Blog 12

Social media and social networking have increasingly become larger and larger parts of our everyday lives and culture. When starting this assignment, the positive piece of information is that social networking sites help students do better at school. According to the National School Board Association, 59% of students with access to the internet report they use social media networking sites to discuss educational topics. In addition, 50% of students use these sites to talk about school. I find this source to be very reliable when reporting statistics regarding this issue.When looking at this in my own life, I have appreciated being able to contact fellow classmates through social media to discuss group projects or class assignments. Many of my school assignments involved using social media in positive ways to spread awareness about issues or gain technology skills. When looking at the negative aspects of social media, the one that I feel is most accurate to my life is that social media entices people to waste time. Statistics from kff.org state that 40% of 8-18 year olds spend 54 minutes a day on social media sites. I have never heard of this source, and therefore am not fully confident that it is reliable. However, this is very true in my own life. I find social media to be a good place to escape from the stress of the real world when I need a break. I enjoy going on Pinterest and Instagram. I also love reading for my own pleasure rather than reading for school, and do this quite a bit to escape the stress of school or my job.

Blog 11

Modern day celebrities are very different than average people. They are essentially created for the purpose of our own entertainment. In addition they involve many complex economic and social relationships. Celebrities have symbolic meaning in that everything that they do must be thought out and planned to perfection. The celebrity industry involves thousands of employees, billions of dollars, and thousands of firms and businesses. For example, a celebrity cannot simply make an appearance or go to a party like we can. They must first consult their various handlers and supporters to determine the type of image that they would present by making an appearance somewhere. In addition, they must weigh the pros and cons of going to an event to determine the type of press that they would receive. Politicians do this all the time-- especially when running for election or reelection. Their political values and party determine the phrases used in speeches, where they make appearance, who they speak to, and who they collect funds from. Many times, scandals arise in various forms in the political world, and we are incredibly hard on these politicians because of it. Typically a political scandal can mean the end of a career because we hold elected officials (many times viewed as celebrities) to higher standards because they are responsible for looking out for our interests.

Blog 10

Costco (http://www.costco.com) is my first example in that it draws a lot of consumers in by making them feel like insiders. Costco requires that anyone who comes into the store to shop must have membership. By doing this, it takes advantage of people's desire to be in selective groups. In addition, it uses the principle of exclusivity in that it is an incredibly large store, but those who have memberships have the ability to access the large amount of products it carries. The next example I have is the Netflix show-- House of Cards (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1856010/)-- which is a political drama that is very popular and my absolute favorite show. This show exemplifies the remarkable aspect of getting social currency. This show is not the first to be about American politics, but it is the first to really highlight the corruption and inner workings of our democracy. This show illustrates the ruthlessness that is American politics. In addition, it shows our politicians many times have their own agendas that take precedence over their actual job responsibilities. In this way, this show is remarkable because it is the first political drama of this era to really highlight these aspects of politics. My final example is the Hy-Vee Fuel Saver Card (https://www.hy-vee.com/perks/). This uses the game mechanics aspect of social currency in that it encourages consumers to buy their groceries from Hy-Vee so that they can build up points which can be used to pay for gas. Although the individual points earned may be small, the accumulation of these points becomes a game to see how many can be added up and used to save money.

Blog 9

The big mixed message is that individuals use tattoos for identity expression and formation, although they may do this while keeping the existence of their tattoos a secret from the general public. We see this message in that society is divided in its acceptance of tattoos. Some see it as a form of deviance while others see beauty and creativity. With this being said, the author states that those getting tattoos are very aware of how they are viewed in society. This focuses on the term impression management in that clients-- typically younger-- take great care to make sure that their tattoos will not be discovered by those who may not approve. This in a way defies the self expression aspect of tattoos that many are drawn to. This is shown as individuals feel are not allowed to freely display their tattoo without facing repercussions from those who do not approve or understand. In addition, the author points out that these clients feel pressured to justify why they chose to get a tattoo and what purpose it serves. In actuality, the person getting the tattoo is an individual who has the ability to make this decision about their body regardless of what others think.

Blog #8

When first looking at the Cultivation Theory itself, George Gerber stated that the more time that people spend in living in the world of tv, the more likely that are to believe in that social reality that they are viewing on the screen. Therefore, many Americans watch graphic shows that include the use of torture in them to extract specific pieces of information from the victim. On television shows, these tactics, while violent, are seemingly successful. This leads us to believe that torture can also be successful in real life as well-- 57% of Americans feel that the use of torture provided good intelligence on various security threats. However, torture usage is really not effective in real life simply because we cannot script out fugitives and prisoners to say exactly what we want them to say. Many Americans support the use of torture on suspected terrorists because they have seen shows or movies involving this and it was successful. In reality, these tactics brought little valuable information to US authorities. In addition, the use of torture in the United States has weakened our credibility in the international community. Torture is seen as medieval and beneath humanitarian standards set for the 21st century by many countries around the world.