COMM 322 Grop Project PSA - 'Facebook activism'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_-CYD8aM2U&feature=youtu.be

Videogames could save the world? Cool!

I just read the article for tomorrow's class titled "Wii Shall Overcome" and I found it very interesting in a lot of different ways. I'll admit, when I saw the title and began reading it, I thought it might be a piece written by someone who had gone off their rocker, but I soon realized that her arguments actually made a lot of sense. While she had several big points throughout the article, the main thing that I got from it was her idea that the sense of accomplishment and empowerment that gamers get from beating actual games or individual levels in games can help people use their self-empowerment from gaming in the virtual world to get out and put their minds and bodies to work in the real world in order to achieve their goals and make a difference.
Overall I think that idea is pretty neat, and I think it actually has quite a bit of merit. I feel that while some kids (or adults) just play games without any life impact, I can definitely see that some people may be driven to do something or change something in their life in a dramatic way through the playing of different games. As for myself, personally I cannot say that playing a certain video game has had a drastic impact on my personal drive in life. That being said, I'm not the biggest gamer, so I know that that story is probably much different for others. I can say though that playing role-playing games such as Pokemon as a kid did help me learn to be patient and persevere when I lost, so there is definitely some merit to my gaming over the years.

Culture framing

I feel that in today’s world more than ever, our cultural awareness and knowledge is increasingly being put into a “framed” viewpoint or perspective. What I mean by this is that the way news, popular culture, and virtually every type of media in our current society is presented to us in a very processed and concentrated way. In other words, I think that what we are shown and told has already been stripped down and manipulated by what the “people in power” want us to know.

Personally, I think that public information, news, etc. is framed in every day of our lives. That’s not to say that framing is inherently bad; there are many things I am thankful I don’t know and am better off not knowing. That being said, there has to be a reason why certain information is presented to us in an “abridged” form, and although I have a few ideas as to why this may be, I’m not going to act all high and mighty and pretend like I know when I don't. What I can say about the societal impact of framing is that it definitely impacts how we live our lives, including simple day to day activities. An example of this might be a local news story about a possible shortage of bread in the town's groceries, and so people may run out and stock up on it heavily thinking that it is going to run out soon. However, the truth, obviously, is that there is a possibility, and there is no 100% proof that the shortage will really happen.

Our class discussion today was interesting because it touched on some different points about the concept of framing, though not all of them can relate to the previous example. However, the way framing was used in Matthew Shepard’s murder case just goes to show how much of an impact it can have on the public’s view of a big news story or something of the like.

Is a "Zombie" apocalypse possible?

Today in class I sat and wondered during Eric Watts' lecture, is a zombie apocalypse really possible? Truth be told, I could care less if the answer is yes, but I still pondered on it for a while and eventually lost track of what he was talking about due to my own thoughts. I don't really have a personal opinion on the matter, but that doesn't bother me; I figure if I don't care what the answer may be (if there even is one), then its much easier to analyze from an objective standpoint.
Over the past few years, I have heard more and more chatter about a zombie apocalypse possibly happening in the future, though personally I doubt anything like what is depicted in the mainstream media will happen. If a so-called "apocalypse" would happen, I think it would be much more sly and slick than a bunch of brainless undead humans walking around trying to eat other people. That would just be too easy to handle.
Personally, I don't believe in any of that bullsh*t. On a side note, in a sarcastic way, I think the zombie apocalypse is already happening with everyone under the age of 30 glued to their phone whenever and wherever they walk or do anything. Pretty soon kids will all be armed with an iphone or android when they're dropped off to their local preschool. Y'all need to get off your phones and look where you're walking.

Our relationship with our desired self

So I've seen quite a few posts about parasocial relationships with celebrities and whatnot, and it occurred to me that something interesting to write about is the parasocial relations that we each have with ourself. Thats right - ourself. We talked a month or two ago in class about having a parasocial relationship with someone who we have never met before in our life, yet we still feel an emotional connection to the specific person through viewing their movies, following them on twitter, etc. Here though, I want to take it out of that context and instead look inward.

We all have this odd relationship with ourselves, so don't try and act like you're the special person who doesn't. While it may seem like a weird and foreign concept, to me its clear as day. It all has to do with our every day to day activities and social interaction and the decisions we make in order to present our "best" self to the outside world. By this, I mean that we each envision our ideal self in our daily life, and each day we try to live out our day as that "ideal" self.

I'm not saying that everyone does this, but I'm sure a good majority of us do. It could range from being a very minute thing such as putting on the right pair of pants so as not to look out of place or "unkempt" to something such as trying hard to maintain composure at an upcoming business meeting regarding failing finances. I myself do this constantly, and sometimes I absolutely despise how much I care about what others may think, but on the other hand it has helped me in a few situations that may have taken a wrong turn had I made a different choice.

What are your guys' thoughts on the matter? I'm sure that I'm not the only one in the class that sometimes feels like I spend more time and energy striving to be some fabricated "ideal" self than I should. Personally, I think it has a lot to do with the structure and deep underlying mechanics of our society, but that's another topic for another day.

Social Media's Influence and Abundance

Many of our class discussions that have dealt with social media and its abundance and impact on our lives spurred me to decide what to write this blog about, and I realized just why analyzing something like social media's role in our lives is so interesting to me. I feel that there is an underlying reason as to why we use social media so much, and that it runs deeper than we may (or want to) admit.
It has to do with our society and our "hierarchy of needs", if you will. Our society has put such an emphasis on self-actualization, which is on the top tier of the "pyramid of needs", and thats fine; however, I feel that a growing portion of the younger crowd (mainly 30 and under), has started to put too much focus on presenting themselves as a type of quasi-celebrity among their friends. To put it simply, some people focus so much on their virtual lives and looking good online that their real life and the things that really matter are neglected.
The want to compare, impress, and outdo others around us is hardly a new phenomenon. It has been around since ancient times, and it will likely never fade away. I suppose maybe a little self comparison now and then in a more personal, introspective way can be healthy, at least to keep oneself motivated, but I'm pretty sure nowadays only a small percentage of people think little to nothing about it. I myself am a victim of self and peer comparison, and I hate it. Whenever I start thinking thoughts about comparing myself to those that surround me, I try and stop, but it can be quite difficult.
These social comparisons could be anything such as feeling inferior amongst your classmates for not owning a smartphone, or something more pronounced, such as being the only one of your friends that did not attend college after high school. Like one of the articles we read for class, heavy usage of things such as facebook, twitter, and instagram can foster loneliness and can, for some people, make them feel left out or neglected from activities their friends are doing.
On the flip side, some people may turn to facebook/twitter/etc. to make them feel more alive and socially "connected," therefore living vicariously through their friends' posts and whatnot. I know I touched on a lot of stuff in this, and its not all well-connected and fleshed out, but hopefully you get the jist of what I am trying to get across.