Grace's Blog

In my Critical Thinking class, we recently watched a documentary called “The Persuaders.”  This documentary looked deep into the grasp of ads on our lives. There were so many interesting points made in the documentary that I had never before even considered. One of these such lines was, “When a culture becomes entirely advertisement friendly, then it lacks being a culture at all.”  What a powerful statement. This is something I had never thought of, but upon hearing this statement, I have found it does make sense. Our world is so swarmed by ads, that we tend to lose sight of what is really there, and in some cases, it goes to the point where all we can see is advertisements. With these ads constantly encircling us, we want what is new, what is fresh.  We want what everyone else has, or we seek originality. This constant searching through a swamp of advertising can make us lose what is really important, or what we used to hold true. We now live in a world in which we are c...

I am a constant user of Spotify, but my cheap self does not have Spotify Premium.  The defaults of not having Spotify Premium are not being able to pick the song you listen to, not having your music downloaded, and of course, advertisements. Most of these ads are for Spotify Premium, and these ads are so annoying. Sometimes, I have to leave the room when these ads come on.  At first, I just thought that Spotify was just bad at advertising, and that the ads were really annoying. Then my music would turn back on, and I wouldn’t think much else of it.  After we began analyzing ads, I realized the genius of these insanely annoying ads.  People are so much more likely to pay to get rid of ads when the ads are so bad that can’t even be listened to.  These ads are bad on purpose so that people will pay for Spotify Premium, and get rid of them.  When people hear “no ad interruptions” at the end of a painful ad, it doesn’t even matter what else was said about Spotif...

I recently read two articles about the shooting at a waffle house in Nashville, Tennessee.  One article, titeled, Man Sought in Waffle House Shooting Had Been Arrested Near White House , was from the New York Times, and the other, titeled, A 29-year-old Man Saved Numerous Lives During Tennessee  Waffle House Shooting, Police Say, from USA Today.  To start, the article from the New York Times is more focused on the capture of the shooter, while the article from USA Today focuses on the man who kept the shooter from harming others.  Both articles acknowledge the fact that Shaw Jr., the man who fought off the shooter, was a hero, and the fact that he modestly denied being so.  Maybe by focusing the article on Shaw Jr., USA Today is reaching out to ordinary citizens, and showing us the power that we have, and how we can change the world. USA Today’s articles are typically shorter and more concise than New York Times’ articles. This demonstrates their appeal to ever...

As a teenager in America, I am constantly exposed to the media.  The media is everywhere I go.  I literally carry it around with me in my pocket.  I listen to both music and the news on the radio when driving from place to place, and I use social media apps such as Instagram and Snapchat in my both my home and at school.  It is hard to roam too far without media.  It is becoming increasingly more difficult to not have a connection with the media, as technology is continually advancing.  Now, not only can you have media stored in your pocket, but on your wrist as well, as the use of smartwatches is increasing.  Advertisers are finding new ways to reach out to the public, and you would have to be completely secluded to not find an advertisement to keep you up on the "latest trend".  I would like to think that I am not always surrounded by it, that as a teenager, I do not depend upon it.  However, it has become a reality that the media is always...