gloriousblazebeliever-blog

[gloriousblazebeliever-blog]

With uprising controversies in regards to racial discrimination in the Middle East, there has been a greater sense of criticism with the visuals constructed in video games today, especially violent ones. Violent video games strive to replicate real events and give people a truthful experience of what it is like to be in a war zone or battle field. With that said, this can be interpreted as providing a positive or negative effect for the growth of the human mind. For instance, critics explain that children adopt violent qualities when they play violent video games because they are learning how to behave. Children play video games during the age periods in which they are mentally growing the most, so the adaptation of violent video games could be impactful in the construction of their social behavior. Furthermore, violent video games, based upon their high intensity, become very addicting. With that said, teenagers are deemed to play video games on average for approximately 7 hours a week. As a result, after playing violent video games for an extraneous amount of time, they become comfortable with the violent acts which ultimately translates into their real life and they are more prone to replicate the actions, which is why there are stronger implications and correlations of racism in regards to video games and modern day war. This is clear through the readings of Vit Sisler’s, Digital Arabs: Representation in Video Games, and Alexander Galloway’s, Social Realism: in Gaming Essays on Algorithmic Culture. 

Vit Sisler explores in his article how the representation of the enemy reinforces a sense of the “Other” and justifies violence against those who look as though the are from the Midde East. Sisler describes how the enemy is depicted with a “headcover, loose clothes, dark skin color” and how in many cases the “in game narrative links these signifiers to international terrorism and/ or Islamist extremism” (Sisler). This reinforces a general consideration of the enemy as always being non American, Islamic and looking this way. In the current political climate, it becomes dangerous to support this kind of generalized understanding, particularly to teenagers or younger kids during a recreational experience. Sisler also identifies how the player is almost always controlling “American or coalition forces” and “playing for the other side is not allowed” (Sisler). This has the potential to translate into subconscious consideration of Middle Eastern people as the enemy, particularly if young children grow up with these images constantly put in front of them. As an extension of this, such games may mean they are more likely not only to justify violence in general but to justify or act violently against other children, teenagers or adults who look this way. 

Galloway highlights how realistic these games can be and the way this contributes to issues of violence as well as racial stereotyping. One of the crucial aspects of this realism he addresses is the use of different points of view, such as first person shooter. Galloway emphasizes that in “the case of character sight, what is important is not so much that a character sees something, but that he experiences difficulty in seeing”(Galloway). This conveys the level of reality a video game can create. When the player is put into the character and can only see what they see, their actions carry greater weight because they are doing it not watching someone do it. In the case of violence this can make teenagers or young children numb to violence and more willing to observe violence or act violently. When looking at this together with Sisler’s argument about depictions of race, one can see how the reality of the games can make this issue even greater. It is important for video game creators to consider this when designing games and attempt to create games with less stereotypes.

[gloriousblazebeliever-blog]

In an age of resistance, public forms of communication have become popular in new expressions and forms such as billboards, graffiti, and street art. Each artist that participates in this trend is renowned for their uniqueness and personal identity through their work. Predominantly these artists are reflecting on impactful personal experiences or cultural relevances that coincide with advocacy campaigns in modern culture and society, such as gender inequality, racism or discrimination. These forms of art are public ways to giving people a stronger voice that has taken part in the rise of social media and obtaining a larger platform. For example, a prominent artist that has lead this phenomenon is Banksy and Andy Warhol. 

When I think of how street art has made its mark in popular culture today, I mainly relate it to my personal experiences engaging with the art. It is clear that my motivation to interact with street art is because it is so aesthetically pleasing and, as a millennial, social media appearance is important and I want to make sure that I am keeping up with the trends. That means visiting these murals around the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles and finding the angel wings or other renowned street art compilations. Sometimes it is difficult for me to remember that these works of art have a stronger meaning until I reflect on the photo after I have ventured to the location and gotten the shot that I am going to post to my social media page. Catherine Gudis, in her work, Conclusion: The Road Ahead, discusses how there is a strong emphasis on aesthetics in regards to the combination of popular culture and credible art (233). After getting audiences attention across a specific landscape, a brand evolves and people are able to further recognize the artist. This is how artist are gaining reputability nowadays since they have realized the prominence of social media, but has raised questions about the true intentions of artists. Are they just trying to gain followers or actually try and spread messages to help instigate a stronger civil society? This coincides with my personal experience when I go out and take photos with street art because I am going based upon its consumer relevancy on social media, not because I want to become an advocate for the campaign. Not to say that I do not care about the messages that are being expressed, but I feel it is universal that people’s priority is to get the Instagram photo. As a result, art does not quantify what it use to be, but that is not to say it should not be considered to be art. 

