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CMNS 201 Assignment 4, Reflective Blog Post

Reflecting on the first blog post I posted after completing the course reading, yields some interesting points. Specifically, I chose to reflect on the perspective of the readings from Units 3, 5, and 8. Looking back at the blog post, I can see there are few areas that I left out, or at the time, did not know of. For example, in Unit 3 Sturken and Cartwright's chapter “Viewers make meaning”, they discuss appropriation, which is the act of an individual borrowing and altering a piece of cultural work. In my original post I did not mention any works that were appropriated, while I do know that from my time of browsing through Instagram, I have seen such works. An example of this would be memes. The memes would usually make use of an image from various movies or tv shows and would put text on top it that showed perhaps either a quote from the same source of media, or an altered version of the text. The reasons that these memes were created ranged from humorous points to making a statement in favor or against a certain topic. The unit did help further my understanding of something I hadn’t focused on at the time of my original blog post. Also, the reading from unit 5, Shade and Lithgow’s “Media ownership, public participation, and democracy in the Canadian mediascape” helped in furthering my knowledge regarding the influence directed by the media. In my original post I only briefly touched on how the media can show adds that are tailored towards specific individuals. However, after studying Shade and Lithgow’s paper, I can see the greater amount of influence media actually has. Using Instagram as an example, the algorithms that they use affects what content is promoted when people simply scroll through posts. In recent times to try and compete with the media platform Tik Tok, Instagram has begun to promote video-based contents more than photos. This change in priority has resulted in many accounts sharing their photos to instead sharing a video. In this example, one can see the amount of influence that a media platform has in influencing what type of contents are prioritized for a user. Next, in unit 8, the reading “Social Media, Commodification, and Surveillance” by Kenneth C. Werbin further expands on how much influence the media can have. The reading discusses how social media platforms most important asset to their companies is the data and information they can collect from their users. In my first blog post I did briefly touch on how adds are tailored towards the user, however the reading helped in expanding this concept.  The article goes into considerable detail explaining how a social media company will use information entered by a user to help target their adds. So, using the example of Instagram, the platform would gather as much information they can on you to give accurate adds that may be of interest to you. This is done by compiling information such as age, gender, posts you have liked, who you follow, and posts you have chosen to hide / not see. The company would then use the information gathered and will then select the advertisements you would receive. Social media platforms will go through great lengths to try and acquire as much data as they can on individuals so that their adds are as accurate as possible, so that someone will want to purchase the product shown. The reason behind this focus is that large amount of social media platforms’ revenue comes from selling advertisement space. Therefore, they want to try and ensure that the companies that purchase advertisement space are happy with the results so that they continue to do business with them. So reflecting back on my first blog post, keeping in mind the readings from unit 3, 5, and 8, it has helped me see details that I left out or did not know of, how my thought process has changed, and I’ve gained a deeper understanding of the material and concepts.

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CMNS 201 Assignment 1, Blog Post 5

After keeping track of my media usage for five days, I can see the idea of how the media I consumed interacts with the notion of Canadian-ness or national belonging. First off many of the flyers I’ve passed by or seen have usually been for local small businesses. Another effect it has had on is the music I hear from the radio. This is based on the fact that Canadian radio stations are required to play at least 35% of their music by Canadian bands. So as a result, many of the bands I have heard on the radio end up being Canadian. Furthermore, the different sponsored ads I have received on social media platforms, like Instagram, have typically been for local businesses within my area. These media interactions help develop a way of feeling more connected to both the area you live in and your country. Otherwise, it might be much more difficult for an individual to develop a sense of national belonging and to create a stronger connection with their country. Take the radio, something many people will use when they are driving. Without the requirement of Canadian radio stations having to play a minimum of 35% Canadian music, the amount of Canadian music they might have normally played might have been less. As music from your own country can help in creating a sense of national belonging, the requirement of Canadian music to be played on Canadian radio stations helps strengthen an individual’s sense of national belonging towards Canada. As such, in my recording of the amount of media I have consumed over the past few days has helped me further see that the media I interact with does actually contribute towards my sense of national belonging.

