Media Log on my Media Blog!

I feel as if I should be documenting two media logs; one being recent, as in within the past 2 weeks, and one being prior to moving into residence. The media log prior to moving to Guelph will be far more diverse, considering my current means of media exposure are limited to only that of the internet. Nevertheless, like most, I can spend countless hours on the net, so don’t you worry – I WILL have something to talk about.

A TYPICAL DAY OF MEDIA EXPOSURE

A typical day on the internet consists of four necessities: Facebook, MSN, iTunes and Youtube. I wake up in the morning (on a good day, usually it’s early afternoon), turn my computer on and then sign onto MSN. Once MSN is open, I can view my e-mail account to view my Hotmail messages as well as my Facebook messages. Regardless of whether or not I have Facebook mail, I always proceed to sign into Facebook. I scroll though my home page on Facebook to view what is happening in other people’s lives – and by this I mean who is now listed in a “complicated relationship”, who is attending Ali’s 19^th birthday party (because a party isn’t legit these days without a FACEBOOK invite) and who wrote what on whoever’s wall. And if I have several hours to waste, I will go as far as lurking friends’ photos and walls to some degree. (I swear I’m not a creep show, everyone does it. Maybe even YOU!?). My iTunes is always open because I cannot be on the computer without Sublime or Bob Dylan (or anything in my library) playing in the background. If I’m not listening to music on iTunes, I am playing specific songs on Youtube. I also usually surf through Youtube’s featured videos, and sometimes I will return to the Youtube Classics. One of my best friends from back home is a Youtube vlogger, so if I miss my friends I will view a few of her couple hundred videos. I know, I’m so sentimental. She’s a serious vlogger, too. She has a couple hundred subscribers! Pretty impressive, eh? Anyways, back to my day. I usually check my Guelph mail, as well as Blackboard once a day, but OBVIOUSLY that isn’t as important as Facebook. LOL J/K!!1! (translation – just kidding. I don’t think I’ve used that one yet).

If I were still living at home my uses of the internet would not vary too much. I’d still be using it for communication and information (okay, so I didn’t talk about using it for information above, but I swear it happens), however, probably not for as an extended period of time. Why? Because I am a TV junkie. Or I was, at least. I had about 400 channels back home, so there was always something to watch on TV; Arthur (I’m still 8), Sex and the City, the OC (shut up, it’s a hilarious show), Big Brother (guilty pleasure), Seinfeld…and the list goes on. Like I stated in an earlier post, I also watched the news at least once daily.

How do I participate in media economies, such as the listed above? I, like millions, waste a ridiculous amount of time on the internet, watching TV, and reading about celebrity gossip. Perez for Prez!

Analyzing a Magazine Ad : Dolce and Gabanna

Dolce and Gabbana is known as one of the most pretentious and prestigious fashion lines to date. Us regular folk likely do not own Dolce and Gabbana merchandise, unless, like my friend Sandra, spend about four months pay on a single skirt that a store such as H&M mimics for a mere $40.00. And of course when I make fun of her for it she’ll say “But Vikki, it WAS $1800.00, and I got it for only $1200.00!”…OMG, HOW AMAZING. SHE SAVED $600.00. WHAT AN EFFING BARGAIN! Dolce and Gabbana specializes in outerwear, however also makes beachwear, jewelry, eyewear, fragrances, purses, etc. Dolce and Gabbana’s corporate whores include Madonna, Christina Aguilera, J.Lo, and many, many more. And let’s not forget the new addition to the list, Matthew McConaughey. He advertizes one of the many fragrances sold by the company. The commercial for it is absolutely hilarious, too. He is walking down a dark street wearing a suave suit and sunglasses (AT NIGHT, I may add) being photographed by the paparazzi. He then walks into what appears to be a fancy hotel, takes off the sunglasses, and is still being photographed. He continues to walk into a hotel room, removes his shirt and lies seductively on a couch. And obviously, he is still being photographed. The commercial ends with “The One. A new fragrance for men.” Fragrance? I thought this commercial was either advertising sex with Matthew McCohaughey or simply a statement that reads “OMG OMG LOOK, IT’S MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY! LOOK AT THE PAPPARAZI BOWING DOWN TO MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY! LOOK AT HIS SMOKIN’ BOD! OMG@ MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY!!1! I’m going to wrap up this rant now, since this is not the ad I have selected to analyze. I just thought I should ramble about Dolce and Gabanna’s advertising tactics before I rip apart another one of their ads.

