comm3p18audiencestudies

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Blog Post #3

Thursday, November 30th, 2017

                 When reflecting on chapter 7, I decided to analyze my own media reception. Media reception is “the study of audience interpretation of media that occurs in specific contexts” (Sullivan, p.162). The textbook mentions that “Television continues to be the most important and widely used media technology in the domestic context” (Sullivan, p.171).  I am in agreeance with this statement because even though older analog television models have been updated and eventually phased out by sleeker, digital T.V.’s, this classic form of technology continues to be a staple device in my home. Over time; my family has swapped out desktop computers for laptops and tablets, and landline telephones phones for smartphones. But our television has remained in the same location, no matter what. It has become an unspoken tradition amongst my family, to gather in the living room around the television after Sunday dinners, even if we are not fully engaged in what is being broadcasted on the screen.

 The textbook later continues that “the introduction of new media technologies has not fundamentally altered the amount of television use in the home” (Sullivan,p.171). I am not in total agreeance with this statement. In recent years, the internet has interfered with the rate at which users consume broadcasted television content. In seminar, we were asked what digital platform we used most to consume our media, our answers were unanimous; smartphones and laptops. Streaming and social media platforms such as Netflix, YouTube, and Facebook, have the ability to satisfy our viewing needs all in one channel. By 2017, viewers have ultimately transformed into the producers. Convenience has become a key factor in media consumption as viewers opt for on-demand content over limiting scheduled content.

How The Internet Is Killing Television (Short Film)

I found this video to be very interesting. Although the textbook raises very good points on the evolution of television, I believe that a lot has changed in the past 5 years. As an individual that was raised and continues to live amidst a digital revolution, I am often unaware to the ways that the internet has altered my lifestyle. I have become so attracted by the perks of the internet that I will change my habits. For example, when moving into my student home; I opted to pay a for a monthly Netflix subscription and stream programs, as opposed to paying for additional cable. 

This is not to say that the television is a dying fad. This chapter suggests that we are creatures of habit. The television has proven to be a source of communication amongst my friends and family. In my home, it has always been a rule that we were not to argue or get upset over a luxury that was meant to provide entertainment. Instead, whoever turned on the television, was in control of what everyone watches until their program was finished. This may pose an issue in other families, but for us, this often acted as a bonding experience as it was a chance to get to know a little bit more about what the person in control is interested in. Because I live in a large family of males and females ranging in the ages of 79 to 15, it has provided me with a broader spectrum of popular culture and media content. I would probably not have any knowledge of subjects like politics, cars, or even soap operas if I was simply scrolling through my Facebook timeline that only consists of content that my friends are interested in. 

Ultimately context plays a major role in how we view media. This term refers to “both a place and a web of interpersonal relationships and interactions within the time and space” (Sullivan, 163).  There are many situations where I opt to put down my laptop and cellphone, in order to watch television. This term also relates to the article, The Influences of Sports Viewing Conditions on Enjoyment from Watching Televised Sports: An Analysis of the FIFA World Cup Audiences in Theater vs. Home (Kim et al. 2016). Going to the movie theatre has always been an exciting event for me. There is something about the atmosphere of sitting in a large dark room, to watch a film for the first time on the big screen, that made the production so much more special. Today, it is much easier and cheaper to stream a film from home, but that just doesn’t give the same feeling. Kim et al., explain that atmosphere, suspense, and togetherness as factors that compel sports audience members to choose between the theatre and at-home television.  They concluded, “Such intensified patriotism involving national competitions then should influence the levels of suspense and the overall evaluations of the viewing experiences” (Kim et al, p.406) Although I have never experienced watching sports at a movie theatre, I have gone to large social events such as Jurassic Park at Maple Leaf Square to watch the Toronto Raptors playoffs game. For the entire season, I chose to watch the games within the comfort of my own home with friends and family; which is an activity that I enjoyed because of the intimacy. Just before the playoffs, I went to a local bar to watch the semi-finals, where I experienced an atmosphere that I had never experienced before. When the game began, patrons kept to themselves; but, as the game continued, I watched as everyone laughed and cheered together in for the Raptors. By the end of the game, the entire bar was ecstatic! I became so consumed with excitement; more for the crowd than the game, that I became adamant on going to Maple Leaf Square.

Toronto Raptors Pre'Historic Game 7 @ Jurassic Park

Although I enjoyed my experience and intend on visiting Jurassic Park again, this is not an event that I will take part in during every Raptors game. This is because attending Jurassic Park did not take away from my experience of viewing the game at home.  I still enjoy watching sports with friends, family, or even alone indoors for the reasons that I cannot satisfy from attending Maple Leaf Square. 

