In an article written by Annie Stamwell, (link below) she suggests that because of Twitter and twitpic people can now "be places" without physically being there. People use social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, to know what is going on in other peoples lives. Whether they are friends, enemies, famous, or not, you can know what people are doing 24/7. After having these abilities, people become reliant on it. They need it.
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/annie-stamell/tv-and-twitter-go-togethe_b_419026.html)
According to the Entertainment Theory, some people don't think they use the media for the actual reasons they do. For example, people may think they are checking Twitter or watching TV for pure entertainment purposes when it may be another reason such as altering your mood or trying to be socially involved. It is also suggests that people "could have been 'conditioned' by past experiences with media content to know which forms of content will induce feelings that you unconsciously want to experience" (Baran & Davis 258). For whatever reason we do chose to use the media, does it not seem like we rely on it in our lives a little too much sometimes?
Looking at our incessant use of the media, and reading about fans and fan behavior, I feel it is safe to say that we are all fans of the media. We make use of the media every day. A fan "is seen as being brought into existence by the modern celebrity system, via the mass media" (McQuail 343). Because of what we can do with the media today, anyone can be famous. Celebrities use Twitter constantly, and it is a way we feel connected to them. Fans have also been described as "crazed." Would you not go "crazy" if you didn't have access to any form of the media for even one whole day?
It is hard to ignore the media. Some form of the media is everywhere you turn. It may not be a personal experience for you, but think about the people you know. Do you know anyone that is too dependent on the media? What happens when the internet is down and the cable isn't working? Is there a solution to the rising dependency we have on the media, or is it even a problem to begin with?
Society and technological advances have led to media dependency. I also think that as we have grown older, we also have greater media needs and demands. These blogs, for example, without a computer, couldn’t be completed. We use social media for a multitude of purposes, varying from person to person. Most often they are simply used for entertainment purposes. In our society, we need to keep up with everyone at all times. It becomes such a part of our lives that we incorporate it into our daily routine. There is no doubt in my mind that we rely on the media too much in our lives.
ReplyDeleteHowever, our addiction to social media could be to our advantage. Within many companies are positions for “social media representative” or departments strictly created to work with new media. Our generation is the first to have a complete grasp on understanding the media and how to use it, as well as applying it as a marketing, advertising, and promotion tool.
I suppose we all seem “crazed” when it comes to our media usage. We feel a need to use it constantly. Of course we all have our own reasons for using the media, but we all use it, regardless of our reason. Like Chrissy said, anybody can become famous if they use the media accordingly. Justin Bieber, who has sold millions albums before even hitting puberty and has worked with Usher, was discovered through YouTube. “Audience perspective argue that the media do not do things to people; rather, people do things with the media” (Baran & Davis, 265). This proves the power that these tools have.
There is a rising dependency on media usage, but I would not consider it a problem. “Two aspects were of particular concern – the decline of community, and the increasing power of the mass media” (Jensen, 346). Older generations might view younger generations as having an addiction to the media, but in reality, we are all just learning to adapt and consume the media to fulfill needs. Although I’m sure some people may have a problem with their media usage, I wouldn’t say that it is a problem in society…just yet.
