Today in class we discussed about the negative impacts the posts in Yik-Yak has. Yik-Yak’s popularity has two reasons: close proximity and anonymity. After the class I was curious to know what adverse effects Yik-Yak has brought since its inception in November 2013.I was shocked to find out the number of negative effects it has in our community.The most serious was the use of Yik-Yak to spread messages of threat in the college community.The news report I have attached with gives several example of the crimes that has occurred with the use of Yik-Yak.One particular example is the post of a student at Towson University.He posted a message saying ” “I plan on shooting up this [expletive] school on October 4th.” Because of the incident the college administration had to immediately work with FBI and the police to increase security at the university.However later it was discovered that a student posted that because he was nervous that he would not get good grades in his classes.
As the teens who are not matured enough, use this medium extensively and substantially( multiple hours in a day), it increases the chances of similar incidents repeating.The report also includes an incident when Yik-Yak was used to popularize a sex tape of a college student made by another student posted on a pornography site.It has been just a year and a half that Yik Yak was introduced and several criminal activities have been occurred because of the use of Yik-Yak. Yik-Yak may have a lot of advantages of helping people know what what other people feel however its adverse effects are big enough to question its existence.
Here’s the link to the news report on Washington post:
I came across a Ted talk video that was organized at Lafayette College a year ago.This talk is relevant to two topics discussed in the class: 1) Does sex sell? 2)Photoshopification.The speaker gives several examples of advertisements over the years which used sex as a means to sell a product.Her statement “Ads sell more than just products” explains her talk in a sentence.This talk focuses on how advertisements are using women not just to sell their products but also are changing the attitudes women have about themselves and also the perception of women in today’s world.The saying by Cindy Crawford ” I wished I looked like Cindy Crawford” summarizes the extent in which photoshop is used today’s advertising.She also mentions about two examples where sex is used in advertisement of food products including fast food.She states that such advertisements don’t directly cause violence against women but normalizes the dangerous and threatening attitudes toward women. Her analysis of the difference between portrayal of men and women in advertising is worth discussion.
I haven’t seen a lot of documentaries but I feel like Inside Job is the first documentary in which I saw an active role of the interviewer in the documentary.The confidence shown by the interviewer to ask several logical questions to the distinguished personalities in politics and financial sector and asking clear and detailed answers on the questions that the interviewee don’t dare to talk openly, was really unique and appreciable.Watching the movie I felt the constant stammering and nervousness of the famous people( who are often seeing speaking in mediums of media), made me question if the things they are saying is actually true or not.Also the constant zoom in in interviewees faces when they stammer makes audience easily believe that these people were aware of what was going on before the recession.
I felt having Julia Gillard( France),Strauss Khan(IMF), Lee Heisng Loo(Singapore) and other international personalities made the points made by them reliable and fair whereas we questioned the reliability of the speakers from American origin as most of them showed low- confidence and were directly involved in the economic crisis.However, I believe having some more people from middle and low class group about their experience during recession and their reaction on the Wall Street Scandal would have made the documentary more appealing and convincing.
Since the beginning of the semester we have been talking about the increasing importance of media in our lives.We have discussed about movies, short films and social medias transforming our lives. I would like to relate the importance of media during the Arab Spring when social media like Youtube, Facebook and Twitter helped accelerate democratic revolutions and influence larger number of people.In Middle East countries where mainstream media have been substantially controlled by the government, social media emerged as a tool for freedom of speech.Thousands of youths were active on facebook and twitter to raise their concerns about autocratic rule and to disseminate their feelings to the people in the region and the outside world.
Also, there was a video by a Egyptian American youth named Tamer Shaaban which went viral during 2011.The video showcases the real incidents on the streets on Cairo showcasing people’s frustrations about their autocratic government.The video was one of the most crucial pieces of media that helped frame the uprising as people led democratic movement.After watching the video many Egyptians decided to change their minds of staying in their home and take out to the streets and stand for their rights.I believe this is one of the best examples of why having medium of media in everybody’s pockets, sets the importance of media to an unprecedented extent.
Here’s the link for the powerful video which was one of the most viral videos of 2011:
In the reading “Hollywood and Vine”, King Bach says that having ideas that go around Hollywood ,that Asians play smart people, whites are rich ones etc- get the most number of likes and views in his videos.Also Klarity acknowledges that one of his biggest vines is ” Racist ATM” video.Some people might argue that vine is just a medium to laugh at harmless stereotypes. However, I feel these videos setting a particular stereotypes or repeating the old stereotypes may have a significant impact on the viewers.Especially, the audiences of these videos are immature teens and child, who tend to imitate the creators of vine.The massive popularity (over several million views) also show that the impact can be significant.
Portraying Asian people as smart and girls as dumb( as seen in some of the vine videos), tend to affect the mindset of teens not mature enough to differentiate what’s true and what’s not.Owing to the huge popularity and fan following of these videos, vines can be attributed as one of the most influential media in the present time.
In the documentary “Soma Girls”, there were some shots of the statue of Goddess Kali. Goddess Kali is a figure of annihilation of evil forces that exist. I feel the context of Goddess Kali not only relates to the place the documentary is based on i.e. Kalighat but also relates to how the girls are being educated,empowered and made independent so that they can raise their voices against prostitution and child marriage.These girls have been metaphorically represented as an example of courage and determination .
There’s another clip that shows the forming of clay.I feel this shot metaphorically represents how the Soma home is helping the girls to be empowered and independent.In a way, this home is shaping their life by providing them shelter and education.
Recently I came across this video essay which depicts the importance of movement in a shot. The video talks about how movement tells a different story ,in itself or exaggerates the emotion in the film.It shows the power of movement be it the camera, the character, the nature elements(wind,fire,steam) or all of them.Its fascinating to see how use of many people in the frame and all of them giving the same movement, or expression, magnifies a particular emotion.The video emphasizes the importance of cinematography and puts forward a satirical message that ‘a film without cinematography is the same as turning light on and playing a radio’.The video also states how movement depicts a story in itself that the movie no longer needs a lot of dialogues. I really enjoyed the video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doaQC-S8de8
I went through several clips of the movie The Celluloid Closet. The movie depicts how the characterization of homosexuals in movies had made an impression on the general audience on how homosexuals actually behave. Armistead Maupin in the movie said that “I have always thought sex with another men would mean having to commit suicide.And I got that impression from the movies.”
The movie implies that gays characters were depicted as a funny character to be laughed upon in 1920’s.However in 1950’s and later, homosexual characters were generally referred to as cold blooded villains. This made me think of what may be the reason such a big transformation was made.
Also, I felt that this may be connected to how JFK movie alleged gays to be conspirators in Kennedy assassination.
