“Media representations are complex, not simple and straightforward”. How far do you agree with this statement in relation to youth and collective identity?

The power relationship between the media and youth is a difficult one. As they are both constantly changing and adapting each other’s views and thoughts. In the Sun newspaper the Article ‘I Predict a rioter’ gives a bad representation of youths in particular black youths are labeled with statics as being ‘previous criminals’ that shows that they were the main party involved in the riots. Henri Tajfels theory of the In and Out group can be applied to this as clearly youth are working together in gangs in order to enhance their identities. In the article the media incorporates horrific pictures of buildings burning and male youth holding lethal weapons which give off a sense of fear in society and creates moral panic. The media suggested how web 2.0 gave rioters freedom as they were able to spread views and share information to cause a rise in the rebellious action.  However after the riots Marxist views came into action as Blackberry shut their entire network down in order to put regulations into place.Merleau Pontys theory ‘We have an embodied experience and anything in which we use our bodies to create new things with builds our identity’ is evident as Young people choose to use Blackberry and Facebook during the London Riots 2011 as it was cheap and an easy way of getting themselves heard. This was clearly different to the Brixton Riots in the 1980’s as there was no web 2.0 so youth had less sense of power as regulations and authority could rule and control them.

In contemporized music videos there are many negative and explicit ideologies being projected through visuals in which youth watch and mediate so much that explicit music videos often become de-sensitized by youth. In snoop dogg’s video ‘Drop it like its hot’ there are visuals of him vandalizing a wall with graffiti, this representation can be seen as negative as it encourages youth to go out and vandalize their own society. The Mirror stage looks at how we reflect behaviour from the media (the mirror) and we reflect what we see and then mediate it and recognise the ‘self’ this can be applied to this music video as many of the visuals of Snoop Dogg reinforces his wealth and use of drug taking. Many youths of today especially young boys will reflect on this video and will aspire to be like Snoop Dogg who is evidently a role model as censorship is no longer important. Videos like these have negative implications on crime rates and also influence drug use such as smoking majurijana. This video is a contrast to older rap videos in the 80’s where most hip-hop lyrics reflected poverty and injustice society and caused youths to rise up against authority.

Over time the media can influence how people perceive the world. This is known as the cultivation theory this relates to how the media has changed conventions and heightened representations which have been accepted by us as the passive audience. In Rhianna’s SNM Video the lyrics is very explicit as she refers to sexual encounters and in a way encourages this as a positive thing. Many young girls watch these videos and believe that this representation is correct. Acland’s Theory: Media representations of delinquent youth reinforce hegemony by showing what is unacceptable can be applied to this video as Rhianna is seen as a dominant figure, she is shown harassing and holding the media hostage which reinforces a rebellious ideology to youths and young girls who mediate this representation. This video has had a significant impact on young girls as they now believe sexual encounters are acceptable at a young age this could also explain why teenage pregnancy statistics are so high. In addition to this the media are constantly portraying negative representations that have an effect on youth identity however when these negative identities are formed they continue to project continuous negative representations to keep a variety of ideologies which shows that media representations are complex and not just straight forward. From a personal point of view music videos that has numerous amounts of explicit language and negative representations have become the norm to me due to the saturated inescapable forms of media and I believe this will continue until censorship fades away gradually.

theorists useful for the exam...

Glossary of Theorists:

1.    Identity is complicated everyone thinks they’ve got one- David Gauntlett

2.    A focus on identity requires us to pat closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and their consequences for social groups This relates to the incresed use of blackberry messenger, facebook and Twitter and how youths interact and share cultural views- David Buckingham

3.    There is a distinct ‘in group’ and ‘out group’ discrimination. An individuals self-esteem is maintaining by being part of the group. This relates to subcultures in soicety and particular gangs that are formed including peer pressure and social influences youth experience- Henri Tajfel

4.    The media as a principal form of ideological dissemination produces representations of the social world via images and portrayals. This explains how the media reflects social ideas that are relevent to how society is regulated– Stuart Hall

5.    Teens are constantly updating and customing their profiles online, adding photos and posting on each others virtual walls these activities can also be means for teens to construct and experiment with their identity- Relates to the use of social networks and how they are used on a daily basis to upload posts and to hold a collective identity.-Henry Jenkins