On the other hand, there are public controversies that have risen out of this new form of resistance and public communication in the arts industry. Both Joe Austin in his work, Writing Graffiti in the Public Sphere, and Lauren Rosewarne in her work, Advertising an Public Space, discuss the topics of pervading a public space and this idea of whether the “walls should stay clean.” In regards to advertising, there is a level of legality to painting images on the walls or spray painting slogans on the sidewalks because they are unauthorized, but as we discussed in class, some artists are hired to implicate their branding art pieces on the wall to attract audiences that are familiar with them, such as the angel wings by Colette Miller (Austin, 79). For example, I did a graffiti tour in Israel when I visited a few years ago and the artist constantly reminded us of the risks she took in order to spread her messages and complete her work. She presented us with stories of running away from police and other disapproving citizens, but continued to claim that she did it all for a cause and to reach other individuals who can connect with the cultural relevances and band together to make a greater society. She firmly believed in the power that street art can conform to create a civil society. Furthermore, one of the works she created in the streets of Israel consisted of a compilation of powerful figureheads in the entertainment industry to show the influence they have created in this day and age. With that said, artists nowadays are willing to go the extra mile to attach their names to the art that goes viral on social media because not only does it help them career wise, but it proves that street art, or yard bombing for example, are the new form of resistance and reaching an expansion of communities to help make a better world. In conclusion, I believe that street art, graffiti, and billboards is an effective way to expand the arts industry. It creates a wider space to create materials and share it with the world. It prevents art from being confined to the walls of a museum or art gallery, so it instigates more access. With this comes a stronger sense of awareness and new confounds of what constitutes to be art. It can even be considered as the trendy videos that go viral on Facebook. As a result, we have only touched the surface with the potential that new forms of public communication can be and I am very excited to see what comes next.

Sources: Joe Austin, “Writing “Graffiti” in the Public Sphere: The Construction of Writing as an Urban Problem” in Taking the Train: How Graffiti Became an Urban Crisis in New York City (pp. 75- 106).  

Lauren Rosewarne (2007). “Advertising and Public Space” in Sex in Public: Women, Outdoor Advertising and Public Policy (pp. 9-31).

Catherine Gudis (2004). “Conclusion: The Road Ahead” in Buyways: Billboards, Automobiles, and the American Landscape (pp. 231-246).  

[gloriousblazebeliever-blog]

A recent phenomenon is how food labels and companies have capitalized on the marketing opportunities through social media. Since people of all ages are constantly on multiple social media platforms, it only makes sense that this would be the best platform for product placement and accumulation of clients at restaurants or food trucks etc. This concept has sparked new focuses on blogging, businesses, fame, and communities all surrounded around the idea of food and sharing opinions. In our class readings by the authors Signe Rousseau and Alison Caldwell, we see how social media and food can interact and successfully reach the common goal of awareness and infatuation.

Alison Caldwell touches upon this subject in her work, Will Tweet for Food: Microblogging Mobile Food Trucks - Online, Offline, and in Line, by discussing the collaboration between food trucks and their customers engagement with the food brands for personal vendeta. She describes this as”an emerging phenomenon of the online social networking mobile food truck” (307).  It is claimed that owners of food trucks capitalize on using social media, especially Twitter, to become a marketing tool to determine their locations and instigate consumer engagement and loyalty. Caldwell states that “users can send, receive, or re-post tweets via the Twitter website” which ultimately translates to a stronger consumer engagement and loyalty because it gives people the sense that they are a huge benefactor in the success of the business (308). This is done through trucks continuously post where they are and what time they are going to be there at through aesthetically pleasing social media posts that consumers mimic and spread. The important factor of this strategy to remember is that, actually, the food trucks are completely reliant on consumer engagement and opinions since their business plans formulate around the feedback they receive from consumers. This shows them how they need to re-evaluate their brand and image on social media in order to ensure that there will be widespread consumer awareness and interaction in this newfound competitive atmosphere social media has created for the food industry.

