blog 5

Even though Apple Computer Corporation only has less than four percent of the personal computer market, the owners of Apple’s Macintosh computers have extreme loyalty to the company. These types groups of loyal customers are often referred to as “subcultures of consumption.” Some have even called them “brand cults” for their devotion to the company they have invested in.  Some members of these ‘cults’ will only buy products from certain companies, such as Apple.  Brand cults often thrive on the brand’s lack of success in the market.  Brand cults often help their ‘brand’ that they follow survive because the brand is unsuccessful but still has a loyal group buying the products.

Apple used to be the only company with the types of products it created.  That all changed and Apple was given some serious competition.  Many of Apple’s loyal followers are anti-Microsoft, and see Bill Gates as some sort of ‘antichrist.’

Consumers have just as much loyalty to brands as much as sports fanatics have to their favorite team.  These consumers not only refuse to buy from the competition, but will do anything to make their brand strive.  They hate the competition and obviously want them to fail.

Companies that might not be doing as well really do rely on these ‘brand cults’ to survive simply because they will still buy their products and promote the company.  These loyal consumers stick by their brands side regardless of what other companies may come out with, what products are truly better; it is all about the name.  Some of these followers have gone so far as to get the brands logo permanently tattooed onto their bodies.  Some might think getting a brand tattooed onto their bodies is insane, but for the loyal followers of the brand it is just another way to show their devotion.

The ‘brand cults’ might be limited to what is available in the world simply because not all brands have the same products.  Some brand’s products are also better than others.  The ‘brand cults’ do not care about this though because they would rather go without then buy from the competition.

blog 4

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) are an entire new form of interaction and communication between people.  World of Warcraft is a popular massively multiplayer online game that many teenagers and young adults partake in.  These games allow players to communicate with each other while playing the game.

Players take on a new form of identity in MMOGs and talk to other people in their ‘new identities.’  Many gamers spend so much time creating their character they do not have time or as much time to actually compete in the game. Gamers have different types of conversations with each other as well: some conversations are complementary others aggressive.

Some MMOGs take cultural practices or wars and make them into games.  Players can ‘re-live’ an experience of a solider or a person from another country if they wanted to.  Players can form teams, clans, gangs, and more groups with other players.  The games become very real to some.  People can also exchange virtual currency through MMOGs and basically live an online life.

Companies have even gone so far to hire people to play their games so others will play and form relationships through the games.  Many spend long hours in front of a computer screen playing these MMOGs because it is their job, other simply for pleasure.

Many MMOG players work in ‘Chinese sweat shops’ which is where they sit in front of a computer for hours on end playing and working on these games.  To some this may sound like a fantastic job, but to the workers who are there for long hours it is more of a nightmare.

The fact that people can communicate through online gaming communities completely changes the relationships they form.  People can make up whoever they want to be and introduce themselves to others as this character.  They can even lose their real identity online if they wanted to, which many actually do.  People do not actually have to be anything like themselves on these websites, they can completely make up everything about themselves and no one they were talking to would really have any way of knowing.

Blog 3

Joe Hanson is the perfect example of a person that grew up in a generation that depends on media for entertainment and day to day activities.  He watches television on his computer often and spends a lot of time playing video games.  He also gets all his information from the internet, whether it is from an online newspaper or an online magazine.

Advertisers have noticed the growth in media.  They realize that more people are online than reading paper magazines or new papers. Advertisers take advantage of this by putting up ads on different websites, making their own web pages, and more.

Ms. Roxas is the editor of Gurl.com.  Every morning she checks her several e-mail accounts, reads the New York Times online, then reads online blogs.  She is one of many that have a daily routine of checking electronic messages.  E-mailing, text messaging, and social media sites have become a normal and acceptable for of communication.  Many people not only enjoy using technology to communicate, but are reliant on technology to communicate with others.

Since technology makes it so easy to communicate in group settings many teenagers find it harder and harder to become individuals.  Teenagers are constantly told what is ‘in’ and what is not through different media sources.  It is harder for teenagers to think for themselves because they simply do not have to.

Many would find it impossible to disconnect from technology for awhile.  There forms of entertainment, communication, and more would all be gone.  They would have to find another way to keep busy, they would have to actually talk to people face to face, and basically life would not be as easy.  Advertisers would have to find a new way to reach the public as well.

Overall, many do not realize just how reliant on technology we all are.  We use it for gathering information, entertainment, and communicationg with others.  Many would be lost without technology.

Blog 2

The article “Talking Freaks” is about gay families and the media.  It is much more common to see a homosexual marriage now in society.  Even though many are still not accepting of gay marriage it is predominantly coming up in the media.  Whether it is on the Ellen Show, mentioned in the article, or on Modern Family, as speakers in class have mentioned, gay marriage is not only being brought up but acted out on television.  Television today portrays homosexuality different than it has in the past.  The media sheds a much more positive light on homosexuality, gay marriage, and the life style in general.  Many stars have ‘come-out’ on television, which does show the public that even figures we look up to are homosexual.  The article then goes onto talk about homosexuals raising children.  The article makes a point that it does not matter what color your skin or what your sexual orientation is as long as you raise a child with love and care for it.  There really is nothing that makes a heterosexual couple any more capable of raising a child than a homosexual couple.  As long as the couple has good intention about bringing their child up it does not matter what their sexual orientation is.  Homosexuals will always have to struggle with the ‘religious’ argument.  It will always be around and no matter how many times anyone tries to refute the argument there will always be those who do not listen or care to listen.  God created every man and woman the way they are, and God loves all of his creatures.  Bisexuals and transgender have more recently come into media as well.  There are different groups of homosexuality that many do not understand.  The media can show people how exactly these people are and how they are similar to everyone else.  They have the same wants and needs that any straight person has.  There is still question to whether gay marriage is right or wrong, but there always will be.  It is becoming more accepted in today’s society and more commonly seen in the media.

Blog 1

Gays and Lesbians are often discriminated against in society.  The article “Out of the Mainstream Sexual Minorities and the Mass Media” by Larry Gross, points out a number of ways that Gays and Lesbians are discriminated against in the media.  He points out that out of thirty two films made from 1961-1976 with major homosexual characters thirteen committed suicide and eighteen were murdered.  Seeing as every single film except one managed to kill off the homosexual shows how the media really discriminated and sent out negative messages to the public about homosexuals.  The media attention that homosexuals were receiving in the 1970’s was mostly positive when the American Psychiatric Association deleted homosexuality off the official list of mental illnesses.  With success also came downfall though.  Between anti-gay protests and the AIDS epidemic there was even more hostility for homosexuals.  The media did not help this either.  Instead of trying to fix the AIDS epidemic many television networks pointed the finger at gays and made numerous shows and movies about it for entertainment purposes.  Even though it was for entertainment many would take it seriously.  AIDS has been associated with homosexuality ever since.  Another issue raised is that many people just go along with what the mainstream media has to say.  It is uncomfortable not going along with what everyone else is saying or doing.  This causes a huge issue for homosexuals when the mainstream media discriminates against them, because many are sure to follow.  Some people try to change who they are to conform to mass media, some try to ignore it.  Either way this would be hard for any gay being discriminated against to do.  Some gays even become isolated as a result of mass media because they are seen as ‘different.’  We need to be careful on how we perceive minorities based on the media.  Before discriminating against an entire group of people a person should make an effort to speak with a few people in that group instead of just hearing about them on television.  Overall, media has gotten better and become more accepting of homosexuals today, but there is always still some discrimination.