Communication Culture and Society
Body Image
"Body image" is the way that someone perceives their body and assumes that others perceive them. This image is often affected by family, friends, social pressure and media. People who are unhappy with their bodies and don't seek healthy nutrition information may develop eating disorders. Body image is linked to self-esteem. Low self-esteem in adolescents can lead to eating disorders, early sexual activity, substance use and suicidal thoughts.
Body Image in Men
1 in 4 boys worry about their weight in the late 1990's that researchers in the field began to pay attention to boys. Harrison Pope, a professor of psychiatry, published his work around muscle dysmorphia, an obsession with "building the body "also known as "reverse anorexia,". Eating disorders tend to manifest differently in girls and boys, although both are seeking to fit in with what they see as the societal ideal. Rather than wishing to be thinner, as young females often do, young males obsess over becoming highly muscular.
Gender in Cyber Bullying
Boys are more involved in girls in traditional bullying's, both as victims and as bullies. Boys tend to physical bullying and girls to bullying involving psychological tormentà cyber bullying is more common with girls
Don Tapscot
Children are naturally wise, and have an innate thirst for knowledge which media technology can satisfy. Argues that adults should 'catch up' with their children Technology is solution to social problems Media as liberating force - kids now learn, work, think, shop & create in different ways. Internet = land of limitless possibilities and opportunities.
Neil Postman
Children are vulnerable, need protection from corrupting influence of media technology. Children should know their place Places faith in adult authority Internet & pop culture offer bad taste The world of electronic communication is a world without books & order
Case Study (Tutsi and Hutus in Rwanda)
Ex of Compassion Fatigue: Belgium took over Rwanda in 16th century until 1962. They made minority tribe Tutsi the rulers When the Belgians left, the Hutus attacked the Tutsi Tribe (Civil War 1990-1994) Hutus created a mass genocide (1 million Tutsis killed in 4 months) The media reported that the Hutus need help and not the actual victims, Tutsis The media failed to accurately understand the situation as a result provided a false report
Cyber Bullying
Minors, use of information technology to harm or harass others in a deliberate manner. Using mobile phones and the Internet
Ideological Racism
The conscious belief that race or ethnicity is the most important determinant of human traits and abilities. "Adherents" typically claim that race-related traits and abilities render one race or group superior or inferior to another
Why people share?
The psychology of social sharing: A study published in 2014 examines how people use Facebook to express their "true selves." Some facts: FB is most popular SNS In some weeks; #1 source of Internet traffic in U.S. (Dougherty, 2010). Over 1 billion users FB use: Motivated by belonging and self-presentation - the true self can fulfill these needs.
Privacy
"The feeling that one has the right to own private information, either personally or collectively." We manage our privacy through coordinating the boundaries of sharing certain information with particular people or groups.
Facebook is free and always will be
"When the service is free, the user is the product." - FB creates applications (i.e. Messenger) that we use for free. The real price is what we sacrifice for this right to use it for free - our data. - Big Data: the massive collection of information in cyberspace - Big Data is a revolutionary approach to marketing. It is our online behavior that helps brands and organizations learn about us in ways that they can contextualize and apply to their marketing strategies.
The Devlopment of Childhood
'The world of children" society is able to distinguish between children and adults Producing food, clothes and furniture for children Books maintain the linearity of childhood while television breaks it
Content Analysis of Pro Ana Websites
- Strength and integrity - Religious metaphors - Sources for inspiration - Chanting "Anna" and a list of principles sect - Committed to these concepts through: statements - Way of life - Showing expressions of emotional difficulty, as most of them associated with feelings of lack of understanding and acceptance from the surrounding environment, - Some show occasional doubts about the health situation and the possible need for healing
G.I. Joe
1964 entrance of G.I. Joe, - male equivalent of the Barbie doll. All of those bulked-up action heroes/many video games present an atomically impossible ideal for boys, much as Barbie promotes proportions that are physically impossible for girls.
Magnitude
20-40% of youths report being victimized by a cyberbully Cyberbullying is responsible for 720 out of 4500 (16%) teen suicides in the US
A Brand
A brand is an identifiable product, service, person or place... that the buyer perceives relevant, unique, added values which match their needs (Chernatony & McDonald, 1992, p.237).
