Week 5

I think the thing that stood out for me most in this video was how “culture always builds on the past”. For example, we have evolved based on the past and our culture is now more technology-based than ever before. We have come up with renovations that have quicker techniques, such as farmer’s who now have tractors to help run their farms instead of doing manual labor like they did decades ago. It has always built on the past, and I think it will continue to do so. I would consider myself an extremely open-minded person. However, I recently watched a short clip that was posted on Facebook by Tucker Carlson Tonight. It was a video where Cathy Areu, who is a politician was explaining this new idea of “theybies”. An idea where when babies are born, you do not show any gender specific roles, clothing, toys, ideas, etc. until they are four years old and can choose for themselves. This is where it is so hard for me to wrap my mind around, and I think she went too far in expressing her beliefs. I believe we are born with the parts we are given – girls and boys. Yes, I believe kids who do not believe their gender roles fit with their biological traits they were given should have a choice as to what gender they want to declare. However, not declaring a baby as girl or boy is a little much for me to wrap my head around. On the flip side to that, I am not trying to convince anyone to change their mind, I am simply just stating where I believe a politician crossed the line using her freedom of speech. I believe instead of calling them “theybies”, we need to be less stereotypical towards boys and girls. Instead of giving girls princesses and boys trucks, the child can choose what he or she likes to play with. Carlson puts up a great argument against Areu as she gives her case, and it was an interesting video to watch.  

When I was watching the TED talk about WikiLeaks, it was mind blowing to me that they almost never know who the source is who sends in the information. This made me realize that the information “leaked” may not always be true at all. WikiLeak founder did say that when they get leads on the information being inaccurate, then they will immediately take it down. However, once something is published, and put out there for people to see, then folks immediately begin talking about it and spreading the information via social media or mouth. What this means is, that false information is being put out there and we end up believing it. I’m not saying this is always the case, but a lot of times it could be. I believe in our society today, often times people speak their mind too much. I think there is a nice comfortable spot where you can speak your mind, but also be reserved and respectful and know where the boundaries are. For example, when people post things on social media, especially Facebook that initiates an argument over a political matter that should never be addressed in that fashion. However, sometimes in order for change to occur, you have to be extremely open with your thoughts and freedom of speech. I think freedom of speech should be a happy-medium – where you know when to speak and when to not say anything at all.

Blog Project #1

You know when you search for a music video on YouTube, and an aggravating ad pops up before you can watch the video? The ad you might have watched might be about Converse like the ad I recently watched. This ad actually struck my attention, because I love converse. I clicked on the ad to watch the full video.

            The ad is a conversation between two individuals. One driving the car and the one in the passenger seat that is being videotaped. The narrator is the passenger. She is explaining a scenario between a conversation she encountered. She is explaining how the person asked her why she is wearing sneakers to an award show. She later goes on to say that she responded to that question with a “yeah”. She then says that we should wear what makes us feel comfortable. She says that society portrays these images of us to have. For example: boys should have short hair and girls should have long hair. The meaning behind this ad is that societal norms should be broken, and you should wear what you feel comfortable wearing. The narrator explains how she broke a societal norm and shaved her head when she was younger. She says at the tail end of the video, “You can’t tell me how to be a girl”. Ultimately, converse is connecting emotional thoughts with advertising for their shoe. Again, I first saw this ad on YouTube, and the ad was thirty-four seconds. In the background there is slight soft music.

            This ad surely has a strong and persuasive message behind it – more of a societal movement. I believe this girl was not a celebrity, but instead, just telling her story and standing up for what she believes in. This ad definitely includes the Association Principle. What I mean by that is this: it is associating what a viewer will emotionally feel and relate it to their product. For example: “If I buy these shoes and wear them to a fancy event, I will be proving a point and standing up for what I believe in”. This ad truly does an excellent job of gaining their attention from the beginning of the video.

            This ad is similar to another ad I’ve seen before. While this is an ad for Converse, it also is aiming at making movements to improve issues that lie at the forefront of our country. While I would say the target audience is more for individuals between the ages of 13-25 because they are easily influenced and wear Converse shoes the most, I think this ad would be a good watch for any age group. There was not any stereotypes other than the fact that she addressed the societal norm she was trying to break, which could be considered a stereotype.

