Mass Media- Can’t live with it..Can’t live without it!

Impossible.  I know that word should not be in my vocabulary.  But going without any mass media for two days is the hardest thing I have ever done, some would say Impossible.  I have never noticed how much I use mass media everyday until I had to stop, cold turkey for two days.  Wake up.  Media is there.  Walk to class.  It is there.  Studying for an exam.  Oh hey it’s there too.  From commercials to billboards or a text that you have to reply to, it is like a gnat at a picnic, always there and will never you alone.  However avoiding the voluntary exposures to media, I learned alot about our society’s media habits.  

How I Felt LIke for TWO DAYS!

I learned the difference between voluntary and involuntary exposure to media.  Those commercials, billboards and emergency texts are involuntary, they just happen.  There is no way to escape those types of mass media. Unless you live as a Amish, you can’t get away from mass media. However, the voluntary ones like going on Facebook or watching an all day marthon of your favorite television show.  Those are the ones that you can control. The first thing I do when I walk into my room is turn on the television and get on the computer. Pretty sad huh?  Well be proud, I went without voluntary media for two days…and I almost died!  

All I kept thinking about during those two days were my poor parents.  This was their lives all growing up.  They didn’t have Facebook or 100 channels to distract them from doing work.  I am guessing that is how they got so much work done.  Cause let me tell you, me without mass media = all my homework done, studied for my next exam, got a good work out in, and cleaned my whole dorm room.  Did you get tired just reading that list?  Cause it was exhausting!  I never knew how much I could accomplish without the distractions of mass media.   

My Life= Mass Media

What are the necessities of life? You have three seconds to answer….Time is up! The answer would be Water, Food, Oxygen and for me and most other teenagers would say Mass Media.  We need it to survive.  I know that seems alittle ridiculous to some people but it is the honest truth.  The use of Mass Media is a legit addiction, it is like you need it, and without it you get anxious and nervous.  We all have the same addiction but maybe to different products, either it be to the television, internet, cell phone, or an ipod.  If you look down from this screen right now, how many  electronics do you have at arm’s length?  Don’t lie…I know there are electronics around you.  So I am leaving you now so I can get back to my television show and Facebook, and I know you will be doing the exact same thing after reading this. It is just natural!

Egyptian Protests vs Charlie Sheen…Which side would you follow??

”The real fact of the matter is nobody reads ads.  People reads what interests them, and sometimes it’s an ad.”- Howard Luck Gossage

What does this quote mean? Why is it important?  I bet some of you guys are asking yourself these questions.  Well I have got the answers!  When you are going through your day, watching the shows you are obsessed with such as Jersey Shore or when you driving to school with your favorite radio station on; have you ever thought about how many ads you are listening to?  While you watching or listening to those things, you aren’t listening for the ads but somehow that jiggle always get stuck in your head.

Five Dollar Footlong?!?

 “Five.Five Dollar.Five Dollar Foot long.” Do I even have to finish before you know exactly what this is advistising? Even though you are not looking for those catchy ads, they are there, they are everything.  And they can be in your head for hours.

But something I found even more interesting is what ads come on at what time or what website.  For example while I was watching Pretty Little Liars (a show directed to teenage girls) this Covergirl commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMt6TFO0zn4 (unfortunally the link button isn’t working on my icon menu, I guess technology isn’t always the best way to go about doing things) came on and automatically got my attention. How so…you ask?  Well first because of Taylor Swift, she is a superstar, girls look up to her and when I am shopping for makeup I will remeber she was the spoke person.  Anything else you noticed? Well, at the end it says how you can learn more on facebook, which is something that teenages are on everyday, so they are familiar with it and will more likely visit it on Facebook than another website.

Breakfast. Facebook. School. Facebook. Facebook. Maybe some studying. Facebook. Bed.  That is the usual schedule of a teenager in high school or college.  It’s kinda sad isn’t it?  We need to get lives, however I did learn alot about media based on being on Facebook all day. 

The Bad Eggs of the 21st Century

On Facebook you can read other people’s statuses and thoughts on anything they are interested in.  Even though it is not a great source, I get alot of the news information through Facebook.  Like protests in Egypt…who cares? I want to know more about Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen’s problems. Cause celebritites are what I am interested, even though the protests are more important to the world, but to me the celebrities’ problems are more important. And I think this shows how my media habits affect my knowlegde of the world.  If I went to NYTimes.com or BaltimoreSun.com I would get more of a variety of news.  And as a upcoming person to the working society I should learn more about the world’s news. But… I probably won’t, celebrities’ mistakes are just too entertaining!

The Printing Press to the IPhone…Where has the time gone?

When you are texting your friends or watching your weekly reality tv shows, do you ever think about where that technology came from or how it was developed? I never really did until I watched the video, “Media History” in my Mass Communications 101 class.  It was a very interesting video and I learned a lot about how communication started and developed throughout the years.  To see where technology started and how much it has improved is really amazing.  Everyone has those parents or grandparents in their life always telling them about technology back when they were kids, but I always just thought they were being dramatic.   It really makes you think about how fortunate we are now a days.  Also, I am a big tv girl, I could watch tv shows or movies all day if I wanted to.  This is because my television has so many channels I can always find something that interests me.  To think that my mother and father only had a couple of channels like NBC, ABC and CBS, it is like a whole different world.  I couldn’t imagine instead or texting or speed dialing my friends on my cell phone, to use a telegraph to communicate with others like people did in the 1800’s. Another thing I think our society takes for granted is the use of the internet.  In the movie they explain the Printing Press and how for that time period it was a great invention because it made the message larger.  One speaker could get their message out to many listeners.  This was a great improvment because before the Printing Press in the 19th century, people had to physically write up every issue of a newspaper or article.  But now days anyone can write on a website and everyone can read it anytime they want.  Throughout watching this movie made me really think about how much our media has changed over the years and how lucky we are to have it.  I am sure that there is a lot more to come and I am excited to see what happens.