Not only does the success of social media apply to food trucks, but all types of food related endeavors. A big part of my life is traveling since I grew up being a professional equestrian. This meant that I was in a new town, city, or country every other week and I constantly needed to find places to eat, but I did not want to settle for anything because I was given the incredible opportunity to experience new cultures. I found that following @californiadreameater gave me access to restaurants that I would have never found on my own. Like a travel agency, this social media handle portrays a man who travels up and down the coast of California in order to taste and share exquisite cuisine with his followers. The account varies from posts that make the food look comforting and alluring to the star of the account engaging with the storefronts by posing in front of the signs or tasting the food with an excited expression. The account tags the location and gives a description of what the food is and what it is made up of. My mom and I especially have a great time exploring the account and picking what looks the best and what we are going to venture to when we end up in that area of California for a horse show. It feels like a great bonding activity and an adventure with my mom which makes the experience way better. Furthermore, when my mom and I finally arrive at the suggested restaurants and try the food, it is very fulfilling. @californiadreameater exemplifies Alison Caldwell’s claim that communities bond over a crafted “food forward community of belonging that lives in both online and offline spaces” (309). This social media account is incredibly intelligent because it works as a collaborator of both Twitter as an interactive platform and a blog which would be the informative platform. The posts are very well constructed and presented which adds to their credibility when people want to figure out what restaurants have the best and inviting food. This source of legitimacy contributes to the overall attention of consumers and expands its viewership.

On the other hand, Signe Rousseau in his work, Food and Social Media: You Are What You Tweet, explains how people feel a sense of eliteness when they visit restaurants that are trending on social media. It builds a sense of community when people feel that they can participate in conversation in regards to the same, or different, experiences when they go out to eat. People interpret visiting a specific popular restaurant as a success because it makes them feel like their lifestyles equate to famous celebrities or micro celebrities one’s. Sign Rousseau interprets this as “digital narcissism” because people are becoming very involved with their appearances on social media. The interesting factor of this revelation is that people are less concerned with their appearance in person, but as long as their online identity is superb, then they do not have an issue. People’s infatuation with mimicking celebrity lifestyles in regards to food can also be interpreted as a personal investment or sense of loyalty with trend-setters on social media. This is  because social media users will look solely to those who have branded themselves as being knowledgeable and credible in deciding what the best places to visit and eat in the area are. This also goes for the food products that celebrities endorse on social media. For example, Kylie Jenner endorses food such as FitTea. She poses seductively and does a selfie to make consumers feel like they actually eat those foods or drink those juices to make themselves beautiful. The fault for extraneously engaging in posting your visits to restaurants on social media is the fact that real food critics feel entitled to criticize these posts. Qualified food critics attack food blogging websites and social media handles because they want to reassure people that food criticism is a field that takes true expertise and years of experience. They are not wary of the fact that these online platforms boost restaurant business because they feel as if it is taking away the prestige of proclaiming what cuisine is top notch or not. 

After reading both Rousseau and Caldwell’s works in regards to how food has impacted the online sphere, I have decided that it is a great source of acquiring the information but the accounts should be verified just like celebrities or impactful people’s are. There should be a clear indication of who is a certified critic and who is just an opinionated blogger on social media. With that said, certified food critics should capitalize on the trends and effectiveness of social media posts with food and how it has changed the food industry. The question is whether they have changed it for the good, or the bad, because the world of food tasting has become more alluring based upon ambiance rather than the actual quality of the food.

Sources Alison Caldwell (2012). “Will Tweet for Food: Microblogging Mobile Food Trucks – Online, Offline, and in Line” in Taking Food Public: Redefining Foodways in a Changing World (pp. 306-321

Signe Rousseau (2012). “Food for Sharing” and “Twitter Feeding” in Food and Social Media: You are What You Tweet (pp. 1-16 & 35-50)

[gloriousblazebeliever-blog]

Brands and Advertisements

In the branding and advertisement industry today, it is clear that it is a consumer driven culture and the ultimate goal is to make money. The industry has lost its sense of ethics in regards to providing valuable information and guidance for purchasing products or becoming aware of events that are genuinely applicable to each citizen. Sarah Banet-Weiser, in Chapter 2 of Commodity Activism, proves that when brands adopt social messages, their goal is to sell products rather than inform the consumer. This concept is referred to as “commodity activism” and is shown through the example of “Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign.” In this campaign, the objective is to exemplify a positive message of body image and confidence for women. With that said, Dove is claiming that it is a product that can be used for all types of women and it will make them feel equally good about their appearance. It is capitalizing on concepts that women typically relate to when viewing advertisements, and thats the desire to become their ideal self. In other words, the campaign is focusing on physical beauty as a concrete way to allure audiences into purchasing their product. This is a clear concept in many of the Dove campaigns, such as the “Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches Campaign” where young women describe their appearances to an artist that sketches them without physically looking at them. This brings up an interesting perspective in regards to how they are utilizing the idea of encompassing a positive message and making that aware to their audiences, but still selling a product at the same time. In other words, they want their audiences to know that they preach positive messages, even though they know its a selling tactic, but it works anyways because it is incredibly relatable and clear that a beauty company would focus on physical attributes. As a result, though this campaign preaches a good message, it is inauthentic because its ethics relies on selling products and mastering consumerism. 

