Audience Experience

A blog that takes a look into the underground world of being a part of an audience member

[queenyleeny]

Bye For Now

I am sad to announce my departure from this blog. My goal was to get my audience members engaged in the course material I learned in school, and it seems as though you all have. I hope you were able to take my own experiences and be able to read them as your own. This is not a goodbye forever, but a farewell for a while. Never forget that you’re always an audience member and start to notice around yourself, how audiences are changing. I will still be available to be contacted from my phone, as well my email for those of you who might have furthermore questions regarding audience studies.

 Until next time, good bye. 

XOXOQUEENYLEENY

[queenyleeny]

End of Game

Sometimes we’ll get these advertisements for movies that we don’t even like, but instead find to be distasteful or offensive. For example, every time I am on Youtube and an advertisement pops up for a horror movie, I become a part of the audience polarization. I find the content being shown to be something that is distasteful to me. “individuals are beginning to avoid media content that they find distasteful or offensive,”( Sullivan,2013,p243) just like my dislike for horror, which I try to avoid the content being shown. I’ll refresh the page in hopes I will get a new ad, skip the ad if I have a chance, or even exit out of the screen out of frustration. We try to avoid the things that we do not like, or find them to be offensive. We’ve all done it, you, me, everyone. When we see something that we do not rule in favour of, the logical response will try to avoid it. To be honest, before I went to view The Joker, I did watch the trailer for it. Yes, I’m guilty of it, but all of you have been found guilty of doing that as well. It’s not just that, we watch parodies made of the movie, memes associated with the movie, advertisements that include characters from the movies, or any other form of comment that is used in order to extend the film itself. The Joker wasn’t the only movie I got a sneak peek from before watching it, I do it with every single movie I am interested in watching. When The Endgames came out, I watched the trailer for it, and noticed that after I watched it, the trailers for the movie was played as one of Youtube’s ads constantly, shown before the majority of the content that I actually wanted to view. I also saw many memes that surrounded the movie, spoiling the movie for me. “ Users create, store, and distribute content designed by themselves,” (Good, 2019) is why all of those types of paratexts exist.  These paratexts exist for us, even if they are not meant to be intentional. These paratexts can be found anywhere now, based on the  technological advancements found within society. It’s due to the expansion of media-capable technology that allows us to have ready a number of multiple number of video screams that are made available to us. Now not only can I watch Netflix on my phone, but I can watch it on my smart T.V, and Ipad as well. The fact that a person can view the same material on many technological devices, just indicates that there will be a higher possibility of a person that comes across one of these trailers, advertisements, or even memes made about the movie you are interested in watching.

Sometimes with these user information systems, we get recommendations on what to watch. For instance, Netflix tracks what we watch and recommends to us what to view next. There’s a section that reads “recommended” on Netflix’s home page, and when you click on those recommended videos, it will show you what percentage of that movie matches all the previous videos you viewed beforehand. These websites allow us to use their content for free, or pay a monthly fee, but in return they track our data. Google is a big example of this. Consumers use it for free, and in return they must allow the corporation to sell their data to other firms. They know what we search, what time we go on, keep track of everything that you do. Youtube uses this information in order to use more targeted advertisements that are more precise than advertisements found within TV program ratings.

This is a common  “In today’s heady climate of media panics— over so-called fake news, election hacking, Internet and smartphone addiction, (Livingstone, 2019, p. 171) has been seen to impact many people over the past few decades especially. There has been a fear of audience members being gullible, believing everything they hear on the media networks. Just like me in the year 2012. There were announcements about the world ending, so I stayed home and cried under my bed, awaiting for it to end.

XOXOX-QueenyLeeny

[queenyleeny]

BRB: Gaming

Almost forgot to write my blogs for this week because of the amount of time I’ve been spending on playing video games. Right now, I am hooked on Need For Speed; Underground, because it’s the best video game ever. Not going to lie, when I play this game, I’m more of a socializer gamer. These are the types of gamers that indulge in the social relationships online. I love going online at the same time as my friends and then joining these races, only to trash talk my friends online. That’s what makes the game so much more entertaining, being able to socialize with one another. Every time I finish a track before one of my friends do, I get up dancing and screaming about how much I am the best, and they suck. Yeah, I get very competitive and invested in being the best when I play. Being the best isn’t the only thing I am invested in, I’m also fairly invested in what is going on in the game, as well as, I tend to look for these treasures when I play video games. As an achiever, I want to go looking for these hidden gems found within the games that I play.

