NAVEA, Nicole Dane L. March 11, 2018
2011-13107 COMM 201
Analysis of Media Culture
Upon analyzing social media culture vis-à-vis fan culture and relating these to Martin and Nakayama’s (1999) paradigms of culture and communication, my reflection led to the following conclusions:
1. The participatory nature of social media allows fans to converse and be critical of the content they consume;
2. However, the high emotional involvement of fans, magnified by the ubiquity of today’s media culture, yields to their susceptibility to consumerism; and
3. Thus, there is a need for fan culture to promote looking beyond content and scrutinize the bigger structures at play in media culture.
For the purposes of the analysis, I have limited
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An innocent use of #AmericanIdol on Twitter to express thoughts on the show translates to revenues in the perspective of the media company because of widened reach. The same goes for the upsurge of the production of relatable memes and art forms related and dedicated to fandoms.
Thus, there is a pressing need for fans to gain critical media literacy by “learning how to read, criticize, and resist socio-cultural manipulation… in relation to dominant forms of media and culture” (Kellner, 2009). While there are new opportunities to empower fan exchanges in today’s social media culture, there is a looming danger of corporate power pervading every inch of the fandom.
I consume social media content primarily because it is my number one source of fandom news. I blindly follow fellow fans and track the fandom’s hashtags on Twitter and Tumblr. My need to consume more fandom content, almost always, overpowers the need to be critical. Admittedly, I still need to be mindful of not only the companies behind every fandom post I like and share but more importantly, their intention in doing so.
As media culture continues to help construct our world views and identities, we should be critical of what we consume and who the person/entity behind it
the wild antics of the die hard fans. In my essay I will try and attempt to describe as
A fan in today’s world is usually characterized as the result of the “star system” portrayed in society due to mass media where media figures’ lives are constantly emphasized on a day to day basis. The internet and society are obsessed with news concerning celebrities, and knowing about their personal life. Today’s social media keeps fans constantly updated about celebrities, giving fans the illusion that they know everything about that celebrity and that they are connected somehow. This type of mass media has made the difference between appropriate behavior and inappropriate behavior of fans less noticeable (Lewis 11). These types of fans, the pathological fans, are also classified as the “o...
In assessing the impact and effect of popular cultural forms like MTV, it is important to acknowledge the extent to which, rather than having them imposed upon us, we may instead appropriate or assimilate parts, whilst choosing to reject or ignore the rest. This, of course, has the consumer or viewer acting (or perhaps more accurately interacting) as opposed to simply passively receiving (Philo par 16).Even though critics of MTV stand strongly against the passive consumer, th...
The issue of the relationship between the mass media and the popular culture has always been a controversial issue in social sciences. The political economists insist on the role of the media industry in the creation of this phenomenon of the twentieth century. Though, advocates such as John Fiske, argue that popular culture is actually the creation of the populous itself, and is independent of the capitalist production process of the communication sector. Basing his argument on the immense interpretive power of the people, Fiske believes that the audience is able to break all the indented meanings within a media message. He also believes- by giving new meanings to that specific message they can oppose the power block that is trying to impose its ideology to the public. Consequently, this anarchistic activity of the audience creates the popular culture as a defence mechanism. Even when we accept Fiske’s ideas, we can not disregard the manipulative power of the media and its effects on cultural and social life.
In all quarters of the globe, you can see some form of popular (pop) culture shape an individual's behavior, sensibility, and perspective on life. Every culture, religion, and ethnicity has changed over time under the influence of pop culture whether it is based on food, clothing items, or simple values and beliefs. Dr. Lawrence Rubin describes popular culture as a, “...banality, it certainly seems meaningless...even potentially destructive. However, if instead we recognize that it is simply an expression of our collective experiences, its importance becomes more clear” ( Popular Culture: We are what we consume,2009). Yet, current pop culture can be seen as a heterogeneous social conception. Particularly, it is always changing and what’s new today will be old by tomorrow. Famous celebrities and latest trends of designs and
This chapter focuses on how the immediate social context shapes popular culture. This includes artists, animators, television writers/actors, and musicians (to name a few) who actually create popular culture and how the context of their work doesn’t always govern what they produce. Within popular culture, there are three realities to consider: the technological constraints, the organizational apparatus, and the legal system. With technological constraints, it deals with the production and manufacturing of popular culture. The organizational apparatus consists of the structure of which popular culture is promoted and sold. The legal system relates to how the whole process is regulated. Examples of the legal system can be seen with copyright laws and how they impact the content of music albums, which is why albums nowadays don’t have free samples of other songs. With the organizational apparatus, what the people receive is mostly a
Because popular culture is widely accessible, artifacts easily affect the way human beings perceive the world by shaping the collective view. The opinions and representations presented through popular culture artifacts are accepted by the collective and thus become real as they inform the basic assumptions of soci...
