Fac(ebook)ing the Change - by Tina Dixon

The article was published by Tina Dixon in December 2010. It outlines in the issue of change in society and how social networking websites, specifically Facebook, are having an impact on the way that people live and communicate with others.

In the article, she discusses:

• The origins of Facebook
• The feel-good factor of using it
• Issues with privacy settings
• Globalisation
• Other perspectives

She explains where the original idea behind Facebook came from and who initiated, stating that it is an open community for anyone to use and browse. She describes this as:

'a noble ideal, to be 'open' to everyone in a world full of prejudices and hierarchies, a world where good looks open doors and fake breasts earn you a great deal of money if you are prepared to have them photographed regularly'.

The following video proves her point that Facebook, and social networking in general, is a vast community with millions of worldwide users. It is an open world full of potential and opportunity for many people. The video also points out that is can be used for business purposes and earns billions of dollars every week.

I agree with the points that she makes about social networking being a wide community because it is seen as 'the norm' in today's society for a person to have at least one account for a social networking account. As everything is now on the internet and easily accessed quickly by millions, it is an ever-growing part of society that general communications are made over the internet.

In the section about the 'feel-good' factor behind using Facebook, she tells us that there is a freedom for everyone to express themselves as individuals. She states that:

'Everyone who has an account on Facebook can represent themselves, can profile themselves, choose their own photographs, decide who they allow to be their friends, log on when they want to and not when they don't.'

She then goes on to explain that this is huge development of society as self image is very important and can be the most outstanding aspect of a person's life.

'The fact that ordinary people are able to self-represent is huge. This is a massive turnaround. The traditional media are full of constructed representations and stereotypes, with all of the negative connotations that go with that.'

However, some would argue that this is not a positive because the people in society are becoming more and more consumerist and the importance of self-image could be too much for people to handle. Many people argue that the use of social media accounts, such as Facebook, are causing people to have severe forms of depression as they may have heavily mediated lives online and they may also have a distorted self-image. The following video show someone explaining exactly why Facebook is bad for self image and what it is doing to people in society. He explains that people can post whatever they want online for people to judge and the people that read the posts can feel envious towards them about their lives.

I agree with the points made in the article by Tina Dixon because she is right about Facebook being a great way for ordinary people to express themselves. It gives them the freedom to create a different online persona for themselves. This could help them to gain confidence and feel good about themselves when people like and comment on their posts. However, I also agree with the points made in the video because it is true that people can feel worse when they see people posting pictures and statuses of themselves. They can see what others are doing all the time and see what opinions people have about current events and politic issues. They can feel as though they are not as good as the other people online and do not have as glamorous of a lifestyle as they do.

Representations - Justin Bieber

Text 1 – Cover of the Seventeen magazine article in December 2015

Justin Bieber is shown to have the persona and image of a ‘heart throb’ for teenage girls. He is dominating the magazine cover whilst giving an innocent, yet flirtatious look. His shirt is slightly unbuttoned, revealing a tattooed chest. This gives the audience the impression that he has the persona of a ‘rebel’. The shadowing is covering most of his body except his face and arm, which highlights these areas and extenuates his main features and gives him a proud and confident look. The lighting also gives a warm and inviting tone, which shows him to be a happy person and a good person to be around. The image is taken from a close up position which helps to make his facial features stand out more. The angle of the shot is a mid-angle shot which gives him a look mystery as he looks up to the audience. There is use of direct mode of address to make him look towards the audience, giving the audience a personal connection with him.

            The encoders of the text are representing Justin Bieber as a style icon and an admirable figure. His dressed-down look offers the impression that he does not have to try to look the way he does. By dressing in everyday clothing, he is even more admirable because he is depicted as a normal person whom people could aspire to be and look like. This makes him seem more like a normal person and he will therefore he appeals to teenagers and people that admire him. He is represented as an apologetic person with the headlines of ‘I was disappointed in myself’. This shows him to be even more of a normal person because he too makes mistakes and messes up. He is also named as just ‘Justin’ rather than his full name. This too makes him seem like a normal teenager and puts him on a personal level because the audience are addressing him in an informal and friendly manner. Society has certain stereotypes for the appearances of what are seen as good-looking young men. Justin Bieber tries to fit this stereotype in the magazine.

