Sun Flower Seed #12: Social Currency

In this weeks class we discussed a topic called social currency. Social currency is one of the most important parts of social media today. In the video titled Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health,  Bailey Parnell discusses what social currency is and the stresses that social media has on youth today. Parnell says that social currency is the likes we value that we get on a picture. We as individuals for thousands of years have always thrived off of others and now that we have it at the tip of our hands we love the attention. The likes we get from our friends, our friends's friends and complete strangers are like money to us and we are the product Parnell says. But how does that all relate to social media? Social media only works because of the mass of attention we give it. If we did not use social media and give it as much power as we do then it would simply have already washed away. Social media and social currency go hand in hand because social media is how we get our product out and social currency is how we profit from it. We get hyped on the likes and how people react from what we post which is exactly why individuals spend hours on it everyday.

Sunflower Seed #11: Advertisements

In this weeks class we learned about advertising and how companies link fear to products. One advertisement I found is one by BMW targeting those who drink and drive. They linked the fear of drinking and driving to their car sales by using a real fear of losing limbs in a car accident to boost product sales. Companies use this horrible platform of drunk drivers by making people fear the road and coning them into trusting their car brands. In this ad they are selling a cure to drinking and driving if you buy a BMW and don't drink and drive.  Another advertisement I found was about Shave Butter. This product is a mens shaving product that uses the fear of not being sliced by your razor when shaving your privates. Within this ad it exaggerates being cut like fruit by having the fruit resemble private parts shapes and men can solve all their issues by using this product.

Sunflower Seed #9: Tattoos

Tons of people around the world have tattoos. For thousands of years the art of tattooing has been around for people to mark their bodies. In our reading this week titled, Secret Ink there is a mixed message that is still being sent out in our culture. The mixed message our culture sends about tattoos is the fact that many musicians, athletes and artist have tattoo and are excepted widely by the public. Where as average individuals with tattoos are not as easily excepted.

 Average individuals unlike many athletes can even get fired for having tattoos, "In addition to private corporations, state and local governments have also terminated employees solely on the basis of tattoos"(Roberts 156).  Employees that refuse to cover up their tattoos can be fired if it interferes with the uniform of the job. But for athletes this is not the same. Depending on your job your tattoo may be okay to one employer but not the other. Another way we know that tattoos are excepted in some cases and not in others is from the history of tattoos. Tattoos used to be a sign of wealth but now they are associated with people who have been incarcerated and have a lower social status. "Though tattoos were a fad among the upper class, sailors and soldiers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they became unacceptable by the 1920s, leading to academic research framing tattoos as deviant or symbolic of mental health disorders" (Roberts 154). Tattoos have made a clear shift in society from once being accepted for the wealthy to being unacceptable even today by some people. 

SunFlower Seed #9: Marketing Children

In class this week we watched a video titled, Consuming Kids.  This video was about how children are now being viewed from a marketing standpoint. While watching this video I noticed three very important points that were being discussed such as children are influencing everything, personalized ads, and the keep asking method.
In the video, Consuming Kids it talks about how children are now influencing everything. Back in the day parents used to make the decisions but now kids have a say in just about everything from vacations to family vehicles to phone processors. Kids control almost everything! Another thing that the video talked about was personalized ads. Now a days when we surf the web we see ads for things that that are personalized based on our age and gender. This is another tactic companies use to get you to buy there products. The final thing that I thought was the most important was the keep asking method. When parents say no to their kids instead of the child excepting the parents decision they will continue to ask until they get what they want. This is just one of the many reasons why marketing has taken such a shift because parents just give in and instead of being a parents decision its the child's. I used this tactic too with my parents!

Sun Flower Seed #8: Gaming

This week in class we learned a lot about games and the motivations behind why we play them. In the article we read titled, "Why We Play" we ran into two very important motives for why we play games known as challenge and mastery, and flow. Within the article we learned that challenge and mastery refers to a personal sense of getting better. As humans we love to know how we are acceding and improving our skills. Flow on the other hand is a known feeling for almost everyone that has played sports. This refers to the feeling of being in the zone or playing at the top of your game. Jane McGonigal a speaker in the video we watched titled, " Gaming Can Make a World Better" also had things to say about these motivations.

Jane stated in the video that games appeal to the motivation known as challenge and mastery because it is right at the tip of your level. Children that play games such as World of Warcraft are constantly playing at their own level and mastering skills before they reach the next! Jane also discusses in the video how flow is also another important motive. Many children get into a "flow" and don't come out of it for a while. They even skip dinner to keep playing like they are hypnotized to the game. This is one of the down falls to playing video games. Children can get hooked!

Sunflower Seed #7: Team Sports in America

Team sports in America has taken many different shits. According to Football High a video we watched in this week's class and the reading we did titled, A Variety of Religious Experience there are two themes such as transportation and heroes and role models that stuck out to me. Throughout Football High transportation is shown throughout the video. One main form of transportation that many of the teams use is a school bus. This helps teams leave and arrive together as a whole. In the reading A Variety of Religious Experience, transportation also comes up but in a different way. Transportation such as trains began to emerge during the Industrial Revolution era. Trains aloud for spectators to travel easier and quicker to games that were farther away which is exactly what school busses do for teams today. 