True Self
A concept coined in 2002—consists of qualities that we currently possess but do not normally express to others in everyday life.
Reality TV Studies
According to Hight (2001), most assumptions about the psychology of reality television viewership are derived from textual analyses of reality-based programs, rather than research involving audiences. It calls for investigations of reality-based programming on the assumption that such programmes may implicate a network of social, economic, and political changes in modern society.
Cyber Stalking
Adults, use of the Internet or other electrical means to stalk or harass an individual or group or organization
Third Wave Feminism
Also known as Neo-Feminism From 1990s and continuing to the present The movement arose partially as a response to the perceived failures of and backlash against movements created by second-wave feminism during the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, and the perception that women are of "many colors, nationalities, religions & cultures" Rebecca Walker coined the term "third-wave feminism" Broadened their goals, focusing on ideas like queer theory, and abolishing gender role expectations and stereotypes All women, feminist or not, "offer heartfelt and complex emotions regarding body image"
Bystander Effect
American committed suicide via video chat room, people didn't think it was real, thought it was simulation and thought next person would call, not their own responsibility. Result of compassion fatigue Abraham Biggs
User Generated System
Any form of content such as blogs, discussion forums, posts, chats, tweets, podcasting, pins, digital images, video, audio files, advertisements and other forms of media that was created by users of an online system or service, often made available via social media websites.
Body Image in Women
Approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies and resort to dieting to achieve their ideal body shape. Unfortunately, only 5% of women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by Americans in the media. 58% of college-aged girls feel pressured to be a certain weight. Studies show that the more reality television a young girl watches, the more likely she is to find appearance important.
Spartan Life
At the end of 5 and 6 years old they were already working with their parents or entering the army; already adults.
Muscle Dysphormia
Boys are more likely to perceive themselves as underweight, even if they're actually overweight. Just like kids with anorexia, boys suffering from "muscle dysmorphia" will engage in extreme behaviors to reach their goals. Nearly 18% of adolescent boys are concerned about their bodies and their weight. Among those boys, ½ wanted to gain more muscle and 1/3 wanted to gain muscle and get thinner.
Conditioned Racism
Brain scans (fMRI) started showing that people feel some kind of pain from someone from their own race is being hurt The results of 2 studies, published around 2000, confirm that perceived racial differences could be enough to trigger fight or flight response. fMRI showed researchers that our amygdala becomes more activated when we see someone from another race than when we see someone from our own race group. Even children as young as 3 years of age prefer their own racial group and would discriminate against children of another racial group. With propanol people became less racist, adrenaline wasn't running
Brand Personality
Brand personality as a branding construct has received considerable interest significant effort to develop tools to measure the personality of brands. A number of personality traits can characterize a brand in a similar way that they characterize individuals, and businesses may market these traits in a manner to suit the needs of customers particularly to those with similar personalities to the brand. The personality behaviors associated with a brand helps consumer's appearance of their actual or ideal dimensions of the self.
Downward Social Comparison
Comparison to someone inferior, less successful and less attractive than us Likely to produce positive consequences, such as increased self-esteem
Upward Social Comparison
Comparison to someone superior, more successful & more attractive than us Likely to produce negative consequences, such as decreased self-esteem
Behavioral Targeting
Comprises a range of technologies and techniques used by online website advertisers aimed at increasing the effectiveness of advertising using user web-browsing behavior information, collected from an individual's web-browsing behavior (e.g., the pages that they have visited or searched).
Why should we care?
