Facebook is a tool, and is good for getting to know people you don't know well and reconnecting with old friends you'd never have spoken to again otherwise. It also lets you know events that are going on around town, without you having to ask or look it up yourself.
I do have a Facebook profile. However, it's not a crippling addiction for me. I don't really spend a lot of time thinking of updates or finding quotes to jam in my profile. I don't use Facebook instead of going out, and I really only focus on it for a half hour or so a day. If I commit "Facebook suicide", then I just really miss out on getting to know people and know what's going on around town. I have a completely different mindset regarding Facebook than the author, therefore I really won't gain much out of deleting my Facebook. I really can't think of something I'd gain from deleting my Facebook, because I don't really take my "virtual self" very seriously.
The author assumes that the use of Facebook is necessarily a bad thing, and that if we were not using Facebook, we'd be socializing with real people and enjoying the Spring air and not just sitting inside watching television or killing time in some other equally boring fashion. Like all things, such as drinking, bad foods, video games, and so forth, if you lack the self control to moderate your Facebook usage to the point where it damages your life, then you are better off deleting it. It's just a website, it completely depends on what kind of person you are and how you choose use it.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
BLOG 9 (Turning the Gaze into Your Own TV Ad)
There are many times where I feel self-conscious walking across the quad. I feel I am always the object of "the gaze' of the several students sitting and lounging around in the quad. If you are sitting in the qaud, you are most likely gazing at the people who walk by you; I tend to do this when I sit, but when I walk across the quad I feel like the object of "the gaze".
If my walking across the qaud were turned into a television advertisement, I guess it would be for clothing since I like fashion, which utilizes "the gaze" in selling certain "looks" and styles. When filmed, it would be sunny of course. I would be walking across the quad. There would be a lot of random students filling the qaud in between classes; I am on my way to print something at a computer lab before class. I am wearing a trendy outfit, and at first I walk slow to see if I can find anyone I know on the qaud. The camera zooms in slow motion onto some elements of my outfit as I am on the phone. Suddenly some people I know walk up to me very happily. They are excited college students who love being in the sun in between classes. We are all in our trendy outfits. You can't hear our covnersation, but there is catchy, electronic music playing in the background. There is text on the screen highlighting certain articles of our outfits and the price of each article of clothing. FInally we all laugh at a joke and walk off to the print lab to continue our day. The camera pans off into the sun, and the clothing brand logo appears on the screen with the music still playing. Then the advertisement is over. The whole time I am by myself as well as with friends, fellow students hold "the gaze" on us and want to be like us; the camera caputres this gaze. Not only are the clothes we wear in the commercial being sold to consumers, but the commercial also sells a lifestyle with the brand of clothing we are wearing. We give the clothes a story, with the viewer interacting with the clothing we are wearing and the environment we are in. The qaud is the field that gives the clothing I'm wearing an emotional experience with the viewer; some viewers may even end up buying the same clothes I am wearing in hopes of achieving the same lifestyle sold in the commerical through "the gaze".
If my walking across the qaud were turned into a television advertisement, I guess it would be for clothing since I like fashion, which utilizes "the gaze" in selling certain "looks" and styles. When filmed, it would be sunny of course. I would be walking across the quad. There would be a lot of random students filling the qaud in between classes; I am on my way to print something at a computer lab before class. I am wearing a trendy outfit, and at first I walk slow to see if I can find anyone I know on the qaud. The camera zooms in slow motion onto some elements of my outfit as I am on the phone. Suddenly some people I know walk up to me very happily. They are excited college students who love being in the sun in between classes. We are all in our trendy outfits. You can't hear our covnersation, but there is catchy, electronic music playing in the background. There is text on the screen highlighting certain articles of our outfits and the price of each article of clothing. FInally we all laugh at a joke and walk off to the print lab to continue our day. The camera pans off into the sun, and the clothing brand logo appears on the screen with the music still playing. Then the advertisement is over. The whole time I am by myself as well as with friends, fellow students hold "the gaze" on us and want to be like us; the camera caputres this gaze. Not only are the clothes we wear in the commercial being sold to consumers, but the commercial also sells a lifestyle with the brand of clothing we are wearing. We give the clothes a story, with the viewer interacting with the clothing we are wearing and the environment we are in. The qaud is the field that gives the clothing I'm wearing an emotional experience with the viewer; some viewers may even end up buying the same clothes I am wearing in hopes of achieving the same lifestyle sold in the commerical through "the gaze".