I feel as though I started to play video games again just so I can avoid some people. It’s harsh to say, but the other week, I was supposed to hang out with my friend (I used to see her everyday, but because of school, a lot less now). I was so tired from having a final exam that week and a midterm, that I wanted to do nothing more than stay inside and play my video games. Every time I tell her that I feel too tired to leave, she forces me to go anyways. I decided to stay in, but I had to go pick my mom up from work, and the next thing I know, I get a call from my friend (the one I was supposed to go out with in the first place), asking me why I am out when I said I was going to stay inside. You might be wondering how she even knew where I was, and that’s all thanks to Snapchat. Snapchat has a function that allows other people to view where you are, no matter where you are in the world. It tracks your location using a GPS, allowing peer to peer monitoring to be done with more ease. It’s the same with Instagram’s active button. Every time I say goodnight to my friends online, I go on Instagram and browse my feed, but what I recently found out about was, Instagram tells the user’s followers when they are active. Again, it goes into me receiving messages of people wondering why I am still awake and on Instagram when I told them goodnight. This notion of using social media as a surveillance tool has sparked many discussions about whether there should be a right to disable the tool, or if it is something that can benefit us.

I don’t just play these games, but I also take part in the participatory culture that comes along with that. All that participatory culture means is,‘ fans and other consumers are invited to actively participate in the creation and circulation of new content.( Sullivan,2013,p219). There are so many different ways that you can take part in this culture, but I will just talk about the top three trends for now. Firstly, there is the fact that technology is now something that allows us to, “ archive, annotate, appropriate, and recirculate media content.” (Sullivan,P.219)

Do it yourselves (DIY) have become very popular over the past few decades. It is all about adding this personalized touch to what you create. As a kid, I was always a fan of Halloween, and used my love for DIY’s to create new content for the occasion. I made my own spider cupcakes (regular cupcake, but with the use of icing, candy eyes, black sprinkles, and pretz that get turned into a spider cupcake). https://damndelicious.net/2013/10/22/halloween-spider-cupcakes/ - this is a recipe that I had my sisters try out this year. Try it out, and I guarantee that none of you will be disappointed. With all of this talk about being a prosumer and creating our own content, it raises awareness towards intellectual property. Who owns the content? The prosumers “Users create, store, and distribute content is designed by themselves,” (Good, 2019) or the people the website belongs to? There have been many debates online about Youtubers, and how they upload all their videos, but technically it is Youtube who owns the content. If you are a smaller Youtuber, and you post videos weekly and have a small fanbase, you are contributing to Youtube’s popularity, but you do not get money in return. You are allowed to post onto Youtube, but in return, you get to post your videos online. https://www.tiktok.com/@queenyleeny/video/6764254098037460230?u_code=d28dhiaj75me25&preview_pb=0&language=en&timestamp=1574925654&utm_campaign=client_share&app=musically&utm_medium=ios&user_id=6604495042847850501&tt_from=messenger&utm_source=messenger&enter_from=h5_m - enjoy my friend and I creating a Tik Tok to give you a visual example about how we are prosumers, and how our video belongs to Tik Tok. We live in a society that allows these same websites to track down our user-generated information.human concerns of audience studies could be forgotten in the convenient euphoria of big data.” (Athique, p.72) Whenever we go on Facebook after visiting shopping channels, or browsing online in general, you will indeed run across advertisements that are similar to the products you were just looking at. Advertisers pay money to these corporations to be allowed to use our data in order to present more targeted advertisements towards their targeted audiences. Consumers become a valuable component to gaining accurate information, in order to give you more accurate advertisementsWhen you go on Netflix and you view all these shows and movies, and you finish, it will suggest another movie/show for you to watch. This is made possible because Netflix tracks down what movies/shows we watch, in order to make their “Recommended” section precisely more accurate to the movies/shows you like to view. As mentioned before, every time you click on one of those movies/shows, you are given a percentage rating on how much of a match that movie/show is in comparison to the previous ones you viewed. If you think about it, it is scary how our information is tracked down in order to predict what our future behaviours will be like.

XOXO-QueenyLeeny

[queenyleeny]

Warning: One Direction

For this week, I wanted to focus my attention on One Direction. I was going through all of my stuff from 2011-13 and realized that I used to adore them. You could even have called me a fan, a part of  “... audiences are deeply engaged in their favorite media texts. (Good, 2019)  Everyone has a different meaning of what it means to be a fan, but for me, it means I am someone who gets deeply engaged with my favourite person. I was so involved with the band that I wanted to be a part of it.

