Justin Bieber arrested on felony heroin charges?!?!

…Just Kidding

The Power of Public Relations

Kevin Svec

Politics in Pop Culture

            “We got disrespected a little before the game, guys calling us out. We’re a tougher team. We’re grown men over here. We got a whole buncha’ gangstas in the locker room,” said Tu Holloway, Xavier University basketball player in a press conference after the December 12^th 2011 Xavier/Cincinnati game that ended in a brawl.

            A single sentence spoken on a public screen can make or break the credibility and image celebrities, public figures and businesses. A simple idiotic statement, such as the one made by Tu Holloway, can turn into a public relations disaster and tarnish the name of an entire franchise for years. According to Forbes.com, the field of public relations has seen a huge job growth in the past 5 years and is estimated to see an even bigger one over the next decade. This can be attributed to the rise of mobile media and the phenomenon of having fresh news constantly availably literally at the fingertips. In a 21^st century society fueled by refresh buttons and fiber-optic cables, public relations is a key factor in the life and death of big names talked about in the media.

            Public relations is “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” The job of a publicist is essentially to get their clients positive press and exposure to shape images and enhance reputations. Public relations can be divided into specific fields. These can include: government relations, Industry specific communications, crisis communications and internal relations. Perhaps the most important factor in public relations deals with crisis. This can be a crisis as small as a simple statement heard by the wrong ears or as big as an international catastrophe. The big example covered in this blog will be the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that was discovered on April 22^th 2010.

            On April 20^th 2010 at approximately 9:45pm CDT, high pressure methane gas exploded a mobile drilling rig off the coast of Louisiana. The explosion caused an estimated five thousand barrels per day to spill ruthlessly into the Gulf of Mexico for the next 87 days. This catastrophe earns the title of the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. The damage caused by the explosion had a “ripple” effect that took on toll on marine life, civilians and a number of industries. Aquatic life was experiencing deformities and dying in record numbers. Cities along the coast were faced with detrimental pollution. Big industries such as fishing and tourism were taking huge hits as their services were no longer desirable. This catastrophe was public relations worst nightmare.

There is no question that the BP oil spill was a wide-scale catastrophe that can be compared to that of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown and the black plague. From the day the spill was discovered, the public eye had BP locked in a death stare. It is common knowledge that anything done to hurt the environment these days is going to get roasted in the media, and big oil companies like BP aren’t exactly on the greener side of the idea of sustainability. To make matters even worse, BP’s public relations campaign to counter act the spill misfired horribly. BP was slow to initially acknowledge the problem and underestimated the magnitude of the damage and publically confessed to being “out of the loop” about decisions regarding the disaster. BP officials originally claimed that the rig was leaking roughly one thousand barrels a day into the gulf. Further investigation proved it was leaking five times the quoted amount. This downplay of the numbers hurt BP’s credibility from the start. In a situation like this, the stakes are very, very high and priority number one should be to directly address and empathize with the immediate victims of the accident, in this case, would be the families who lost everything due to the spill. Instead, BP came off as dodgy and slow to accept full responsibility. BP CEO Tony Hayward was publically attempting to shift the blame. He chose words such as “This was not our drilling rig,” and “This was Transocean’s rig. Their systems. Their people. Their equipment. This was not our accident.” Although these statements held a degree of truth, BP had the most stake in the operation which means that they were the most liable for the incident. To reinforce these claims on a public screen in the face of detrimental suffering is not only irresponsible and childish, it is flat out wrong and in insult to those affected.

After pleading guilty to obstruction of justice for misleading the government about the magnitude of the catastrophe, BP had its sights set on moving forward in a positive manner. This led to another botched PR attempt which essentially asked for sympathy with Hayward using phrases such as “I just want my life back,” and wanting the public to put the incident in the rear view mirror. As if a company who was responsible for ruining countless lives and businesses deserves any sympathy after trying to dodge the blame and misinforming officials. The PR mistakes made by BP represent a huge awakening in the industry. These mistakes will serve a lesson to big companies as to how important public use of rhetoric is in the face of crisis. BP’s image will be forever tarnished by the mistakes made by their PR division and have a long road ahead of them to repair their image.

