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Reflection

Reflection
Critical thinking, the media blogs specifically, were a great way for me to improve my analysis skills and give me a better understanding of the way that media is used to manipulate me. Looking back at my first media blog, I discussed how happy I was that media is becoming more inclusive. I was excited about people of all colors, genders, sexual orientations, and body types were being included in the media we consume, but after the class I realized the true reasons these people are a part of advertisements. It is all for monetary gain. Companies do not care about inclusion, they only care about ways to make money and appeal to a broader audience in order to do so. The same companies that sold one body and one skin type, have somehow managed to sell me my own identity, commodifying people or color and other minorities as a way to get more money.
Once we isolate the true drive of all advertisements and all companies, it is much easier to see through them and not as easily be affected. Now when I see ads on my feed, I am able to recognize them for what they are. A company selling me a false version of reality, the way they want me to see the world. After becoming more knowledgeable about the underlying messages in advertisements and the way they are used to manipulate us, I am not as willing to fall for an ad. The scariest thing about it, is how effective these ads really are. Before this class, I could see an ad for Coke and felt motivated to buy some. I knew that buying a Coke wouldn’t make me any friends or suddenly make me a party animal, but the ideas portrayed in advertisements in things like the Share a Coke campaign made me feel like I had to find a coke with my name on it, or force myself to like soda in order to fit in. Now, companies are going to have to think of some better sells. The most useful thing I learned in this class in terms of identifying hidden messages in ads was categorizing them into the 15 Appeals. By understanding things like the need for affiliation and the need for attention, as well as other appeals, it is easier to break down the messages within the ads and be so easily influenced by them.
While I wish I could say I consume much less media specifically because of this class, unfortunately I cannot. I have restricted my use, but more because I don’t have the time for or easy access to it, not necessarily because I am boycotting it all together. However, since breaking my phone I have had to spend a lot of time without social media and the impact has had both positives and negatives. For one, I feel like I miss out on lots of different things, like major online events or even messages from my friends asking me for help with a problem. Due to this, I felt sort of disconnected from the people around me. It is saddening to realize that people are so dependent on media and phones that not having one can seriously impact communication with people, breaking apart connections that need the internet in order to thrive. At the same time, I appreciate the time I spend with my friends more and have so much more to say to them, so maybe it isn’t all that bad. It is all about finding a balance between using social media and living your life, all while remembering to be an educated consumer and use your knowledge of media in order to create a new relationship with the modern world of technology.
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