 

Text 2: Cover of ‘Men’s Health’ magazine in April 2015

In this magazine cover, Justin Bieber is shown in a black and white filter, posing shirtless with a serious facial expression. The image has been taken from a medium shot to show all of his torso and facial features. This represents him as an admirable and inspiration to others as he has achieved the look that many people are aiming for. He is showing all of his tattoos which gives him a grown up and manly look and is again admirable for the audience of the magazine. He has positioned his hands behind his head which helps to enhance the look of his body. This makes the audience focus more on his body over anything else. This also represents him as being a confident person. He is seen here as a style icon and a mature adult; which takes away from the ‘teenage heart throb’ that we have previously seen. He has a grown up persona and a manly appearance.

            The creators of the magazine would want the audience to see that he is a grown up and mature person who should be looked up to and admired by the audience of the magazine. The encoded message is that he is representing what everyone should look like and that people should aspire to look like this. This is the preferred reading of the magazine. However, some people may see this as giving a false message to young people and giving them an unrealistic idea of what they should look like. This could be telling young people that they should look like this when there is a high chance that this image has been edited and manipulated. This is the oppositional reading. 

            We live in a society that is consumed by stereotypes and ideologies that many people struggle to live up to. This magazine is showing what is seen as the ideal body for men, which could have severe psychological effects on the audience.

 

Text 3: Photo from a Photoshoot in 2014

This is a photo from a photoshoot that Justin Bieber did in 2014. He is sitting on a black leather sofa in what looks like a living room or apartment. The apartment is difficult to see because the lighting is focused on Justin Bieber’s face. The lighting is highlighting his face to make his facial expression stand out and we see he is looking towards the camera. The angle of the shot is a high angle shot which shows him to be looking up towards the audience. This represents him as more of a normal person because of the casual setting and the dressed down outfit. He is holding a pair of drumsticks in his hands which reminds the audience that he is musical and has a great amount of talent. This represents him to be as being a natural talent as he clearly does not have to go to much effort to achieve this look. The messy look of the room in the background makes Justin Bieber seem more relatable to other young people as this is something that many people especially teenagers have. This adds to the appeal and attraction of him and represents him as a normal teenager who is just the same as other teenagers.

            The encoded message of the photo is that he is a grown up and natural talent who does not need to put in much effort because he is already talented. He is shown as the central figure of the image which gives him a great deal of importance and respect. This is the preferred reading of the photo, the opinion and viewpoint that the producers of the media text want the audience to have. However, due to the clear amount of image manipulation and editing that has occurred, some people would see this as an unrealistic depiction of Justin Bieber. The photo is taken from a particular angle and position, which shows that the image is mediated and it is unlikely to be what reality for this celebrity looks like. This is the oppositional reading, the opposite opinion of what the producers of the media text what the audience to have.

            The world and society that we live in revolves around the type of people that we are, our appearances and lifestyles. Justin Bieber is trying to show the kind of lifestyle he lives using the dressed down look with his clothes and the casual and messy looking apartment. We get this stereotype through social media and the way that more people are showing the lifestyles that they live. People are seen as ‘cool’ if they wear branded clothing and have a relaxed lifestyle. This is what Bieber is trying to show.

Text 4: Cover of the ‘Sun’ newspaper in January 2014

This is the cover of a newspaper printed in January 2014 that titles ‘bustin Bieber’ across the top. The images of him include the central picture of him in front of a car with his hand down not showing his face. This represents him as feel and acting guilty for his punishable actions. He also looks to be shameless and he is being publicly shamed through the newspaper. This also shows him to be a ‘bad boy’ who is willing to commit crimes and break the law and does not make a big deal out of it. The main image is a long shot that shows all of Justin Bieber and the background setting. This makes him seem small compared with the car, representing him as someone who does not have a lot of confidence because he knows that he has not done anything to be proud of. The images below are his mugshots that were taken of him in prison. By including these images, he is being represented as a criminal and someone that has committed a serious enough crime to be punished in this way. It reinforces the idea that he has done wrong and does not excuse his actions; making the audience think that he is a bad person and not someone who should be looked up to.

