MissRepresentation

     Last week, in zero period, we had the opportunity to watch the movie "MissRepresentation". This movie focused on the place women have in society and how we are portrayed in media and movies. This movie started off with frightening facts: 53% of women are not happy with their bodies and this moves to 78% by the age 17, 65% of women have eating disorders, 17% cut or self harm. The question i asked myself was, what is causing these large, horrifying percentages?
     I strongly came to a belief that media is a large part of the reason for these numbers. Some other facts that were mentioned was that only 17 percent of protagonists are women, where half of them are chasing after a boy, 17% of congress is women (Iraq and Afghanistan have more women in government than the US), and there are 2,300 governors are men compared to 36 women. On television and movies, women have begun to be seen as objects, instead of being their individual self. This leads to something known as self objectification. When women see other women on TV being considered more like an object, we begin to do this to ourselves. We begin to believe we have no voice that we can speak our minds with. Throughout movies, women are dressed in a way that they look almost as if they are just their for sex. This, on its own, objectifies women and does not let women or men view them as their own. Also, on TV, we only see men as the powerful one, not women. They are leading characters in which you are supposed to look up to, they are shown as the important one. When women can't see other women in these roles, or jobs in the real world, it becomes harder to be inspired to do these jobs are take the route media only shows men to be taking.
     Models, today, are unrealistic. After the company choses a picture, the model is edited down extremely. When girls view these pictures or commercials, we begin to set a standard for ourselves that is nearly impossible to reach. This also raises the expectation that men have for women. When we set this standard for ourselves, we are also telling ourself that how we look is our value, not  our intelligence. This leads to a cycle of women never feeling good enough with who we are how we look. The standard throughout society at which women are set to is impossible. That, i believe, is a cause to self harm and eating disorders. It is horrifying, no one should ever feel this way, but it continues to occur and a large thing i blame is media, TV shows, and movies.
    Each week, teenagers spend thirty one hours with TV, seventeen with music, and a total consumption of ten hours and 45 minutes with media a day. 235.6 billion dollars is spent on advertising a year. These numbers are higher than ever, going hand and hand with the percentages of women not feeling confident, self harming, or having eating disorders. I do hope one day I can see a world in which women are portrayed as who we truly are and can be. Women are strong, intelligent, athletic, determined, and are so much more than how we are seen across the online world. Women can be leaders and take on any job a man can. But media is keeping many women from seeing this, we are just exposed to men having these jobs. More people should become aware of these problems, it is horrifying and terrible to see the real percentages in which many women face low confidence and self harm. MissRepresentation is a powerful movie that I recommend for everyone, both women and men, to watch.

Advertising throughout Festivals

     Over the past two months, i have had the opportunity (that i am extremely thankful for) to visit two music festivals, both three days. These festivals were Coachella in April and Bottleneck just this past weekend. These festivals bring thousands of people from around the world to listen to music and be a part of the experience. Although everyone is focusing on the music, famous people, art, and clothing, there is something hidden within nearly every concert and square foot of the festivals: advertising.
     Before the actual weekend, many youtubers or well known people from the media are invited to come to these festivals, more typically in a larger festival such as Coachella, and they blog about the event. Even before the weekend starts, these famous people are given something known as care packages. These include small objects, gifts, and items that they will be able to use. These youtubers follow this by blogging or posting about what is in the package. They show which brands and companies put their products in the basket for them to try out. This starts off the whole weekend of advertising.
     When the festival begins, there are advertisements all throughout snapchat, instagram, and twitter. On snapchat, there are several filters advertising different brands while mixing with the location it is at. Also, during Coachella and Bottlerock, there was a video section on the discover area. This video, covering the whole weekend, has people take over snapchat while talking about the festival. Throughout these ten second videos, they suggest different products or items that would be helpful to bring while mentioning which company they are from. Also, certain companies have famous singers sponsor their food, drink, clothing item, or product. On the Heineken instagram (click the link) there are pictures of a famous singer or someone at a music festival holding their beer or a sign for the beer.  At coachella, there are also several tents that are sponsored by Heineken that people can enter.
     At bottleneck, the festival I went to this past weekend, there were many companies that had someone working give out small objects for free to everyone. For example, there was a company that was selling drinks and food. There was a huge line, but while in this line they had someone passing out orange sunglasses. This was smart, as it was very sunny and hot, but this was also a form of advertising. On the side in large, bold letters the sunglasses said REYKA (the name of the company). I got a pair of these sunglasses, and later on someone asked me where i had gotten them, leading their advertising to be successful. There were also companies giving out water bottles, chapstick, paper fans, and other small products.
     All of the merchandise being sold was an advertisement in itself. Although most people have heard of these festivals, they still advertise. Each time someone buys a shirt that says Bottlerock or Coachella, they are just advertising the three day event. If you look close, you can find many instances of advertisements in different forms throughout these famous festivals that thousands of people attend.

