Ads on our iPhones

WhatsApp is a very popular messaging app that allows users to communicate with people around the world. When I go on vacation in foreign countries, I can communicate with people back in the US with people that don’t have iPhones or iMessaging. This convenient app, owned by Facebook, is about to become another media platform to have advertisements that pop up while users are utilizing the app in 2020. The ads will reportedly take up the entire screen when a user clicks on the “Status” icon in the app.

According to an article I read, WhatsApp became the most popular worldwide messaging app after Facebook paid 19 billion dollars to purchase this company several years ago. Facebook also owns Instagram and its own Facebook Messenger. On Instagram, ads appear on Instagram stories. Similarly, when one views the ads in WhatsApp, they can swipe up the screen to know more.

It seems as if advertisements are popping up on every possible spot of our iPhones, from ads in between games, ads before watching YouTube videos, ads on websites (which can thankfully be blocked out using “Reader View Mode”) and ads on social media platforms. Just on this website alone that discusses the upcoming advertisements that will be a part of WhatsApp, there is an ad about PetSmart on the bottom of the screen, advertising their salon services for different pets. At the bottom of the article, there is another advertisement called “AdBlock Prime” which claims it will “block annoying ads on iOS.” Their description reads “Say goodbye to popups, banners, and in-app ads. No more annoying distractions.” This was actually very humorous to me, especially because they characterize the advertisements, including those right above it in the same article, as “annoying.” It’s interesting to me that companies are so adamant about adding ads into different commonly used apps, knowing that viewers don’t take the time to actually read the advertisements or take their product into consideration because they are “in the way.”

The same goes for ads in between games. If an ad pops up in between a game of Candy Crush, I will be become very irritated and simply stare at the timer to see when the ad will finish playing. In my opinion, advertisements on different media platforms are extremely ineffective and can actually hinder progress towards successful campaigning. If I constantly see Clorox commercials in between my games of candy crush, I will begin to develop a negative attitude towards the brand, and be less willing and much less likely to actually go out and buy the product. I think that advertising companies need to be smarter about how their customers will react to the advertisements they view and not bombard us with ads that become a nuisance.

Women’s Representation in the Film Industry

 

Miss Representation focused heavily on the role of women in media, and their under representation and misrepresentation of their true identities. In the past few years, Hollywood has been “trying” to become more inclusive of women in front of the camera, but still has a serious problem with their accurate portrayal in media, if even included. In a study conducted by the USC Annenberg Inclusive Initiative, they concluded that when it comes to women’s roles in television, little has changed in the last decade. In fact, they stated that women had fewer speaking roles in movies than they did ten years ago. 

In terms of raw statistics, the study found that the top movies of the past year included male protagonists that were triple the amount of female protagonists. They concluded that female speaking characters accounted for only 31 percent of all roles, compared to the same study in 2008 and 2009 in which women accounted for 33 percent of all roles. When it comes to female inclusion in movies and television, progress has been stagnant, unable to overcome this hurdle and call for action.

In addition, out of the 1223 directors who worked in the past 11 years, only 4.3 percent were female. This number is significantly less for women of color. I read an article that discussed how the gender of a person who is reviewing or criticizing a movie matters significantly more than we think. According to the article I read, male movie reviewers outnumber female critics by more than double. This is affecting how movies directed by and starring women are perceived. The men involved in the reviewing of cinema watched a much more lower percentage of levies directed by women than female critics. They were less likely to mention a female director's name when reviewing or writing about a film, or making positive and explicit statements about her work. 

Furthermore, men were much less likely to review movies featuring female protagonists. Of all the movies men reviewed, only 37 percent of the movies they reviewed featured women as the leading roles. These gender imbalances revolved around the cinema industry demonstrate the imbalance of men and women’s portrayal in the media, and how the lack of women reviewers in the industry is hurting movies made by or made for women.