            The publishers of the magazine want the audience to see that he is a criminal and a bad influence who does nothing more than cause trouble. They have chosen to include the images of his mugshots to remind the audience that this is the person that he is and he should not be admired or looked up to. This is the preferred reading of this media text, what the producers what the audience to think and the opinions that they want them to have. However, some people may reject this by saying that the newspaper is making the crimes that he has committed seem bigger and that they are things that many people are arrested for. This is the oppositional reading of this media text, the opposition of what the producers what the audience to think.

Print-Based Charity Advert - UN Women's Rights

The advert uses the common image of the search engine drop-drop bar. It shows the most-searched endings to the sentence ‘women need to’ and it has been manipulated to show negative and discriminating endings to the sentence.

            This advert uses shock tactics to grab the attention of the audience as the search bar is covering the woman’s mouth. This represents the way in which women are silenced in these countries. All of the sentence endings in the search bar are a representation of the role and view that a lot of people in foreign countries have of women. This gives a perspective of this society and it gives the audience the message that it is wrong and unfair. The use of repetition is clear to see with the same sentence starter in the search bar. This is used to make it stick in the mind of the audience and it will make the sentence starter become relevant to the viewer.

            The use of mode of address is important in this advert because the woman is looking directly into the eyes of the audience. She has a blank expression on her face to show that she is unable to defend herself or speak out for her rights. Her eyes have no emotion. This could represent the fact that they are unaware that this should not be happening. The woman knows that the situation is unfair, but she does not know a world with anything else. This is important because this represents the message behind the advert. The woman is wearing a burka, which tells the audience that she must be from a Middle Eastern country. The advert represents a large amount of discrimination and the lack of equal rights for woman in certain countries. Therefore the use of a woman wearing the traditional clothing is important to ensure that the audience knows about the concept of the advert and why they have to raise awareness of this issue.

Magazine Analysis

'Dear John' Trailer

This trailer is generic of the genre ‘Romantic Comedy’ and there are many aspects that justify this. The trailer begins with the two main characters of this film being introduced and showing how they fall in love. They meet in a stereotypical way in which the man saves the woman’s bag from sinking in the sea. A wide shot is used here to show the risk that the man will have taken to save her bag and this indicates the beginning of their relationship. By showing how the two meet each other at the start, we will know what to expect from this film and this narrative development is important in meeting the audiences’ expectations. This is also generic of the ‘rom-com’ genre. Another generic aspect of this trailer is that the settings for the scenes where they are alone are generally beaches and dates. This is included at the start of the trailer to show the development of their relationship and how it will start as a happy and mutual relationship.

            During the trailer, we are told that the man will return to the military and will therefore be away from the woman for a long period of time. This iconizes long distance relationships and shows the struggle between the two to be aware form each other. We see that as he is fighting for his country, he is also fighting for his relationship and emotions as a binary opposition. This is clear from the montage showing the journey of the man and what the audience may expect to see him go through in his life.  From this trailer, we can see that this is a serious relationship with slow guitar music playing throughout. The chose of music will help the audience to see exactly how the two are feeling in their relationship. This music does build up into pop music and we see that this is very generic of this genre.

            There are a lot of close-ups used in the scenes in which the two characters are alone, showing their emotions and emphasising what they are saying to each other about how they feel. More emphasis is put on the kiss that they shared to show how much this means to bot of them. This is showing that their relationship is growing and this is also generic of the ‘rom-com’ genre. The audience will also see that this film includes recognisable actors such as Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. These actors have appeared in other big movies and will therefore add to the expectations of the audience, as we know what type performance they are going to display. The film is also based off a best selling novel with again will add reliability to this film. We know that if the novel is best selling, the audience can except a great story from this film and will add to the audiences’ expectations.

