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Working in New Media

While the way that the final representation of the piece looks very different from a traditional English assignment the writing process felt similar. It felt very similar to doing a series of journal entries or putting together a portfolio of shorter past assignments. Since I have done both of these other assignments in the past, this one did not seem too different. In spite of this, I think that Tumblr proved to be an interesting platform to submit our work. It meant that the individual assignments were grouped on one database where links, pictures and videos could be used to examine an idea further. Although I found that it was harder to post longer paragraphs or pieces as they didn't seem as appealing to read or just took up so much of the page especially if an image did not accompany them. If the audience that you were reaching was not only the teacher but the general Tumblr users, then it may be easier to structure the written piece like a newspaper article. This format would mean that they could get the main gist of the article in the first paragraph and then use a keep read page split between that and the rest of the article so only people interested would continue reading to get the details. This page split could have been useful to use in our assignments too, because if the length of the posts you could not see all of your assignments at once but had to scroll through the entry of each of them. In short, I do not think that this medium changed the work entirely; it just made how we are writing more relaxed because it feels more unprofessional or personal. It feels more like talking to the audience than writing a formal paper for the audience, and that was a nice change. It would be interesting to see what other assignments can be done on this media platform.

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What do you meme?

This meme is a thread that started on twitter of different Beyonce monochromatic outfits being compared side by side with different sea sponges. In three weeks this post received more than 900 retweets and 3,900 likes. It was the meme that started the meme trend of comparing celebrity outfits to inanimate objects, for example, the Rihanna as umbrellas or Mariah Carey as whisks. Part of the success of this meme is that it's very understandable, you don't have to keep up with fashion, know the celebrity or be that intellectual to find enjoyment from the meme. It is purely just funny and based on colour and form.

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AFTER Official Trailer (2019) Josephine Langford, Hero Fiennes Tiffin Movie

Good girl meets bad boy is a classic clique used in movies and books aimed at teenagers and more specifically teenage girls. The sheltered girl catches the eye of a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, and they have this unspeakable attraction to each other. He takes away her innocence and shows her a new way of thinking while she shows him how to love, care and have ambition. This storyline can be identified in the trailer for the new movie “After,” and seems to be the key to making a successful teen romance movie. For example, A Walk to Remember, Cruel Intentions, Grease and Dirty Dancing are just some movies that have this same underlying theme. The viewer is shown that the good girl bad boy story is going to be used in the film through the way that the characters are talked about and represented in the trailer. Tessa is shown as more uptight through her clothes; she wears pastels and more conservative clothing with her hair tied up, then this stereotype is reinforced in her actions when she refused to hook up with Hardin, showing that she is a classic “good girl.” He is shown as more dangerous and rebellious; they show this guy telling Tessa, “Be careful, Hardin is complicated.” They show his character shirtless and wearing leather jackets, all black and having tattoos. Then later have shots of him breaking things and a close-up shot of him unzipping her jeans. Through this and the various times that they show two characters making out, it is easy to assume that the movie deals with Tessa losing her virginity and a romance between the two characters. This is also suggested through the song choice of “Dangerous Women,” by Ariana Grande, that Tessa will become more rebellious and explore her sexuality. The change in her character can be seen throughout the trailer as her hair comes down, she wears dark colours, and her romance with Hardin escalates. The trailer is set up to tell the beginning of the story, give hints about the conflict and then leave it there, so the watcher is left in anticipation of the full movie.

This trailer fits precisely into the teen romance category. It shows the stereotypical story of two heterosexual white middle-class teenagers who become infatuated with each other. They face a conflict of sorts, and the actual movie follows through on this stereotype the film will have a reasonably happy ending where both characters have grown and changed because of each other. In a more general sense, this type of movie assumes that all girls that they are catering to the film so it can in some way relate to the girls’ innocence and longing for love. Thus making them want to watch the movie for the fantasy of the intense romance that they wish they had. Believing that deep down, ‘all girls want a bad boy,’ they want the excitement they cannot resist it.

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Vaping in the gender neuch

Rosedale’s gender neutral bathroom has been a safe place for students of all genders, sexuality and race. But no more, with the epidemic of vaping spreading, people can no longer seek refuge there. But why must this separate our student population? Why can't we all share the area, the vapers and non-vapers? Is vaping that offensive and violent? As second-hand vapour is not harmful, the risk is small. Students turn to vape for a multitude of reasons, peer pressure, a nicotine reliance and the variety of fun flavours. They are already vaping, so instead of alienating them, we should give them a safe place to vape. A place inside and away from the streets and smokers. This is the solution. We must ban together to make a change in our schools instead of pushing people out (literally). 

