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Entry 4: Internet Regulation

I believe that the Canadian government should attempt to regulate the internet, and treat offensive and harmful messages online the same way they treat them in real life. The internet is massive, occupied by billions of people unaffected by distance and borders. When used responsibly it can do wonderful things, allowing communication between people in different cultures with different life experiences, and spreading important information rapidly and to large audiences. When used incorrectly, however, these advantages can be used to harm others, resulting in the mass spread of false and offensive information, the formation of dangerous alt right internet communities, and inappropriate content posted anonymously.

Numerous tragedies, such as mass school shootings and Toronto’s van attack, were made possible by the internet. Violent groups such as the incel community are well known for radicalizing young men, and encouraging them to commit atrocities. In many instances, those planning to engage in acts of violence will post about it beforehand. This means that monitoring dangerous groups directly saves lives, and if handled expertly may even be able to prevent the radicalization of these individuals in the first place. Every system set in place to protect citizens — police, security cameras — comes at the cost of allowing yourself to be a little more monitored, losing a little bit of your freedom. These systems are still in place because the pros outweigh the cons, and in my opinion the possibility to save numerous lives is well worth a bit of internet surveillance.

The thing is, the restrictions applied on the internet in Canada would be the same as those in our regular freedom of expression laws, restricting only extremes such as child pornography, hate speech, and defamation. Quite reasonable, and no different from what Canadians are used to in real life. Some of the anonymity the internet allows might be lost, but considering people often use it as a weapon to attack others is that really so much of a problem? Turning the internet into a safer space is undoubtedly worth it.

The real difficulty of monitoring the internet is the question of how. How can an individual government with its own laws possibly monitor its citizens on a massive community that ignores country borders and operates with a high degree of anonymity? The answer is that we can’t, it’s quite impossible. Ideally an unbiased party separate from the government would do this monitoring, to prevent the government from exploiting the power according to their needs and biases. They would not stand a chance of regulating everything potentially dangerous or illegal, but that doesn’t mean we as a country shouldn’t try, as even a small difference results in meaningful improvements.

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Media Entry 8: Working in New Media

This portfolio is unlike any assignment I have done in the past. At this point, I’ve been writing essays for several years, and feel extremely comfortable in the format. The looser writing style of Tumblr combined with the open ended assignment descriptions had me panicking a little, as this uncharted territory made me feel unsure of how to approach the portfolio entries.

Prior to this assignment, I had never used Tumblr before. There was certainly a steep learning curve in the beginning, but much to my relief the medium turned out to be extremely user friendly. Tumblr’s ability to link articles, photos, and videos to posts made my life far easier, and will make things quicker and clearer for readers of my blog. In this way, Tumblr is better than pen and paper.

On the other hand, writing on a computer made it more difficult for me to focus on my work. I am fortunate in that Tumblr is meaningless to me, and thus it could not distract me, but the very act of being in front of a screen with an internet connection made it easier and more tempting to goof off. The short entry format of this assignment, ideally suited for a blog, makes me feel like I skirted out of any deep thinking. While I covered more topics using Tumblr, I did not put in the same amount of brainwork I’d put into an essay.

All in all, I am really glad that I did this assignment. Unlike most teenagers, I am not particularly tech savvy, so this blog had me worried. Despite all the panic it caused me, creating the portfolio forced me to learn skills necessary for life, such as navigating Tumblr and blogs, managing my time with a bunch of little assignments, and staying focused while working on social media. Some of these things I picked up quickly, and some of them I learned the hard way, but regardless these skills will stick with me for the rest of my life.

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Entry 3: Analyzing Media Representations

Makeup advertisements are impossible to escape. And with an increase of new media usage leading to an increase in advertisement exposure, it becomes all the more clear just how alike makeup ads are, all featuring thin, white women who are young, cis, and lack any visible disabilities. For examples of these sorts of commercials, look at the MAC and Covergirl advertisements I have included above.

