Rushkoff: The Persuaders
Key Terms
* neuromarketing (psychological) - focus groups; types of emotions--how do they make people feel? consumers driven by unconscious needs and impulses; unconscious associations for every product we buy deep in our brains; every word has a "mental highway"; start with cortex, go into emotion (telling a story; "you are a five year old from another planet"). then have them relax and recall info; neuroscience has taught us that emotions are what drive us. (feel-->do-->think). Synchrony (attention) + intensity (impact)= engagement.
Example: Brands use neuromarketing, and may conduct focus groups to get people talking about their products and what they associate those products with. For example, the clothing brands Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister, which draw much of their inspiration from Southern California locations, might conduct focus groups in which they ask participants to tell what they immediately associate the brand with in their minds, how the brand makes them feel, etc. Participants might say they associate these brands with the summertime, and that the brands make them feel fun and relaxed. The companies can then use what consumers say within focus groups to further improve and enhance their brand image and specific products themselves.
* emotional branding-getting consumers to identify with a specific brand emotionally; have a basic understanding of consumers' emotions towards products/issues, and play on them in advertising
Example: The ASPCA movement's commercials against animal cruelty always depict images of sad and lonely-looking pets set to a slow, melodramatic song that plays on viewers' emotions. Advertisers know that the consumers will be emotionally stirred upon seeing the images of the sad and abused pets, and know that their target audience are animal lovers who do not want to see these animals hurting. Thus, by stirring up viewers' emotions, ASPCA is using an emotional branding method.
* branding/creating a culture around a brand- creating the identity of a specific product, service, or business. Delta song created a distinct brand identity, and brand identity comes through in advertising, but consumers could not tell what airline the advertising was far
Example: In The Persuaders, we see that Delta Song tried to create a culture around a brand--women and children and women with families wanting an airline that would cater to their comfort and relaxed lifestyle, providing them with luxuries they may not be able to get on any other airline.
* narrowcasting-reaching out to consumers on a one-to-one basis; example-customized video messages tailored to their own demographic (for voting); gives politicians chance to say some things to some people that they wouldn't want others to hear
Example: info delivered from door-to-door during the 2004 election that may have given specific details and attributes about John Kerry, but nothing the people getting the message wouldn't specifically want to hear or would disagree with.
* rhetorical marketing- use of specific words and phrases to effectively advertise a product, service, or business. The words we choose to put in an advertisement are important, and specific word choices can help cater to the audiences they are trying to reach.
Example: Mcdonald's use of the tagline "I'm lovin' it" is simplistic and speaks to all. The corporation's choice to put the word "lovin'" rather than "loving" appeals to the informality and quickness of the chain, as are the words they put within the actual ad and how they are delivered.
* under the radar marketing- a more untraditional form of marketing (not print, television, film, etc)
Example: a video that goes viral on youtube that portrays advertising in a unique, untraditional way
* across-media marketing-this type of marketing does not lend itself to one specific medium--it is seen everywhere.
Example: Jet Blue advertises in print, on television, and I have even seen ads on billboards and subway cars. Transportation applies to everyone, and traveling is obviously a widespread process, so authorities know everyone who commutes already via train every day may be more likely to travel on airplanes than others.
* product placement across media- frequently seen on tv and movies, product placement refers to images and logos of various brands that may make us more likely to associate with a brand.
Example: In the movie, Josie and the Pussycats, much product placement is used, perhaps somewhat comically, as it gets readers/viewers to identify with elements of the film.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Internet and Democracy
1. Based on this debate and previous readings What Definition of democracy do you feel is most fitting for us to use in-conjunction our growing reliance and integration of digital networked technologies?