Scott Disick and BooTea

     Earlier this week, Scott Disick, who is usually associated with the Kardashians posted a photo on instagram that was advertising BooTea. This is a product that apparently helps people lose weight and become "healthy". The caption to his photo was, "Here you go, at 4pm est, write the below. Caption: Keeping up with the summer workout routine with my morning @ booteauk." He had copied and pasted the email the company had sent him instead of just using the caption they told him to. They paid him to post this with the link, so as soon as people click on it there is an instagram page for the tea full of bright colors and other models holding this tea.
     In our media today, people are constantly looking up to famous people or being influenced by them. For example, Kylie Jenner stated that once she said what lip liner she was using it would become sold out. As soon as Scott posted this, or I saw it becoming viral, it made me realize that the products famous people advertise are probably not what they really use. This creates something like "social media fraud" as Isabelle said in one of her blogs. Thousands of people are looking up to these famous people and what they use, so they try to buy the same products. But now and days, companies are just paying certain people to post a picture with what they are selling in it.
     Although I usually do not race to buy the products when I see a famous person using it like some people do, this does make me look at advertising differently. Companies now and days are taking advertising to extreme limits, doing anything they can to get people to buy their products. Usually, the companies who have advertisements associated with famous people, their products are towards the expensive side. But when someone famous is using it, it is ok that it is expensive, it seems to have more value. Now that i see Scotts caption to the post,  it makes me and many others not want to trust what is advertised in situations like this. If the products are not actually being used and everyone knew this, it would probably change the amount of consumers towards what they are selling.
     I believe this post and caption and show how much social media can create images in our mind that are not true. We can see just one post and change our minds towards a product or image completely now and days.

Threads creating even more Negativity

     Here I am, once again, talking about body shaming throughout social media. Although I am finding myself repetitive, it shows how horrible this problem really is. I was on Twitter, and I came across what is called a "thread". This is a series of tweets that are connected, usually having the overall topic in common within all of them. Some of these threads include best childhood movies, favorite foods, or music videos. They usually tend to go viral, as many twitter users get almost pulled into them until they finish looking at every tweet.
     Some of these threads or becoming negative, though. For example, I came across a thread called "Thread of reasons to lose weight." Of course when I saw this i became very angered, and wanted to see what these reasons were. There were probably over twenty tweets connected to this where the user stated her reasons. Some of them included, "they won't laugh at you behind your back, literally nobody likes a fatty, you won't CRUSH someone by sitting on their laps, finally have confidence, you won't be embarrassed of how much you weigh, and look amazing in tight clothing."
     When I read these I was disgusted, and also disgusted by the fact that about one hundred people were agreeing with her. Although that might not seem like a lot, even one is too many people agreeing with her. I am not here to put down the user for feeling confident looking "skinny". I am angered by the fact that she is putting down people who are not as skinny as her. She is also creating the image that only one body type can be considered beautiful in our society. She believes the moment you are not the weight she is, people will talk behind your back and you will become self conscious. Like c'mon girl, i know you are confident but do not put other girls down. I am focusing on girls, because some of her tweets applied girls as her focus group. Girls of all weights are beautiful, and we shouldn't be putting others down.
     This thread of tweets can connect to a thread I talked about on one of my last blogs. It was talking about what girls should not wear if they are over 125 pounds. The user in the thread I am talking about in this blog stated that only when you are skinny you can look amazing in tight clothing. This again, makes me so so so angered. Women, no matter what weight, can look beautiful in any clothing. It is also completely unrealistic to believe that everyone will have the same extremely skinny body type. I am not saying this body type is bad, I just don't think we should label is as the "best" one.
     Typing these media blogs have made me more aware towards problems like these ones in our society. I am now constantly seeing instances of body shaming and girls being put down for how they look. Social media should not be a home for bullying, it should be something where we can uplift and help each other with a positive attitude. Although that is also kind of unrealistic, to think everyone will always be positive on these apps such as twitter, i don't think i should be seeing this many horrible instances of negativity.