A reputation is like glass, once cracked can never be repaired. It can be something as simple as a controversial picture going viral or a short public statement to bring an entire image into the toilet. It has been apparent especially in the 21^st century that in most cases, public image and perception is the key to success or failure. The public has seen numerous celebrities and public figure’s careers crash and burn in due to negative perception. Even to the average person, the importance of keeping a good public image through social media and networking is essential to being successful. Maintaining a positive public image will prove to be more and more important as the steady stream of information and current events in the very public screen continues to grow.

And just for shits and gigs, enjoy this :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u0EL_u4nvw

Work Cited

Wynne, Robert. "Public Relations, Explained." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 04 Sept. 2013. Web. 02 Aug.

2014.

Zelman, Joanna. "BP Ad Campaign Following Gulf Oil Spill Deemed 'Propaganda' By Some." The

Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 08 Jan. 2012. Web.

"What P.R. Experts Think of BP's Response to the Oil Spill." Slate Magazine. N.p. Web

Seven Deadly Sins

But first… Let me take a selfie. I Snapchat all my friends to show them how much fun I am having at the beach with my family. I scroll through my Facebook feed and compare my vacation to all of my friends' vacations from this summer. Damn it. Suzie went to Florida AND France this summer. What a slut. Omg. How could I forget Suzie’s birthday? I make a quick collage of pictures of her and I and tell the social media world how much I love her and that I wish her the best birthday a beautiful girl like her should have. I quickly tweet about the most ridiculous thing the cashier at McDonalds said to me, and then I put away my phone so my dad doesn't tell me to for the SIXTH time… Five was enough.

America is a nation wrapped up in social media. We complete with our friends and create social profiles that only display a small fraction of who we really are. I have a zit on my right cheek, so you better believe I will only take selfies on my left side until it is gone. Nodder explains that throughout history, philosophers and religious scholars have categorized human weaknesses as a set of ‘sins’. The Seven Deadly Sins are Pride, Sloth, Gluttony, Anger, Envy, Lust, and Greed (2013). Contemporary web designs exploit our weaknesses for both good and evil. The power block uses these techniques on popular social media sites which limits our ability refuse the seven deadly sins.

The internet has become an easy gateway to the seven deadly sins. These sins take place outside of the internet, yet the world-wide-web has made it particularly easy to do so while sitting at a computer or hiding behind your smart phone. As long as we are actively participating in social media, our weaknesses will be controlled by the power holders of America.

The first deadly sin, pride, is identified as believing one is essentially better than others and excessive admiration of the personal self. Pride is prevalent in our “selfie” culture. With every Snapchat you send your friends of your “awesome” life, you hope that the person opening it thinks about how fun it would be to be you. You open your friend’s Snap, and it is of them watching Netflix alone on a Friday night. Subconsciously, you think about how much more fun you are having than them, and you think about how it sucks to be them. Let’s have a reality check: You don’t know if this person is alone on a Friday night because they don’t have anything better to do, or if they have chosen to do so because they had a much more “awesome” night than you did the night before. Snapchat is a social media outlet that encourages its users to be proud and boast about themselves.

The second deadly sin, sloth, is defined as physical laziness. It is also a failure to do things one should and a failure to use one’s talents and gifts. Google is the prime example of laziness. I would hate for someone to actually have to stretch their mind when I ask them a question, so thank God for smart phones with Google. It is almost too much to ask for someone to think logically about a question when they could mindlessly find the answer on Google. In fact, we have turned this phenomenon into a transitive verb. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Google as, “to use the Google search engine to obtain information about (as a person) on the World Wide Web”. When we have free time, many of us are guilty of spending countless hours Googling different topics, browsing through our Facebook feed, watching Youtube videos, and looking for our next DIY project on Pinterest. How about we put away our computers and put down our phones and replace these activities with volunteering to help a neighbor or better ourselves for the future?

The third deadly sin, Gluttony, is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste. Twitter is a prime examples of gluttony. Many people feel that they need to tweet every aspect of their life regardless of how many other people actually care. We tweet our emotions too soon, we tweet too eagerly, we tweet too wildly, and we simply tweet too much. After we post, we wait to be reposted, and we wait to be favorited. Twitter and other social medium consume our thoughts to the point of waste.

