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Media Blog Reflection

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Throughout this quarter, I have become hyper aware of my media usage and the effect it has on my life. Although I do not like to admit it to myself, I probably spend and upwards of 4 to 5 hours on my phone each day.  Yet, even though I know I am wasting away so much of my life on media, I still cannot stop.  I think that my reliance on media for connection with my peers has consumed part of my social life because I communicate digitally through Snapchat instead of actually talking with them.  Instead of picking up a book like I used, I spend my time re-watching the entirety of the Office for the 5 th time. Although I haven’t changed my media usage over the course of my media blogs, I can recognize certain tactics that advertisers use to persuade me to buy their products.  For example, whenever I see a sponsored Instagram advertisement for FashionNova, I am able to identify all of the appeals and techniques that they are using, such as “testimonial appeal” and the “need for sex.”  I
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PHINEAS AND FERB ARE GONNA DO IT ALL

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           As a child, my favorite show was Phineas and Ferb.  From memorizing all of their theme song to watching in amazement as the constructed a roller coaster into the sky, this show played a large role in the development of my imagination and creativity.  Every character holds a special place in my heart, especially Perry the platypus, who managed to thwart Dr. Doofenschmirtz evil plots.  Each engaging episode filled my young mind with new thoughts, ideas, and contraptions, causing me to want to become an architect when I grew up.            Each character taught me certain stereotypes about people that I held with my peers.  Many of the characters fit certain stereotypes, such as a personality matching how they look.  For example, there was Buford, who was the fat, white tough guy - or Ballet, who was the nerdy, scrawny Indian kid who was smart.  These characterizations that I learned from media translated into how I saw kids at school and in my surroundings.  Whenever I saw pe
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MeMe CuLTuRe In MEdiA

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          As media has progressed over the decades, certain trends have become integrated into it.  Over the last decade, the rise of social media has created a new culture in America - meme culture.  This new humorous art form can be summed up as jokes told over pictures or videos.  Many times, the video or picture is the joke in itself, but it requires a certain type of humor to understand.  That is why it has become such an influencing part of teenage life, often dictating the trends and humor that people follow.  In personal experience, I follow several meme accounts on my Instagram account, as I  know many of my friends do as well.  Around the world, memes have become a prominent aspect of media.  Certain accounts have managed managed millions of followers from memes alone, gaining sponsors and becoming a legitimate career for its managers.          What has contributed to the rise of this new trend? The popularity of smartphones have replaced the old forms of gathering informati
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MissRepresentation

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          In the film industry, women are constantly objectified and sexualized.  In the few lead roles that women are given, most often they are wearing revealing outfits and have rather shallow character.  The focus remains on their exterior instead of a prioritization of character development and plot.  However, most women never are able to reach the spotlight because they are swept into the roles of sidekicks or sexual satisfaction. Although I am not a woman, I understand the impact that representation can have on ones confidence and personality. Media images constantly showing women that they are not real people, but just sexual objects, creates a culture of sexism and unfair treatment.           Even certain franchises that began with good intentions have fallen into the cycle of misrepresentation.  One example that illustrates this is Wonder Woman. The first movie was refreshing to watch - Wonder Woman was able to create an engaging plot line without romance or sex  that result
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Fashion Nova is so cool 🤟🏽

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         Fashion Nova is a clothing company that is based in their social media following.  As far as I'm aware, the majority of their advertising is through social media platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, and Youtube.  Throughout my Instagram feed, I often find Fashion Nova ads sponsoring popular meme and sports pages to reach a younger audience.  Their techniques are very effective due to their ability to adapt to current trends set by the youth.           The first technique they use is sex appeal/women empowerment.  They are walking a fine line between the two.  In one video, a model dressed in a bikini or tight jeans walks around flaunting her body and fashion, while the captions say something like "How confident I feel when I wear my Fashion Nova skinny jeans!"  It grabs the attention of both women and men because it deals with sex for men and addresses feelings of insecurity for women.           The other technique they use is to hire trendy celebrities to we
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Thor Ragnorok

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          Thor Ragnorok is the ultimate Marvel movie.  Filled with humor, bloodshed, and a great storyline, the audience is kept captivated with their eyes glued to the screen.  The movie uses many techniques to give the movie a certain mood and atmosphere.           First of all, the comedic timing of the dialogue is near perfect.  In small conversations, the actors have precise pauses in between certain words to enhance the humor.  Someone who is great at this is Jeff Goldbloom.  As the Supreme Leader, he plays a quirky and odd character that is mostly built upon humor.  Using small fluctuations in his voice and pausing during certain moments, he adds another element to the dialogue that is just hilarious.              Another technique was the camera angles.  During certain scenes, such as Loki and Thor on the elevator, the camera angles are as close as possible to their face.  This allows us to see every expression on their face as they go through their dialogue.  Especially is
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The Kardashians

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          The Kardashians are the perfect example of what our society has come to.   How have the Kardashians accomplished their rise to fame and success?  Is it after years of grueling and tireless work and innovative ideas?  Nope.  Kim rose to fame in ways which I cannot name, but from there she gave her family a pass to a life of Grandeur.             Kylie Jenner is a entrepreneurial billionaire due to her makeup company.  This may seem impressive at first glance, but she was given everything to her to build up.  The only reason why the product sells is because of her popularity and reputation that she was given by her name.  Yet, our society reveres and worships these people.  Recently, a saw a headline that said that Kim receives 300 thousand to 500 thousand dollars per instagram post.  I nearly fell out of my chair when I read it.  Celebrity culture is odd in how it celebrates people who do not do much of anything, while the average person who works 10 times as hard still goes
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