These advertisements are problematic for a number of reasons. They lack any sort of diversity, guaranteeing that they do not accurately represent their audience. By representing only a small percentage of potential buyers, the ads do not appeal to the majority of their viewers, and as a result makeup companies end up negatively impacting their sales by alienating large populations who cannot relate to their models.

In recent years, companies have attempted to add a small amount of diversity to their ads, usually through a token minority method — including one person of colour in advertisements, for example, or a single man. Though this is a step in the right direction, the diversity in these ads is limited and still outright ignores several large communities, such as disabled communities. It is also important to note that token diversity models will rarely differ from the aforementioned typical model profile in more than one way, once again ensuring that a large portion of potential buyers will be unrepresented and subsequently alienated.

This lack of representation creates further problems too. The whitewashing in makeup advertisements has lead to disproportionately few foundation options for those with darker skin, and the lack of male representation in these commercials reinforces the stigma around men wearing makeup, which ultimately leads to less makeup being sold. And once again it becomes clear that diversity in advertising is advantageous to companies.

In our changing political climate, it seems some companies have finally realized it is time to change their approach to advertising. Numerous ads have been created of late that challenge the existing hegemony. Dove’s upcoming #IAmRealBeauty campaign is one of such advertisements, focusing on Malaysian women of all body shapes, skin colours, and ability levels. Dove has framed their campaign as follows (link above):

“Right now, if Malaysia had a profile picture it would look like this: Slim figure. Fair skin. Black hair – straight, of course. The accepted standard of beauty in our country is incredibly narrow – with over 800 islands, over 100 ethnicities, and millions of women, we want to celebrate all the unique and diverse ways there are to be beautiful. Join our campaign and together we can capture Malaysia in all its rich, incredible diversity. Every skin tone. Every hair type. Every age.”

This campaign may not be perfect, but it demonstrates the massive leaps forwards the makeup industry is taking at present. With ads like this becoming the norm, we are well on our way to establishing new and improved ideologies surrounding makeup, ones that represent all people.

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Entry 7: What Do You Meme?

The still for this meme is taken out of the 2018 film Bird Box, a mediocre yet very popular horror movie on Netflix. The humour for all variations on this meme centres around the blindfold, which illustrates that the woman, who or whatever she is labelled to be, is deliberately ignoring a pressing issue. This meme is fairly common, and most teenagers and younger adults are quite familiar with it.

This particular variation on the Bird Box blindfold meme is targeted towards young, left wing Canadians. It calls out the common tendency of white Canadians to view Canada as a perfect utopia, no matter the evidence disproving their belief. It can also be viewed as calling out the federal government, as the woman is labelled simply as “Canada,” and memes criticizing Justin Trudeau’s poor treatment of Indigenous peoples are common among this community. The meme uses dark humour to make a political statement about Canada’s unwillingness to acknowledge the injustices, both past and present, that it has subjected Indigenous peoples to, because acknowledging our problems would mean letting go of the image we have built up, of Canada as a diverse and nondiscriminatory country.

The meme points out that Canada likes to pat itself on the back for being supposedly better than the U.S. (not much of an achievement, we must admit), and will ignore anything to continue to be able to do so. Though its message about the country’s treatment of Indigenous peoples is accurate and clever, it fails to acknowledge the extensive racism shown towards non-Indigenous people of colour in Canada. Though this may be less prevalent in our country, it still exists and must be dealt with, and the tendency to dismiss Canada’s problems simply because the US is worse is extremely problematic and must be stopped.

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Entry 6: Exploring Genre

This trailer, for season six of the popular detective comedy show Brooklyn Nine-Nine, is a prime example of a genre subversion. The text parodies action movies, specifically Die Hard, employing the genre’s main staples to such an exaggerated extent that it becomes comedic. In order to fully appreciate this trailer, the viewer must possess a prior knowledge of both Die Hard and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (knowing, for example, that the former is Brooklyn Nine-Nine protagonist Jake Peralta’s favourite movie, and that both texts star NYPD detectives).

