kaitlinsmst102blog-blog

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Men in Music?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmE9f-TEutc : Blood, Sweat and Tears-BTS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSW2M-BB1NE : Strip That Down - Liam Payne featuring Quavo

The media has proven to be an incredibly impactful source upon shaping identity. Whether it be influencers on social media or advertisements imposing products on certain kinds of people. Personal views on gender, sexuality, clothing style, music taste etc can become incredibly skewed due to social media specifically for millennials.  

I have chosen to tackle the representation of men in music videos with reference to sexual or masculine aspects of identity. The two music videos I have chosen are similar in terms of genre however from completely different cultures. The lyrics are also very similar both expressing sexual desire. The first is classified within the K-Pop genre named Blood, Sweat and Tears by BTS, a boy group from South Korea. The song was very popular at it’s time of release in 2016 racking up over 180 million views on Youtube. This boy group consists of seven members all of which partake in singing, rapping and dancing in the video. The music video I have chosen to compare against is Strip That Down by Liam Payne featuring Quavo released in America. It is also a very popular song released this year combining elements of pop, rap and dance beats and racking up over 140 million views on Youtube.

Immediately one very distinct difference that I notice coming from a western perspective is that in Blood, Sweat and Tears they are all wearing very heavy makeup and are wearing commonly assumed feminine clothing. This being shirts with plunging necklines and choker necklaces. However this cosmetic aspect is simply normal in terms of the K-Pop industry which differs from western music. Men wearing makeup is not common despite it becoming more accepting in society lately. In comparison to Strip that Down it is not obvious either singers are wearing makeup and are wearing simple jeans and jackets, nothing viewed unordinary for men in western standards. The way each male is represented in the two videos is also due to race as both are from very different cultures. Beauty standards from both countries are incredibly different which can be due to values set out in society therefore influencing how people are portrayed in the media. The way in which the men are portrayed in both music videos are to appeal to the given audience. In BTS case there are no female counterparts and the males are dancing provocatively in order to attract to the female audience. This type of sexual attraction is enhanced by the continuous camera close-ups at 0.55 and 2.29. However in Strip that Down the males appeal is enhanced by the female’s dancing provocatively on them. At 1.07 there is a recurring theme of the camera closeups in order to portray Liam Payne as a desirable figure however the difference is it is followed immediately by a female dancing which carries on throughout the video. I found this to be a very interesting aspect which makes it appealing to both females and males. However I found it would probably appeal to the male audience more seeing the artists as something to aspire to and the females as an object of desire.

Upon analyzing both of these music videos I found numerous differences which are mostly down to different cultures which therefore leads to different representations of the artist's identity. The assumptions I’ve made however are only due to my own values and perspective on gender and sexuality. If I were a male my assumptions may be completely different. This simply adds to the fact we all have different opinions and ideas of representations in the media.

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What’s really in our smartphones?

Technology has overrun society today being a tool that we can no longer live without. Whether it be owning the latest television, smart phone or having blue tooth speakers in your car. Technology nowadays comes with a range of different devices all containing specific parts unique to their build. It has become an increasingly competitive game especially surrounding companies such as Apple and Samsung to constantly release newer versions of their smart phones with innovative features. For example Apple released their latest device, Iphone 7 without a headphone jack. A simple feature that is so important however taking it out increased conversation surrounding the phone and also pushed customers to buy different tools in order to use headphones with the phone. The main goal is to profit as much as possible therefore releasing more tools such as headphones with charger capabilities means more income generated for the company. However the problem with this is how much is too much?

The mining and manufacturing of the materials within smartphones is creating havoc on our environment. Small minerals within our phones that allow the battery to run, the screen to touch and the hard casing are sourced from the ground around the world. For example at least 70 of the non-radioactive elements on the periodic table are found in our smartphones. There is becoming an increasing demand for these materials due to the large amount of smartphones being released each year. The extracting of these minerals from the ground means large mines being dug. Therefore in order to keep up with the heavy demand more mines are being dug, more minerals are being extracted and workers being employed. With more production means the profit of phones is enlarging. However workers remain being underpaid due to work being so plentiful in such cheap labour areas such as Chile, Indonesia and China. They’re also working in dangerous conditions surrounded by heavy machinery and mining materials which could be harmful to one’s health. Due to such terrible conditions surrounding the manufacturing of smart phones campaigns such as ‘Make it Better’ and initiatives are conducting researches in order to better address this issue. They work to create conversation surrounding issues such as these in order to better the knowledge of those who are unknown to our phones origins. An approach such as donating old technology that we may have lying around the house to companies that re-use certain parts is one step towards making the large amount of tech waste smaller. (TechRadar, 2015)

A society without smartphones is one personally I could not imagine. In terms of communicating, sharing and creating content smartphones have it all. The problem however is knowing the problems which come with this luxury. Upon continuously buying and disposing of new phones or computers we should become aware of where these products are going and where they came from. Prior to writing this I was oblivious to both the dangers that involved creating smartphones and also didn’t take a second to where my disposed of technology landed. This is exactly the problem that too many of us feed into and it needs to change.

