Social Media in Society

      Social media has become an essential part of our society as Americans. Since the days of MySpace social media has become something that everyone participates from seniors to children. This form of media is meant to connect people on the internet through pictures, words, and video. Many use these site to connect with friends they would not normally see on a regular basis some use it to promote themselves or a business. While there are many ways for a person to use social media there have been many instances where the public uses social media for activism.
        What does online activism look like? Well, it can take on many forms, but what I would like to focus on this week is hashtags and their purpose. A hashtag is a label that make it easier for social media users to seek out messages that have a certain theme or topic. For instance, the hashtag #MayPac will connect the user with anything that that hashtag was used on, in this instance a boxing match.
     However, hashtags in recent years have been used to start a public dialogue on certain issues and debates, such as the hashtags #blacklivesmatter or #baltimoreuprising. These hashtags are used to give the people a voice in the controversies surrounding Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, MD. These hashtags have had a tremendous presence on social media producing an activist community in social media. The people that use this hashtag are usually commenting on the current racial issues African-Americans seem to be having with law enforcement. The fact that we are even talking about these trends on social media means they have worked to some degree. We all know nothing can be changed in our physical world through social media. However, it can spark public thought on an issue and be a catalyst for change.

Public Service Announcements Addressing Important Issues

       If you are familiar with television, then it is likely you have encountered a few public service announcements over the years. P.S.A's are usually about social issues such as drug abuse, global warming, energy conservation, and many other topics plaguing society.  These media campaigns are usually designed to confront the issue head on and in a manner that informs the public within 30 seconds to one minute. 
      Public Service Announcement's have had its place in society since the early forties trying to persuade the public into changing or reinforcing their beliefs about a certain topic.Sometimes it is war other times it is drug use, the point of the public service announcement is to make problems of a marginalized community known to the public, such as prisoners or drug addicts. Since there is wide array of public service announcements we could focus on we will take a look at drug abstinence ads as a focal point in explaining public service announcements.
    Since the mid to late nineties meth addiction has become a problem that communities all over the world, particularly in the United States. The Meth Project started in 2005 and has since put out graphic ads to put a spotlight on the problem of meth addiction.

   This ad put out by The Meth Project is exceptionally graphic and is meant to really grab the audiences attention. It features a young girl on the floor looking strung out with a man on top of her. The text reads "!5 Bucks for Sex isn't Normal. But on Meth it is." This ad is particularly graphic because this problem is a growing national concern and it puts the realities of a drug addicts life into a form of visual communication.
While public service announcements are sometimes irritating and graphic (especially when you are watching your favorite show or reading your favorite magazine) they do serve their purpose in society. Without public service announcements certain topics could become unrecognized and worse and effect a higher number of people.

A Look at Satire

      Satire is all around us and is, most of time, presented to us through various media outlets. It attempts to poke fun and seriously criticize certain topics, depending on what type of satire is employed. Satire can operate on a variety of platforms, and can effect one's view on a certain situation, political event, social concerns, etc. This week we will look at satire and break it down a bit, showing certain types and categories of satire.
      Satire has many faces in a world that is ever changing, the point of satire, according to its definition, diminishes or derogates a subject by making the problem or person look ridiculous. The purpose is criticize in order to shame the subject into reform. While usually satire itself does not do the reform, but it serves as a catalyst to some issues to get the people thinking about a certain problem.
     The first type of satire we will examine is Horatian satire. The name Horacian come from the ancient Roman satirist Horace. This type of satire is often meant to be gentle,urbane, and leave the reader or audience smiling. It attempts to correct the issue addressed through gentle sympathetic laughter and is often playful as seen in this example.

In this example, criminals who appear to be some sort of burglars or thief's are looking at wanted mugshots. While looking at mugshots, the criminals reminisce about a time when they were on the wanted posters instead of the law enforcement being on the poster. This communicates that in these times the police and authority seem to be more menacing than the criminals themselves.
This form of satire, as seen, is not meant to be that offensive, however, the next form of satire is not meant to be so palatable.
The second type of satire we will examine is Juvenalian satire. This name juvenalian comes from the ancient Roman satirist Juvenal. This type of satire is meant to really grab the reader. Often juvenalian satire seeks to be bitter, biting, and angry, often presenting the audience with moral indignation. In this example juvenalian satire is employed.

