My Top 10 Takeaways From COM250
With the mediatization of everyday life becoming more and more prominent each day, it’s easy to just blindly immerse yourself in the media surrounding you without batting an eye. Through taking this course on media literacy, I have learned that while it may be easier to consume media without being critical of its source and message, it is incredibly important to analyze what you are viewing as it can have immense effects on you but also those around you. I learned a lot of terminology and concepts throughout this course, but there were a few that stood out to me the most, things that I will take with me for the rest of my life.
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10. The Paradox of Tolerance
The paradox of tolerance is a theory that suggests that if society is too tolerant, it will eventually become intolerant and destroy democracy. This theory was developed by Karl Popper who was a philosopher of science who noted that “if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. Popper believed that force may be needed when the intolerant “forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistol”. Essentially what he is saying is that in order to preserve tolerance in a society, we cannot tolerate the intolerant.
This is number 10 on my list because it is so confusingly interesting and makes for the perfect tongue twister. Try saying tolerate intolerance five times fast. It really is a thought provoking theory and makes me want to get a better understanding of it because, as of right now, I am leaning more towards agreement but since I have such limited knowledge of the theory, I could definitely benefit from exploring a bit more. I feel like this curiosity, and wanting to fully understand something I’ve briefly learned through a piece of media before garnering my opinion, goes to show that just within this short span of time, I have already grown more critical and media literate.
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9. Social Learning Theory
The social learning theory stems from psychology and is the idea that people learn from observation and imitation of roles when their behavior is rewarded. It was developed by a man named Albert Bandura and notes how human knowledge and behavior can be learned through the observation of media models. In depth studies revolving around this theory have shown that people are more likely to learn behavior that is reinforced through the display of positive outcomes, but viewers can also learn from observing others’ mistakes and can alter their own actions in order to avoid those negative consequences.
I found this theory and its studies to be such an interesting concept as I have always found psychology studies to be interesting. Further, I also think it is an important theory to keep in mind because it goes to show that you should always be leading by example because you never know who might be observing your behavior. This is especially important to those around young children; whether it be a parent, a teacher, or someone in the position of a role model.
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8. Entertainment-education strategy
This is a practice of embedding useful information and educational ideas into popular narrative stories in radio, television, and film. The entertainment-education strategy is just one of the many approaches to social norms research that have been created in an attempt to increase knowledge, raise awareness, and encourage audiences to make responsible choices.
This is definitely an idea that is important to me, but also one that I want to utilize in my life moving forward. I am currently studying film and I hope to one day embark in the film industry, and as we have learned; media, specifically film media, has the power to shape people’s perceptions of the world and their views. So, it is important that the industry acknowledges that power and influence, taking on the responsibility of educating and exposing people to all different sorts of situations and experiences.
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7. Self-representation
Self-representation is the practice people use to express and share their identity and life experiences, and is often first experienced through social media where people can be both anonymous and public. On these online platforms we communicate with our imagined audiences despite the fact that we cannot assume that people actually view our posts, and this imagined audience is what becomes your self-representation.
This is something that I want to take away from this course on a more personal level. While I don’t post on social media all that often; when I do, I want to be mindful of what I post and what it represents to me and those who may view it. Am I posting something for me? Or am I posting it solely for the expected audience? It all ties back into the conversation around authenticity. I am aiming towards being more authentic in my everyday life, so why am I creating an unauthentic persona online based off an imagined potential audience?
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6. Collective consciousness
Collective consciousness is the idea that social norms influence people’s behavior. This was a concept developed by Emile Durkheim who wanted to understand what makes people act in similar and predictable ways. Through collective consciousness, you learn to become aware of the social norms and conventions of the people around you. Renee Hobbs’ book, Media Literacy in Action, explores how the coming-of-age stories embody this idea as they focus on the growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood. In these stories we are able to see how characters navigate through developing an identity while also attempting to learn how to get along with the people around them.
A lot of my favorite stories are considered coming-of-age stories, so it is interesting to see how these ideas tie into them. Also, I’m still within that period of time in our lives that could be considered coming of age (if you are looking at the new adult coming-of-age stories rather than young adult…) and it makes me look back and consider how those around me along with the experience I have gone through have come to shape some of my own behaviors.
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5. The key elements of trust in relationships
This is a list composed by Brene Brown in her book Rising Strong (2015), where she explores the seven basic qualities that are part of developing trustworthy relationships. According to this list, in order to have a trustworthy relationship two must have: boundaries, reliability, accountability, vault, integrity, nonjudgement, and generosity.
