Participatory Culture

Social networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighbourhood subdivision. (What is Social Networking?) Socializing with peers can be done in person however we live in a digital world where the internet is an extension of our body. Facebook is an example where people join to meet new people, keep contact with friends, and spark relationships.

I am a Facebook user however I’m not that frequent on the site. I do feel as though people have taken on a second identity in the digital world, where a person in real life would act different infront of a screen. People join groups, events and play games while making friends also. However sites like Facebook raise a privacy issue of what information you put out is shared. On your profile it includes information regarding your birthdate, occupation, network and pictures of yourself but who can see it? Fortunately you have privacy settings where you can set who you want to view your profile and who to block off. New users should be aware of privacy agreements before joining any sites because Facebook had recently gone through scrutiny for sharing your information with third parties. What’s beneficial is that the privacy agreement is accessible to users however users should read it because information is shared when it is reasonably necessary to offer the service, legally required or permitted by you. (Facebook) Although Facebook is fun and a good way of wasting time, it is also crucial for everyone to read what they agree because it may affect you later on.

Facebook 22 Nov 2009 .

What is Social Networking? 22 Nov 2009 .

Buy Nothing Day

On November 25th it’s Buy Nothing Day where millions of people stop consumption for 24 hours, this regards to not buying anything, turning off your lights and electrical appliances and cellphones. The principle is that we over-consume so for this one day we should shut off all materialism objects. In doing so we’re showing the large corporation who’s the boss.

We’ve all grown up in a consumerism world where the economy strives off growth however that growth is unsustainable. The goal of infinite profit takes a toll on the earth as large corporations vastly use up resources in a short amount of time. This cycle of extracting from the earth, producing something, then consuming it revolves in a cycle where it happens again and again. Everything surrounding us results in us consuming such as television commercials and advertisements, this is the environment we live in.

Every item we purchase as consumers we should question the implications of the product. What’s the harm on the environment? Was child labour involved? At first when someone purchases an item, it is usually on impulse because it’s not a necessity. However there should be careful thought put in because globally there are people who don’t have enough money to even buy necessities. We take advantage of shopping, spending countless dollars on items without good reason. Products which harm the environment such as a pair of shoes which creates waste from the box and wrapping, the shoe’s glue is also environmentally harmful as well as the material and somewhere in a third world country child labour may have been involved.

Media Hegemonies

Rogers Communications is one of the largest communications companies that is based in Canada. Its main focus is on telecommunications with Rogers Wireless and cable television with Rogers Cable.(Rogers) Not only does Rogers own cable television and wireless services, it also owns a significant amount of mass media including radio, television, print publishing as well as the Toronto Blue Jays. Rogers has ownership of radio includes stations such as JACK FM, 680NEWS-AM and CHFI-FM. Its television division owns Rogers Sportsnet, The Shopping Channel as well as OMNI.1. Rogers also publishes LOULOU, MoneySense and Maclean’s. (Columbia Journaslism Review) This is just a minor amount of what Rogers owns.

The implications of cross media ownership would result in one large company would having so much power in what the media displays. Rogers’ cross media ownership would result in a market that would lack diversity in opinions and voices. Whether it is television, news print or radio, Rogers would have a significant influence on the public’s opinions. Another implication would be the death of smaller corporations. Another implication would be the death of smaller organizations. Rogers would crush the smaller organizations because they’d oversaturate the media environment with their views. This would push off smaller corporations because they’d get less and less viewers.

Columbia Journaslism Review. 21 Nov 2009 .

Rogers Communication Inc.. 21 Nov 2009 .

Culture Jamming

Culture jamming exposes the ways in which corporate and political interests use the media as a tool of behaviour modification. Jamming is slang term for interrupting a radio broadcast or audio portions of televisions. Culture jamming is the art of “terror-art” against the information society. One recognizable organization that does this is “Adbusters.” (Adbusters)



In this culture jam we see a woman breast feeding a baby however the baby is tattooed in logos such as MTV, Nike and Coca-Cola. The baby symbolizes our society today as we have grown up a world of consumerism and corporate interests. The mother’s breast represents large corporations as they are feeding us with products and brands while the baby is us because we are mislead to believe it is healthy and vital to our survival. The baby is tattooed in logos labelling it as the “branded baby” as we have been born with brands such as Nike, Mercedes Benz, Sony and McDonalds. They’ve apart of our lives permanently as like tattoos, we see advertisements and commercialism everywhere we go.

Adbusters. 20 Nov 2009 .

