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 there, and that my relationship with the media is pretty strong.
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 feel the same way. Media is all around us and social pressures force you to keep up with it. To keep up with the "latest trends" as you said. I feel that not only teenagers are surrounded by this, but also kids and adults. Whether it be on the cereal they eat, the shows they watch, or even the radio they listen to, media is all different shapes and forms are constantly around us. Making us think one way or do something one way. Sometimes we cannot see the way media manipulates our minds and our actions, and that is scary.
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