The amount of media I consume impacts my life in ways that I'm not quite aware of. But I do know that the media influences some of my opinions, the way I dress, the music I like, and some of my expectations about life.
This class has made me realize all the explicit and implicit messages the media is attempting to tell us. Instead of the messages passing right through me, I find myself instinctively analyzing them and trying to determine the message and the messenger. So I think it's safe to say that now I am media literate. Being more aware of my media consumption definitely changes my interactions with media. I'll never look at a print ad or watch a commercial the same way again without calling out its flaws, appeals, or advertising techniques. For example, I can pick out the techniques or appeals and say what the target market is. I don't know if that has ruined the media for me or made it better, because I won't fall for the faulty, unrealistic messages it is trying to send us.
I feel that analyzing the media has made me more critical towards it, because I've found that each ad has another message to it that isn't explicitly told to us. Keeping this media blog has helped me uncover these hidden messages. The media is never quite as it seems. Each blog post I wrote and each advertisement I came across made me realize that the media is basically lying to us. But most people usually don't realize that, because most do not sit down for thirty minutes to analyze the meaning and implicit messages of one bit of media. Nevertheless, this blog helped me understand the media much better and why it does the things that it does to reach out to viewers. This blog drew me into another realm that I thought I was immune to, and it exposed me to the marketing and advertising that I never would have paid much attention to before this class.
I feel that analyzing the media has made me more critical towards it, because I've found that each ad has another message to it that isn't explicitly told to us. Keeping this media blog has helped me uncover these hidden messages. The media is never quite as it seems. Each blog post I wrote and each advertisement I came across made me realize that the media is basically lying to us. But most people usually don't realize that, because most do not sit down for thirty minutes to analyze the meaning and implicit messages of one bit of media. Nevertheless, this blog helped me understand the media much better and why it does the things that it does to reach out to viewers. This blog drew me into another realm that I thought I was immune to, and it exposed me to the marketing and advertising that I never would have paid much attention to before this class.
I realized how powerful the media is when it comes to warping and defining our values. I'm not saying that the media is evil or anything (although in some instances it can be), but we just need to know that the media isn't in charge of us. It's our job to analyze, or at least realize that the reality it's presenting to us isn't all that real. We can't accept everything the media throws at us. We and the media are responsible for our consumption and understood messages. We can't put all the blame on the media for changing the way we view reality, because it is only a mere reflection of all of us.
It is important to have media literacy and to be an educated consumer, because we don't want to fall into the trap of following blindly and wasting our money away. The same reasoning goes for being an educated consumer. It helps us realize what is being advertised to us and why that is. If we become more educated, advertisements will have a harder time targeting us to buy their product Sure, it's okay to buy stuff--that's what ads want us to do, but there is a limit.
I would like to say that I detest the media because of all the lies, unrealistic assumptions, and expectations. I would like to say that because of that, I will cut back on my media consumption to save myself from the constant stream of media messages. I would also like to say that my media consumption habits will drastically change for the better, but to be honest, I will probably still consume the same amount as I did before taking this class. Media is part of life and society. We can't get around it, and it's always going to be here, getting stronger and stronger. I honestly like getting my daily dose of TV and Internet. That might be true, but I know that I'll be more skeptical and tentative when it comes to the thousands of messages media presents us with. I know that I will be more aware of it and not let all the messages pass right through me as they did before.
Thank you, critical thinking for making me understand the media so much better and realize that the media isn't all as it seems. Now, there's only so much media that I can take in one day, but signing out is just the start of cutting back on my media consumption.
It is important to have media literacy and to be an educated consumer, because we don't want to fall into the trap of following blindly and wasting our money away. The same reasoning goes for being an educated consumer. It helps us realize what is being advertised to us and why that is. If we become more educated, advertisements will have a harder time targeting us to buy their product Sure, it's okay to buy stuff--that's what ads want us to do, but there is a limit.
I would like to say that I detest the media because of all the lies, unrealistic assumptions, and expectations. I would like to say that because of that, I will cut back on my media consumption to save myself from the constant stream of media messages. I would also like to say that my media consumption habits will drastically change for the better, but to be honest, I will probably still consume the same amount as I did before taking this class. Media is part of life and society. We can't get around it, and it's always going to be here, getting stronger and stronger. I honestly like getting my daily dose of TV and Internet. That might be true, but I know that I'll be more skeptical and tentative when it comes to the thousands of messages media presents us with. I know that I will be more aware of it and not let all the messages pass right through me as they did before.
Thank you, critical thinking for making me understand the media so much better and realize that the media isn't all as it seems. Now, there's only so much media that I can take in one day, but signing out is just the start of cutting back on my media consumption.
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