However, female protagonists have been featured in some major movies this past year, including Crazy Rich Asians, A Star is Born, and Mary Poppins Returns. However, in my opinion, the Hollywood industry hasn’t made much progress towards making women more prominent in the film industry. Without Crazy Rich Asians, the amount of Asian actresses in the film industry in the past year would be only 8 percent. Continuing to portray the stereotypical characters of a specific gender and race will continue to deepen the issue revolving around underrepresented groups portrayal in the media industry. We must make active steps to reverse the issue before it becomes too late.

"Merchants of Cool": Social media effect on the Fashion Industry

When watching the video, “Merchants of Cool,” one topic that really stuck with me was the fact that there are certain people that “decide” the fashion trends, influencing the rest of the population. I believe that nowadays, social media fuels the fashion industry, introducing new fashion trends and introducing new products to the public.

In my opinion, YouTube has been one of the most popular platforms by fashion companies to promote their products. In addition, it’s also a place where ordinary teenagers can catch up with the latest trends and changes to the recent fashion. On YouTube, fashion brands are constantly creating innovative ways to connect with their customers, including engaging videos to showcase their products or commercials strategically placed to connect with teenagers. These videos promote the product rather than pushing the product—the viewers are able to watch videos like these without feeling the pressure to buy these products. Companies that create videos like these are often much more successful in the fashion industry.

Another way the fashion industry today has used YouTube to promote the “cool” trends is by sponsoring beauty and fashion vloggers. These celebrities, such as Zoella, have been paid by YouTube to review and marked the companies’ products. These influencers are essentially “puppets” for the brand they are advertising for. With these videos, millions of subscribers are acquired and new clothing trends become integrated into the ever-changing fashion world.

Instagram is even more of an asset to the fashion industry. Since fashion is visually driven, Instagram is the perfect platform for advertising clothes and reaching the widest range of audience possible. With the “See more” or the “Swipe Up” option on Instagram, a video can be posted on someone’s “Story” and include a link to the website where the clothing item showcased in the video or image can be purchased. If Victoria’s Secret posts a video of a woman modeling in the company’s newest dress, with the “See more” feature, the viewer can quickly access the link to purchase the exact dress. This allows for an effortless and convenient way to purchase clothing one finds appealing in one of the most popular had most used media platforms today.

So who decides what is considered “cool” in the fashion world? In my opinion, it’s oftentimes the celebrities, bloggers, etc. that we idol that often control the purchases we make. They’ve created a huge impact on the way consumers shop, influencing what kinds of clothing are acceptable in society and what brands may not be considered “cool.” Besides Instagram and YouTube, a multitude of blogging sites and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr have all fed into the fashion industry, and connecting with the consumer by creating an “online presence.” In “Merchants of Cool,” the idea of a certain group of people deciding what is “cool” has made its effect by a successful use of social media advertising. Whether it’s sharing Instagram photos, tweets, or viral videos, social media has opened up the trends in the fashion industry to many people for wardrobe advice and fashion inspiration.

Romantic Movies: Are they representative of true love?

One of my favorite genres of movies to watch in my free time are romance movies. Whether it’s romantic comedies like When Harry Met Sally, romantic tragedies like The Fault in our Stars or Titanic, or other great romance movies like The Notebook, these movies are loved by the American population and myself. However, are the portrayals of love in this media realistic? Are these movies painting an image of false love and false hope for our society to pursue? What is the goal of the producers of romantic movies, one of the most common genres of film?

Movies depict love in glamorized ways, showing a false expectation of what love is really like in our society today. Typical relationships in movies consist of the perfect man, the perfect woman, both from completely different worlds. Relationships in movies involve many ups and downs, conflicts and struggles, and the concept everyone loves to see--love at first sight. These characteristics of cinematic relationships are completely exaggerated--appealing to the audiences of these movies and experiencing a fantasy-like example of love not present in our everyday lives.

One example of a myth of love presented in romantic movies is the concept of passive love, where love and relationships just simply happen. For me, I think that love at first sight is commonly portrayed in cinematic media because it is convenient. If two people fall in love over the span of a movie, it has to be immediate for it to work--because movies are often only two hours long.