            There was a lot of strengths throughout this video. I liked how the narrator was videoed while she was having a conversation with the driver of the car. It made this video a lot more personable and interesting. I also loved how she gave an example of how she shaved her head off, so viewers can understand that she was trying to make a difference in this movement too. The best strength in this video was how she had her Converse up on the dash and that was a focal point in the video. I didn’t see anything in the video I necessarily didn’t like.

            Converse is a company that uses social media as a platform; however, they are not the biggest company recorded for sales through social media. One of the things they are most well known for is the art their customers design on the chuck taylor shoe the customer buys from the company. For example, a customer tie-dyed a pair of white sneakers, and then uploaded it to the Converse page. Below is a picture of what it looks like.

Forbes magazine wrote an article on how the new redesigned chuck taylors make for a very comfortable converse. Below is the article link if you prefer to read it. This ad talks about how the old converses use to be uncomfortable and not have enough support. But, the redesigned chuck taylors do, and they are made for all different environments, and has Nike sock liner for more support and cushion. Based on the ad and the background I have done, I would surely recommend Converse to a friend, as well as buy the product.

            In all, even though this ad was meant to be emotionally attaching, it worked and had a wonderful message behind it. I was not expecting a shoe company to push forward in a movement in our society and to work towards a goal of breaking those societal norms. In all, I would support Converse and their company. I would also wear their shoes because I think they are appealing.

Forbes Magazine article – https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2015/07/23/awesome-redesigned-converse-chuck-taylor-all-star-ii-takes-the-pain-out-of-wearing-them/#15996fd34fcd

Converse “All the Stories are True” Ad [ORIGINAL AD] – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRwnyObqvl0

Converse “All Wah” by Critical Mass - https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/converse-all-wah-critical-mass/1400215

Converse “Made By You” by Anomaly – https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/converse-made-you-anomaly/1337427

Converse “Which Shoe Are You?” by Perfect Fools – https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/converse-which-shoe-you-perfect-fools/1081576

Blog About Converse - https://econsultancy.com/blog/64360-how-converse-uses-social-media-facebook-pinterest-google-vine-instagram-and-twitter

Week 3

Topic 1 –

I follow Nordstrom on Instagram, which is a clothing brand. They post their clothes on their site with tags on the picture that allows you to see the price and then click on the price if you want to go to their website and potentially buy the product. This is a quick, easy step that allows customers to go to their website and shop. The target audience is mostly women (at least that is what their Instagram pictures are mostly of) between the ages of sixteen and sixty-five would be a rough estimate. If I was a co-owner of Nordstrom, I would have a lot of celebrities wearing my clothing brand, because their outfits are always a hit to their followers. Each follower always wants to know where they got their top or where their jeans are from. Having celebrities represent your company is a huge boost for a brand.

Topic 2 –

Good ad:

The ad was a vitamin intake by a celebrity who was convincing her followers to try what she had been trying. However, it was a paid partnership, so she was getting paid to speak on behalf of the vitamin company. It was interesting and intriguing though – especially when coming from someone who has a platform. I was extremely interested in it, and I actually clicked on the website to look more in depth. The target audience was all women because she had stated that in the beginning of her video. The age for this specific ad was probably girls ages 18-35 years. This ad was on an Instagram story, so it was only visible for 24 hours.

Bad ad:

The specific ad popped up when I was playing my “color road” game. This is a 30 second ad that pops up when I want to buy more stuff for my game, and I must sit through the ad bored as can be and watch it. This is a bad ad. It doesn’t interest me. I watch the ads because I have to. They are almost all other games you can download on your phone. They do this because they know the audience are those who like to play games on their phone, so the ad tries to lure you in. This ad didn’t work for me though because I am not a gamer; I was bored and happened to pull my phone out and start playing the game.