            Throughout the trailer, the audience is positioned in the perspective of both the man and the woman. The audience will therefore form a close bond with the characters and will want to see them both be happy. This is justified again with the parallel narrative showing one of them writing the letter and the other reading it at the same time. The voice-over is included with the person reading out what they have written in the letter. We therefore get the see the letter from both perspectives. The trailer has a generic Todorov structure, which begins with the equilibrium that they do not yet know each other and they meet in the disruption to their lives. They quickly fall in love and are happy with their blossoming relationship. However this is disrupted again by the fact that the man must go away. This structure sets the enigma codes up for the audience such as what will happen next, will they hold their relationship together and will something happen that ruins it?

Media Diary Entry 6: Guilty Pleasures Week - Animal Crossing

The Nintendo game series ‘Animal Crossing’ is one that I have played and adored for many years. I received the second release from the game series in 2007 for my 8^th birthday; and since then I have been a huge fan and have owned every game since the second one. The initial concept of the game includes the player customising and creating a town for a bunch of animal villagers that will move into the town. The first game in the series that was released in the UK was on the Nintendo Gamecube and was named ‘Animal Crossing Population Growing’ and I unfortunately never owned a Gamecube so I did not get to play this game. The most recent improvement on the basic game is ‘Animal Crossing New Leaf’ for the Nintendo 3DS. I played this for a very long time and this soon became my favourite in the entire series. However, more recently Nintendo has been releasing spin-off versions of the game in which the basic concept of the series as a whole has been changed. Two spin-off games will have been released in 2015; the first one being ‘Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer’ for the Nintendo 3DS and the second one being ‘Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival’ for the Wii U.

            The target audience for this text is generally children of any gender, possibly aged between 8 and 13. However, I know of many people that do not fit this audience classification and I feel that any age or gender can enjoy this game series. I also think that this game series will apply to the ‘explorer’ type of people because this game series is very unique and the concept of it has not been impersonated by any other game series. Therefore they will receive new sensations from playing this game series. I also think that the ‘succeeder’ would enjoy this game series because their core need in life is for control and most of the games are based on creation and therefore the audience member is in full control of the happening in their town. As I do not fit with the target audience age, I fear ridicule from people who feel that the game is only for kids. However, this game series appeals to me as I have always loved the games produced and I will keep this game series as my own guilty pleasure.

            From this game series, I feel as though I have the preferred reading that the game producers want the audience to have. I play the games properly and do not cheat so that the game can naturally happen in normal UK date and time and I can also receive the full enjoyment out of the games for longer. I also follow the games with the official social media as one of the new features of the latest game includes receiving limited edition animal villagers via the internet during a certain period of time. Therefore, I think I have the preferred reading of the game as I will play the games and complete them in a logical way without cheating. The oppositional reading of the games would be that the audience member cheats and uses hacks in the games to complete them faster and access areas of the game that were not originally put there by the producers. I have used some cheats in the past to improve my gaming experience and keep my interest with the games once I had completed them all properly. However, I do not believe I have the oppositional reading of the text because I do not do this often as I do not like to use cheats.

            I think that this piece of media text would fit with the ‘Hypodermic Syringe Model’. This is because the audience will always be able to produce a positive or negative response to the game series. The audience will only be stimulated by this text in a positive way because there is no violence or gore included in the gameplay. Therefore, the audience are not going to become violent from playing any of the games. Some members of the audience may dislike the gameplay and concept behind the game and will therefore only be influenced to not play the series. Some members of the audience will have a positive response to the game and it could inspire them to help people in real life; just like the way they help the animal villagers in the game. This game series will also give people a more creative side and they will be able to think of their own creative ideas. I believe these appeals are given to the audience by the game because I feel as though I have received them through the many years of playing this game.