In this example, healthcare is the issue that is being addressed.
The patient is caught in a catch 22 as the insurance he has does not cover his ailment unless he does not have it. So basically his insurance covers certain ailments as long as he does not have the ailment. If he does he is basically screwed.
This kind of satire is biting because it seriously criticizes the healthcare industry by making a mockery of it in this cartoon.
    Satire has been a way that the people deal with injustices and things they feel are not handled correctly. Satire employs four techniques that have been used for millennia. The first technique is exaggeration which is meant to enlarge or represent something beyond its normalcy. The second is incongruity which resents things that are out of place. The third being reversal which is presenting the opposite of the status quo. The final technique employed by satirists is parody which is to imitate the techniques and/or style of something or someone. Since the ancient times with Horace and Juvenal people have been using satire as way to poke fun at and sometimes insult the powers that be. Satire employs four techniques that have been used for millennia.

Cultural Commodification

Everything that enters the mainstream culture in America essentially gets watered down into a more palatable form of entertainment or advertising that targets the white population. It seems that every time the mainstream white culture takes from a different culture or sub-culture it waters the culture down by picking and choosing what it takes from it and adds its own plainness to it.

In bell hooks’ article “Eating the Other”, she touches on this subject with clear reference to the black community and how black culture has become a commodity in certain aspects. Hooks’ refers to an example of sexual intercourse among white and black people, to illustrate how white people often commodify black people and other races. In her essay, hooks’ refers to how white men seek to have sexual encounters with “the Others” (people of different culture or race) to have a certain experience that makes them feel more in touch with the world they live in or to just have an unusual sexual experience. This is clearly represented in the film Road Trip, where a white male, who is nerdy and inexperienced sexually, has sex with a black woman and is then transformed into a “cool”, easy-going guy.

Another point hooks makes is that commodification “the other” is happening in mainstream media. This means that certain aspects of the black culture are being turned into things that can be bought or sold. In the current cultural climate, black men are seen as smooth and cool who are often better lovers. This can be seen in mediums such as television and music, and they suggest that if one can talk, act, or dress like black people this will give them a more thrilling lifestyle that suggests they will have more fun and possibly be more attractive to the opposite sex. 

This type of commodification can be seen in artists such as Justin Timberlake, who is now an R&B artist, or Miley Cyrus’ twerking. The objective of these artists is to “spice up” their previously dominant white product into something that has more “flavor”, because the aspects of white culture are too mundane to add to their product.

The problem with this commodification is it waters down the culture it steals from and turns it into something that is not appreciated on a deeper level. Sure it may glorify that particular culture but it turns it into something that is shallowly represented and something that can be bought or sold by any person of any culture thus removing its credibility as a cultural aspect.

Cultural Tolerance

This week I will continue to talk about race and class along with religion and interpret how they are represented on television in various sitcoms. The reason sitcoms are important to study is because they tell quite a bit about our society and how we look at race, class, and religion.

Since 9/11, and even before that, Muslims have been portrayed on television as villains or terrorists. Television tends to clump all Muslims into one category of being from a Middle Eastern country with a darker complexion and there is usually a narrative that is us versus them. This type of television promotes religious tolerance, where we just tolerate people of certain religions and color. The concept of religious tolerance does not really allow religious freedom that our society supposedly guarantees.

The reason this is in our television shows is because these shows tend to tell the public what to think about when it comes to national issues and debates. While we strive for religious freedom, certain schema we have that activate when we see something like this prevent our society from being truly religiously free. We should want to understand these people a little more instead of portraying them in these ways.

Enlightened Racism

Racism’s face has changed over the many years it has been around. What used to be recognizable, is now hidden in the seams of our society and culture. A man named Sut Jhally studied the sitcom “The Cosby Show”, and found that in contained a new form of racism not recognizable to many. “Enlightened racism”, as Jhally describes it, promotes the myth that blacks that have not been successful in society have only themselves to blame. The reason why blacks are portrayed on television as usually upper class or middle class citizens is because it makes the show more palatable to a wider variety of audience, extending through racial and class barriers.

In years before, black television sitcoms were made for a black audience. The public found shows like “Good Times” and “Sanford and Son” to be for more of a black audience. However, as time went on and our society strived for a “post-racial” state, more and more ethnic characters were being used to target a wider range of cultural audiences.

These television shows often minimize the concerns of race and class by addressing these issues in a passive way and not weaving them into the plot, like many shows have tried to do. While these shows are not intentionally being racist to a specific crowd, they do affect certain schemas that allow us to think in a way that Jhally suggests.

While it may seem relatively innocent, the concept of enlightened racism does not have the greatest effect on the viewers. It hides and distorts the actual reality of how most black people live in society. Enlightened racism also relieves the viewer of any responsibility for the inequalities that are present, but not always noticeable.