My life sucks…but so does yours

F*** My life

I was recently introduced to a new, hilarious website that goes by the name Fmylife.com standing for F*** my life. FML is an interesting social experiment. Readers anonymously post embarrassing moments online — moments so terrible, all you can end them with is “FML,” or “f*** my life”.

Topics range from sexual advances gone terribly wrong (“Today, I wanted to seduce my boyfriend so I put on my sexiest lingerie and started playing mood music. As he was eating dinner, I climbed up on the table and started seductively crawling across to him. The table collapsed under my weight. FML.”), to tough-love conversations with parents no one wants to have (“Today, I was talking to my parents about feeling insecure with my ‘beach body’ as Spring Break keeps getting closer and closer. My dad proceeded to warn me by saying, ‘Don’t wear a gray swimsuit. People will try to roll you back into the ocean.’ FML.”), to public episodes that should only appear in nightmares (“Today, I was tutoring kids at an elementary school. One kid messed up my hair. I said, ‘Why’d you do that??’ He said, “I have lice, now you have lice too!’ FML.”)

Reading these posts, you are overcome two separate emotions: sympathy for the unfortunate soul that the incident happened to and utter relief that, no matter how many embarrassing moments you’ve had, at least this time it wasn’t you. And I am not going to lie, laughter generally tends to be a symptom of reading these posts.

Although it wasn’t you, should you ever have the urge to submit your own horror story, you’d be protected by the same sympathy and anonymity. It’s the anonymity, however, that is important.

Websites like FML rely on the belief that people are so afraid to confess their secrets that they will turn to the Internet, arguably the most widely accessible invention ever, to share these stories and secrets anonymously. 
Which makes little sense. We can’t confess these moments to a small group of people because we’re afraid of being judged, yet we can post something on the Internet for millions of people to see.

Internet confessions  have given us a sense of empowerment because even if your story isn’t posted, or perhaps it is, you are not alone, you are suddenly surrounded by millions of people who have had similar, if not worse, things happen to them.

According to Robert Thompson, a popular culture expert, says that these kinds of projects and websites are ‘a love for the ordinary moments fueled by a human need to share one’s life’ [1]. What people get in return for sharing hilarious or sad or humiliating stories is a feeling of connection and belonging.

 

Sources:

[1] Lupsa, Cristian. (2007). ‘Confessional culture’ draws a crowd. Retrieved on March 26, from http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0131/p13s02-algn.htm

Ridin’ on the fans

 

Henry Jenkins, author of Convergence Culture, argues that technology and mass media have moved to a more participatory “convergence” culture, where the traditional flow from producer to consumer has been altered. Now the consumer becomes the producer and creates the media he or she wants. ‘Convergence culture allows small communities all around the world to gather around given topics and interests and produce information, media, etc., on those things’ [1]. Fan culture is an example of the possibility for these small meaningful communities that are not limited to geographical space. 

 

In Convergence Culture Jenkins argues that fan culture is characterized by these five things:

1. Appropriation – A person appropriates in their own life a particular text, work, and practice relating to their fan object. Often these objects are reinterpreted in their own life.
2. Participation – There is an openness for people to participate at all levels within the community. They are so inspired by it they write music, create events, etc.
3. Emotional Investment – People become really invested in this this object, topics, etc. It is something they are really into and something they want to talk about.
4. Collective Intelligence (rather than the expert paradigm) – There is room for everyone to have something to say and contribute to the collective understanding of the group. Collective intelligence doesn’t need credentials, degrees, etc., experiences and insights are beneficial to the community and conversation.
5. “Virtual” Community – These are communities that are not necessarily built around face to face meetings. Some of these people know each other and some are unknown, but more often than not these groups will have times to meet face to face. [1]

Media companies and producers are now catering to the fans’ needs; before, people really had little say in what to watch becasue they had no choice but today, people have more choice than ever which is forcing these producers to look more into what the fans want. In other words, consumers are gaining a new power as they learn to operate within a networked society and as they learn to share media they’ve produced with each other.