This text utilizes classic components of the Die Hard movie genre (which I’d argue is a genre unto itself, branching off from general action movies). The urban rooftop setting, helicopters with searchlights, and Jake’s dirty white tank top all instantly establish that the trailer is referencing Die Hard, and audiences who know Brooklyn Nine-Nine immediately expect that the video will be humorous.

As the trailer progresses, its structure makes it clearer and clearer that the text is a parody. It achieves this primarily by exaggerating and calling out the Die Hard genre components it employs. For example, Jake’s yell of “Slo-mo!” as he jumps off the roof to a swell of epic music, explosion behind him (0:40), or his superior and colleagues’ over the top praise of his abilities (0:49). The video calls out the lone masculine hero trope by having Jake stay behind and save the day when “there aren’t enough ropes” for him to get to safety. It also plays with the fawning female cliche of the genre, except Brooklyn Nine-Nine shows characters of all genders swooning over their protagonist, not just women. Since the television show is modern and known for being relatively progressive, this slight change to the genre theme is not surprising.

In the final section of the trailer, the Die Hard scene is revealed to be a childish daydream of Jake’s, who is acting out the scene with toys. Jake’s over the top childish behavior shows definitively that the entire video is a joke, and that its use of Die Hard iconography, structure, and themes was tongue and cheek. By employing these cliches ironically, Brooklyn Nine-Nine points out that the drama in the Die Hard genre is over the top, and critiques its dated lone masculine hero trope.

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Entry 5: Digital Media as a Force for Good?

Rally for Our Future: campaign protesting Ford’s education cuts.

This campaign aims to spread awareness about the details and impact of Ford’s education cuts, and increase political engagement and activism among youth. It will explain the negative effect the cuts will have on students, including:

Increased class sizes

Reduced course selection, including the sciences and arts

Cuts to special education programs

Increased barriers to education caused by mandatory online classes

Massive layoffs of teachers and education assistants

Rally for Our Future targets students and parents, inspiring them to take political action with the knowledge that the cuts will directly affect students’ futures. It will encourage the public to attend rallies and walkouts, sign petitions, and contact their political representatives through letters, emails, and phone calls. Rally for Our Future’s digital presence will include a website, email, and social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Website:

This is where the public can find in depth information explaining the legislation and its impact. The website will encourage readers to take action, containing links to a petition (which can also be shared on social media), chances to subscribe for email updates, listed dates of various rallies and walkouts, and the contact information for MPPs, the Minister of Education, and the Premier’s Office. The campaign’s graphics will be available for download on the website, so that the public can print their own posters and make use of the logo digitally.

Email:

The public can subscribe for regular email updates, and will automatically be added to the campaign’s email list upon signing our petition. Email updates will go out once every few days, always containing links to our website, petition, and a “share on social media” option. These regular and seemingly personalized updates increase awareness and are statistically proven to encourage activism.

Social Media:

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter will be used primarily to spread awareness to massive numbers of people, and as such the main goal of all our accounts is trending. We will encourage the public to share our posts and use hashtags such as #nocutstooureducation, #cutshurtkids, and #rallyforourfuture. In depth information will not be shared on social media, instead our posts will contain little writing and many links to relevant news articles, our website, and the petition.

Digital media platforms like these are good at spreading information to a wide audience (allowing us to get a large number of signatures on our petition), and are especially effective at engaging youth (hence why so many student led movements spread on social media recently). They are also easily accessible for most people. Disadvantages include the tendency towards click activism — only sharing posts and not engaging in meaningful political protest, difficulty getting a deeper dialogue on social media, and the inability to control conversations once you’ve initiated them. Since it is so easy to stay anonymous on the Internet trolls can become a serious problem, and misleading or false information can be spread, both in support of and against you.

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Entry 2: Assessing McLuhan

7. “All media exist to invent our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values.”

8. “We shape our tools and afterwards, our tools shape us.”