I found this list to be incredibly important for me, because I am at that age in my life where I am starting to make those extremely important relationships, having to choose who to surround myself with more than ever. So, it is important that I consider this list in terms of myself and how I interact with others. But it is also important that I consider this list against others as well. It may seem like such an obvious thing, but they are factors that are often overlooked within relationships. And for the wellbeing of ourselves and those around us, it is essential that we surround ourselves with people we trust and people who in turn trust us as well.
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4. Digital Wellness
Digital wellness is the approach that aims to minimize the negative impact of media and technology use, generally by limiting media use. A variety of self-help communities are constantly being developed in an attempt to help people control their addiction to social media, video games, and other digital media. There are so many different types, but one example is called the “90-day detox”, which was developed by Cam Adair who is a recovering video game addict. He has created a series of short videos and activities that help people regain control over their use of video games.
While I wouldn’t necessarily say that I am addicted to my phone or social media (but that very well could be the third-person effect talking), I have been tempted to try such a detox for a little while now. However, I have never been able to figure out how to go about it because even with a majority of my classes being in person, all of the work is online. During the school year, I find myself on my computer (as I am right this minute) every second I am not seated in the classroom or at work. But especially following this course, I think I will attempt to detox this summer. Naturally, I can’t completely get rid of my phone for 90 days as I have work obligations and who knows when my parents will need me to pick something up at the grocery store for them. But, I think I will aim to severely limit all use of my phone and computer. Instead, I will focus on learning the bass guitar I bought months ago that has just been sitting there right next to my ever growing “to be read” pile of books. I have been itching to do both activities throughout the entire semester and I don’t want to just forget those wishes over the summer because I am too glued to a digital screen.
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3. Social comparison theory
Social comparison theory is the theory about how people determine their self-worth by making upward or downward comparisons with others. It has been discovered that when you compare yourself downward, you might end up feeling superior to others but when you compare yourself upward, you might end up feeling inferior. People who regularly compare themselves upward often experience negative feelings of dissatisfaction and may engage in self-destructive behaviors, including disordered eating.
I find this theory important not just for myself, but for literally everyone. I essentially grew up on social media and I vividly remember joining Tumblr at a young age and comparing myself to all the girls that were popular on there. I would sometimes try to recreate the pictures they had posted, only to be upset by how different mine looked in comparison to theirs. I also remember seeing the frequent circulation of the tag #thinspiration, and as a young girl still growing, setting goals to look like the girls under this tag was incredibly damaging. While I am incredibly thankful that I have not developed an eating disorder, I have had a rocky relationship with food since this period of my life. And while there were external factors, I definitely think social media and the idea of this social comparison theory is to blame for this. And unfortunately, I am just one of the MANY that this affects. It is, sadly, so engraved in our online culture that many people may not even recognize that they are comparing themselves in such a harmful manner.
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2. Construction of social reality
Construction of social reality is a concept that delves into our social identities and how they are shaped by expectations. In her book, Renee Hobbs explains how with her personal identity as a daughter, she is tied to all the movies, TV shows, books, and other stories that feature daughters. These stories present ideas about how she is expected to behave and act by both herself and for those surrounding her.
This was a very interesting topic for me and is yet another idea that I want to take away from this course because I am someone who has multiple social identities and labels slapped on me, all of which have their own sets of expectations. It is interesting to hear about some of these expectations and how they shape not only how we view ourselves, but how others view us as well. Going forward, I think it would be helpful to understand how the media I am viewing is actively working towards creating and enforcing some of those identities and expectations. Whether it be the expectations placed upon me, or the expectations I have unknowingly placed on others.
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1. Framing
It is no question that news coverage immensely influences how people understand the world. The term framing is used to explain how journalists select some aspects of perceived reality and make them more salient and accessible to the reader, expressing them in a way that connects to the existing knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes of the audience. Depending on the target audience, media frames embody different values and ideologies and they articulate a point of view. Thus, being able to notice framing in the news helps people understand how news coverage is constructed and how it selectively presents reality.
With how politicized the news is today, this is such an important issue to be aware of. You need to be able to question how a news source is framing the story before you garner your opinion on its contents, and label it as true or false. There is no shortage of news sources, especially with individuals on social media who have made it their task to share news on their platform. A lot of times, these accounts can contradict each other, so who do we believe? This is not a simple question and may take a while to answer, but in order to do so, we first need to consider the framing of the story. It is due to this that I chose framing to be number one on my list.
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If you’ve made it all this way, thank you for sticking through all of that. It honestly came out much longer than I was anticipating it to, but I guess I just had a lot to say. I will definitely be taking away more than just 10 things from this course, but these were the 10 that had stuck out to me the most throughout this semester whether it be because it was interesting or because it was important.