The forth deadly sin, wrath, is a hatred that may provoke feuds that can go on for centuries. Facebook is a battlefield for many people. You hate some bitch because three years ago she slept with your new boyfriend, and she just liked one of his photos. It is a source that fuels your anger, and you can be as nasty as you want to someone because they are not right in front of you to kick your ass. I am no longer surprised when I scroll through my Facebook news feed and see my friends posting passive aggressive statuses about someone who they hate at the moment. Social media is a place for many people to practice wrath towards not only other people but towards political parties and controversial topics.

The fifth deadly sin, envy, is characterized by the desire to have a quality, possession, or other desirable attribute belonging to someone else.  Envy is the one sin that is never any fun. After feeling envious, people often feel smaller and less secure about themselves because they compare themselves to others. Instagram is designed to have its users follow people or pages they like. In today’s fit culture, many Instagram users follow athletes and compare themselves to the pros. Users often scrutinize themselves after looking through pages and pages of seemingly “perfect” bodies and lives. This can lead to a lower self-esteem when you don’t measure up.

The sixth deadly sin, lust, is an intense desire of money, food, fame, power or sex. The internet is a gateway for lust through social media, online dating sites and pornography sites. There are extramarital dating sites for those who are no longer satisfied in their marriages and want to spice up their life with another person. These sites are designed to make people feel lusted after even though their flame has died with their spouse. Porn sites are also a large social media that is centered on lust. Men and women alike use these sites to fulfill or supplement their needs. Websites such as these make it easy to fall into lust.

The seventh and final deadly sin, greed, is applied to a very excessive pursuit of material possessions. People want to use the latest gadgets to view their social media, and they want to do so at a low cost. They want to use free wi-fi whenever possible, and they absolutely do not want to pay for their social media. People use Youtube to mp3 converters and torrent sites in order to get whatever they can for free. We want the latest iPhone, we want all new music on our iPhones, and we want an app for just about everything. Greed creates a needy culture that never really seems satisfied with what we have.

            Savage critiques the seven deadly sins in his book Skipping Towards Gomarrah (2003). He commits (or tries to) each of the deadly sins and finds the everyday Americans who take delight in them. He points out that American sinners can be and are often good. In context, he would argue that social media may encourage people to engage in the seven deadly sins, but that does not make them bad people.

            If you partake in social media, you will be influenced by at least one of the seven sins on nearly every site. Adorno argues, “The system of cultural production…was controlled by advertising and commercial imperatives, and served to create subservience to the system of consumer capitalism” (Durham, 2006). We have been shaped into a culture that puts our social image on a pedestal, and we are beginning to lose some of our true identity behind our social media masks. There does not seem to be a way around these influences set upon us by the power block other than resisting social media altogether. Good luck.

Reference List

Durham, M. G. (2006). Media and cultural studies keyworks (Rev. ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Google. 2014. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved July 20, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/google.

Nodder, C., & libro, C. (2013). Evil by design interaction design to lead us into temptation. Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons.

Savage, D. (2003). Skipping towards Gomorrah: the seven deadly sins and the pursuit of happiness in America. New York: Plume.

Animal Testing

         Rise of the Planet of the Apes making me thinking about torture animal. In the movie, there have a lot of plot about using Apes for experiment. When they precede subcutaneous injection for Apes, we can see pain from Ape’s eyes. Nowadays, animal testing has become a widely concerned issue around the world. Come up with scientific experiments, we will think about white mouse, it is “devote” itself for a scientific breakthrough. I still remember the experiment of white mice for photosynthesis in my high school biology textbook, “Joseph Priestly process a series of experiments to find out the influence of gases on plants and animas. He observed that (1) if a candle was lighted in an airtight container, the flame would soon extinguish; (2) a mouse died soon when put in an airtight container in which a candle has burned out or the air inside has been spoiled by mice breathing and dying in it; and (3) the mouse lived if at the same time a live plant is placed inside the airtight container”(Bareja BG, 2012). Some people hold that the neural system of animal are not advanced than human, they may feel minimize pain from experiment; meanwhile, we cannot use human for experiment, which is inhumane. Bear a resemblance to humans; animal’s respond is similarly to external disturbances, so animal is best substitutes for human experiment. However, this opinion is misleading facts. Animal also has rights for their lives. They also have capacity to make moral choices. Therefore, animal testing should be banned, because animal has the right to life and human, which prohibition of torture need protect them.