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CMNS 201 Assignment 1, Blog Post 4

After four days of keeping track of the media content I have consumed I am better able to see how I experience traditional media compared to new media. When looking at the traditional media I have consumed over the past four days, I noticed that a large portion of it was consumed passively. So this was mostly through various posters, billboards, or flyers that I might have passed by on a drive or while going for a walk, which I would have paid little attention to, and it would have been mostly something that I saw out of the corner of my eye.  Also I noticed that although this was also mostly true for the traditional media platform of a radio, I found that this form of traditional media was able to grab my attention more often compared to flyers, posters, or billboards. Meanwhile, the media content I consumed from new media, while at points were more subtle, they were typically more successful at getting my attention. So, for example when using Instagram, the social media platform would over time show posts that it thinks you would be interested in the discovery section. This also would translate into the sponsored ads you would see. Therefore, the advertisements you would see would be much more likely related to your interests compared to the random flyers you would get in your mailbox or billboards you drive by.  As a result, I would find myself looking at the ads that I would get on Instagram far more than I would from the flyers I would receive in the mailbox or billboards I would drive by. Therefore, I would conclude that new media is much more effective at being integrated into my daily life compared to traditional media as it has been able to be both subtle and more applicable to my interests than traditional media has been.

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CMNS 201 Assignment 1, Blog Post 3

After three days of tracking the amount of media I have used, I am further able to understand the role I take as an individual within the media audience. As such, I can see from the media I have used that the role I have within the media audience is that of a consumer. I am not 100% always a consumer of media, and the times that I am not are few and far. I may post occasionally on social media or write a review for a video game that I have played, but it is much less compared to individuals who are social media influencers or game journalists.  I largely consume the media that is related to my interests. For example, when it comes to video games, I will seek out pieces of media that either explain how to accomplish something within the game or look at reviews, rather than be the individual who produces the media. I have the same approach on Instagram.  Typically, I will like and save various posts that I find interesting rather than be the individual who posts them.  As a result of the role, I take within the media audience, I am also able to acquire more information on given topics to help generate a more clear understanding of the topic. While a consumer of media may not be very likely to greatly impact the type of media being shown, compared to influencers, their role does allow them the ability to take in more sources of media and attain a more concise understanding of a given topic.

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CMNS 201 Assignment 1, Blog Post 2

After keeping track of my media use for two days, I have noticed how various commercial interests have influenced my use and experience of media. I almost always dislike having advertisements pop up or interrupt what I am doing. This dislike for constant interruption has become more apparent as I look at the list of media items I have consumed for the past couple days. Most of the items of media I consume tend to be in an effort to avoid or minimize how much advertising I receive. For example, when it comes to watching TV shows or movies, I will typically watch them as copies I own, or from streaming platforms, so that they are not interrupted with ads. Because of the desire to avoid add interruptions, I try and avoid commercial interests in media.  For example, I have not watched any shows or movies on cable TV for quite a few years since they typically have 5 minutes worth of commercials for every 12 minutes of program.  Another example of commercial interest I have been selective of is the type of video games I prefer to play. I will typically play games that have to be purchased first in order to gain access to the game and be able to play the game. Many games on smartphones are free from Google play store or the App Store, but the catch typically is that they have many advertisements in the game that interrupt the game. Because of this interruption of advertisements typically in games on smartphones, I have stopped playing games on my smartphone and have primarily played games on my computer instead. Therefore, when looking over the list of media I have consumed, I can see that the various commercial interests present within the media have definitely impacted the choices I make when deciding on where and how I will use or experience a type of media.

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CMNS 201 Assignment 1, Blog Post 1

After keeping track of my media use for one day, some of the data I collected did reveal some interesting insights for myself.  Initially, I anticipated that the amount of media I consumed would have been relatively small, seeing as the main source of social media I use is Instagram, and even that I do not use very often. However, after examining the amount of media I used, I quickly noticed that I consumed more media than I initially had thought. I believe that this has been impacted by media convergence. When looking over the list of media items I used throughout the day, I noticed that the bulk of the usage has been through the use of my smartphone. This just illustrates how many forms of media have become readily available to many individuals. Whether it is receiving sales calls, browsing social media, watching videos on YouTube, or movies, it can all be done with the use of a smartphone. While it can be seen that this media convergence is great for many practical reasons, as it lets many individuals accomplish many tasks very easily with just one device, it has also allowed many forms of media to become much more integrated into one’s life. For example, if you receive a flyer in your mailbox advertising a product, you can simply get rid of the flyer and that should be the end of the advertisement. However, with the many sources of media that have been integrated into your cell phone, it is much more difficult to find these sources of media. For example, you can be scrolling through different posts on Instagram and see a sponsored ad, or an individual's post that shows nice landscape pictures of nature, but at the same see an advertisement about the camera they used for the pictures. While the convergence of media has made it very convenient for individuals to access many different things within their smartphones, computers, tablets, etc, it has also made it much more difficult to distance yourself from media and not be continuously submerged in it.