Reflection

      Over the course of my critical thinking class, it is safe to say that my knowledge and perception of media has widened. Before this semester, I was just like any other typical teenager, who would consume hours of media every day. I was also quite oblivious of the many messages that large corporations try to send out to their consumers; before this class, I never really put much thought into how advertisements truly affect us and our society. Most of the times I tend to ignore the adverts that pop up on my laptop screen or on social media pages. I used to believe that large companies, such as Nike, would just put out whatever they needed to say about their brand and hope that consumers will purchase the products they're selling. However, now that I have learned the many manipulative techniques that media utilizes, I am somewhat skilled enough to apply what I've learned, to see beyond the surface level of what large companies are actually trying to say.

       With an innovative mindset, I have changed the way I view TV commercials and other forms of advertisements. I never truly noticed how large advertisement companies target specific audiences, such as teens or middle-aged women; I used to believe that companies target all kinds of people, but now I know that this assumption is false. I wanted to believe that advertisers sold their products to benefit their consumers rather than themselves. Until this semester, I did not know that many advertisement companies actually bought information about individuals from certain target market for research on what their target audience is interested in. It makes me feel like I am being watched 24/7, and it makes me more conscious of what I post and share on social media. Most of all, it makes me feel as if I have no privacy on media. What draws the line for these companies, in regards to our right to privacy? Recently, on the news, I heard that Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, had been sued; I didn't really understand how and why this social media company was being sued for. However, in class, one day, as we were watching Frontline's "The Persuaders", Mr. Maxwell had told the class that companies such as Facebook would sell advertisement companies their consumers information. This was so that the advertisement companies would, in turn, take your personal information and try to sell you something that they'd think you like or buy. Although I think this is very stalkerish, I find it fascinating that advertisement companies go to extreme lengths to try and sell products to a specific group of people. Now, that I have become more educated on the media world, I pay more attention and am more aware of the little things on the internet such as when a website warns me of it using cookies. I also learned that a lot of companies advertise based on our emotions rather than our minds. It makes me upset because this does the trick for a lot of people, and those people most likely will purchase something they will not use for another five years or so. It makes people buy products spontaneously, and it's unsettling to know that these companies are lying to consumers. Now, I know that companies' main goals are to make a profit from us.
      I've known for a while that our society is being engulfed by the media world around us, but I didn't notice how influential it really was. We use media almost every day in our lives, whether it's at school, home, or at work. "MissRepresentation" gave us statistics on the amount of hours teenagers spend using different forms of media. To me, it was kind of crazy to actually realize that teenagers around the country also use social media as much as I do. This made me reflect on all the media I consume on a day to day basis. Before we did our dissection of media, I typically watched two to three episodes of a show on Netflix, and throughout the day, whenever I am free, I am on my phone scrolling through my social media pages like Snapchat, Instagram, or Twitter. I felt as if caused me to become fixated on this false reality that media creates, and because of this, for a while, I tried to avoid media. However, from my critical thinking class, I learned that in the generation we are all living in, media is inescapable. Media holds a lot of influence and power over our society, and it is up to us whether or not we want to listen and cave into media's false stereotypes about women and men.
      My perception of media has altered quite a bit over the past few months, and I will take the information that I have learned and apply it towards becoming a more cautious and better consumer and media user. I think that our media usage should be something talked about more often because it is important to understand the effects of media on our society. I think that people should educate themselves on the truths behind media and advertisement companies because media will only continue to advance further throughout the generations. After learning about the world behind advertising, I know that having a basic understanding of the messages behind these ads go a long way and helps with being a smart consumer. We can buy the products we actually need, and we won't be wasting money on useless things. Media literacy is so important in our society nowadays; it allows us to recognize the damaging effects that long-term media usage can have on us. Overall, these media blogs and the critical thinking class have allowed me to take a new and different approach to media by opening my perception to all the various techniques/ messages that media puts out there.