Fandom

Watching the video about fandom, I found myself being very judgemental. I see those people who basically devote their whole lives to something that is fictional. I did view them as loners who are socially handicapped and have to obsess over a certain celebrity or TV show to meet their needs. I think it is wrong for people to turn to the media for their own opinions and morals. I feel that people should get that from their personal experiences, not a fictional charecter's. But I suppose some people do not have the opportunity to learn for themselves, so they must turn to media. To a certain point, I can understand a degree of idolizing media texts, but not so much that it rules their entire lives. I think it is very unprofessional for someone like the juror in the video to wear her uniform to an occupation like that. People need to learn to find a "happy medium." They do not need to completely throw away their interests or hobbies, but when it starts to rule your life, I think it is time to cut back a little. But that is just my opinion.

Parasocial Interactions

I have seen parasocial interactions from people I know, but never knew the actual concept of it. I always looked down on people who practically thought they had a relationship with someone famous they have never even met in person. I just figured they did not have the right social skills to form relationships with others in their life and they were lonely. But I see it differently now that I know there is no correlation between parasocial interactions and a person's social skills or loneliness. Even I find myself sometimes leaning toward a parasocial interaction with certain celebrities. The celebrity I chose in class to evaluate was Josh Hamilton, who plays for the Texas Rangers. I was one of the highest scores in the class with a 79. However, I think it is more that I admire him rather than feeling a personal relationship with him. I have seen what kind of a person he is, and the things he believes in and works for. I guess it is easier than I thought to feel so close to someone I have never met.

Convergence

Convergence in mass media is really interesting to me. I notice it as a cooperation among media industries a lot lately. Any time an actor or actress has a new movie coming out, you will usually see them throughout other forms of media during that time as well. Movie stars appear on shows with Leno or Letterman all the time. I have also noticed convergence as a flow of context across multiple media platforms. Many movies end up becoming TV shows, and vice-versa. Several video games have evolved from shows and movies too. The "black box" theory has only come to my attention recently. The iPhone has gained a lot of popularity lately. It really is an amazing idea to have so many types of technology combined into one mobile device. Finally, convergence as migratory behavior of audiences has never really come to my attention. But after thinking about it, I see how true it is that people will do whatever it takes to get the media they want.

Conglomerates - Good or Bad?

During our class debate on media conglomerates, I thought a lot about whether they are more helpful or harmful to our society. My initial thought was that they are harmful in many ways, and I have not changed my opinions much. The biggest issue for me is the fact that conglomerates have the ability to basically control what the mass population takes in as far as media. This would be a useful power if their main goal was to better the society. But instead their goal is obviously profit. Now I have no problem with companies trying to influence people to purchase something, that is their job and it is necessary for them to survive. But when conglomerates, who only want to gain popularity and money, knowingly use their power to influence people to dress, talk, act, and be a certain way, I find that wrong. Adults do have the ability to think for themselves and make their own personal decisions, despite the massive influence and pressure put upon them. But conglomerates target children too. Disney and Nickelodeon are now influencing children more than ever, and they are even more easily persuaded than adults. I think if a conglomerate wants to influence the population like they do, they need a better reason than monetary gain.

Signs

One sign I chose to analyze is the PlayStation controller. Its denotative meaning is simply a device used to play PlayStation games. But I have recently noticed some other deeper meanings. To many, the controller itself is a symbol of video games as a whole. Every time I see a PlayStation controller, I think of video games, not necessarily just the PlayStation console. It is not only that way for me though. I have noticed that others use the controller to symbolize video games as well. A lot of cell phones use the PlayStation controller, or something that resembles it, to stand for their games application. Once I really started to think, it was easy for me to notice this connotative meaning of the controller. But others who do not belong to the video game affinity group may not be able to put it all together. Overall, I thought it was interesting how a simple controller for one specific gaming system has been chosen to represent all video games.

Media Log #2

After keeping a log of my media diet about a week ago, I did not like what I noticed about my habits. I was wasting a lot of time watching T.V. and sitting on the computer simply because I was bored. I decided to try to be more conscience of those tendencies and make some slight changes. After another three days, I looked back on how they differed from the first three. Overall, I cut my television time almost in half. My time spent on the internet and video games was about the same, but did not bother me because television was my main concern. I am still not satisfied though since I did not substitute that time for a better use of the media, I just cut it out altogether. Either way, it was good for me to use my time for a better reason than sitting on the couch. In time, I would like to focus on using more constructive media.