Due to the Internet boom, I completely agree with Chrissy that the media has taken an ultimate control over the general public. I believe that the introduction of social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter have transformed people to be information hungry. It is no longer good enough to know biographical information about your favorite celebrity or athlete. Now it is more customary to know what they are doing 24/7, thanks to Twitter. This has also led to a greater impact on fans, as talked about by Joli Jensen. In characterizing the fan Jensen writes, “he or she is seen as being brought into (enthralled) existence by the modern celebrity system, via the mass media” (McQuail 343). In relation to social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter have ultimately increased the power of the fan to an astronomical level. People are now capable of getting into the lives of their favorite star whether they are 3 miles away or 3000 miles away. One can know what Jennifer Aniston is doing at 4pm on a Friday. As a result, fans have become more involved and pathological because they feel as if they are connected with these celebrities. This impact has thus led to an extreme dependency.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, the introduction of these sites could also be attributed to the social marketing theory. This theory is accurate for the social networking sites that have consumed millions because of their ability to create “methods for stimulating interest and inducing information seeking by audience members” (Baran and Davis 260). Twitter has sparked an interest in people from the moment the word was heard. People didn’t know much about it but felt compelled to check the site out. Now, the interest has grown to a level where interest has been peaked to a point where people want to know everything about their favorite actor and thus use Twitter as the vehicle to do so. Further more, not only have social networking sites caused interest in people, businesses have been able to utilize the platform for inciting exposure to the public. Companies deploy “methods for activating audience segments, especially those who have been targeted by the campaign” (Baran and Davis 261) through exposure. By creating Facebook groups, they are able to reach millions of potential consumers and thus create awareness about their campaigns. People can seek Facebook for product information or Twitter for sale updates about their favorite clothing line. All this can be done by using the media and has evoked great dependency upon its users.
I have relayed my feelings on the strong hold of Internet media. Now to answer a question posed by Chrissy, is the rising dependency on the media a problem? My answer to this is no. Just as the seasons change, so does technology (except at an exponentially faster pace). People are simply just adapting to what is happening. For example, when the first televisions came out, people wanted to have one in their home and it wasn't long until talk shows and news programs consumed people. In today's times, the Web and social networking sites have taken the reigns. It is not a bad thing but rather one that should be embraced. Dependency is only detrimental when one’s “life becomes increasingly dominated by an irrational fixation” (McQuail 346). People have been dependent 40 years ago, are still dependent now, and will continue to be dependent upon the media for as long as we are around.
I agree with Chrissy’s post that the media today is, truly, all around us. However, the idea that we are dependent on the media is inaccurate, as we each choose our own involvement. People who claim that the media has consumed their lives have no one to blame but themselves because, with online, we each choose our own involvement.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I use the internet for the viewing of television on Hulu, checking my Facebook account, and as a source of information, usually news or sports. That said, I choose to not use the internet for online games, YouTube, MySpace, and, amongst other things, Twitter (which, just my personal opinion, is useless, who cares what I’m doing right now?). Therefore, the way I see it, I choose my uses for online content. While I would likely thoroughly enjoy playing online video games, I have a nagging feeling it could be relatively addicting, keeping my from doing other things, such as work, or spending time with my roommates, or going to the gym. Thus, I choose to decline using this online feature.
While entertainment theory suggests that entertainment can have effects on those who view it, it also states that “entertainment activity is ‘influenced, triggered and maybe even shaped by the media product that is selected,’” (Baran and Davis 256). Thus, we are effected differently by different mediums, mass media content is not all one and the same. More importantly, the theory states, “Audience members do voluntarily control their selection,” (Baran and Davis 256). Thus, if I can voluntarily control the media I choose to utilize, I can choose nothing as an option. No one holds a gun to my head and forces me to use the internet.
Furthermore, this is not the first time that we, as a society, have been scared by the mass media. In Joli Jensen’s article, she describes the early 1900’s, a period that involved people moving to the cities and industrialization. She claims that, at the time, many were worried about “the decline of the community, and the increasing power of the mass media,” (McQuail 346). These two fears went hand-in-hand, yet, that whole situation seemed to have turned out just fine. Worrying about the media, whether now, or a hundred years ago, is simply an American pastime.
Thus, while we could claim that there is too much online content and media, no one forces us to use it. We choose when we log on or log off. If people do not like the media’s effects than my suggestion is to simply turn it off.