Net Neutrality

We are granted the freedom to access content on the World Wide Web and all we need is the hardware and a connection. There are no restrictions to the content we view, the pictures, audio, video and the websites, this is called net neutrality. However we live in a world where profit is the number one goal and an economy which strives for an infinite amount of growth. This ideology triggers large corporations to pick us up and shake every penny out of us.

Although the internet is free to use and is intangible, large telecommunications corporations are trying to own the internet and charge us for everything we view. Like Paul said in class, they want to be gatekeepers or ushers at the theatre, making sure we’ve paid our fees before letting us get out content. This is a serious threat to everyone because we consume so much of the internet everyday. If they do own it then every time you login to watch a video on YouTube you will be charged, listen to music you will be charged, send messages you will be charged, and even to do homework you will be charged.

This is the battle between millions of users versus large corporations. Not every internet user is aware of this threat however organizations such as www.savetheinternet.com are fighting back and raising awareness. To take control of what your freedom of choice and to have no restrictions, users should stand up for what is theirs before you’re charged for it.

Fake News

In today’s news, we’ll hear about the falling economy, unemployment rates, the war overseas, politics and nuclear weapons. Satirical news downplays the seriousness of news in the form of entertainment with humour based on irony. Although satirical news is a parody, occasionally it is mistaken for real news. The objective is not to be factual but to create laughs; it is not a source to educate viewers on political issues.

Satire news is not influential on political points but it gives the viewers a perception of politics. In class, we learned from John Berger that, “We are not born perceiving. We learn to perceive and not to perceive.” (Berger) A lot of people have no standpoint on political issues, neither left nor right but fake news analyzes a politician’s background as oppose to her/ her views. We learn fake facts from fake news and we perceive it as the emphasis of our attitude towards the politician.

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin , 1973.

Media Literacy

Media Studies is the educational process of attaining media literacy. Media literacy is the ability to scan and analyze the messages that inform, entertain and sell us everyday. (Tallim) Being media literate is to critically engage yourself by looking through various forms of media and asking questions pertaining to how it was constructed, what are the purposes and what details have been hidden? (Tallim) These forms of media span from newspapers, music videos, internet journals, video games and advertisements.

Media literacy can be demonstrated in viewing famous icons such as The California Dancing Raisins. (Stauber) A media illiterate would view it for pure entertainment value. But a media literate would ask questions. One who sees these ads would ask who produced the ads. Who is the targeted audience? Whose perspective is it told from? What techniques did this ad use to get my attention? Why does it concern me? And what’s the purpose of this ad? By asking questions you engage yourself in critical thinking, analyzing every aspect that’s present and hidden.

The objective of asking questions is to see the truth, to view the bias, the censorships and the behind-the-scenes plot. “All documents... are confidential.”(Gullickson) In the foreground The California Dancing Raisins were singing and dancing raisins animated through claymation. In 1988 they ventured through a 27 city tour, performing at children’s hospitals and at supermarkets and numerous charity events. (Stauber) This lead to a revenue increase of 17 per cent as well as a growing fan base. Pretty great figures, right? Wrong, now media literacy would pertain the view to ask questions beyond the facade of dancing raisins and see the real objective. In the background behind the dancing raisins was a plot lead by public relations firm to cover up a crisis, foods such raisins to yogurt to beef had been contaminated with industrial chemicals and pesticides. All this was lead by the California Raisin Advisory board to bypass the release of Diet for a Poisoned Planet, a book which exposes the negative effects of pesticides in raisins. (Stauber)

Rampton, John C. Stauber and Sheldon. Toxic Sludge is Good for You. Monroe: Common Courage Press, 1995.

Tallim, Jane. Media Awareness. 06 10 2009 .

Ch-Ch-Ch=Change

Barack Obama said he’s going to bring change but who would have guessed he was also bringing Chi-Chi-Chi-Chia. A Chia pet is a clay figure where you place within it grass seeds, then you watch the grass grow as it mimics hair. In this advertisement, Chia Pets has launched a new special product, the Chia Obama. It’s a clay model of Obama’s head and his scalp grows hair. This new product is said in the commercial to have been launched to commemorate Obama’s inauguration. When Obama was elected as the President of the United States in 2008, he was praised for being the person who will change the world by bringing change, opportunity, liberty, prosperity and hope.

