even just watch TV. Ads are everywhere, attempting to influence every aspect of our life.
During her Media audio essay, Clair mentioned that when the internet started, that it was safe. This might have been a slip up. I'm not sure. But I think that the internet has never been completely safe. Pop-up ads bringing viruses into your computer. Stalkers being able to see your profiles on different social medium websites. Privacy laws were just not as tight as they are today. Plus we're definitely more well-aware of all the possible ways people can hack into each others computers or how different websites can track what you do on them, like facebook does. This way they can orient the ads on the page based on your likes and dislikes. We both agree that it's a bit creepy.
Posted by: Kaiya Hoyer-Leitzel | 12/20/2010 at 07:54 PM
Sorry I spelled your name wrong Claire!
Posted by: Kaiya Hoyer-Leitzel | 12/20/2010 at 07:55 PM
Katie's beginning statements in her final oral essay about perception of relativity and branding are correct in my opinion. However, I do not agree with her statement that branding is an easy process (and the implication in the rest of her oral essay about the easiness of making something a recognizable brand) for, in my opinion, there is tons of work and input that goes into making a brand and another reality. I do agree with her perception on the amount cyberspace and advertising has impacted real life.
Michelle's oral essay for Sex and the City was really entertaining; she did a good job with the editing and recording. Anyway, her summary was very accurate, and I agreed with her standpoint that the men in the movie were just accessories. In my opinion, the movie portrayed men as a necessary accessory, but I can see where Michelle is coming from too.
Posted by: Alora Killian | 12/21/2010 at 09:18 PM
Michelle’s podcast was incredibly well edited. Interesting sound effects and creative content and way of presenting it. I found your analysis of text messaging and your cousins use of love through it. Having two people comment on your project was incredibly helpful. Because as I have found there are definitely two sides to the story of mass media. I think I used the phrase “necessary evil” in my project. I thought that your use of sarcasm was also very humorous. But I can’t honestly say that the internet has been bad for humanity. Sure there are bad components of the internet but I feel that the benefits far outweigh the negatives.
Juan’s production of working with his “imagination” was fantastic. It proved to provide a great look into mass media. The blending of Spanish and English was great. Not speaking the former I could only imagine what was so controversial about it. I think that comments well on some mass media in general, that different people will always react differently to different content. As an English speaking American I will perceive that song differently than a native speaker of Spanish. His analysis of the podcast was very well thought out. I think that audio essays definitely hide some of your appearance but there is now a much greater focus on the voice and at least for me when I hear a voice I try to match a face with the voice in my mind. Great analysis Juan. Very inventive content.
Posted by: Adam Koenig | 12/22/2010 at 09:24 AM
Juan Yanqui’s final oral essay was spectacular. Not only was the idea behind turning the final into a radio broadcast very creative, but it was also well-executed. Juan incorporated all of the classic elements that one associates with a typical radio broadcast, such as: music, weather updates, a guest speaker, and even advertisement. The level of professionalism that was displayed throughout the piece simply blew my mind. I was also very impressed by the amount of work that must have gone into creating such a lengthy and dynamic production. The advertisement in particular must have taken quite some time to create, with so many different individuals being interviewed. The sound editing was also great, with the music being in complete harmony with the spoken words within the ad. I feel as though nothing can be criticized in such a beautiful production, albeit perhaps the sound of the lion’s roar. It is also worth noting that the very idea of being interviewed by one’s own imagination on a radio program is simply brilliant. Juan, I hope you keep a copy of this production, it might be a useful part of a portfolio, should you ever consider entering a profession that revolves around any of the above mentioned elements. Great job.
Posted by: Max M | 12/22/2010 at 05:22 PM
Juan had such a creative drive in combining all three as a radio broacast. It was really neat to see that amount of creativity with the assignment and to think outside of the box. I really enjoyed how he had multiple commercials instead of just the one assigned. It made it feel like a real radio broadcast.
Michelle I loved where you ended your interview. You tantalized us with the true answer and then cut off at that moment. That made the audience want to stick around 'til the end of the interview to see if you were really going to reveal the answer.
Posted by: GM | 12/22/2010 at 07:39 PM
I agree with Adam's comment about these site making us more hollow. These social networking sites have not allowed us to fully display our emotions into our comments or messages and until that happens I feel like there will be something missing. Of course we are trying to give comments different emotions whether it be by using emoticons or capitalizing different words to emphasize them. You can't fully express yourself until you can put emotions behind the words that you write.
Ben's take on Facebook branding itself and allowing all the members to brand themselves on the site is a very interesting point. I think branding on Facebook is definitely a very interesting topic because everyone does it. It is a crucial part to people's involvement on the site. The reference to Alison Jackson's work and the power of an image was very well used because you can decide to be whoever you would like. Anyone could place any picture they have access to and make their name whatever they like in order to try and brand themselves however they like, even if they are trying to brand themselves as someone else.
Posted by: Wesley Franke | 12/22/2010 at 08:09 PM
Kaiya and Konomi analyzed the role of cyberspace in deconstructing reality. They spoke about our Second Life experience, and how you risk becoming too emerged in it. They discussed its similarity to Facebook, and how both sites are used to connect people together in a virtual conversation. Their argument was that a real bond is not established because people do not share a common experience when they view it. They also mentioned how Facebook functions as a sort of personal advertisement, and how it allows you to create a perfect version of yourself, and increase the chances of other people accepting you. They also discussed sense of trust and how this is used by chain stores like Bath and Body Works, as well as how our generation trusts technology a great deal more than the previous one. I agree wholeheartedly with what they said about Facebook allowing you to create a perfect version of yourself, and I think there is a great deal of danger in that, as well as in the way Facebook replaces real social interaction.
Posted by: Claire Scott | 12/29/2010 at 10:17 PM