Final Reflection

So as I have been working on these media logs recently I have come to realize just how much media an average person consumes in their day to day lives. Sure I had heard others say what studies had shown to be truth but to me all these statistics were just number, that is, until I personally began to pay more attention to my own media influenced life. Every radio station, television show, website, video game, you name it they all have some form of media within them that takes partial credit with how we live or lives. I would have to say that I take in a good eight hours of this each day just because of how long I am online doing things on the internet or watching television shows (this is an approximation obviously but I think that it comes pretty close to the amount that I actually take in). No matter how hard I try, turning on ad block, trying to straight up avoid the media encounters, and so on, I just can't escape the constant appearance of media. Now, all of this media consumption must impact us somehow/someway. As I have contemplated and thought this question over I have come to the conclusion (and this is my personal conclusion so don't be offended or think that this is true for everyone) that media determines our culture and may even be the creator. Of course there are deeper roots to present day cultures but if you really think about it it seems that culture is the biggest factor that changes how we think about ourselves and others, but then doesn't the media do this as well? It seems reasonable, then, to assume that in some aspects of the different cultures is the media itself. Of course this does not mean that media is culture but more that it is a part of it, all of it.

After going over so many print ads and commercials another aspect of this all as come up. How I personally now perceive media and the different needs and techniques that they take advantage of. I have to say that after going through all of these aspects of making an ad I definitely have a new found appreciation for advertisers and the work that they do. Along with this, however, I also can't stop thinking about the techniques that people use when ever I see an ad of any type. And I know that this isn't just me that it is happening to. I have talked to numerous people who have agreed with me by saying that the exact same thing has been happening for them. None of us will ever view media the same way ever again. But even with this new annoying habit that I have apparently developed I can't say that I've changed my media consumption habits at all. I still spend plenty of time doing the same things as I used to and even though I might understand what the advertisers are trying to do more clearly now I am still often persuaded one way or another by a well put together advertisement. I'm assuming that this is because I don't feel like all the things that I have learned, although interesting, is enough of a reason to change my habits. Also this is largely due to the fact that one, I'm to lazy to do anything about changing my habits and two, I don'e think that changing my habits would actually change the amount of media that I consume just because of the vast amounts of it in today's societies.

I do feel that it is important to have a so called "media literacy". But this is largely because I feel like nowadays a majority of the populous does not actually understand what is being sold to them. By comprehending what the advertisers are trying to do to attempt to get your attention and ultimately your business then we can maybe begin to focus more on other things and ideas rather than media. This goes the same with being an educated consumer. If we know what's being sold to us then we can begin buy smarter and get items that we really need and not things that we think we need but once we buy it we realize that we actually have no real use for it and that we were once again falsely coaxed into buying something that we didn't actually want. I wouldn't doubt it if this hadn't happened to all of us. Buying something and then later thinking back about why we even wanted it. And to think that this is all thanks to the advertisements that companies develop. I think that it is quite amazing what an advertising team can do to the majority of us with just a page of advertisements or a 30 second video ad.

In the end, this blog did wonders for me. And I'm not just saying that to sound completely pretentious. I honestly believe that having this blog and being able to post what I really think and have learned about the media that I consume is really helpful in my understanding of what is happening in the world around me. Because of this type of long term project I have been able to go over what I have learned to have embedded even further in my head, which probably takes part in why I can't stop but think about the techniques and needs that are in ads when I see them. During this project I actually did have thoughts of continuing to keep this blog up and continue to post every once and a while about the media that I had most recently for myself if anything. Naturally I am now rethinking this just because I am so utterly lazy (as I have already said) but it is cool idea to keep in mind. In all my appreciation for media has sky rocketed. Instead of just thinking of them as being annoying and useless and skipping them them whenever possible I now find a new respect for them and take time (for some) to think about what aspects are being used in them and what the advertisers actual point is that they are trying to get across.