Another theme mentioned in both the video and the reading is heroes and role models. In the video, Football High, Kyle Frasier the quarterback for one of the teams is seen as a role model to a lot of younger athletes who attend the same school as him because of his phenomenal football ability. Younger students look up to him because of his success that he has been acquiring throughout his football career. The theme heroes and role models also occurs in the article we read. A Variety of Religious Experience also shows the theme heroes and role models by informing us that people often think of heroes as people who are hardworking, diligent, successful and an individual that gives people something to look up to. Kyle Frasier meets the exact definition mentioned in the reading because he gives younger students something to look up to which is himself. Kyle Frasier's success and hardworking personality make him a role model because people look up to those who are successful and work hard for the success that they achieve. 

Sunflower Seed #6: Men

Last week in class we were assigned the reading titled Boys will Be Boys by Guy Garcia and also watched a video clip in titled Mansome. After last Thursdays class there were many connections that were made between the video and the reading but there were three in particular that stood out to me.

Within the video Mansome it begins to talk about how men all around the world have decorated themselves but it is now becoming more socially acceptable for men to do so. Things like shaving or maintaining grooming areas is becoming a more common practice. In the reading Boys will be Boys it discusses how advertisers are now trying to get men to look at themselves more so that they have to buy the new products. This connects because as stated in Mansome the growing youth is now becoming more concerned with there appearance as more products are becoming available. 

The second connection I made was when both the reading and the video discussed the idea of becoming a man. Within the video when the two men are sitting together in the hot tub they say that the idea of becoming a man is when the individual starts to take responsibilities for their actions. A similar idea is discussed in the reading. Men are now said in the reading to be taking responsibilities now more related to their significant others rather than themselves. The older generations of men did not use to spend so much time within the house doing house hold things but now that is not the case. 

The most important connection I found between the reading and the video was the idea called Metrosexual. This term is described as a man who is heterosexual but thinks his appearance is very important. This term also makes an appearance in the reading as well. In the reading it talks about when the term first hit the U.S and it almost instantly became a slur word. This word changed the "soul of the male consumer"(Garcia, 3). 

Sun Flower Seed #5: Undergraduate Student at Duke University

In class this week we talked about an undergraduate student at Duke University and her struggles as a young individual trying to succeed. According to The View one of the major tv shows that covered the story the cast was so surprised that the undergrad student had first seen porn at the age of 12. One of the cast members was even in aw at the thought of such a young girl seeing such a thing. The View was one of the only tv shows that interview the young girl. The View cast asked the young girl about why she proceeded her career as a porn star and she responded that it helped to pay her tuition along with giving her an empowering feeling.

Another media show that covered the topic was Take Part Live. In this show they discussed how it was her personal decision as a young adult verses how The View viewed her more so as a child. Take Part Live also discussed just like The View that it helped her pay for her college tuition. Discussing that she was an adult gives the viewers an opinion that it is okay for her to make decisions for herself because it truly is. While The View talks about her in regards to a young child and it makes it feel like she should not be participating in such a thing.  Take Part Live also stressed that it was her own decision and that people should not be treating her the way they have been with death threats! She in no way deserves that criticism that she has been receiving. 

Sun Flower Seed #4: Myths about Weddings

This week in class we have begun to talk about weddings. People spend thousands and thousands of dollars on weddings but there are a few things people really know about the truths of marriage. In the tv show Adam Ruins Everything, one of the episodes he talks about is weddings. Adam the main character in the shower discusses the myths that people commonly assume that are true about weddings and marriage.
One common myth that Adam addresses in the show is the myth of soul mates. In fact if you believe that someone is your soul mate you actually are more likely to break up sooner than those who believe people can grow. If individuals knew this before getting married it could defiantly be a positive factor. Believing that people can grow instead of believing that they are your soul mate will help you understand that people can change over time and sometimes its for the better. It will allow individuals to be more flexible and understanding that people don't stay the same.
Another myth that Adam discussing in the wedding episode is the myth about divorce rates. People often think that over half of all marriages end in divorce but this is in fact a myth. Adam states that the divorce rate has never succeeded over 41%. Even I thought this myth was true! But there is something that people who are getting married can learn from this, its that divorce doesn't happen as often as we think. This fact that divorce happens may scare may people into thinking that marriage is a horrible idea but thats not the case. Knowing the fact that marriages don't all end in divorce gives those who do believe in it a sense of relief that marriage can in-fact last a long time!
The finally myth that I took away from Adam was the myth that divorce is a bad thing. People always think that because two people get divorced that the worlds ending or that the children are in jeopardy but that is not the case. In fact divorce has done a lot of good to the mental health of women. The suicide rate of women has been reduced by 20% because women do not feel trapped anymore. Although divorce can be hard for many couples because lets face it, its not easy there is a bright side to every struggle. Couples who are looking to get married can rest easy knowing that if things do go south in a marriage that divorce isn't always a bad idea.