In my opinion, the most fitting definition of democracy for us to use in conjunction with our growing reliance and integration of digital networked technologies is as a democracy which exists on the internet where people can voice their own opinions whether it is anonymously or not. Due to the growing popularity of sites such as wikipedia, youtube, and more, the internet truly is a democracy, as we all have the freedom to post our own material when we want, however we want. It's true that there are rules and regulations for what we post, but the fact that there is no higher authority necessarily preventing us from doing what we want in the internet, it constitutes a democracy. Thus, the definition of democracy that I most closely agree with is the one that Andrew Keen describes in his argument and work.
2. How does your answer to #1 fit into the unchecked nature of Web 2.0 technologies, and what are some tangible examples of this? Do you feel this is an important issue that needs to be addressed further?
In my answer to #1, I explained that a lot of websites on the internet today involve users posting whatever they want no matter its content and credibility. For example, Wikipedia, whose founder Jimmy Wales was included in the debate footage, is a website many internet users rely on to quickly check facts and use as a main source when writing papers, doing projects, etc. Youtube also is unchecked and unregulated, as users can post explicity material and footage from movies or television programs that, if discovered, qualify as copyright infringement and must be removed by the user who posted it. I think that the biggest issue that has to do with the unchecked nature of Web 2.0 technologies is the existence of sites which promote anonymity such as formspring and collegeacb.com. On these sites, people have the freedom to post harmful statements about their peers without suffering any consequences. This results in both violence and the diminished self esteem of many. Therefore, I do feel that this is an important issue that needs to be addressed further because it is resulting in increased cyberbullying and cases of internet violence everywhere.
3. Define and describe the phenomenon of the Media echo-chamber as described in the Internet Debates. What are some examples of this silo effect, and do you believe it is an issue that needs to be addressed? Why or Why not?
The Media echo-chamber as described in the Internet Debates states that internet users are able to visit and support websites whose beliefs and content mirrors their own beliefs and ideas. Examples of this silo effect include blogs on which writers project only their own views on the general public. Internet users read these blogs in order to affirm their own beliefs and use content they see on these blogs to further develop their opinions. I don't think that this is necessarily an issue that needs to be addressed as much as others such as the unchecked nature of the internet because blogs exist that support a myriad of opinions, and as long as people have some sites they consult to back and amplify their opinions, it's not as big of an issue as other things that exist on the Internet that I believe are ultimately more threatening and dangerous.
4. What are some ways that expertise and authority could be (or is being) enforced on the internet? Who would be behind these forces? Why do you believe are they are needed or not needed?
Some ways that expertise and authority could be enforced on the internet are by having some sort of censor as to what types of words, images, etc. can be posted on any given website. For example, on a site such as collegeacb.com or youtube, which allows users to post offensive comments and/or statements, perhaps if there was a filter for the kinds of words one could post, eliminating any profane or offensive statements, these sites would not be quite as harsh or harmful. Granted, having a filter for the type of words posted on each of these sites would simply give people reason to find another, essentially more hurtful way to say mean things about peers on the web. Therefore, I believe that any enforcement by expertise and authority would be of limited help, and the same problems that exist now would still exist, just in a different way.
6. Give a through example of an adaptation or improvement made by a of a social, political, or cultural group, government, business or individual to keep up with changing nature of the internet.
One solid example I can think of of an improvement made to keep up with the changing nature of the internet is how much twitter and facebook have become a major component of many businesses in this day and age. In many advertisements for various companies, the company posts a link to their facebook and twitter pages somewhere on the ad to enable consumers to find out more information about a product. So many businesses to post information about their new products and strategies via the internet through mediums such as facebook and twitter, which exhibits how much the nature of the work world is changing and how much the internet is dictating what new strategies companies must implement in order to be successful.
7. Is democracy threatened by the unchecked nature of the internet?
I think that democracy is threatened by the unchecked nature of the internet. Because we do have so many freedoms within the internet world, people have been and are in the future more likely to abuse their privileges and contribute to what is ultimately more harm than good in the end. If we are able to post whatever we please anonymously on sites like formspring and collegeacb.com, as well as on wikipedia and youtube, there will one day be reason to impose harsh authoritative rules on our internet freedoms and capabilities. Therefore, we are threatening our own freedom and therefore threatening the democracy of Web 2.0.
