Privacy in the age of internet

Clickable Consent at Risk in Internet Privacy Lawsuits

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-08/clickable-consent-at-risk-in-internet-privacy-lawsuits.html

This article is about how big companies such as Google and Yahoo are being sued for not letting their consumers know just how much of their information they are using for profit. This is a major privacy violation, in this particular court case the main issue involved is about “clickable consent.” When gaining access to different websites you may come across a banner from the site asking if it is okay to use some of your information, however they don’t let you know the extent of it. The companies claim that the consumers are giving their consent by clicking the “okay” button and shouldn’t be getting upset about it. I agree with this because if you truly had issues with your private life getting out there you wouldn’t go onto those types of sites, if you needed the information from the site there are always alternative sites. In regards to privacy on the internet in general I personally believe that there isn’t any. There is always a way to find you, whether or not you do not have certain social media accounts you are still out there. Whoever is using the internet on a regular basis would more than likely have their personal email account. Whichever company it is they will have your information. What they do with that information is all in the terms of use and you must sign off on that when making an account. As long as you have some form of account online, you are out there and can be found. In this technological age, no one is private.

Representations of Teenagers in the Media

If I were given the opportunity to create a media text I would create a movie about teenagers and what it’s really like. There have been a variety of television series and movies about teenagers and teen life, there are accurate parts but some just aren’t realistic. For example in the movie I Love You Beth Cooper, the nerd tells his crush, the popular girl at school, that he loves her very much even though she’d never spoken to her, this normally wouldn’t be so bad and could be realistic, except for the fact that he said this in front of an auditorium full of people while giving his valedictorian speech. This is very unrealistic because regardless of how hormonal or spontaneous you are, you would not risk that kind of “social suicide.” So with my media text I aim to make a movie that teenagers can genuinely relate to, I want them to say “oh that’s so me.” I know for a fact that when watching movies and tv series with my close friends and we can relate to a scene we can always enjoy it more, this is because we can say “that is something you would have done.” This is what I want to create.

I want to show true teen life, not everyone is a stereotype. The popular kids don’t party all night every weekend and don’t study, the smart kids don’t study every single night and never go out. There is always a balance. I know that my friends and I spend a considerable amount of time just hanging out in our rooms watching movies in sweats. However there are the weekends when we go to a major party, we get all dressed up and have a great time and we make memories. In regards to studying I want to show in the movie that the average student reviews about twice to three times a week, and only hard-core studies when there is a test or exam. My friends and I are notorious for the night-before cram session. This is all about the high school experience, the night-before cram session is practically a rite of passage that every teen must experience at some point. The wants of teens are simple: to get good grades without having to burn themselves out, party and have a good time without getting in trouble, to eat without getting fat. Those are very simple things that go through the average teen’s head on a daily basis. The basic fears of a teen are just the opposite: getting bad grades, not being able to attend a party because their parents say so, and of course getting fat. These are all things I want to show in my movie, this is true teen life.

The signs and symbols I would show in my film are as follows: Computers, televisions, smartphones, brand name clothing such as Hollister and Victoria’s Secret. I will also show a variety of popular websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

The Media and Me

The media comes in many forms, television, internet, billboards, blimps and most importantly social media. In the modern age that we live in the media plays a very important role, it provides you with information as well as lets you share it. The media tells you want you want, what’s going on around the world and what your next door neighbor is thinking of. People use sites such as facebook to keep in touch with each other, Facebook is probably one of the main ways that the media is used. To me I use the media for entertainment and school work. I watch mulitiple television shows as well as movies this is all media.

The media portrays teenagers to be the consumers that buy the most and can be easily influenced. Advertisers and business owners know that teenagers are technology fanatics and rely on it more than any other age group. You cannot look at a teenage social setting without at least half of them on their smart phone checking different social networking sites or talking to other people. They are constantly using the media; it is a very important part of their lives. Being a teenager myself I can vouch for this, I check my phone daily, whether it’s my Instagram feed, twitter timeline or group chat on whatsapp. I am constantly checking and very aware of social media amongst others.

Advertising Question 2 - Importance of Media

"Analyze how and why media companies’ sponsors and advertisers identify target audiences based on socio economic factors and how they assess & react to audience response."

Media companies, sponsors as well as advertisers use demographics to identity target audiences. Demographics are the characteristics that make up a specific audience, such as age, gender and race. They can do this through a number of things such as focus groups and sending out employees into the field to see who likes what. This can help them identity who to target their product to for best results. 

