Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Media Blog Reflection 1/15/19

This whole unit on media and especially these media blogs has definitely caused a change in the way that I view and interact with it. The main thing that I do notice happening is that when I'm watching TV or on any media, I see an ad and I immediately think, "oh, that's a good one to use for my blog!" That actually got really annoying after a couple of times, because now all I can see in an ad is how well they're actually conveying their message and whether or not I can make something out of it and analyze the ad well. Or, I'll see an ad and actually think that it's really cool and that the company did a pretty good job at using the techniques. Before, I just thought that it was a really cool look at Times Square and sometimes ads would be funny. This assignment changed the way I look at it all.

My media consumption habits did change during this semester, but only recently towards the end. It could just be because of the amount of homework I have, but I honestly don't know if I got that much more. I feel like during the beginning to middle of the unit, I really wasn't that interested in analyzing the ads, and just continued on normally. But, I did eventually start actively looking at the ads. I didn't actually search up ads, but as was interacting with media, I started paying more attention to them. Even in TV shows, my sister would randomly see an advertisement that was placed in the show and call it out, and then for the rest of it I couldn't stop seeing them. I hope that eventually my media habits do change. I know that social media companies actively change their platforms to keep people on, and in the future I want to be less susceptible to this. I'm pretty sure that I am at least a little bit addicted to social media, and it definitely affects my life. Like many others, some nights I'll go to bed way later than I planned or I'll get distracted from homework because of social media. It just overall is a problem that I've been trying to deal with.

Even though I did get annoyed with thinking about these ads and homework while I was relaxing, it is important to have media literacy. Even though you would only analyze the ad on the surface for the thirty seconds that it plays, you can still get a lot from that. It might not be about the really deep implicit messages, but I think that you can definitely identify some of the techniques that a company uses in their advertisement. Being able to identify this and the other aspects of media is important. People need to be aware of how they're being affected by these techniques. Some of the advertisements can lead a person to be irresponsible or lead them in the wrong direction while trying to sell their product. It is also healthy to just be aware that their products will probably not fulfill what they said it would. People should actually know who they're trusting and giving their business to, and also what the consequences of doing so are. 

Keeping this blog was actually more interesting than I thought it would be. I always saved the posts for the weekend to do, but I didn't mind keeping an eye out for an interesting ad or a story with media that I would enjoy writing about. There was more to a commercial than I really thought there could be, and trying to find out more about its backstory and reactions to the ad was really helpful in expanding my interaction with the ad. Even though this was homework, once I started writing on my blogs, it wasn't the worst thing. For the most part, I was able to write about media that engaged me. And by doing that, I feel like I actually put more into the analysis of media than when it was something that I did not want to sit down and write about. I was able to practice picking apart a brand or their ad, and after this whole experience, I feel like I am a more educated consumer and that my media literacy has grown. I'll always be surrounded by media, but at least now I'm aware of how it's constantly changing and affecting me.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

The Paradox of Cool Hunting 1/5/20

Cool hunting is when the track what is cool. They used cool hunters to try and identify trendsetters and get ahead of them. That's kind of a risky thing to do since you can't really tell for sure whether or not something will become a trend. But they seem to be confident in this strategy, I mean they said that they are able to train these people so that they can identify a trendsetter. I guess that something big to look for is the fact that trendsetters dress differently than what is popular. It just depends on how different it is and whether people are willing to go that kind of different. Sometimes the things that are 'in' aren't really that different. I might be a change from what was currently popular, but these styles cycle through and it could have been really popular decades ago. The biggest one that I can think of is mom jeans. Other times it might be something that is actually new hasn't ever been the main trend, but even then I think that it would still draw from past styles.


The paradox with companies trying to sell cool to teens is that once they discovered it, it stopped being cool. There are a couple of reasons that this happens. The first problem is that they could have just been too late. Trends are always temporary and have changed, but now, they seem to be changing even faster than before. Companies tried to fix this by getting ahead of the trends. One way you could see this is by them sending out cool hunters. Another problem for companies is that when teens are aware that they are trying to sell cool to them, that drives them away. It can't be obvious that they are targeting teens. Instead, they have to mask it by making it seem like they get them and understand that teens don't want that. That is why anti-market marketing seemed to work for a while, until it became obvious that was also a marketing strategy.

The Only Way Out/ Feedback Loops 1/5/20

Right now I’m trying to go back through my notes but I can’t really figure out how to separate the two topics in my title, so I’m just going to talk about what I remember being talked about and hopefully it’ll end up relating to both of the topics. In the documentary, there was a solution presented to combat the media selling things to teens by limiting the media's ability to use it. What they presented was something that was so offensive that there was no way anyone would want to hear it. I guess that’s one way to avoid getting involved with the feedback loop, but the music and identity created put of this is extremely violent and vulgar. It’s not what teens should feel connected off of. I get that it’s a big thing that they found a way to escape the loop, but if you take that away, it’s just hate. Of course the media wouldn’t want to sell that because no one wants it.

But even then, that still fails. The band in the documentary was proof of it. The Insane Clown Posse prided theirselves off of that and in the end became mainstream. I feel like because they went against their message, there isn't really a valid message from their identity anymore. They were against the commercial identity but ended up going mainstream. What they built their band off of has no truth or meaning to it. You can’t say something and go back on that, and then expect that your fans are still loyal. Well, maybe those fans were still loyal I’m not really sure. The band definitely had to change something about what they put out though. I can’t imagine that if they kept everything the same that they would grow. I hope that there isn’t that much hate in the world and also, like we’ve learned in advertising, it constantly has to change to stay relevant and effective.

It was also said in class that things like YouTube or SoundCloud was supposed to be a way out. Looking at those things now, they are definitely not. There are ads all over Youtube and before every video. Brands have youtubers talking about their product in the video. I'm not as familiar with SoundCloud, but it doesn't seem as small as it was before. I don’t thing there really will ever be something that isn’t affected by media. Even if there was another attempt and it works, it won’t last for long. Becoming successful and making money has taken over a lot of peoples reasons for being on these platforms. Even if it starts out as just wanting to share content, I think that for many, it becomes about money. Or, advertisers make it about money. Then these people that became popular on this media see that there’s a way to make money off of doing what they love. No one would reject the idea of getting to do those things together. Also, when you get successful, advertisers are going to want to use you.