Media Studies Blog

 Google’s use for most people is to find information on whatever their interested in. From this article we can see that the things that we search may not always give us authentic results. Instead we will get the things approved by other entities to be shown on Google. Although it is known that the top results on Google are usually sponsored it’s not widely known that Google actually censors potential results that can actually be helpful to users. In this article it talks about EU residents that wish to delete information about themselves or at least censor it from the other residents in their country as people should have the right to “be forgotten”. The negative of people being able to censor themselves on Google is that it can effect the knowledge we learn about the beliefs and ideas people have. This makes less people represented in research making it less accurate. I think this issue connects to the contemporary regulatory environment because the growth of Google,specifically the rise in peer-to-peer sharing, makes monitoring who sees your information very difficult causing privacy issues. That’s why self-regulation on the internet is becoming more common. So I understand why people would want to delete themselves off Google but I also understand that it would make it difficult for people researching because the information is limited to only what is allowed to be viewed. Overall I think instead of people self-regulating they shouldn’t post something they would be to embarrassed to show the public in the first place because the internet is definitely not a private place. 

Product Placement. Product Placement can be best defined as a method by which companies pay a certain amount of money to Movie producers to have them display their products in the movie. Even in the Just released Sky fall James Bond Movie we had Product placement as seen in the video above, Where Heineken payed an amount of $45,000,000 to have James Bond sip from the Heineken bottle in a scene although his hand might have obscured the label. All in all , around $200 million was accepted by the sky fall production to display products like CAT tractor, Audi, Vaio laptop, Sony phone, Mccallan and Jaguar in different scenes. Mccallan alone got a whooping $9,000,000 worth of exposure value only because of the movie, this shows us how effective the Visual type of product placement is . Product Placement can occur in different ways could be Visual that is where a product, service or a logo can simply be observed, It could also be Spoken when a product, service, or corporation is mentioned in the movie and lastly it could be usage when an on-screen personality interacts or handles the product, service, or corporation (Both Spoken and visual). I believe Product placement is very effective it’s a method of Advertising your product, Giving Customers awareness of your product worldwide. It also strengthens brand loyalty from current users that is to say Consumers who see a product or logo in a movie or television program that they have purchased are positively reinforced.

From the image above we can see that some migrants are trying to come to europe to seek for a better life. After the second world war many africans and people from the middle east decided to start migrating in europe which is also known as Fortress europe under illegal conditions and it is predicted that if nothing is done in the future , it will be worst.Many Africans and Middle easters are trying to enter europe through illegal ways . Many europeens are against illegal migration. You can see the quotes from the image above “No Illegal immigration” The media through media text iike images are trying so sensibilize the population against futur  illegal migration in this fortress  which is a danger for europe and the migrants themselves!

I personally shop online more than I go to a store and pick my clothes, I even shop for my groceries online and wait for it to arrive to my door step. In my opinion this future is where we are really headed, and most - if not all,  people who use these technologies find it more convenient as a use of communication and easier. 

I think that this negative public attitude is common these days, since people today who are migrating and are refuges are most likely to be from the middle east Arab or muslim. And perhaps after the events of 9/11 and all that has happened because of ISIS the public came more aware of their right to be secure physically, emotionally and financially than just helping other nations and protecting them.

Synergy is defined as the combined marketing of products or commodities which are often owned by the same corporation that the total effect would be greater than the sum of the different parts. This is related to product placement. This is a technique in which the products are used to promote one another, and they’re all linked by the same thing. Above is a  good example of how that is. Hannah Montana was a T.V show that aired on the Disney Channel for 4 years. The more the show became successful, the more merchandise was available. The more of that, the merrier. The Hannah Montana dolls promoted the Hannah Montana bedroom accessories, which promoted the Hannah Montana party decorations, which then promoted the T.V show (and the movies!), which promoted how great and wonderful Disney was. Think of all the merchandise of every franchise-this technique is effective. In my opinion-forget about the actors/musicians/artists- yes, they become successful and yes, they make a lot of money. But the aim in all of this is one thing- and that’s to make the big companies that the movies/T.V shows work with look good, and make more money. It’s a very effective technique, considering how much money they make just off the merchandising alone. It’s also something I’ve experienced first hand. I was a huge Hannah Montana fan, and I did have the school supplies with her face on it, the clothes and the party decorations (ONLY the invitations and plates). These things- they do make children happy because there’s more of what they like. Today, it’s more with animated movies, like Frozen. But it’s not just for children- it can be for everyone. Think of Star Wars fans. This year, their merchandising was everywhere-even at M&M’s world. 

 In the article we learn that Facebook has gotten into trouble for trying to regulate the photos people upload online by removing ones that they deem inappropriate. People are angry at Facebook as they think the photos that got removed were unjustified. For example in this article they mention that a photo of a mother breastfeeding her baby got removed because it was showing nudity. Although the big issue that has caused Facebook to land in court was the removal of the photos by a French art teacher Frédéric Durand-Baissas who posted a photo of the painting L’Origine du Monde by Gustave Courbet ( a painting of a woman’s genitals). Frédéric Durand-Baissas argues that although the photo shows nudity it is his freedom of expression and it is his right to put it on Facebook and now he wants €20,000 in damages because it caused his account to be terminated. Facebook replied that not only was the post against their guidelines they should not face the French court but go to court in California, where they are based, but this was denied by the French court. Overall this issue shows that regulation laws can cause issues as each country has their own ideology on how free their media can be. In my opinion I think Facebook should not be sued as Frédéric Durand-Baissas agreed to the terms and conditions of Facebook and they had a right to delete his account if he was posting nude art.

