MIGRAIN: Representing Ourselves - Identity In The Online Age

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

Individuals could acquire identities, and it was encouraged for them to do so. Consumers were based on persuading their audiences with what they desired, and they were satisfied by the audiences (Blumler and Katz: Uses and Gratifications theory). As individuals began to express themselves in distinctive and original ways and to think for themselves as individuals, items helped shape their identities. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was discovered that branding was linked to personality and that consumers purchased goods that reflected their self-identity. We now have power over how the public perceives us thanks to the internet and the development of avatars.

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

I would personal say Apple, PlayStation and Estero

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

I agree with this because I think that people can make designer into their entire personality. I also think that people who can afford designer brands will purchase designer items more for the sake of the brand than for the quality of the item itself, even if the product is terrible and makes them look foolish. I believe that if the same shirt was sold by Gucci but was also available at Primark and had the same design, people would buy it and make a big deal out of it.

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

The visuals are supposed to mimic reality, but they don't actually capture the actual occurrence. Afterwards, in order to show people what is happening, these photographs are distributed throughout the 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?

Yes i post on most accounts as i have a business to run.

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?

I believe that "data mining" violates the privacy of media users and should therefore not be done. I disagree that they should market to us based on our social media activity because it violates our privacy and gives us the impression that everything we do is being observed. People experience insecurity as a result when utilising social media, etc.


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.

"western media culture"

“Identity is complicated; everyone’s got one."

"male gaze"

"identites promoted to men are relativly consrained

"pick and mix"

Task 3: Representation & Identity: Factsheet blog task

Finally, use our brilliant Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) to find Media Factsheet #72 on Collective Identity. The Factsheet archive is available online here - you'll need your Greenford Google login to access. Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions to complete our introductory work on collective identity:

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

centred on a group of people who share a common set of customs, principles, beliefs, culture, and worldviews. This applies generally to those particular individuals.

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?

chips

old people 

colonisation

tea

wings

3) How does James May's Top Toys offer a nostalgic representation of Britain?

The nostalgia focuses on the things that modern Britain has lost, such a sense of community, and hints subtly that modern computer games and people's apparent inability to use toys as a source of personal imagination are to blame.

4) How has new technology changed collective identity?

They are widely recognised as having many beauty criteria that are impossible for most people to attain naturally, and because so many people see them, they begin to believe that this is the ideal that everyone should adhere to.

5) What phrase does David Gauntlett (2008) use to describe this new focus on identity? 

'The make and connect agenda'

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

The majority of the wall posts are lines from the movie that are used over and over to demonstrate their "passion" for the movie. This group was formed in accordance with the "repeated" theory of Henry Jenkins, according to which "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 other