Complete the following tasks on your blog
Who are you?
We are all involved in constructing an image to communicate our identity because we have complex ideas about our selves; there is a difference between the person we think we are, the person we want to be and the person we want to be seen to be.
I think, therefore I am
How we perceived ourselves and how we presented ourselves was based on the social constructs that defined the interpersonal relationships within the groups we found ourselves in and our identity would have been based around aspects of our lives that were constructed outside of our selves; class, religion, gender and the predetermined roles that were part of the accident of the family we were born into.
From citizen to consumer
The idea that identity could be constructed in terms of an externalised image came in the post-industrial consumer boom of the early 20th century where there was a deliberate move to encourage people to adopt an identity and the idea of creating wants and desires was encouraged.
The rise of the individual
Dominant values help shape how we see ourselves; and by the late 1960s and 1970s the notion of individualism began to take hold, reacting against what can be seen to be the more conformist values of the past and individuals wanted to express their ‘difference’ and ‘uniqueness’.
Branding and lifestyle
Branding is the association of a ‘personality’ with a product and advertisers sell the personality rather than the product, so that people will choose products that match their own self image.
2) List three brands you are happy to be associated with and explain how they reflect your sense of identity.
-Converse = Comfortable shoes that I wear everyday
-Samsung = This brand provides me with entertainment and I come across it daily (Phone, TV)
-Vaseline = Keeps my skin hydrated and healthy and is used daily
3) Do you agree with the view that modern media is all about 'style over substance'? What does this expression mean?
The expression style over substance refers to the idea that the way something looks is more important than content. Therefore, I agree to some extent as individuals tend to try and make their content 'look the best' only to gain more interactions or fame, this results in a lack of individuality and uniqueness.
4) Explain Baudrillard's theory of 'media saturation' in one paragraph. You may need to research it online to find out more.
Baudrillard calls ‘media saturation’ results in high cultural value being placed on external factors such as physical beauty and fashion sense over internal traits such as intelligence or compassion. Baudrillard says that the mass media is so far into our lives that it begins to shape the way we live. Therefore, our society is so saturated with media imagery.
5) Is your presence on social media an accurate reflection of who you are? Have you ever added or removed a picture from a social media site purely because of what it says about the type of person you are?
My presence on social media is an accurate representation of who I am, however some information is kept private for online safety purposes.
6) What is your opinion on 'data mining'? Are you happy for companies to sell you products based on your social media presence and online search terms? Is this an invasion of privacy?
Data mining is information from social media platforms that is analysed to identify patterns and trends. I don't think that companies selling me products based on my social media presence and online search terms is that terrible as there are often options to remove permission that allows them to do that. Therefore, it isn't an invasion of privacy if permission is gave.
Task 2: Media Magazine cartoon
“Identity is complicated; everyone’s got one.” Gauntlett believes that while everyone is an individual, people tend to exist within larger groups who are similar to them. He thinks the media do not create identities, but just reflect them instead.
- 'pick and mix'
- audiences actively process the messages put across the by the media
- 'technologies of the self'
- the 'male gaze'
- concept of gender as performance
Task 3: Representation & Identity: Factsheet blog task
Finally, use our brilliant Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) to find Media Factsheet #72 on Collective Identity. The Factsheet archive is available online here - you'll need your Greenford Google login to access. Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions to complete our introductory work on collective identity:
1) What is collective identity? Write your own definition in as close to 50 words as possible.
A collective identity refers to an individual sense of belonging to a group, that is shared with others. Identities may be based on any given characteristics or combination of characteristics such as race, class, economic status, gender, sexuality, ethnicity or religion. This sense of belonging can become so potent that it takes over other pieces of the person identity.
2)Things that represent Britain:
- Tea
- Harry Potter
- Fish and Chips
- Radiohead
- The BBC
- Queen
- The Queen
- Big Ben
I don't believe that these things have anything in common but they are all things that non-British people might associate Britain with. Perhaps, not all of Britain has been represented as the things in this list are extremely popular and do not reflect other aspects of Britain.
3) How does James May's Top Toys offer a nostalgic representation of Britain?
This is because the toys are targeted at a slightly older audience meaning that they become metaphors for the sense of Britishness creating a sense of nostalgia; longing for the past where life was perceived to be simpler.
4) How has new technology changed collective identity?
Technology has enabled people to actively engage with the content of the culture around them and then go on to use it as resources for their own cultural productions.
5) What phrase does David Gauntlett (2008) use to describe this new focus on identity?
The phrase that David Gauntlett (2008) uses to describe this new focus on identity is ‘Identity is complicated; everyone thinks they have got one.’
6) How does the Shaun of the Dead Facebook group provide an example of Henry Jenkins' theory of interpretive communities online?
Henry Jenkins calls this new collective identity an interpretive community and labels fans as ‘cultural producers’ who are now actively using the converging media of YouTube, Facebook etc. to create new forms of identity, using the text as inspiration. The Shaun of the Dead Facebook group provides an example as the key aspect of this fan created group is the fact that the collective identity created is one which has no national barriers to the understanding of the cultural identity created.
No comments:
Post a Comment