The Reasons we Have Social Media

     In my latest posts, i have continuously mentioned the negative effects of social media, with only mentioning a few positive. There are reasons why we all chose to continue to use each app when we say we won't or also say there is no point. Although a portion of social media that is useless, and another for entertainment, but there is also a portion that creates awareness, allows people to share their story, or is for a good cause. I looked through both Twitter and Instagram to search for reasons why I believe social media has become an important aspect to our society.

     One example is an Instagram account called "Humans of New York." This account has been active for a few years and has gained five point two million followers. I remember in eight grade i followed this account when it only has thousands of followers (I say only in comparison to the huge amount it has now). It was an account where a man goes around New York and interviews people, he asks them for a story. Now it has become something much larger. It has brought awareness to people in several different situations, they are able to share their story or their thoughts on a problem occurring in the world today. I believe this is one of the most positive aspects about social media. Millions of people are able to connect through just one account. Not only is it inspirational, but it has made me more aware to problems that people go through that i would have never considered. This one account, in my opinion, has created another purpose for social media.
     This year, as i mentioned in an earlier post, politics have become very involved with social media. I do not know if this is more positive or negative, but is definitely has given another purpose for media across the country and world. Politicians this year have been trying to post or tweet problems they deal with in a limited amount of characters. Most people would consider this negative, as a group of people has begun to get the only facts they know from social media. In my opinion, this is better than knowing nothing. Some people are not in an area where politics isn't something they are informed about often, so now people are able to learn more from accounts on instagram or twitter. I know this sounds bad, as over the media certain politicians are favored more, but at least it gives a large group of people the opportunity to become more informed. It is the same as watching Fox News, as there seems to be many opinions and attitudes towards certain politicians made.  Politics has become another aspect of social media that in some ways, could be considered positive. It has given a more important purpose to media.
     Across media, there are many negative posts but also positive. Many accounts or even viral hashtags have brought awareness and informed people of problems in the world. Accounts such as the feminist account, the world peace accounts (World Peace Foundation), SOF social good, UN women, and MIGS are the reason i believe social media has a meaning, a purpose. I believe there will always be the positive and negative in something, and media is one of these things. There are several bad things in every form of media, but also the good, and that is what we should all try to focus on, rather than favoring or liking that one post insulting something or someone.

Do commercials cause body shaming?