Un/True Myth

I think all of the six myths in contemporary media can be both true and untrue. For the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" myth, one person must overcome a personal challenge, which leads to all of the people around them overcoming as well. A lot of times this is the case. There are many stories of single parents overcoming the problem of raising a family along, thus the entire family succeeds. There are tons of other examples of this too. But in most stories, everyone usually does not overcome. There is often one or more people who still fail in their struggles, despite the influence of the first person. Since I first started observing this myth, I have noticed that the stories usually do not match the qualifications of the myth exactly, but they do have the same overall principles of the myth.

Media Log

After keeping track of all the media I took in for three days, I noticed some things about my media diet. The main sorce of media that I consumed was television by far. In only those three days, I found that I watched almost fifteen hours of TV! I guess television is just how I pass the time when I am bored or stressed, which was a lot this week. I only played about an hour on my PlayStation, which I am happy with. I spent about five hours on the internet, including school work and leisure. As far as any actual reading material goes, I pretty much stayed away from it. I did not read any newspapers or magazines, and the only book I read was for homework and only lasted a few minutes. Overall, I was pretty unhappy with my media diet. The many hours I spent in front of the TV and the very little time I took to read showed how lazy I am when it comes to media, or anything else. I think my diet is somewhat similar to other people my age, but I deffinitely need to keep track of how I spend my time, and take steps to change it.

5 Levels of Production/Distribution

Last class period was the first time I have ever heard of these 5 levels. I always saw a producer as someone who actually held the title of producer, but really a producer is anyone involved in creating the media text. The rights owners are easy to understand, they are simply the people who "own" the intellectual property. Content aggregators pull different kinds of content for specific groups of people. Distributors send the information to consumers. And hardware producers create the actual devices used to gather the media text. In class, my group put this concept to use by breaking down the process of producing a song. We chose the country song called Chicken Fried. Some of the producers we found were the Zac Brown Band, the song writer Zac Brown, the band manager, sound engineers, studio operators, and more. We were not sure, but we believed the rights owners were Atlantic Records. Some content aggregators would be country TV and radio stations like GAC, CMT, WQMX, and WGAR. A few distributors are Time Warner, iTunes, local cable stations, and any store that sells music. Finally, the hardware producers are anyone who makes TVs, radios, computers, CDs, CD players, iPods, ect. I never realized everything and everyone involved in producing a single media text.

One Second Commercial

I usually look forward to Super Bowl commercials every year. But this year I was especially anxious to see Miller High Life's one second commercial. They had advertised it in another commercial in the previous weeks, and I could not wait to see it. It was funny and very unique, and I think it got more attention than most of the 30 second ads. But going back and watching it today, I noticed even more about it. Though only one second long, it contained many signs that I never noticed at first. The man in the commercial is a sign, because he is in every High Life commercial. The man is standing in a large warehouse building that is filled with boxes of beer, suggesting the quantity the company sells. There is a big hanging flag with the company's logo, which takes up much of the scene, suggesting their importance. There is a trophy in the background that may indicate their excellence. There is also a couch in the scene that could portray the comfort of drinking their beer. There seems to be some sort of mounted animal in the back too; I cannot tell what kind, but I think it adds to the humor. Another object I found was a football helmet laying on boxes of beer, which would appeal to football fans, especially during the biggest football game of the year. Another sign I noticed was what the man said and how he said it. The only thing he said was "High Life," but he practically yelled it at you. He also threw his arms up as he said it, like he was throwing the words at you. Overall, this was the shortest commercial I had ever seen, but it was also one of the funniest and most interesting. It packed so many signs and meaning into such a short amount of time. This was one of my favorite commercials ever.

Semiotics

Signs are everywhere in media text, but I usually do not notice it. Like when I see the word "dog," I never think about what the letters "d-o-g" represent. I just see the word and think, dog. Every word we write or say is a sign for something we mentally represent in our minds. Images are also signs. A photograph of a dog is not really a dog. But if someone were to show me a picture of a dog and ask what it is, I would say a dog. We are programmed to see these signs and immediately recognize the denotative meaning. We often see the connotative meaning of certain signs as well. For instance, when I see a rose, I think love. Or when I see a swastika, I think of hate. But a rose is not really love, and a swastika is not really hate. I have just symbolized those meanings with the actual objects. We do this with so many signs all the time and do not even know it.