          The primary reason to support that idea human gives experiment of animal in order to makes profit for there commercial, this is immoral. Animal testing for cosmetics and medicine, which are most common experiment of animal. People realized that animal testing can be done for commercial purposes; it is cheapest way to proves the risk or stimulate of product. For example, Legally Blonde 2: Red,White&Blonde, Elle woods wants her dogs mother attend her wedding, she hired private detective to find bruiser’s mother, but they found that Bruiser’s mother is in an animal testing for cosmetics.in the movie, we can see how painful of Bruiser’s mother from her eyes. Human compel animal to “use” the new product, which is testing how stimulate or risk of human skin. They uses animal to test cosmetics safety, it is not only harmful animal, but also deprivation their rights of survival. “Millions of rabbits, dogs, cats, mice and other animals are burned, poisoned and killed in painful and unnecessary tests each year for the sake of cosmetics and toiletries. Finished products (and/or their individual ingredients) are frequently tested on animals overseas before making their way to Australia.”(Animals Australia, 2013)  Animal testing is kind of behavior to torture the animal; it is possible that new product have poisonous and harmful substance, which is hurt and dangerous for animal. Some people may said that we uses some un-toxic substance for animal, those products are come from herbaceous plant, which is not harmful. Despite those product are not harmful, animal may not adept for those product. Here is some fact, “32 guinea pigs and 16 mice for test the skin sensitization, it cause those animal’s skin may show signs of redness, ulcers, scaling, inflammation, and itchiness.” “3 rabbits for test skin irritation/corrosion, it cause they are skin may show signs of redness, rash, lesions, scaling, inflammation, and/or other signs of damage.”(The human society, 2014) and so on. There are a lot of fact to shows that how harmful testing of animal. Therefore, for protecting animal’s right, we need to stop using animal for experiment human products.

          An additional factor involves this recognition that animals testing are result and information is unreliable and misleading, after all there are many differences between humans and animals. For example, In the movie， Rise of the Planet of the Apes the doctor create a new medical for Alzheimer’s disease, which is promote the intelligence. They give Apes to experiment this new medical; however, this new medicine is not suit for human. That it is adept for Apes, which is promoting their intelligence. It is possible that medicine is able to adapt on animals, but human may have some risk for use it. “We believe that although animal experiments are sometimes intellectually seductive, they are poorly suited to addressing the urgent health problems of our era, such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, AIDS and birth defects. Even worse, animal experiments can mislead researchers or even contribute to illnesses or deaths by failing to predict the toxic effects of drugs.”(Barnard, Kaufman, 1997). Animal does not have complex systems of organs like humans, such as nervous system is difference for human, so they might not has same disease as well human. If gives a new medicine injection for animal without heart disease, it won’t any effectiveness for this experiment. Because of we cannot test this medicine of pesticide effect, it will harmful and dangerous for human’s life. Therefore, the important medical improves have been postpone, because of misleading information test derived from animal testing.

         In conclusion, we should not use animal to testing our new medical or drugs, because of human interests should not be placed above animals welfare, which is harmful animals rights to life. In the future, hoping can find substitute for testing new medical or drugs without any harm.

Reference

BAREJA BG. 2012. 11.Oct, 2012. Crop farming or crop agriculture: basics and practical methods.

Retrieved from http://www.cropsreview.com/index.html.

Animals Australia the voice for animas. 14 March 2013.Which companies and brands still allow testing on animals? Retrieved from http://www.animalsaustralia.org/features/animal-testing-list.php

The humane society of the United State,5 March,2014. Cosmetics Tests That Use Animals. Retrievedfromhttp://www.humanesociety.org/issues/cosmetic_testing/tips/common_cosmetics_tests_animals.html

Barnard, Neal D., Kaufman, Stephen R, Feb, 1997. ANIMAL RESEARCH IS WASTEFUL AND MISLEADING. Retrieved from http://www.indiana.edu/~koertge/Sem104/barnard.html

