Collective identity and representing ourselves: blog tasks

1)

• Talks about how the choices we pick create our reputation, image and personality to others.
• Talks about the types of groups we believe we belong in based on pre-determined aspects of ourselves.
• Talks about how we are swayed by big brands and how we use these big brands in order to create our identity.
• Talks about how we make ourselves unique to others ad see the different versions of ourselves that lie within.
• Talks about the free choices consumers are allowed in which they are able to purchase items they believe can represent themselves and who they are.
• Talks about that freedom we have to create and change how we see ourselves and how others see ourselves. What we choose to do, say buy, wear and the way to speak, or even react can easily shape the basis to how someone can feel about you.

2)

• Apple - One of the top 3 in market share percentage showing its power and popularity. I think Apple identifies me as even though it doesn't always work out, I try to become the best version of myself and to keep improving to keep being the best I can be and to have power through skills and knowledge. 
• Hollister - Hollister has a range of clothing from ripped jeans to chinos to shirts to hoodies and T-shirts which allows consumers to have a variety of choices. More importantly, Hollister wants this feeling of endless summer which I feel like identifies myself as summer is my favourite season and I feel as if dressing is quite important during this time of the year by taking many different aspects into account. The skill of adapting is something I believe I can do as adapting to new places or different brands or ways of work is quite easy for me.
• BMW - Although I don't own a BMW to drive, their film ad campaign really took me by surprise. BMW is seen as a luxurious car with nice designs and cutting edges. Instead of focusing on these expected points, BMW created short films in which their products are being smashed into, shot into and crushed. This uniqueness is what makes me want to associate with them as I feel that I am a very unique person especially to most boys my age. Then again, everyone is unique in their own ways so I think this ad campaign is definitely something for everyone to identify themselves with.
• Nike - Nike's tag line is 'Just do it'. I feel like this is not just important but a part of my life as its the truth that we only live once so just do it. Do what? Doing what you want to and what you need to strive for what you wat. Wearing their products doesn't exactly empower me but seeing their tag line on adverts just acts as a reminder to myself to give up which is why I keep trying and testing new things even if they are the best suit for me or if I keep failing.
• Costa - Costa has become a very environmentally conscious brand which I believe allows me to identify due to my own beliefs of the way we should treat the environment. Apart from loving coffee, I like that they truly consider their actions for the environment and the world in which we live in.

3)

I would completely agree with the view that modern media is all about style over substance. This means that people today care about what things look like compared to the actual product or content itself. I think that it is more relevant today as social media is growing where there are huge numbers of people that like to show off their looks or the looks of their stuff. This makes others jealous in which they want the same thing just because it looks 'cool' and not because it's fit to their needs. Many people these days buy a ton of items that have absolutely no use for them simply because everyone says it looks good. This isn't just about physical products. Even in films and dramas we can see this problem. Movies for example, people are more willing to spend on Hollywood blockbusters since its what everyone seems to know. Most Hollywood blockbusters have absolutely no educational purposes or cultural values compared to films like Chicken.

4)

Baudrillard's theory of media saturation means that the world is now dominated by the choice of media content put out. These media images change how people view the world especially the choice between choosing for style or for substance.

5)

Truthfully, my presence on social media does not really reflect who I am. Yes it reveals parts of me but very minimal amounts. I choose what I allow others to see of me and choose what not to allow others to see of me. Things such as my interest in anime, manga and music is something I don't mind sharing with but information about me is usually never there. I might reveal some stuff about me and my past in private chats but never out publicly. On snapchat, I never usually post much of what's going on around in my life firstly because I don't find the need to and secondly because I feel as if start to come up with irrelevant and incorrect conclusions about me. On twitter, I don't even use my real name on it. Most of it is about games, K-pop or anime. On my Instagram, my posts are of landscapes of places I've been to and the quotes underneath are about how I'm feeling during that time. There are a limited number of people I allow to see my Instagram posts which are my close friends because they mostly know the type of person I am in general so to me, it's okay for me to reveal a bit more to them compared to others.

6)

Looking at it from a business view, this is incredibly smart and useful as it allows the business to market their products to specific people. This gives the business a higher chance to be able to sell their products successfully. From my own point of view, I do not like this as I do feel like my privacy has been intercepted. This sort of makes me feel unsafe so I regularly clear history, cache and cookies so companies are unable to keep track all the time.

Media Magazine Cartoon:

• Audience members understand the messages media texts are showing in which they have the choice whether to accept this particular message to whether to do the opposite.
• He says that the male gaze is influential but 'detested on a monolithic view of male and female roles'.
• He says that the concept of structuration  is a 'model of the thoughtful self-aware modern individual'.
• He uses Ugly Betty to prove that media texts can make audience members feel a certain way or to change how they pick certain things.
• He says that mass media texts offers a diverse range of representations.

___________________________________________________________________________________

1)

Collective identity is a group of individuals who have similar or same interests or values which allows them to identify and relate to each other. 

2)

• Old buildings
• London underground
• Red busses
• Tea
• Fish and chips
• Big Ben
• Houses of parliament
• Buckingham Palace
• Accent
• Black old looking cabs
• White people

Its a general list of things I associate with Britain which includes food, drink, buildings and people.

3) 

It highlights some aspects of British History like the history of the race track or the history of Scalextric. 

4)

New technology allows a wider range of people to meet new people online and to form social groups online based on interests or values. This make collective identity easier for people to find as it has become so convenient.

5)

'Identity is complicated; everyone thinks they have got one.'

6)

People now have more freedom to create original content and content that they want. This includes song lyrics, novels, artwork, films, dramas etc. People can use other previous works as ideas to go on from there. From there, they can build their identity from what they produce.

7)

The Facebook group allows people to share particular scenes of the movie and the continuation of this forms the basis of the group which supports the theory of interpretive communities online where the connections within the group allows them to share their views instead on it being based on personal opinions of an individual.