 

So who are these fans that are shaping new media? According to Henry Jenkins, these fans are ‘highly motivated, passionately committed, and socially networked. They are early adopters of new technologies and willing to experiment with new relationships to culture’ [2]. He also mentions that more than half of teens online produce some form of media and many of them share what they produce with others. This suggests that these fans are not only shaping new media and the content that is being produced but they are actually producing cultural content themselves.

 

The expansion of this fan culture changes the context in which media content gets produced and distributed which impacts all of us one way or another.

 

Sources:

[1] Jenkins, Henry. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old media and new media collide. Retrieved on March 26, from http://books.google.ca/books id=RlRVNikT06YC&dq=fan+culture+henry+jenkins&printsec= frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=IpLLSa3oMMLonQfNxajkCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result

[2] Berry, Darrell. (2006). Henry Jenkins: On convergence culture. Retrieved on March 26, from http://www.bigshinything.com/henry-jenkins-on-convergence-culture

Online dating better than real life dating?

I was on the phone with my mother the other day and she was asking me if my older sister, who is 25 years old, was dating anyone. I told her I did not think so which triggered my mother into a rant about how she should do online dating and how great it is, she even began to share with me all the “great stories” she had heard of people meeting online. I refrained from sharing this information with my sister because no one wants to be told that they should try online dating, it’s like people are saying you have failed real life dating and that you need a wall of technology in front of you to be able to meet someone nice. However, this did spur my interest a little and I decided to look up online dating to see what all the fuss was about.

Online dating simply involves signing up on a website which has been especially designed to allow singles to meet and mingle. After signing up, you simply build your profile, upload a photo and wait for someone to notice you and send you an email. Better yet, you simply search through the thousands or even millions of profile. You do not have to go through them one by one. Instead, narrow down your search to include your preferences, and then start communicating with someone you may potentially like. When you establish contact, it may just be the start of a good romantic relationship.

Love at first chat?

Although I do see some appeal to online dating, I am not quite sold on the idea of finding someone randomly over the internet with the possibility that they might not be who they say they are.  Anonymity online makes it easier to lie without consequences. For all anyone knows, that really cute young guy you met online who says he enjoys physical activity and the outdoors, really might be an older, unemployed male who has never worked out in his life. I just feel that there is too much room for things to go wrong in online dating. In real life dating you might not see a person’s complete personality right away but atleast you know who and what you are working with; whereas, online you are working with a screen and a blurb about one’s interests and hobbies.

However, to my discovery, online dating has become a very popular trend today. With over ’30 to 40 million people logging on each month, online dating has evolved from a progressive pastime to a mainstream phenomenon in the past couple of years’ [1]. ­Perhaps online dating is simply another method of meeting people, and it has advantages and disadvantages.

After searching various sites I found that many sites are focused on very specific groups or interests. There are sites for seniors, sites for Muslims, sites for fitness-oriented people, sites for people just looking for friends and sites for people who are interested in more adult activities. Perhaps I was too quick to judge online dating, maybe it is better than real life dating? I mean there are a lot of obstacles that  keep someone from meeting the love of his or her life in today’s world. Maybe dating co-workers is against company policy. Perhaps you hate the bar scene. You might not be in the right mood to meet your soul mate while you’re trekking through the grocery store. Online dating provides the opportunities to find someone who is interested in the same things you are.

Not only are we able to pay bills online, shop online, download music and videos online, but now we are able to find love online. New media has created a sphere where people feel more comfortable communicating with others in order to find love.

Sources:

[1] Are online dating sites helping cupid close more deals? (2005). Retrieved on March 25, from http://www.howstuffworks.com/online-dating-pr.htm

Stopping Digital Piracy

 

On Monday night I went to a sneak preview of the new comedy “Adventureland’. It was a pretty entertaining film; however, I was so distracted by the security guard inside the theatre that kept flashing his light on people to make sure they were not trying to film the movie. Is this what movies are coming to? Intense security guards checking everyones’ bags to make sure they are not carrying video recording devices? I guess movie theatres are starting to take this whole digital piracy issue a little more seriously.