Another interesting characteristic of the media’s portrayal of love is the great divide between social class of two lovers. In Titanic, Jack is from a much poorer background, living in the third class cabins when he falls in love with Rose, who is from an extremely wealthy background, living in the first class cabins. In The Notebook, a mill worker and a rich girl fall in love. In romantic comedy movie Maid in Manhattan, a hotel maid and an affluent politician embark on a romantic journey. However, in real life, while two people from significantly different backgrounds can still fall in love, people with vastly different world views, styles, preferences, or day-to-day rituals are much less likely to be compatible. In movies, however, seeing these unlikely connections makes the movie far more interesting, far more appealing to everyday viewers who are experiencing the “impossible,” and much more original, not abiding by the common societal traditions of relationships.

In many romantic movies, the concept of Happily ever After occurs, with the movie cutting to the credits scene with the viewers believing that the couple’s fate is sealed for eternity. In reality, love is not so seamless--Tragedy happens and people move in different directions, which will inevitably lead to an end of love. Again, the media appeals to the emotions of viewers, since they know that this kind of love is exactly what we want, but not necessarily what will happen. It gives us hope, and a sense of emotional connection to the characters, while hoping for the same experiences in the movie in our own life.

Movie producers have created some of the most popular movies of our time through these concepts and movie-making techniques. Romantic movies allow us to believe in love (even if it’s just for a few hours), they allow us to laugh and cry, they have the most satisfying endings, almost always ending on a positive note despite the struggles that may come prior to the ending, and make you feel like anything is possible--even if it means climbing to the top of the Empire State Building.

How Clash of Clans represents Supercell’s gaming success

I just recently got back into playing one of my favorite games, Clash of Clans. Instantly, after taking a break from the game because it was taking too much time away from school and other activities, I was hooked. At first, I tried to tell myself to restrict my usage to only half an hour a day, but the game almost instantaneously got me addicted again. Now, with new updates to the game and a clan with my friends, I am 
even more addicted than before, allowing me to realize how powerful video games can be on one’s daily life and the techniques utilized by video game designers in order to attract the largest and most devoted audience possible.

Clash of Clans is a strategy game which involves building a “base” with defenses, resource buildings, and other buildings such as the town hall, which is the heart of the village, and the army camps, which house the trained troops in the village. The main goal of the game is to gain as many trophies and resources as possible, to be promoted to higher leagues, and upgrade defenses to more successively defend attackers. Unlike many iPhone games, such as Temple Run, Subway Surfers, Word Games, or Minion Rush, these games are much simpler in their design and purpose, with many of these “arcade games” involving a character running as far as possible and avoiding obstacles. Supercell, the creator of Clash of Clans, has strayed far away from these cliched game types, creating a game that allows players to gradually progress

over long periods of time, putting many different “activities” into the game. These activities allow players to stay in the game for extended periods of time, and continue to return to the game because of its delayed rewards.

Some of the activities include attacking other bases to gain loot and trophies, attacking in clan wars, upgrading defenses, altering a base layout, or even messaging friends within one’s clan. In addition, Supercell has actually created an entirely new village that players can build on and attack. This new addition came out about 2 years ago, quickly adding more opportunity to stay on the app. In this village called the Builder Base, players can build an entirely new base layout different from the home village, attack, gain loot, and gain trophies, in slightly different ways from the home village. One technique Supercell excels at is constantly adding new additions to the game to keep players continuously engaged for as long as possible. Supercell goes into the minds of the players and creates the game revolved around the common habits of players--to constantly go back into the game to check if an upgrade finished, if one’s base was destroyed while one was offline, if the troops are finished training, or if the clan war was won. This constant gnawing feeling to go back into the game is exactly what Supercell has done to gain the largest amount of devoted players possible.