In my opinion, the most fitting definition of democracy for us to use in conjunction with our growing reliance and integration of digital networked technologies is as a democracy which exists on the internet where people can voice their own opinions whether it is anonymously or not. Due to the growing popularity of sites such as wikipedia, youtube, and more, the internet truly is a democracy, as we all have the freedom to post our own material when we want, however we want. It's true that there are rules and regulations for what we post, but the fact that there is no higher authority necessarily preventing us from doing what we want in the internet, it constitutes a democracy. Thus, the definition of democracy that I most closely agree with is the one that Andrew Keen describes in his argument and work.
2. How does your answer to #1 fit into the unchecked nature of Web 2.0 technologies, and what are some tangible examples of this? Do you feel this is an important issue that needs to be addressed further?
In my answer to #1, I explained that a lot of websites on the internet today involve users posting whatever they want no matter its content and credibility. For example, Wikipedia, whose founder Jimmy Wales was included in the debate footage, is a website many internet users rely on to quickly check facts and use as a main source when writing papers, doing projects, etc. Youtube also is unchecked and unregulated, as users can post explicity material and footage from movies or television programs that, if discovered, qualify as copyright infringement and must be removed by the user who posted it. I think that the biggest issue that has to do with the unchecked nature of Web 2.0 technologies is the existence of sites which promote anonymity such as formspring and collegeacb.com. On these sites, people have the freedom to post harmful statements about their peers without suffering any consequences. This results in both violence and the diminished self esteem of many. Therefore, I do feel that this is an important issue that needs to be addressed further because it is resulting in increased cyberbullying and cases of internet violence everywhere.
3. Define and describe the phenomenon of the Media echo-chamber as described in the Internet Debates. What are some examples of this silo effect, and do you believe it is an issue that needs to be addressed? Why or Why not?
The Media echo-chamber as described in the Internet Debates states that internet users are able to visit and support websites whose beliefs and content mirrors their own beliefs and ideas. Examples of this silo effect include blogs on which writers project only their own views on the general public. Internet users read these blogs in order to affirm their own beliefs and use content they see on these blogs to further develop their opinions. I don't think that this is necessarily an issue that needs to be addressed as much as others such as the unchecked nature of the internet because blogs exist that support a myriad of opinions, and as long as people have some sites they consult to back and amplify their opinions, it's not as big of an issue as other things that exist on the Internet that I believe are ultimately more threatening and dangerous.
4. What are some ways that expertise and authority could be (or is being) enforced on the internet? Who would be behind these forces? Why do you believe are they are needed or not needed?
Some ways that expertise and authority could be enforced on the internet are by having some sort of censor as to what types of words, images, etc. can be posted on any given website. For example, on a site such as collegeacb.com or youtube, which allows users to post offensive comments and/or statements, perhaps if there was a filter for the kinds of words one could post, eliminating any profane or offensive statements, these sites would not be quite as harsh or harmful. Granted, having a filter for the type of words posted on each of these sites would simply give people reason to find another, essentially more hurtful way to say mean things about peers on the web. Therefore, I believe that any enforcement by expertise and authority would be of limited help, and the same problems that exist now would still exist, just in a different way.
6. Give a through example of an adaptation or improvement made by a of a social, political, or cultural group, government, business or individual to keep up with changing nature of the internet.
One solid example I can think of of an improvement made to keep up with the changing nature of the internet is how much twitter and facebook have become a major component of many businesses in this day and age. In many advertisements for various companies, the company posts a link to their facebook and twitter pages somewhere on the ad to enable consumers to find out more information about a product. So many businesses to post information about their new products and strategies via the internet through mediums such as facebook and twitter, which exhibits how much the nature of the work world is changing and how much the internet is dictating what new strategies companies must implement in order to be successful.
