Reflection

         When I first started writing and reading these blogs, I realized that I was very unaware of the changing media around me. As I am not a heavy live television show watcher, I am not exposed to all of the media around me as the people that do watch television. I mainly watch YouTube and as you may know from my previous blogs, I simply don't get ads on there either. However the one thing that I have been exposed to is social media. Social media is something that is changing my life every day, and it is beginning to scare me. Just recently I broke my phone. So how bad could 4 days without SnapChat, Instagram and texting be? As it turns out, extremely bad. It's hard to believe that I spend so much time on the media, and that I can't go a few days without it.
         I think that it is important that you are media literate because media is shaping our world. It has come to the point that in order to understand the world, you must understand the media. To me, I would like to say that I am media literate. However, the definition of media literate is still very unclear to me. Is it how well you can understand acronyms? Is it how many social media accounts you have? Is it how much you post on Instagram? To me all of this is still unclear. However I still would like to say that I am indeed media literate. After writing all of these blogs I feel that I also have a much greater understanding of television, magazine and print out ads.
         I think that it is important to have media literacy for mainly teens. If you don't have said social media literacy, you are criticized by peers for not having so. For adults, media literacy is not as necessary as it is for children. Since adults weren't born in this age of social media, it is harder for them to adapt to it.
         Overall I think that in my life, media has definetly a huge impact on my life. Now whether it has negatively or positively affected my life, is a matter of opinion. What does it take to survive in the world today? In my opinion, it IS media literacy. Media is everywhere around us. In our social life, and in our political life. We are using and consuming media everyday, whether we realize it or not. When we turn on the television, we are bombarded with advertisements and we take that all in to our own lives. As much as you would like to think that you are free of media, you aren't. Media has unfortunately gotten to the point where we see it, and we don't even realize that we are taking all of it in. However, being able to analyze what we are taking in, makes me a little sad, especially seeing what this world has come to.

The True Meaning of the Lyrics of the Song "Take Your Time" Adrian Marcel

now I don't know if you're lookin' at me or notprobably smile all the time... don't mean to bother butI couldn't just walk by and not say hian I know your name cause everybody in here knows your nameyou're not looking for anything right now so II wanna come on strong, don't get me wrongyour eyes are so imtimidatin'my heart is poundin' but it's just the conversationno girl i'm not wastin'you don't know me no; I don't know you but I swear that I want toI don't wanna steal your freedomI don't wanna change your mindI don't wanna make you love meI just wanna take your timeI don't wanna wreck your fridayI don't wanna waste my lightsI don't wanna take your heartI just wanna take your timean I know it starts with hello and next thing you know you're tryin' ta be niceand some guy gettin' hella closeand tryin' ta pick you upand get you drunk (ohhh)an i'm sure your friend is bouta come over here cause she suppose ta save you fromrandom dudes that talk to muchand wanna stay to longit's the same old songdance but I think you know it wellyou could've rolled your eyes told me ta go ta hellcould've walked awaybut you're still here girland i'm still here (yeaaaaahhhh)I don't wanna steal your freedomI don't wanna change your mindI don't wanna make you love meI just wanna take your timeI don't wanna meet your mamaI don't wanna cross that lineI don't wanna steal your coversI just wanna take your timeohhhhhhhhhhI ain't tryin' ta go home with youohhhhhhhhhhI'm just tryin' ta be alone with youohhhhhhhmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmheyI wanna take it girl I wanna take itI wanna take it girl I wanna take it