6.    We have an embodied expirence and anything in which we use our bodies to create new things with builds our identity- Can relate to the creation and construction of individual Facebook and Myspace pages-Merleau Ponty

7.    Survielllance in society is a constant notion that is internalised and used as a form of social organisation. We are born with a basic construction of our identity and we develop this further with who meet which forms our collective identity we mediate this for who we meet we do this through discourse and this leads to us influcing eachother -Relates to media proposed ideas and how we negotiate these mentally to form our identity. Micheal Foucalt

8.    The emergence of a social order in  which the importance and power of the mass media and popular culture means that they govern and shape all other forms of social relationships – Strinati Post Modernist theorist

9.    Development systems interact with people in many shapes or forms exsisting sense of identity in different forms –Piaget

10. The Mirror stage looks at how we reflect behaviour from the media (the mirror) and we reflect what we see and then mediate it and recongnise the ‘self’- Jacques Lacan

11. In media representations youth becomes an empty category- Giroux

12. Media representations of deliquient youth reinforce hegemony by showing what is uneceptable. They also justify state control of young people- the ideology of protection – Acland

13. Over time the media can influence how people percieve the world. This is known as the cultivation theory- This relates to how the media has changed conventions and heightened representations which have been acceped by us as the passive audeience-Gerbner

Glossary of Key Terms:

Hegemony-  A ruling class that dominates society eg. Adults

Construction- How ideas are put together through media devices to create an ideology

Subculture- A social group with a culture that diffentiates from a larger culture in which they belong to


Counter Culture- a group that forms a counter culture to subvert oppression with their behaviour they also challenge ideologies.

Ideology- a set of ideas that reflect actions and expectations in society


Dichotomous- two different things on opposite, sides that are divided.

Archtetypical- the typical and recognised ideology that is copied in society or reconstructed

Dissonance- two conflicting things

Mediation- A negotiation to resolve differences . The idea of us negotiated readings of the media to help us construct media. So not taking the messages at face value but understanding them in context and using our own expirences.

Representation- refers to the construction in media formats (especially the mass media) of aspects of ‘reality’ such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other concepts. Such representations may be in writing e.g nespapers or visuals e.g tv programmes/music videos.

Binary opposition- how ideas and meanings are being shaped, created or reinforced in a text. It is 'a theory of meaning' ,it is especially useful when analysing poetry where meaning has been 'compressed' into a very few words.

Reflection- How we as an audience look upon media texts and mediate our perceptions and have a mental debate about what we are being presented with in the media

Anarchy-A subculture that go against the norm to change views and ideas about politics they can often be violent and offensive about proposed societal views and often reject regulation.

Censorship-relates to the examining of media products and suppressing acceptable parts for a suitable audience e.g the parental advisory logo and film ratings

Globalised- An international influence media products have on a wide spread audience

Marxism-  A Dominant sociological theory that highlights the importance of regulation and capitalism in society. It also looks at how ideologies are proposed and used to regulate people in society. A key Marxists theorist is Stuart Hall.

Post Modernism-  A movement that emerged as a reaction to modern society and cultural views that reflect society and governs our reality as the media act as a mirror that we reflect and define ourselves with.

Newspapers- Tabloid and Broadsheet

Who reads newspapers? In pairs, write down the stereotypical audience profile for the British Press (Tabloid and Broadsheet).

Tabloid newspapers are usually read by younger people and people who are working class who like entertainment and soft news rather than reality and politics

Broadsheet newspapers are usually read by middle class people who are interested in current affairs and economic articles that reflect society.

- Who writes newspapers? In pairs, write down the stereotypical profile for journalists on the British Press (Tabloid and Broadsheet).

Journalists write newspapers for institutions  i.e. Rupert Murdock

Read - Young people don't like us. Who can blame them?
- Are the press 'reflecting' or 'constructing' ideas about youth/youth culture?

The press are reflecting the same ideas about youth culture, in regards to the growth of digital media such as youtube and Mobile phones. They are preaching  to the public who read newspapers daily. They are disagreeing with societys hegemonic viewpoint as 85% of teen boys said newspapers portray them negatively.