7. Is democracy threatened by the unchecked nature of the internet?
I think that democracy is threatened by the unchecked nature of the internet. Because we do have so many freedoms within the internet world, people have been and are in the future more likely to abuse their privileges and contribute to what is ultimately more harm than good in the end. If we are able to post whatever we please anonymously on sites like formspring and collegeacb.com, as well as on wikipedia and youtube, there will one day be reason to impose harsh authoritative rules on our internet freedoms and capabilities. Therefore, we are threatening our own freedom and therefore threatening the democracy of Web 2.0.
Monday, October 11, 2010
The Great Seduction
1.) Keen describes democratized media as the amateur's ability to now control information, knowledge, content, audience, etc on the Internet by using pseudonyms or remaining completely anonymous. Keens characterizes media democratization as "undermining truth, sourcing civil discourse, and belittling expertise, experience, and talent." He also believes that it is threatening the future of our cultural institutions. He calls this "Web 2.0 revolution" a "great seduction" because it has promised bringing more truth to more people--more depth of information, more global perspective, more unbiased opinion from dispassionate observers, etc. However, Keen believes that what the web 2.0 revolution really delivers is "superficial observations of the world around us rather than deep analysis and shrill opinion rather than considered judgement. Thus, the sources from which we obtain our information are places on the Internet where millions of bloggers talk solely about themselves and their own take on issues. Examples of what Keen is talking about are sites such as Wikipedia, which enables users to post "facts" about a certain topic, even though Wikipedia has no way of knowing if it is true or not. Youtube videos also exist in which people (some celebrities, some nobodies) can post their own thoughts on various ideas. People watch them and are entertained by them, even though they're not grounded in any truth.
2.) Andrew Keen is very much opposed to social media and the idea of "Web 2.0," calling web media a way of falsifying information we obtain and therefore diminishing our culture. It is obvious in Keen's book excerpt as well as the video clips we watched of him that he is very passionate about how bad social media is for our culture and our generation in particular who does rely so heavily on user generated content on the web such as wikipedia, youtube, various blogs, etc. Douglas Rushkoff, however, has quite a different view of social media than Keen does. Rushkoff adopts a more genuiely curious attitude towards new forms of media and focuses on its positive attributes, viewing it as a way to expand our horizons and ways of communicating and obtaining information if used correctly and for the right purposes. Rushkoff explores more extreme forms of new media, such as Second Life and the U.S. army video game simulation recruitment centers. Because of his investigation of such extremities, I found it easier to disagree with him than with Keen. Because Rushkoff was so optimistic in his portrayal of various mediums of social media, it made me think that everything he said about social media was a bit unrealistic. However, upon watching and reading Keen, I feel like his beliefs may be too harsh with regard to social media, and found myself wanting to argue with him. I think this may have a lot to do with the fact that Keen, in his writing and in the videos, came off as more arrogant and pompous. However, I do maintain the beliefs that I expressed in my paper in response to "Digital Nation"--that I think that new forms of media are frightening and detract from interpersonal communication.
2.) Andrew Keen is very much opposed to social media and the idea of "Web 2.0," calling web media a way of falsifying information we obtain and therefore diminishing our culture. It is obvious in Keen's book excerpt as well as the video clips we watched of him that he is very passionate about how bad social media is for our culture and our generation in particular who does rely so heavily on user generated content on the web such as wikipedia, youtube, various blogs, etc. Douglas Rushkoff, however, has quite a different view of social media than Keen does. Rushkoff adopts a more genuiely curious attitude towards new forms of media and focuses on its positive attributes, viewing it as a way to expand our horizons and ways of communicating and obtaining information if used correctly and for the right purposes. Rushkoff explores more extreme forms of new media, such as Second Life and the U.S. army video game simulation recruitment centers. Because of his investigation of such extremities, I found it easier to disagree with him than with Keen. Because Rushkoff was so optimistic in his portrayal of various mediums of social media, it made me think that everything he said about social media was a bit unrealistic. However, upon watching and reading Keen, I feel like his beliefs may be too harsh with regard to social media, and found myself wanting to argue with him. I think this may have a lot to do with the fact that Keen, in his writing and in the videos, came off as more arrogant and pompous. However, I do maintain the beliefs that I expressed in my paper in response to "Digital Nation"--that I think that new forms of media are frightening and detract from interpersonal communication.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Technology's Effect on Interpersonal Relationships and Experiences
For my paper, I choose to create my own kind of question: How does technology (like the ones seen in "Digital Nation") negatively impact interpersonal relationships and life experiences?
