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Audience Studies (3P18) Blog Post #3

 As much as I love over priced movie theatre popcorn and the big fancy reclining seats, I also love being able to save money and not having to leave the comfort of my bed. Netflix is great, having the constant stream of shows and movies wherever and whenever I please but it always seems as though I’ve watched everything worth watching on there at least once, plus there is the whole eight plus bucks a month thing. Youtube on the other hand does not cost me a penny and there is new content uploaded daily, whether I want to watch funny cat compilations or Bob Ross painting for an hour and a half it is all there at my fingertips. With all the positives there are most definitely some negatives that come along with it being a free public platform, for example you can very rarely get to a video without having to see at least one advertisement and that “Skip the Ad” button is becoming less and less available. Anyone can post anything on the streaming site, this can be a huge plus but can also come with consequences and most definitely has in the past. Creators have become their own form of celebrity and there is a whole new subculture that has been created around these content creators and their viewers. 

      Even when one is googling the most odd, random and completely mind numbing thing such as the ASMR version of someone eating a Big Mac they are still being monitored and analyzed by big data. Big Data is “Big data is a term that describes the large volume of data – both structured and unstructured – that inundates a business on a day-to-day basis. But it’s not the amount of data that’s important. It’s what organizations do with the data that matters. Big data can be analyzed for insights that lead to better decisions and strategic business moves.” (SAS, 2018), meaning that every click, like or dislike of a video is kept tracked of and analyzed. This information can then be taken and a profile of your own personal political, religious views or even your favourite colour can be put together. This can lead to things like personal advertisements and videos on your home page. This information can also be used to sway your opinions or mindsets through even the most subtle of things. My most popular page on youtube looks completely different than the person next to me, even though the way it is set up makes one assume that it is based on generally popularity not by your previous searches. 

      The Idea of Social media editors (SME’s) or “the faces of the media agencies in the digital world” and  “Now set positioned to control how news flows not the social media sphere” (Wasike, 8). SMEs are extremely active and evident on with youtube and are able to dictate “how the media agencies interact with audiences in the digital world and eventually bring [those audiences] into the fold.” (Wasike, 8). Content Creators on youtube have created their own entertainment niche and have been able to become as popular and recognizable as your favourite actor/actress while still being able to stay relatable to their “viewers”or fans meaning they are “... fan audiences are deeply engaged in their favourite media texts. Fans often reinterpret media content and create their own cultural productions in response” (Sullivan, p. 193). The ability to comment on videos makes users feel as though they are in close contact with these people and even friends with their favourite creators. This has created entire fandoms or people who are “associated with the cultural tastes of subordinated forma6ons of the people, particularly those disempowered by any combination of gender, age, class and race” (Fiske as cited in Sullivan, p. 193), creators often have names for their viewers similar to celebrities, example of Justin Bieber and his “Beliebers”. Popular creators are able to earn millions of dollars from advertisements and brand deals, they are even able to manufacture and sell their merchandise. There have been a number of Youtube creators who have gone on to have successful careers in makeup, music and acting. Vidcon is an event that takes place every year in California where some of the most popular youtube creators gather to take part in “meet ups” and “Q and A” events with paying viewers. The event has gone more and more with each passing year and can now be compared to some of the more famous fan expos such as “Comic-con” and Star Trek conventions. 

      The popularity of these so called “everyday” people has brought forth multiple issues for the platform. When looking at Media frames and Media framing “Generic frames are broad and structural themes and are limited to conflict, human interest, economic impact, responsibility and morality (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). The idea of morality are most definitely a personal thing, but if one is pushing and presenting their morals on a Youtube account with millions of followers it can most definitely have an impact. Morality when being used in the idea of media framing “emphasizes religious and morality issues in news coverage.”(Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). A prime example of this would be when one of the most popular Youtube Creators Logan Paul posted a video on his channel (which consists of mostly teenage girls) a video of a dead body that he and his friends had come across in Japans suicide forest. The video quickly gathered millions of views and was eventually removed from the site, many people fought to have his channel removed but his subscribers fought against it. He took his own morals and pushed them onto these viewers to the point of defending a highly disturbing act. This also shows how much influence the audience of the site has on decision making, Logan realistically should of had his channel taken away at a minimum but his subscribers and viewers fought and were heard. There is also a great deal of conflict framing “ portray adversarial dynamics between individuals, groups or institutions.”(Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000) shown on the site. There is often “beef” between different creators or groups of creators that can result in things such as “dis-tracks” or even the potential for planned fights. For example going back to the Logan Paul example, he and his brother trained and had a promoted, televised boxing match between a popular English Youtuber and his younger brother. The fight made everyone involved millions of dollars richer, which shows the potential Economic impact frame of the platform. The economic impact frame meaning the “news coverage to portray the impact thereof on individual players, institutions or nations.”(Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). There is also a huge economic market created by Youtube through the advertising dollars and partnerships between brands and creators. 

      The site also promotes the idea of “Fake News” or ““Fake news” is a term that has come to mean different things to different people. At its core, we are defining “fake news” as those news stories that are false: the story itself is fabricated, with no verifiable facts, sources or quotes. Sometimes these stories may be propaganda that is intentionally designed to mislead the reader, or may be designed as “clickbait” written for economic incentives (the writer profits on the number of people who click on the story). In recent years, fake news stories have proliferated via social media, in part because they are so easily and quickly shared online.” (University of Michigan Library, 2018). There are multiple pop culture blogs and channels that act as though they are legitimate news outlets, they post daily videos featuring celebrity rumours as well as politically motivated videos to help sway voters opinions. The idea of “clickbait” is very obvious, popular creators will title their videos with misleading phrases such as “This surprise made her cry” or “Buying my best friend a new car” but when the viewer clicks the video it is completely unrelated to the title. The creators also use misleading “thumbnails” for their videos to catch the viewers eye as they are scrolling through videos. Even is the user quickly clicks off the video when they realize whats happened the channel that posted it still gets the “views” and therefore the monetary rewards. 