✌🏻✌🏼✌🏽✌🏾✌🏿 

 1. The goal is to allow vaping in the gender-neutral washrooms to ensure that everyone has access to that safe place.

2. This campaign is specifically aimed at the students of RHSA, and to inspire students of other high schools to have a voice.

3. The digital websites that I would use are Snapchat, Instagram, and websites.

4. First off, the shared symbol of this joining of vapers and non-vapers would be in the form of the peace or v sign. The peace sign has always represented peace but now it represents that and vaping to show solidarity with the movement. On Snapchat students can follow the vape time account which has links to both the Instagram and website. They are also encouraged to share pictures with their friends of them holding up a v sign. There would be an Instagram account called rhsavapetime. Through rhsavapetime students can follow it share the account and send in their pictures of them in the gender-neutral bathroom making a v sign to get posted on the account. It would also take polls on Instagram stories to regulate the amount of student support the campaign is getting. On top of this in the accounts bio there would be a link to the campaign's website. Finally, the website would have links to all of the other social media accounts, a detailed mission statement with information on vaping and a petition. The petition would be to stop the ban of vaping in the gender-neutral bathroom.

5. All digital platforms have their strengths weaknesses which can limit someone using them to spread a campaign. On Snapchat, everything must be attached to a photo, and there is a limited number of characters that you can use which means that your message can only be so long. On top of this, Snapchat is not considered one of the more serious social media platforms, this can make people not take you or your campaign seriously and can easily skip by your posts. Instagram is more professional and more commonly used to promote brands or movements. The platform is more photo oriented so it is less about the text and more about making an impact through visuals. Finally, while a website could be one of the more efficient ways to get information all in one place, it is hard to find without first having the motivation to do so. So, therefore, it is best to have it work in conjunction with a variety of other platforms to spread the message.

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Should Canada Have Internet Regulation?

Each year the internet becomes more widespread, and people become more reliant on it. It is very useful and can be very good for an extensive range of different things, like mass communication. But with all of the good that it can be used for it can also be used as a medium to spread violence and hate messages. Like anything, it must be used responsibly, but now governments have decided to take the regulation of it into their own hands. But this can easily be looked at as government censorship. Are the governments any less biased then companies in their ideas of what is deemed inappropriate? The definition of what is inappropriate can shift from government to government, what if our government right now changes from liberal to conservative in the next federal election. Then they may see abortions as inciting violence or information about them as disinformation, thus hiding this information from the population. Also, not giving people an online voice can easily infringe on peoples freedom of speech under the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms, especially considering how vague the material they are targeting is. I do believe that something must be done to combat the spread of violence on the internet; however, I think that creating federal laws to target specific material is too broad that it can easily be misused and should be hard to accomplish due to the vastness of the internet. Simply one government ignoring or censoring material will not solve the core issue.

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Teens or Adults part 2

Teenagers actually being played by teenagers

While most movies and tv shows cast adults to play adolescents there are some shows making a conscious effort to change this. If you want a film that actual teenagers can relate to then it is vital that the actors actually look like and represent them. While Disney gets a lot of backlash for many things that they have done badly, one of the things that they have actually done well is casting real teenagers a the main actors in their shows and movies. 

And more recently shows like Stranger Things have cast teenagers around the age of the part that they are playing. 

This adds a level of authenticity and realism to the film. Audiences can follow the actors as they grow and go through puberty along with the the characters that they are playing. You can watch the character mature along with the actors, a good example of this is Harry Potter.

And it’s good to remember that the actors are going through puberty, because that shows that they are teenagers too.  

And just like the viewer and the characters, they will grow up eventually too. 

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Teens or Adults?

Why adult actors are often cast to portray teenagers in film and tv, and what's wrong with this

Adult actors often play adolescents in new media, especially in TV shows and movies. Casting older people to play teenagers means that they can get around the child labour laws so that the actors can work more extended hours. However, choosing to use adults to portray teenagers can have severe consequences on the audience. All people are influenced to an extent by what they are exposed to, so if teenagers are continuously seeing teenagers who are developed and attractive that can affect how teenagers see themselves. Teenagers are still growing physically and mentally, but are being represented by a curated group of older actors that fit societies idealized beauty standards.

