Comm 2 Student Blogs
Posted on June 23, 2008
In this semester’s media literacy class at Santa Monica College, I’m requiring students to setup their own blogs and post about their media observations once a week, then comment on one of their classmates’ blogs once a week. This will give them an opportunity to analyze media on their own, outside of class.
I’m posting links to their blogs here as to form a sort of community of student media literacy bloggers. Follow along as these students flex their media literacy muscles.
Malia - http://maliworld.wordpress.com
Jasmine - http://jasmine88.wordpress.com
Skye - http://skyesmith.wordpress.com
Jeremy - http://thetruthaboutthemedia.wordpress.com
Ky - http://ky00.wordpress.com
Latiza - http://latiza.wordpress.com
Danny - http://openingyoureyesforever.blogspot.com
Sali - http://silisali.wordpress.com
Rudy - http://rude35.wordpress.com
Roger - http://rogerprodactor.wordpress.com
Maria - http://mariarecalde.wordpress.com
New blogs will be added as students submit them.
For a primer on using Wordpress, try watching this video on YouTube.
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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Wii Fit = Anorexic America
Posted on June 3, 2008
Now that Nintendo has released the Wii Fit, it has started to take America by storm. As with all other popular Nintendo titles, the game is sold out at nearly every store (do they do it on purpose?). With the game being rated “E for everyone” (ages 6 and older), it begs the question: are kids part of the intended audience?
If the answer to that question is yes, then Nintendo is telling kids they need to work out to stay fit, effectively planting the seeds of body image issues for later in life. Nintendo would argue they’re trying to keep people of all ages in shape, especially in light of the supposed obesity problem in America (in fact, the American Wii Fit is rated to support 350lbs instead of the 300lbs for the Japanese version).
Rather than battling obesity, will the Wii Fit contribute to the ever-increasing eating disorder problem in America? The Wii Fit is selling the same thing that other diet and exercise products sell - a quick and simple way to fit within society’s body ideal. So maybe the product should be the “Wii Fit In”. Buy it, and you’re buying hope to fit in - to be as “attractive” as the models on the covers of magazines. And yes, even kids have young idols they look up to and want to be like.
Why doesn’t the media sell us on going for afternoon walks? Maybe because evening walks take too long, don’t promise immediate results, and don’t cost $90. In fact, there is no way of monetizing an afternoon walk except maybe with walking shoes. At least walking shoes are useful beyond afternoon walks… and shoes won’t end up in your closet as useless junk in a month.
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Target Women: Is yogurt a real food?
Posted on May 21, 2008
We all know by now that advertisers aim towards specific groups of people with their products. One of the groups that gets the most ads aimed towards them is women, especially when it comes to food and diet products. Here’s a fun video that looks at yogurt ads aimed towards dieting women (which is most of them?).
Tell me your comments on it.
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Brands galore…
Posted on May 9, 2008
Have you ever noticed just how many brands are around us each day? Company logos seem to seep unchecked into our subconscious, even when we try to avoid them. Studies show that we’re exposed to over 3000 commercial messages each day, and it’s easy to see why when you learn to look for the hidden commercials in everything we do.
Here are some common places you’re likely to find brands hidden in plain sight:
- Your water bottle
- Your hat
- Your t-shirt
- Your cell phone
- Your pens
- Your Start menu or Dock
- The cars on the road
- The bathroom
Those are only a few examples. This doesn’t include the structured “advertisements” you find on TV and radio, or the barrage of ads in the super market.
Try this: Pick a day to keep a journal with all of the ads you encounter in the day. From the moment you wake up, keep track of every logo you see, every message telling you to buy. I bet you’ll miss 90% of them, especially after it starts to get really overwhelming after the first hour. I’ve done this twice: once I got 594 commercial messages, and another day with the same routine (got up, showered, went to work, drove home) I got 2241… why the big difference? On the first day I started losing track after a few hours… on the second day I used a theater-style admission clicker that made it easy to keep track and I also promised myself I’d focus harder.
Try this for yourself and see what happens. I bet you’ll find more commercial messages in your life than you ever expected.
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Self made thinness
Posted on May 4, 2008
An interesting article popped up on Junkfood Science’s blog. Self Magazine has released the results of a study that asks women about their dieting/eating/exercising lifestyle. Not only does the magazine show that women are indeed killing themselves more and more through disordered eating habits, but the magazine published the study results next to articles about how to eat less and lose weight. There’s something terribly wrong in America today in regards to women’s bodies and the media.
Bonus: Look at the categories that I’ve filed this post under, and think about why I picked each category.
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