Blog 1 - Through My Eyes...

Currently, my role in media is creating YouTube content viewed by almost no one. Besides that, I find myself posting mainly selfies on Instagram. I do use all social media platforms besides Twitter. On these platforms, I find myself mainly observing. I wish we were not so plugged in nowadays, but since everything is on an electronic device of some sort it is hard to not have a screen in front of my face all hours of the day. I definitely have fallen into this rabbit hole of always being sucked into a media outlet.

Today, it appears that mostly everyone connects through social media. I don’t know many people that have met one another in person and fallen in love. There is an app for dating, meeting new people, games, music, and everything imaginable. We connect by liking each others Instagram pictures and Snapchat stories. Maybe we leave a comment or drop an emoji to express an emotion.

Television and Movies painted a certain picture of what romance is and what a happy family looks like. Both of which I could not seem to relate to. The point is that those outlets are not accurate depictions of real life, but a skewed fantasy in which fills our head with false expectations and norms. Not only that, but romance no longer begins in person. People start talking via a dating app on their phones. The pictures on social media are usually not candid pictures, but taken from the best angle, touched u, and filtered. It is uncomfortable meeting someone from online and realizing they look so different then their pictures.

 Communicating from behind a screen is dehumanizing. This allows us to treat people like objects not humans with feeling. This concept connects back to something I learned in a Media and Pop Culture course. There are many advertisements in magazines that show women with the top half of their face not shown. It truly has a dehumanizing effect and the viewer is unable to personalize the model. Thus, the woman acts like an object for men because she has no clear identity. Talking to someone online is similar to that idea, where you do not acquire feeling towards a person because you are only talking through a device. In essence, it is like you are shopping for someone.

Tom Ford for Men fragrance shot by Terry Richardson, 2007 

Multi media platforms really took off as I was growing up. For me, I really got involved via Facebook in 9^th grade. At the time, I believe you had to be a certain age to have a Facebook. Not sure how it is now, but I was good and waited until I was of the proper age. I did not even get a phone, until I was a Freshman in high school. Clearly, I was late to the game in every respect, but especially socially. I guess I can’t blame media for my social inadequacies. Being different at a young age is primarily what made kids not want to talk to me.

This new age of dating has made me different then who I would want to be. I want to be someone who can go up to a person and just start a conversation. Unfortunately, no one approaches me and I do not approach others. Though, I have become a very honest and blunt person. YouTube taught me how to bring out my inner honest sassy diva. I have been blessed to be able to have followed Jeffree Star, since I began my YouTube journey. At the same time, texting gave me the skill to be blunt without any awkward repercussions.