Still Clinging to the 1950s

                                                                                                                                            Alex Schlegel

Politics of Popular Culture

Blog 2

August 1, 2014

Still Clinging to the 1950s

The 1950s was a grand era that offered immense change in America, even though patriarchal families were still at large. It seemed that each member of the family had one specific or pretty much in today sense a stereotypical role, such as woman/wife cooks and cleans, man/husband is the bread winner and the kids basically pick up on these cues, which eventually leads them replicate 1950s patriarchy. A big advancement during this era was the idea of consumerism and advertisements. Soon ads became prevalent in movies, television, magazines, billboards, etc., and many people during this time never thought to consider if these advertisements were stereotyping, racist, sexist, or even ethical. Now, fast-forward sixty years to present day. “Men and women today lead highly complex lives with multiple societal roles. Men and women are parents, businesspeople, corporate board members, friends, siblings, volunteers, and more” (Sheehan 91). From what Sheehan mentions is that everyone is equal meaning they can do or be whomever they want and no baggage attached. You can be a single mother with three kids or conform to a typical family where you have a husband/wife and two children. No matter what you do it does not matter. In today’s age you can just be, and that is okay, or is it? When it comes to advertisement it seems to be playing a different tune. It seems that there is still a hierarchy or patriarchy throughout most advertisements in terms of male and female advertising. It feels like we have come so far just to take a step back, which blurs the idea of equality in today’s society. In this blog post I will analyze modern day advertisements vs. ads from the 1950s and from this I hope you will have a better understanding of what really is going on with advertisements and how the idea of post-sexisms is not all that it is chalked up to be.

            As I mentioned earlier patriarchy use to be a standard model for families especially during the 50s and 60s, however todays model for families deals more with partnership and equality. So why are advertisements still condoning gender stereotypes? “Commercials are the vast source of gender stereotyping, because they are adapted to the specific, either male or female target, and are “the reflection of the recipient” (Wolska). 

That is they are targeted towards either a male or female audience, which ultimately brings back patriarchal ideology. For instance, take the advertisement above. This ad was displayed during 1958 and obviously represents the man or man’s hand as a dominant figure that has total control over anything and everything, in this case a female’s butt. From this you notice that the only thing shown is the women’s butt and legs, which are suppose to represent sex appeal, thus provide context that women are just man’s object of gaze. They only serve the purpose to please man physically, which stereotypes patriarchy during this era. Now lets take a look at a modern day advertisement that in theory should have no connotation towards sexism, after all we are suppose to be living in a nation of post-sexism and post-racism, sadly this is not the case.

 

As you can see in the magazine ad once again the man or his foot is shown as a patriarchal force that has total control over everything or in this sense the woman who is knelling down. It is no surprise that the woman is seen as an object of gaze. Something to “please” men, someone who is controlled. I don’t know about you but advertisements like these completely tear down the whole idea of equality and post-sexism.

            Now that we have hit on female advertisements I would like to discuss what the male ads entail both from the 1950s and now. A majority of the time men are perceived as muscluar or have great looks and tend to show dominance in the situation, if paired with a female, espically as a couple.

 

This ad was for Van Heusen ties and as you can blatantly tell it shows the man being dominate and the woman is seen as servant, someone who waits hand and foot. For the time this makes perfect sense because the typical household model is partriarchal. “If men and women appear in the commercials together, they are mainly presented as a couple or marriage. A sexual subtext is also often used in this case, even if the advertised product has nothing in common with the erotic sphere. In the situation of competition, women appear to be weaker than men” (Wolska). This ideology should have only been represented during the 50s and 60s but instead it has merged itself with modern advertisements. Once again we are stuck in a world were representations of patriarchy are still portrayed. Take for instance this Dockers magazine ad.

As you probably have already noticed these two people are a couple and what do you know the man is represented as pulling or guiding the woman, thus hinting towards patriarchy or male dominance and it’s no accident either. At first glance men probably never think twice about the position of the couple but it almost subconsciously inflates the male ego showing that he is the leader of the pack, the one that is in control. Would it be so wrong to portray this couple having the woman leading the man? I tend to think not but since we live in an age where we are constantly bombarded by ads, like these, I believe it turns the clock backwards and represents what advertisements use to be. Maybe things will change but it is too hard to say because of the constant struggle.

            Comparing two completely different eras seems like there would be huge contrasts but instead it seems there are more similarities. Advertisements from the 1950s to now have not changed immensely but instead have stayed, for the most part, constant. Women are still perceived as secondary, they clean, they cook, and they are objects of male gaze. Men on the other hand are still perceived as the financial leader or head of the household, someone who has total control over everything. If we look at lifestyles today ideologies have hugely changed. Both men and women are more independent than they ever have been but if we still are being fed sexist and gender based advertisements then how are we ever able to grow?