Every click on a link to a website is information being collected about you. May seem like meaningless information to the user, but it's the steam that powers many companies. Transaction made when you sign up for free service = giving up privacy. EX: Photo-sharing site (Dropbox good and bad) Liz's trip to Hawaii - Your Data and who has access to it
Formula
Ex of Compassion Fatigue: Boston news editor said the formula is: "How far is it from Boston divided by the number of corpses?" Huge earthquake in Iran, killing thousands, but because so far away people don't know about it
Gulf War
Ex of Compassion Fatigue: Style of warfare used in war was so far removed from previous standards of warfare that it existed more as images on RADAR and TV screens than actual hand-to-hand combat Decisions based on perceived intelligence coming from maps, images and news than actual eye intelligence US led coalition was fighting a virtual war while Iraqis were trying to fight a traditional one
Ebola
Ex of Compassion of Fatigue: "Sexy disease" Didn't kill many people but was very graphic Meningitis kills more people but isn't as graphic or visual, not media material Ebola gets more attention
Barbie/Tomb Raider
Ex of Hyper Reality: Action figure dolls, body image organizations fight to make dolls body closer to reality (expand waist line) People want to exist like this-->simulation for them is so strong that it doesn't help to tell them its not real/achievable
Venetian Hotel In Vegas
Ex of Hyper Reality: Amazing hotel with a canal, allows people to further escape and have a deeper experience. Gambling here is great as our minds are disillusioned that we are in paradise Creates simulation of being in an exotic place and spend more money by being tricked into the simulation
Dubai
Ex of Hyper Reality: City in the desert/Middle East, but based on successful and advanced things from the West Everything there is a simulation Simulation of a country So much money so created a hyper reality
Letter "M" for McDonalds
Ex of Hyper Reality: First association we have when we see "M", the PR of McDonalds is stronger than the PR of the letter "M" When kids learn the ABCs, when they reach M they get to be hungry because associate the M with McDonalds
Pearl Harbor
Ex of Hyper Reality: Movie has different spin than actual war to create different reality. Pentagon unit manipulates Hollywood scripts to make war look better Pentagon sponsors movies for them to glorify war
Car Freshener
Ex of Hyper Reality: Not all knew cars smell the same, but aerosol in the car to create the simulation of buying a new car
Theme Parks
Ex of Hyper Reality: Simulation is so strong and attractive When you go to the real Mississippi world you are disappointed because have seen the simulated one at Disney
Cognitive Dissonance
Excessive mental stress and discomfort experienced by an individual who holds contradicting beliefs, ideas, and values or is confronted by new beliefs, ideals and values that conflicts with the existing ones Compliment what you lack
Muscular Ideal
Exposure to still photographs of muscular media images leads to some negative consequences specifically in body dissatisfaction Agliata and Tantleff-Dunn (2004) also demonstrated effects on depressed mood and muscle dissatisfaction following exposure to television commercials featuring male ideals
Social Comparison Theory
Festinger, 1954. People compare themselves to the set standards in order to determine self-progress People have a drive to determine their progress and standing in life, and as a result they often search out standards to which they can compare themselves The most grounded understanding of how we structure our confidence
Having vs. Appearing
First phase was being into having. Now it is having into appearing Identifying with simulation of reality created by brand until it becomes part of you and part of your appearance Part of character-->ultimate success for brands
Anonymity
Frees bully from inhibitions by invoking feelings that the bully cannot be traced or sanctioned and by removing fear from revenge-->people are able to bully without it being tired directly to them Enjoy feeling of power and superiority -->traditionally weak but verbally can talk Students who would not engage in traditional bullying do so online in response to the anonymity offered through electronic media
The Disappearance of Childhood
How do television and internet blur the boundaries between child and adult.
The Audience's Fault
Human nature, we gradually feel less compassion about things Conducted studies of people watching "snuffs" (porn, thriller, rapes, murder) Findings: on day 1 people were outraged but after a while people got used to it and actually liked it and wanted more People became desensitized "The body count syndrome" = people need to see at least 100 bodies in order to pay attention Violent games and movies = make people numb to pain and suffering of others
Hyper Reality
Hyper reality is an inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality, especially in technologically advanced postmodern societies. A condition in which what is real and what is fiction are seamlessly blended together. There is no clear distinction between where one ends and the other begins.
The Big Five Personality Traits
In psychology, the Big Five Personality Traits are 5 dimensions of personality that are used to describe human personality: 1) open 2) conscientious 3) extraverted 4) agreeable 5) stable The Big Five model is able to account for different traits in personality without overlapping. Research has shown that the Big 5 personality traits show consistency in interviews, self-descriptions & observations. Found across a wide range of participants of different ages & cultures.