Ok, so I am going to post an embarrassing fact about me on here, but I am doing it for my fans and followers. This is how much I trust you guys. Here goes nothing, when I was 14, I wrote fanfiction, ‘ stories written by fans about their favourite media texts,”( Sullivan,2013,p204) about One Direction on Wattpad. There, I said it. You’re not a real fan until you write fanfiction about the boyband on Wattpad. https://www.wattpad.com/story/29818792-hide-and-go-seek (Megan I cried when I reread this btw. Please don’t judge me) I am also a severe type of fan, as I now see myself as an enthusiastic fan. I am someone who will talk, but I will not do anything about it. I will not write fanfiction, or make songs about them; I am no longer a big and committed fan. It’s funny how these things change over time. I used to write fanfiction (just the one book) about One Direction, but it seemed to have been nothing more than a phase. Now, even though I am still a fan of the boys, there is no chance that I will write fanfiction about them. I am no longer as involved in the fandom as I used to be. Yet, this does not make me any less of a fan than when I was fully involved.

I got so into the cultural taste of the band, and the fandom, that I started acting like them. I remember having a ridiculous British accent there was, followed by some Irish, and wearing nothing but stripes and letterman jackets because of Louis and Zayn. I was a part of their fandom, a part of their culture, a part of who they were. I can't say I am not guilty of joining so many One Direction group chats on Facebook, but I am. I was in this fandom filled with Directioners who also shared the same cultural tastes as the band and I. I made so many friends, and we would all talk about the things they said, the way they spoke, what they wore, how their latest interviews are perceived to be. Please don't ask me why I thought it was safe to be posting my Snapchat on these fandom sites for strangers to add me, and why I thought it was a good idea to be posting so much personal information about being a Directioner. When you're a part of a fandom, when you share these inside jokes and cultural knowledge about the people, you feel as though you can trust everyone within the fandom. It creates a sense of belongingness. Being a part of a fandom feels like having a family of your own, and having strangers ask you how your day was. Being a part of a fandom is all about sharing these shared values. SPOILER ALERT. It got way too sappy with all of the flashbacks to One Direction, so let's move the focus towards something else. I WATCHED THE JOKER! I am still in awe about the movie, and cannot stop thinking about it. I noticed the film featured a strong sense of moral alignment, which is something that explains how these villains are turned into protagonists. The story opens up with a man (Arthur) who is seen receiving treatment for his mental illnesses, before transitioning into what his daily life is all about. The audience feels sorry for this man; after all, he seems to live a sad life where his laughter brings people misery. Later on in the movie, the Joker takes a shot at changing his life (get it), and that is when things start to change for him. The film portrays the character development as we see Arthur transition from a timid and closed off man, to someone who starts to claim his title as the Joker, a man who is here to start a democracy and make things right in his world. I was told from a young age that the Joker was a villain, someone that did no good in the world, and DC did an excellent job of portraying it. After watching the movie, though, you could see the Joker is the way that he is because of his mental disorders, but it also shows him trying to make a change within society. Within his narrative, Arthur went from a man who ended lives, to a man who started a revolution. He was the protagonist of his storyline, not the villain.  

I can't believe I am writing this blog as I am watching an old-time favourite, Wizards on deck with Hannah Montanna. It is a crossover of some of my favourite childhood shows, Wizards of Waverly Place, Suite Life On Deck, and Hannah Montanna. These crossovers are the highlights of my days, seeing some of my favourite shows merge into one. When I was a kid, I had a massive crush on Cody (Zack and Cody), always pretended to have two lives like Hannah (Hannah Montanna), and I wanted to be just like Alex (Wizards of Waverly Place). These crossovers create a blurring of boundaries that allow us to view our favourite characters in an alternate universe where they all co-exist with one another.

Just thinking of the possibility of working as an actress has always been a dream of mine. It would be amazing working on Wizards of Waverly Place, Suite Life on Deck, Hannah Montanna, as even as an extra would be a dream come true. We need another Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign. “the work of production now places vastly greater emphasis on ongoing interaction and involvement with the fan audience through venues ... the constant feedback loop of social media.” (Navar-Gill,p. 212)

It invites fans to receive an experience to be a part of the campaign, in return for their patronage. They would take some of the fans and cast them as extras in the Veronica Mars Movie, speak to her, email her, and even used their fan art, and in return, the artists got credit for their work. No matter what type of fan you were, affirmational or transformational, you would gain a particular type of access associated with Veronica. It would be amazing to have even been able to attend a premier to the movie of a celebrity that I am a fan of and be able to be included within the participatory culture. I am going to end off this week's blogs with a video of me auditioning to be Disney's new star until next week.

XOXO-QueenyLeeny

[queenyleeny]

It’s Show Time

I’ve got to say, it has been a busy week for me, you guys. I barely have time to do anything fun anymore. I have this class, 3P18, and the assignment we are working on right now is taking up the majority of my time and day (an exciting course, though). I still try to plan out my day so that I have enough time to watch some of my favourite shows. I have to plan it out, or else I will not be able to include a sense of relaxation into my days. For instance, every Thursday after I come home from school, I go home and watch Riverdale. I am very punctuate when it comes to watching Riverdale on time, primarily since I have to wait a week for each episode to come out. I always have to make sure I am home on time, and have nothing going on when I go to watch it on my laptop at home. I structure my day around the timing of the release of the show. Yes, guys, I still believe that one day I can become an extra on that show. Just because I have been busy lately, doesn’t mean I haven’t completely cut out television from my life, I still watch it in my spare time. The only difference here is, I use it to fill in the gaps throughout my day. When I am at school, and if I have a long gap in my schedule, sometimes I’ll go on the eighth floor and end up watching or catching up with a show. Right now, that show is How To Get Away With Murder. No one knows I do it, but sometimes we all would rather watch something than work on an assignment on a break. (don’t tell my profs and Ta) Sometimes, I feel as though I have too much to work on, so I have to choose to watch the shows at a more convenient time. Whether I view it on my laptop or my phone. If I have a busy day at school, and my timing with watching videos on my free time is shifting, then I will try to find a much more convenient time to view the media content. Lately, this is what I have been doing. I remember in September, I could go to the library and watch my shows, but now I have to go to the library and do work. It just isn’t as convenient for me anymore. Instead of watching How To Get Away With Murder during my breaks, I now plan to attend it during the next time that I have the time to do so. Recently, it has been after work, during the weekends.

In class, we were learning about the gender roles that surround the notion of watching television. I noticed my dad is the one who holds the remote for the TV, “Hobson and Morley’s work reveals ‘ the home is potentially quite a different type of space for men and for men and for women.” ( Sullivan,2013,p169) I have never even seen that until I took the class. It is quite strange, right? I also started to study what it is my parents watch. I find that my dad is typically seen viewing these new channels, either CHCH or news channels from back home. My mom, on the other hand, she usually watches all these dramatic shows from back home or skits made from these Afghan YouTubers (now turned into a show). These are two different things, but my dad will watch the skits, and my mom will view the news. I find that watching television is a waste of time. I know I said I like watching it, but if you have noticed, I always do something else. When I consume the media content in between my classes, I watch it until I am done eating. I am writing my blogs right now, as I am watching an episode of Suits played in the background. I find that I cannot watch television without doing something else in the background. The fact that my siblings and I multi-task when it comes to watching movies with my family, it irritates my father. When we watch a video together, I like to go on my phone and work on something else, as I am viewing the movie with them. My father sees it as a distraction, as I am distracting him from his ‘ leisure time.’

The one time I can say that I engage with the media content is when the FIFA world cup comes up. Every time I go to the movie theatre, my parents always ask me, “ can’t you just watch it at home”? Honestly, you guys, I love movies. “Realism refers to the degree to which an individual perceives the naturalness of media content as if he or she is experiencing the content directly as part of his or her environment.” (Good, 2019) Something about it, makes it feel realistic in the sense of my presence being on the field with the players. Have any of you watched sports at a theatre before? It is the best thing ever! Although my sister would disagree. The “...movie screens are projected onto a surface that is 30 to 40 feet tall by 70 feet wide,” (Kim,Cheong & Kim, p.391) as someone who wears glasses, it is a blessing. Who wouldn’t want to see the world cup on a screen that has the best image quality? I thought it helped get us in the mood when the lighting would go soft, or bright when these teams took shots. The one thing that I loved and my sister hated was the cheering atmosphere of it.