I agree with Christina that it hard to ignore the media because there are numerous types of media that surround our every day lives. I also agree that we are fans of the media because, in my opinion, we need at least one medium to get through our every day lives. We choose what medium we want to use and how long we want to use it. For the most part, nobody forces anyone to use a specific type of medium, we just want to consume it because it has become part of our society and is easy for us to use. However, in the Baran and Davis reading about information-processing theory, it states, “Viewing television is actually a rather complex task using very different information processing skills than does reading at textbook. You are exposed to rapidly changing images and sounds. You must sort these out and pay attention to those that will be most useful to you in achieving whatever purpose you have for your viewing. But if this task is so complex, why does television seem to be such an essay medium to use? Because the task is routinely making sense of television appears to be so similar to the task of routinely making sense of everyday experience” (Baran and Davis 251). Therefore television is actually a difficult medium to use, but most people don’t think about that because they are so accustomed to watching television. In fact, many different types of media that are used today are very difficult to use, but most people have grown up consuming all of the various agents so they think it is easy for them to use. Most college students in this generation are familiar with the various media genres that are provided in this day and age, and actually rely on media to get through their day. “We typically deal with information in environments where it is coming at us from several different media at the same time. We are watching television, surfing the net, instant messages and talking on a cell phone- all at the same time. The current college generation has been labeled the “M” generation- both for its ubiquitous use of media and for its constant multitasking” (Baran and Davis 253). In sum, the current college generation is not just using one type of media to get through their day, but they are multitasking and thus relying on numerous media agents. I think that people do rely on media too much sometimes, whether it is for entertainment, education, to communicate with others, surf social networking sties, etc. This link (http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_mediause.shtml) exemplifies how kids especially rely on the media in today’s generation. “One of the many facts that it shares is, “Children, ages 8 to 18, spend more time (44.5 hours per week- 61/2 hours daily) in front of computer, television, and game screens than any other activity in their lives except sleeping. On average they spent 49 minutes per day on video games (console or handheld) and 19 minutes on computer games”(Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005).
ReplyDelete(Cont). To further illustrate how the college generation today depends on media, I witnessed and was part of an experience that made me realize how dependent I, as well as others, was on the Internet. Two years ago I went to study abroad in Australia and I went on a hiking adventure for a week with my class. For the first four days, we did not have a TV or Internet and when we finally got to a camping lodge that had Internet, everyone literally ran to their rooms and did not talk to anyone. The professor actually did not stop talking about how crazy the scene was when all of the students, including myself, found out we had Internet because literally everyone just ran to their rooms and sat on their laptops. We were there for three days and she actually put a time limit on how much time we could spend on the Internet because she wanted us to be experiencing the “nature.” Do you know how mad everyone was when she said that? This just shows that although we were having a good time, we craved the Internet to surf social networking sites and communicate with friends and family from home. If this was thirty years ago, we would have been outside all day and just spending time with one another, but now because of the media dependency we needed to spend sometime on the Internet. Although I do not think this is a problem, I think that people are just using the resources that are being given to them as well as taking advantage of the media. I also agree with what Daniel said in his blog, “People are simply just adapting to what is happening.” In my opinion, people “depend” on media for all different reasons, and regardless that some do depend on it more than others, I think it has become part of our society and instead of trying to dismay it, we need to accept it. In Jensen’s article, she stated that in the early twentieth century, “two aspects were of particular concern to American critics-the decline of community, and the increasing power of the mass media” (McQuail 346). As of now, the media is very powerful, and as each day continues, the mass media is only going to become even more powerful and become even more of a necessity in peoples every day lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that it seems like media is a necessity in people's lives because of how much people use different sorts of media on a daily basis. I don't think everybody "needs" to use media such as TV, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and texting. I think people use these media sources for entertainment, pleasure, and fun. I do believe that people turn to the media when they are bored or stressed out. This is what mood management theory is all about. Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick says this about mood management theory,"The core prediction of mood management theory claims that individuals seek out media content that they expect too improve their mood (Baran & Davis 256)." People turn to TV or the Internet to help their mood. Doing this too much though can lead someone to become obsessed with the media and/or what they see on the media. They may become obsessed with a celebrity or a sport/TV show/movie. This is fandom and it can sometimes be taken to the extreme. Fans are seen as "being brought into existence by the modern celebrity system via the mass media (Jensen 343)." The media plays a large role in why people become fans. They see things on TV and online and it sparks their interest and they become fans. Sometimes people can become crazy fans, but the media has definitely given way to fandom and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that people have become dependent on media. I think that while in some cases it is a problem, a lot of the time the people who are utilizing the media are aware of how much they depend on it therefore it is not as dangerous as it may seem. With the outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, people have these social networking sites at their fingertips so why not use them? The information-processing theory that is discussed by Baran and Davis discusses the fact that we are all exposed to a large amount of media and information each day, and we filter out what is important to us and what is not. They explain this when saying, “Only a tiny fraction of this information is singled out for attention and processing, and we finally store a tiny amount of this in a long-term memory. We are not so much information handlers as information avoiders- we have developed sophisticated mechanisms for screening out irrelevant or useless information” (250). While the internet and the new media websites do take up a large part of most of our lives now, it seems that most have a grip on reality and what seems important enough to remember and what should be forgotten. In my mind, this type of new media usage seems the most healthy and if we really are capable of sifting through the information and only taking note of what makes the most sense and what is important than I only see this benefiting us. Baran and Davis also go into discussing the cognitive psychology of the brain and what it will and will not remember. They say, “Much of what takes place in our brain never reaches our consciousness. Although this activity often affects our conscious thoughts, it does so only very indirectly through its influence on other cognitive processes […] but has very limited and typically quite indirect control over it” (250). This would then make me conclude that the majority of the information people are looking at on Facebook or Twitter is useless and they know it consciously, therefore it is only being used for entertainment and most can distinguish these sites as that. What is interesting when looking at how far people will go to get information about their favorite actor or actress is distinguishing what the point is that become a “crazy” fan. What is the difference between a person who goes on John Mayer’s Twitter page every day and an obsessive John Mayer fan? Joli Jensen points out that, “Fans, when insistently characterized as ‘them,’ can be distinguished from ‘people like us’ (students, professors and social critics) as well as from (the more reputable) patrons or aficionados or collectors. But these respectable social types could also be defined as ‘fans’ in that they display interest, affection and attachment, especially for figures I, or aspects of, their chosen field” (McQuail 343). I agree with that statement and I think that everyone at one point or another was a fan of someone and used the media as a way to get information, which might not necessarily be a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Chrissy that today the media is everywhere, and technology and new types of media have made it much easier to become a crazed fan. I'll admit that I do have an obsession with a certain TV show, but definitely not to the extent that McQuail describes crazed fans: "Instead, the fan is characterized as an obsessed loner, suffering from a disease of isolation, or a frenzied crowd member, suffering from a disease of cantagion" (McQuail, 345). I think this definition is way too general and also pretty offensive. Especially today, when there are hundreds of different fan sites for whatever you are interested in, an "obsession" is fairly easy to create. Not all fans are lunatics who cannot tell the difference between the media and reality, and who kill as a result. However, with all this new access to media does come dependency. I know that if my cable went out on a Tuesday night my entire week would be ruined because I would miss my favorite show. Does this mean I'm a deranged fan, or just someone with an interest and a routine? Where is the line?
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of what we study as fandom relates to Baran and Davis' entertainment theory and its mood management theory. Why do people become fans of something? Because it makes them feel better, or improves their mood, or makes them think or helps them escape. "It argues that a predominant motivation for using entertainment media is to moderate or control our moods" (Baran and Davis, 256). I started watching my favorite show because I was bored and wanted some entertainment. Eventually, I became a big fan, and now I watch it because I can escape from a dull college life for an hour. Some people, the "crazed" fans who cannot see the difference between an action star and the actor who plays them simply take the fandom too far.