 

According to the New York Times, media companies say that piracy — some prefer to call it “digital theft” to emphasize the criminal nature of the act — is an increasingly mainstream pursuit [1]. Because of widely available broadband access and a new wave of streaming sites, it has become surprisingly easy to watch pirated video online — a troubling development for entertainment executives and copyright lawyers. It has been said that illegal downloads and streams are now responsible for about 40 percent of the revenue the industry loses annually as a result of piracy [1].

Now, people do not even have to worry about having to download movies. Using a search engine, anyone can find free copies of movies, still in theaters, in a matter of minutes. A wave of streaming sites, which allow people to start watching video immediately, are making it easier than ever to watch free Hollywood content online [1]. This new trend is becoming to second nature to people, they no longer need to go to the theatre and pay $10 to see a film; rather, they can sit in the comfort of their own home and watch movies that have yet to air in theatres. Especially with how things are playing out with the economy…who would want to pay $10 for a movie these days?

 

So will there ever be an end to this digital piracy? ‘Many of these sites are located in countries with lackluster piracy enforcement efforts, like China, and are hard to monitor, so media companies do not have a clear sense of how much content is being stolen’ [1]. In other words, as long as new sites and technologies are being created, the more digital piracy will continue to prevail on the internet. Therefore, media companies need to start looking to new technologies and the mistakes that the music industry made if they want a chance in winning the battle against digital piracy.

 

Sources:

[1] Stetler, Brian. (2009). Digital pirates winning battle with studios. Retrieved on March 25, from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/business/media/05piracy.html?pagewanted=1

Too Sexy, Too Soon?

 

According to Family Circle magazine’s editor in chief, Linda Fears, young children are dressing and acting too sexy way too soon. The problem, she says, is that many kids think they have to be sexy to be popular or fit in with the right crowds. Fears also said ‘it’s not healthy for children to emulate stars before they figure out who they are as individuals’ [1].

 

Many believe that this problem only exists with young girls; however, this trend has also been seen in young boys. Today, young boys are sporting t-shirts with an arrow pointing up saying “The Man” and an arrow pointing down saying “The Legend”. This shows that this ‘too sexy, too soon’ phenomenon is affecting young boys as well as young girls.

 

So who is to blame for children trying to act too sexy, too soon? For one, marketers and advertisers are presenting images that saturate new media, like the internet, with the notion that sex sells. Children develop in their minds that if they want to be accepted or liked by people, they have to become “sexy”. As well, these images and videos that are posted all over the internet and television are contributing to young children believing that their identity is determined by their bodies. Therefore, new media and the market are targetting young people way too early on, leading to sexualization.

Pussycat Dolls

According to the American Psychological Association, sexualization “occurs when a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics, and when a person is sexually objectified” [2]. Today, this notion of sexualization is occuring more rapidly than ever. In the case of YouTube, a girl typically puts pictures of herself online to get attention and comments from others. However, some girls get so caught up in the Internet culture, ‘their own self-worth is measured by how their Internet ‘friends’ view their physical appearance’ [2].

Great Role Model for a Young Child

Although it is nice to believe that new media is going to recognize the problem of children becoming too sexy, too soon and begin to censor their programs and images, that is not reality. No one can deny that sex sells and will continue to do so; therefore, parents need to monitor what their children are watching and surfing online as well as educate their children on healthy body images, etc.

 

Sources:

[1] Johnson, Caitlin. A. (2006). Retrieved on March 24, from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/27/earlyshow/main2042360.shtml

[2] Noble, Bethany. (2007). Too young, too soon, too bad. Retrieved on March 24, from http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/2151

YouTube Made Me Famous

Chris Crocker

After posting a video of himself crying over ‘leaving Britney alone’, Chris Crocker became an instant star and a topic of conversation all over the world. YouTube has the power to create celebrities in a matter of minutes. There are people, like Chris Crocker, who have become famous for doing pretty much nothing, while others have earned their spotlight by showing off their talents in an original manner.

 

YouTube has become a breeding ground for all kinds of talented video makers; however, over the past 5 years or so there have been a select few of individuals that have become true celebrities from their YouTube videos. Before YouTube it used to be that if you wanted to be famous, you had to go out and find the right people to impress. You need to ‘connections’ or extreme talent. Not today! Now you can become famous in your own home by vide taping yourself and putting it on YouTube.