Just recently, a new update was introduced to the game that ultimately drew me right back into the trap of Clash of Clans. One complaint Supercell knew about was the fact that upgrades in the village were far too expensive and took significantly too much time to complete. Supercell knew that this could be causing players to become less interested in the game, as progressing forward and unlocking new troops and defences was becoming much too difficult. This is another strong characteristic of this gaming company--Supercell is loyal and devoted to its customers, allowing it to become one of the most successful gaming companies in the media.

Another successful aspect Supercell has integrated into the game is the social connection players have to the game. For me, I joined a clan with several of my friends, allowing me to be connected to the game on a different media than most of the other games I play. On Clash of Clans, I’m not just playing with computerized players in a world completely excluded from my reality, rather, I can donate troops to people I physically know, chat with friends in my clan, have “friendly attacks” with other bases in my own clan, and join my friends in clan wars--almost like a team. This social aspect of the game has made Clash of Clans enormously successful, along with the constant updates to the game that appeal to players.

As with most video games, Clash of Clans is extremely addicting, but this game in particular is even more addictive. This has definitely entailed very negative consequences on my daily life, causing me to be distracted at almost any moment in the day, especially during school. Now, everyday before class and in between class, as well as at lunch or while I’m doing homework, I have to check the game for any updates to my village. Even after I eventually close the app, I’m still left thinking about the game, my upgrading defenses, my troops training in the barracks, and how much more gold I will need before “maxing out” my base. I’ve spent hours watching Youtube videos on better attacking strategies as well as more effective base layouts for the specific town hall I have. I think this problem is common with anyone who has played Clash of Clans, and we must all be careful of the game taking over our life. Even though the game is enormously fun and entertaining, we must remember that it is only a game. I am definitely striving to control my time on this game to not take away from other important aspects of my life.

Is Social Media leading to Boredom?

One emotion that has become increasingly prevalent in our society because of technology and the media is boredom. With the ever growing presence of technology in our daily lives, our lives are centered around constant stimulation and instant gratification technology gives to its users. I’ve experienced this same feeling constantly throughout my life, whether it’s waiting in the airport, waiting in the car, standing in line at Disneyland, or sitting in class. The question is: what is causing these emotions? Had boredom always existed in our society? In a recent Vox News interview with author and professor Susan J. Matt, this topic is further discussed, with certain pieces of information integrated into my own opinion on this issue as well.

To me, boredom never existed before the presence of technology. People still experienced empty moments, but accepted them as a part of being human, and learned to deal with these situations and experiences. From my own experience, I can’t handle being bored for more than five minutes, complaining to those around me, or reaching for the cure to my boredom: technology. Loneliness is another emotion unable to be dealt with in many of our lives, also with the increasingly prevalent use of technology in our society. Back in the days without technology as our constant companion, loneliness was expressed as solitude, seen as a positive, meditative experience, giving it meaning and value. However, today, whenever we are lonely, we can always pick up our cell phone and engage in a technologized social world, escaping from these negative emotions and feelings.

Technology is always there for us, anytime of the day. It beckons us with the promise of fulfillment and excitement, promising instantaneous entertainment, social networking, and a variety of outlets to pass time. Personally, I feel that technology has caused us to lose many vital emotions and experiences in our screen-filled lives. Unfulfilled moments, such as those without entertainment or companionship, can spawn creativity and ideas that occur when one is still with oneself. Could technology be hindering our creativity and keeping ourselves and our society on a superficial level? I think that technology has made us less independent, resorting to the technology we possess to live our lives. Connecting back to my post from last week, technology can cause us to develop habits of narcissism and self-love. We try to promote the best version of ourselves, as well as editing our images to perfection, to give people a bigger sense of their self and self importance.

To me, technology is almost like a drug addiction, constantly needing technology to fuel our lives. We don’t know how to handle the feelings of boredom anymore, resorting to this “crutch” to keep us entertained. During spring break when I went to Mexico, while I was waiting at the airport, I looked around me and saw at least ¾ of everyone staring straight at their phones, completely disengaged from their surroundings. It fascinated me how much technology can pull us away from reality, and how often we resort to our cell phone when bored. Unfortunately, I’m a victim of this too, constantly pulling out my phone whenever I have a moment of not doing anything actively. For example, whenever I get to class early, I pull out my phone to check social media or play a quick game. I do this same thing anytime I’m in the car, no matter how short the ride is, in between and while doing different homework assignments, while I’m walking to different classes, and in general, whenever I have some free time. I’ve fallen into the trap of instant gratification and constant entertainment, unable to deal with boredom when technology is unavailable, taking away my focus and attention span in daily activities.

