COM250 Top 10 Listicle
As our world today is majorly dependent on the ability to navigate the internet, digital media literacy is essentially important to have. Learning who and what to trust and all of the ways media influences the customers is crucial. The COM250 class teaches about different ways in which to gain digital media literacy, and here are the top ten takeaways I learned from the class.
10. News Aggregators
News aggregators are news companies which have a soul purpose of relaying news all in one location. One example, Vox, gathers news of all forms and presents it all on the website. As we have seen throughout the class, a lot of news articles are opinionated and the authors do not have good sources. News aggregator sites like these thrive off of whatever news articles they can find, to conglomerate as much news as they can and attract as many viewers as possible. With knowledge of digital media literacy, I know what certain aspects of a news article to look out for in order to either trust the piece of writing as a worthy source or write it off as being fake news.
9. Filter Bubbles
Filter bubbles are how search engine algorithms limit the exposure of certain new ideas and information to the user. DuckDuckGo is a known search engine for its reputation of confirmation bias due to filer bubbles. The search engine will show the user the most related articles that they predict the user will agree with. For example, if the user is a Trump supporter and researches the election of 2020, the DuckDuckGo search engine will offer pro-Trump articles rather than pro-Biden articles, because they already know what the user will more likely click on. Because of this, the user will confirm what they already believe. The filter bubbles will bring the articles will opposing views to the bottom or the next pages on the search engine. This is dangerous for people who do not further research the information they receive on the internet.
8. Culture Jamming
Culture Jamming is criticism shown in the media, aimed towards some culture. In this example, the popular fast food brand McDonalds is shown in a propaganda advertisement that says “weight, I’m gainin’ it”. McDonalds is a very cultural fast food that America is known for. Although, we also know that this fast food is not very healthy. In this image, the favorited slogan made by the franchise, “I’m lovin it”, is reworked to show the actual truth behind the food they serve. I find this topic really interesting because of the irony behind some of the propaganda we see on the internet that shows culture jamming.
7. Content Moderation
Content moderation is a topic that I knew about, but never really thought in depth about until this class. I knew that some content had to be removed because of the negative or inappropriate things it shows. However, I did not really know how this happened. What I learned is that there are people who are hired specifically to sit and watch content and filter through the content that has been flagged, to see if it should be removed or is allowed. It was crazy to watch some of the people who were training to become content moderators. They got entry level jobs just because they needed money, and did not really know the extent of what they were signing up for. Some of them have to see such bad actions such as child pornography, physical abuse, animal abuse, and so much more. It is really unfortunate that people want to post some of these actions but its good to have content moderators. It is also a question of freedom of speech as to whether content should be moderated, but in my opinion, we need to keep those videos off the mainstream internet.
6. Online Disinhibition Effect
This is a very interesting topic I learned about this semester. I feel it is also extremely relatable to a college student’s life, since we speak to our peers on the internet so often. The online disinhibition effect is when someone communicating online has a lot more confidence and lack of filter or restraint. For example, some person who is typically very kind in person may become a cyber bully when navigating the internet. I feel as though I have seen some examples of this in my own life. Many girls I have seen be very shy in real life have posted very exposing pictures in small bikinis online. This shows they have a lot more confidence behind a screen rather than in real life.
5. Social Validation
Social validation seems to go right along with the online disinhibition effect. This is when a user becomes dissatisfied if the content they post is not liked by other users, and the more likes and comments they get, the more validated they feel. It makes the user feel more powerful and heard with the more interaction they create within their online content. I feel like I have seen a lot of this in my time on social media. It is more prevalent with the female identifying end of the spectrum. When I scroll through posts, photos girls post will be more focused on their beauty, whether it be of their face or more aimed towards their body. Most of the time, these posts have tons of likes and comments, and the person who posted will comment back saying how thankful they are for all the nice comments. However, sometimes there will be posts with not that many likes or comments, and typically you would know that this person does not care about the amount of interaction they get on their posts. I even have some friends who send me texts that say go check out my new post. Several people will also post a preview of their new Instagram post on their snapchat story or Instagram story, basically asking them to go like it and comment on it. This is purely for self validation and it makes me sad to see, because they will usually delete a post if it is not getting enough likes to their standard.
5. Transmedia Storytelling
Transmedia storytelling is when stories develop across multiple forms of media. Examples of these forms of media may include books, movies, websites, social media, any way that a producer can get a story across to a consumer. I find this very interesting because it creates a community where all the consumers love every version of the product. No matter what the maker creates, it will be followed and enjoyed by a community. Not only this, but another thing I love about transmedia storytelling is that it can involve everyone, no matter what form of media a person uses. Some people only prefer reading, while others prefer only watching movies. Transmedia storytelling makes it so that all people can enjoy the story no matter what media they chose to consume.
4. Archetypes
Something I really became interested in this semester was the unit on attraction to stories and characters. I already knew that there was a typical layout to movies and media, having an outline of conflict and resolution, with different characters becoming a certain role within the story. However, I never really learned about what these different roles were. Archetypes are these roles, having a character play a certain stereotype in a film. I did a couple projects this semester based on character archetypes and the plot points that go along with them. It made me really think about my favorite movies and the roles that each of the characters take on within the story. Going into the future this will also help me understand films better, knowing what kind of stereotype each of the characters will be playing the role of.
3. Third-Person Effect
This is actually a scary effect that I may be influenced on without even knowing. The third-person effect is when someone believes that they are not as influenced by media than others. Personally, I do believe that with my knowledge of media literacy and being a computer science major, I am not as influenced by media than others. I do use social media, but I use it more in an anonymous and passive way. For example, I watch Tik Tok and YouTube, but I only post on Instagram maybe once a year, and it is never anything inappropriate. I also know what makes a website real or fake and try to go into all media with a mindset that it could be fake news. Although I have presented my own case, I could definitely be affected by the third-person effect and actually am as influenced as everyone else.
2. A/B Testing
A/B testing is a test done by a marketing team where their goal is to use different types of media to see which will perform best. I have seen this in my person time using platforms such as YouTube. Sometimes, I see a video by a creator that I like, and don’t decide to watch the video based on what I see in the thumbnail. However, sometimes when I go back on YouTube later on, the thumbnail will be different. Sometimes this technique works on me, and I end up wanting to watch the video. But other times it makes me laugh seeing how they are experimenting with different thumbnails to see which one will gain them the most views. Sometimes this makes me feel weird because it shows that their overarching goal is to get the highest amount of people to view their content, but in the end it is a business and they need to make the best business moves for their company.
- Influence Marketing
I believe influence marketing is a huge takeaway from this class. This is when people who have a huge following use their audience to promote different products or services depending on what company pays them to advertise. Just like A/B testing, I don’t really know how to feel about this topic. I know that the influencers need money just like we all do, but from the look of their house, their cars, and all the extras they have inside their house, it seems like they could go without these promotional deals. It also sometimes feels like they are in it for the money and they are willing to make their fans sit through advertisements to watch their content. Personally, I have a YouTube premium account, which means I do not see advertisements. But this doesn’t matter when the influencer themselves take time out of their videos to promote a product. I cannot see their finances, I do not know if they truly need the money or not. However, I do know that it makes me less happy to be watching the video. Most of the time the ads are so long that I need to skip forward in the video. But overall, I will continue to watch all my favorite content makers even with a couple advertisements here and there.
