More Social Media

The online world can be a creepy and dangerous place. Comedian Jack Vale proved this with his social media prank/experiment where he searched on different social media sites like Twitter and Instagram for geo-tagged posts (showing the location) near him, got some information on the poster, went up to them out on the street and told them the information he had just learned about them. The result, as seen in the video, was a lot of freaked out people. It was funny because people were putting their information on the internet which is public- there is an option to not include your location- and they still thought that he was invading their privacy.

Even though the reactions of the people in the video can be funny, if you really think about it, It's actually pretty scary to know how easily a random stranger can find out so much about you using only the internet. Social media sites like Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram are great tools that allow us to search for and connect with people we know, but the thing that makes it so great unfortunately also make it pretty bad; people who we don't know can access our personal information too. Many people are putting too much in their online profiles unaware of the risks, and even with privacy settings, nothing is truly private on the internet. Social media is especially dangerous for teens; often times they tweet stuff or post photos that are sometimes inappropriate, just to catch people's attention. Putting these things out publicly allow easy access for dangerous people like stalkers and predators. This is why people should learn about the risks that come with social media and think twice when choosing what kind of information they want to share.

Stop and Frisk

This short documentary tells the story of an ordinary teen from Brooklyn named Kasiem. In the video, he shares his encounters with the New York Police Department and how he, his friends, family and neighbors have all been affected by the NYPD's stop and frisk policy. He describes the difficulty people have doing normal things like going out to the supermarket or  even going to a friend's house because of the fear of being harassed by the police.

The colour of a person's skin should not matter, but unfortunately, it still does. Statistics showed that in 2013,  approximately 8/10 New Yorkers stopped by the police were either black or Latino, and 9/10 were completely innocent (NYCLU). These statistics prove that the stop-and-frisk policy  does more bad than good and should therefore be stopped; This practice only leads to fear and lack of trust especially between communities of colour and the authority.

Kasiem's story and these statistics should serve as a wake up call to everyone; racism exists today and will exist for a very long time. It is present in our communities, our schools and even our homes.
But, in relation to the video, the racism and the discrimination that exists on a higher scale within the enforcement of policies and laws is the real problem as it is being disregarded and ignored.

There is no simple solution; but what people are able to do now is educate themselves, raise awareness, and then teach others. "No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin...people must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love"- Nelson Mandela

Twerking Youtube Video Hoax

On September 3rd 2013, a video titled "Worst Twerk Fail Ever- Girl Catches Fire!" was uploaded onto YouTube. The video shows a woman twerking and accidentally setting herself on fire. The video quickly gained millions of views on YouTube as well as attention from different media outlets everywhere. Many people found the video funny and some were even concerned, but as many also expected, it was revealed a week later that the video was hoax; it was announced by Jimmy Kimmel that he himself was behind the prank, and that the woman in the video was actually a stuntwoman.

Was the only purpose of Jimmy Kimmel's video to make people laugh? Or did Kimmel have another motive/ reason behind the video? Well, during his show when he revealed that it was indeed a hoax, he said that he didn't send the video to any news stations or websites, and that he only put it on YouTube and "let the magic happen". Aside from the obvious truth that the video showed about many people today (they will believe anything),  the video revealed the large impact and influence that the Internet- YouTube in particular- has on us, and it also revealed how powerful the internet can be, as the video started on YouTube yet made its way onto the news in only a few days. 

The most important thing however that I think should be concerning/ taken seriously -even though it was supposed to be funny- is the fact that this fake story was actually featured on major news stations (Fox, CNN, etc), and they treated it as real news; they didn't know that Kimmel's video was a hoax. It really makes you wonder how credible and reliable the information the news gives us; if they presented this fake story to us, what other fake stories are we getting from the news? And why is a twerking video even on the news in the first place, shouldn't we be learning about more important stuff? 

Post #3: Cyber Bullying Part 2

Using Social Media Wisely and Staying Safe

Social Media is a great tool for many purposes but can also be very dangerous. Here are some tips on staying safe online:

- Never share personal information
- DO NOT talk to strangers
- Don't be gullible( don't fall for everything you read or see online)
- Don't click on unknown links
- Don't let peer pressure/ whatever your friends are doing on a certain website make you    do something you are not comfortable with
- Never post offensive or abusive things/comments
- Keep your profiles private and only available to the people you want to see it

Post #3: Cyber Bullying- Amanda Todd Part 1

Amanda Todd was a young Canadian teen and victim of cyber-bullying who took her own life on October 10th, 2012. Amanda was blackmailed, bullied and physically/ verbally harassed to the point where she decided to commit suicide. Many people believe that she brought it upon herself and she doesn't deserve all the attention. Yes, she made mistakes, but everyone does, and no one deserves to be bullied to that extent. 