The concept of audiences as fans can be applied outside of sports too. Chapter 8 in the textbook defines fans as audiences that “…are deeply engaged in their favorite media texts.  Fans often reinterpret media content and create their own cultural productions in response” (Sullivan, p. 193). The first personal experience that comes to mind is Walt Disney World in Florida. Growing up, I was a super fan of the Disney franchise. For my 10th birthday, my parents surprised me with a trip to Disney World. Although I was aware that the movies were fiction, I was still so infatuated with the characters and storylines. Our first stop at Disney was a brunch in the Magic Kingdom featuring some of my favorite (and not so favorite) characters from the movie Cinderella. At one point in the dinner, two young women dressed as Cinderella’s evil marks-sisters stopped at our table to make conversation. While in character, the two step-sisters continued to make snarky comments about Cinderella. At one point, I became so offended by their comments that I began to defend Cinderella and even made a few jokingly snide remarks towards the two step-sisters. After a few more minutes of banter, the sisters made their way to other tables where I could overhear other children engaging in the same type of conversation that I did.

The Disney franchise has become so successful mainly because of the fandom surrounding it. Although their content is geared towards younger children, people of all ages are able to take part. During my stay at Disney, I witnessed as my parents even got in on the fun by taking pictures with their favorite characters that roamed through the theme park. Disney has expanded by opening addition theme parks in California and even Japan, proving that this global sensation shows no limits in terms of language and cultural barriers.

Fan audiences are such an important aspect of popular culture. As someone who is interested in many different genres's of music, film, and television; I have learned that I am apart of multiple different fan audiences. Social media has allowed me to become an interactive fan member as I am able to use these communication platforms to connect and share with other fans across the world. More and more live television programs are beginning to incorporate social media features to engage their audiences. When watching broadcasted events such as the MTV Music Awards, audience tweets sharing their opinions are displayed in the corner of the screen as the program airs. When this feature was introduced, I found it to be very intriguing as critics including myself, are often skeptical of whether viewers choice awards programs are truly reflective of public opinion, which ultimately allows viewers to feel as if they are valued members of the production.

Chapter 8's corresponding article, Crowdfunding: A Spimatic application of digital fandom (Booth,2014), was particularly fascinating to me as I have taken part in crowdfunding on multiple occasions. The reading explained that Crowdfunding campaigns are successful if they are able to, "… engage their fans in a more participatory manner – acknowledging previous fan work, noting the saliency of fun activities in the past, appealing to fan attention in the future – highlight the temporal existence of a fandom" (Booth, p.151). My most significant event is taking part in a Go Fund Me campaign for my boyfriends' band. For several months they had struggled to raise enough money to go on tour across Canada and the U.S. At one point, I had jokingly suggested starting a Go Fund Me campaign but I was not aware of the success it would bring about. Within a week later, my boyfriend had started his campaign to raise $5,000 to put towards touring and equipment costs. They offered merchandise such as t-shirts and an online copy of their album to every person that donated money to their campaign. With the combined promotional efforts of the band, family, and friends; they were able to generate enough awareness using social media to raise $5,500 in 2 months. Although this was on a much smaller scale than a major film or television production, it was still amazing that the internet could accumulate support from people (even strangers) all over the world.

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Audience Studies Blog Post #2

Thursday, November 2nd, 2017

It is no secret that media plays a profound role in communication and ultimately the lives of North American society. After listening to Prof. Jennifer Good in lecture, I started to question if I would consider myself to be an active, or a passive user when it comes to media consumption. As a student studying communications, I often learn about many theories that would suggest that I am a passive user. Concepts such as hegemony theorize and agenda-setting theory that dominant parties, in this case mass media affiliates, can influence their audience by asserting their dominance and ultimately mold audience opinion. But after reading chapter 5 in the textbook, I began to realize that I may very well be an active user. Uses and Gratifications theory is different from many of the other theories that I have learned because it grants power back into the hands of the audience as it assumes “assumes that audience members are not passive consumers of media” (Sullivan, J., 2013, pg. 108)