I am all about the loud cheering and jumping and joy that follow along with it. My sister, on the other hand, prefers a quieter atmosphere, where someone is not yelling in her ear. The whole cheering atmosphere is what helps portray this sense of realism. Every time someone cheered for their teams, and I cheered for my team, it made me feel as though I was in Russia in the stands, cheering with the fans, and booing with my team. The sounds, the big screens, lighting, cheering atmosphere were all there to help me view the naturalness of the media content that is displayed. When you have a system of qualities working together to ensure you have the best experience you can, it includes a sense of realism. I guess what I am saying is, the reason that I like watching these sporting events outside, instead of my home, is because it makes me feel as though I am there watching the game live (much cheaper than buying tickets to fly out to Russia to watch it, or Qatar for the next cup).

XOXO-QueenyLeeny

[queenyleeny]

Say No To The Status Quo

Buckle your seatbelts folks, because it’s going to get a little sad from here. I remember being a teenager and how it made me feel as though I was so out of place in the world. When I was growing up, my parents were not as close to me; I was more closed off and found it hard to make friends. I did not particularly appreciate talking one bit (I know, weird). I grew up with people telling me who to be, who I couldn’t be, and what I could and couldn’t do. To be honest, it was rough. Whenever I watched movies about other teenagers going through the same things, it made me feel strong and more comforted knowing that all though I do not know these people on screen are, they face the same issues as me. I remember watching High School Musical and seeing them stress out how certain people could do things, but they couldn’t do others. In the end, they got over it. Troy could play basketball, but he could also act in a play just as well. In high school, I loved to draw and act, but I wanted to play extreme sports.

When I chose to play competitive football with the guys for gym class, people were surprised. Whereas the other girls went to play soccer, I remained where I was, defying the status quo. When watching these kinds of movies or shows, I end up connecting my own experiences with what is shown. I related to Troy Bolton and our passion for the things we were told we could not do. The intertextuality, ‘ the process of connecting our media experiences together is called intertextuality’ ( Sullivan,2013,p154) was sought to include these past experiences to help make sense of the media. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE07FbWmew8 - Now that it is stuck in my head, you have to listen to it too, so it becomes stuck in yours <3 

This week, a guy messaged me saying “ coffee,” out of nowhere. I had no idea what it meant. Coffee just out of the blue? I interpreted it as a guy who just wanted to spend some time catching up with me over coffee, nothing big. When I showed my friends the text (yes boys, we show all your text messages to our friends), they responded with how it is a date, or the guy is interested in me. I thought it was absurd, and did not believe them. They thought I was ridiculous and did not believe me. I just found how one word could get interpreted into different meanings, could be so funny.  “... individuals’ interpretations of mass media may be connected in some way,” (Good, 2019) taking the essence of the texts as nothing more than catching up with a friend for coffee due to my past experiences. My friends took it as a date due to their own past experiences, just showing how different interpretations can solely be based on experiences. That is what the polysemic text is — approaching texts by using your cultural knowledge of signs while being able to view the texts with your perspective.  How we decode these messages, depends on who you are. I like taking a more in-depth look at texts, but my friend wants to pick on the surface of the context that these texts bring us.

I've been trying to read more (more than just the textbooks from school) because I have been so busy with all these assignments; it's been a bit harder to do so. When I do have time to read, I become very transparent in them. I get lost within these books and start to see myself living in these circumstances, going along the journey with these characters. When I was reading the Handmaid's Tale and Serena's ''owner'' would force her to do something, or controlled what she did, it angered me. I was so invested in this character, causing me to feel real emotions towards an imaginary character. There were these men and commanders who had their wives who get treated as anything but human beings, and the ones who would act out, would get abused, or even killed. As I am writing this week's blog, I have concluded that I am still mentally involved in the story and can’t help, “...feel strong emotion toward characters and themes,” (Granelli & Zenor,p.5058) I know that I'm not the only one, and now I'm wondering if my readers (yes, you) are invested in the stories within my blogs. Do you guys get transparent with my work, and get lost within the storyline, or invested in me like your own character?

