Pros and Cons of Social Media

Social media can be very useful because people can look online to see what is going on in the world instead of waiting for a newspaper to show up on your front step of your house. For an example, a benefit to  social media is over 50% of people learn about breaking news on social media. The people who are benefited would be the ones who read this to learn what is going on and where it is happening. This could be weather related or it could be some else. Either way, the internet is there to help people know what is going on around them. This is very useful for me because I don't get newspapers at my house. I have to rely on the Internet or the TV.

But social media can also be harmful to people. For example, 49.1% of people have heard false news via social media. People look up things on the Internet about celebrities to see what is going on with them. I know I do that. But then if you were to check other sources, they say something different from what you had just previously read. This gives out the false information because you don't know what is true or false. This relates to me because I recently picked up a magazine to check out Blake Shelton and Gwen Stafani and then I didn't have time to read it at the store so I checked online about it. Well, it turned out that they both had different information so I have no clue what is true about them.
Both of these statistics comes from the source of Kristin Marino who is a journalist. I would say that she is reliable because these statistics make sense about people and it appears she took some sort of surveys or something at a school to find these out.
 Kristin Marino,"Social Media: The New Source," www.schools.com, April. 16. 2012

Culture of Celebrities

Celebrities are different from the average, everyday people that we see on a daily basis. This is because of symbolic meaning. Celebrities always have to be on top of their game. Every where they go, they have to look presentable and up to everyone's standards. They can't go out in sweatpants and a T-shirt because media is always taking pictures of them. They have to have a thought-out plan and support their own image and narrative.

For example, Jennifer Aniston is known for her looks. She has to have her hair perfectly straight and make up done by her preppers. Normal people do not have to look that great everyday. I think it would be exhausting. We don't have our own assistants or preppers do our make up and hair every single day. Celebrities have to keep up their story.

Social Currency

1) Vans: Vans are very popular and since they aren't that expensive, it makes people want to buy them because everyone else has them too. There are many colors that you can get them in also. This would be an example of remarkability because so many people have them. People comment all the time on the type of shoe that you are wearing that day.
http://www.vans.com/

2) Victoria Secret coupons/credit card: Victoria Secret has a lot of coupons that come in the mail for people to get $10 off on a bra or even underwear. They bribe people to come in the store. They also have their own credit card. People can buy up to $200 on this credit card and only make a minimum payment of $25 a month on it. This is an example of leverage game mechanics because people can keep buying things without fully paying off their items each month.
https://www.victoriassecret.com/angel-card/ 

3) Kate Hudson's Athletic Wear: Kate Hudson has her own athletic wear line. People can get these clothes and feel important because they can be like her. This is an example of feeling like an insider because people can't buy just any regular athletic clothing and pretend it is her line. This makes people want to wear clothing so they can exercise and feel fit like she is.
http://style.fabletics.com/dms8761/?utm_campaign=NB%20Kate%20Hudson%20General%20-%20Exact

Secret Ink

There many mixed messages when we talk about tattoos. This is because people want tattoos but they don't want to be judged for them. When a person gets a tattoo they have to think of what they are going to say to the person that asks them why they got a tattoo. It shouldn't be a big deal why a person got what they got. They shouldn't have to explain it. But people seem to always prepare the answer for that question. Also, a lot of times people put the tattoo in places where it can be hidden. They do this so it doesn't cause interference with work, although businesses can fire you if they think it is going to be bad for their business, but also because then they don't have to explain to people about their tattoo.
These are mixed messages because it is their own body that they should feel free to do what they want to it without having to give an explanation for. They also shouldn't have to feel like they need to hide their tattoos to fit in. Even though tattoos are more accepting these days, it is still not 100% accepting. People get judged and questioned all the time for why they have a tattoo and what their image is.

Torture and Cultivation

Violence can have different perspectives. For example, the way people play video games and how violence actually is in the real world are different but yet they are they same. This is so, because games are just games but people may get ideas from those games to act upon it in real life. This is related to the cultivation theory. Violence is in TV shows because the audience wants to see it. This is because it keeps them interested in watching these programs.

TED Talk-Jane's Video

One of the reasons that we play games or video games is because it builds better relationships. For example, playing with your dad is good for the relationship because it builds a bond between you and him. Even if it's playing catch with a ball or playing a card game. There is still a connection there. A second reason that people play games is that it creates more opportunities for people because they are able to be more creative. They can express themselves in different ways. This is shown when people play video games. They can create their own avatar and they don't have to be themselves. They can be who ever they want to be and nobody will know who you actually are. It gives people a chance to not be judged and to have freedom and feel powerful.

Some people experience post traumatic growth which is when people can have different opportunities to live a better life or make them want to do better in their life. If someone is down, video games actually can bring them up because they have fun and they don't have to worry about their real life for this little while.

Comparing and Contrasting Men and Women

Men and women have similarities but they also have differences. In the reading of Mass Media and Modern Men they listed a lot of similarities. Men want to be treated just as equal as women do. For example, a lot of sitcoms give the husband crap because he doesn't know how to do the laundry, cooking, or taking care of kids. In reality, a lot of men do know how to do all of that and more. Just like women know how to do all of that and more.

A difference between them is that women are to be seen as beautiful where as men are to be seen as funny. In the reading of Mass Media and Modern men, it shows that sitcoms and media are showing different personalities on purpose. They try to find a hot or beautiful woman to be the wife of a funny man. For example Kings and Queens that shows on TBS. The wife is beautiful while the husband is suppose to be funny. None of this is fair at all because aren't always like this in their every day lives.