 

One of the latest examples of this YouTube celebrity is Shane Mercado. Shane video taped himself, in his bedroom, dancing to one of Beyonce’s new songs called ‘Single Ladies’. He taught himself the whole dance and many people argue that he did a better job than Beyonce. Shane is a man who still lives at home with his mom, but when his video was spotted by the Bonnie Hunt Show, they liked it so much they had him come on the show. His videos have now gotten millions of hits and he known all over the world.

 

 

Youtube has consistently proved itself as a great platform for aspiring artists, comedians, actors and anyone else to be noticed by its millions of users. With the creation of new technology, like YouTube, comes new opportunities. Today, hollywood has turned to YouTube for story lines and talented acts [1]. The time are changing, people no longer need to do auditions or seek out agents…simply put an original video up on YouTube and you will have a chance of becoming an instant star.

Sources:

[1] Hearld Tribune. (2009). YouTube close to video deal for pro-talent.

Want Privacy? Stay Away From Facebook

...just to name a few.

 

Social networks in Canada are a relatively new phenomenon; however, they have taken over the youth community. According to the Globe and Mail, ‘more than 750,000 kids between the ages of eight and twelve have set up a profile on the big social-networking sites’ [1]. Therefore, not only are these large social networks attracting adults but they are also grasping the attention of young children who do not know any better than to place all their personal information on an open internet site.

 

 So what is the government doing to try and protect these young children from the online world? The Commissioner’s Office of Canada ‘has set up a website tailored specifically for kids, aimed at informing them about privacy’ [2]. As well, the site has a section for parents which inform them of the risks that arise from placing personal information on social network sites, such as Facebook.

 

 

Jennifer Stoddart, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, says that the federal government is not taking this issue lightly and is putting pressure on these social network sites to continue to address the issue [1]. Answering to this pressure, Facebook and MySpace have tightened up their privacy settings to ‘give members tighter control over who has access to their information’ [1] as well, MySpace has gone as far as hiring a security company to monitor for sexual predators.

 

However, what concerns Jennifer Stoddart the most is what is being done with the information collected from children because according to study done in 2007, forty-one percent of children aged eight to seventeen who had a visible profile had them set so they were open and accessible to anyone. The study also indicated that younger adults and children were more likely to share personal and sensitive information, leaving oneself vulnerable to whomever is on the internet [2].

 

 

Since the federal government does not have the ability to regulate the internet it is up to these networks to enforce some form of policy on their own. Although the internet provides a world of free expression, as Dr. Strangelove has pointed out in various lectures, it is also a world where caution needs to be taken, especially young children and teenagers.

 

Sources:

[1] Hutton, D. (2008, September 15). Underage kids flock to social networks. Retrieved February 11, from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080915.wgtsocial16/BNStory/Technology/home

[2] Stoddart, J. (2008, February). Meeting of the two worlds: The legal and information technology (IT) universes. Retrieved February 12, from http://www.privcom.gc.ca/information/pub/leg_080421_e.asp

Texting Obsession

 

According to YourDictionary.com, text messaging is ‘a popular form of communication used by individuals having mobile telephones, it refers to the sending of short text messages from one mobile phone user to another using the SMS standard’ [2] and it is taking over our lives.

 

Teenagers and young adults these days are texting in the car, in class, during the movies, and even when they are in the middle of a conversation. In the United States, ‘more than 75 billion text messages are sent a month, and the most avid texters are 13 to 17, say researchers’ [1]. Teens with cellphones average ’2,272 text messages a month, compared to 203 calls’ [1] which indicates that teenagers no longer value voice contact or face-to-face contact.

 

There are obviously many advantages that go along with texting; for one, for families the text world can bring convenience as never before in arranging rides, doing errands, letting parents know of changing plans. However the disadvantages start with declines in spelling, word choice, and writing complexity. Some suggest too much texting is related to an inability to focus [1]. There are also concerns about texting while driving and text bullying. 

