As a teenager, I understand how important it is to have some sort of account on a social media website. Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram Or YouTube, as teenagers we all have to have an account on at least one website or "We're not cool" or "We don't fit in". This is the stereotype we have adopted as a society.
Okay so... say I haven't created a Facebook and all my friends go on saying "You don't have a facebook?! What planet have you been living on?" Then I end up doing so. Question is, how are teenagers representing them via their social networking profiles?
How I represent myself is key. What you say and post becomes who you 'really' are. Take Twitter for example. Teenagers represent in a variety of different ways via their tweets. I, for one, do this as well. Sometimes, I represent someone who plays quite a lot of games. This photo shows this.
[will insert photo here]
Through this, I come across as someone really likes gaming, which is all well 'n' good. However because I have done this quite a few times, I represent myself as someone who is OBSESSED with gaming. However, just I play a few games and tweet about it from time to time DOES NOT mean I am obsessed. However, because of the stereotype: "what you post is who you are", people who read my tweets will that I am someone obsessed with gaming, but in reality I play a few games from time to time and that's it.
[will insert photo here]
Also on twitter, from time to time, I have also represented myself as the stereotypical teenager. As a society, we have come to think that teenagers are lazy and anti-social. This I how I have represented myself on Twitter. A while ago, I tweeted "I wanna get up, but I'm too lazy #fwp #firstworldproblems". Through this, I represent myself as lazy. However, I'm not lazy all the time. Although I may be time to time, that's just part of growing up. Society has gotten into it's head that ALL TEENAGERS are lazy and anti-social, when actually, some teenagers are actually out there, playing sport and getting active.
So, "what you post on your page is who you are" and 'if you don't have an account on social media, then you're not cool" are the stereotypes that we as a society have gotten into our heads. For those of us who do have an account on some sort of social media website, we have come to think we have to represent our "real self" via what we post. This is something I have done on twitter from time to time. Sometimes, I represent myself as the stereotypical lazy, anti-social teenager that we "all teenagers are". However that's not true. Society don't not fully understand social media. How we represent truly ourselves is not via what we post on social media, but instead we really represent ourselves via our personality and traits. If society as a whole can't get understand this, then what's the point of social media?
Tuesday 25 February 2014
Sunday 23 February 2014
The Smashing Pumpkins: 1979
1979 by The Smashing pumpkins is a song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aeETEoNfOg) that strongly conveys the stereotypes of teenagers and how they are represented by the media. In this music video, teenagers are presented as free and rebellious. There are many examples of this within the video.
- For example, 1 minute and 10 seconds into the video, a teen pulls the finger at his hometown after driving with his mates to a cliff face/hill that overlooks the town. This shows that, as a teenager, he is rebellious and is eager to get away from the confines of authority within his hometown. The medium close up shot allows the viewer to engage and what experience what the teenager is experiencing: the feeling of freedom, getting away from the stresses he faces in everyday life. While some teenagers do rebel, other teens do behave. The stereotype of teenagers rebelling against authority figures is conveyed to us everyday via various types of media such as TV, social networking and radio. This stereotype is conveyed far too much. People need to understand that not all teens are rebellious. Parents only want the best for their children and this can cause stress. Thus, rebellion is a way of letting out the stress out, which is constantly been reported by the media as something ALL teens do, when in reality, most teens behave and follow the rules.
- For example, 1 minute and 10 seconds into the video, a teen pulls the finger at his hometown after driving with his mates to a cliff face/hill that overlooks the town. This shows that, as a teenager, he is rebellious and is eager to get away from the confines of authority within his hometown. The medium close up shot allows the viewer to engage and what experience what the teenager is experiencing: the feeling of freedom, getting away from the stresses he faces in everyday life. While some teenagers do rebel, other teens do behave. The stereotype of teenagers rebelling against authority figures is conveyed to us everyday via various types of media such as TV, social networking and radio. This stereotype is conveyed far too much. People need to understand that not all teens are rebellious. Parents only want the best for their children and this can cause stress. Thus, rebellion is a way of letting out the stress out, which is constantly been reported by the media as something ALL teens do, when in reality, most teens behave and follow the rules.
Teenagers are also represented as free and energetic. Such examples include the party and the hand out the window
What is literally being shown is a guy holding a "handcam" at a party and a teenagers hand out of a car window. There is a reason as to why the director decided to implicate these shots into the music video. It is to show the viewer(s) the freedom that teens have. Dynamism and energy are expressed via these shots. Through this, the viewer is able to understand the stereotype of teenagers having all the freedom in the world. However, this not true as some teenagers do not have the luxury of having the freedom that others do. Some teenagers are carefree, while others aren't. This is what the stereotype should ACTUALLY be.
And so, 1979 demonstrates how teenagers are represented in the media today. This is conveyed to us via the many stereotypes which we see everyday as we become more exposed. As a whole, we are convinced that ALL teenagers have all the freedom in the world and are ALWAYS rebellious. However, this is not true as most teenagers actually behave and do not have the luxury of having much freedom at all. This stereotype is conveyed to us far too much. In order to understand what teenagers are REALLY like, these stereotypes have to stop been reported on the media as something ALL teenagers do. The fact of the matter is most teenagers behave and don't rebel against authority figures nor do they have all the freedom in the world. As teenagers, we are tired of being constantly represented by the media as being rebellious and free because in reality some of us don't much freedom at all and most of the time we behave and follow the rules. If the media can't understand this, then there's no point in conveying anything to the audience. This is the message the director of 1979 is trying to get across.
And so, 1979 demonstrates how teenagers are represented in the media today. This is conveyed to us via the many stereotypes which we see everyday as we become more exposed. As a whole, we are convinced that ALL teenagers have all the freedom in the world and are ALWAYS rebellious. However, this is not true as most teenagers actually behave and do not have the luxury of having much freedom at all. This stereotype is conveyed to us far too much. In order to understand what teenagers are REALLY like, these stereotypes have to stop been reported on the media as something ALL teenagers do. The fact of the matter is most teenagers behave and don't rebel against authority figures nor do they have all the freedom in the world. As teenagers, we are tired of being constantly represented by the media as being rebellious and free because in reality some of us don't much freedom at all and most of the time we behave and follow the rules. If the media can't understand this, then there's no point in conveying anything to the audience. This is the message the director of 1979 is trying to get across.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)