Okay, so take a look to right, and what do you see? I see a bunch of sexy…sweaty…shirtless men that are portraying a stereotypical gay steel mill sort of vibe. I see abs, awful hairstyles, and a man in the fetal position. I certainly do not see fragrances, jewelry, or enough clothes to be considered a fashion advertisement. I suppose those jeans (that could easily be purchased at Old Navy), sandals, and vests could be sold at Dolce and Gabanna, but their lack of luxury causes me to believe that Dolce and Gabanna is simply trying to advertise a lifestyle. To me, the ad states “Buy Dolce and Gabanna’s merchandise and be sexy. You don’t have to WEAR the clothes to be sexy…but you do have to own them.”

This magazine ad makes me laugh. A lot. Dolce and Gabanna, however, is not the only company that uses this marketing tactic. In fact, the majority of fashion companies use sex to sell their products these days, and this is because we are living in a generation where sex can even sell deodorant.

Magazine ad in the year 2009 – “EAT THESE POTATO CHIPS AND GET LAID!”

I want YOU...to stop spending.

The course outline for this class just informed me of something shocking… November 25^th (Yes, it is a little early to be discussing November 25^th) is BUY NOTHING DAY. Buy Nothing Day? WTF. I have never in my life heard of such a day, but according to Wikipedia, this day, which is apparently worthy of capitalization, begun in November of 1992…1992? Buy Nothing Day has been around for the majority of my lifetime, that being 16 years now, and I am only hearing about this now?! And now I’ll take this opportunity to confirm that I DO, in fact, watch the news at least once a day. Well, I did. I haven’t watched TV since I moved into residence, but before I got here I watched the news quite frequently. I wouldn’t call myself an avid newspaper reader, but every Saturday morning in the past my mom and I would eat breakfast while skimming through various sections of the paper…Okay, so I usually went straight for the comics, puzzles and entertainment section. But regardless, I think between the televised news, newspaper, and even those usually insignificant news updates on my internet homepage (msn.com), I should have some idea of its origin. This leads me to believe that A) Buy Nothing Day hasn’t been advertised as well as it could be or B) I’m not as smart as I think I am. Both are possibilities. If Buy Nothing Day is not as well advertised as it could be, then what’s the point?

Buy Nothing Day is a day to examine over-consumption, as well as create awareness amongst consumers of this very issue. Consumers, those who are the culprits of over-consumption cannot participate in this protest if they are not made aware through advertising in the media. However, even if made aware through the media of Buy Nothing Day, one has to wonder how effective the day’s purpose would be. The vast majority of consumers would not take this day into account if they needed to purchase something…or even if they merely wanted something that isn’t a necessity. In fact, I’d be willing to bet a large sum of money (which I don’t have, but I’m speaking figuratively) that a store such as Wal-Mart makes 75% of the average amount of money made daily on Buy Nothing Day, if not more. Unless Buy Nothing Day was considered a civic holiday, meaning malls and stores were closed, consumers will likely purchase what they need at the current moment being November 25th, thus disregarding the objective of Buy Nothing Day.

PS – Wikipedia states “Despite controversies, Adbusters managed to advertise Buy Nothing Day on CNN, but many other major television networks declined to air their ads.”

I don’t watch the CNN news (despite the fact that it’s probably the most legit of all television networks). When I watch the news it’s usually on Global, CityTV, or CTV. Thank you Wikipedia, for confirming my intelligence, if you want to call it that. Woohoo!

the Ecology of Media : Cell Phonez ?