Motivations for Cyber Bullying
Internal: What personally makes you want to do it, jealousy, rage. Redirect feelings, Revenge, Make themselves feel better, Boredom, Instigation, Protection Jealousy, Seeking approval,Trying new persona, Anonymity External: Easy target (unpopular, awkward) Non confrontational (no face-to-face) No consequences (no punishment)
Media vs. Peers
Making appearance-focused social comparisons with media images may have more negative consequences than engaging in comparisons with peers Girls evaluate themselves more negatively when comparing themselves to models rather than to other girls in their peer groups
The Cultural Effect
McCarthy (1990) reviewed cross-cultural data on eating disorders and concluded that, "all cultures that have eating disorders have the thin ideal. Further, no cultures that does not have the thin ideal has eating disorders"
Anholt Gfk City Brands Index (CBISM) 2013
Measures the power & appeal of city's brand image Findings: London, Sydney, Paris, NY & Rome - top 5 "best cities" Sydney voted safest city in the world, with the friendliest people London voted top for city where people from diverse cultures could easily fit in.
Online Criminals
Motive: Use online attacks to make $, through illegal means: Hacking trojans to steal money from bank accounts when we do online banking Collect credit card info while online shopping
Hacktivists
Motive: protest, opinion Hacktivist activities span many political ideals and issues. "Hacktivism" - The word was coined to characterize electronic direct action as working toward social change by combining programming skills with critical thinking.
Nation/City Branding
Nation/city branding is the process of enhancing the image of a place by communicating its positive attributes, based on strategic positioning, to differentiate the place from its competitors.[Globalization] - Attract young professionals. - Generate enthusiasm among citizens - Promote tourism - Encourage economic development - Send a cohesive message about the city
Early Studies of Cyber Bullying
Noret and Rivers 2006 Surveyed 11,000 English pupils in 2002-2005 2002-03 6% received nasty or threatening text messages, 2004-05 rose to 7% Girls reported more than boys
Promoting Cities
Originally, promoting cities were for World Expo or the Olympic games - examples for Stockholm and Rio. Now it is about making countries and cities: "Destinations" The most famous campaign was created in the 1970s: "I (Heart) New York" [family-friendly campaign]. The Guardian goes on to say that "by the 1990s, every city wanted to be like New York" [family-friendly campaign]
Hyper-reality reading -->Fighting Hyperreality with Hyperreality: History and Death in World War II Digital Games (Eva Kingsepp)
Past is hyper reality-->history is a novel • Relationship between history and myth, death and evil o Applying Baudrillard's thoughts to digital WWII games • Baudrillard claims that our world has lost its connection to "reality, to history and the possibility of transcendence." • We are in a void-->no history and no future-->all simulated/hyper reality • WWII games make you feel authentic, but it is not reality • "A substitute for reality" o Takes the place of reality • We do not really exist-->we live in a world with hyperreal experiences and perceptions
Result of Media Failure (Fatigue)
People stop feeling compassion They become indifferent to pain and suffering People are skeptical now Don't donate as much
Place Branding
Place branding refers to the practice of applying appropriate marketing strategies in order to differentiate cities from competition, with regard to economic, social, political & cultural aspects (Barke & Harrop, 1994).
The Politicians Fault
Politicians only care about promoting their own agenda and to gain power Political cynicism: Should we blame the politicians? It's not human nature, it's government Media can also cause changes under specific circumstances (Bang Bang Club, Tienneman Square, Vietnam War).
Politics
Politicians use hyper reality/manipulating the brain Challenger/9-11 People watched it with their own eyes, but when asked to describe it they described what they saw on television, not what they saw in person Simulation of what television cameras show
Angelina Jolie
Positive Ex of Compassion Fatigue: Images of her adopting African kids Images of her helping or donating
Pro Ana
Promotion of eating disorder anorexia nervosa as a lifestyle choice Pro-mia refers likewise to bulimia nervosa exist mainly as a nonjudgmental environment for anorexics Some deny anorexia nervosa is a mental illness and claim instead that it is a "lifestyle choice" that should be respected by doctors and family Red bracelets helped identify those in pro ana groups to each other
Materialism and Excessive Partying
Reality TV include materialism, and an idealization of a hard-partying and "celebrity" lifestyle without regard for consequences. "Rich Kids of Beverly Hills" feature the lives of privileged young adults in California. They take extravagant trips, wear designer clothes, spend money on alcohol, parties, and rarely seen working regular jobs. Also, The cast of The "Jersey Shore" spends an entire summer binge drinking, risky sexual behavior, physical altercations, and even being arrested.
