What Kind Of Media Consumer Am I Now?

Forgive me, but I thought this blog was a stupid, time-consuming homework assignment that was just meant to waste our time. I did not know what I was doing or how to create meaningful blog, so every time I worked on my blog, I just ended up more and more frustrated. Yet, the more I worked, the more I would learn. I constantly read other students’ blogs trying to figure out how to make mine better, and whether my articles are good and meaningful.
I began searching for others’ blogs and continue to read them daily. In addition to reading popular blogs, such as DOOCE, I immensely enjoy reading these student blogs: Mimi Sanouvong, Kelley Lugea, and Jeff Macias. I have definitely enjoyed reading blogs, but not as much as writing them. This assignment has connected me the blogging world, and opened me to new aspects of the media. I am no longer blinded to all the hype in the media. I now notice all of the propaganda in all forms of media, and have noticed that I’m no longer the average audience. I see media in a different light and find myself analyzing it all. But above all, I have learned how to blog! Through blogging, I have been introduced to all sorts of personalities seen through their blogs, whether its formal written blogs or photo blogs. I’m happy to be a blogger. So thank you, Lilly, for getting me into blogging, and I’m sure there will be more to come!

It May Just Leave A Biter Taste...

"It is even better
Now that we’re the same
Two great companies come together
Now, MBNA is B of A

And it’s one bank
One card
One name that’s known all over the world
One spirit
We get to share it
Leading us all to higher standards

[ooohh, mmmm]

Do you like the cowboys?
Or your university?
Do you like the Yankees?
Or is NASCAR more your speed?
Well it’s your choice
Your right
To pick a card that shows
Your heart and your pride

We’re one with affinity
And we’ll carry each other
Carry each other
One

Have you come to meet Bruce Hammonds
Have you come to meet Leah McGee
Have you heard about Michelle Shepherd
She’s leading the team in the Northeast

And we’ve got Bank One on the run
What’s in your wallet? It’s not Capital One
It’s us, so which card are you?
Integration’s never had us feeling so good
And we’ll make lots of money, forever I can sing
About trusting in teamwork and doing the right thing
We’ll live out our core values
While the competition crawls
‘cause they want what we have got
But it’s only here at Bank of America

One bank
One card
One name that’s known all over the world
One heart , filled with spirit
We feel it, we share it

One bank working everyday
To bring higher standards
Higher standards
One
We are one, yeah
We are one
We are one bank"

Here are the lyrics regarding the Bank of America spin off song of U2’s “One.” This song was originally intended solely for the Bank of America members at a meeting, but it ended up on YouTube, which caused a huge commotion. Although the video has been taken off of YouTube, I was able to get the general understanding of the commercial through the lyrics. Personally, I think it is really clever. Bank of America came up with an entirely new idea that is completely out of the box. Unfortunately, their competitors were not satisfied with this idea. They felt as if it was a low blow and that Bank of America truly lowered their standards, as well as their morals.
Personally, I think they raised the bar for their competition. They got their message out to the public and it was definitely heard by many. Because of this, they have, not purposely, drawn a drastic measure of attention to their company, in good and bad ways. Many people are in compliance with the competitors, that Bank of America is completely wrong and disgusting for airing this video. But others think that Bank of America is smart for out doing their competition and pushing the limits. Apparently, this video was not meant to be seen by the public, but someone was able to video tape it, and broadcast it on YouTube. Under much speculation, many people are arguing that they were meaning to broadcast this video to the masses, which explains why the video is taped and edited so well.
Whether it was on purpose or accident, the video was aired, the public saw, and there was an uproar, which gives Bank of America even more publicity. In the end, Bank of America is reaping in the rewards, so all I have to say is: Congratulations.

Blogging Blues

Before this class, I honestly had almost no idea as to what a blog was. At first, the term seemed completely foreign, and so informal. I would occasionally hear people talk about them, but only in professional terms, and I thought it was funny because blog sounds like a completely ridiculous word. Since I did not take them seriously, nor did I really care, I passed them off as being merely social networks in the technical world that had nothing to do with me.
When we started this class and Lilly told us that we were going to be keeping a blog of our own, my jaw dropped and I didn’t even know what to think about this huge task ahead of me. Not only did I have to learn exactly what a blog was, but she was also asking us to be technically savvy with them as well. We were expected to write these seemingly foreign “posts” on this bizarrely named site, called Blogger. “Great,” I thought, “Now I’m going to have to become like one of those computer geeks.”
At first, I was way out in left field in regards to even know where to begin with the blogs. I had no idea how to use the website, was not familiar with any of the terms, was still unsure what a blog was, or what to write. To gain an understanding, I read some other blogs before I began my own. I didn’t learn too much more than I knew, but it helped me begin my first blog. After getting the hang of writing the posts, I now had to update my blog to make it a full-fledged blog that included things such as links and a blog roll. After attempting the daunting task, I decided to seek help from fellow students, whose blogs I envied because mine looked no where near as good and technical as theirs did. Unfortunately, no one was able to help me, so I decided to seek help from the best source I knew for our blogs, Lilly. After a quick office visit, she taught me what I had been struggling to do all semester long! Now with a functioning blog, I finally feel accomplished!
The funny thing is, I never thought I would enjoy blogging as much as I do. I started out hating it, hating other blogs that looked better than mine, and hating to have to write a dumb post for each class. But as time passed, I found myself reading tons upon tons of blogs that had caught my eye. I searched all kinds of blogs, typically photo blogs, as well as daily life blogs, such as DOOCE. I refused to admit to it for a while, but I had become a blogger. Whether it’s my enjoyment for writing, or my fondness of being socially attached to so many people, it has pulled me into the blogging world and that’s all there is to it.