Does the answer to this question matter?
- Are they 'preaching to the converted'?
- Are they 'selling' an idea which people want to 'buy'?
- What is it and why?
- Whose interests does this serve?
- Is this hegemony?
- How is this view supported in other areas of the media?
 

“The media has replaced family, society and religion as the main source of collective identity” –Discuss

“The media has replaced family, society and religion as the main source of collective identity” –Discuss

The media has evolved over the years, as there has been a proliferation of new technologies we as humans have been lured in and have grown an attachment to the media without even noticing this may be because the media performs four main functions in our lives it gives us a sense of aspiration, identity, instruction and escapism as C.Wright Mills suggested .The statement “The media has replaced family, society and religion” suggests that the media has taken over these aspects of people’s life’s that were once important. The creation of Facebook and Twitter has had a significant impact on youths life’s as they are able to have an ‘embodied experience’ as Merleu Pontys theory reveals. The functions that allow us to upload pictures and share culture views in society give us a sense of enhanced self esteem especially when others comment and like our posts. From my personal experience I do feel that Facebook and Blackberry messenger have enabled me to forefront my identity and advertise my personal view points to encounter a collective identity. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can be applied to the Facebook users as the effect of joining a Facebook group can give a sense of belonging to the individual.  In addition to this it can be argued that family were once the people who gave youth these feelings but now they are being supplemented with Social networks instead which construct a collective identity for youth as they are able to relate and interact freely with people who have become their ‘techno-family’

The emergence of social media technologies have enabled us to stay in contact with family and friends through instant messages on Blackberry messenger, which ‘37 percent of teenagers own’ and also through the use of Skype as a result of this family  time  is not as important as it used to be in the early ages before technologies existed.  This has had an significant effect on marriage statistics as more people are having long distance relationships and keeping close relations due to social networks and mobile phones, It can be said that the world has become ‘the world has become a global social village’ due to the high use of social networks.

Richard Dyers star theory states that ‘stars represent shared cultural values, attitudes and also represent a specific ideology’ this can be seen when looking at how youth imitate behaviours of people in their society and also their favourite actor or for young boys rappers. Also the use of having websites such as YouTube and MySpace has enable youths to portray their identities to other but also eliminates the sense of togetherness and sharing in society.  Hence why most people tend to not go to music concerts, instead they prefer to watch a music video online which will give them a sense in order to escape from their everyday lives or to build their own identity. Blumler and Katz audience gratification theory ‘audiences are active consumers who select and choose the media they consume according to various needs that they have’ can be applied to the use of online shopping. As many people tend to shop online it shows how people are less sociable and do anything to escape society. This is a significant contrast to the early 1990’s where people shopped in their local communities and whilst doing so exchanged words with people in their local communities. For many living at this time going shopping would have been an exciting experience where as now shopping online has become the norm.

David Gauntlet’s  theory ‘identities are not ‘given’ but are constructed and negotiated can be applied to Films such as ‘Bend it like beckham’ that make religion the subject matter and show character who are unsure about their religion. Films like these are significant as they give young people who are in a similar situation a sense of reality as they are able to identify with characters and also negotiate their identity rather than going to their priest or a religious person for answers to questions they may have. The media clearly regulates our lives as they propose ideas and rules that are reflected and incorporated by us.

To conclude I agree that the media has replaced family,society and religion and have become the main source of collective identity due to the lower interest in these aspects of life. I believe that the importance of family, society and religion will remain but as the development of the media continues the interest in them will also decrease.

Research on Viral Media and Online Press

·        How does the internet provide an enormous challenge for regulations?

·        How does the internet provide-modern vision of identity?

·        How does web 2.0 present a change for rioters since the Brixton riots?

·        How has online press affected us in today’s society?

