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Remaining Anonymous

It’s understandable why the idea of anonymity  appeals to people. You can say whatever, to who ever and not have to deal with the consequences directly. I personally never knew about 4 Chan before this class, and I realize it’s probably not for me. But the concept is very interesting. Basically a nameless and faceless online free for all, where trolls can live freely and happily. There are parts of twitter and Instagram where some of the 4Chan tactics or habits spill over. Meme sharing and creating has become a common practice in social media as well s trolling, of course. But on these social media outlets, people just create fake profiles, using a fake name and a stolen profile picture. Sometimes they don’t even do that & on twitter they’ll just leave the default egg! While Moot thinks people should have a place to speak their mind and discuss certain issues, sometimes it can be seen as cowardice. Hiding behind a computer rather than just saying what you want to someone’s “face”. 

Either way, even though I’m late on learning about this social media outlet, I think 4Chan is interesting, and has an interesting concept.

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Week 11

Want to spread your cause or invite millions of strangers to an event? Use social media, duhh. While I’m sure most people (at least now a days) don’t use social media to announce riots or fights, they do use it for social causes. My first encounter was a few years ago, I saw a tweet advertising the Trayvon Martin Rally that was to be held in Union Square in NYC. I was working in Midtown at the time so I joined in. A few of my friends coincidentally did the same.  Even events with worthy causes can go wrong because social media sends an open invitation. Trolls can show up and turn these peaceful events into riots. And unfortunately because police are always monitoring social media & show up to patrol these events they do sometimes end up being riot like. See the Protests turned riots in Ferguson.

Regardless, social media is an amazing tool and outlet to spread awareness and invite people to participate in your causes.

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Stans

It’s safe to say Lady Gaga started the fan identification/community trend with the creating of her “Little Monsters”. It was a cute way for her to connect with her fans and create a space for them to interact. Gaga who prides herself on being the “odd woman out” & being the voice for the misunderstood has attracted followers and fans who connect with her and feel similar.

Soon after Gaga’s Little Monsters came about, Beyonce’s fans created The Beyhive ( a play on her name and her unofficial “mascot” the bee) and Rihanna followed with  The (Rihanna) Navy. The Navy started after Rihanna starred in that movie where she played an officer on a Battleship. Most people call members of these para social groups “Stans”. The term “stan” originates from Eminem’s 1999 song of the same title about an overly obsessed fan. While the term is meant in a good way, the Stan in Eminem’s song ended up killing himself :-/. But these fans as mentioned in the Click reading feel that they are one step closer to their idols, and feel a closeness to them because they engage and interact within the communities. To touch back on a past reading, I think celebrities use these para social groups as another way to give backstage access their fans.

As mentioned before, The Little Monsters are all about equality and just being proud of who you are. But the Beyhive and Navy mainly composed of straight up Stans who just are in love with the artists. One thing you can say about both groups is that they’ve formed a bond amongst each other and have a strong allegiance to their idols. A warning to anyone who doesn’t like Beyonce or Rihanna, be careful what you say and watch your back because these Stans will attack! No on is safe, celebrity or not!

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Week 9

As a former mass transit commuter I understand the need to use that subway or NJ Transit ride home as a time to unwind from the days activities. Some people have their faces in a book or kindle, others have on headphones, and some are on their phones playing games. When i was a commuter the popular games were Temple Run & Angry Birds. Both fairly easy, not too time consuming, Over the past two years with the advent of Facebook Games, these games have been taken to the next level. The games Candy Crush and Farmville took over, and had everyone (mainly older adult women) going crazy. Rather than being a fun release these games had people texting and Facebook messaging people, asking for another life. Or even worse, paying for them. Whether it was needing a new life to crush candy or buying new crops for your farm, these games became more a second job for some people. Created as a “world to escape to after coming home from work” (Yee, 7), they actual have given some people  a second job.

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Sh*t _____ Say

Social Media, especially “Black Twitter” specializes in parody. Whenever something happens in the media there is almost always someone creating a Vine video or meme at it’s expense. There also has been a flux of gender mocking videos on YouTube and now Instagram. All in good fun, men dress up as women usually wearing a wig and a few women's accessories, but keeping their facial hair visible to make the videos even funnier. They demonstrate how women act in certain situations. I first noticed these video a year or two ago when the “shit ______ say” YouTube videos were popular. "Shit Black Girls Say” by YouTube comedian Billy Sorrel was one of the first videos I saw.

This video is composed of a series of phrases and things that Billy says Black women say and do. Not all of his videos are gender parody but his videos like this one is what got some more YouTube attention and fame,The Performing Gender on YouTube reading spoke about Jenna Marbles using parody to make fun of men and women, they both serve the same purpose.