Technology’s Effect on Interpersonal Relationships and Experiences
We live in a world in which facebook friends have come to supplant real-life friends, we update our twitters more than we text our friends, and we vent to our tumblrs, online journals, and blogs more than we vent to our loved ones. The development and popularity of sites such as these were inevitable, given that since the earliest days of industrialization in the 19th century, Earth’s most brilliant humans have continually been coming up with new means and methods of technology that have consistently made things easier for us. We can be more efficient in our careers, work, studies, and even social lives due to the various mediums of complex, innovative technology that exists today. Despite all this, I have begun to question how positive and effective the creation of new technologies really is: at one point does it all become too much? Does this world that we live in, in which so much of what we do is rooted in technology, diminish our real-life experiences and interpersonal relationships? My viewing of the Frontline documentary, “Digital Nation,” definitely amplified these questions and others like them in my mind, as particular parts of the documentary examined interpersonal interaction via technology.
The part of the documentary that struck me the most was the segment in which its creator, Douglas Rushkoff, learned more about the concept known as “Second Life” in which people literally create avatars that look frighteningly like themselves and interact in places frighteningly similar to places that exist in our actual world. In the documentary, the creator enters an IBM branch that uses Second Life in the majority of its business endeavors and affairs. Viewers learn that employees hold conferences with clients and coworkers halfway around the world without ever meeting them in person and have become accustomed to conducting all business matters through this site. This concept entirely baffled and disturbed me. As a big believer in live, interpersonal interaction as the most effective means of communication, I find it hard to believe that work and ideas can be communicated as effectively through a site such as Second Life. In person, when you meet with a client or coworker to discuss ideas and issues, it is much easier to receive and take to heart feedback and criticism. In being able to see peoples’ facial expressions, body language, and even hearing certain inflection in their voices, we are able to, in my opinion, respond and converse in a more natural and genuine manner. A site such as Second Life does not mirror such real life interaction, despite its legitimate-looking, elaborate settings and avatar-people. Seeing a digital conference room on a computer screen does not provide the same sensual experience as being in one. Seeing digital avatars, however humanlike they may be, does not provide the same emotions and feelings as meeting with people in-person. It’s simply not real enough. One author from a site called Helium.com, focusing on communication in relationships, says “As we converse behind monitors and flip screens, we quickly lose the art of effective communication. The kind of interpersonal communication that can only be obtained with body language, eye contact and a firm hand shake." I think that existence of sites such as Second Life will down the line negatively affect human communication abilities, and even affect and mess around with the way we see the world. At what point does the already gradually fading line between real life and the digital world disappear completely? Will we eventually just become lazier than we already are and be able to sit on our couches all day and simply perform all interactions with the possession of a keypad and computer screen? This thought terrifies me.