      The world is becoming increasingly digital, whether that be with personal communication or entertainment and Youtube is one of the key players in this revolution. The site is being updated as we speak and more and more content will continue to be posted every minute of everyday. Whether or not you are using it for personal entertainment purposes such as watching your favourite creator prank his friends or the boot-leg version of that old movie because you’re to cheap to rent it or actual educational purposes, the possibilities are endless and ever changing. There are obvious signs of big data in almost every aspect of the site and no matter how simple the video there is something some big corporation can take and come to a conclusion about you. Social media editors are a massive part of this process and are highly influential on their viewers. All this said I will continue to waste my free time scrolling and watching every “try not to laugh” challenge or recipes I will not even think about attempting to make, because for some reason it makes me feel good whether or not I’m losing a few brain cells in the process. 

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Audience Studies (3P18) Blog Post #2

     Whether or not the majority of the population considers it cool for someone of my age to be active on Facebook I am still on the site at least once a day. It is one of my main sources of entertainment and communication as well as where I go to learn of the most recent news and events. It could be the constant stream of cute dog pictures or never ending political debates between neighbours or “friends” but it is one of my rituals to go through and scroll to my hearts content.  Despite the controversies that have surrounded the social messaging site in recent times, I still feel as though it is a reliable, mostly safe environment. 

    While posting ones opinion seem to be welcome on the site, other users may have something else to say. Whether it be posting a picture of your child in an outfit that you deem to be  appropriate or your opinion on the results of the most recent election results, be ready for a stream of comments about others opinions on how this is not true. On a daily basis you can see peoples opinions being muffled and silenced by other users, if one chooses to share their minority opinion on the site they must be prepared for the consequences. Facebook is a prime example of the theory learned in lecture of the “spiral of silence”. Meaning that no matter what their personal view is on a social issue, political debate, etc., they choose to stay silent or side with the majority out of fear of being reprimanded. This can be seen in how people who were once vocal on the social networking site are now quiet or have shifted their view in order to fit in with the majority or represent the majority opinion out of fear of isolation.  

      In lecture we learned of the idea or theory of “nudging” or the use of suggestions or incentives to influence the users decision making to the desired result. Nudging can be seen on Facebook in multiple ways, one of which is the ads at the side of the page. The strategic placement of the ads pulls our eyes to them and encourages the user to click the link and read more into it. Another example of nudging seen on Facebook is in that of the “click bate” and “fake news” articles that are scattered among the posts by “friends”. These articles often have appealing titles and/or pictures that nudge the user to click the link that more often than not go nowhere, or are used to collect data for outside companies. There are also incentives put in place to encourage the sites users to participate, for example there are often contests being advertised, where the user is baited by a “like for a chance to win $5000” and is often scammed for personal information. 

     When one is active on Facebook they are fulfilling most if not all of the MAIN model of gratification. Modality-based gratifications or the different methods of presentation (e.g., audio or pictures) of media content, appealing to different aspects of the human perceptual system (e.g., hearing, seeing). The Internet's ability to provide content in multiple modalities (text, pictures, audio, video) is the reason why we sometimes refer to it as “multimedia.”” (Sundar, 512) can be seen in multiple ways on Facebook. The site offers users the opportunity to post different forms of media and share them with their friends. It also allows the users to view other media depending on the people they follow or “like”. When looking at Agency-based gratifications or “the agency affordance of the Internet allows us all to be agents or sources of information. While the role of gatekeeping has historically been the domain of a privileged few, now anybody can serve as a gatekeeper of content on the Internet.” (Sundar, 513), one can see that Facebook gives its users a high level of Agency-based gratification. As a member of the site I am given the opportunity to post whatever I wish and choose to share with my “friends”. Meaning the main gatekeeper has been removed and replaced by millions of social networking users. The third level of the MAIN model of gratification is that of Interactivity-based gratification, meaning “…the affordance that allows the user to make real-time changes to the content in the medium.” (Sundar, 515). Facebook offers a high level of Interactivity as one can access it 24 hours a day 7 days a week, assuming there is internet connection. It also allows its users to comment on almost every post that has been listed on the site, allowing them to start conversation and voice their opinions. Navigability-based gratifications are the fourth and final level or element In the model, this meaning “… the affordance that allows user movement through the medium” (Sundar, 516). Facebook has a high level of navigability as it allows users to scroll down, up and through pages seamlessly and is available to be open on multiple pages or browsers at one time. 

     The theory of agenda setting or the power the media has on influencing the public through what is shown on the platform is very evident on Facebook. There are multiple political parties that I can often see advertising their ideals through the site. Often politicians will have their own personal pages through which they advertise and influence the population of people exposed. The use of media and social networking site has been harshly criticized for its roles in some of the most recent elections, as many Parties or politicians will set up accounts pushing “fake news” or smear campaigns that paint their opponents in a negative way. It can also been seen through the presentation of social issues, as some are more prevalent on the site based on what the company chooses. This limits the information giving to the public and there dictates how people choose to view certain causes and issues. 

     All in all Facebook is one of those things I can honestly say I would have a hard time living without. It offers me a platform for which I can learn of issues that affect me and my generation, as well as allows me to keep in contact with people I have met over my life that without the site I would have no connection with. The site does have its issues, both technically and ethically but I do not see myself boycotting it anytime soon. Facebook gives me the opportunity to voice my opinion (as long as it sides with the majority) and post what I feel I need or want to. I will continue to log in and make my presence known by liking, friending and scrolling until I get my daily fill.