The global village is seeing the world as a village interconnected through media (telephones, computers, newspapers etc). This idea was developed by Marshall McLuhan who believed technology was what destroyed walls between other countries and cultures and had changed the idea of distance, time and communication causing the world to shrink. When McLuhan predicted the global village before the internet had come around hence causing the global village to be much more applicable compared to when he predicted it because back then there was only telephones, televisions and computers. Globalisation is important to the global village because it is what interconnect the different parts of the world. An example would be when a natural disaster takes place on the other side of the world it still can effect us. Marshall in the video above, states that “…they photographs, movies, radio tv all these change at once the way we see, or hear, or touch, or feel ourselves and our world.” He believed that it influences us everyday and in different ways because it constantly changes what we want. “You can’t have a point of view in the Electronic Age”. In my opinion, the global village will always apply and is important to everyday life. I believe applications like Facebook, Skype and Twitter are what brings us together, gets rid of borders and unites us like a village. 

This post is going to be about product placement. In particular, Apple product placement. I found it very interesting when I found out that they actually don’t pay for their products to show. In 2011 alone, their products made 891 T.V appearances, and they showed up in over 40% of movies that were box office hits. What’s their secret? Here it is: They hand out free iPhones, iPads, MacBooks- as much as the production needs. Apple relies heavily on these movie/ T.V appearances because the traditional commercial has been seeing a huge decline in the past couple of years. They sell through celebrities. Not only that- they sell through celebrities AND their products actually work AND literally it has everything a person can possibly need in a phone, or laptop and more? AND there’s a thing called iCloud where a person can upload and back up all their things- FOR FREE? I think everyone’s getting the point. In my opinion, I love Apple so I’m not going to lie, I am pretty biased. I think that they are innovators when it comes to technology, and I think that them handing out free iPhones, iPads, laptops- whatever the product is- it’s pretty clever. And it’s definitely not a bad day at work, considering the prices of some of these products ( or all of them). This technique works, though, and we see it everywhere. Apple is everywhere.  

Personally , i think that the american dominance is not that good because it makes us abandon our original cultures and values. Many people around the world want to behave like americans and they tend to forget their local way of life.

The public sphere is where you can freely go discuss and identify social problems. It is a place where individuals can come together to share their mutual interests/concerns, come up with a common judgment and how you influence political action. Jürgen Habermas wrote a book where he gathered modern concepts of the public sphere and he believes that in the 18th century a new local society had emerged. The article I linked above states how the since after the Paris attacks demonstrations have been banned. This limits the freedom of speech. “All around the world, it seems, the walls are closing in on the space that people need to assemble, associate, express themselves freely, and register dissent. Even as the internet and communications technology have made speaking up publicly technically easier than ever, ubiquitous state and commercial surveillance has ensured that expression, association, and protest remain constrained. In short, speaking up has never required more courage.” This quote from the article mentions how technology has made it easier for todays society to express their opinions and ideas thus expanding the public sphere. I believe that the public sphere is a helpful idea to get political opinions from the community to make a change in their government/society.  

I know I blabbered a lot about the public sphere, however, it because I find this topic really interesting, since I, like other people, like to share what I believe and I like to discuss what I know with other people, that are also interested in the things I am interested in. Today the public sphere, is more global and contains many discussions and opinions, that are leading to change and leading to enlightenment to many different things around the world. Such as the Arab spring, Green Peace campaign against Barbie. I find this as amazing, because people simply have a choice and are not bound to a powerful organisations that can control the world because they simply have loads of money.

Product placement is the process in which manufacturing companies pay to have their products exposed in television programs, movies, or music videos. The bond movies seem to be popular with product placing cars, watches, phones and drinks; with every second on screen the product has counting in millions being paid. In the latest movie Skyfall Heineken beer was a clear example of product placement. Heineken paid almost 45 million dollars to have the beer featured in the movie. You might ask why not just invest this kind of money in a TV Advertisement or something? Well, that is the whole point of product placing; it features in contexts devoid of Ads. According to Bloomberg Business “66% of viewers skip, mute or otherwise ignore TV adverts. 90% of people watching pre-recorded media skip the ads. 78% of marketers feel that TV advertising is sharply declining “ That is why it makes more sense to have your product strategically placed in movies when people wouldn’t expect it, and what a better movie to invest in than a James Bond franchise which would have it exposed to millions of viewers world wide. I think that product placing is indeed becoming a smart way for manufacturers to showcase their real world products/brands in fictional worlds on screens when they aren’t expected. Sometimes product placement is done in a smart way but other times when I’m watching a TV program or music video and the product is just too “in your face” I personally find it disfavouring.