"Positive" effects of Realty TV
Reality TV is a learning tool for children, youth and adults. It helps people to learn about other cultures & behaviors. It gives privilege of family members to spend time together while watching it. It encourages people to get professional skills in different areas, such as cocking and enrich their knowledge. Documentary reality TV can create a picture of the world in youths' minds ("I am Cait"). Allows the viewers do fantasize about gaining celebrity status. Raises the expectations of the people by projecting fantasy. Provides platform for the people to show their talent in front of the society. Helps people to build their confidence level.
Aggression and Bullying
Reality TV typically reveals inappropriate behavior within peer groups, often promoting interpersonal drama, aggression and bullying. franchise gossip, from The "Real Housewives", back-stab and behave aggressively, condescending and catty toward one another. The expression of aggression between females seen across several reality shows gives girls the idea that gossiping is a normal part of a female relationship, that it's in girls' natures to divisive & compete. Television audiences care less about suffering experienced by people in other countries when they watch the news than when they watch a range of different programmes, according to new research
Physical Beauty and Sex Appeal
Reality shows portray women idealizing beauty and thinness, giving the impression that a woman's value is based on her appearance, and that popularity is derived from beauty. Competition shows such as America's Next Top Model perpetuate this ideal, as women compete to gain a lucrative modeling contract. Plastic surgery shows (Botched) feature people altering their appearance and becoming more satisfied with their looks. New study finds MTV's '16 and Pregnant,' 'Teen Mom' contributed to record decline in U.S. teen childbearing rate
Reality TV
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents unscripted dramatic and\or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people, sometimes in a prize contest. Reality TV breaks the monotony by creating interesting concepts & innovative ideas that stands out on screen. Every day on TV, some new reality shows are introduced, enabling the viewers to choose from a large menu of shows.
Parachute Journalism
Reporters are flown into an area to report They are unable to speak the language They therefore don't get the eyewitness report But only reports from the elites This makes their report biased The solution: have foreign reporters everywhere, all the time
University of Michigan Study
Researchers analyzed data on empathy collected from about 14,000 college students over the last 30 years. Found a 40% reduction in the feeling of empathy Main reduction was in year 2000
Catch 22
Smolak and Levine 1996 argued that as girls enter adolescence their exposure to media images increases As girls enter adolescence, their exposure to media images increases; however at the same time, the natural weight gain associated with adolescence means that girls' bodies move further away from the thin ideal portrayed in these images. As a result, they may perceive more pressure from family, peers, and other sources to resemble these images, which may result in unfavorable comparisons with.
Bullying and TV
TV Viewing is associated with verbal forms of bullying like calling mean names and spreading rumors. Frequent TV viewers are more likely to use mean names, to make fun of, to tease, spread false rumors, and to make others dislike them
Don Tapscot on TV and Internet
TV: Passive, dumbs down users, broadcasts singular view of the world, isolates people, and values of TV are more conservative
Ashley Madison
The Illusion of Online Privacy As the Ashley Madison hack demonstrated, Web companies can't guarantee privacy.
"Public by default, private by effort"
The balance of forces has shifted in the networked age. People are now "public by default and private by effort" - Danah Boyd. Moving from a world in which actions weren't recorded -->digital actions recorded Defaults change - privacy becomes a challenge of coming to terms with new environment. Encouragement to put aspects of your life that were once private, to showing on social media.