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Week 8

As someone who has been working in marketing and branding for the past 3 years, I completely agree with Marianne Martens when she said we live in a branding culture. Branding has become a lifestyle, is everything is being branded one way or another. For example, in the latest NY Times Best Seller turned movie, Fifty Shades of Grey was filled with branding within the book and movie. Christian Grey was a millionare who flaunted his money an material items, so there was no shortage of branding throughout the series. He drove an Audi and bought his girlfriend one, he also used Apple products and Blackberry phones.

While the reading focused on teens being the target of this branding,  the concept is all the same in this movie. The same goes for most movies and TV shows, brands are advertised and product placement is used. Usually is pretty obvious, but there are some times when directors are able to sneak it in.

A red Audi may not be as accesible to a 20 year old, but using only Apple products is.

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Tale of Two Twitters

It never occurred to me just how segregated social media was until recently, especially twitter. I always saw all social media as just space for connecting, sharing and socializing. I have always been aware of topics trending in different parts of the country, but I just assumed that was a geographical thing. It wasn’t until the past 2 years or so that I’ve noticed a “Black Twitter” and “White Twitter”. They are seriously two different realms, topics are usually different, and there’s a whole different set of hashtags being used. Black twitter being a place where various cultural topics come up, television shows are watched and live tweeted with comedic commentary, and social issues are discussed.  Live tweeting amongst the separate groups are totally different. For example, last night’s episode of Scandal mirrored real life and focused on the race and police brutality. Very similar to the recent Mike Brown case in Ferguson Missouri, a young man was murdered by a white cop, and his Father wanted justice. During the episode I saw tweets like this on Black twitter:

And repsonses like this on White Twitter:

On a lighter note, Blacktags like #youknowyoublackwhen are used as a form ofentertainment, not to be taken seriously, almost like cultural comedy. Slang terms are born and laid to rest on twitter, I learned one of the newest terms from black twitter “on fleek”, meaning really good. The word was hashtagged or was such a popular blacktag, that it caught on and was used in mainstream advertising. I think it was great advertising and hilarious.

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#BlackGirlsRock

A few years ago BET created a program that focuses on the beauty and accomplishments of women of color. Black Girls Rock has an award show format where Black women in the entertainment industry, politics and everyday women who are impacting their community are honored. When this show aired it was the first time I’d encountered or remembered seeing #hashtag feminism. And it honestly wasn’t until reading this reading Dixon’s piece that I was aware of what it was actually called. I also wasn’t aware that it was such a large movement.

 Leading up to it and during the program BET urged women of color to tweet using the hashtag #BlackGirlsRock to share why they rock and what makes them great. This formed a community of not only viewers of the program, but of women of color on social media. This community focuses on praising and uplifting Black women.  Even though this can be considered intersectional feminism, it’s needed. In a time where race plays such a major role in the media and affects the medias standard of beauty it was a great hashtag feminism tool created by BET. Not only to promote the show and be a great way to use social media as an interactive tool, but to start a movement. Black Girls Rock is also a non-profit organization geared towards promoting and uplifting young Black girls. And just like any other hashtag feminism movement they had to deal with trolling and backlash by other feminist groups and different races. This hashag gives women all over the world access to this movement allows them to participate privately or publicly.

I think this is great example of hashtag feminism that still is being used today, and most likely will continue to be used as a reference point and digital community for women of color.

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Week 5

For some people, existing online is just easier. Whether itbe having a bolder voice on twitter when it comes to social issues, being active on Facebook or even meeting and dating people. As we went over last week in class, some people are able to create online personas that give them more confidence. And it’s especially true now, in 2015 online dating is just another way to meet people. It’s not longer thought of as taboo, or something to be ashamed of. And almost going hand in hand with that is intimacy. People use technology/social media to have sexual or intimate relationships.  It’s like they can engage in these intimate relationships or sexual acts minus the all the emotions.

 The same people that hold romantic and sexual relationships that stay online are the same ones that might be incapable to hold one in “real life”. They might be socially awkward, shy, insecure or whatever, so they never would have the confidence to approach their crush in real life. But online is a whole other ballgame.  This brings me to “catfishing”, majority of people who catfish have self esteem issues. They use photos of people that they deem as attractive enough to bait unsuspecting people in. They flirt, sext, and chat with people but never quite make it to real life. And as sad as it sounds- this is fun for them. Just as the Clark reading mentioned these relationships are employed for fun and self-gratification. But most teens and socially awkward people don’t see any problem with these relationships. Chatrooms, special and interest dating groups have been around for years and I’m sure they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Beside, we now have Tinder and who wouldn't want to meet their soulmate using that app?

