Frontline: The Internet

The documentary by Frontline about computers and technology ratified the belief that kids are smarter than most of their parents and teachers when it comes to being technologically savvy. I have experienced this at Marist with some of my professors not knowing how to work the overheads or how to manage the volume on a computer monitor. This is also prevalent in my household with my mom who has her own laptop (courtesy of my dad) but she doesn’t know how to operate and therefore never uses it. My dad however, is very technologically able which has been passed on to my sister and I. One symptom of the Internet and personal computers is that teenagers in today’s society do not read books as much as their parent’s generation did. While I agree that this is a symptom of the internet, I also believe that Greg Bucotta, a student at Chatham High School is right in saying that teenagers have less and less time now a days. We are trying to complete so much in one day that we need another means of getting the information at a faster rate. As a result, we use spark notes in lieu of reading the book and complete our homework half an hour before it’s due. Greg attended a maritime academy in the fall of 2007 where he was prohibited from using a cell phones or a computer for the first two months. Greg’s parents believed that this was going to be hard for him, and they were probably right. Cell phones are everywhere nowadays which is astounding because two decades ago they didn’t exist and fifteen years ago they were the size of a household phone. Almost every adolescent has a cell phone in addition to an iPod. The down side of this is that even when you have a physical place that you interact with people you still have your cell phone or iPod with you. You are essentially always connected to some mode of technology. The phenomenon’s of My Space and Facebook have over one hundred million users combined. These entities provide a profile page about the user, exposes students to a wide array of personalities and networks, makes relationship status and pictures available that would probably not be considered ideal if their parents, teachers or employers were to see them. In addition, violent videos have been posted that create hype around student insubordination but can be beneficial by acting as proof of what happened and where the confrontation began. The Internet can ruin someone’s chances of getting into college or getting a job. The information that we all post on the web can be accessed by a wide range of people and has the potential to alter the path one intended for their lives. An example of this is the kids who take pictures of themselves with minimal clothing on or do things in pictures that once accessed can destroy a reputation. An example of this occurring was what happened to Jessica, a fourteen year old who reinvented herself as a gothic model online named Autemnedows after she was faced with a difficult childhood with few friends. She says that she was online all day
long. It was her world separate from reality that allowed her to escape to a realm where people thought she was beautiful and became well known. She experience people at school saying that her friends had seen her online and how breathtaking her pictures were. Unfortunately for Jessica, her principal found out about her alternate world and called her parents to inform them of the pictures that the felt were extremely provocative. Jessica’s parents decided to act by watching her delete all the photos she had on the computer, which was devastating for Jessica because to her, those pictures represented her and meant everything to who she was. Jessica’s parents over time allowed her to 
recreate her online profile and they began to realize that the internet is a tool that kids use to open up and invent themselves as someone. Another student, Sara described the internet as, “it’s something to do”. Sara feels that when she is online she is the real her. Sara uses the internet to stay in touch with friends through instant messaging as well as for school related purposed like most kids her age. What many people, including her parents don’t know is that Sara uses the internet to aid her anorexia. Sara looks for help and encouragement through the internet to maintain a thin physic. The idea of the “Ana Psalm” to me is horrifying. You’re placing your faith, almost like a religion, into something that is dangerous to yourself and your body. Another student, Ryan Halligan was being bullied at school so he sought out his father who taught him how to fight as a method of self-defense. As his training progressed, the bullying seemed to stop; but another unknown problem ensued… cyber bullying. Ryan had apparently made a friend online in junction with the internet to plan out his suicide. He used a website that helped him determine the “best” way for him to follow through with his intentions. The hardest thing his parents faced was Ryan’s suicide especially after things seemed to get better. After his death, his father had gone on his online account to learn what had happened by instant messaging his friends. He learned that Ryan was a victim of vicious attacks being called “gay” and a “loser”. A girl from his class would play games with boys online by flirting with them and then later telling them it was a joke. Ryan was one of these boys. “The internet is always a willing listener” said Parry Aftab who talks about the appeal of the internet. She also verbalized the idea that once you hear words over and over again you being to believe them, which may have been a cause in Ryan’s suicide. Ryan and Sara both used the internet to learn how to supports their choices and needs. Ryan’s dad believed that the computer and the internet helped to amplify the pain and suffering that teenagers face. Ettam Skinner, a mother of four, is what she would consider a cautious parent 
but her children would deem her as overbearing. She has located the only household computer in the kitchen so that she can keep an eye on what her children do or watch while on the internet. Ettam’s involvement in her children’s lives has driven her children away from the relationship they once shared. Many parents are blaming themselves for giving their children a computer to put in their room, which is a legitimate concern but some kids abilities to make judgements may be underestimated. Many kids are not looking for trouble and know how to avoid unwanted solicitations. While kids may engage in a lot of risky behavior online, the riskiest of behavior happens in person. Being online can only go so far, but this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t find a happy medium of security. It just cannot constrain the freedoms of today’s youth to the point where they are shut off from their families and all communication is lost except for online.

