Facebook/Myspace

   Myspace and Facebook have allowed us to network with each other for no cost. It doesn’t fail every time I walk into the library and see students on the computer the majority of them are connected to Myspace and Facebook. It hasn’t only become a way of networking with other people but also a way to express our feeling and opinions by allowing us to blog online and chat with people that share common interests and issues.

Newspapers Outdated

    I never noticed until one sunday morning that my family was subscribed to the newspaper. I walked out on morning to find the paper out on my drive way, I picked up put it back inside and left. When I came back I wanted to shuffle through it to look at the arts and leisure section when I couldn’t find it. After looking for 20 minutes for the paper that I looked in the recycle bin and to my surprise there was the paper. My mother who supposedly was the one who subscribed to the Los Angeles Time tossed it into the recycle bin because she said she never goes through it she informed me that newspapers she felt were outdated and I quote her : “Why read through the newspaper when you can read all your new online”. My own mother someone who grew up reading newspapers has lost interest in actually reading them, she says their tedious and hard to compile. I never really noticed how much I do rely on computer and the internet to get the news. Every morning I wake up and read the yahoo news and keep myself updated via the internet. If it’s not the internet than watching the local news broadcasting channels is my second choice.

Sex Sells

     It never fails in the marketing industry, sex sells. Our consumerism is dependent on what appeals to our senses, the media has evolved to an extreme degree that it now has the power to heighten and enhance our senses. Movies, music, fashion magazines have all used sexploitation to drive consumers to buy their products. What is too much though, I believe that nowadays the media has crossed the line and has confused what is appealing to what is degrading. There is a certain line in which media exploits women and mens bodies to a degree that is just inappropriate.

Scrutinizing Women

     I always find it a little funny that in every group a friends there is always one person, a female, who always complains about her weight insinuating that she is over weight when in fact she probably is the leanest one out of everyone. It’s a never ending issue in our society; women and their insecurities about their bodies. I have a friend who is a professional model she is contracted to a modeling agency and the other day I was able to attend a photo shoot with her and it became clear to me why women (and openly admitting that I am guilty of this at times) scrutinize their body size. The women that are photographed and for the fashion industry have come to be relatively thin, and when we look at these women in magazines and billboards some part of us that believes that this is the way we should all look. What made my visit even more eye opening was that I had caught a comment that a photographer made about my friend. Veronica who is native born Italian, is 5’10 and weighs more or less about 115 lbs and according to a photographer for a clothing company that is rather very popular but I will not name commented that she was a little over weight! There was no way in a million years that my friend could even be considered over weight, yet according to the fashion industry which is a multi billion dollar industry and influences us and affects us everyday she is not of perfect weight! It makes me wonder what our society is trying to make out of these women; are we coming down to every inch of our bodies to look a specific way, clearly thats what advertising wants to make us believe.

How Real is Reality TV?

     Reality TV has become an increasingly form of entertainment, what is about reality TV that captivates such a large and broad audience I have always wondered, especially knowing that most of it isn’t real. Our society has become so consumed and caught up in other peoples lives that it has become a way of escaping our own reality. The media heightens the interest in these reality TV shows by involving some kind of drama that they believe an audience can relate to. What confuses me is how we can grow to actually be attached to these characters that aren’t even real.

Growing up too fast?

     I recently asked my 9 year old niece what she wanted for christmas this year and expecting to hear about some new toy she told me she wanted make up. A nine year old wanted make-up for a christmas present I could have not been more thrown back by the idea when did it all of a sudden become such a priority for younger generations to grow up so fast and then I really took into consideration how kids are growing up now a days. Video games and computer games have replaced out door activities I look at magazines and the women portrayed in them what standards is our society setting for younger generations? Are we encouraging younger kids to grow up faster beyond their own maturity. It’s no wonder why my niece asks for make up at the age of nine, that’s all see sees on t.v. and even with toys, dolls dressed and made up to resemble the “perfect” woman.

Networking.

     A race has begun amongst all major cell phone companies with the hopes to become the most popular and world known for it’s networking features. I remember when the first iphone came out every one was determined to get their hands on it, almost everyone besides me. Nowadays all major cell phone companies including AT&T, Verizon, Sprint PCS, and T Mobile have created cell phones that can network us all over the internet through the convenience of our cellular device. But where does the necessity start and the trend begin? I have friends that are always constantly comparing each others high networked cell phones pointing out flaws or perks of one or the other. All of a sudden I had realized that it was no longer about connecting with people but rather which phone had the most gadgets or could do the most “tricky high-tech stuff”. I understand that there are some people in our society that really do need such advanced technology on their phones, but surely not some 11 year old kid that I saw in the supermarket who while he was waiting in line with his mother was playing some video game online. It make me wonder why is that the media over exaggerates the absolute need to have these kinds of phones, what is so life changing about these phones that if you don’t have one you will be known to everyone as the “old and outdated” one of the bunch. I see it this way, telephones were designed so you can talk on the phone and computers were designed s

Have we evolved past interpersonal relationships?

In todays world we have the ability to communicate with others through a vast variety of advanced technology. I have come to observe that I rely a lot on technology to communicate with my friends and family, in fact it has become the most convenient and easiest form of communication. Having noted that made me realize how less and less I actually physically communicate with people, in fact I can’t remember the last time I really sat down and had a deep conversation with a friend let a lone interact with them physically. It makes me wonder if technology has made us evolve pass our interpersonal relationships? I try to imagine how much my relationships depend on technology, I text message everyone instead of calling them, I video chat instead of visiting people its to an extent that it makes it seem that technology is was keeps involved in my relationships. 

Having noticed that I am clearly not the only person like this, has moved me to rely less and less on technology to communicate with others. There is more to communication than just convenience, it’s about emotions and feelings that are passed along to one another. I turned off my cell phone and computer for a whole day and tried my best to really interact with others with out using technology. It was a hard process but I realized that interacting with people is a more liberating experience than communicating through technology.