**ACTUAL CONVERSATION I HAD ABOUT A MONTH AGO**

SCENARIO

I walked to a nearby convenience store to buy some candy and a lottery ticket for myself and rent a movie for my mom. Of course they didn’t have the movie she wanted, and I didn’t want to come back empty handed because I’d likely just have to go back…AGAIN. And I know what you’re thinking. “WHY DON’T YOU JUST CALL HER.” Well, I would have…but unfortunately I was out of minutes. Yes, minutes. I still don’t have a plan. Anyways, I noticed a payphone nearby and decided to do something our previous generations would do in this predicament. Problem number 2 was that I only had my debit card and a quarter that I didn’t even know I had. “KICKASS! I CAN MAKE A CALL WITH THIS QUARTER!” but wait… WTF?!! 50 CENTS. 50 FUCKING CENTS. That was a sad day.

*SOME DAYS PASS*

VIKKI – Did you know that payphones cost 50 CENTS now for a local call ?!?!
FRIEND – Yeah, well, they should have to pay 50 cents because they don’t have to pay CELL PHONE BILLS!
VIKKI - …really?

Yeah, I don’t really know why I’m friends with her either. BUT regardless, I am going to take this opportunity to talk about the cell phone.
Do you remember when only the richer families owned cell phones? (And I mean one cell PER family) They became progressively more common among the middle class, especially for people in the workplace. Today it is not uncommon to see a twelve-year-old with his or her own cell phone, so what happened? Is our shift in what is considered a luxury and a necessity actually occurring as the cell phone’s technology is meanwhile advancing? A cell phone is no longer a cell phone in the current market and it is literally impossible to find a new cell phone whose only feature is calling and texting. My cell phone (which is less than two years old) isn’t “SEXY” (quoted by my conversation girl) anymore, and is also a camera, mp3 player, and probably other things. I always found it hilarious when my friends praised camera phones back when they were fresh. “OMG RLY? I CAN FILM A MINUTE-LONG VIDEO AND WATCH IT ON AN INCH BY INCH SCREEN?! OR I CAN EVEN PUT MY EXTREMELY PIXELATED, LOW QUALITY PHONE PHOTOS ON MY FACEBOOK?! Yes…you can…

Public Journalism, what ?!

Setting up a blog reminded me of a common process I experienced too frequently when I was a suburban sixteen year living in Myspace...I mean Markham. Yes, I was one of those kids. A Myspace kid. An LJ kid (LiveJournal, duh). I took pictures of myself looking puzzled with my left hand submerged into my tragedy of a hairstyle as if I were looking at something truly mesmerizing in the distance...Except I was standing in my bathroom with my other arm extended before me taking the picture. Yeah, I was one of those kids – You know the ones. I am, however, relieved to say that my old Myspace and LJ accounts have perished. I discovered activities such as playing music and creating art – Who knew such innovative hobbies were ever created?!

There are many aspects of participatory journalism that differ from the type of journalism (if you can call it that) on Myspace or LJ - At least when the journalist is a bored teenager, anyways. In my opinion, the most difficult part of creating a blog is thinking of a clever title for it. MEDIA MADNESS. It isn’t as creative as I’d like it to be, but hey, alliterations are fun, aren’t they? I actually prefer blogging as opposed to any other form of journalism because of the use of internet communication slang. LOL. OMG. O RLY? SRSLY?! LMAO. ROFLCOPTER. LOLLERSKATES!!1! Okay, so considering you were never a suburban kid growing up in the generation of internet slang, you may suffer from a sort of illiteracy. I know, it’s ridiculous. Above all, I have learned that in participatory journalism, every journalist needs a “shtick”. Though I haven’t yet established one, you will likely take note of my written tendencies surrounding the farce of the Media’s New Age in future posts. TTFN!

(www.urbandictionary.com) If helps. Trust.