Top 10 parts of COM 250
10. Algorithms- Personalized Content
While this lesson isn’t number one it is still a very important topic to cover. Algorithms on sites like Netflix benefit users by making sure movies you like already and similar content are recommended to you but everyone should be aware of all aspects of the algorithm and understand what information and data it is receiving from you. On Pathwright it was mentioned that African Americans who used Netflix in the US had thumbnails that were racially and ethnically driven; meaning that black users saw movies with black actors and actresses(even if they were a minor role) while white users saw white actors and actresses on the thumbnails. This caused users to worry if Netflix tailors recommendations based on race and ethnicity (Singh et al. 2020).
9.Your Digital Media Identity
This lesson has to make my top 10 because I never really thought about my media identity. Doing this lesson allowed me to figure out which forms of media I would consider my favorite. I also liked being able to share the media I have created with the class and describe how I feel I use media. The lesson also allowed me to see how other students spent their time on the internet and see the things they have created.
8.Media Matters to Society
I feel that this is an important topic to learn more about because as technology advances we need to be more aware of how media impacts our society. People need to be able to understand and navigate media to be able to understand information online to the fullest extent.
7. Propaganda
With the constantly evolving forms of media it can be hard to tell what is propaganda and what is real news. Being able to learn more about how to identify propaganda on social media has been beneficial to how I view tweets and Instagram posts.
6. Censorship
Censorship wasn’t something I really thought about; being a white woman from northeastern United States I have a lot of free will in what I say in-person and online. The topic of censorship being taught in class was really relevant this semester with the war between Russia and Ukraine happening currently. We have seen a lot of censorship on Russia’s side by controlling the media that can be seen within Russia in order to maintain control and support of the people of Russia. I’ve seen videos on social media of newscasters in Russia protesting the war by walking off set mid broadcast; in America we don’t have to worry about the government censoring and controlling what we see online.
5. Piggyback marketing
Piggyback marketing definitely makes the top 5 topics we discussed in COM250. It was really interesting to learn that the scammy looking ads we see under viral tweets and posts are actually considered a form of marketing where companies pay influencers to promote their products as ads which is way cheaper than purchasing an ad directly from the social media platform.
4. Online disinhibition effect
It was interesting to learn that there is a term for how people feel like they can say more and reveal certain aspects of themselves that they may not be able to do in their everyday life. While this can be beneficial to some people who cannot express themselves at home or use the internet to feel a part of a community we also see a negative version of this effect. While being online some people feel like there are no consequences and they can say whatever they want to anyone; this can create a toxic environment for others.
3. Porn Literacy
I really enjoyed the lesson on porn literacy with the video from cbs news. Porn Literacy isn’t something you normally talk about in school but I was really excited to get to learn more about pornography terms and how the industry works. When talking about porn you never really see or hear the behind the scenes aspects but it was cool to see what goes into shooting a scene. My favorite thing I learned was ethical pornography which is porn that respects the performers, has a safe and consensual work environment, and shows both real-world aspects of porn and still dives into fantasy. I have become really interested in ethical pornography and found a great tiktok @erstiesofficial which is a berlin based amateur porn production group that promotes ethical pornography and shows you the behind the scene aspects of different scenes and how each individual performers boundaries are respected.
2. Tropes vs. Women in Video Games
Learning about tropes we see in video games against women was really interesting to me because I am an avid gamer. The YouTube video we watched for class by Feminist Frequency was such an interesting piece of media; it pointed out how women of ethnicities beside white; specifically poc and indigenous people were sexualized. In the video we saw that some games portray that the character isn’t sexualized in their base costume but always has an unlockable outfit that is revealing and appropriate cultures.
1.I forgot my phone / Disconnect
The most important lesson I learned from COM250 was from the I forgot my phone video. Watching the girl go through life while everyone else around her was constantly on the phone. You don’t realize how much you are missing out on when you are constantly checking your phone. I have definitely learned to be more aware of the amount of time I spend on my devices and to disconnect and spend more time with friends. I hope others will be able to feel and understand the importance of video and learn from its lessons.