When thinking about this blog post, I began to analyze what media I use, and the reasons why; I then compared my media use to those who are older than me.  As a millennial, I often find that I utilize media in different ways than my parents or grand parents.  For instance; when looking to gain knowledge on U.S. politics, I immediately turn to online news platforms such as CNN.com, whereas my parents and grandparents prefer to turn on the television and watch as the news as it unfolds on CNN’s T.V. channel. In this case, we are both concerned with American politics because we have a large amount of family that lives in the United States and would like to remain informed. The reason I prefer to stay up to date using online news media is because I would rather skim through the provided text to obtain any information I need as quickly as possible. When I asked my parents and grandparents why they chose to get their news from the television it is because they preferred to listen to all the facts and discuss it amongst one another as it is being given to them. In both situations, we are receiving the same information and consuming the media for the same reasons. The only difference is, that the television platform meets their specific needs in ways that the online platform does not. This is an example of uses and gratifications, S. Shyam Sundar and Anthony M. Limperos (2013), published an article called Uses and Grats 2.0: New Gratifications for New Media, which suggested that uses and gratifications theory suggests that consumers have “innate needs” and they purposely use specific types of media to satisfy any requirements they may have at the time.  

I choose to utilize new media, more specifically the internet; to satisfy almost all of my needs. Using the MAIN Model, Sundar and Limperos present possible new gratifications from media technology that fit very closely to my personal gratifications from the internet. This led me to become curious of what my gratifications are for Instagram, which is a social media platform that I use more frequently than any other media. This site and app is available on any web accessible device and allows users to follow users of their choice, as well as share, like, and comment on millions of posts all over the world. Personally, I use Instagram primarily as a source of entertainment this provides me with a sense of escapism, the textbook lists this as sense as a psychological function of mass media. I also log into the app in order to keep up to date on friends, family, and pop culture news, which meets my social and cognitive needs. Although I am on Instagram daily, I am not a user that posts photos very frequently as it is not something that interests me very much. But, when I do post it is with the purpose to update my ‘followers’ of with what has been going on in my life, this ultimately satisfies my integrative needs. After posting, I recognize that gain a small sense of satisfaction whenever someone chooses to ‘like’ my photo, even though it really has no significant meaning to my real life, the textbook would classify this as an affective need that has been met. I am aware that Instagram is not a platform that everyone uses, to reach out to my friends and family who are not members of the photo-sharing app, I will utilize other platforms of media such as Facebook, Snapchat, or even WhatsApp.

In the back of my mind, I am reminded of the other theories that we have learned that suggest that the constant and often unnecessary use of social media is truly the result of being a passive audience member. In order to combat this notion, I make the conscious effort to take social media ‘breaks’. These break periods can range anywhere from a few days to several months. During this time, I often delete or deactivate my social media platforms, and focus on more important aspects of my life that I may have unintentionally neglected; such as my basic and psychological needs.

Uses and gratifications theory uses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in order to fully grasp this concept. I often find that when I become overly concerned with the internet and all it’s perks, it is easy for me to overlook my psychological and basic needs such as sleep, personal relationships, and self-care.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Often presented as a pyramid, the lower needs of the hierarchy must be met in order to successfully attain the higher-level needs.  

Although Maslow’s concept seems fairly simple, I was unaware of how significant it is to meet these needs. Personally, if I fail to maintain the basic levels of the hierarchy, I notice a significant change in my mental and physical well-being.

Up and the Hierarchy of Needs

The Disney movie Up, is a popular animated film that I have watched several times. Prior to learning about Maslow’s hierarchy, I did not notice that the film shows multiple instances where the characters work to build their needs and are able to work their way up to the top tier; self-actualization. When the character’s needs are jeopardized, other needs were threatened.

Sundar and Limperos shed light on the changes new media technology has brought about. Internet usage has become so profound that it often overshadows traditional media that was once prevalent. Twenty-five years ago, print, television, radio, and film were the primary sources of media. My parents, grandparents, and millions of North Americans, were able to utilize the available media in order to satisfy their needs. Not only has the internet managed to merge all traditional media onto one platform, but it has proposed new gratifications.

When analyzing my family members, it is extremely evident how gratifications can develop through time and technology; especially in regard to communication. My grandparents solely rely on telephones and face-to-face communication as that is what they are familiar with. Although they do own smart phones, they only use it to call as they do not care and see no use in learning anything more. For my parents, they still prefer to make phone calls as a communication method, but will occasionally send emails, if necessary. Before I was able to use instant-messaging platforms such as MSN and iMessage, I would use the phone to speak to my friends for several hours a day. Now, I prefer to use instant messaging to ‘talk’ to my friends and family, and only make phone calls if I have no other choice. My youngest sibling, is 15 and relies on video chatting primarily through Apple’s Facetime feature.