Sunflower Seed #3: Cultivation Theory

On this weeks Sunflower Seed we are going to discuss cultivation theory. George Gerbner a graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in communication, developed the cultivation theory. His interest in it began to evolve throughout his life. Gerbner was born in Hungry in 1919. He became a spy later on in life, where he made his way behind enemy lines by parachute. During his time as a spy if Gerbner saw a Nazi he was ordered to kill them and that's what sparked his curiosity which lead to the cultivation theory. As a student at the University of Pennsylvania Gerbner conducted a study of how the television influences humans and his results fascinated him. Gerbner would soon come to create what we know today as the cultivation theory. The cultivation theory is an hypothesis created by Gerbner that television influences individuals thoughts and ideas of reality. His hypothesis also states that over time due to repetition of repeated visuals on television it can lead people to reprieve things that are not true as being common reality.

In the Cultivation Theory video of John Oliver explaining torture, we can easily understand how it is an example of cultivation theory. John Oliver discusses how if a human were to continually watch repeated acts of violence on television, such as news reports, that they are more likely to become scared of their environment and alter their idea of what common reality is. This is known as Mean World Syndrome. Oliver stresses that because a majority of what we see on television is violence or torturous acts that occur people have created false ideas that the world we live in today is a bad place. This is exactly what Gerbner was trying to get at when he developed the cultivation theory.

Sun Flower Seed #2: Moral Panic

Many of us have seen moral panic but not all of us know what it means. Moral panic is a fear that something is threatening society. Karen Sternheimer the author of Media Phobia talks about moral panic and its relationship to parents. "These and hundreds of other stories nationwide imply that the media are a threat to children, and more ominously, that children are subsequently a threat to the rest of us" stated Sternheimer. Parents are often the creators of moral panic because they feel as though they must protect their kids. We firmly witnessed this is class with both the Dungeons and Dragon panic and the "Momo Challenge". 

Dungeons and Dragons began to become a moral panic because one person who played it went missing and instead of finding the exact reason for his disappearance they linked it to the game he had begun playing, Dungeons and Dragons. The media had released that he had been playing that game and it left all the parents in a freak to protect their children by not allowing their children to play the game. This is an example of moral panic because the game itself had no threat to society but because of the media and parental influence the fear became real and spun out of proportion. There was absolutely no correlation between the game and the missing player. The "Momo Challenge" was also a similar incidence "Momo" a Japanese sculpture hit social media and almost instantly evolved into moral panic. People had begun a rumor that "Momo" was out to get their kids which was absolutely not the case. Media also got a hold on to the talk of  "Momo" and begun to warn parents about children's access to the threat that "Momo" was linked to and discussed how if children were watching Youtube "Momo" might make an unannounced appearance. This was all exaggerated fear because "Momo" is just a sculpture but because of parents fearing for their children's safety it evolved into something much bigger than it ever should of. Moral panic is a real thing but its only real if we let it exist. 

Sun Flower Seed #1 : Timothy Caulfield

In Timothy Caulfield’s interview The Cult of Celebrity there are three very important points he discusses. Caulfield begins by talking about how children thoughts of what they want to be when they grow up has shifted. Children used to desire to be astronauts and vets but now they want to be celebrities, singers, sports stars, and dancers. Another very important thing Caulfield addresses is media. Caulfield believes that media has been the cause to why children have a desire to seek these new professions. In his interview Caulfield states points like the value of celebrity has begun increasing and that people now want to be social media famous which has lead to our youth's change in career choices. These two points are very important because they go hand and hand.Children have begun to notice media more and more and because of their age they are blind to the actual chance they have of becoming a celebrity or singer. They just simply don't see how unrealistic these dreams are. The last important point that Caulfield discusses is how people are bad at accessing their talent. In his interview Caulfield talks about his tryout for American Idol. During his tryout Caulfield discovered that the contestants genuinely thought they were talented but not everyone there was. 

Furthermore, when Caulfield talks about how people are bad at accessing their talent it ties in closely with our reading earlier this week, Celebrity Culture Viewpoints. The article Celebrity Culture Viewpoints discuss how a celebrity is someone that is actively seeking to be a celebrity. While having fame on the other hand “is something one earns--through talent or achievement of one kind or another.” These individuals that Caulfield has observed during his American Idol Audition are blinded by the eyes of bliss that they create an illusion that they have a true singing talent. Caulfield recognizes this right away and states in his interview that these people think that their so called talent will bring them fame but that’s not the case because they have none. They also believe that their so called singing talent (that most of them do not have) will change their lives and social situation but the truth is without a talent or achievement there is no way this will happen. Caulfield saids in his interview that for some of those who where auditioning for American Idol that, “celebrity was their vehicle to happiness.” This is the most important point Caulfield makes because people now a days are so driven by material things and the desire to be seen in the public eye that they forget what really matters and that being a celebrity isn’t everything its cracked up to be. They almost think like stated in Celebrity Culture Viewpoints that being a celebrity is the closest thing to god on earth.