Collective identity and representing ourselves: blog tasks

 Task 1: Media Magazine article

1) Read the article and summarise each section in one sentence, starting with the section 'Who are you?'

The idea of the self is complicated as it intails who we want to be and who we think we are.

Our identity is influences and based of external factors like religion,gender.The consumer boom is not pushing people to buy unnecessary things as only what fits to survive isn’t enough.Dueing yhe 2nd half of the 20th century many become focused on individual differences powered by uniqueness and themselves. Brands use personality to market the product rather than the actual product.

2) List three brands you are happy to be associated with and explain how they reflect your sense of identity.

3) Do you agree with the view that modern media is all about 'style over substance'? What does this expression mean?

Style over substance means when something has aesthetic value but not tea thought or character behind it.

4) Explain Baudrillard's theory of 'media saturation' in one paragraph. You may need to research it online to find out more.

Baudrillard states that media gives our perfect reality which is imaginary but makes it difficult for audiences to have a sense of the real world. 

5) Is your presence on social media an accurate reflection of who you are? Have you ever added or removed a picture from a social media site purely because of what it says about the type of person you are?
No because i don’t go out of my way to have ana curate representation of myself as i don’t find it important. I have removed a picture not because of what it will say but instead as there is no reason for their to be pictures of me up as it does not improve my quality of life.

6) What is your opinion on 'data mining'? Are you happy for companies to sell you products based on your social media presence and online search terms? Is this an invasion of privacy?
Not completely happy as they are using my data to give me result which reasonable i would like as it does make it easier it also makes you think what kind of a person would want those certain things.


Task 2: Media Magazine cartoon

Now read the cartoon in MM62 (p36) that summarises David Gauntlett’s theories of identity. Write five simple bullet points summarising what you have learned from the cartoon about Gauntlett's theories of identity.

-audience use media to construct their own identity

-audience actively process media about lifestyle and identity

-uses media for entertainment 

-explores male gaze and structuration

Task 3: Representation & Identity: Factsheet blog task

1) What is collective identity? Write your own definition in as close to 50 words as possible.

Collective identity is your sense of belonging in the current setting in which one resides. Ans following those who follow same values and beliefs as you.And as you have the same views your more likely to have the same navigation and understanding of the world around you.

2) Complete the task on the factsheet (page 1) - write a list of as many things as you can think of that represent Britain. What do they have in common? Have you represented the whole of Britain or just one aspect/viewpoint?
-london buses, phone boxes, fish and chips, rain

3) How does James May's Top Toys offer a nostalgic representation of Britain?
James May offers britain nostalgia as it talks about the history of britain and the neglect due to the loss of many manufacturing jobs.

 
4) How has new technology changed collective identity?
Technology has expanded our collective identities further into social media and an online presence.
5) What phrase does David Gauntlett (2008) use to describe this new focus on identity? 

‘identity is complicated, everyone thinks they have one’

6) How does the Shaun of the Dead Facebook group provide an example of Henry Jenkins' theory of interpretive communities online?

‘repeated’ view from Henry Jenkins: ‘fan genres grew out of openings or excesses within the text that were built on and stretched, and that it was not as if fans and texts were autonomous from each another; fans created their own, new texts, but elements within the originating text defined, to some degree, what they could do’.