When I am not too busy being transparent into the books I read, and if I find them to be relatable, I then go through the referential mode. You start to read a text as something close to what you believe is relatable to the experiences you go through in your life. You begin to read these texts as more than stories, but open to compare them to your real-life interpretations. Now you are not only invested in these stories, but you start trying to use real-life experiences to match the text that you're viewing. In texts, I always like to be able to relate to characters and look back at my own experiences, when it comes to the situations that are taking place, helping me gain a stronger transparent mode. I know that we all have at least one text that we find to be relatable to the lives we live, whether that is a story about a teenager struggling in school or a woman/man trying to live the rest of their lives as if it were the last day of their lives. Having these relatable moments can be satisfying, as they help us bond with the stories, characters, and keep us intrigued at the same time.

XOXO-QueenyLeeny

[queenyleeny]

I create Me, You Create You

When it comes to watching movies with different people, we tend to view them differently. It all depends on the changes within the situational context which “it changes according to the particular social and situational contexts in which the media use is taking place.” ( Sullivan,2013,p123) For instance, I remember that every time I watched a movie with my family, and a sex scene came up, it becomes relatively awkward. I’m always scrambling for the remote to skip the scene. I could always cut those awkward tensions with a knife because of how uncomfortable these situations felt, but looking back now, I find it to be amusing. Then there was the time that my best friends and I watched 50 shades of grey together for fun. The situation was treated differently than how it had gotten handled when I watch any movies (including sexual displays) with my family. We spent the entire time just making fun of the film and laughing. It was not as big of a deal, and there was no scrambling for the remote control to fast forward the clip into the next scene.When I watch a video with my family, we all sit on the couches and are more composed. When I watch movies with my friends, we are more sprawled over the place. It is one body on top of the other.

This week, I tried finding out more about what type of person I am. I started out by finding out what type of audience member I am when it comes to viewing television, which is, ritualized audiences. I find that I cannot watch TV without it being in the background of me doing something else. Every time I am eating, or working on assignments, or even cleaning, I will turn on the television. The content of the movie or show does not matter to me. It becomes something that I leave on in the backdrop as I do something else. Honestly, I am sitting down at a table right now watching Riverdale in the background, as I am typing up my blog for this week. I love Riverdale, but not enough for it to be the prime centre of my attention. Yes, I am choosing writing my blog for you, over finding out what is going on with Betty, and Jughead. Then there are times where the content does matter to me. When I watch documentaries, I find myself invested in the material presented, making me more of an instrumental audience. I am going to expose myself here and say that documentaries about serial killers intrigue me. If I watch one, then I will not be on my phone or writing this week's blogs. I like to sit down and focus on the information released. The same goes for when I am at the movies. I do not go on my phone when a video is played, and I'm not just saying that because we are required to do so. Instead, I stay seated and ready to absorb the information that is being released about the movie. I realized that I could be both types of audiences; it just depends on the circumstances of the situation, and what is being shown.

“... the time has come to take seriously the changing nature of user interactions with media, and the newer, more specific gratifications that they engender instead of simply relying on gratifications used in research with older media,” (Good, 2019) which is why I will be discussing the M.A.I.N based gratification models. “... the time has come to take seriously the changing nature of user interactions with media, and the newer, more specific gratifications that they engender instead of simply relying on gratifications used in research with older media” (Good, 2019) The times are changing as well as the technologies that we have. I read an article this week that used an acronym to explain what different based gratifications were, and will even help explain what my blog is about. It will also touch upon the these gratifications that will help explain the changes within the changing nature of user interactions with media. I am going to start it off with Modality. Modality is all about the different methods of presentations. For instance, my blog is written on a social media platform, Tumblr, but it also includes videos, texts (just like you’re reading now), and even audios. My blog is defined as something that is a multimedia platform that portrays a sense of novelty, and I’d like to thank coolness.

Now we’re going to move towards the ‘A’ within M.A.I.N, agency. This segment is all about being a prosumer. It is all about taking these things and making them your own. I am taking my daily life experiences, things I’ve learned in school and placing them within a blog that broadcasts my information, using my style to do it. I am becoming a gatekeeper because I am deciding what information gets portrayed as in my blogs, and what I choose to disregard. I want to allow the M.A.I.N concept in because I feel it has an importance to us.

The ‘I’ is all about interactivity-based gratifications “allows the user to make real-time changes to the content in the medium.” (Limperos & Sundar,2013,p.515). It’s so much easier to interact with one another nowadays. I always wake up and check my inboxes for my blog to be greeted by the messages my wonderful followers have left for me, and try to respond back. It’s all about interacting with one another. It is also about having this dynamic control while being responsive and active with the way you do it. Knowing all of this information, I want you all to reblog my post with what you think of my blogs being like so far. I want us to be able to interact with one another while building a bond.

