reflection

Over this past assignment of writing media blogs every week, it really opened my eyes as of how I connect to the media all around us. I would say i spend 5-7 hours on my phone and/or TV a day, but consume media for about 13 hours in the day. So, for practically half of my time is spend being influenced by some sort of media. This affects my life in a huge manner; all of my thoughts and actions that I do are influenced by things I hear and see on media. If you are around something so long, you begin to act like them, like a friend. When you hang out with a friend so much,, you begin to act in ways they do, even if you don't notice.

I have noticed that i have began to act like a youtuber I watch quite often; I'll pronouce certain words the way they do and react to things in a manner that they do. I noticed that my sister started acting in this kind of maner as well and it turns out she began watching this youtuber quite often herself.

This media blog project we have been doing has made it easier for me to notice the ways media trys to influence us. I have begun to notice the way ads use word diction and product placement and things like that in order to appeal to crowds of people. I used to just let things sink in without putting uch thought behind the messages the media delivers to me, but now i notice myself yelling out to the TV during commericals certain ways they are trying to get the attention of certain people.

I think it is very important to be aware of the media and how it is affecting you; the media is in everyone's lives for at least half the time, it has to be shaping our personalities in one way or another. Don't you think we should be aware of how things are shaping who we are and what messages they are putting in our heads? Most people do not think much of the things that media deliver to us and they are oblivious to what implicit messages they ae bestowing upon us. I think it is extremely useful to be educated so you are not just some dumb, mindless zombie who lets information just go through one ear and out the other; you should know what is being given to the public.

 I got alot out of keeping these logs over the past few weeks. I feel as if this activity has further opened my mind on being a critical thinker. I am able to better analyze commercials and other sorts of advertisements. I am thankful for this class and I am glad I got to be apart of it because it has shaped my mind into a more openminded person, I am able question and analyze way better, and overall, I think these meia blogs alongside with this class has made me a more educated person.

Simulated Feelings.

I recently finished watching The Office with my little sister. I have had emotional ties with TV shows before, but since we have been focusing on media and how it affects us, it got me questioning WHY I was emotional. This show is  not real, so why are the emotions I'm feeling towards it so real?
It's weird how this artificial thing can trigger things in us, and that's how all TV shows are; they are just fake, even if it is a "reality show", it isn't real life, it is all on a screen.

So, now paying attention to this, how could our generation really know the difference between simulated emotions and real feelings? I mean really, we have grown up with a TV in our face almost all the time, constantly influenced, we have been emotionally stimulated since day 1. Even if we claim to know the difference between the real and the fake, we are lying to ourselves, because how could we know what the real is when we have been living with the fake all our lives?

Fading Friends?

Lately, I have had a few friends delete their accounts from social medias, and it is a little weird to have them "gone". I know that it is just a computer screen that we are communicating through but there is still emotions, connections formed between these medias. We see adults tell us get off those damn phones and have a conversation, but it isn't that simple. Our generation has grown up being able to have your friend right at your fingertips. I sometimes find it ironic how adults are telling us that we are being anti-social on our phones, yet they don't let us out to go and "communicate" with your friends. Maybe not for everyone, but that does happen for me.

It is strange having friends leave social media because it is almost like you are losing a bit of them for yourself. I am still friends with these people, but I think social medias have this ability to bring people together, not physically, but emotionally. I don't know how to feel about social media though, because not only does it bring people together, but it also pulls people apart.
I am glad I have social media in the end, because it gives me the ability to bond with people when we cannot physically be together.

The Fight Against Media is Right at the End of Our Fingertips

As you know, media is all around us, we cannot really help that it is there. We subconsciously take in these messages.
These media masterminds running our world have learned how to close us all in this bubble of messages, unfortunately for them, we have the power to pop that bubble.
Media has made us all one huge blob of product buyers, they have strained our individuality out of us so now we all like the same things.
We can fight the system with art.
Art is the solution to our problems; art gives us a way to express ourselves, it lets us talk about ourselves. All forms of art; painting, writing, sculpting, etc. It expresses our feelings. It is a window to se who we really are. Some people don't like art, they are more right minded; they like facts and data and whatnot, but art is for everyone. It doesn't have to be that "artsy-fartsy" crap that a lot take it for, there isn't really a definition for art. Art is what you make of it.
You don't need a paintbrush to be an artist, all you need is your real self and a way to tell the world that "Hey, this is my life, what are you going to do about it?"
If everyone began to express themselves through art, we would be able to really damage the media and how they affect our lives.