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Week 4

The term friendship has a whole new meaning in 2015. Of course we still have our old friends that we’ve known since grade school (pre social media), but we also have hundreds of friends we’ve acquired through the click of a button. One way or another we’ve stumbled upon a strangers Facebook page and whether it be their profile pictures or About Me section, we felt compelled to request to be their friend. This has taken place of meeting someone in the library; a bar or a coffee shop and walking up to introduce ourselves. Rather than making friends the “traditional” and natural way, we rely on social media to assist us in meeting new people. Not to bash Facebook, because it is a great way to stay in contact with those pre social media friends we’ve lost contact with or friends in different states. But Facebook users tend to focus on racking up the number of Facebook friends we have, rather than genuinely getting to know people. We brag to others about all the friend requests we’ve collected because it makes it seem and feel popular and we feel important be we have 218 people who are vying to be our "friend".

Facebook and other social networks have taken the sincerity out of making friends and cultivating lasting relationships. Just as quickly as we can make these friends, we can banish them from our lives with another click of a button. Again, social media is an awesome outlet that can help us connect and re connect with people, but I think there should be just as much focus on the friendships that are in front of us, in real life.

Or seriously start getting to know the 745 people who have been wishing us a happy birthday on our Facebook walls for the past 11 years.

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Beyonce joins the rest of the World on Social Media

One of our generation’s greatest and most idolized entertainersis an extremely private person. So the day she announced that she was joiningTumblr her fan base and the Internet went crazy. Beyonce is amazing at everything she does, but some may argue she lacks one thing; authenticity.  Prior to her becoming active on social media, we knew very little about her private life. There were no messy haired selfies at home, or random thoughts being shared, everything came from an official media outlet. And on top of that Beyonce always seemed “perfect” and camera- ready.

 Beyonce joined tumblr shortly after her daughter was born and shared candid photos of her family on vacation, her in the studio and preparing for her tours. Soon  after joining tumblr she officially joined Instagram. Since then she’s posted sefies, many literal backstage photos of her rehearsing, pictures of her and Jay Z on dates in NYC and even reposted videos where fans recreated some of her dance moves. Beyonce isn’t on twitter, but Marwick and Boyd’s article still is relevant when talking about Instagram. Her fans feel more of a connection now, we see photos of her without make up, wearing sweats and having a glass of wine. She also posts photos of her daughter just like any other proud parent. She also went as far as to release a "surprise" album in December of 2013, there was no promo or singles, she posted the tracklisting on Instagram with the caption "Surprise". Not only did she create a frezny on Instagram and itunes, but she also made the fans feel like she personally announced it right to them.

There’s no telling if she herself is posting these photos or if it’s a performed intimacy done by her assistant. We don’t know if she’s posting because she wants to or because she knows it’s better for her brand and as a way to shut the critics up. You also can't help to think that it may be performed intimacy because she has 25.7million Instagram followers, and follows 0 people. Nonetheless way she’s giving the world a closer look, and a “backstage pass” into her world. Instagram and tumblr have allowed her to seem more human and authentic, rather than just the mega force that is Beyonce, aka Beysus.

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Week #2

Have you ever noticed when you go out, whether it’s to a baror a club everyone is on his or her phones? And when they’re not staring attheir screen they’re trying to take the “perfect selfie”. I’ve seen people (and have been guilty of this in the past) spend over an hour trying to set up the scene so it looks like they’re having the most amazing time in their overpriced VIP section, drinking champagne and dancing.  Or have you ever noticed a couple having what could be an intimate dinner for two, but instead they both have their faces in their phones. Almost completely avoiding actual conversation. And the only time they put their phones away is when their food arrives, but only after they’ve taken their #foodporn photos. Social media is an awesome way to connect with people we haven’t seen in a while or meet new people. But it can cause a real life disconnect. Instead of enjoying the party we’d rather take selfies and videos of every moment. Rather than hold a face-to-face conversation over a meal we’d rather tweet our followers about our what we’re eating. There’s almost no such thing as living in the moment, everyone just wants to document it.

 In the Spectacle 2.0 reading we learned that “the fundamental idea of the situationists is that people in modern societies have become passive spectators removed from enjoying authentic experiences.” We’re so focused on providing others with content documenting our every move that we fail to fully enjoy and take in the activity. Instead of trying to make it look like we’ve having a great time, why not just have a great time? I, just like most millennials am guilty of this sometimes, but I have been making a conscious effort to put the phone down and step away from social media a bit. And it wouldn’t hurt everyone else to try the same, I’m sure so many of us can relate to a few of these 21 Signs You Spend too much time on Your Phone.  

In the end, we all should try to focus less on creating our curated selves, and focus on enjoying ourselves, in real time.

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A short intro

Hi, my name is Canon, I am a super senior in thee truest form. To make a long story short- I technically walked and graduated in 2011, but I experienced the wonderful "RU Screw". I realized a little to late that I still needed to take 3 more courses to get my degree. I had already begun working as a Digital Media Manager for a wardrobe stylist in NYC and decided I would continue working rather than just finish the classes (not one of my best ideas). So here I am 4 years later and 3 Digital Media/Marketing jobs later finishing my classes. 

I'm looking forward to this semester and expanding my knowledge on Social Media and it's culture!

-Canon