Source: TechRadar (2015, August 4) Our Smartphone Addiction is costing the Earth.  Retrieved From: http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/our-smartphone-addiction-is-costing-the-earth-1299378/2

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Media Research

There are so many different forms of media that are used so diversely all over the world. These forms being radio, print, television and digital media. All of these catering to different audiences through the type of content they provide. The differences among the audiences can depend on age, gender, environment and a variety of other characteristics.

Over the course of four days, I along with a person very different from myself in terms of age and occupation partook in writing a media diary. I am a 19 year old female student and my research subject is a 43 year old male working full time as a carpenter. Upon the completion of this research I found the media we use is very different. The media that took up most of my time was placed in the other category which I classed as social media usage. I currently have a lot of spare time as it is a teacher’s recess. Therefore I spent my time watching Youtube or endlessly scrolling through Instagram. My participant however does not have any form of social media therefore the only application he uses on a smartphone is playing games classified in the other category. Another example of the differences is our TV usage. I personally do not have a TV however my participant expressed he watches television each day after coming home from work and on the weekend does the same. The only similarities I found was how little we used certain medias. Neither of us read a newspaper or went to the cinemas. My participant watches the news on TV whilst I read the news online and neither of us can afford nor can be bothered going to the cinema.

I believe the differences found over the four-day experiment is due to our age and occupation. I have a lot of free time therefore I can justify sitting down for hours simply scrolling through social media. He however works all day long and only watches TV in his spare time to relax. Due to his age bracket and personal preference he does not feel the need to obtain any social media accounts. He grew up without them and therefore they do not entertain him. I grew up on the internet and find it to be my main source of entertainment. I personally believe this pattern may be common across society. Young people are very observant on a variety of social media platforms whilst the older generation still find older forms of media such as TV and radio most dependent. However this is only an assumption which may differ around the world depending on internet access or population size etc.

All media content provided either on the internet or physically is to cater to the target audience. For example Facebook software picks up on your search history and provides advertisements which suit your searches. Thus meaning the platform is influencing the current audience in order to generate more views or sell more products. Television works the same way. Depending on the programme being viewed the advertisements shown will be suited to the audience watching that particular show. The purpose being to sell products the broadcasting company thinks that particular audience will like. Despite being targeted by companies we are vital to their existence. Without participating audiences like the participant and I media such as television and social media would not exist.

Kaitlin Stewart

(Research participant media diary)

(My personal research diary)

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Snapchat, Friend or Foe?

Upon surfing the ‘worldwide web’ there are many news articles, blog posts or stories that at first glance appear questionable. This can include bizarre titles or photoshopped images would can lead to misconceptions of what the content actually contains. This is referred to as ‘fake news’. Fake news is referred to as any news story that has no foundation of truth and simply advocates false statements in order to promote political propaganda or certain values or beliefs.

A website called Snopes.com digs out recent news stories from all over the world and researches whether or not they are factual or ‘fake news’. A story I found recently was titled, “Is Snapchat Building a Facial Recognition Database for the Feds?” The argument within this article is surrounding Snapchat, a widely used social media platform and it’s filter features. It is believed the facial recognition software within the app Snapchat has allowed law enforcement agencies to build their own database of our faces. This is a conspiracy theory very popular on the internet through laptop cameras or smartphones in which people can hack. However through fact checking it was immediately disproved that the law enforcement agencies could track one's face through Snapchat filters. Within the article Snopes.com added a quote from Snapchat, “Contrary to the claims of this frivolous lawsuit, we are very careful not to collect, store, or obtain any biometric information or identifiers about our community.”  By googling the title of this article alone 263,000 results came up about this particular theory, thus proving the popularity of the content within the article. Words that immediately strike the reader from the title is feds and snapchat. When the two are tied together in some form of conspiracy it immediately pulls the reader in. This is an example of ‘clickbait’. The title immediately draws the reader in however the title does not accurately represent what the article will contain. In this case the article being completely false information.

I personally believe this misinformation was created in order to bring attention to an already popular conspiracy theory. Many online users are already frightened at the idea of being monitored by private organisations over the phone, and now with the introduction of smart devices the fear is growing stronger. This article in particular is targeting an audience that would already recognise this theory and also use Snapchat, therefore allowing readers to connect the information to their own reality.

Kaitlin Stewart

http://www.snopes.com/snapchat-facial-recognition/