You know when you go on Youtube and search up a video, then ten minutes later, you are watching a video on how long a giraffe’s tongue is. It is all about how you move around the website. You followed my blog, but how many other bloggers got recommended afterwards? You liked my post, how many posts popped up stating that it is ‘ similar posts to the one you like’ ? 

XOXO-QueenyLeeny

[queenyleeny]

Welcome Back

It feels as if it has been forever since I wrote my weekly blogs. Got to say, it is good to be back. This time I am back with interesting stories about my audience experiences (we are learning about in school as well). Who’s ready to get involved, and learn some new concepts along the way?!

[queenyleeny]

Are We Unhappy

If you think about it, advertisements are really about enjoying their products and getting the best experience from them. How do we feel when we are not getting the same experience as what they showed us? We feel unhappy and upset we are not. I bought this lip plumper from Too Faced at Sephora over the summer, and it was supposed to help my lips reach full potential. I saw all these advertisements about them online, and even viral videos on Tik Tok appeared on my Instagram feed to show how well this product was working on these people. I felt motivated to buy that product, and so I did. After applying it the first two times, I saw a bit of a difference, but it was not the difference I had seen on those videos or in my head. So yeah, the one thing about the product I was looking forward to did not go as planned, and that did not make me happy. I remember being so sad about it because no one likes being excited about a product, and then it turning out differently. That is just one example of ratings and marketing that has made me unhappy; there are so many more times than I have been disappointed about a product I received. I do not shop online for clothing anymore; that category is a nightmare for me. I am done writing my blogs for this week, and since this week was all about marketing, and rating, I want you all to think about how I have been trying to market this idea of audience experiences to you. You already gave me a score for the content, but now I want you to think about this question instead.

XOXO-Queenyleeny 

[queenyleeny]

What If We Are Doing All The Work

That got me thinking about the clothing that I wear because it is not done through advertisements. I do not view a lot of ads about clothing because I want my style to be mine. What I did not realize was it is done through advertisements. A few weeks ago, I went to visit Toronto, and as I was walking down the streets, I noticed that a lot of people wore designer brands. I saw Women wearing Michael Kors shoes, Men wearing Calvin Klein suits, and even some kids wearing Gucci sunglasses. These people, as discussed in one of my seminars in school, are walking billboards. You see how they rock these items, and it makes you want to wear it. You go online and see all these people posing on Instagram, but you take a closer look into the photo and see there is a lot more going on. The girl who is innocently posing is also wearing a Gucci belt, or the boy you see sitting on the wall is doing that while wearing his Nike sweats. When we wear company brands, we are the ones who are advertising for them. Just this week, I found out Champion is a wall-mart brand that no one wanted. It is funny because everyone wants to own Champion products nowadays.  If enough people wear it, then more people will want to join in on the facade. Now I want to go to the store and buy a Champion sweater, or a Gucci belt, and I did not even have to go online to see an ad for it.

XOXO-QueenyLeeny

[queenyleeny]

What If Our Choices, Aren’t Ours

Lately, I have been thinking about all the advertisements that I have and how it connects with the items I have at home. I am typing my blog on my Macbook Air, but why did I choose the air? Why did I choose a this instead of that? Is it our choice when we decide what we buy, or are the number of advertisements we encounter the valid reason behind it. I know I bought this laptop because it was all I saw everyone carry, people used in shows, and the name of the brand. I think it is also because of all the product placements. I remember sitting down and watching America’s Got Talent with my family every week, but also noticing the judges drinking Snapple. I never even hear about Snapple or knew what it was until I saw it in the judge’s hands. After seeing them drink it so much, the next time I went to the grocery store, I asked my mom to get me some Snapple, just because I wanted to drink some. Looking back, I do not think I wanted to, but it was in my mind, so I wanted to try it. I know I did not want to try it because I hated it so much after trying it. It is all about getting people to buy your product by influencing them and then acting like you are giving them a choice. Trust me, and if I had the opportunity not to drink Snapple, I would not have.