     In nearly every add we see dealing with makeup, clothes, beauty products there is a specific body type repeated. I am not shaming the girls in these ads, but is this creating a perception of what beauty looks like? I looked through several companies and clothing lines to notice a pattern throughout most of the models.
     Last year, Victoria Secret launched a series of ads dealing with "The Perfect Body." They had an ad with several girls lined up, promoting them as the ones with what they consider a perfect body. I have nothing against the models in the ad, but i do have a problem with the fact that the company put one body type in. This, to girls across the country, will give them a single image of how they feel they should look. This also goes for nearly every PINK and Victoria Secret ad. They have several models with only one body type. Although this may not be intentional, it is something that could cause several problems and make girls feel bad if they do not look like they models featured in the companies' ads.
     Recently, Calvin Klein has made an attempt to ad a line of "plus size" models. I was glad to see this happen, but when photo shoots were released many people became angered. Many girls believe that these models should not be considered to be plus size, and i agreed. Then i realized there was a flaw in the both the company and the people giving hate to the company. It showed that since we are so used to seeing girls considered beautiful or having the "perfect body" that anything different from a size zero becomes bad. I believe the company had good intentions, but in our society plus size has become something negative, and they are teaching girls that if they are not a size zero they are put into a different category. I do agree that the models considered plus size in brands such as American Eagle or Calvin Klein are not plus size, but I am not proud that I, too have associated being plus size with something negative.
     This body type image has also effected people across the world on social media such as Twitter and Instagram. Earlier this year, across twitter, there was a hashtag where people said what they can and can't wear at a  certain weight. For example, someone said "If you are over 125 lbs you can not wear crop tops and leggings." This was disgusting to me, and i believe some of these opinions were formed from what movies, ads, and commercials have advertised as the ideal body. Not only should girls be able to feel beautiful in anything they wear, they should not be judged for it. Every girl is obviously going to look different, and it is 2016, why are we still shaming girls? Although this isn't brought up as much, this goes for boys to. There should not be one image for how any girl or boy should look, but i believe media has done this to our society.

Twitter, has it become a home for cyber bullying?

     Instagram, snapchat, twitter, and Facebook, I believe, are the most well known apps found on phones or tablets regarding social media. Out of these apps, nearly everyone i know in high school owns a twitter. Twitter has become a place for people to share funny videos, cute animal pictures, music videos, political views, opinions on any issue, or awareness of problems in the world. Although twitter has become a place that can be useful or positive, it has become negative too. Which one outweighs the other?
     As I was scrolling through twitter today i noticed a hashtag that had become viral across the world through the app. It was called "We Support you Shannon", which was about a band member in Australia who had gotten cancer. Everyone was trying to raise money and awareness for this person in hopes of getting him a successful treatment. This is a positive aspect of Twitter, it always people across the world to connect and work together towards a good cause. On the other hand, some twitter users abuse the hashtags that go viral for a good cause. They tag it but just tweet an advertisement or something completely irrelevant to the original topic. Twitter is also an app that allows people to watch funny videos, music videos, or be "relatable" to other teenagers. For example, there was also a hashtag called "Dinner in three words" that people would post three words or a picture of their favorite foods. Although this isn't positive or negative, it just allows people to relate and laugh for a minute in their day.

     Even though i saw many positive posts throughout twitter, i also saw a large amount of negative posts that could be considered cyber bullying. It is prom season and many girls are posting pictures, confident in their dresses. Certain people decide to take these pictures and insult them or compare them to something. There have been several incidents of this where girls are shamed for feeling confident in what they are wearing and how they look. Also, the owners and people who control twitter seem to do nothing about it. They ignore incidents on this app that are cyber bullying, which lets people to continue to post these extremely rude comments, when they should be getting banned from the app. Also, there is something most teenagers call "Twitter beef" which is when two users go back and forth at each other, typically over something extremely stupid. Some of the comments made during these small feuds can be hurtful, and can be looked at as bullying once again. Most teenagers don't have their parents following them on this app, which allows them to feel they can post anything they want. I am cautious of what i post each day because my mom receives an email whenever i tweet, but i know if she didn't i would not be as careful. I believe these social media apps should take some action towards these horrible things said and tweeted in the apps.
     All apps, though, will always contain both the positives and negatives of the opinions people will share. I believe that these apps have become a home, in a way, a home for negative things to be said. But in reality, no matter how much i bag on social media i find myself using it on the daily. I wish there was something i could do to take action towards these negative comments, so i wouldn't just have the scroll past them and try to block them out.