 

People are relying too much on texting to communicate, it is affecting personal relationships, grammar and safe driving. What happened to simple phone conversations or normal face-to-face contact? Perhaps we need to resort back to our old ways before cell phones took over our lives and we did not invent our own grammatically incorrect language.

 

Sources:

[1] The Seattle Times. (2009). OMG! Teens’ lives being taken over by texting. Retrieved on March 21, from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2008774199_texting23.html

[2] YourDictionary.com. (2009). Retrieved on March 21, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/hacker/text-messaging

The McDonald’s and Starbucks Phenomenon

The presence of Starbucks and McDonalds

 

While searching the internet to determine the kind of presence that companies such as McDonald’s and Starbucks have in today’s global economy, I came across an interesting map that breaks down exactly the kind of presence each has. http://www.princeton.edu/~ina/infographics/starbucks.html 

 

I also discoverd that ‘McDonald’s sales are almost four times that of rival Burger King while Starbucks opens three new stores every day’ [1]. Although this is not shocking to me it does seem alarming that there is such an extreme demand for the kind processed food that these kinds of restaurants offer.

 

It’s too bad for the public’s health that McDonald’s is expanding its line of unhealthful foods. Products like the Big Mac contribute in a major way to heart disease and stroke. ‘Obesity rates are soaring, yet McDonald’s has come up with yet another strategy for stuffing more calories and fat into our meals’ [2].

 

Now, Starbucks and McDonald’s are actually competing with one another for sales with the creation of McDonald’s new McCafes. However, Starbucks counter-acted with the creation of their new breakfast sandwich. It seems as though this battle will never end and that it is only a matter of time before they are both offering classy sit-down meals.

 

Sources:

[1] The Diet Blog. The McDonald’s and Starbucks Phenomenom. Retrieved on March 19, from http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2006/08/17/the_mcdonalds_and_starbucks_phenomenon.php

[2] Jacobson, Michael. (1996). McDonald’s Targets Americans’ Hearts. Retrieved on March 19, from http://www.cspinet.org/new/archd.html

The “Real” World

Reality Television — and more specifically, Lauren Conrad — is taking over the world! Reality television shows first burst onto the scene back in early 1990s when the television show Real World first premiere [1]. Even though that show started in the early 1990s, more reality shows did not really pop up until the late 1990s. Once Survivor came out and was a huge ratings hit, everyone started to jump on the bandwagon and produce shows about anything and everything. Perhaps the largest phenomenom in reality shows, to date, is The Hills and it’s spin-off counterpart The City. 

The Hills is an MTV reality show that documents the life of the reality queen, Lauren Conrad, in Los Angeles. This show has become so popular that Entertainment Weekly ranked it 82nd on a list of the 100 best shows in the last 25 years [2]. These reality shows are not original, but they continue to be popular because they ‘sensationalize issues that are important to the demographic’ [3]. However, shows like The Hills send the wrong messages to young people, touting the idea that they need to be beautiful and rich to be valued in our society.

Just another day at the office...

The content of these shows is nothing new or nothing, by any means, special; however, young people love them because they are obsessed with the subject matter. In one episode of The Hills, Lauren and her friends rent a private jet and head down to Las Vegas for the weekend where they stay in the pent house suites. For some twenty-something girls this may be ‘reality’ but for the majority of us, this is a fantasy world.

The success of these shows revolves around the simple fact that they allow young girls to get up close and personal with exclusive social circles and their posh lifestyles [3]. However, if these shows continue to take over television and young girls’ lives, we will soon be living in a world where shoes, purses, and cars will be our main concern. In other words, we will be very dumb.

Sources:

[1] Bias, Andrea. Reality TV shows are taking over television. (2009). Retrieved on March 17, from http://www.survivordvd.com/reality_tv_shows_taking_over_television_0.html

[2] Wikipedia. The Hills. Retrieved on March 17, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hills

[3] Mannino, Trina. Lifestyles of the rich and bratty. (2008). Retrieved on March 17, from http://www.michigandaily.com/content/2008-10-02/teen-girl-show-notebook