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/3891972/August-riot-yobs-and-thugs-revealed.html

The Article ‘I Predict a rioter’ from the Sun represents a bad representation of youths in particular black youths are labeled with statics as being ‘previous criminals’ that show that they were the main party involved in the riots. They use horrific pictures of buildings burning and male youth holding lethal weapons which give off a sense of fear in society and creates moral panic. The internet shows a difference in web 2.0 and how it gave rioters freedom as they were able to spread views and share information to cause a rise in the rebellious action.  However after the riots Marxist views came into action as Blackberry shut their entire network down in order to put regulations into place. Young people choose to use Blackberry and Facebook during the London Riots 2011 as it was cheap and an easy way of getting themselves heard. This was clearly different to the Brixton Riots in the 1980’s as there was no web 2.0 so youth had less sense of power as regulations and authority could rule and control them.

“One BBM broadcast posted on Monday evening appeared to urge protesters to go looting in Stratford, east London. "If you're down for making money, we're about to go hard in east london tonight, yes tonight!!" it said. "I don't care what ends you're from, we're personally inviting you to come and get it in. Police have taken the piss for too long and to be honest I don't know why its taken so long for us make this happen. We need a minimum of 200 hungry people. We're not broke, but who says no to free stuff. Doesn't matter if the police arrive cos we'll just chase dem out because as you've seen on the news, they are NOT ON DIS TING. Everyone meet at 7 at stratford park and let's get rich." – This was one of the messages that were broadcasted on Blackberry Messenger one of the looters. The media purposely choose this article as is gives a poor perception of youth as being uneducated due to the grammatical errors in this message also the use of slang represents their identity.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/08/london-riots-blackberry-messenger-looting

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023924/London-riots-2011-BlackBerry-Messenger-shut-unbelievable.html

 Web 2.0 is the main aspect of youths life some have become addicted The Daily mail said “BlackBerry itself is now the smartphone favoured by young people in this country, and is used by a massive 37 per cent of British teens.” This article reflects post modernist views about youth being able to have their own opinions.

in-complete essay

“The media do not construct collective identity; they merely reflect it” Discuss

In today’s current age youth are often portrayed in a negative light through statistics on the news and in other TV programmes. The media often portray youth as anti-social yobs that cause problems in society and have no moral or respect for authority this was evident in the London Riots as many youths came together holding similar cultural views in order to loot and cause fear in society. They used web 2.0 effectively to share their thoughts and to raise awareness of what was happening. In the programme Misfits as characters are all asbo’s who drink and have sexual encounters thoughtlessly in this programme it is clear that the media propose an identity for youths as they purposely project youths as beings that should be feared due to their great sense of empowerment and rise against the hegemonic ruling class.

Many adults protest ‘children are our future’ and that they are being misrepresented this is a significant issue as you rarely see positive representations of teenagers in the media instead there are statistics that highlight the rise of teenage pregnancies and also teenagers killing one another. Recently a TV Drama was created on channel 4 called ‘Top Boy’ this involved gangs of black male youths involved in violence and selling drugs. This TV Drama included some horrific and vile scenes that were just a mere reflection of the activities that male youths are involved in nowadays. The reference to of gang culture was crucial in ‘Topboy’ as the media reflected an ideology of youths having an embodied experience in order to form their identity, Merleau Pontys theory could be applied further to this.

The Media governs our reality and act as an element of mind control which is inescapable. This is evident in the London Riots as newspapers such as the sun use media saturation to construct identity. The Article ‘I Predict a rioter’ from the Sun gave a bad representation of youths in particular ‘black youths’ were labelled with statics as being ‘previous criminals’ which suggested that they were dangerous beings in society. They use horrific pictures of buildings burning and male youth holding lethal weapons gave a sense of fear in society and created moral panic. The internet shows a difference in web 2.0 and how it gave rioters freedom as they were able to spread views and share information to cause a rise in the rebellious action.  However after the riots Marxist views came into action as Blackberry shut their entire network down in order to put regulations into place. Young people choose to use Blackberry and Facebook during the London Riots 2011 as it was cheap and an easy way of getting themselves heard. This was clearly different to the Brixton Riots in the 1980’s as there was no web 2.0 so youth had less sense of power as regulations and authority could rule and control them.

The power of the modern electronic net is remarkable as the media are able to construct and develop youth identity through online social networks. Facebook is used by 96% of youths in the UK, they use it on a daily basis in the Daily Telegraph Nicolas Carr explained how his brain was “hungry” and “it was demanding to be fed the way the net fed it “this explanation suggests how the media control youths minds.