Secondly, Andi Zeisler has similar viewpoints to Sarah Banet-Weiser in her publication called We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrl to CoverGirl, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement. She stated that “it seemed possible for the ad industry to reach women without making them feel totally awful about themselves” (Zeisler, pg. 25). Like the Dove Campaign, there is a focus on illuminating natural beauty even though the product is still deemed a physical enhancer, but there is a way to make all types of women feel good about making their appearances better. One campaign that I found that did not explicitly sell a product, but still had the same goal of empowering women’s natural beauty is the UN Women advertisement. This image is showing how the search bar can be detrimental to women’s mental health in regards to stress over their appearance and wants to show that all women are equal. This advertisement is referencing a political instance, but it can be viewed and interpreted in many other avenues as well, such as beauty campaigns. I believe this strategy is more effective then selling a product because it creates a message that everyone can stand by and advocate for. Sometimes success of an advertisement comes from awareness of the message rather than statistics of sales. 

In conclusion, even though Dove is usually recognized for is Beauty Campaign and how it went viral overnight, not all of its advertisements had the equal effect on consumers. Chelsea Bailey explains in her article, Nigerian Model Featured in Controversial Dove Ad Defends Campaign there were many critics that “slammed” the campaign by stating that it promoted harmful and racist ideas that lighter complexions are the ideal standard of beauty. The model, Lola Ogunyemi, wanted to defend the original vision for the advertisement, but that did not stop people from identifying with the critiques that were brought up about how the ad can be interpreted. Even though Dove has had its setbacks and fallen victim to critics, it is clear that when a mistake is made it is usually due to the images utilized, rather than what the brand represents. This brings up the challenges that the advertising industry faces every day: finding the right visuals. When there is an opening for interpretation for an advertisement, the brand is at risk for consumers to question the intention of the ads and relating it to the stances the brand takes on particular social issues. As a result, the authenticity is questioned when an ad is released and falls through the cracks for holding its values which, ultimately, puts the sellable factor of the product at risk, so I believe, to avoid this circumstance, beauty brands must establish more complex value systems and address multiple factors that encompass “beauty” internally and externally.

[gloriousblazebeliever-blog]

A Gaze Shift in Social Media

Over the course of time, there has been a fundamental gender division that instills concepts of male dominance and female submission that ultimately has not gone away. Actually, this “male gaze” has only gotten stronger with time because there has been technological advancements that allow these concepts to have a larger pedestal and platform. This form of objectification is evident within many scholarly works, such as John Berger’s Ways of Seeing. In this work, Berger presents a multitude of visual images that accentuate the tactics men exercise when drawing women, “the photographer’s way of seeing is reflected in his choice of subject” (Berger, 10). Interestingly, the commonalities between all of the images are that the women are nude and express positions that portray vulnerability and exposure with proves that, especially in the medieval times, men only saw women as objects of sex and lust, “yet when an image is presented as a work of art, the way people look at it is affected by a whole series of learnt assumptions” (Berger, 11). Furthermore, these representations of women through images have remained consistent today through expectations on social media. Graham Isador discusses in his article that today, women are constantly posting pictures of themselves that would accumulate likes, comments, and attention from men. For example, there are Instagram accounts, such as @hot.sexy.girls.7, that classify a type of girl and solely post sexualized images. 

The images that are featured on this Instagram platform accentuate nudity, arousal, and temptation through their poses that show off physical features that are unique to the female body. It is clear that this Instagram account is attracting the male gaze and illuminate misogyny in this day in age. Looking at this Instagram account, females can claim that this is denigrating because it clearly objectifies women and is solely appealing to men who have the desire to be sexual stimulated; however it brings up the idea that women in this vulnerable state have way more power than what is usually considered. The idea that women have the ability to attract a magnitude of attention from men shows, on this Instagram account, that there is an argument in which when women engage with these posts, they manipulate and put men in a vulnerable state as well, “they have entered the mainstream of life over which they no longer, in themselves, have power” (Berger, 32). The counterargument is that we have established a very fixed image of what women is considered to be “beautiful” and “praised” because it is the one that attracts the male gaze the most. With that said, the values have shifted in female attraction to more purely physical attributes and what is represented in the media, versus the “reality” (Berger, 31).  