The Persuaders

I believe we are headed toward a future that is very uncertain in terms of politics, marketing research, and the overall state of the economy. It seems it has been relatively easy to convince the American people that times will continue to change for the better, technology will improve, and morals and ethics will rebound to what they once meant in the mid to late 20th century. While this may sound good on paper, to today’s average young adult this ideology is unrealistic. Companies have shown that they will pay exorbitant amounts of money to learn just what it is that captivates consumers and learn what drives their purchases and desires. As long as the times keep changing and generations become more diversified there will always be a new demographic to better understand. It is understandably out of our reach to know just how far the techniques of persuasion might go but my guess it that there will be a point when the amount of research that we conduct today on marketing will become obsolete due to a lack of information to analyze. It would be easy to disagree with my reasoning since marketing research is a science and science is rarely complete but I do think that there is so far that you can reach into the psyche of teenagers and young adults. I think there will be a point where we understand how difficult it is to comprehend adolescent’s decisions and reason because they are trying to figure out themselves on multiple levels.

Other than the obvious theory of consumerism and capitalism going hand in hand for almost a decade, Americans have become so wrapped up in their world of instant gratification from watching television vs. reading because we can receive the information at a rapid rate with less effort. There may not be a specific characteristic that Americans have that makes us more susceptible to various advertisements and messages but I believe it is more of an epidemic that has spread throughout the United States making us believe that we need much more to survive than we actually do. I think we bring all of the advertising be a subjected to on ourselves because we listen to it in the first place. In some ways we have given up our ability to think for ourselves or to see through messages that are meant to portray a distinctive thought in our minds as unrealistic or a fallacy. Our own laziness has perpetuated corporations desire to better understand what drives us and our reptilian brains. Whenever you buy a product you are associating yourself with that brand whether you realize you’re doing it or not. The video, The Persuaders, explored the idea that American’s are seeking and finding a sort of identity in buying or joining a brand or product. People of all ages but especially teens are in a struggle to learn who they are and learn what will make them “cool”. This is where the philosophy of the Merchants of Cool ties into The Persuaders. We will go to extreme lengths to be accepted by our peers even if it means following a path or using a product we don’t get complete enjoyment from.

The common elements in the persuasion or selling strategies of advertising and marketing is repetition and the creation of a connection with products that we are compelled to need. Consumers strive to create an emotional or empirical connection that the consumer can relate to and will then hopefully become loyal. This connection can be made through television, magazines, radio, or word of mouth. The majority of the stuff we accumulate over a lifetime is mostly unnecessary to our existence and over time serves less and less meaning. In an attempt to avoid the trickiness of advertisers and their campaigns we must be very self-aware of what we are being exposed to on a regular basis. It would be a good idea to frequently check in with yourself especially when you are making a purchase and as yourself, do I really need this? What benefit will this product provide me? Is the benefit worth the cost? You could begin this by not watching or listening to the advertisements that are playing in between television programs and radio shows. It would be naive to think that the average person could be subjected to the amount of advertising that they are and believe that they could filter what they hear on their own. We need to demonstrate autonomy at all times by blocking out what we are faced with in terms of advertising and the massages they portray in an attempt to make us believe we need superfluous products.

Merchants of Cool

I have always understood why large corporations and entities dedicate so much time, money and resources in an attempt to better understand teenagers likes and dislikes but after watching this video I still had one of the same questions… Why? If the marketing media is always trying to pinpoint what is cool to then sell that image, but it is “uncool” by the time it is discovered then why spend so much time learning about something that will soon become obsolete. Of course I understand that the revenue earned from the research that is conducted makes it all worthwhile, why can’t we just accept the mentality that “cool” is always changing and will be determined when something is truly a fad. Sex is inherently everywhere we turn and young teenagers and adults cannot escape it but that doesn’t mean that we should promote promiscuity and the ideas of perfect bodies to today youth. Teenagers are bombarded with around 3,000 advertisements a day, which should raise no doubt around the idea that they run today’s economy. With over 33 million of us spending an exponential amount of money like never seen before, we have the media and disposable income to blame for our savvy spending. I believe the media and the corporation that promote the exorbitant amount of advertisements we’re exposed to have gone way over the top in terms of their tactics and techniques of product exposure. This consumer spending is not wholly benefiting our society. We are deeply affected by affluenza- A made up word pertaining to the need to continually consume worthless possessions because we think they solve other problems we are faced with. However, just become some may feel that this marketing approach has gone to far it doesn’t show any serious signs of slowing. Any according to the corporations in charge, why should it? They are generating more sales than ever and are extremely successful at what they do. My friend who interned at Sony two summers ago got an inside look at how the music industry truly works. The average person assumes that we the consumers shape who makes or breaks it as a star but in fact it is the large companies like Sony and Epic Records who find someone to fulfill a certain image and then they promote their material and design to us so we can hopefully like them and then, tada! Another star is born. But of course now I am studying to way they are studying me and my generation of music loving teens, so in the end it is appears to be a large never ending ring of research and appeal.