Spectatorship Reply
I have the feeling of being surveyed whenever I’m in a lower row in class seating, even though it’s highly unlikely that anybody is actually watching, very similar to the panopticon. For production notes it would probably be something like the following: main class composed of 21-23 year olds, similar mode of dress but not identical, as to mimic a standard college class. Main should be slightly younger (19 years old) as to imply vulnerability, perhaps slightly awkward looking. Position main in the front row of an auditorium with tiered seating, alone in the row. Keep as exposed as possible- no desks or writing surfaces in the way. Fill the row behind the main to the maximum allowed. Have the class focus on the back of the main character’s head, with critical expressions. The main turns around to return their view, but as he does so all others turn away, so that the main actor sees no one looking at him. As the main actor’s gaze returns to the front all eyes move back to observe the main again.
Facebook Suicide Response
Attempting to correlate the facebook suicide article to my own disuse of the networking site seems to be a largely futile effort. I don’t use facebook simply because I don’t want to, in the purest sense of the phrase. There isn’t any active dislike guiding my choice, it’s just a lack of drive to create a facebook page. Perhaps this can be related to the fear that facebook can become a gigantic time sink expressed in the article, morphing into something that controls the user more than they control it, but most seem to be able to handle keeping facebook under control. It’s also possible that there’s some subconscious process at work, a desire to stand out by not doing what everyone else is- similar to the article’s own idea of quitting actually feeding into narcissism- or some other motive. Delving down this path is largely fruitless, however, as anybody who cares to try can usually twist any given action or saying into meaning any number of things, especially when dealing with something as vague as the subconscious.
Gaze
I feel self conscious when working out at the gym.
Cast an awkward looking fellow age 20. Slight belly and no arms.
Start the comercial dim, and fade to picture. A moving camera behind the man shaking slightly as he is followed. The door opens to the gym, and everyone turns to look. Close up on the glare of these people. More fit men and more toned women are cast slightly older, maybe 21-23. There is a long shot of the 20 year old moving to the equipment as he is being surveyed by everyone in the room who stopped what they were doing to stare. There is a close up to the 20 year olds face. He grabs the product of deoderant from his bag and uses it. Everything turns back to normal.
Cast an awkward looking fellow age 20. Slight belly and no arms.
Start the comercial dim, and fade to picture. A moving camera behind the man shaking slightly as he is followed. The door opens to the gym, and everyone turns to look. Close up on the glare of these people. More fit men and more toned women are cast slightly older, maybe 21-23. There is a long shot of the 20 year old moving to the equipment as he is being surveyed by everyone in the room who stopped what they were doing to stare. There is a close up to the 20 year olds face. He grabs the product of deoderant from his bag and uses it. Everything turns back to normal.