XOXO-Queenyleeny

[queenyleeny]

Don’t Go

In this article that I read by Buzzard, it states that ratings are used to provide feedback to these organizations, so they can continue to sell their products to the public.  Doing so allowed companies to use the input to change the product's price, alter packaging, and to see how popular an item is. It helps consumers get something that they want, but it also allows organizations to get a happier audience by providing them with what they want. At work, they brought in this new salad four years ago, and I remember how cheap it was. Over the years, it became more popular as customers all wanted the salads, and they gave positive feedback. Looking at the price of that salad now, it costs around 3-5 dollars more than it did in the previous years. I hate it when that happens. It also reminds me of when I was younger; I figured out what they were doing with ratings, so I got my friends and me all to write bad reviews about a product, and to report them. The outcome ended up getting the product discontinued from the online store. The moral of this story is, with ratings, comes great responsibility. Use it wisely.

XOXO-Queenleeny

[queenyleeny]

Ratings

Another week, another topic. It feels so good to come back on for another week filled with fun stories!  Before we get this started, I want to ask my audience, how many starts do you rate me with.  1- you can’t blog something fun, only chapters from a book  3-  You’re not bad, but honey, you’re not good either  5- You make theories sound more fun than getting free cupcakes 

XOXO-Queenyleeny

[queenyleeny]

Selena Gomez; One Word, Brilliant

[queenyleeny]

Surveys, Interviews, And Galore

I don't know if something is in the air, but lately, all I have been getting is surveys from people. The three main ones I got this week were; person to person interviews, telephone interviews, and mail administer surveys.  I know we live in a rating society where we have to rate everything, but if I want to do that, I would go online myself and do a review. Some times I do not want to be asked if my experience was good because it was until they asked that question. This week we already had someone who came to our door to speak to us about who we were planning to vote for in the upcoming election. We got asked a bunch of questions before they decided they got enough information from us. I believe they were conducting a straw poll through us as well because they seemed to be asking around the block who they thought was going to win this election. I also went to the bank this week to get a new card, because I lost mine again. After I got home, just as I was about to relax, I got a phone call. It was TD calling and asking how I had found the service that day. As I was looking through my mail today, I realized that there was an envelope for my dad, and it was a package from I forgot what the company was, but they mailed him a survey packet from one of the items he had purchased. I find it so funny that they had to send him a package, instead of calling or doing it in person. Now I am curious as to whether I attract all these surveys, or does my audience as well, so I have a question for you. Which surveying technique do you receive the most; A: Person to person B: Telephone C: administer survey Reblog with the letter you decide to go with

XOXO-Queenyleeny

[queenyleeny]

Who Are You Online

This next blog is a continuance of the previous one. I was thinking about how that blog post talked about how it was in-person, but what about online? I realized the same thing occurs online, too, but for somewhat more of a different idea. As we all know, and as I have been hearing from every single professor, what we post, will stay on the internet forever. Honestly, that is kind of scary. I feel like I can't just post anything and everything whenever I want to anymore. People would start to become silent online, as they know the information they share will be kept forever, even if they end up deleting the information afterwards. I agree with this because I think it is a lot of risks to place something online permanently to keep. When you say these things in person, it is different because there is no physical evidence that would state you told it in the first place. After realizing what all of that meant, I decided to delete my finsta and start all over again. I feel weird knowing they are going to keep all my information, even after I hit the delete button. I honestly thought pressing delete would have meant it was deleting the files, but I guess not. I also am stopping to respond to videos online about what is going on in the world, because I do not like the idea of them having this physical receipt of what I said. I do not write anything wrong; I feel weird sharing my thoughts because I know that is not the only thing I would have been sharing.

XOXO-Queenyleeny

[queenyleeny]

Time To Vote

I know I keep referring to the Media Audience book, but I find it to be so intriguing and recommend you guys to read it too. This time as I was reading chapter three of the text, I found another theory. It is called the spiral of silence theory. This theory talks about how people want to be able to express their thoughts and opinions.  They will not reveal those thoughts and ideas if they are not a part of the majority rule because they fear the isolation that comes along with it. Now that it is election time, a lot of debates have been going on lately. I was sitting with my friends this week in the library, as we discussed who we wanted to win the election.  We went off about who we were going to vote for, who we were not voting for, and why. The debate started healthily and included everyone's opinions in the beginning.  By the end of it, fewer of us were talking, while the rest of us dominated the conversation. The people who were quieter were the ones who said they were going to vote for Scheer, and the majority of us are not a fan of him. Instead of continuing to speak about Scheer, they were quiet because they did not want us to get any madder and keep them out of the conversations. Also, let this be a reminder to you guys that if you have not voted, go out there and vote right now!

XOXO-Queenyleeny