The Rise Social Media
The Downfall of Our Generation?
What is Media Literacy?
The term “Media” has taken up a whole new connotation to it. In past generations, the media was nothing more than an outside force from which you were able to get snippets and glimpse of the world through a number of limited sources. These sources included books, television, radio and newspaper to name a few; each one with their own limitations. However, the birth of the World Wide Web changed the game completely. Today, this same information has made itself available in a much more varied array of outlets. These outlets are now accessible at the touch of a finger, literally giving us a link to the rest of the world that we can take anywhere. The combination of technology and social media in particular has morphed into something more personal and viewed by some as a necessary extension of ourselves in the present day world. To be “media literate” in turn has now become something more complicated to achieve, and vastly more important to understand. As the world evolves and changes, so does the way we interact and the way we perceive such interactions. To be media literate is to be able to understand the way people interact, express, and share with each other and with the world through both the new and old forms of media. This understanding enables us to progress even further but, as I've mentioned before, has become even more complicated due to the nature of the internet. As is expected of such big changes in society, the future place of social media is not exactly certain. What we do know is that we alone can shift the direction it will take.
Connections Through Media
Media in a Snap
The Explosion of Social Media
"Make Love Not War" Précis
One of Axe’s most prominent commercially in 2014 was titled “Make Love, Not War” and hit the screen during the superbowl, with aims at asserting its relevance as men’s deodorant company. Axe’s marketing department shifted tactics away from their usual sexy commercials and aired a commercial in which their actors are seen portraying either tyrannical leaders or militant soldiers , about to carry out acts of war and hatred; however the characters soon reveal that their seemingly menacing actions are actually acts of love and peace. Infamously labeled as demeaning towards women, Axe’s new slogan “Make Love, Not War” promotes a completely different message in order to separate itself from the bad publicity of its older commercials and sell its new body deodorant appropriately named “Peace”. It should be noted that for its main audience (men roughly between ages 18-29) the commercial’s impact will be minimal, instead, it will be targeted toward the critics of their marketing.
"Time Tebow: No-Contract" Precis
As a mobile network phone company, T-Mobile’s Super Bowl ad, “No Contract,” featuring Tim Tebow as their star endorser, looked to introduce the concept of their new no-contract phone plan to millions of people. This commercial utilized the services of famed football player Tim Tebow, who ironically and conveniently is currently a free agent in the player transfer market, and film him doing a number of exciting activities all of which can only be achieved under the freedom of having “no contract.” This commercial was one of the more clever ones and takes Tebow’s current situation and seamlessly merges it with their theme as a phone company in order to illustrate and bring attention to the benefits of a no-contract phone plan. The overall tone of this commercial is fun and joking as it has Tim Tebow poke fun at himself all the while promoting the product to the target audience, which most likely includes phone users on a contract plan and who have just enough knowledge of sports (football in specific) to laugh at the inside joke provided by Tebow himself.