Nowadays, it is common knowledge of how to construct and represent yourself on social media in order to attract specific attention and viewership loyalty. Another scholar that discusses the power of the male gaze is Laura Mulvey in her work known as Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, “a woman performs within the narrative, the gaze of the spectator and that of the male characters in the film are neatly combined without breaking narrative verisimilitude” (Mulvey 838). Like John Berger, Mulvey takes on the idea of misogynistic representation through more of a contemporary lens in visual media that teaches women how to sexualize themselves. According to Eliana Dockterman in her article, women have adopted strategies, from what they have learned on the big screen, to use objectification as empowerment and confidence because they do not want to show that they are shameful of their bodies and being vulnerable. For example, Selena Gomez poses seductively in her advertisement on social media for Puma to portray that if you wear this clothing line, you can have the lustful appeal like Selena Gomez. She is not wearing a shirt and the brand name is placed directly on her breasts, so she is placed and represented as an object of desire instead of being criticized for capitalizing on “what sells.” As a result, this does not quantify that women are not longer objectified and put down for exhibiting signs of sexuality, but it is a stride in the right motion that women can be proud of their appearance for the sake of individualism and not solely the male gaze.

[gloriousblazebeliever-blog]

Visual Story: How Russia Intervened with the 2016 Presidential Election

Remember, once upon a time, there were claims that the Russian Government attempted to influence the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election? Remember when Facebook claimed that there was no way they could have accomplished such acts?

On September 21st, 2017 Facebook officially announced that Russia was able to influence voters through paid advertisement and the posting of none other than:

https://media.giphy.com/media/xT4ApznCZTtuBjmHHa/giphy.gif

Russia targeted voters in swing states, such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and spent approximately $100,000.00 on Facebook’s advanced platform known as Fortune. These ads began to surface in May 2015 which is a over a year before the 2016 election.

Further reports have indicated that the groups behind the Facebook postings are related to a specific Russian military intelligence called the GRU. Within the advertisements, the content did not dictate specific candidates, but focused on controversial social issues such as race, gay rights, gun control, and immigration to ignite oppositional discussion in regards to what stance each candidate took.

Once Facebook realized that their platform had been invaded, they were immediately removed alongside the five-hundred fake accounts and pages. However, some people stated that Facebook was slow to respond because they claimed that these tainted posts should not have passed the censors to begin with.

As a result, investigators have proven that these fake posts and advertisements directly influences the Presidential Election by denigrating the reputation and legitimacy of Democratic Nominee, Hillary Clinton, and heightened her rival, Republican Donald Trump.

Wait, so why would Russia use Facebook to influence swing state voters? In February 2004, Facebook was founded by the undergraduate student from Harvard University known as Mark Zuckerberg. His goal was to create a social networking platform for college students that quickly spread across the Ivy League system, and eventually the world.

Facebook’s popularity went through the roof over the first five years and became the second most visited link on the internet in August of 2009. Facebook became such a large corporation that it acquired Instagram in 2012, released their own media platforms: What’s App and Messenger, and had over three million businesses actively marketing on the site. Furthermore, Russia realized that this was the perfect source to access the most amount of American citizens in order to instigate their plan to influence the election.

Why did Russia think tampering advertisements for the 2016 Election was a good idea? In the past, the opportunities Facebook presents in regards to connecting with audiences have been proven through successes such as President Obama’s 2008 and 2012 win. His team relied on social media to engage voters and obtain and larger outreach of their message. They were also able to tailor messages for specific demographics and target them directly, promising to create customized messages that created connections between Obama and every type of voter out there.

Brad Parscale, the head of advertising for Donald Trump’s campaign, discussed in an interview for 60 Minutes that the feature Facebook has, which is incredibly important for target marketing, are “dark posts.” With that said, Trump’s team would create advertisements specifically for targeted users and they would be invisible for outsiders, unlike Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Russia capitalized on this practice and did the same in order to sway the election for in favor of Trump. Colin Stretch provided analytics that stated 150 million people saw fake news that became spreadable media by the Russian Government. For example, they would reference Black Lives Matter movements for dark posts that were visible in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore which was a clear attempt to spark controversy and tension in those environments that are sensitive to police shootings of unarmed black citizens. These advertisements were bought by the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency and were viewed by ten million people.

In conclusion, it is clear that purchasing advertisements on Facebook was only a small fragment of the Russian government intervention with the 2016 Presidential Election. With that said, this instance has brought up a lot of discussion within media conglomerates about avenues of user intervention and fake news. For example, media platforms are hosts to user information that can stimulate a chain reaction of sharing information and be utilized to influence societal outcomes, like a Presidential Election. In response, mainstream media outlets have been criticized for being responsible and the origin of fake news because it is claimed that they are sharing misinformation intentionally. As a result, this is only the beginning of a era that shows the power of the internet and how it and construct society.