Works Cited

 Krytyka. Krytyka, Sept. 2011. Web. 26 July 2014. <http://krytyka.org/gender-stereotypes-in-mass-media-case-study-analysis-of-the-gender-stereotyping-phenomenon-in-tv-commercials/>.

Sheehan, Kim Bartel. Controversies in Contemporary Advertising. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc, 2014. Print.

 Writing Commons. Writing Commons, 3 Mar. 20010. Web. 1 Aug. 2014. <http://writingcommons.org/open-text/information-literacy/visual-literacy/ad-analysis/436-analyzing-ads-gender>.

THIS IS MY LAST COLLEGE ASSIGNMENT GUYS!!

(sorry about the title I had to! :) )

As a twenty-three year old girl, I, as well as many of you ladies and gentleman have witnessed or taken part in many of the changes and trends that have taken place within the media world. Most of the changes a fair amount of us 90’s kids have seen have mostly dealt with advances in cell phone technology and ways in which we received much of our information such as news alerts, friend updates, and even texting. So with much advancement what is even considered social media these days? Well our handy little friend, Google, defines social media as “websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.” Google’s definition goes hand in hand with the advancements I’ve discussed due to the fact that social media has become mainstream through all these technological advances.  

From the start of the Internet hype many people (because it was not only teens exploring the online sphere) seemed to be discovering the AOL and MSN messenger chat community. If any of you recall, this was around the time when we had dial-up Internet (insert laugh cause you all know you remember that tone) and we could only be on it for so long because our mother who was expecting a phone call from her best friend who lived two houses and had gossip to share. Anyways, the social media or way for people to be socially connected back then was through the use of chat or what I can even be described as old school texting of the 90’s. One was simply always able to have conversations (chats) with one single person and have names like *~brownsugar_244~* (yes this may or may not have been mine, whatever) or with multiple people (group chats.) But once you appeared offline, that communication was gone, until your next login. In that way we see that the social media sphere has continued to stay the same with the chat aspects and the fact that people are constantly deleting their social media accounts and reactivating them (just like appearing offline, until the next login) again with continuous ‘advances’ over the years. Now a days however, it is much more difficult for one to be completely offline because we are constantly connected online in a way or another through our cellular devices. I analyze that while social media is still a large part of communication, there is always some sort of trend present with what social media platforms are being used by people all over and which ones may not be as popular at any given time.

 With that being said, the rise and fall of every other website or what may be the hip social media site at any given time, changes more frequently than we probably even pay attention to. More than ever (and by ever I mean basically since our age group started using social media) we have seen people falling off the face of the earth or what is also known as people deleting their social media accounts including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Xanga, Myspace, etc. This happens for a variety of reasons that the trends in social media are obviously linked to.

I begin with the discussion that those in my age group (and mostly my friends as well as myself) began the social media excitement through the use of MySpace and Xanga. Both mediums had the ability to post pictures, design the website to your liking as well as providing a privacy preference of your choice. This became a place for kids like myself to blog about their day and simply post things that we felt were cool. The life of both of these mediums was short lived as Facebook soon hit the popularity charts back in 2005ish (at least for high school kids) by this time, Facebook had already been floating around for college age group. Of course this led us younglings to believe that if college kids were doing it, it was obviously the cool thing to do, and we all jumped on the Facebook bandwagon!

At the beginning of the Facebook era, it was not unusual for us to spend x amount of hours glued to our home computers wandering through the profiles of our friends. It was the norm to update our status almost at a constant pace, write on each other’s walls, and send awesome ‘bumper stickers.’ Facebook ultimately introduced the ‘like’ button shortly followed by the ‘add a cover photo’ option. So what are the reasons in which Facebook use is declining? Well, with the rise of many new users, the OGs of Facebook found that its size became too overwhelming, and privacy risks and tendency to incite drama became more of social burden than anything according to the Huffington Post. Others such as Forbes, stated that with their (Facebook) new features, users found that the site was trying to hard and that was a reason for many to be pushed away.