Take popular shows like Riverdale, Glee, and gossip girl, these shows are all set in high school, yet their casts are all at least in their 20s and some in their 30s.

 I think that we can all agree that this does not look like your typical high school class. 

Bianca Lawson is 36 years old and is still playing a teenager in tv and movies, and has recently been featured in Pretty Little Liars, Teen Wolf and The Vampire Diaries.

The character Josie McCoy from Riverdale is played by Ashleigh Murray, who is 29 when the character is about 15 to 16 years old making her almost double the age. 

And does anyone remember Jason Earles from Hanna Montana? He was 29 when the show started and was playing a 14-year-old. So when the show ended, he was already in his mid-thirties, weird right?

But this is not a new phenomenon, just look at happy days...

The main character of this popular 50s sitcom was high school dropout ‘Fonze,’ who was played by Henry Winkler. Winkler was 29 playing an 18-year-old when the show started, and at the end of the show, he was a 40-year-old playing a character who was still in his 20s. 

In an article for Buzzfeed, Erin Chack hilariously compares teenagers in movies to photos of teenagers that she actually knew.

and,

This is why we have messed up receptions of age... 

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Assessing McLuhan

ramble response 

“Electronic circuitry is an extension of the central nervous system. Media are extensions of our human senses and configure the awareness and experience of each one of us.”

Through media, we can experience life in a way that we have never done before. It does not necessarily take us away from our physical bodies but instead allows our mind to be in a different reality. It is like a filter on our senses. If we can hear and see things that are not physically happening in front of us. We can be watching a live stream video of a debate or event that is happening on the other side of the world. Not only can we watch the event we can also engage in it speak to people there without our bodies being there. The big gap between the physical and virtual world since its creation is becoming smaller. The more that we engage, the less of a gap we see, the less difference we see. More realities can be blurred. Through this reality becoming a norm in everyone's daily life then the more strongly that people believe in it.  Through the distinction between the physical and world seen through a medium, it becomes easier to see the world through that media, even to the point when people forget that there is a medium at all.

The more that we see the world through a media the more it will become apart of who we are as human beings and our minds. It is already apart of everyone's lives too much that has become part of our human function; it is an add on. It enhances our world and expands it. But also can shrink it in the case of people who get stuck in one aspect of it. It is a contradiction. It changes our lives. Humans are able to access most of the human knowledge and are no longer limited to what is physically around them to an extent. This source could be incredibly biased, and therefore alter or program our experiences in a certain way, it can keep feeding people a particular idea or mindset. For example, Instagram has algorithms that feed the viewer a particular view or similar idea all of the time. This influence limits their awareness of what else is happening or the other argument. This idea can be seen as a positive or negative effect of altering a person's reality. It not only alters but can shape their reality. What a person is exposed to can change their life, and it can even change the way people thinking. Therefore how someone's reality is changed through the media is neither good or bad. But we are probably the worst judges of how it is changing us because our views are biased and it is very easy to miss small changes in our habits or thinking. If it is being related to our central nervous system, then that would mean a connection to our emotions and actions. That could possibly mean that how we feel about different situations or act to them be altered. Like the numbing of seeing gruesome scenes through a device. We do not feel the full effect of what we are seeing. Could this then be seen as insensitive or does it not numb our experience or enhance them?

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Mediated Life

I think that I spend an average amount of time on new media. I spend about 19 h and 30 mins a week on my phone, which I already think is too much. My sister, who is in grade 9 told me about one of her classes average time spent on their phones, and it was about 40 h a week. That is like two full days glued to your screen. I think that even though I am apart of the younger generation, I still try to be aware of my screen time and mediate it. That may just be me because of my age and the way that I was brought up. However, I do believe that kids just a couple of years younger than me spend more time on screens. Our age group is just old enough where we did not have digital media as young kids but young enough that it is a vital part of our lives.

So, with that in mind I believe that I will still be using new media in ten years, but maybe not in the same way or for the same things. I have already seen how apps have come in and out of the spotlight, and how quickly I gained and lost interest in them and lost it. I mean, I don't think that I even lasted a month on house party and probably had Snapchat for just over a year. I believe that with how fast technology it is hard to say what apps I will still be using. I can only guess that I will be on another form of social media.