The use of social media in sports is a relatively new trend. Social media has enabled people to become more interactive with their favorite celebrities, athletes, and sports teams. Social media allows fan’s to keep up with their favorite teams with up to date news and it also helps the organization, specifically their marketing department. Sports teams have utilized Facebook and Twitter pages for their organizations in hopes of gaining revenue as well as the attention of their fans and casual fans. Social media is constantly evolving to keep up with the newest social trends and fads.
It is exercised through the active participation of a K-pop fan in terms of projecting a range of practices. The active participations of the K-pop fans manifests in their cultural behavior, cultural knowledge, and cultural artifacts transmitted to the virtual sphere. The range of practices constitutes to a new social formation within the K-pop fandom community. The performative nature of the displacement of one’s cultural identity contributes to the experience of each member of the K-pop fandom community while forming the K-pop fans’ new social
...ke twitter the creator can now talk and address their fans directly rather then having to communicate though the media. It is a direct line of communication that allows the fans to receive and share information quickly. The media has to with these changes.
It is increasingly clear that media and culture today are of central importance to the maintenance and reproduction of contemporary societies. Cultures expose society to different personalities, provide models, which display various forms of societal life and cultivate various ways to introduce people into dominant forms of thought and action. These are the types of activities integrate people into society and create our public sphere. Media and technology surround our society; engrained into the fabric of our existence so much so, that it has become hard to find an aspect of life not influenced by its effects. For this reason, media controllers, wield extreme power and influence over the lives of everyday people. Although, they increasingly continue to feed the audience trash, despite their authority as the creator of our social/cultural interactions, and justify their actions by calling themselves industries. Reducing themselves to just businesses whose sole purpose is to create a profit. This admittance of what they feel to be their true purpose however does not hinder their control and power but instead adds to it. Creating a need for there to be some way to analyze and discuss whether they are using their position and power wisely. Filling this void, scholars have theorized ways for individuals to be critical of the media that they intake. One of these critical theories is the “Culture Industry” theory. Using Cultural Theory, as well as other complementary neo Marxist theories, it is possible to determine how Stacy Peralta, once urban youth culture advocate, became incorporated into the superstructure through media use, thus making him a tool for the continued commoditization of society, and a youth marketer for industries l...
As we look backon past cultures it reveals so much about the world, and the same will happen when we lookback on our culture today. We will be able to see how important certain things are to oursociety, and how it reflects who we are.In our fast-paced society, the news is constantly changing, and what is news today,could be irrelevant tomorrow. Popular culture includes the most current and ongoing aspects ofour lives. However, with the union of media into the technical world, people are brought closerand closer to the ever-present media. We are able to get the latest news at our finger tips. Thestories that were important years ago, don’t have the same level of importance today.However, I don’t think this means that we don’t appreciate culture. Not only does popularculture teach us about ourselves it also helps us learn about society. We are able to see howpopular culture reveals information about our culture, and what society believes is important. Itgives us truths about our own culture, time, era, and society and it can even offer reassuranceon life’s challenges, and help us figure out who we are. Like I mentioned before, the cultures ofthe past have helped shape our society and tells us about what it is like to live in this world, thesame as the popular culture of today also helps shapes us. Popular culture reveals our beliefs,values, and decisions. It can also have an impact on younger
We have seen culture changes during the course of many centuries. These decades has left us memories of what was important to our society during this time. In some cases, we are still living by these same standards of past centuries and the results of these beliefs is the reflection of the people of this twenty century. The coauthors of Common Culture Reading and Writing About Popular Culture Michael Petracca and Madeleine Sorapure on their Seventh Edition says, “pop culture is the shared knowledge and practices of a specific group at a specific time. Because of its commonality, pop culture both reflects and influences people 's way of life; because it is linked to a specific time and place, pop culture is transitory, subject to change, and
In the contemporary society, popular culture represents the emerging lifestyles, fashions, values, as well as customs that the mainstream population follows without hesitation and with loyalty. It embraces a blend of philosophies, opinions, beliefs, viewpoints, and imageries, besides various forms of events that specific groups of individuals adopt in the society. Popular culture plays a significant role in shaping the way people think or perceive things by offering them a unique interpretation of something that they may eventually like. In this digital age, some of the popular culture known today takes account of television programs watched by many people, the numbers of individuals who currently use the internet constantly as the best means
Whereas the word social media itself defines the meaning of, social of communication. Which then not only provides you information but allowing you to interact while it provides you with information. Interaction can be as simple as leaving a comment or voting on an article to as complex as recommending information base on similar interest with other users. In comparison towards traditional media, it is a ‘one-way street’ where you receive information and only be able to give your thoughts to people whom you know. While social media is a ‘two-way street’ which provides you the capability to share your personal thoughts with everyone who have not only read about it, but also people who have