Her story is very tragic but what people need to realize is that this happens everywhere, everyday. Many people are bullied because of their race, appearance, sexuality etc. and a lot of them turn to suicide as a result. People die everyday and it seems no one takes it to heart unless it becomes big news. A lot of people are so caught up in Amanda's story that they forget about the others who are in the same position as she was while we can be helping them. 

I Believe Amanda Todd's death is a wake up call for change. It is also a lesson to children and teens to always be careful with what you do or say online, and that running from your problems will not solve them. My prayers are with her and her family, but also with the countless others who are bullied everyday.

Post #2: Our Perception of Beauty

The media has destroyed our perception of true beauty. The industry sets standards for beauty unrealistically high, which leads to many women and even children dissatisfied with themselves and with lower self esteem. 

The two videos on http://mwardmediaarts.blogspot.ca/ Post #2 are from a campaign by Dove that relate to media-influenced beauty. They both send out very powerful and important messages. The first video "evolution" shows the long process a model goes through before making it onto a billboard. first she must "enhance" the way she looks with make-up, but then alter the way she looks even more using a computer, changing things such as the placement of her eyes, eyebrows, mouth, neck, shoulders etc. This shows that being beautiful in the eyes of the media driven society and culture is virtually impossible. What Dove is trying to do is show women that they already are beautiful and that what the media portrays as beautiful is completely false. 

The second video "onslaught" show how women, especially young girls and teens lose their self confidence/self esteem and how their perception of beauty is so heavily influenced by the industry. The quick edits in the video and the onslaught of different images represent how women are constantly exposed and bombarded with advertisements that show fake, computer generated beauty.

What women see in the media influences their image of the "perfect" body, and  in the media they are portrayed falsely leading to many problems among women. 

Post #1: Society & the Media

It seems as almost anywhere we go, we are exposed to advertisements. Whether you're reading some newspapers, at home watching t.v, in the car on your way to school or work listening to the radio, or just walking down the street; you will most likely see an ad. They are everywhere, and they influence most of our decisions and behaviors without us even noticing. These advertisements are used to encourage or persuade a large audience to do something in different ways. The following advertisements do just that.

Absolute On Ice:
I think the message of this ad is presented very effectively with only an image and a few words. The ad shows the foot of a dead body with a tag saying "DOA" meaning dead on arrival. The foot and the blanket covering the body is cleverly arranged to look  like ice/ an iceberg, which is related to the Vodka brand, Absolut. The correlation between the ad and the brand of vodka is then easy to see and understand. They are trying to show how dangerous and deadly alcohol can be if consumed irresponsibly.

Utter Fool:
This ad pokes fun at the cigarette brand Kool, while at the same time delivers an important message.The ad says "utter fool" which describes the man on the right who is smoking. As you probably already know, smoking can cause many health issues. The main reason why people get into smoking is because they see other people doing it. This is very common because it seems the trend today is following the crowd. I think what adbusters is trying to say is how foolish it is to believe that smoking makes you "cool".

 I think this ad isn't as effective as it can be and can be taken in different ways. The people who are against smoking will remain against smoking, and the people who are already smokers will just forget about the ad, because once you get addicted to cigarettes, it's hard to quit. As for children and teens, they will still be confused what to believe because they are constantly faced with peer pressure and the pressure to be cool/ popular.

I Want You...:
The third ad replaces the famous Uncle Sam with a similar looking man who appears to be Santa Claus, but this isn't the same Santa Claus you see in the movies and in commercials. He is saying " I want you to spend a lot to prove you love your family". I think this ad isn't supposed to be taken literally, it's supposed to show that you don't have to spend money on unnecessary things to prove your love for your friends and family. This ad is both effective and not effective. Effective because it uses the famous Uncle Sam that many people will recognize, but not effective because it will confuse some people to think that they actually do have to buy more to prove their love for others.

After researching more work from Adbusters, i have come to the conclusion that they very effectively and creatively reach large audiences about the many problems in our world, and helps us realize how the media around us is affecting us in negative ways.



Examples of other ads urging people to stop doing something: