Let's Talk Lit

PROPOGANDA One of the other groups presentations that really stuck out to me was the Awareness group. As a whole, I found that their individual topics were interesting, but I especially remember the section on Propaganda. I felt as though the examples that the group used were very fascinating and helped me to better visualize what exactly propaganda is. While I have heard of this and have seen a few examples in the past, I haven’t seen most of the ones that this group presented. Propaganda can be defined as “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.” This inevitably has had a huge impact on society due to the fact its persuasive and captivating ways. Although this concept was revolutionized in the time of WW1, it has continued to be recognized as an election strategy in today’s political climate.  (I liked how the presenter also showed us a bunch of examples and had us guess what they we

Alternative Media Who? My group was focused on Mediasphere and my topic specifically covered Alternative Media. While trying to find a true definition of what alternative media is, I found it was best defined by what it is not. "Whatever ideas lie beyond the pale, whatever is not accepted, not permitted, not available in the corporate and government mainstream"- Charles Willett. To me this implies that it is the news source that is not mainstream or corporate owned. Inevitability, there are both good and bad implications to this concept. To begin, it represents and gives voice to the “secondary” who are often times ignored by the mainstream media. Additionally it gives people the opportunity to research the news that is important to them, without it being corrupt or overflowing with “general” news. People also firmly believe that alternative media seeks political and social change because it gives voice to those who are seeking it. With all of that being said, many believe

Your Online Footprint is HOW BIG? As a 19 year old college student, involved both socially and academically in the world of social media, I would without a doubt say I have a fairly large online presence. It is interesting to really take a moment to analyze this question since it is something I am so immersed in daily, yet never really think hard about. To begin, I am on just about every social media platform that is currently active. I am not proud to admit but I would say that covers Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, VSCO, and Pinterest. I do not have a personal website, however I would consider my Instagram to be the closest thing to that. I work to create aesthetic posts that all contribute to an overall brand image for myself. In the near future, I plan to create a lifestyle blog which will become my personal website. I also run social media accounts for 3 different organizations on High Point’s campus including Student Government Association, Dance M

Snapchat Shaping Social (Media)  Snapchat was invented in 2011 by two Stanford University students and has since made extraordinary strides in shaping social media. The initial intention in creating the app was to develop a social media site that allowed people to send messages and images that disappear after being opened. Since its founding in 2011, the app is now used by over 158 million people every day and has gone as far as to serve as a platform for advertisers to reach a younger generation of consumers. I think based on the Diffusion of Innovation theory, one of the primary reasons Snapchat was so quick to gain attention, was because it was perceived by consumers as something “new.” Prior to Snapchat, there was no other social media platform that allowed for people to communicate in a way such as this. The concept of photos and videos disappearing after opening was perceived as exciting. I think that people were intrigued by the idea of trying something unlike they had experi

8 Values of Free Expression  As I was evaluating which of the ‘Eight Values of Free Expression’ is the most important and quite honestly in this case, most underrated, I chose the value of protecting dissent. I found striking similarities in this value and the idea of stable change, however I found that protecting dissent resonated with me more. This concept essentially covers the idea of protecting one’s minority view and right to disagree with the government. I think often times people have a fear of sharing their view when it contradicts with that of the public. This unfortunately just lends itself to suppression of opinion and in turn, an inevitable outbreak. Our society operates in way of a Democracy rather than a Dictatorship so not only is it encouraged, but it is one’s patriotic duty to criticize the government in order to better the nation for everyone. As stable change suggests, if people don’t have an open opportunity to express these opinions, they are significantly more

https://en.instagram-brand.com/assets Although it wasn’t my topic specifically, another technological invention that really struck me during the presentations, was that of social media- specifically Instagram. Instagram was founded in 2010 by two men named Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. On average, there are 80 billion photos shared and 3.5 billion on Instagram every day and a majority of users are between 18 and 29 years old. Along with other social media platforms, Instagram is a huge way in which my generation has connected with people. To a smaller degree, my friends and family enjoy posting what they are up to, and returning the communication with likes and comments. This simply allows people near and far to share their experiences and life-moments with one another from wherever you are located. However, on a much larger degree, Instagram has revolutionized the way businesses market products and services to a target audience. In the realm of social media’s evolution, the id