Written Analysis 5

I think the theory of stereotyping is the theory that most applies to my popular culture topic; Facebook. The internet is a mysterious place and social media sites like Facebook has allowed people to meet and communicate from all over the world. People can now become friends by simply “meeting” on Facebook. This technology has lead to many stereotypes. The stereotype of meeting people online to stray from their partners is huge. I know of many couples that don’t have Facebook due to jealousy issues. 

I thought the most interesting thing I found out in my finding for my written analyzes also had to do with stereotypes. According to a study done by The university of Pennsylvania, Facebook affirms gender stereotypes. Women tend to use words emotional words while men use object references. The study found that “shopping” is the most commonly used word by women and “xbox” is the most commonly used word by men.

The biggest difference in how I look at Facebook now opposed to before this class is that I now think of Facebook as a part of pop culture. I didn’t think of things as a part of pop culture before this class. In fact I never really thought about the things that make up pop culture in general. I will now relate Facebook to pop culture as a whole due to being in this class. 

Culture and Society Interactions

Written Analysis 4

The is a difficult topic as my pop culture artifact is not a movie, film, song, television show, book, or really anything that has a storyline. My artifact is Facebook which is a social media website. I would say that Facebook has a convention and invention formula. I say this because all works of art have to have convention and invention and in a way a website could be considered a work of art. 

Convention represents familiar things and ongoing traditions and values. Invention represents a new idea and perception. Convention when it comes to Facebook could mean the social aspect of it. People send friend requests to friends and family in order to keep in touch and interact with each other through messages, comments, and likes. Convention on Facebook could also highlight the photos that are posted as those can represent the traditions and familiar things. Facebook is also an invention. It has revolutionized the way social media works.It was one of the first social media sites of its kind. Facebook has changed the way people interact in today’s society. 

I never thought of Facebook as a formula. These assignments have changed the way I look at pop culture artifacts in a whole. I now know there are rituals, beliefs, and formulas among all things including things that don’t necessarily have story lines. 

Journal One

The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture that Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy. Steve Stoute. New York: Gotham, 2011.

Volume 45, issue 2 (April 2012), p. 445-447

ISSN: 0022-3840, DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5931.2012.932_6.x
Blackwell Publishing Ltd

        The article I chose is a book review of The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture that Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy. The book was written by Steve Stoute but the article was written by Richard Schur of Drury University. This article summarizes the books ideas that hip hop is no longer just a genre of music but rather a culture. It has its own language, Behaviors, and customs. Hip Hop has been used in major marketing campaigns. Hip Hop artists have proven to be very influential over today’s society. Hip Hop artists have even been used to save or rebrand famous companies such as Ray Bans, Adidas, and McDonald’s.

This article is a summarized version of The Tanning in America. The book is a memoir on the life and career of Steve Stoute. Steve Stoute was the music group Kid ‘N Play manager and roadie. This article brings up very valid points that Hip Hop is no longer just a genre of music but a culture and lifestyle. There have been may brands that have used Hip Hop culture to influence consumers to buy their products. Hip hop music and artists are both commonly used in television commercials, radio ads, magazines, internet and newspapers. The brands mentioned in the article that have used Hip Hop music or artists to influence buyers are Adidas, Kangol, Reebok, and Tommy Hilfiger. There are many more top brands that have also used Hip Hop artists in their advertisements. Mountain Dew recently used Tyler the Creator in a television commercial and Ford Motors used Kelis in recent magazine advertisements. (Bunkley, 2006).

I absolutely agree with the author’s points in the article. Hip Hop has become a movement rather than just a genre of music. Hip hop music is now played on main stream radio and a lot of it is considered top forty music.  Hip Hop music has successfully broke into the main stream. The demographic of its listeners have also drastically changed over the last few decades. The article explains that race is losing its power and not as much of a defining factor for people anymore. I would agree with this and would also in fact agree that hip hop culture has something to do with it. I think that Hip Hop culture has helped transform social stigmas. 

I think this article discusses important changes in today’s society.  It did a nice job highlighting hip hop’s influence into this change but I do not however feel that his article in general is important. Marketing and advertising has indeed embraced the Hip Hop culture and is now commonly seen in the mainstream media. There have been many factors to the social changes that have happened over time.

References

Bunkley, N. (2006, December 22). ADVERTISING; Ford Is Moving the Edge Squarely to Center Stage. The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/22/business/media/22adco.html?_r=0

Schur, R. (2011). The Tanning of America:Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy. Book Reviews, 45, 445 - 447.

Written Analysis 3

The theory that applies to my popular culture topic Facebook is the theory of celebrity. Facebook is a social media site that allows millions of people including celebrities to connect through status updates and photos. Facebook itself has also become a form of celebrity on its own. It has had a feature film about its creation called The Social Network and it is commonly mentioned in mainstream media. The creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerburg has also become a celebrity from his creation of Facebook. 

Facebook is a celebrity because everyone knows what it is and the majority of people have an account. Facebook has many celebrity users and famous businesses as users. There are also many people that have started Facebook campaign pages as jokes and became overnight celebrities that appear on the Ellen Degeneres show. Facebook makes celebrities with these situations. 

I feel that Facebook and other social media outlets such as Twitter, Instagram, and Snap Chat are great ways for celebrities to connect with their fan base. It is also a great way to start campaigns and becoming a public figure. Justin Bieber is one of the biggest pop stars in the world and was discovered on the social media site YouTube. Social Media sites in itself are now celebrities in today’s society. People can not go one day without checking their Facebook pages of new updates, gossip, celebrity news, or pictures. 