Blog 8 Adbusters
When suggested i should commit facebook suicide, i really felt indifferent. I thought about what i actually use facebook for. I use it to relay information, to talk to people about upcoming events. I use facebook as a means of communication. I do not spend time looking through pictures or reading status updates. I rarely post on walls of others and as i look at my status updates ive only had 3 in the last 6 months. Its just troubling that just about all my peers in society use facebook and relay information in this medium, that i am forced to utilze this tool as well. I would suggest there are other mediums to relay information other than facebook such as email and text messages. But nobody is willing to use it, i mean face it, why would you when you are already spending time in facebook and that everybody is connected here. It would be more difficult to do the real life social networking without a relay hub.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Blog 8 week 5 Facebook Suicide
When considering Facebook suicide you have to ask yourself what the true consequences are. For some, especially students, Facebook is an integral part of their everyday lives. Actually, for many, facebook is probably visited more times than the bathroom a day. People are so engulfed in the online entity of Facebook that it would seem as if a minor tragedy happened when they are unable to access their profile for a few hours. So, for someone who constantly comments on other's walls and updates their status every time they re-enter the room, what would the effects of facebook suicide truly be? Well, I can tell you. For many it would be a dismal breakdown of the familiar community they call home. Many students would lose the product of several years worth of social networking and the immediate social circle they have created in college. They would lose immediate access to their friend's latest pictures, event invitations, wall posts, and newest updates. The capability to immediately post nonsense on your nearby classmate's wall would utterly disappear. How terrible would it be to lose having the exact knowledge of another person's daily activities and their latest gossip? It would be like the the early 1990's. Scary, huh?
Facebook suicide would cause you to lose a wealth of information about yourself and thousands of people you may be loosely connected with. But,You have to ask yourself, is this wealth of information truly pertinent and necessary in my everyday life? Does it make me better? Is it really relevant for me to know the grueling details of unfamiliar acquaintance's day? Not to mention,that facebook dialogue is usually a pitifully crafted excuse for sub-elementary level grammar. God forbid we would call someone on the phone and actually converse with them.
There are many great things about facebook and many advantages it brings to an online world. While I cannot deny that facebook is an excellent tool for staying in contact with close friends and loved ones, it exposes us to an artificial community that, sadly, people consider reality. Real life is what is happening beyond your computer screen, not in someone elses wall or updates. Facebook deviates our vital focus on the self and directs our attention to an irrelevant array of info, distracting from the subtle beauty of human interaction. I believe that, while, we would have some to lose from facebook suicide, we would have much to gain. To invest our energy into self improvement or begin a new goal might he healthy, rather than reading about insignificant details and pictures about a big party you weren't invited to. To step outside and spend a few minutes totally enchanted by the minute details of your surroundings might be a refreshing way to start your day instead of staring at the iconic blue and white screen. I believe that without facebook people might make more of a genuine effort to stay in contact with the ones they truly care about. Honestly, for some people facebook suicide would actually cause them to make an effort in meeting the opposite sex instead of gawking at them on their macbooks. Facebook suicide might do us all some good.
Facebook suicide would cause you to lose a wealth of information about yourself and thousands of people you may be loosely connected with. But,You have to ask yourself, is this wealth of information truly pertinent and necessary in my everyday life? Does it make me better? Is it really relevant for me to know the grueling details of unfamiliar acquaintance's day? Not to mention,that facebook dialogue is usually a pitifully crafted excuse for sub-elementary level grammar. God forbid we would call someone on the phone and actually converse with them.
There are many great things about facebook and many advantages it brings to an online world. While I cannot deny that facebook is an excellent tool for staying in contact with close friends and loved ones, it exposes us to an artificial community that, sadly, people consider reality. Real life is what is happening beyond your computer screen, not in someone elses wall or updates. Facebook deviates our vital focus on the self and directs our attention to an irrelevant array of info, distracting from the subtle beauty of human interaction. I believe that, while, we would have some to lose from facebook suicide, we would have much to gain. To invest our energy into self improvement or begin a new goal might he healthy, rather than reading about insignificant details and pictures about a big party you weren't invited to. To step outside and spend a few minutes totally enchanted by the minute details of your surroundings might be a refreshing way to start your day instead of staring at the iconic blue and white screen. I believe that without facebook people might make more of a genuine effort to stay in contact with the ones they truly care about. Honestly, for some people facebook suicide would actually cause them to make an effort in meeting the opposite sex instead of gawking at them on their macbooks. Facebook suicide might do us all some good.
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