“Digital Nation” also covers the culture that surrounds popular video games such as World of Warcraft, through which gamers can interact with one another without ever having met in person. The video showed us footage from a gaming convention that brought all diehard World of Warcrafters together to both play the game together and meet in person for what in some cases was the first time ever. Creators of the documentary even interviewed couples that had met through World of Warcraft online communities that have since fallen in love. This segment of the documentary played with my emotions, making me feel sympathetic towards but also happy for these gamers simultaneously. It is sad that, for these gamers, the friendships they formed through their computers and video game consoles represent some of the most real relationships in their lives. Many of them, like one girl in the video admits, spend every waking moment on the computer playing games and the friends that play with them. It’s tough to say if gamers retreat to their games as a result of feeling excluded from the outside world or if they feel excluded from the outside world because they identify so strongly with the games they play so religiously. According to a study conducted by Constance Steinkuehler and Dmitri Williams, examining the effects of MMOs (massively multiplayer online games), on gamers, such “contemporary media are a root cause for the decline of civic and social life in the United States rather than a mechanism for its maintenance.”
Although I myself have never tried out “Second Life” or been involved in a gaming community like the World of Warcrafters depicted in the documentary, I have experienced the online world in other ways, and maintain the same feelings towards it as those I feel towards Second Life and gaming communities. Websites like facebook and twitter, which most of us use, also affect interpersonal relationships. On facebook, I have a lot of friends who I’ve talked to maybe once or twice in my life, or, in some cases, never at all. We know everything about everyone on our friends list, yet we don’t really know some of them at all. We know who their significant others are because of the relationship feed, know where to find them at particular moments of the day, and know what kind of mood they are in, yet we have never had an in-person conversation with them. Facebook, in some cases, even becomes a game that involves great strategy on behalf of some, as it seems as though people put up particular statuses just so certain people will see them and comment on them. That is the biggest problem with social networking sites--so much of what we do on them is for attention. We try to portray a certain kind of self to the internet world on our facebook, twitters, blogs, etc., but only if people know us in person, in the real world, do they really know who we are and how we really feel and act.
Though I’ve tried my hardest to antagonize technology within this paper, the inevitable confession that we all must make is that it does have many positive attributes. Without the continued development of technology, we wouldn’t be able to keep in touch with people as easily and would take a lot more time to accomplish tasks such as researching, writing, and typing. The thing about technology, though, is that it is often so addicting that we must be careful that we do not ignore the beautiful outside world waiting to be explored. No matter how much we can learn or obtain from technology, I think that we learn most by experiencing the world and all the different places and cultural opportunities it has to offer. It is things that we see in the world and people that we encounter in this world that shapes who we are and the way we view society. If we ignore this because of the efficiency and convenience of doing everything online through specific websites, we will not lead as fulfilled lives nor will we have as well-developed, solid, interpersonal relationships.
Works Cited:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Facebook and the Withering Individual-Beginnings
Facebook and the Withering Individual (beginnings)
With millions and millions of users all around the globe, facebook has singled itself out as the most prominent social-networking website of our time. Today we live in a world where people have a difficult time distinguishing our real lives from our technological, online lives that include sites such as facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc. Although such sites aim to foster individuality, as they enable us to post our own thoughts, feelings, information, and photos, the irony is that sites such as these, facebook especially, often cause individuality to suffer and make it hard for people to remember what it’s like to exist as individuals in a real world, as opposed to the identities they choose to either create for themselves or embellish via sites such as facebook.
Facebook makes it possible for any individual to have as many as 5,000 friends on the site. The chances that a facebook user has even 1000 friends and knows all 1000 of those friends are slim. However, because of the existence of a “news feed” on facebook, we are able to see what any of our friends--even those who are basically strangers to us--are up to at any given moment. Thus, we form judgments about people that we barely know, even if those judgments do not contain truth and accuracy. The way people represent themselves on facebook may often mirror how they are in person, but in many cases the information posted on a facebook page does not measure up to a person’s real-life persona. Because I am friends with so many people on facebook that I may have met one time, or do not know at all, I know all these tidbits about their lives that they post on their pages. Then when I see them in person, it has the same effect as passing a celebrity on the street--we know so many details of various peoples’ lives it comes as a shock when we actually see them in the flesh. We’re so accustomed to seeing news about them on facebook that we forget they exist as real people in a non-internet world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)