        When I heard this song on the radio, I was tempted to just change the station. It sounded like any other generic "falling in love" song, however since it was new to me, I decided to just listen through the whole song. I was slightly disappointed to hear all of the words "girls" and "love" used, because I simply just do not like these modern day love songs, but the chorus in particular, seemed to catch my ear. The chorus goes, "I don't wanna steal your freedom I don't wanna change your mind I don't wanna make you love me I just wanna take your time." Now clearly Adrian Marcel is talking about a girl in this,  however they way I saw it was in a whole new light. Think about the first and last lines. Think about something that steals your freedom and your time. Homework! Exactly! I may be the only one that see's this analogy, but it makes perfect sense. Adrian Marcel is trying to relate to either love drunk teenagers, or stressed out high school HISP students! Homework nowadays is taking away from everyone's lives and time. Especially high school students, teenagers are lacking social lives, and are spending all of their time doing homework and studying. Teachers fail to see the problem in assigning homework over breaks. The point of a break or vacation, is to quite literally, take a break! However when a teacher assigns an assignment, big or small, naturally the average high school student would procrastinate and not do it. But throughout the whole break, there is that nagging sensation that you haven't finished all of your homework. Then the day before school arrives, and you're cramming all of it one night last second. Of course the natural thing for teachers to say is, "you should have done it during break, rather than the night before." Well of course we should've, but you're talking to teens who would rather do many things than sit down write an essay, do a science project or etc. It makes sense that teachers would assign homework over the break. After 2-12 weeks, most of us don't remember anything from school. But over break, don't assign extremely difficult and large assignments. Instead assign easy review ones, that way  we are prepared for school after break. 

Sidenote: I love writing blogs over the weekend. These are exceptional

Is Being Paid As A YouTuber Ridiculous?

       

         This is PewDiePie. His real name is Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, and he is the most subscribed person on YouTube with about 41 million subscribers. PewDiePie does a variety of video games, to vlogs, to just random stuff, and through all of this, in one year he made $7.4 million. This number to me and to many others is very shocking. Why should someone be paid $7.4 million just to sit down and video what you do? In my opinion, every YouTuber that makes money, earns it just as much as anyone else does. We think that they are just lazy people who sit down and make videos all day, but making these videos, and being able to talk into a camera, knowing that 41 million people out there are watching you, is harder than it sounds. This is why I have much respect for YouTubers. Though they might be accused of making more money than they deserve, people need to realize that not all of the YouTubers are in it for the money. It may seem like they are using "click-baits" or posting multiple videos for the sake of making more money, but it's not like that at all. Some of these YouTubers truly love what they do, and if they are making $10 dollars a month or $10,000 a month, it doesn't matter to them; they'll keep posting videos. I know first hand that making a video for anything takes time. Last year a semester project for Japanese took me a few hours to edit, and it was only a 3 minute video! Now imagine making two videos a day, each of those around 10-15 minutes, and it needs to have the best editing out there. It's not easy. YouTubers making this much money may sound ridiculous but in reality it is just as hard to make this money as a different job would be. Besides that, jobs aren't just about money. If you hate your job but you're making a lot of money what should you do? Quit it. If you don't have a strong passion in something you do, it's not worth the valuable time of your life to do it. Who cares if you're a hamburger flipper at McDonald's, if that's what you want to do than do it.

Missrepresentation

Do you see evidence around you of this getting better/worse? Explain.

         In my opinion, this issue is getting worse by the second. There are many examples or evidence as to how this topic of female objectification, insecurity, etc is getting worse today. To begin with, Carl's Junior is a great example of female objectification. Their ads are mainly consisting of female models eating burgers whilst in a rather revealing bikini. Carl's Junior is using women to attract men, and this shows us how women are being portrayed as objects or tools for men, and that their only purpose in life is to appeal to men through their beauty. In the teenage world today, girls are beginning and are already feeling insecure about their face and body. For instance, in the Carl's Junior commercial, girls would look at that and immediately wonder if their own body look liked that. And when they get the mindset that they will never be like that, and never be able to appeal to men, they begin to feel insecure about their bodies. Girls should never have to feel this way. Because of these ads, girls are starting to inflict self-harm and develop eating disorders. Once again, girls should never have to feel this way. Girl's don't need the constant approval of men in order to know that they are beautiful. Everyone has beauty, no one can deny that. Lastly, social media is probably the place where this problem is getting even worse. Say a girl posts a picture of herself and realizes that it didn't get the most likes or comments that she wanted. This sends the message to her that she isn't what everyone wants, and therefore becomes insecure. And when she does get comments, sometimes they can be hurtful, and this can also cause insecurity. Overall I think that this issue is getting worse and worse and at this point would be very difficult to solve. The answer would be to stop objectifying and making women/girls feel insecure, but in this day and age, it seems like this will never happen. Men are too obsessed with girls' looks and bodies that we have clouded are minds with the thought that if they don't look sexy, then they aren't good enough for us. The truth is, there is never good enough. Once we get something we want, we always want more, and we can never get out of that infinite loop.