These probes remain frightfully relevant when applied to modern media. Since the human brain enjoys flitting from exciting topic to exciting topic, most media is designed to provide a constant stream of enticing information, the majority of which is only looked at briefly. Look at Twitter, a medium designed with a strict character limit. It is impossible to delve into a subject when relegated to 280 characters, meaning no reader is required to put effort into deep thinking. Interesting, then, that Twitter has become such a hub for political news. But with new scandals every day and no time to dwell on past headlines, don’t haven’t modern politics evolved to function in the same way?

When the primary goal of media becomes to grab attention as quickly as possible, the truth gets warped. Take article titles, often overblown and out of context, or the ridiculous political claims made on social media. Fact checking takes time and effort, and you’ll get far more attention if you just repost. This mindset does not exist exclusively online, it seeps into real-world interactions as well, such as our aforementioned political situation. Social media has changed the way we perceive the world, and the world has changed to accommodate these perceptions.

Modern media has the remarkable ability to connect people from all parts of the world. We are no longer required to make friends exclusively with classmates or coworkers or neighbours, individuals whose opinions may vary from our own, and can instead turn to the vast selection of people the internet offers, befriending exclusively like-minded people online. Not only does this mean we lose our ability to compromise and converse with those who have differing opinions, it creates echo chambers, entire online communities filled with individuals who think alike, and are constantly having their opinions reaffirmed by everyone around them. This has the effect of radicalizing media users, and is another instance of tools we shape, for example the incel areas of 4chan, ultimately shaping us, radicalizing us further. Extreme right wing instances of this phenomenon may be the scariest, but this happens to the left as well, on social media like Tumblr. This is not relegated to social media either: a person’s choice of newspaper, be it the Toronto Sun or Star, reveals much about their political leanings.

Perceptions are warped in more subtle, less obviously dangerous ways too. If you think about it, everything posted on Instagram main accounts is artificial to some degree. Filters, angles, caption word choice, not to mention people’s tendencies to only include the interesting parts of their lives. On main accounts, all of a teenager’s friends come off as attractive and witty, and seem like they have their lives together. It can seriously damage a person’s confidence and self-esteem. It is no wonder, therefore, that so many young people have mental health issues nowadays. And when you switch to spam accounts, you see these issues quite clearly. On spam accounts, teens show just how messed up they are. They rant, recount their failures, and post unflattering pictures. It is easy to assume that a spam account, unlike a main, is an unwarped version of reality. I believe it is warped, however, simply in the opposite direction. Teenagers post self deprecating content, and their followers listen and even occasionally like their posts. It is well known at this point that attention and likes online have an effect on the human brain, and this effect encourages people to post more on their spam, to publicly hate themselves more frequently and viciously. And the more a person posts self-hateful content, the more it sticks with them, increasing their hatred of themselves. Yet another instance of technology we shaped, shaping us.

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I often forget just how frequently I use new media until I stop to analyze my consumption. When used intermittently and for brief periods throughout the day, it is easy for me to underestimate the time I spend using media, as well as just how much I rely on it. My dependency on new media is most noticeable on those rare days when I forget my phone at home, and spend the entire school day in a slight panic as my friends complain about my not responding to their texts. Media directly affects how I run my life.

I think my estimation of 31 hours of media usage in a week (about 4.5 per day) is about average for teenagers, though the distribution of this time may be slightly abnormal. Unlike most teenagers, I am active on only one social media platform: Instagram, and though I use it heavily it cannot compare to the time most teens spend on all of their social media accounts combined. My lower use of social media, however, is made up for by the ludicrous amount of time I spend texting. I use iMessanger as my primary communication vehicle outside of school hours, and sometimes believe I spend more time texting than I do talking to my friends and family. One month I sent 8009 text messages to Tara alone.

As time has gone on, I have used these media more and more, and fully expect this trend to continue. The world has become more and more reliant on media as it has developed, and younger generations are making it more prevalent in social and work environments alike. For this reason, I expect that I will use new media even more in the future than I do now, and expect the rest of the world will do the same.

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Is this thing on?

Testing testing 1 2 3.