When I first saw the advertisement, I felt it was ridiculous and silly that the president has been demoted to Chia status. This product is obviously marketed towards impulse buyers who feel by purchasing this, they’d attain a piece of history. Just like how a sword symbolizes truth, Obama has become a symbol of change. What’s ironic is that such a prominent and respected political icon has become an icon of entertainment and pop culture with the Obama brand name. It’s sad and ironic that American companies feel they can manipulate people into buying their products with their presentation filled with patriotic music, speech, sales tactics and the president’s face.

Examining this commercial spawns a greater outlook into the current state of America, where politicians are being taken as a joke and how pride and patriotism can be manufactured for consumers. The Chia Obama is sold as a symbol of what the president represents, change, opportunity, liberty, prosperity and hope. Being a proud American never has been so easy, before you’d have to fight in wars, fly your flags, sing the national anthem and vote in elections but now Chia has made it so simple, anyone can be a proud American for just $19.95 plus shipping and handling (Chia Obama). Maybe this will stimulate the economy.

Chia Obama. 02 10 2009 .

Mass Media

Mass media is any medium used to communicate to an audience. It can be through the TV, internet, radio, newspapers and etc. (Lane) An example would be from McLuhan’s Playboy Interview, the printing press which stretched mass-produced books and printed matter across Europe. A modern form of mass media would be the internet, which is a platform for news, gaming, music, video and communication. As the printed matter travelled through Europe it turned the vernacular regional languages of the day into uniform closed systems of national languages.(McLuhan) I agree that mass media tends to nationalize the local, especially with new media as it overrules existing forms.

In the past we’ve seen television dominate households as the new medium and even before that, the radio, but since the arrival of the World Wide Web, former media powerhouses have taken the backseat. Before you’d receive audio from radios, visual from television and communication from the telephone but the internet has captured those elements into one uniform system. The Internet has become our national language as numerous of citizens use it worldwide.

Lane, Beth. Suite101.com. 29 June 2007. 02 10 2009 .

McLuhan, Marshall. The Playboy Interview . 02 10 2009.

Media Ecology

The technology I chose to put under the microscope is the Iphone. It’s a “multi-media” device with the ability to play music, video, browse the internet, photos, play games and a phone. Basically it’s taken over everything.

Neil Postman says “A medium is a technology within which a culture grows,”(Postman) if that’s the case, I would say the iPhone is a clear representative. Actually it has outgrown any technology in our society with its numerous functions and efficiency. It has taken over the CD player, radio and other mediums of music, taken over the TV and the computer with its visual aspect and the phone as a form of communication. A culture has sprouted from the iPhone due to the vast marketing of the product, from subway ads, television commercials and word of mouth. People buy it to stay tech-savvy, for all the capabilities, for communication and even to be cool.

Postman praises the internet for its efficiency, calling it the “Niagara of Information” (Postman) which I find similar to the iPhone, as it is the St. Helens Volcano of functions. Postman later says the internet has turned us into internet junkies, in comparison to the iPhone, I’d say it has made us “application junkies” downloading everything you can find.

The purpose of the iPhone is to take your life on the go, bring everything you need anywhere and that’s what it’s successfully doing. It’s taken over our life and has made it faster but definitely like the typewriter, it has undermined us. From storytelling and memorization to printed text and now to saving everything you see on an iPhone. We’ve become too dependent on our little devices that where ever we go we need to bring it along. Apple intelligently marketed the product so everyone can find a use. For example, the map application, people who physically look through maps or people who are open to discovery used to travel and explore to find a route to their direction but now in the iPhone era they resort to their map. Now all we needs is an application to help us live our own lives.

Postman, Neil. "The Humanism of Media Ecology." Inaugural Media Ecology Association Convention (2000):

Academic Blogging

When I first heard that we had to blog in class for our grades, I had mixed emotions, shocked, scared, confused but still interested in the idea.

Shocked for the most part because I’ve never done any blogging in my life. All of my prior school writing was done on paper and in notebooks so our work was for my eyes and my teacher’s eyes only. I didn’t have to worry about what other people thought but blogging opens up the gates of my expressions to the World Wide Web. Scary.

Blogging is conveying your thoughts, whether it is a movie review, random rants or input on any given topic but on a public platform. Everyone has access to your perspective so being concise is an asset. I’m new to writing blogs, but not to reading them so I understand that bloggers deserve gratitude for being able to express their thoughts out in the public.

As far as stepping into the role of a blogger, I feel privileged that I have a platform to share my thoughts and to have my classmates converse or debate about them. What’s exciting about contributing to the public sphere is the sense of authority because some one out in the World Wide Web may stumble upon my ideas and think, “hmmm, this guy has a good point.”