As I discussed earlier, what is hip at any given time can change quite quickly. Currently while Facebook use is declining, the rise of applications such as Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter in which people can use aliases seem to be the growing trend. Due to that fact that many employers and others of that sort are relying on mediums as such to feel out possible hires, people seem to be seeking out more private mediums.

It is obvious that many social platforms have an average span of ‘popularity time.’ Time magazine describes this ‘like a disease that spreads then dies.” We see this over and over again; people find these websites to be less important in their daily lives and spend less and less time being entertained by a certain platform. 

In conclusion, I see the trend of Facebook decline happening because of newer, more advanced applications people seek out. Privacy issues and long term repercussions are the common denominator for the decline of Facebook (and other website) users.  As Forbes stated, “in the end, Facebook is just an application. And people get tired of applications after a while.” The rise and fall of websites and applications is a never-ending cycle, people become tired of them and continue on with the next popular application. Facebook (along with many other platforms) will continue be around, with less users of course, but again always being part of that communication world.

Bosker, Bianca. "Facebook's Rapidly Declining Popularity With Teens In

Chart." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 Oct. 2013. Web. Aug. 2014.

Frizell, Sam. "Facebook Is About to Lose 80% of Its Users, Study Says."

Time. Time, 21 Jan. 2013. Web. Aug. 2014.

Marks, Gene. "Why Facebook Is In Decline." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 19

Aug. 2013. Web. Aug. 2014.

Wortham, Jenna. "Still on Facebook, but Finding Less to Like." Bits Still on

Facebook but Finding Less to Like Comments. New York Times, 16 Nov. 2013. Web. Aug. 2014.

"Google." Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Aug. 2014.

How the Internet made Fan-Culture Cool

The fandom culture (or as many used to refer to it—geek culture) has been around since the introduction of comics and sci-fi fantasy within mainstream media. However, now what was once considered lame, or “geeky” has spread to popular culture. Now being a geek is cooler than ever before. From fandom websites, to convention centers, to everyday conversation—cult television and movies are more pervasive in mainstream media. Why? With the ever-changing landscape of the Internet, more people are watching media—and they are watching it more often. The term “binge-watching” used to be confined to that of the DVD box set it came in. Now with Netflix, Hulu Plus and HBOgo consumers can access more television and movies at any time. This, in turn, has changed the scope in how television and programming is made. Now Netflix is coming up with its own programming, and top television networks are creating programming specifically with the fandom communities in mind.

Fandom culture and geek culture have really culminated around the sci-fi and fantasy genre. This includes comic books, fantasy novels and television programming.  It was once considered uncool if you spent your entire afternoon reading comic books or watching television—now it is a rite of passage into fandom culture. There are many different theories as to where fandom culture originated. Some might say the earliest comic book series are prime examples of fan culture. Some go as far back as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Sherlock Holmes”—insisting that the re-interpretation of his works through the modern age act as the first ever written fan fictions. The fantasy novel “Lord of the Rings” is also close to the origins of fandom culture—many believe that it is the popularity of this novel that help spur the fantasy genre into popularity. And an overwhelming amount of fans agree that it was Gene Roddenberry’s classic sci-fi series “Star Trek” that started it all.  All of these classic examples, with the addition of the British series “Doctor Who” all help us understand the origins of fandom culture and how it relates to popular culture as well.

While I do not argue that these fandoms were not popular in their own time, there was a certain amount of backlash to the term “fan”. It seems that for a large part of the last 50 years, terms like “fan, geek, and fandom” where synonymous with lame and unpopular. It took the Internet to really create a space for fans to get together for the rest of the world to take notice. Myc Wiatrowski explains this phenomenon; “Studies of fan communities over the past twenty years have increasingly focused on the internet as a locus of communal activity for participants. Certainly this is not unexpected. Prior to the advent of the Internet, and its subsequent adoption by fan communities, being a fan was largely a proposition that required participants to engage in physical encounters. Fandoms were transmitted on a personal, often individual level. Geographical boundaries were an issue, to be sure, so fandoms were often local and specific with slight eccentricities that could vary regionally, often only learned through the process of enculturation. Conventions, newsletters and zines were employed by fandoms, and often helped in reducing the need for face-to-face interactions; however time and space were often prohibitive to constructing a thriving community.”(Wiatrowski,1).