Appeals in Advertisements

     Each product in our world today must fit to someone's needs. Whether it is shoes, clothing, websites, food, restaurants, or puppies, each one appeals in different ways. The advertising industry is known for using fifteen basic appeals to get into the minds of the viewers. These appeals vary from the need to escape to the need for affiliation. If you pay close attention to ads, or even just take a quick glance at them you will notice that there is a main emotion or appeal within each one.

     For example, the ad posted above uses the appeals of the need to achieve and the need for prominence. The need to achieve reaches out to the viewers who want the ability to accomplish something difficult and succeed. This advertisement is saying that if you use grammarly you will get a good grade on the paper you are writing, which is every student's goal. In school, a large group of students want to feel admired and respected (the need for prominence). Most students will feel like they need to get good grades to feel admired or respected in school. By using grammarly, they claim that all of these things will come true. Advertisements also aim at a certain group of people. This ad, with the setting of a library is targeting students and what they believe appeals to this specific group of people. Lastly, sometimes, advertisements are found within advertisements. The apple computer is set right in the middle of the screen for a large portion of the advertisement, which will lead people to associate grammarly with apple. 

     Advertisements, along with using basic appeals, often puts famous people in the ads. When people see a famous person or someone they look up to in an advertisement the product suddenly becomes better. Most beauty products and sports companies tend to do this. Beauty products such as pantene or nearly every makeup company tend to use the appeals of attention or affiliation. By wearing what these companies are selling you will suddenly get the amount of attention Selena Gomez does. Sports ads, such as Nike, tend to focus on making the viewer more empowered and stronger than they really are. If you wear Nike products you will suddenly run or play like an olympic athlete.

     The main question i have about all of this advertising is, does it really work? Companies spend thousands of dollars trying to advertise without knowing how affective each one is. Every time i see an add on twitter, instagram or snapchat i just skip or scroll right past it. The only ads i find effective are the ones during Super Bowl or the World Cup. On a day to day basis i find myself almost annoyed  with each advertisement i see. Companies have found ways to sneak ads into every aspect of our days, but instead of focusing on putting out more they should focus on which is the most effective.

Adds: useful or annoying?

     I woke up this morning to hear covers of 70s songs being blasted on the TV. I walk in, curious and see my sister watching Glee. I used to watch Glee when I was ten, not getting much out of it as i would just sing along to each song. As I sat down and payed more attention, I realized how many different messages were being sent across by one TV show. Glee focuses on sending messages to people of all different ages. The importance of accepting everyone, the freedom of loving any gender, being confident, and being there for the people you care about are shown through every episode. Glee is not the only TV show bringing across messages to kids, teens, or adults. Every show aired seems to be teaching different values to people of all ages.

     TV is not only sending positive messages to viewers, though. As i sat and watched Glee, i noticed brands being mentioned. I decided to pay more attention, as i did they become more noticeable. It was like the skater at the anti-bullying rally, stating a fact about bullying and then midway through the fact yelling 360! A character would be talking and then all of the sudden mention a brand or put focus to a certain article of clothing. Others such as "The Amazing Race" advertise at any chance they can. It is a reality Tv show but has people in it saying, "Let me drive to the next pit stop in my amazing Ford vehicle." The popular show known as the Mindy Project advertises Windows Phones almost every episode (as the gif shows). TV has become a world full of constant advertisement, as people now have the devices to skip ahead of commercials.
     TV is not the only area of media with advertisements. Apps such as twitter, snapchat, and instagram are constantly distracting the viewer with a small add. For example, when you click on someone's profile and scroll a few tweets down, there is an add waiting for your arrival. It took me about five seconds to open twitter and see an add for "Lion Hoodies." Snapchat also has created filters to promote a movie or a food item. For example, a filter on snapchat today was for "Totinos Pizza Rolls." Every few days, instagram does the same as twitter. Clothing brands are mentioned with a picture of a baby or a family, trying to appeal to people and click on the account for that specific brand.
     When I started to pay attention to adds across media, I noticed how frequently i was seeing them. Every time I go on any app, I see at least three adds. A question many may ask is: how effective are these adds? Each time i see one, i slightly roll my eyes and move on with what i was doing. These companies spend thousands of dollars advertising, not knowing whether it will become effective or not. This was a question I could not answer before i entered this class. I didn't understand media in the way i am becoming able to now. I have began to notice the colors put on adds, the images they show, and realize that to some people these adds are probably effective. When I focus on these advertisements i realize how manipulative and persuasive media can be. Each add is able to target emotions of sadness, anger, or happiness. Media, today, has to ability to change a person's mood with just one picture. Although to some this may seem fascinating, it in a way is frightening.