Technology has consumed us. We are living in an era surrounded by the constant presence of media, altering the way we live and the values we have. I believe that many people can benefit from a controlled and restricted use of technology to allow us to feel and experience vital emotions that are part of the human experience. Connecting this post with my other post truly allows me to realize the double-edged sword nature of technology. We must find a balance between these two aspects, as well as accepting and understanding our relationship with technology.

Link: https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/5/2/18510958/social-media-addiction-boredom-loneliness-society-technology-smart-phones

London Marathon and the Media

Last Sunday was the prestigious London Marathon, one of the most competitive and fastest marathons in the world. Marathons have been run for decades, with the first London marathon being held in 1981. However, since the first years of the marathon, media has become increasingly prevalent in our society, affecting our perspective on worldwide events, such as the London marathon taking place nearly 10,000 miles away while we were sleeping in the United States. From social media to news outlets and YouTube, media has allowed us to become increasingly more aware of the events happening around us in our society, seeing the details of different events instantly all over the interwebs and gaining a more personal understanding of the individuals involved in these events through social media.

On Sunday, April 28, I woke up and checked my phone immediately to see who had won the race I had been looking forward to seeing for weeks. Runners and news outlets had been hyping up the marathon as a duel between two world-class athletes: Mo Farah and Eliud Kipchoge, the first time they would be racing head-to-head in a year. During the weeks leading up to the marathon, the talk of the marathon was all over the news, including Youtubers making their predictions for the outcome of the race, British and American news outlets providing the details for the marathon and the contestants in the race, and social media accounts of these two athletes and other running accounts such as RunnerSpace and Dyestat. On the Instagram accounts of Kipchoge, random people from around the world were wishing him to run well and break the course record again. Was this possible back in 1981 when the first London marathon was run? Were ordinary people from around the world wishing the athletes good luck? Kipchoge himself posted videos of his weeks leading up to the marathon, including his training and his excitement for the race. Media definitely exposes us to events happening in the world, allowing us to become aware and informed on so many different issues taking place in a matter of seconds.

I am grateful for the media’s presence in the world today for providing such extensive coverage on important events that are of great interest to me, such as this marathon. I watched countless videos on race previews, pre-race interviews with these two athletes, previews of the race course, and videos of high school runners predicting what would happen during the race. Without the role of media, I wouldn’t know anything at all about the London marathon, and in fact, I probably wouldn’t even know the date of the race. On the morning of April 28, I immediately went onto the safari app of my iPhone and googled London Marathon into the search engine. Immediately, a flood of news articles portrayed news headlines and images of Eliud Kipchoge crossing the finish line in 1st place with a new course record. Within seconds, I knew the results of the race with ease, able to watch videos of his triumphant finish and read about the details of the race, all within hours of the race happening on the other side of the world. Again, without media, none of this would be possible, and finding anything about the race would be nearly impossible.

When I opened Instagram, scrolling through the feed, dozens of posts from running accounts posted the results of the marathon, with thousands of people from around the world liking these posts and congratulating the amazing runner. Kipchoge himself posted a picture of himself winning the race in his Instagram account, also with thousands praising the man and congratulating him on his amazing feat. Media has definitely opened the door for so many people, events, and companies, the bridge for connecting our lives with the rest of the world. After the race, the media was flooded with videos and articles of the marathon, from post race videos, highlights of the race, and videos on the breakdown of his race. Through media, I have been able to become familiar with all the details of this prestigious running event, first handedly experiencing what it was like in London that morning, able to congratulate an amazing runner thousands of miles away on his record-breaking race.