Week 2

Three organizations or people I follow are: Joanna Gaines, Lauren Akins, and Fox News on Instagram. I follow Joanna Gaines because I love seeing all her home goods, her decorations, and her recipes. She is a genuine, raw, and inspiring individual. I also follow Lauren Akins because I have a heart for orphans or just those who are less fortunate – and she supports Love One International, which has a mission statement of: transforming the hearts of children, families, and communities by caring for one child at a time. I also follow Fox News because I am a republican, and I enjoy that they are more of a conservative-based news system. The picture I liked most recently was Joanna Gaines picture of her little baby boy that she just had. I liked this picture because I can't wait to be a mom someday.

I believe social media definitely has a lot of benefits, but I also believe there are a lot of cons as well. Last year, I got so absorbed in social media that it actually took a toll on my school work. I was spending so much time on social media and wasn’t spending enough on my homework or studying. My grades began to suffer from this. I was also trying to create this image of how great my life was – I wanted everyone to know how exciting my life was, instead of focusing on the present. I then realized I needed to delete social media. I download social media back every once in a while, but when I feel it is getting too out of hand, or I am catching myself spending too much time on it, I delete the app and focus on what’s most important. It is extremely important to understand the balance of social media and the real world.

In the TED talk by Sherry Turkle, she does discuss how we are more connected than ever before, but also, we have set ourselves up for isolation. I completely agree with this. When I think about this, I think about how you can be in a room full of people and if you look around everyone is on their phones. For example, when you go to your college class on the first day – every single student is on their phone instead of meeting new people and connecting with them. These simple things are so important. During dinner time, my roommate and I always put our phones down, cook and sit down and eat dinner together. This is important to let each other know how your day went, to talk about things, and to have a conversation with one another. This is a device-free zone that I will always have as long as I have a cell phone. I think often times we get so absorbed in our phones that we forget to give full attention to the person talking, and it can be hurtful to that person. Especially when they have something important to say. Being attentive and present during a conversation is vital.

I have a few games that I have downloaded on my phone to play when I am out of service or when I am in a doctor’s office and don’t have social media apps downloaded. Which sounds silly that I rely on my phone to keep me distracted instead of making connections with people or reading a magazine. I play games like bubble shooter, color road, and word block.

When I look back on my battery usage, and the hours I’ve spent on social media, it blows my mind how much wasted time I spent on the app without even realizing it. I would say I spend at least two hours on just my social media pages alone in one day – sometimes more (at least lately – probably time for me to delete social media again). I truthfully could be doing so much more with those two hours in my day than spending them behind a screen looking at what people are posting about their life. Sure, I feel connected to the world by having social media, but I always find more joy in connecting with a stranger and getting to know them than by looking at somebody’s post about what they did for the day. I feel like my community is my family and my friends – not so much the social media world.

Week 1

My name is Samantha Tilley, and I am currently dual-enrolled with Linn Benton Community College and Oregon State University. I am finishing up my prerequisites to soon start applying to a few nursing programs. I am taking this class because I am a few credits away from receiving my AAOT, which will help to give me points when applying to each nursing program. I picked this class because the media interests me. It consumes a great amount of people's life, and I am interested to see the pros and cons of what the media does to society. I am really passionate about being outdoors. I love to hike, bike, run, camp, travel - all of the above. It is so peaceful and relaxing, and it brings me joy to experience God's country.

I would consider my three main sources of information to be: Facebook, Snapchat, and CNN news. These would be my top three choices because they are apps I get on daily, and it's easy access to receive information this way. However, if I had to choose which source would be most reliable, I would say it would have to be CNN news. I think often times people can twist things on Snapchat and Facebook, and then it can easily blow up into a story that is fabricated. This is why I am really concerned about information out there in the media ecosystem. When distinguishing between fake news and accurate information, I usually look it up on a news site. I have more trust in a news site than Facebook; however, that doesn't mean the news is ALWAYS just in what they are saying - it just means most of the time the media from the news is more likely to be more accurate than an article on Facebook. Likewise, I always choose to stay out of political debates on social media because this is another way to get sucked into false information being provided. I always talk to my parents or grandparents about situations going on to see if my story lines up with their before passing it on. It is so important to get your story straight before saying words that are falsified and incorrect.