   

Feel the Bern

     Last week our assignment was to describe our relationship with media, which for myself and many of my classmates seemed to be relatively strong. As i was reading the blogs, i noticed a few apps mentioned several times, one being twitter. I began to watch what i was seeing as i scrolled through the app once every few hours. I noticed several patterns, i saw the same posts over and over. As i make my way down the never ending twitter timeline at this moment i see music videos, pictures of puppies with hearts above their heads, small feuds between students, hippos eating watermelon, but most of all, politics.
     The US presidential election has seemed to make its way on to all forms of social media from instagram, to snapchat, and to twitter. I, myself, support Bernie Sanders. I grow up in a home where my family has strong opinions about politics. My dad informs me and watches the debates with me. I also see many pictures and posts that lead me to believe Bernie is the best option for our president. But sometimes I wonder, is social media tricking me? Is it creating a bias opinion in which i block out every opinion from the other candidates? All over twitter i see posts supporting Bernie, creating a peaceful, kind image for him such as: Love Always Trumps Hate (click to open the link). I also see pictures titled "Bernie or Hillary?" These images are funny, but as each one is made it is making me think Bernie is a 'cooler' person than Hillary, which i believe is the main goal. Although these posts have nothing to do with the main issues discussed during the election, they are creating a widespread positive image for Bernie. I do believe social media has caused a large group of people to select a candidate they support based off of thirty second video or a 140 character post.

     On the other hand, the republican side of the presidential election has a completely different image across social media. My family and I do not support Trump, and i have have come to believe that 95% of Twitter users do not either. All across Twitter i see videos like "Outside the Donald Trump Rally". I saw a string of videos showing violent incidents at Trump rallies. This showed me the impact social media can really have on many people. As i was watching, i would close one eye and cringe, as i couldn't believe this was happening in our world today. The next day i came to school and showed my friends these videos, they had the same reaction. I decided to go through social media and look for positive posts about Trump. The only source of actual, clear posts about Trump were on his twitter account. While searching for posts about Trump i found several pictures insulting his physical appearance. I found the same types of images being created for Cruz. He is often referred to as the "Zodiac Killer" or the character from Halloween-town. These images being created for Cruz have nothing to do with the actual election, but have several people associating him with something negative. Social media has created extremely negative views for both Cruz and Trump throughout the election.
     Social media has had a stronger impact on most people over the last few years. During the last two elections, I was 8 and 12. I wouldn't have noticed what impact the presidential election was having across apps such as instagram and twitter. I do believe that during this election, as most adults have said, social media has played a role like never before. Images and videos are being posted constantly that have created images for each candidate. Bernie Sanders has seemed to be the most popular, as he is viewed positively in the "Bernie vs Hillary" posts, and the endless pictures of him helping out the community around him. The most negative posts are aimed towards Trump and Cruz, they are being looked at almost like monsters. Although most people viewing these posts are not able to vote, there is a group that can vote that sees these posts everyday. Social media, everyday, shows hundreds of thousands of people why or why not they should support a specific candidate. Although this could be positive, it can also be negative. Many people across the United States could be deciding who they are going to vote for based on one thirty second video.