Advertisement - Pathos, Ethos and Logos

            
There are advertisements all around us. They can be shown on billboards, television sets, newspapers and even on the internet. The whole point of an advertisement is for it to persuade you into buying the product. For example McDonald’s have TV spot ads with happy people enjoying the food, the point of this is so that you would want McDonald’s as well because you will be satisfied. This is all persuasion. What some people don’t know is that there are different techniques that advertisers use to make their work effective on us. These techniques are known as: pathos, logos and ethos. These are targeted at different types of individuals for a better response to the product. The factor known as pathos involves emotions. When using pathos in an advertisement you tend to prey upon a specific emotion, in videos regarding animal cruelty they tend to use sad and emotional music while images of abandoned and abused dogs are shown on-screen. This is supposed to make you feel upset and cause you to do something about it; the advertisers are using pathos to persuade you to help the animals. The technique known as ethos involves credibility. This would convince a consumer to buy the product because if someone of significance is telling them to buy it, or if the company that makes the brand is respectable the consumer would purchase it. For example, the brand Kitchen Aid makes kitchen appliances such as blenders, microwaves and even drain boards, if a consumer were to see the bran Kitchen Aid on the box of a household appliance they would buy it because it is a good quality brand known for those types of products. The final technique is Logos, this involves facts and statistics. For some consumers, appealing to their emotions or knowing the brand well isn’t enough to convince them. However hearing about the product itself with actual results and information they would purchase it. For example when hearing about a hair growth product, they can use statistics such as “75% of buyers saw a difference with just 2 weeks,” with this it can be enough to convince the person by using facts and figures. Every consumer is different, so knowing your audience can assist you when deciding between pathos, logos and ethos. The M&M's commercial with Naya Rivera uses the technqiues ethos, Naya Rivera is an attractive known young-actress. By having her in the M&M's commercial her fans will want to buy it because she promotes and supports it.

Trends in Culture and Society

Every culture in the world has their own way of doing things, such as the way they dress and the different activities they participate in. Different type of trends can influence a culture or society. Different countries or even continents react differently to trends. North America is the number one continent in the world that is effected by trends the most. This is because of the large amount of teenagers constantly striving for what is “cool.”

Another factor that causes trends to affect cultures is technology. Technology is constantly changing with social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. It is because of this that teenagers and other individuals from different age groups are always in the “know” about what is popular in the world around them. They are always aiming to see what is next.  

Log 1: Media Analysis

In popular television programs teenagers, girls in particular are portrayed to look perfect at all times. Most network television shows have their actresses looking models on a runway whilst doing the simplest things such as reading the morning paper. The television network known as “The Cw” is notorious for this. The cw has hosted shows such as Gossip Girl, 90210, and The Vampire Diaries The girls on these shows would wake up in the morning with their hair perfectly curled, lip gloss on and with fake eyelash extensions. This is how the media portrays teenagers today. I think that this is one of the main reasons why girls today feel the pressure to be perfect and look good at all times. These are the shows that they look up to. For example in the clip from Gossip Girl that I have attached you see the girls in their fancy uniforms looking like models at Fashion Week, they wear pretty headbands, colourful stockings and lots of makeup. This is not what happens in reality, this is a construct of the media. You see them at parties and other social events dressed up to a great degree. Even though it is the “Upper East Side” and they are very rich, it still doesn’t make it realistic. They also have the typical high school “mean girls,” however Gossip Girl takes it to a whole new level. They have “queen b’s” that run the school and make others feel less about themselves, so I also think that this makes girls feel like they need to be cool or else they will get hate. It’s a harsh world we live in, and the construct of reality that is portrayed in modern television only adds to that.

               Personally as a girl I actually enjoy the program Gossip Girl, but it is not something that I look to for life lessons. Although entertaining, Gossip Girl is a very unrealistic show that if taken too seriously can actually have a negative effect on others.  Gossip Girl shows their main characters drinking martinis at a bar on a school night even though they are minors; this would never happen in the real world. What makes this idea even more ludicrous is the fact that these “Upper East Siders” are well-known so the city knows that they are underage, and yet they still drink and do things they shouldn’t. However something that is realistic in Gossip Girl is that if you were to step out of line you might be isolated from society. This is also shown in my attached clip. The character of Blair Waldorf was the resident mean girl and queen of their elite private school. However she had a pregnancy scare that was broadcasted throughout the entire school, not only did she cheat on her boyfriend with his best friend but she thought she was pregnant. To make matters worse, she didn’t know who the potential father may be. Even though her pregnancy turned out to be false she was isolated from her friends and dethroned as “queen b.” I think that even though it is an extreme case, it relates to reality because if a girl does not meet society’s expectations she will be shunned and become friendless. In high school people have certain expectations, and if you don’t meet those requirements they will be hard on you. This is demonstrated in the clip. So in conclusion modern television alters reality for entertainment and makes girls feel the need to be perfect and feel like they can never make mistakes.