Media Blog Reflection

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 5thtime.
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 think I have become less vulnerable to these tactics and am able to dissect certain things that appear on my media sites.  Media literacy is important because enables independent thought. In politics, we have learned about the importance of language and how certain words can convey connotations and meanings.  By understanding how media and language interact, we can see through the euphemisms and exaggerated words to the truth.  Media literacy is key to a well educated public that can think beyond what the institutions tell us to.  
Being an educated consumer is especially important in today's society because advertisements are everywhere we look. Not only do these advertisements tell us to buy a product, but they instill messages and stereotypes into our mind.  For example, Nike ads use social issues to promote their products, even though they aren't related at all.  When we see ads like this, they give us a certain world view about how we should think about racial and gendered issues.  When advertisements have such power and influence over us, it is important to be able to recognize the messages that they are giving.  If not, we lose independent though and live our lives as told to us by the corporations and advertisers.
This project was important for me because not only did it focus on certain aspects of media such as women representation or words in politics, but allowed us to explore a variety of different subjects.  The freedom in the assignments allowed me to write about what I dealt with on a day to day basis and learn about certain topics that was interested in.  How are Asians represented in media?  What are the advertising tricks of the new movie that I am excited about?  In an average project, I wouldn’t have the ability to engage myself in this variety of topics, but the media blogs have allowed me to.Image result for person thinking

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