Semiotic Domains

It is interesting to think about all the semiotic domains that I belong to, and the ones I do not belong to. I realized that if I am not part of a certain semiotic domain, then I tend to discriminate against those affinity groups. I do not understand their symbols and rules, so I just categorize them as being wrong. There are so many types of music, movies, television, books, and other text that have symbols and rules that I do not understand, and thus I dislike them. If I would just take the time to know the facts about these unfamiliar semiotic domains, I might start to like some of them, and perhaps even join their affinity groups. A lot of prejudice and discrimination stems from a plain lack of understanding. So much of that could be eliminated if people just tried to understand the symbols and rules that are associated with different semiotic domains.

Myth in Mass Media

The first myth that came to mind for me was in the movie I Am Legend. The myth I found in this movie was the "pull youself up by your bootstraps" myth. The main character is Robert Neville, played by Will Smith. He thinks he is the last man on Earth due to an viral epidemic that killed almost every human, and turned the survivors into man-eating "dark seekers." He lost his family and everyone else he had ever known, and lives alone with his dog, Sam. Neville was a scientist who had the only real chance of stopping the virus because he was the only one immune to it. Now he is trying to reverse the effects it had on mankind. He thinks if he finds the cure, he will be able to cure the "dark seekers," and make them human again. He works hard every day. But when his dog, and only friend, dies, he seems to give up hope. He practically attempts suicide, when a woman and her son rescue him one night. The woman then convinces Neville that there is hope, and he is able to find the cure, and eventually save mankind. He had to pull himself up from his depression and hopelessness, in order to save the world. This story could also fit in with the "wisdom of the rustic" myth. He learned a lesson from the woman, which later enabled him to save her and the rest of the human population.

Possibilities with Mass Media

Although I sometimes like to point out the problems with mass media, there are also endless possibilities. Mass media connects nearly everyone in the world. We can communicate anything we want with someone thousands of miles away. People are able to have small conversation with each other. We can express how we feel or what we think to millions of people, or just one person, depending on who it is intended for. We are able to hear or see the latest news and information around our state, country, or the entire world. We can also just sit back and enjoy all sorts of entertainment that mass media provides. Whether you use it for one reason or every reason, it is essential to our everyday lives. Television, internet, cell phones, newspapers, movies, and more have enabled us to communicate with the world. It is not always used for good, but it can and does make the world a better place.

Problems with Mass Media

Mass media enables people to do many great things. But it also creates an opportunity for trouble. One of the big problems with mass media is propaganda. We are now able to make a large amount of people believe something, despite if it is true or false. Propaganda is a very affective and powerful tool, and it is used in countless ways. News networks will often show only one side of a political story, in order to promote their favorite party. Companies spread false information about their product or service in their advertisements. Rumors are spread about people or organizations that eventually lead to their destruction. Propaganda can, and should be used for good, but I notice it most often when it is used for the wrong reason. I constantly find myself believing things that I know nothing about. It is amazing that just because something is shown on the television or internet, we will tend to believe it. A couple years ago, I thought the government had planned the terrorist attacks on September 11th because I watched a ridiculous video on the internet. I see products being advertised on television all the time that claim they are the perfect solution to any problem, and I trust it. I know first hand that people can be very influenced by something if it is looks good and other people say it is true. You really have to do the research on things, instead of judging them on first impressions alone.

Formative Media Text

One type of media that I think impacted me the most as a kid was television. My parents were very protective of me and my siblings (and still are.) They liked to control everything we saw, heard, tasted, touched, and smelled. My friends, however, had different parents with different rules. They were allowed to watch all kinds of T.V. shows and movies. I had to hear about all the cool Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers movies that all the other boys my age were watching. All the restrictions I had against popular movies and shows just made me want to watch them more and more. I sat awake at night, wondering what I was missing on the other side of my parental control. A few times, I went to friends' houses to watch the forbidden shows. But my guilt usually took over and I could not allow myself to go through with it. I tried many times to change my parents' minds, but they would not budge. I was stuck with only thoughts of what could be. Eventually I reached an age when my parents slowly eased back. As soon as they did, I indulged myself in any kind of "bad" movie or show I could find. As I did, I started to notice that the thing I had wanted for years was not as great as I had thought. I realized that the time I wanted to use for watching cool movies and T.V. shows, I used for more useful things instead. My brothers and I used our imaginations, played games, and got exercise, and we developed a close relationship as a result. I guess the grass is not always greener on the other side.