Entertainment is a gratification that has shown a significant evolution throughout the past decades and continues to transform alongside technology. It is important to acknowledge this development in order to successfully adjust, learn, and consume accordingly. Those who are unable to do so will find it extremely difficult to find any enjoyment in new media. For instance, VHS movies acted as a primary source of entertainment for me as a child. In the early 2000’s, VHS movies had been phased out by DVD’s which were eventually replaced by Blu-Ray’s. Today, movies come in the intangible form of online streaming, and can be watched on laptops, televisions, tablets, and more. If I did not manage to adjust to the developing movie platforms, I would struggle to enjoy VHS movies amidst this digital era. Ultimately, I would be limited to only watching the older movies that were released before production was stopped.

Evolution of Media

This short video analyzes media and entertainment’s integration with technology. The overall way society chooses to communicate and behave has been shaped by this evolution.

It is evident that new digital media will continue to bring about new changes that will be incorporated in our daily lives. In 2016, Tesla released a line of eco-friendly, self-driving cars that relies on internet and GPS intelligence to maneuver safely through traffic. Although this luxury is one that is pricey, its’ features very well may be great enough to bring about high consumer demand. It is possible that in the next 10 to 15 years, self-driving cars will become much more common, bringing about another gratification from new technologies. I am extremely curious to find out how society will transform in order to adjust to the everchanging digital era.

References

Sullivan, J. (2013). Media Audiences: Effects, users, institutions and power. Sage Publications Inc., New York, NY.

Sundar, S., & Limperos, A. (2013). Uses and grats 2.0: New gratifications for new media. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 57(4), 504-25

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AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE BLOG POST #1

Thursday, October 5th, 2017

 When I first started this course a few weeks ago, I was not certain that I understood what an audience experience really was. My initial thought is that I could not be considered an audience ‘member’ if I was not physically there to experience an event first-hand. In our first lecture, we were asked whether we experienced the solar eclipse and the Houston flooding that took place this summer. At first, my answer had been no. I felt that because I was not in the line of totality during the eclipse, nor was I in Houston during the flooding, that I could not confidently say that I had truly experienced either of these events.  Later, Prof. Jennifer Good explained to us that an audience is essentially anyone who witnesses or spectates an event in any format.

During the solar eclipse, my entire family; including my 80-year-old grandmother and 9-year-old nephew, gathered together to witness the eclipse. My father had run around frantically, in search of the special glasses needed to safely view the eclipse, but had no luck as they had been sold out several days in advance.  In the hours leading up to the eclipse, my family had been glued to the T.V. as CNN shared live footage of people all over the world gathering together to watch the eclipse hit.  My sister and I worked together to make do-it-yourself pinhole projectors that we had seen trending on social media. Although the maximum point of totality only took place for a few minutes, this was a phenomenon during the days preceding and following the eclipse. There was a lot of ‘hype’ surrounding the eclipse, which made me laugh considering that we did not experience complete darkness in Toronto, but this event managed to bring together my family and friends.  Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were filled with memes, GIF’s, and videos as their online communities shared their thoughts and feelings on the eclipse. In lecture, it was interesting to see how many other students felt as if they had not experienced this event, but almost every one of us had.

Source: https://www.FallonTonight.tumblr.com 

Late-night television program, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon; has taken part in the social media phenomenon. This GIF was shared by @fallontonight from previous episode aired of where Jimmy Fallon performs a parody of Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 hit, Total Eclipse of the Heart. The parody makes light of the 2017 solar eclipse. 

              See How America Celebrated the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse | National Geographic

 National Geographic shares how Americans celebrated the 2017 solar eclipse across the country.   Published on 21 Aug 2017.  

               My experience of Hurricane Harvey was much different than the solar eclipse. Although I had heard that the hurricane would be arriving, but I did not pay much attention as I assumed it would be minor. After the hurricane hit, I became aware that I was witnessing something tragic. My social media feeds had been filled with details and footage of what exactly those who had been living in Houston. This new information had appeared to be a drastic contrast from President Trump’s statement which to me, almost appeared to be in-genuine. I had witnessed hundreds of people stressing the importance of donating and spreading awareness. Although I have never been to Houston, nor do I have any friends or family; I had been emotionally affected by what I was seeing online. It did not take long before I began to ask questions, and form my own opinion on this subject. Shortly after, I started to actively retweet or repost what I saw on my online news feed. Recently, I took part in a church fundraiser that donated large barrels of necessities and non-perishable food items to displaced families in Houston.

What Hurricane Harvey Left Behind

This CNN video was published on YouTube on September 4th,2017;  just several days after the hurricane passed. CNN shows viewers a glimpse of exactly what Harvey had left behind. Currently, this video has over 60,000 views, meaning that it’s audience grows with each viewer. Having so much access to visual footage at the tip of our finger is a luxury that was not attainable before the rise of the internet.   