A decade ago, Comic-Con was a nerd convention, now it is the “Superbowl of Pop Culture”. Comic books, and fandom media were on display—yet its popularity in mainstream media was not. Con goers were mocked for their attire—dressing up, as their favorite character was considered infantile and stupid. Today, ComicCon tickets sell out within minutes, live streaming is a major component and the media not only covers the convention—they treat it as a “hot ticket” event. Celebrities come out in the droves and fans couldn’t be more excited. So what’s the difference between then and now? The digital revolution and the fact that geeks were the one that created it. This change is explained by Andrew Harrison is his article “Rise of the New Geeks: How the Outsiders Won”;

“First the digital revolution elevated alpha nerds such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to unprecedented power and influence. Then Hollywood rediscovered a rich stream of intellectual property and coincident nostalgia in geek touchstones Star Wars, Marvel Comics and JRR Tolkien at the turn of the century. Coding nerd Shawn Fanning overturned the music industry with Napster, a geek project extraordinaire. Celebs got in on the act, with R&B producers The Neptune’s rebranding as N.E.R.D. and stars as unlikely as Justin Timberlake, David Beckham and Myleene Klass donning thick-rimmed specs in the mid-nineties. Sitcoms The IT Crowd and The Big Bang Theory set out to satirize a geek world that was becoming more visible and powerful – face it, can you fix your own PC? – but did so with a surprising measure of warmth, making unlikely heroes out of Reynham Industries' Moss and the poster boy for high-functioning OCD, Caltech theoretical physicist Sheldon Cooper PhD.”(Harrison).

Fandom culture is cool, because new technology and media is cool. Superhero comic books were transformed on the screen in new and exciting ways. The two major comic book producers Marvel and DC are making new material for their brand over every form of media. Marvel has two television shows lined up on ABC for this fall, has already had over eight successful blockbuster hits in the past ten years and is set up for it’s next one this weekend with “Guardians of the Galaxy”. Comic books fans are thrilled that their favorite comic book is finally coming to life and mainstream media is excited for another Marvel hit. Marvel and DC have plans to release at least one superhero/ comic book character film a year for the next five years. It just goes to show that something that was once considered “nerdy” can become a huge part of pop culture—and can cover several different forms of media at a time.

It was a show like “Star Trek” that really created the first introduction of fandom to popular culture—but it is new age technology and programming that has made fandom part of popular culture. Television shows like “Doctor Who”, “Sherlock”, “Lost”, “24”, “Supernatural”, “Game of Thrones”, “The Walking Dead”, “Orange is the New Black”, “House of Cards”, “True Blood”, and “House” all provide the same level of fandom interest, but can also show the intense amount of mainstream influence in it as well. Now with the introduction of Netflix, viewers can start and get caught up on a show with in days—forget going to work and other responsibilities—they have a show to watch. What is more and more prevalent—and ultimately what is most important is that this “binge-watching” craze is more widely accepted. This is something that is now a part of popular culture, and is considered the norm. Comparing how long it takes you to watch a series now determines how “hardcore” you are. Telling your friends and co-workers that you binge-watched all of “The Walking Dead” is met with enthusiasm and excitement rather than embarrassment. It is this new era of technology and media programming that has really created a space for viewers to become a part of fandom culture. Netflix and HBOgo are staples in people’s lives. This new “on-demand” viewing is a vehicle for older shows to become popular again and for newer shows to gain traction as the season progresses. It used to be that if you missed an episode, you were out of luck—now with streaming television viewers can get catch up whenever it fits there schedule. And ultimately it creates an environment for more consumption of popular media. Now people no longer need to feel ashamed for watching all of season 2 of “Orange is the New Black” in their pajamas while consuming nothing but pizza and chocolate…or so I’m told.

Sources:

A Brief History of Fandom, Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Being a Fan

By Elisabeth Flaum

http://www.themarysue.com/history-of-fan-culture-star-trek-sherlock/

Rise of the New Geeks: How the Outsiders Won

By Andrew Harrison

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2013/sep/02/rise-geeks-outsiders-superhero-movies-dork

The Dynamics of Fandom: Exploring Fan Communities in Online Spaces

By Myc Wiatrowski

http://www.academia.edu/491940/The_Dynamics_of_Fandom_Exploring_Fan_Communities_in_Online_Spaces