“There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.” 
― G.K. Chesterton

Boxed Water, Bottled Water, Voss Water, Fiji Water!

 

In this day and age, there are many different types of products. Different energy drinks, different sports drinks, different ramen brands and etc. But I would have never thought that our world would come up with different types of water. I remember when I was young, I always wanted to try Fiji water, since that was the new upcoming trend for water. Looking back at this, I find that the whole idea of a different kind of water is rather absurd. What makes these kinds of water better than others? First, let's take a look at Fiji water. On Fiji water's company page, the "About Us" section states:


"On a remote Pacific island, 1,600 miles from the nearest continent, equatorial trade winds purify the clouds that begin FIJI® Water’s journey through one of the world’s last virgin ecosystems. As tropical rain falls on a pristine rain forest, it filters through layers of volcanic rock, slowly gathering the natural minerals and electrolytes that give FIJI Water its soft, smooth taste. The water collects in a natural artesian aquifer, deep below the Earth’s surface, shielded from external elements by confining layers of rock. Natural pressure forces the water towards the surface, where it’s bottled at the source, free from human contact until you unscrew the cap. Untouched by man™. The Nature of Water®." In general the company throws a whole lot of information and words that have to do with being natural and clean, to convince you that Fiji water is like none other. Next is Voss water. Voss water also states things about the purity of their water and what makes it better than others:


"Purity of water is defined in part by the mineral level found in specific bottled waters and is referred to as Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). TDS levels in VOSS are extremely low in comparison to other leading bottled waters." Once again we see that Voss is trying to claim that their water is like no other, especially in its purity by giving us information about TDS levels. Lastly Boxed Water has the most vague claim:


"Our proprietary filtration process means that Boxed Water is always crisp, clean and refreshing. It’s water you can feel good about. Pure and Simple." Overall, what we see in all of these different types of water is that they are more clean and pure than your everyday plastic water bottles. However, the one thing that they all failed to compare to is your own filtered water. Why waste money on supposedly purer water, when you can have your own if you just buy a filter? So for everyone out there that buys Fiji Water, Voss Water, or Boxed Water, stop buying it and buy a filter and your own bottle, and make your own pure water.

Does Bigger Mean Better?

                              Radeon R9 270X                                                                GTX 660
       

          Take a look at these two graphics cards. If you were to look at these without knowing their ratings, and had to determine which one you wanted based off of their looks and names, which one would you rather have? When I was selecting my graphics card for my own computer, I looked at both of these. I did lots of research on determining which was the better graphics card, which met the requirements for the games I played, and which was the better bang for the buck. I later found that the Radeon R9 270X was slightly better than the GTX 660 in spite of the requirements that I was looking for, but getting to that point was quite difficult. As of right now, the GTX 660 is around $170-$200, a card that was released in August 2012. As for the Radeon R9 270X, the card is around $200, and was released in September 2013. When I first saw the Radeon R9 270X graphics card on the shelf, I had the idea that since the previous series was 6850, 7870 and so on, that the Radeon R9 270X was a much older and therefore a worse card. Having seen the GTX 660 before, and that it was only a year older, I thought that this was the superior card. However I found that this was extremely wrong. The deception of bigger means better had entered my mind.
          I feel that this is something that companies do very often to trick us consumers into buying their "new and improved" products. There are many examples of where this is effective in the world today. To begin with, Apple products have been using this trick, particularly with iPhones to trick their customers into buying their new products. In the past three years (2013-2016) there have been six different iPhone models released. The 5S, 5C, 6, 6 plus, 6S, and lastly the 6S plus. Now a majority of the people that have owned iPhones since 2013 have probably gone through most of these so called upgrades. Just like the graphics cards, people are being tricked into the thought that since the number is bigger than the last one, that the product is overall better.