In both instances, the internet played a large role in the overall audience experience. The 21st century has successfully merged communication with technology. Through radio and television broadcasting, almost all North Americans have access to international news. CNN has successfully dominated the news media industry for over 30 years. This American cable network has covered major events throughout history including; the Gulf War, the September 11 terror attacks, and most recently, the 2016 U.S. presidential election. We have seen drastic shift in the early oral audiences over the last century and technology continues to change the rules that had once been in place in regards to the roles of producers, authors, and the viewers. The internet introduced users to streaming, broadcasting, and customized news content which has allowed us to make our own decisions based on what I want to see, and share. Stories are no long passed solely through word of mouth or even by letter, which would have traditionally taken much longer to reach the desks of major television news broadcasters. As an influential figure in the media, CNN has the power to frame their content and determine how they would like their audience to feel on a subject. Like the content that I follow on social media, CNN tends to often be very critical of the current social and political state of the world and more importantly The United States. I believe that this power has had a strong influence on my thoughts, values, and behaviour and could very well be one of the reasons why I lent my support. The videos, comments, and memes that I had been seeing online reflected the emotions of the ones who were posting the content, which ultimately triggered my emotions; resulting in emotional contagion.

  While working through this course content, I began to think about other audience experiences I had been apart of.  Initially, I thought I would have a hard time completing this exercise as I assumed that I had not really been apart of very many significant real-life audience experiences. It has now become evident to me that the hardest part is really deciding which one of the many experiences I will choose. The discussion of power and its influence on audience has really stood out to me over these last few weeks. The most obvious example to me was power struggle between U.S. President Donald Trump, but more specifically; the 2017 Women’s March. Power has been somewhat of a ‘

#trendingtopic

’ among political discourse right now, especially the day after the official election results had been announced.

World Marches to Support Women’s Rights

PBS NewsHour- Published on 21 Jan 2017.

On January 21st, 2017, protesters gathered across the world advocating for women’s rights, immigration and work reform, and racial equality. The march’s held an estimated total of 5 million participants. 

The rallies had primarily been a response to Donald Trump and his presidential inauguration. The march in Washington, D.C., took place just outside the White House and was streamed live for millions to view on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Washington, along with approximately 400 other marches was filled with official speakers from all walks of life. Everyday activists, experts, and celebrities, gathered together in solidarity for protection of human rights and diversity. This is a significant audience experience for me because as a female minority, I have never witnessed such a profound effort to support the voices of marginalized communities. Freedom of speech is a right that I often take for granted. Spiral of Silence theory is the concept that an individual will not express themselves when they learn that their personal views do not reflect those of the majority public. There have been several instances where I have not exercised my right to freedom of speech as I was intimidated and felt as if I should not express my personal opinions because I was in fear that it would be too controversial or even ‘stupid’. I was not aware of the Women’s March until I came across a live stream on Twitter. At the same time, several of my contacts on Snapchat had shared their own footage of the marches that they were attending. I had begun to experience what millennials like to call, F.O.M.O otherwise known as the fear of missing out. It did not take long for me to call my friends and ask if they would like to join me in participating in the Toronto march.

Women’s March in Toronto

CBC News- Published on 21 Jan 2017

Denise Hammond of CBC news is on sight of the International Women’s March that took place in Toronto. This is one of the many marches that had been held on January 21st, 2017. 

It was empowering and exciting to see so many women and men of all nationalities and orientations gather together in support of the same positive cause. Although these diverse faces resembled the ones I would usually pass by on the streets of Toronto; these faces appeared to be friendlier. As we chanted together as one, people continued to smile and share positive messages with one another throughout the entire march. This energy was almost contagious as I recall making a conscious effort to spread this positive energy throughout the day.

It was interesting to take part in an event that exercised my rights as a Canadian citizen. At the same time it led to reflect on the countries where their citizens are unable to participate in protests or any effort centered towards activism. Others may argue that the marches were merely just a product of ‘fake news’ or agenda-setting, This is because they believe that the media promotes these issues to place focus on the faults of Donald Trump in an attempt to give him more bad press and discredit the issues that he places focus on.  Ultimately, each audience member will draw their own conclusions. These conclusions will be based off their own personal experiences, values, and thoughts. As a student studying communications and looking to work in a field places diversity in high regard; it is imperative that I do not force my own thoughts on my peers and remain open the ones around me.

-END OF BLOG POST-