Growing up as a child I loved to play outside with friends. There were a couple of cartoons I would watch, but school and friends took up most of my time. As I have become older I have seen the evolution of different forms of media’s. I have learned through courses here at Quinnipiac that media is consuming my life. We all have our respective shows we watch (that we must tune into every week) and websites we must check daily. Me personally I check about 12 websites everyday to get my “fix”. That’s why I believe that at first media seems to be a source of entertainment. However, as time goes on I realize that in my daily life it has become a necessity.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that we rely on the media a little too much. The Internet in particular has become a major source of entertainment for all. Also, it has become a necessity for most people our age to use computers on a daily basis. According to Jensen, there are “Two aspects were of particular concern – the decline of community, and the increasing power of the mass media” (Jensen 346). I don’t think this means we need to be worried about either aspect. In my opinion the increase in power for mass media ultimately makes us more socially aware of what’s going on in the world. Most people in our generation gather our news from the Internet, television, etc.
I know that I have become heavily reliant on the media for my news. However, I don’t see anything wrong with it. According to Baran and Davis, “Audience members do voluntarily control their selection” (Baran and Davis 256). It is ultimately up to the person on how they want to use the media. I decide to use the media for multiple reasons and this is my choice. No one is telling us what to do or what to look at; it is our selection on what we want to view.
The media becoming a necessity in my life is my decision. I personally don’t see anything wrong with that. I enjoy using the media as my source of news. I believe it educates me in ways that other sources would not be able to. I am making the decision to log on to the Internet whenever I want. I think we blame the media to often when in reality it is us who are part of the problem. People need to stop complaining and just come to the realization that the media and the Internet in particular has become a necessity in our lives.
I completely agree with Christina’s post. It really struck a chord with me when I got to the section on the entertainment theory and mood management theory in the textbook reading. I think that often, people (including myself) assume that they are turning to media, whether it’s TV, the Internet or something else, to just zone out and escape reality for a bit. I don’t think we consciously realize that we are probably turning to media in order to alter or fix a certain mood we are in. For instance, each time you are bored, which is a somewhat agitated state to be in, do you instantly turn to some form of media or technology to try to cure your boredom? I know for myself, I do that much of the time.
ReplyDeleteWhen thinking about how this translates into our everyday use of the media, it makes me wonder if we are all obsessive fans when it comes to all things media. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times a day I check Perez Hilton for the latest celebrity gossip. And why? I don’t know these people, so what kind of entertainment or emotional gratification am I getting from it? Baran & Davis write, “Mood management theorists argue that we don’t have to be conciously aware of these content attributes. We don’t need to use them to consciously select content. Instead, we can be guided by our feelings about content—our vague expectations about what will make us feel better as oppossed to having a well-thought-out, rational strategy guiding our selection (257).”
Going off of this, I believe that it’s impossible for all media consumers to be aware of what they are doing when they access various forms of media at any given time. Every time I check out Perez Hilton, or turn on the TV, I’m not consciously thinking about the reason behind it. But IS there a reason behind it? Am I looking for some sort of emotional escape, or a way to relate or change what I’m currently feeling? After reading this section of the textbook, I believe strongly that there are many subconscious feelings and thoughts that go into our media selection on a daily basis.
I defiantly agree with Christina’s blog, it is hard to ignore the media. The media is everywhere you go. I feel like there is no running away from the media because in today’s society everything has to deal with the media someway. I like to call the media the backbone of our lives. Growing up as a child I hardly used the internet because it cost too much money for my family, but no one could have paid me to move away from the TV. I use to sit there for hours after school and watch everything and anything possible to watch. I was so addicted to the TV my mom had to take the TV out of my room and have only one TV in the house so she could know when I was watching it.
ReplyDeleteI feel like people do not have a choice if they want to be involved with the media or not. They just have a choice what do they want to watch or go on the internet for. In Baran and Davis they explain “Audience members do voluntarily control their selection” (Baran and Davis 256). Today I was the media for everything. For example right now everyone in this class is using the internet to write this blog. And in many other classes we have today we have to use the internet. Quinnipiac is all about the media and the use of it. I think the internet makes college a lot easier because it us the opportunity gain more information about topics that interest us.