Media Blog Reflection

Before I started writing media blogs I was virtually unaware of the profound impact the media makes on us as individuals and on our society as a whole. I had heard things about the media affecting us, but I didn't think extensively about the concept. The media is essential to how we think of the meaning of life in today's world. We are constantly immersed in it, and there's practically nothing we can do to prevent it from influencing us. It affects how we think of ourselves and others, what we deem "normal", and our actions pertaining to our lives as consumers in this day and age.

Though it is impossible to stop the flow of media into our minds, there are measures we can take to prevent it from deceiving us. A handful of critical thinking skills can be used to prevent the media from excessively swaying our thoughts. These skills include healthy skepticism, tentativeness, and open-mindedness. It can be useful to question things in the media such as whether or not a car commercial presents a valid argument as to why they're the best or whether movies an reality TV shows are degrading towards a given demographic. Tentativeness is essential to identifying fallacies in the media because slowing down tends to lead to accuracy. Being open-minded can be useful in considering all the different stereotypes and evaluating the effectiveness of ads and deciding could be true and what definitely isn't true.

One of the things I found most interesting while writing media blogs is how colors in advertisements can make a difference in how consumers think of the company or product. It fascinates me that companies try to use such techniques that particularly target the subconscious. I think this unit on media has been a productive experience for me overall. The things I've learned about the media and all its hidden aspects will aid me in interpreting all types of media from this point forward.