Media Diary Entry 5: Uses and Gratifications Week - Gogglebox and The Apprentice

Gogglebox

            The TV show ‘Gogglebox’ consists of a number of different family from all over the UK reacting to other TV shows that were shown between the previous episode and the next. This is a show that has a lot of gratifications and this fulfils them well. One of them being the ‘personal identity’. This is because the show includes a wide range of different families and backgrounds in which a lot of people will be able to relate to. Some of the families include a family of four, a homosexual couple, two sisters and an older married couple. I can personally relate to the family of four because I also come from a family of four and we also tend to watch the TV and films together. Therefore, the TV show ‘Gogglebox’ fulfils that gratification for me and many others to a high standard.

            Another gratification that the TV show ‘Gogglebox’ fulfils is the ‘entertain/escapism’. This is because of the way that you will be able to watch clips from many different TV shows and films just by watching this one show. This will give the viewer an insight into what else is being shown on different channels and what the public think about them. Some of the families also have very funny comments and reactions to certain TV shows, therefore the viewer will be able to laugh along and relate more with the ‘personal identity’. Also, some people may feel as though they can escape their own lives and families and receive an insight into another family lifestyle for the ‘escapism’ part of the ‘uses and gratifications’. I believe that the show provides a lot of entertainment for those reasons.

            The final gratification that the TV show ‘Gogglebox’ offers is the ‘information part of the ‘uses and gratifications’. As mentioned, this show gives the viewer the opportunity to see the other TV shows that different channels offer and this will also give the viewer a small clip from these shows and some basic information about it; therefore giving the viewer a chance to watch the show and decide whether or not they like it. They can also see what is currently popular on TV screens and what the general public think about them. There is also an important key aspect of the show in which the people that are featured on the show must react to at least one big headline from the week and have their say on the current affairs. This will also give the viewer some vital news information that they may have missed. I believe that because of the stated reasons, this TV show offers a lot of information and education.

The Apprentice

            The TV show ‘The Apprentice’ consists of 18 candidates completing tasks that will show off their business skills in groups in the hope of winning the £250,000 investment and a 50% partnership in their business plan with Lord Sugar. At the beginning of the series, they are split into two teams in which they try to win the weekly task set by Lord Sugar. The winning team will all return for the next week and receive a treat for their hard work. The losing team will have to face Lord Sugar about why they had lost and at least one of them will be fired. This show offers many gratifications such as ‘personal identity’. This is because the candidates are ordinary business people that have chosen to apply for the show and this will give some people the opportunity to relate these candidates to themselves and their own businesses. They will be able to see the mistakes that some candidates make and the good business plans and moves that others make and this could relate to some audience members. I cannot personally relate to any of the candidates as I have never had a job or been in a business situation like this. However, I can see how some of the audience members will be able to relate because of the way in which the contestants make mistakes; like all humans do.

            Another gratification that the TV show ‘The Apprentice’ offers is the ‘information’ part of the model. This is because of the way that the show will educate the viewers about what should be done in business situations and should not be done. The mistakes that the candidates make that may cause them to be fired will teach the audience that these mistakes are crucial to a business and that they should not do the same. By showing that even the strongest of candidates will still have moments where they mess up in important situations, this will show the viewers that they can happen and therefore they can apply the techniques of how to fix this to themselves and make sure that this does not happen to them. I personally feel that this show has given me many ways to help myself stand out in a business and I also feel that when I have a job for the first time, I can use the techniques I have seen in the show in real life.

            The final gratification that the TV show ‘The Apprentice’ offers is the ‘social interaction’ part of the model. This is because of how popular the show is now and the amount of people that consume this TV show. It is now more popular than ever and there will be many people that watch it to be able to talk about it with friends, colleagues or family. Therefore, this show will become a source of major conversation for many people. There are also many people that get involved with talking about the TV show over social media and will be able to have conversations with people from all over the country and discuss different elements of the show. I personally find that quite a few of my friends watch this show and therefore I can talk to them about the show.