Written Analysis 2

Facebook is one of the largest social networking sites in the world. Facebook has many stereotypes that surround the site. The largest stereotype that I see and hear people talking about has to do with jealousy. I have many friends in relationships that have since deleted their Facebook pages because the pages cause fights. I have friends that obsess over other girls liking their boyfriends pictures and vice versa. The stereotype of using Facebook as a tool to be unfaithful is huge. According to CBS Philadelphia, Facebook also encourages gender stereotypes (CBS, 2013). A study done by the University of Pennsylvania show that women tend to use emotional words and men tend to use object references (CBS, 2013). The study reveals that the most commonly used word by women is shopping and xbox by men (CBS, 2013). 

Every Facebook user has a different ritual when it comes to looking at the site. Personally my Facebook ritual is waking up in the morning and looking at my newsfeed while my eyes adjust. I also do the same thing before I fall asleep at night. The reviewing of the newsfeed is a common ritual among my friends and family. Another ritual among many Facebook users is changing their profile pictures after a certain amount of time. 

Rituals and stereotypes are very prevalent on Facebook. Every person has different rituals when using Facebook. Stereotypes tend to vary on Facebook. Although I think that people allow Facebook to blow their jealousy out of proportion I am sure that some people have rational reasons to be jealous. Gender stereotypes tend to be proven

when it comes to the study by Pennsylvania University. Personally I see this as accurate based on my friends and families postings.

References

Latest News. (2013, October 2). CBS Philly. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/10/02/study-facebook-posts-reinforce-gender-stereotypes/

Written Analysis 1

Facebook

Facebook is a social media website that was created by Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook allows friends to connect by having personal websites that friends can communicate and share photos. Facebook has become a pop culture phenomenon. Facebook is made up of many myths and has become a pop culture icon. 

Firstly, Facebook itself is not a myth but the things that are on Facebook along with things that Facebook itself have communicated have turned out to be myths. Firstly, there is no fact checker on Facebook so users are able to create fake profiles and enhance or lie about information on their lives. The most important myth  that Facebook has communicated include privacy setting allowances. Facebook has communicated many times that pages are secure but this has been proven many times false when updates make all user’s information readily available. Recently, Facebook has removed the option to make your name unsearchable (Constine, 2013). 

Facebook has become an icon. Facebook is mentioned in Television shows, in magazines, and in movies. The creation of Facebook was even depicted in its own major motion picture called the Social Network in 2012. Facebook allows businesses to promote themselves for free and connects people for purposes of business or pleasure. Facebook has also branched out and has purchased other social networks such as instagram. Facebook has began to monopolize social media by making these purchases which pushes Facebook farther into icon status. 

The insights I get from analyzing Facebook is the progress that has been made from the creation of Facebook. Facebook allows people to easily connect with family and friends that live far away. It allows businesses to promote themselves without spending a fortune. Lastly, Facebook has encouraged other forms of social media to pop up such as Twitter, Instagram, and Snap Chat. Facebook has greatly increased technology’s bounds.  

References

Constine, J. (2013, October 10). Facebook Removing Option To Be Unsearchable By Name, Highlighting Lack Of Universal Privacy Controls. TechCrunch. Retrieved November 22, 2013, from http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/10/facebook-search-privacy/

Contemporary Icons

The first contemporary icon I chose was the Instagram icon. Instagram is a form of social media. I would say it is the latest “craze”. It allows users to post pictures with different filters and formatting options and then allows the user’s followers to comments and “like” the photos. Instagram means a lot to me in recent years as many of my best friends have moved out of Columbus and it allows us to post memories and continue our communications with each other even though we no longer live in the same places. 

The second contemporary icon I chose was the Geico Gecko. This little guy is part of a automobile insurance advertising campaign that brings humor and lightheartedness to the insurance industry. This icon means a lot to me as I work for an auto insurance company. I find this to be the best advertising campaign in the industry. 

The third contemporary icon I chose was the American Horror Story: Coven symbol. American Horror Story has been a pop culture phenomenon. The show has a cult following and has gotten rave reviews with many critics. There have been three seasons that all have a different storyline. This allows someone who had missed a season to watch another season and not have to catch up. This icon means a lot to me because it is my favorite show. My friends and I have weekly viewings together. 

What is Pop Culture

What is popular culture, and what does it mean to you?

Pop Culture is commerical culture that combines music, movies, art, fashion, magazines, dance, and television., literature, and radio. It brings together different people's opinions, ideas, and interests. Pop culture can change perceptions, motivate, and make people scared. 

According to Dictionary.com, pop culture is "a contemporary lifestyle and items that are wellknown and generally accepted, cultural patterns that are widespread within a population." 

Why is an understanding of popular culture relevant to you in a business environment and in your present and future career?

Pop culture will be very relevant to me in a business environment as I am a marketing major. Marketing is the business of promoting goods and services for the purpose of selling. Pop culture has a huge influence on consumers as pop culture involves what's "in" with fashion, music, art, television, and film. Pop culture's influence can be used to influence consumer purchases. 

What would you consider to be an example of a pop culture artifact? And why would you choose it?

I think that an example of a pop culture artificact would be anything that is current and "in". This could include a music sample, pictures of celebrities, shows, clothes or movies.  I chose a picture of the cast of the show Modern Family. This show not only is one of the most watched comedies on television but it also brings to light a very large social issue of gay rights as Cameron and Mitch are a gay couple on the show with a small daughter. 

References

"popular culture." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/popular+culture>.