The Media's Fault
The explanation of "compassion fatigue" is that it isn't the public's fault Moeller suggests that Americans are sick and tired from medias poor coverage and as a result people are tuning it out entirely. Media cover events using yellow journalism People are now suspecting that their money does not go 100% to the cause they are donating to
Saturation Without Context
The first time we are confronted by an image of a malnourished child we are crippled by guilt The second time we ponder, flip the page The third time we may pause again, not because of guilt but rather to cynically observe that the image is invasive
Compassion Fatigue
The gradual lessening of compassion over time. Due to media saturation (portrayal) of stories and images of people who are suffering, people develop a resistance to these images or stories As the impact of these messages lessen, so too does their willingness to give to causes
Hyper Reality and Compassion Fatigue
The media blinds us with images and slogans and makes us believe in something, which does not represent the reality. It makes us believe that what they show is how things really are.
The world cities with the most powerful brands
The report measures two aspects of a city's brand: "assets" - attractions, climate, infrastructure (transport), safety and economic prosperity "buzz" , a combination of social media (FB & Twitter sentiment analysis) and media mentions. City Brand Rankings: (Total Strength out of 20) 1. LA (18) 2. NYC (17.7) 3. London (17.3) 4. Paris (17.2) 5. Seoul (15.9) 6. Barcelona (15.8) 7. Rio (15.3) 8. SF (15.2) 9. Vegas (15.2) 10. Dubai (14.6)
MTV Effect
The strongest factor to emerge from a factor analysis of motivations for watching MTV was to learn about the social world Content analyses of music videos have shown that, like other forms of popular culture, the portrayal of women is decidedly sexist in orientation with high levels of sex-role stereotyping In particular, the physical appearance of women is emphasized and they are commonly depicted as thin and attractive Correlational studies of naturally occurring television exposure have shown that the amount of time spent watching music videos correlates with body dissatisfaction
Effects of Muscle Dysmorphia
The study found that the desire to bulk up was linked to future abuse of drugs, alcohol and muscle-enhancing supplements. Those seeking to be thinner were more likely to develop depression.
Compassion Fatigue Backround
The term was used in the early 1990s by news media in the US to describe the public's lack of patience, or perhaps simply the editors' lack of patience with the "homeless problem" which had previously been presented as an anomaly or even a "crisis" which had only existed for a short time and could presumably be solved somehow
The Gulf War Never Happened (1995)
The war was branded "clean", precision bombing More humanitarian, accurate Smart media strategy with smart bombs Use night vision, everything looks more sterile and clean The simulation of reality was accompanied with precision bombing
Case Study (Somalia 1991)
US troops were sent to help fighting in Somalia, many lost their lives. American's reactions was we sent troops to help & they came back in body bags So every time an African country is in trouble, Americans reject the idea of getting involved. The solution is that media should keep it real & genuine-->no matter how hard it is to watch
Eating Disorders
Unhealthy relationships with food that may include fasting, constant dieting, or binging and purging. 95% of people with eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25. Only 10% of people suffering from an eating disorder will seek professional help.
Cyber Bullying Victim Characteristics
Victims of cyberbullying tend to be targets of traditional bullying as well-->85% of children who are victimized online are also victims at school
Exploring the Narratives of Women Who Visit Pro Ana Websites
What women struggling with anorexia may not be able (or ready) to say to family, friends or professionals, they may say in the safer and less confronting space of cyberspace. This paper explores cyberspace as a space in which women who are struggling with anorexia can potentially find sanctuary.
The Age Factor in Victimization
Williams and Guerra (2007) Proportion of students who have been cyberbullied reaches the highest point in eight grade (13%) and drops among high school students (10%)
Gender
Woman judge themselves more harshly than men Men are more satisfied with their bodies. Women compare themselves with unrealistic, thin media images of woman (models). Social comparison argues that they are most likely to compare themselves to similar others
Body Dissatisfaction & Age
Younger individuals are more vulnerable to the thin ideal Adolescence is a stage where social comparison is a key part of the social process Stronger relationship between experimental exposure to media images and body dissatisfaction for studies with a mean participant age under 19
Empirical Signs (After TV involving the linear way)
Youth gangs: In 1950 the ratio between children and adult crime was 1 215, in 1979 it was 1 5.5. Porn involving children. Shirley Temple vs. Brooke Shields. Children and adults wear the same clothes.
